The Awesomeness which is.

This weekend! Wahooo! So, as you may have deduced, this weekend was amazing, and must be broken up into several segments. So here goes.

I. FRIDAY- more buttcheeks than you could ever imagine
So Friday night there was a local festival in the nearby town of Aboshi. After a few delays of finding someone to go with me, I found my friend Lexi and we boarded the train and took off. We exited the train, and took a look around- we had no idea which way to go. So, we wandered out of the station, and towards some cops directing traffic- when in doubt, look for a crowd of people and follow. Well, we found a crowd, and no ordinary crowd was this. It was a huge mass of men in a circle, wearing traditional loinclothes (fundoshi) in the cold, holding long bamboo sticks. In the middle, one guy was singing/ chanting, and at certain moments, everyone would answer. Then suddenly, everyone on the outside of the circle would rush in, bang their sticks together, and form a huge mass. Within the mass, they would try and push each other, still with sticks raised, then suddenly it would dissolve and everyone would peacefully go back to the edge of the circle. After awhile, the mass of fundoshied men would proceed down the street to the next major intersection to hold up the maximum amount of traffic. So we followed the "booty trail" and fell in with the rest of the town that was trailing them. We then befriended this hilarious drunk old guy who was running around trying to irritate everyone he could find it seemed like. First he ran up to this lady, "my wife"- she yells at him. This other old guy "my father"- who then proceeds to whack him with his bamboo lantern. Then he bought us some sake, and gave Lexi a beer, and we stopped and watched the circle stick whacking singing thing again. We stopped to meet up with some other friends at a 711, and lost our old guy, but then a new group came after the first group. This group had a gian, 7 foot tall lantern in the middle of the circle. When it was time to rush the circle again, they all rushed in and beat the crap out of the paper lantern until it was smithereens. Lexi and I decided we should follow this group, cause they had another lantern we wanted to see smashed, so we set off after them. We soon found ourselfves out in the middle of nowhere, between two ricefields in the dark. We kept getting all these strange looks, I think because it was a country town we fell in with, and there weren't any other foreigners around. Eventually we stop, and people trade in their bamboo whacking sticks for identical sticks but with paper lanterns attached. While all this is happening, a few of the older men start talking to us- the standard, where are you from, where are you teaching, etc etc. but then they hand us our own lanterns on bamboo sticks, and now we're part of the town! yeah! So they push us up front to be with the junior high school kids (all with their own lanterns) and we go marching along, until the path opens up, and suddenly we're in the middle of this bright huge festival in front of the shrine and all these camera crews show up to get pictures of the foreigners with lanterns. I tried to ignore them and act "natural" but then they shouted at us to pose, I'm a celebrity! So we push our way through and realize only the boys have lanterns. So all the JH school boys make a circle, and start banging their lantern bamboo poles on the ground fiercely, causing the candle to go out, then on some signal, they all rushed in and completely smashed their lanterns to pieces.
We managed to lose that group again and headed for the festival food stands. I tried some excellent little balls that were covered in sesame seeds and had some sweet red bean paste in the center. Something else called "hashimaki"- or chopsticks roll. It was like a flat piece of dough with Korean kimchi (spicyness!) in the center, rolled up on the chopsticks, with some sweet sauce on the outside and grilled. Gooey goodness! Although early, we had to head back to the station to catch the last train, so we started to leave and who should we find? Our drunk old dude friend!
So we started following that town again, and they gave us their happi coats to wear while walking with them and tied theiry bright yellow bands on our heads- this of course attracted more cameras who wanted to take pictures of us. So then the next time the group stopped, they had us pose with the mikoshi (portable shrine) and act like we were carrying it. So we finally left the procession, and about 5 or 6 of the dudes walked with us to the train station, which was great beacause we were totally lost. They insisted we keep the happi coats- which was really really nice of them, and they gave us these necklaces with a wooden square that says the town name on one side and "protection" on the other.
So Lexi and I made it back to Himeji, which was completely dead, and we stayed up far too late cruising the bars, looking for any people out.

II. SATURDAY-
Started off as the most relaxing and peaceful day imaginable. I biked around town awhile, it's just the start of fall and the weather here is perfect. I wandered down to starbucks, wrote some letters, studied Japanese and waited around for Lexi to call me. I needed her help- desperately one might venture to say. I needed Lexi to help translate at the hairdresser for me. I haven't gotten my haircut since leaving the US, about 3 1/2 months ago, and things were out of control. I made it into the salon chair, and sat horrified for an hour as more and more hair started flying off. We had figured out that we would keep it long, but- we didn't establish how much hair to keep long. Yes, I now have a Japanese hairstyle. Parts of it are still long, but most of it has been severely layered so that most of it is still short. It will be less work I imagine, but I already miss my hair. It made a huge pile on the floor, they had to do a mid-cut sweep. I'm a bit sad- I wanted to donate my hair when I finally got it cut- but it happened without expeciting it, and I didn't know quite how to tell them that I wanted to take my hair with me.
Anyway, I'll take a picture and post it- then you can leave your comments. I missed aikido Saturday, due to a combination of the haircut taking forever, my dogi (uniform) still being wet from the wash, and not feeling well. So I was going to stay in and go to bed early, make sure I didn't aggravate whatever I was fighting, but then my friend reminded me about the Mitsubishi party. Mitsubishi party? you ask? Indeed. So my friend Makoto picked me up and we headed over to our friend Mike's apartment, who lives in the same building as all these foreigners who are here working for Mitsubishi. Let's just say that Lexi and I were the life of the party. We had a great time amazing the Japanese guys with 1- my sad attempt to speak Japanese and 2- Lexi's ability to speak Japanese. I don't know how it works both ways, but who cares? Anyway, so we arrived, and there was this guy without his shirt on out on the porch- it's raining and really cold out. We could already tell this guy was going to be a riot. While he still had his pants on, most of the guys made fun of him and tried to drop ice down his pants. When successful, he would hop around the kitchen until the offensive piece of ice fell out. So throughout the night, he ends up losing most of his clothes, and is just walking around in his boxers. I think some of the guys wanted to strip too- but they were too shy. Mad props to naked judo guy. So I made it home by 2:30, thanks to Makoto for the lift and went to bed, which leads us to...

SUNDAY- much less interesting than the last 2 days, but maybe worth a mention.
Ahhh, sunday, the day of the week where I call my Japanese tutor and cancel on him. Well, today I couldn't get a hold of him, so I went to meet him anyway, although I could only stay for the first 1/3 of our time. I had an aikido date to make. I showed up at the Sanyo train station 10 minutes early to meet my dojo contact, but alas! no show! so I called my aikido translator, who informed me that crap! I was at the wrong sanyo. I was supposed to be at Sanyo junior high school. crap crap crap. So I biked like mad to get there, then ended up waiting 'cause my contact had already left. So my translator called, said someone would come and meet me, so I'm waiting for my ride, and a dude on a motorcycle shows up. Awesome! I was so excited I would get to ride on a motorcycle! But no, this was not to be, I was to follow the motorcycle on my bike to the other dojo. Crap! Again! So I had another mad sprint on my bike, this one uphill and chasing a motorcycle to get to the dojo. I show up, now 45 minutes late for lunch, and while finishing up my shrimp and egg ricey dish, I find out that today is no ordinary training! Today was apparently 2ndkyu and up (I'm 1st kyu- or blackbelt minus one test) training. Which means we beat the crap out of each other. I was soooooo lost and confused and in pain. Ahhhhhhh. So then I came back, had a work meeting, and cooked some dinner- something with these konnyaku noodles, eggplant, carrots, onion, and some wierd Chinese sauce I bought. It was delicious! And now I'm heading to the shower and bed.
And, lest anyone forget- today is Courtney's (my sister) birthday! everyone call or write her and wish her a happy 25th!!!! So, goodnight everyone!

Rambles

End of Tuesday here, just getting home from Aikido class- where I was totally spaced out and therefore kept messing up and landing wrong and so on and so forth. I can't tell if my fellow teachers are a little upset with me. Three weeks ago my first year school teachers, who I sit with in the staffroom, asked me if I could go to dinner with them on Friday. I was really excited about this, and so instantly agreed. Last Wednesday, the English teacher said we were all pitching in ichiman yen, or the rough equivalent of $100. Ergh, right. So, I thought about it for a while, and decided it was too much money to spend on an evening where I wouldn't understand anything being said, and sitting next to the nurse who always gives me a slight 'I don't like you' vibe, I decided to cancel. So now I hope they aren't mad at me.
Anyway, I had a nice weekend, cleaned my apartment, did my laundry, relaxed. Went to this really boring thing for aikido. went to a few bars- nothing really cool though. Oh wait! How could I forget! So, maybe it was a week ago, I was out with my friend Alexis, and we were looking for the cool bars where Japanese people our age go. There isn't really a guide book for Cool Bars where People in their Early Twenties Go, so we are left just trying out different places. So, we were out cruising the bar districe of Himeji on our bicycles, the only Gaijin in the area, dodging taxis and Japanese outside of the dozens of Snack Bars, when we saw our bar- The Twelve Apostles. At which point, we immediately start cracking up. So, having no idea what the place is like, we climb the stairs and walk in the door and onto the set of a bar in Frasier. It looks like it would be full of east coast snobs, but we sit down at the bar and glance over the menu. Now, bars in Japan aren't just sake and sapporo- most of the one's I've ventured into have a more extensive collection of American whiskeys and imported liquors of any bar I've seen in the states. So we both order a drink- about the same cost as any other bar in town, and just start talking. After our first drink, I start getting bored and am waiting for Lexi to finish up to head out, and another girl shows up to bartend. The original bartender comes over and tries to explain that he called up his friend, who studies English, to come in and work- to talk to us- because he doesn't speak English. Service? Yes, I believe so. But Lexi speaks Japanese, so then the evening turns into this great night of talking to the bartenders, them trying to speak English and us trying to speak Japanese. It was great. They even brought us a little plate of three different samples of different bar snacks carefully arranged on a napkin on a little square plate.
Then one of Lexi's Japanese friends showed up, turns out he was also hoping the Red Sox would win on Saturday (sadly, they didn't- my condolences Chris). Now I don't really know who to support- I mean, I can't go for the white sox, because the Cubs are my Chicago team, and I can't support the Yankees, 'cause come on- they're the Yankees. Sigh. Last Wednesday we went for a beer after Japanese lessons, and this Japanese guy who thought he was black kept trying to hit on me. I really wanted to tell him that he stood no chance, if only for the NY yankees hat he was wearing. But also because he kept crossing the bar, interupting my conversation with other people, to ask me to go dance at another bar with him, after being refused several times. There are a couple of bars in town that have a surplus of Japanese people who think they are African American. It's weird. They play all this unedited rap music in this city- they have no idea what the lyrics are- like, everywhere. Shopping malls, phone stores, not the grocery though. I think Kroger's back home is the only grocery where I've heard them play Morissey- and for Fishers I thought that was pretty bizarre.
There's this bar, Fab Space, that's full of Japanese only. One night I went there with Lexi, and they were projecting a biography of Bob Marley on the wall, and dj'd reggae and techno all night. It was a bit of a bizarre combination. We met all these cool Japanese dudes, at about 3 am, we;re sitting down, exhausted from dancing, and one guy tries to pass me something kind of cylindrical looking, and at first in the bad lighting I thought it was a joint. But then I realized he was eating it, sort of gnawing at the end, and I realized that it was some sort of dried, processed fish. Ahhh Japan. Just when I'm expecting illegal substances they break out the dried fish.

Kansai annual training...

with the Doshu Sensei!
So today I got up early, ironed my clothes, ironed my gi, and went outside to catch the bus. Went back inside for my belt. Missed the bus, and biked downtown. Whatever, I still got there 45 minutes early.
So today, my Himeji Aikido dojo and I went to the faraway land of Osaka (oooosaka) to have a special class with all of Kansai taught by the Doshu Sensei. It was, quite frankly, awesome. It was about as crowded on the mat as training with Saotome Sensei in Chicago. Maybe a little less, but the mat space was way the hell bigger. I like to play the game, try to figure out what Sensei is talking about. sometimes it goes better than other times. So afterwards, we had a banquet in a nearby hotel, my dojo drank a ton, and, and, and, I had my picture taken with the Doshu Sensei and his son (seperately), and poured Doshu Sensei some beer. It was the first really social time I've had with my dojo, and quite frankly, I love them. One of my teachers was falling asleep, so I went over to harass him, and we spent forever trying to communicate the idea that he was especially tired because he was doing sword cuts before class. Not just any sword cuts though, apparently he trains with an extra special long sword- that they then explained was not practical to use, since it's too long, but it's good to train with 'cause it's extra heavy. One could then say (I didn't) that training with any sword may be impractical for anything other than training. Then we boarded the train, and everyone slept on the way back to Himeji and my gaijin friend Steph woke me up.
Picture, from left: Yamada Shihan, Steph, Colelan, The Doshu Sensei, Iizuka Sensei, me.
Yamada Sensei is head of Hyogo aikikai, and is my teacher here in Himeji. Steph just started aikido last week, with her husband Colelan, who started in January. Iizuka Sensei is a 4th dan at my dojo, and my supervisor on the board of education (eeks!). And me. I need to get a haircut.

Rice Cooker Magic- Conclusion

Alright- so I need to fine tune my rice cooker muffin making skilz- but it still tastes good! Muffin came out delicious- though a little wet and maybe undercooked on the top, or maybe I overestimated the amount of water to add (I'm measuring cup deficient here).


Right- large purplish muffin and rice cooker

Kyoto continued

Okay,
So while I'm waiting for my muffin to finish cooking, I thought I would try and get a little more down on Kyoto before I forget anymore.
So let's see... Wednesday we headed down to Toooooooo-ji temple/shrine to check out a ginormous fleeeeee market that was happening that day. It was pretty cool- there were a ton of booths selling anything from boxes of tiny tiny baby fish and prawns by the gram/bag, fruit stands, takoyaki (octopus balls), to kind of antiquey shops selling old sword tsubas, kimonos, pottery, junk, flowers.... anyway, I didn't see anything I liked enough to buy and then hall around Kyoto, so we just browsed. Oh wait! I lied, I got a bag of pine nuts for 5oo yen, or about $5 and made an enourmous batch of pesto I put in my freezer (it's a little weak- the basil I used had already gone to seed) and still have 3/4 a bag left. So Tooooooo-ji is famous for its pagoda- the tallest one in Japan I read. We didn't get to look around the temple much- just the market.
Then we walked (~35 min) down to Fushimi-Inari Shrine, which was my favorite place we saw in Kyoto. It was originally built to the Kami of Harvest- which is a fox- but now I think it's used more for wealth or prosperity. At any rate, the place is completely covered in bright bright orange tori gates. Inari is a big complex- there are shrines and cemetaries scattered all over the side of a mountain, and they are all connected by paths through the woods, and awash in gates. I lost Tobi and Mac somewhere on the grounds, and just hiked around the woods on the paths for a few hours, and it was one of the most serene and beautiful places I've been. At one point, I got away from the tori gates, and into the woods, and there would be times where there was bamboo forest on my right, and big cedar forests on my left. I even saw a snake!! He got away before I could get my camera out though. But I hiked up the mountain and had a great view of Kyoto spread out under the mountain, and had a hilarious time trying to ask some Japanese who were repainting tori gates if they'd seen Mac. But instead of asking if they'd seen an American, I forgot to make it a question, and instead said "I/you/anyone sees a/many American." We all found it rather funny I think.
So then we all found each other at the base of the temple complex, and caught the next train north. We wanted to go to Sanjusangendo, but getting lost and separated at the temple took more time than we had allotted to Inari, so we skipped 33-gendo, and went to Kiyomizu Temple instead, and got there just before closing. It had a beautiful view off the side of a mountain, and had another enormous temple complex, but we didn't have enough time to really explore it well. It was packed with tourists.
I'll add more later, I get restless writing all this out and must take a break.
Allison

Rice Cooker Magic!

Well, at the suggestion of one of my friends, I am experimenting with my rice cooker. Having come to Japan with a muffin and a brownie mix, and finding no oven with which to bake, I was rather disappointed. However, ingenuity prevails! And I am trying to make triple berry muffins in my rice cooker. As I don't know how to quite work this contraption- it's all in kanji that I can't find in either my "Kanji survival guide"- or in my dictionary- I never quite know how to turn on this little machine. But- I just checked on my enormous muffin, cut off a slice, and it was delicious! But a little undercooked on top. So the muffin is back in the rice cooker, and I'm waiting for final results before heading out for the day.
I only have 3 hours before I must leave for aikido for the night- then tomorrow I'm heading up to Osaka with my dojo to train with Doshu Sensei! So maybe another quite night in.
Off to check on my muffin again,
Allison