Bizarro Christmas

Well, it's December 22nd and it hardly feels like Christmas is a few days away. Sure there are all the old Christmas classics playing away in the department stores, the streets in downtown have quite extravagant light displays, and the bakery is even serving snowman and tree pastries (covered in strawberry frosting and filled with cream). I even tried to get with the holiday spirit when I bought a Christmas tree (see below).

I guess what it comes down to is that most Japanese only kind of celebrate Christmas. I have students who believe that Santa Claus brings them presents but a lot of them are going to their schools or studying or going shopping on Christmas Day. It's just not the same but I think that it may be for the best. Now I won't feel so indignant about the fact that I have to work on Christmas or about the 8 classes I have to teach...

I'm even attending a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. We'll eat Christmas cakes and eat Christmas chicken because that's how they celebrate Christmas in Japan. But the festivities might be cut short for me since I have to leave the party early so I can work the next day and teach 8 classes... Ok, so I'm still a little bitter. Anyway, to everyone back home: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This is my 105 yen tree complete with ornaments. Some might say cute. Some might say sad. What do you think?

Hiroshima Carp vs. Nagoya Dragons

So this happened in July... I know. I'm a bit behind in updates.

On one of our shopping trips, I mentioned to my coworker Fumie how much I like going to baseball games and how I wanted to go to one in Japan. (Btw, I'm starting to think that we go on so many shopping trips because I suggest it would be fun and she feels obligated to accept, lol. I have fun. I hope she does too. At least now that my Japanese is improving a lot more.) A bit later she tells me that her family wants to invite me to go to a game because her dad works at a university and can get tickets. I was so surprised and thanked her profusely and said how sweet it was to think of me (but I'm starting to realize that people can be nice to me because they're curious about this English teaching gaijin and just want a foreign experience so I guess it's win-win? lol).

So the day of the game, I decide I need to go shopping for the things I need to make a dessert. Earlier in the week I realized if would be in very bad taste to go empty handed after they had gone to all the trouble of inviting me and getting the tickets. I wanted to make an "American" dessert but as I only have a toaster oven it's a little hard to bake and although I've been told that I can bake in my microwave (it's a literal microwave oven) and that the previous NET would make brownies I"m still wary of sticking a metal baking sheet in it and pressing start.

So what's an American dessert that doesn't require baking and that has relatively simple ingredients… Funnel cake! So my mom emails me the recipe and day of, I go to get all of the things. But of course I didn't plan this well and time is ticking away and getting closer to the time I'm supposed to meet them at the station. So I get all the ingredients, even a measuring cup and a mixing bowl and heal the oil in the pan, get a spoonful of batter, go to grab a funnel when I realize, I forgot to get one. So after 30 seconds of staring blankly into the oil wondering what I should do I wing it with the spoon. The shape doesn't affect the taste, I reason. And no it doesn't but presentation is very important here. So I bust out a batch top it with powdered sugar (remembered that) put 'em in a cute bag I picked up at the 100 yen store, don the carp jersey I got my dad and head out the door. Now, I"m writing this in December but back in July when this happened it was just starting to become hellishly hot so I wasn't wearing a jacket. i got my fair share of stares as I walked around in my bright red oversized carp jersey, a little foreign girl who rarely ventures into the city during the daylight.

I made it with time to spare. At the station maybe I stood out less. People everywhere were wearing bright red and white jerseys. Or maybe a stood out more as the only person in a red jersey standing alone, haha. They were late, surprisingly and I got profuse apologies for it. No worries, I'm always arriving after Fumie when we go shopping even if I am actually on time. I always feel late.

So we made our way to the stadium and I snapped some photos along the way. There was this giant crowd and we sort of paraded in the direction of the stadium.

Fumie's parents don't really speak English, kind of how I didn't really speak Japanese at the time. We both knew a few words and phrases but Fumie was our translator. Still, it wasn't the least bit awkward. For me, anyway.

First thing, we found our seats and then Fumie's dad asked who wanted beer. I politely declined but they insisted that we all drink and that they pay.I took a moment take scan the staium and all I could see was red, save for this one area in the nosebleeds where people were rocking the Nagoya Dragons blue.

The cheers were deafening. There was even a band made up of fans not affiliated with the team or stadium that played each player's cheer.

Fumie's dad gave me a pair of thundersticks so I could join in on the cheering. But soon we decided we were hungry and went to peruse the food counters. I never would have thought udon to be a viable food to serve at a stadium what with all the raucous cheering and recreational beer drinking but as I've learned, things just have a way of working out in Japan.

There was takoyaki, udon, okonomiyaki, yakitori, etc. We settled on okonomiyaki and afterwards snacked on squid jerky and cheese with a dried fish coating (surprisingly good).

After dinner, I brought out the funnel cakes. Turns out, they don't keep well. They were soggy from the oil and the powerderd sugar was already absorbed but Fumie's family ate them up and told me how good they wre. I kept offering and they kept accepting even though they'd said they were stuffed after dinner. Thank goodness for excellent manners and oseiji (complimenting someone even though you don't mean it just to make them feel good).

During what we would call the seventh inning stretch (although it didn't take place during the 7th inning, I want to say it was the 5th but I can't remember) we got balloons. Really big, red balloons that we blue up and while they played the carp song we sang along (I tried to, at least) and then we let the balloons go. Once the balloons deflated back to the ground they were cleaned up extraordinarily fast.

As the game drew to a close we realized the Carp would be shut out but the cheering never once let up. Not even when the Dragons were up to 7 runs (5 of which I think all happened in 1 inning). Even when the last out was called and the game was officially over, the fans left the stadium relatively cheerful possibly satisfied with the enjoyable time they just had.

As we made our way out of the stadium, I got a few souvenirs- the only things I actually bought that night. I got a hello kitty carp baseball player phone charm and a "Slyly" key chain. While the team is called the Carp, "Slyly" (the mascot) is a cross between a Sesame Street monster and an oddly colored muppet. He's bright blue and green with some orange and red. Similarly, the Nagoya Dragons have a giant blue koala who riles up the fans and gets them excited.

We didn't get back to the station until after 10pm. We walked with the crowd of people and caught a taxi to where they had parked and they insisted on driving me home. When my sister came to visit, I had her bring me some jerseys (Matsui and Ichiro) and I gave them to Fumie's family as a thank you. Her dad wrote me a nice letter which she translated.

All in all, a highly enjoyable experience. :)

More stories to come soon!

Alright, so here are some updates:

First, let me apologize for being MIA for sooo long. And HUGE thanks to my fabulous sister, Rebecca, for updating my blog while she was visiting. Where did I last leave off? It seems to me that I had just finished follow up training… Oh my, so much has happened since then!

Well, let's begin: So after follow up training I visited my friend, Kurstin who lives in the prefecture next door. Her school is actually in a rather small city, Tokuyama, and she repeatedly warned me that there was nothing to do. I was curious and decided to go anyway.

The train ride was about two hours. The first half hour we passed through the outskirts of Hiroshima which becomes quite industrial. Then we cruised alongside the ocean which I was so happy to see. But instead of nice sandy beaches there were rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. And oyster farms which were interesting but there went my hopes of actually taking a dip in the ocean. Ah well, probably sharks anyway ;).

Next the train began to curve inland and we went around mountains and through mountains. The hills were absolutely green. I have never seen so much green except for maybe one month in spring in California. But the hills were so green and it just spread into the valleys only to be broken up by rice paddies. And there were a lot of rice paddies. I saw a crane/heron (?) walking in them. Never saw any people though. Just the heron. It was an overcast, cloudy day (although this was the start of all the humidity so it was decidedly NOT cool) so maybe everyone was taking it easy indoors.

Then came the smokestacks once more and I knew we were getting close to Tokuyama. Kurstin had warned me that Tokuyama is a very industrial town and so I was expecting blackened skies, bricks buildings, a city dump, and no more green. However, it is actually a really pretty town. Granted, everything she said about it being small and uneventful was true. There was really nothing to do there. And we walked around the majority of the town in an hour or so but I liked the quaintness (at least for one day).

We decided to go to this yakitori izakaya (family restaurant) and while we were debating over whether or not we should actually go in, I swear I saw the waitress at the door slowly shake her head in terror. As we walked in, she turned to the rest of the guests and I believe asked them whether or not there was anyone who knew English because they answered, "English, OK. OK!" But they were drunk so it didn't count. I should probably mention at this point that I have never been stared at more in Japan than when I was in Tokuyama. Everyone had gotten used to Kurstin but now that she was walking around with someone else instead of alone, shocked and awed everyone. They all stared unashamedly and I don't think it was me being paranoid when I say that people literally stopped their cars to gawk. Maybe they were at stoplights but they certainly didn't hit the gas the second the light turned green as long as we were still in view.

So there we were at this restaurant where clearly no one spoke English and the staff was more freaked out than we were. The waitress looked around at her fellow staff members but they avoided her gaze. They totally just threw her to the foreigners. Of course the menu was all in Japanese and without pictures but we were feeling adventurous so I asked her what her recommendation was. (I had just learned how to in my Japanese class so I was pretty proud). The waittress looked terrified and mumbled something about sashimi and cabbage rolls so we got one of each. And free beer. They were having a nice little promotion. It was not a lot of food and we scarfed it down but our waitress pretty much disappeared after that. You're supposed to yell, "Sumimasen!" to get them to come back over to you but we felt so bad for her that we just drank our beer. More and more people kept coming in and I think they wanted to ask us to move over so they could make room but NO one would approach us. But we weren't finished with our free glasses so we pretended to have no clue about what was going on.

Eventually we finished and the second we left you could practically hear the tension leave the entire place. It sounded much livelier as we walked out the door. We were still hungry so… we went to McDonald's, lol.

And since there wasn't much to do that night we ended up watching a movie at her apartment and then I left early the next day to go shopping with Fumie, one of my coworkers.

Did I also mention that I went hiking? Well, I'll have to expand on that in another post :)

Sisters explore Japan....

Since Jess has been so busy with work, I've decided to take over! (For you Dad)

The month of August has been unbearably hot and humid, but still very fun!

Here are some of the things we've done:

On August 6th, a ceremony was held in memory of the A-bomb victims. Lanterns were lit and floated down the river around the atomic bomb dome- very peaceful.

Colored lanterns floating down the river.

Jess showed us lots of different sights to see in Hiroshima, like the Kintai Kyo (/Bridge). It was pretty cool, but hard to walk on..

Ahhhh Kintai~

Jess enjoying the slighty-less-hot-but-still-unbearable-weather

We skipped stones on the water and ate ice cream (:

Next is Miyajima! This was my favorite place in Hiroshima.

We took a ferry to the island and Jess told me to stand by the railing just before we could see the Torii gate.

Shortly after this picture was taken, I was swarmed by people clamoring to the railing.

Good call Jess, good call.

Deer!! They're all over the island, and are very chill. I got to pet one :D (this was before I saw the sign that asked us not to touch them..)

They like to eat tickets and passports, even though they should not.

Oysters...

The pearl of Miyajima cuisine...heh heh...get it..."pearl"....

Jess about to enjoy oysters! Do deer eat oysters??

The famous floating Torii gate!

Also, corn.

The gate is huge! Its really cool walking out to it, but there was tons of algae...

One fish got left behind when the tide went out...

As our dad would say "circle of life".

This is the actual Itsukushima Shrine. It's very pretty.

It'd like to see it when the tide comes in, and it floats too.

The view of the gate from the shrine.

We started walking up the mountain and Jess showed us the tree that eats you.

I didn't believe her....until...

:O!

Further up we spotted....a monkey! They used to be on the top of the mountain, but

had been attacking people and so had to be removed.

Looks like we found the one that got away...

Bambi! (Your favorite Dad)

The ropeway up the mountain! Veryveryvery high up...but so cool!

At the top, there were left over signs from when monkeys still roamed free.

I wonder if the monkey we saw would hope to be such a monkey?

The view from the top!

Jess at the top!

We began to hike across the mountain top for a very long time. It started to rain on the way back!

We saw this shrine across the mountain. It housed the eternal flame. Oddly enough, it was hard to see the flame.

Walking back in the rain :)

Then we packed our bags and headed for the bright lights of....

Tokyo!! The famous Shibuya Crossing :D!

And you can't go to Tokyo without visiting...

Cinderella's Castle. You can't tell here but as soon as people get into the park, they run. Like, literally run. Or send their children or something. It gets intense here.

Our first ride was Big Thunder!

Unfortunately, the line is universal D:.

Tokyo Disneyland was really similar to our Disneyland. The only main difference was the lack of Princesses. There weren't any in the park, and barely any of the merchandise had them on it either! Instead, everyone loves characters! Especially Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Stitch.

Here, Minnie is getting mobbed.

For some reason, the Tiki Room is taken over by Stitch. They looove Stitch here!

Mickey Pork Bun! The food here is another big difference. They have lots of different flavors of churro-lemon honey, maple and cinnamon, and popcorn too- strawberry, milk tea, curry, soy sauce-butter (bleghh)

The Electric Light Parade!

We took a break from our Disney exploits to see a shrine. It housed the flame of peace.

The plaque read that a man found this flame still burning among the ashes of Hiroshima, and kept it as a symbol of the need for abolition of nuclear weapons.

This street used to be the black market!

Today, bottled Dr. Pepper can be found. Jess was happy.

And now.....

DISNEYSEA!

DisneySea was amazing! It's built right next to the ocean, and water weaves throughout it. Their parades and shows are preformed on the water! And instead of a castle, the center of their park is a volcano!

Aquatopia! Little hoverboats take you around a wet course or a dry course.

The Tower of Terror! The story behind this one is different than ours, and much scarier. Hightower was the man who owned this hotel, and he collected trinkets from all over the world. He brings back a Tiki Idol thing after one expedition and apparently its cursed (I think so...it was sort of all in Japanese). So while you wait for the elevator this story plays out in Hightower's study. And the Tiki Idol's there in room. Then all of a sudden, its eyes light up and took around, and then it gets dark, just around the idol, and it disappears! Then when your on the elevator it stops on one floor, and you see that the idol zapped Hightower and made him plummet down the elevator. Then you go up one more floor, and the Tiki Idol's there, laughing evilly, of course. And then you plummet down!

The Ariabian Coastline. DisneySea is divided by ports, including this one there are- American Water Front, Mermaid Lagoon, Port Discovery (aka port of the future), Lost River Delta and Mysterious Island.

Mermaid Lagoon aka Ariel-land :DDD We saw a mini-production of the Little Mermaid in the theatre inside here. The songs were in english but everything else was in japanese! Still very good :D!

Whats inside the Volcano!

Mythica- the water show where "Mickey and friends discover the land of Mythica, meeting dragons and unicorns along the way".

...reallyreally cool show :D

And finally, Hachiko!

The month of August was amazing and I hope to return soon!

Also, I hope Jess will update her blog more!

Thats it for now!

-Sensei Jessica

(With a little help from Imouto(little sister) Rebecca)