Day 216 - 3rd of April

10:03pm　特急

天気：晴れ

It’s a beautiful, sunny day and Julie and I are on our way to Nara, to do some sightseeing; it’s going to be amazing. Although we’re standing up, at least we’re not squished up against the doors like we we’re on the way to Tambabashi earlier this morning. After walking around for a while in Nara Park, we’re going to get back on the train to go to Tenri, to meet with the class for the field trip.

5:09pm　天理

We’re on the train, in the station, just about to make our way back to Tambabashi; have to change over at Hirakata. Today was wonderful… After getting to Nara, Julie and I slowly made our way over to Todaiji; we went a very roundabout way. We walked past the ward office, under the road, and through a suburban area, to 吉城公園 (Yoshishiro Koen); I had been there before with Diego, Jessica and Carly. After walking around the garden, we continued on, past houses and temples. On the train, we had seen so many sakura in the distance, flying by…

5:24pm　特急

We just changed over at 平端 (Hirahata – not to be confused with Hirakata)… but now, we were up close and personal with hundreds of sakura trees, most in full bloom; overload of beauty. We were also able to get up close and personal with the deer; Julie was so happy. They were all looking a bit stuffy, but I put that down to the fact that they were losing their winter coats. We made our way around the back of Todaiji, and went up into the hills, passing groups of painters and sketchers; they were all amazingly talented. Julie described the area as heavenly, and I had to agree; Nara is breathtaking! We walked back down the hill, which was covered in sakura, and there was this beautiful big old tree green on one side with moss. As we were making our way over to Todaiji, a foreign woman come up to us and asked if I could take her picture; turns out she was from Sydney. I was of course happy to oblige, and in return, she took a photo of us, and then wished as a happy trip; little did she know we were actually studying here. After that, we marvelled at Todaiji (I’m always amazed at the sheer size of it), and then continued back out of the complex to enter the deer park. There was a huge open space skirted be sakura, and many people were picnicking, kicking around soccer balls, or just enjoying the fine weather; although, it was starting to get a little cloudy.

We sat down in the park, and I enjoyed my apple after spraying myself with a nearby bubbler; it shot so high. A deer came up to us, and I fed it my apple core, before it proceeded to slobber on my bag. We rested for a bit longer, and then made our way back to the station; again taking a very roundabout route. We walked to the pagoda, past Nanendo and down to the lake I had been to before; the one with all the sunbathing turtles. There was a guy nearby playing the shamisen; I really want to try playing it one day. We decided to go back to the station via the shopping district, which was bustling. I bought a butaman (pork dumpling) from a convenience store and it’s seen me through till now; I’m really not that hungry. We walked past a shop where two guys were pounding mochi in a big barrel with wooden mallets; I was so glad to finally see the process. One thing that wasn’t very heavenly about Nara was the lack of ATM’s that would accept our cards; we were both low on funds. Seeing us in one of the cash corners in the shopping arcade, a young woman kindly gave us directions to another ATM (one that “might” work), knowing that these one’s wouldn’t.

So we decided to try it. Funny thing was, when we exited the arcade, the woman suddenly reappeared and redirected us to a different building which was just across the street; I wondered if she had followed us. Unfortunately when we got there, we found nothing resembling an ATM. So, still unperturbed, we tried two other ATMs nearby, and even these wouldn’t accept our cards; there was one that was exactly the same as the one at uni too! Finally, we resigned to the fact that we’d just have to go without; we had enough for transport, so that was the main thing. We went back to the station, and took the train to 大和西大寺 (Yamato Saidaiji). There, we had to wait quite a while for the train to Tenri; we looked around the shops and munched on a few free samples. By the time we got to Tenri, we were about half an hour late. There was a very helpful map right outside the station, and it proved to be really easy to get to the Tenrikyo headquarters; directly east through a shopping arcade. This arcade greatly contrasted with that of Nara’s; it was quite dead, and it just had an old fashioned feel about it. And when I say old fashioned, I don’t mean ancient, I mean about 30 years ago. Emerging from the arcade, an immense Buddhist-looking building came into sight…

6:13pm　特急

We’re on the train back to Makino now. So, where was I? Oh yeah… big, impressive, Buddhist-looking building; one to rival Todaiji in fact. This was the Tenrikyo Sanctuary!!! We were both awestruck as we marvelled at its size and beauty, before coming back down to earth and realising we still had the task of finding the class. Having no idea where they could be, we decided to just enter the building, taking our shoes off at the bottom of the steps. The interior was equally impressive, tatami mats spanning out before us. Miraculously, we soon spotted the class on the other side of the hall. We found our way around to them, and sat down on the tatami; the class was asking Hiroshi, our guide, questions. We’ve made it to Kuzuha…

9:18pm　セミナーハウス

I’m just about to go to karaoke with Rachel and Ash. We’ve been playing an awesome card game in the kitchen with Julie, Brett, Sam, Chelsea, Jeremy and Liz, called “Mad Scientist University”. Basically, each round someone is the teacher, and they draw a card from the “assignment” pile, and dictate that to the “class”. Then it’s everyone else’s job to come up with ideas about how to best complete this assignment using the “unstable element” they are dealt; the more outlandishly demented the idea the better. I felt a really silly at first, but after a while you just get into it and say the stupidest things, and as long as you come across as confident, you’re sweet; it was an absolute cack…

10:04pm　カラオケ　－　牧野

We just got to karaoke; Rachel and Ash generously payed for me. Well, I guess I should finish off telling my day… After the questions, we prayed (clap 4 times bow – long, clap 4 times bow – short) and then continued the tour through the sanctuary. We had another session in front of the “residence” of the founderess, a focal point for prayer. Hiroshi explained that the founderess basically withdrew from her physical form, after realising her being alive was causing too much trouble for her followers; there was a huge crack down on religions other than Shinto during the Meiji restoration. However, her spiritual form continues to reside in Tenri. She has a house, and every day they draw a bath and serve her food, and they even change the linen; I find it fascinating. After another round of questions, we prayed again, and then went on to yet another room of worship. Here, Hiroshi explained Tenrikyo follower’s beliefs about death. They believe in Reincarnation but, unlike Buddhism, which is pretty much all about pain and suffering, Tenrikyo promotes the pursuit of happiness; you are continuously reborn in hopes that you will achieve lasting happiness. Also there is no heaven or hell; earth itself can be heaven if you obtain true happiness. In this room, there were three mirrors – the central one dedicated to the leaders proceeding the founderess (after her, there haven’t been any other female leaders); the one on the right, to the high ranking ministers and; the one on the left to all the followers of Tenrikyo. We prayed to each respectively, and then made our way back around to the front of the complex.

After getting our shoes on, Hiroshi showed those of us who were interested how to do the 手踊り (te odori – “hand dance”), which is accompainied by a song, as part of praying and other services; it was actually pretty cool. Then rest of the class went off to the sakura, but was soon caught up with them anyway. The professor knew where there was a huge tree, but unfortunately we found it to have already lost most of its flowers. It was such a shame, because it was absolutely massive and would have looking incredible in full bloom; to others of similar size nearby were in the same state. All the branches were supported by an intricate arrangement of poles and brackets. Finally, we made our way back to the main building and got a group photo in front of it, before parting with Hiroshi, and making our way back to the station. On the way, Julie noticed there were banners that were wishing “oyasama” (the affectionate name for the founderess) a happy birthday, and I remembered Hiroshi was just telling us about the fact that they celebrated her birthday, and it was coming up soon; it’s actually the 18^th of this month. It supposed to be a really huge event, and there is heaps of preparation going into it.

Getting back to Makino, Julie and I got our bikes out of the gutter; we had parked them there on purpose to escape receiving a ticket for not paying for parking. Unfortunately that didn’t end up working out so well, and we found the warning tickets on both of our bikes; I guess it really just depends on how anal the particular security guard that’s on duty at the time is. Indeed, I’ve got away with parking there at least twice; oh well. Anyway, we rode back and Julie went straight up to the kitchen feeling starved; she hadn’t eaten much all day. I soon joined her after dumping my stuff in my room. I put on a pizza (margarita) and was soon enjoying that; so cheap and tasty. Not sure whether or not we would be going to karaoke tonight, I waited in the kitchen, hoping Ash or Rachel would turn up; and they did, Ash just as we started playing Mad Scientist University, and Rachel about 3 rounds in…

11:21pm

Well that was my day. Now it’s time to enjoy the rest of the night singing…

Day 187 - 5th of March

天気：曇り

Today was a great day; a great start to the weekend... I got my morning Japanese classes over with in the morning, and then decided to go home for lunch; I also had a little nap. I got back to uni for my Gender and Sexuality class at 1:15, in which we talked about masculinity and rites of passage to manhood; a bit of cross over from last semester. After class, we picked up our tickets for Takarazuka, and also received a plot summary, which will be a great help I’m sure; and another week of uni was over! I went downstairs to meet Rachel, where she proceeded to tell me that she’d forgotten the paperwork. So, we rode back home, she got the necessary papers, and we were back out in a flash. Riding down to the station was again, quite terrifying, and I don’t think it’s worth it, especially since when we got there, the bikes already in the parking space Simon and I had found, had all received tickets. Luckily, we were in and out of the city office in about 10 minutes, and weren’t caught. Since it was only about 3:30, we decided to go on a bit of a bike ride; it was way too early to pick up dinner.

I took Rachel up to the Okami shrine on the top of the forested hill (which was no easy feat with our bikes), and the plum grove there was in full bloom; I wish I’d brought my camera. We enjoyed that for a while, and then took in the view, sitting under a gazebo for a few hours just chatting; it was really peaceful. At about 5:30, when it did start to get cold, we decided it was time to go, and made our way back towards the university, to New Delhi. Rachel, had a list of what everyone wanted, so it was pretty easy to order everything. We had to wait about 20 minutes for it to be ready, so in that time we went to Fresco, and I picked up a few goodies for tonight’s TV viewing, including some great oranges. We left our bikes at Fresco (since they were less in the way there), and got back to New Delhi a bit early. In the time we had to wait, they gave us mango laisse, and when we did finally get the food, they gave us a huge discount; at least $10 off!!! We walked back to Fresco, and promptly rode back home; we didn’t want the food getting cold.

Getting back, I immediately went upstairs to heat up my yakisoba, kinda regretting not getting New Delhi. But, I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long for my next fix. For the price, and quality (and quantity) of the food, we thinking we’re going to make New Delhi part of our Friday night tradition. As soon as I got back down with my food, we started watching Firefly, and by the end of the night, we’d watched the last 4 episodes, and the movie “Serenity”. There were of course, a few breaks, in between. I got to eat my profiteroles, and sakura-an pan, which tasted amazing; just like the ice cream. We also had a bit of an interruption when Simon came in, telling us his keys were locked in his room; his roommate was out. So, he’d found Hugo, and borrowed his keys in order to get back in here, and then had to go back out to give them back. So, he needed someone to open the gate, and side door for him. His coming in the lounge room to ask me though was completely unnecessary, as he was able to get in when someone else returned home. It was about 1:30 by the time we finished, and then Simon came in to sleep on the lounge; I talked with him for a little while, then got to bed myself. I really enjoyed the movie, and it did help to tie up most of the loose ends the series had brought up. But, although I felt closure, I really wish there was more; the series was a lot of fun, and the characters were great.

Day 186 - 4th of March

10:43pm　セミナーハウス
天気：風が吹いて
Just tried to download a Yoshida Brothers album off iTunes, but unfortunately, it’s only found in the American store, and of course, I’m not allowed to buy off that one; so stupid. The Yoshida Brothers, are two brothers (obviously) who play the 三味線 (shamisen – the 3-stringed, guitar-like instrument), in both traditional and non-traditional genres. Saigo sensei showed us one of their performances today, and it was amazing; their hands moved so fast. So yeah, tonight I thought I’d try to download some of their music, but no; obviously Australia hasn’t heard of them yet. Well, I guess I might be able to find their CD’s somewhere. Anyway, today… rainy in the morning, and windy in the afternoon! Since I didn’t have class till 12, I got some reading done this morning, and ate lunch before getting to uni; it was still raining. Speaking class was a lot of fun today. Apart from seeing the Yoshida Brothers, we had a lot of laughs, practicing new grammar. In the last couple of minutes we had to talk about how to make things i.e. how to prepare things like meat, tofu, etc. As in – you add salt, and fry in it oil; that kind of thing.

The last question was one where you had to use your imagination; we have to do this a lot. Saigo sensei told as that one of the students from his class last semester (he does this a lot too), made the question, “How do you make a baby”, and then proceeded to ask me. Using my quick wit, and the grammar at my disposal I said, 「男の人を女の人に乗せます」 (You place a man on top of a woman); a bout of laughter ensued. Saigo sensei was in tears; it was great. I went down to the lounge and talked with Rachel, Rachael, and Simon for a bit, before I had to go to Religion. We had a discussion about the interviews today, and it was really interesting. There was a great mix of religions, new and old. Mostly though, the interviewees said they weren’t religious, even though they visit shrines, buy Omamori, believe in ancestors and the like; this is not “religion”, just the way things are. After that, I followed Ash and Peter around for a little while, and then went to Fresco and Kirindo for groceries. The wind was so strong this afternoon that, when I came out of Fresco, all the bikes had toppled over; I had to rescue mine from under another. I was very glad to get home, and unpacked my groceries before going back to my room. Hugo was there, and I decided I should start practicing koto.

Otousan understood straight away, and eagerly past it on to me, saying it was fine for me to practice in my room; awesome. Hugo enjoyed listening for a while, and then had to leave for class. I continued just playing around for a little while. I really don’t know what I should do for the performance. Maybe I should see if I can find some sheet music on the internet; I wonder how hard that will be. After I finished, I took it back to Otousan, who encouraged me to use it every day, at any time. After that I talked with Simon in the computer room for a while. He talked about all the foods he missed from home, and asked my advice as to what he should ask his Mum to send him. I honestly can’t say that I’m terribly craving anything from back home; and that’s not to say I don’t like anything from Australia. I’m just content with what I have here; it’s really fine. It’s just stuff that I know I can live without, and be perfectly okay. After completing Plants vs. Zombies on my iPod (yay me), and listening to the music video a couple of times (it is epic), I went up to make dinner; it was about 6:30 by this point. It was pretty quiet at this point, which was nice; I made yakisoba. Pretty soon though, people started trickling in. Pokemon was on TV, but I was preoccupied watching Julie cooking her Chijimi.

It’s Korean cuisine, and resembles okonomiyaki; her friend showed her how to make it. She used takoyaki flour and an egg, to create the pancake, and then just added vegetables; you can also add seafood. I was her guinea pig, and got to try a heap of it, and it was amazing; and so simple too. I really want to try and make it. I had already finished eating my own dinner and washed up by the time the group had assembled. Then we proceeded with our usual “2 and a half hour” chat session. During that time, Rachel needed some TCL (issues with friends back in America), and I gave her a big hug; that made her feel a heap better. I made me feel good too; I miss hugs. Lol, the first thing she said when I hugged her was, “you’re skinny”; yep, that I am. We also organised what we’re going to be doing tomorrow. Since I’ll be going with Rachel into Hirakata to get her alien registration sorted, we’re going to pick up New Delhi food for everyone (excluding me – in an effort to save money I’m just going to have my leftover yakisoba), on the way back. Then we’re all going to sit around the TV and watch some more episodes of Firefly; can’t wait. Got back down here at about 10, and then had my plight with iTunes. Well, better get ready for bed now; one more day before weekend once more…

Day 182 - 28th of February

天気：曇り

So, what did I spend the last day of the month doing? Well, not much at all really… I got up at around 8:30, and had a frugal breakfast, and decided to just stay in my pyjamas all day; strangely, Hugo wasn’t back yet. I skyped with Carly, and Alex, before talking with my family for over two hours; got to see my Nanny and Poppy! Then it was time for lunch. The TV was on in the kitchen, and in the right hand corner of the screen there was a map of Japan, with colours flashing around it’s coast; a 津波警報 (tsunami keihou – tsunami warning). There were three colours, red orange and yellow, red being the areas in the most danger, and yellow just having a general warning. Since we’re so far inland, we really have nothing to worry about. I find it quite amazing that an earthquake on the other side of the ocean (in Chile), could potentially have repercussions all the way over here in Japan. Flicking through all the channels, there was a warning on every one of them, the colours being slightly different from station to station; I wonder if a tsunami will hit?

After lunch, I spent the next couple of hours trying to get my blog up to speed; speed unfortunately, is not the word I would use for what the internet possesses here. Hugo eventually came back, and had fun ironing his clothes on the tiny little ironing standing; reminded me of Diego when he used to do it. It almost 3:30 by the time I was satisfied, and then I made my way out to fetch Simon. He had informed me of a fundraiser near Hirakata station for Haiti, and wanted to donate. We had already planned to go out this afternoon to find clothes for the gym, so at least we could look around while we were down there. Riding there was, for the most part, okay. That was until we got to the hill into downtown Hirakata, which provides no room for bikes. It was a less than enjoyable experience, as we sped down the slope, liberally applying the brakes and trying not to hit the side walk on our left (crowed with people), or the cars inches away from us on our right. Well, we both made it unscathed, and continued on to the station.

Here, there was a new dilemma; finding somewhere to park. We really didn’t want to have to pay to park our bikes, so searched for empty areas down side alleys; the problem was that there were “no parking for bikes” signs everywhere. Simon had got a warning ticket down here before, and didn’t want another. We finally found a space over by the park that I only just realised is under major renovation, if that’s the right word; we had walked past it when Simon was going to get his alien registration sorted, and I didn’t even notice. Anyway, we made our way back over there, as it was supposedly where the fundraiser was taking place. Well, when we got there we found nothing, no hint of any activity of the sort. After a little bit a searching, we decided to abandon the cause and go on our second mission; information gathered from facebook obviously doesn’t always have merit. We walked over to Saty, and went to the men’s floor, in search of some gym pants. We’ve been talking about going to the gym for a while now, and since there’s one less than a minute down the road from us that we can use for free (it belongs to the university), we don’t really have an excuse not to go.

In Saty we couldn’t find anything, that wasn’t stupidly priced, and Simon resigned himself to using some pants he already had; so now we were just looking for some for me. We tried in Kintetsu, but were out of luck; all brand name stuff. We even tried in Uniqlo, but all they had were track suits, and I wasn’t about to one of them. So, going all the way down to Hirakata station was a big waste of time; however as I was about to find out, the ride back served as excellent exercise. Yes, it was the hill again, though this time it wasn’t scary at all, just extremely exhausting; I really felt like I was going to die when I got to the top. This made me feel really out of shape, and only made my resolve to go to the gym stronger. Simon wanted to pick some stuff up for dinner, so we made our way to Fresco, Simon having a bit of a stack along the way, resulting in a broken reflector. I was well behind him, and got to witness the whole thing; it was pretty funny. In Fresco we bought a few things, and then, as a last resort we decided to go to Avail to see if they had anything. Well, we didn’t find any shorts, and the track suits were definitely a no. However, I did find a pack of two t-shirts for 300円, which is incredibly cheap. The rest of the time in there was dedicated to trying on other clothes, which proved unsuccessful, and having fun with this little Japanese boy, who was really good at speaking English. He was very excitable, and wasn’t shy at all, as he came up to us, and played hide-and-seek; I was really surprised.

We finally got back after 6. We didn’t achieve very much, but at least we had a little bit of fun, and got some exercise. Since Simon was going up to eat his 枝豆 (edamame – green soybeans) for dinner, I thought I might as well eat too. I heated up some stew, and was soon enjoying it with bread. We stayed up there for a little while, and then parted, intent on study. I tried on my new shirts, and they fit perfectly. Hugo was a little worried that they weren’t going to fit; the M size singlet he has is really tight. In Avail, when I saw the pants I had bought a while back, I thought, why not wear them; they’re pretty much sweat pants. Simon agreed when I showed him; they’re black, so they match my shirts too. Now I feel ready to go to the gym; and I spent way less than I had expected to for it. I studied until 9, and then went up to the kitchen for a snack, inevitably staying up there to sit and talk with Ash; she had just gotten back from her day with Peter at USJ. The tsunami warning was still on TV, though the threat had greatly lessened, with the most dangerous colour gone from the map. Just after 10, I went back downstairs, and did another hour of studying, before getting ready for bed; lesson test tomorrow…

Day 172 - 18th of February

11:36pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Well, it started off being a nice sunny day, but after noon the weather turned, and it was again cloudy and rainy; I’m kinda getting sick of it. Anyway, I slept in till about 9:30, before deciding it would be better to get up and be productive. I had breakfast, showered, and then studied, and did some of my reading for Religion. Although it was sunny, the walk to uni was still chilly, so the warmth of the CIE building was comforting. We had another speech in Speaking, and then ended up just revising for the rest of the lesson; test tomorrow! I made a quick dash to the convenience store, and snacked on some bread before going to Religion; met Katie and Rachael on the way back. We talked about the “this worldly” benefits as a central part of Shinto practice. People use お守り (Omamori – protection charms) and 絵馬 (ema - prayer boards), for things ranging from the mundane to the absurd. Commercialism has definitely crept into it, with Hello Kitty Omamori, and KFC ema! No joke, one year (the year of the rooster), a shrine came out with ema depicting Colonel Sanders holding a rooster with the three kanji characters next to him sounding out Kentucky ~ 健多喜 – Ken-ta-ki – lit. “Health and lots of happiness”; you have to give the priest who came up with it credit though.

There is even a shrine that uses panties as ema, and if you didn’t bring your own, you can buy them at the shrine; so crazy. This is linked with fertility and women’s health, especially concerning gynaecological issues. Another ema depicted 水子 (mizuko – aborted foetuses) being protected by one of the Bodhisattvas (can’t remember his name). These ema were actually addressed to the aborted foetuses, and where a way for people to apologise. And yet another ema at the Thomas Edison shrine (yes, Thomas Edison is a “god” in Shinto belief ~ he was deified for helping to set up electricity in Tokyo) that is primarily used for people to wish for success in exams, actually has the expression “genius is 1%, 99% perspiration written on it in Japanese; so cool. I’m actually thinking, as my assignment, to go around and photograph, and try to translate, a whole bunch of ema to see just what people wish/hope for; it would be pretty interesting I think. All the arrangements were finalised for the Fushimi Inari trip on Sunday, and hopefully I can drag Simon along. I asked him after class, and he said he would be interesting in coming, and possibly going to the flea markets afterwards; totally doable.

This was as Simon, Tomo and I were walking toward the bike shop on the main street that goes past the university, hoping to find Simon a new bike. Unfortunately, the bike shop was closed (on holiday), so that wasn’t happening. Put off, but still eager to buy a bike today, Simon decided to try for the shop in Makino. So he left, with Tomo in tow, while I decided to go do some grocery shopping; I was in need of a few things. I went to Fresco first since it was closer, and then went to Kirindo; yay for cheap stuff. Then I made my way back home, back through the uni; I thought it would be quicker that way. I made it home just as it started to pour with rain, and went straight to the kitchen to have some lunch; the golf was on TV, in Arizona! After lunch, I went back to my room and talked with my parents until it was time to go out again; Japanese-French exchange. When I got there (room 3401 of the CIE building), I was surprised at just how popular it was. Jacinthe, as teacher, went through a few really basic things, and then let us loose. French speakers partnered up with non-French speakers; it turned out that there were slightly more of the later. I ended up speaking with three French people (Hugo included) in the hour we had, I couldn’t help but to feel completely inadequate; starting a new language basically from scratch is damn hard. I mean, I did do French in primary school for three years, but that was a long time ago!

Anyway, it was a pretty fun experience, and I did pick up a few things; it’s just trying to retain it that’s the problem. I don’t know if I’m going to pursue this any further, especially since I am trying to focus on Japanese right now; but it’s something. Hugo seemed to appreciate it, and was very eager to teach; he was very patient with me too. That was finished by 7:30, so I made my way back home, in the cold of the night. When I got back, I spotted Simon in the computer room, and he told me the good news; a new bike that is apparently very sexy? We shall see… anyway, that means I can go get his old one register in my name now; we’ll be doing that on Saturday. After chatting with him, I went up to make dinner (yakisoba), and then sat around a talked for a while. At one point we reminisced about Fantasia, and Ash, Rachael, and I voiced “A Night on Bald Mountain”; that was a lot of fun. Not wanting to leave, but study beckoning, I went back down and got stuck into it; Hugo too. We were interrupted (but not in a bad way) firstly by Simon, who came in to show off his new plaid shirt, and then Marine (I think that’s her name), who came to steal some movies off Hugo’s external hard drive; he must have almost 50 on there. And then all the time suddenly disappeared, and it was time to get ready for bed. Fingers crossed I do okay tomorrow…