☆☆ とくベつ!~~ (･ω･)

“What’s Madeline eating in Nihon?”

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: “Delicious”
Japanese: “Oishii”


      Sorry about the overly cute Japanese title. Since this is part of a mini series of special topics focusing on culture I wanted to give you all a taste of Japanese cuteness. On the board where Japanese cultural trips are advertised many of them have cutesey titles with stars, hearts, and faces. And for anyone who it’s bothering, the hiragana says “tokubetsu” which means “special”.

      Right then! Let’s talk about Japanese food!


Cafeteria meals
      I feel as though saying that I love the KGU cafeteria is not a strong enough sentiment for my undying devotion to the establishment. Not only do they have a wide range of delicious food daily but it’s all incredibly cheap; 380 to 500 yen per meal which is easily large enough to fill you up. Even better, my favourite meal served is the 380yen one, the club lunch. Exactly what it is changes slightly from day to day but on a basic level is a meat usually cooked katsu style (a kind of frying) and served with cabbage (bleh!), pasta salad, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of miso soup. All that. For about $4 USD. Also it’s amazing. Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) may be one of my favourite foods ever after eating in the cafeteria here.

      But the cafeteria’s standard of excellence doesn’t stop there! I’ve also eaten their ramen which is served in a bowl bigger than your head and is the perfect thing on a cold day. My favourite is the spicy ramen which includes bean sprouts, ground meat of some sort, half an egg (hard boiled), a vegetable I can’t recall the name of, and a ton of noodles. I’ve also heard very good things about the donburi served in the cafeteria but I haven’t gotten around to trying it myself yet. From what I recall it’s served in a bowl of rice with sauce and topped with your choice of meal (or vegetables) and finally a raw egg. The raw egg part is the reason I haven’t tried it yet, if you were wondering. But once I can muster up the courage I do intend to try it, perhaps on a day the club lunch isn’t my favourite kind. In addition to full meals the cafeteria also has small items like fruits, yogurt (I think), and onigiri for sale. Onigiri is a rice ball, usually in the shape of a triangle, that’s been covered by nori (seaweed) and has a filling inside. The cafeteria serves two kinds that I’ve tried, nori onigiri, with little bits of seaweed sprinkled in all the rice, and chicken onigiri, which has fried chicken pieces in the middle. Both are very good and very filling.

Restaurants
      Our first (real) night in Japan the usual suspects and I opted to try ramen seemed much safer than another terrifying trip to the market. In Japanese ramen restaurants you go to a bar like seating, place your order, and the cook prepares your food behind the bar right in front of you. I remember it being quite cool though at the time I was kind of overloaded with that silly “new country I know no language of” nonsense. The ramen we got was very good and, like in the cafeteria, in bowls bigger than our heads. In Japan, to drink soup you don’t generally use a spoon (unless the bowl is too big and will spill) so tipping the bowl and slurping is totally acceptable, if not encouraged. In the instance of ramen, though, the bowls are usually too big so you use the uniquely Japanese spoons you all may have encountered in Japanese steakhouses in America.

      Since eating ramen our first night we’ve explored far more and discovered much more good food and a particular restaurant we’ve come to consider a favourite. It’s a relatively small, self-owned business (like most Japanese restaurants) and is run by possibly the nicest old lady in Japan. We’ve been in three times and the last two times she gave us chocolate (it was near Valentine’s Day) and small oranges respectively. Oh, and her food is amazing. It’s another place where you get a ton of food for around 400-500yen and it tastes amazing. I’ve tried different things each time I’ve been but no matter what you get as your main dish you get a heaping plate of rice, a bowl of miso soup, and a green pepper slice cooked with your food. My favourite of the dishes I’ve had was probably a noodle plate that had 2 cooked eggs and a little bit of bacon covering the top. Oishi desu yo!

Did I mention the Japanese like frying food?

      Another place that is a favourite among KGU students is a sushi conveyer restaurant called Kappa Sushi. Let me explain everything I just said. This particular kind of eatery is one where the tables are placed along conveyer belts where sushi rides on past you and if it’s something you want you can grab it. You can also place special orders that are delivered directly to you by a tiny bullet train running atop the conveyer belt. I’m not a huge fish fan so I’ve opted to try more of the not-fish sushi they serve such as shrimp tempura, beef (in a little sheet on the rice), and takoyaki. When I tried it I knew takoyaki was octopus inside a breading shell. I did not, however, know that it was baby octopi. I was horrified when I found out. Shrimp tempura sushi was definitely the best, by the way. Oh, and all sushi (like everything else in Japan) was served with mayonnaise. It’s kind of a big deal here.

      Another very Japanese kind of meal are bento boxes; prepared lunches made to travel and be reheated as necessary. In fact, these shops don’t provide seating but merely a counter to order and a bench to wait while your food is prepared. Yes, even in Japanese fast food the food is prepared when you order not sitting in a heater. It shows. But I digress (again). There are two of these stores right across the road from one another near the school and they make for a great picnic. The bentos themselves usually contain a main meat, rice, and egg or (more rarely) vegetables to go with it. The boxes are usually cheap and very filling so I’m quite a fan.

The yellow stuff is egg, by the way.

       While out and about in places away from our usual haunt we’ve also found good food. Melissa and Lulu took us to a wonderful Italian restaurant in an Osaka outdoor mall when we were there. We ran into other students that had just eaten there so I gather it to be quite popular among the international students. This is probably because not only is it reaaaally good Italian food but it’s cheap. But honestly, it could probably be pretty crappy Italian food that was cheap and we’d love it. Not cheap, however, are the plethoras of dessert restaurants we’ve seen in department stores, malls, and generally all over Japan. I’ve also heard rumors of a dessert all-you-can-eat buffet where you pay a fee and get to eat for an hour and a half. I hope I do not get the chance to go there.

Fast Food
      As a developed national Japan is also home to fast food restaurants with a few familiar faces like McDonalds and KFC. I personally like going to these restaurants just to see how they view American dining habits. Did you know that on Christmas day in Japan you have to have a reservation to get KFC? Apparently, someone mistranslated something and the Japanese seem to think that in America we celebrate the messiah’s birth with some home-style fried chicken and buttery biscuits. Jesus would be proud. McDonald’s also released a line of “Big American” burgers, a total of four burgers styled after American locations (Texas, Idaho, Manhattan, and Miami). I can’t be bothered to type a description of the burgers when there are perfectly good pictures online so here’s a link to the Japanese McDonald’s website menu. It’s also worth noting that with the exception of the American burger series most Japanese fast food still comes in reasonable sizes. Like a small fries means 10 fries not 9,001. I’ve only had KFC since coming here and it was pretty standard tasting but served with melon soda. If only we could get that in the states! My friends have eaten McDonalds and say it’s about the same as well.

 But fear not, Japan has its own version of fast food burgers: Mo’s Authentic Japanese Burgers. … I don’t think there’s too much more to say about this, just that they sell burgers except with a Japanese twist like putting cabbage (blegh!) on them instead of lettuce, etc. There are also a lot of fishy burgers but I lack the desire to try them. Here’s a menu (in English this time how exciting!) if you want to look.


Vending Machines
      I’ve already mentioned the range of vending machines in Japan so I’ll make this section brief, presuming I’m capable of such. Like American vending machines, drink machines here sell the usual range of products based on whatever franchise owns the machine such as Coke (which exists in Japan). However, Japanese vending machines serve both hot and cold drinks allowing for products like hot coffee to be sold. The coffee from vending machines is actually really good (it beats Seattle’s best and it’s like 1/3rd the price). In addition, there are some machines that dispense and fill cups allowing you to add cream and sugar in specific amounts to your coffee. I haven’t tried doing this yet but the boys have and said when you get it right it’s quite good. In vending machine alley (behind the cafeteria) we have a row of about 8 vending machines, one of which sells ice cream which like coffee was surprisingly good and cost effective. As far as food vending machines go, the only other variety I’ve seen so far was a ramen machine that also gave you hot water for you ramen.

The stuff to the left of the pancake drink is a red bean drink. I think.

Market
      As some of you may recall, a few hours after arriving in Japan I went with a group to a local market (Top World) to get some food for dinner. You may also recall me saying it was a horrifying experience that scarred me deeply and made me veer away from markets for as long as possible afterwards. This was mostly due to massive culture shock of being suddenly flung into another country with entirely different eating habits, another currency, and no knowledge of ‘real’ Japanese food.



Exhibit A.


      Face it, if you’d just come to a new country and seen that first thing while desperately seeking food you’d probably need a new pair of pants. I’ve since mastered the currency conversion (which is very helpful in knowing just how much that carton of milk costs) and learned which foods make for a good, relatively inexpensive meal. One thing that you may not realize offhand is that fruit is very expensive in Japan. Being an island Japan has to import most of its fruit meaning a carton of strawberries can range from 300 to 780 yen. I’ve also seen 2000yen melons! To counter balance this, Japan sells amazing breads most of which are pretty cheap. You can get a bag of rolls for like 100-200yen that will last for a week of breakfasts. Japanese bread is also pretty sweet by itself, in my experience. Bread is also commonly filled with things (I’m sure there’s a word for this…) making it capable of being a standalone meal. The bakery in the market is also absolutely amazing. After about 5:00 in the day they put everything on sale for 105yen and I’ve many time snapped up a tasty treat such as a bread conch shell filled with custard. Another good thing is a toasted bread cheese, egg, and ham sandwich. Did I mention they put egg on everything in Japan? Also mayonnaise is everywhere. No seriously, everywhere.

      Since you survived my massively long post on Japanese food here’s a picture of the breakfast dinner my friends and I cooked a few weeks ago!


 

Mmm, carbs.


Ja ne!

Kitties of Japan

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: “Neko”                         Bonus word:       “Coneko”
Japanese: “Cat”                                                    “Kitten”

Today (2/21) was a wonderful day and I am breaking chronological format to tell you about it (I still haven’t typed up my Osaka trip, haha.)

The day began like any other with the usual suspects heading to our classes enjoying the nice warm day. We separated for our language classes, I having spoken Japanese before continuing to my sumi-e* painting class. In the sumi-e class our senseiº began with a tutorial on how to paint orchids, our project for the week. After her instructions we began our trial and error paintings while she told us about a nearby park, Yamadaikeon. As a true artist, sensei encourages us to go out and see the things we’re painting as it blooms around us. Alas, orchids are not blooming yet but she did tell us that the plum trees were just starting to burst forth into bloom. Between the how warm and beautiful the day was and my desire for pretty pictures I decided to set off for the park after my classes. It also didn’t hurt that on Mondays I finished class at 12:30.

               After my classes I met up with the usual suspects for lunch (though they had eaten earlier, the bums) and while I ate I explained about the park and we opted to set off for it grabbing groceries for dinner on the way back. We parted from Jordan who had an afternoon class and dropped our extra baggage off at the dorm. According to the map sensei had painted unto paper for us to get to the park required going north to the river and then walking along the designated walking paths for about 30 minutes.

Map not to scale. At all. S4 is my Seminar house, by the way.

We also had to cross two big roads but the path went under one and the other had a nice pedestrian walk/don’t walk sign. Eventually we arrived completely safely to the park and abandoned society for the asylum of large trees and thick bamboo forests. I was surprised to see how many people were in the park, most around middle age, walking with friends or alone and several with nice cameras. One such woman saw us (clearly not native) and politely asked us a few questions, such as if we were Kansai Gaidai students and where we were from. I have to confess her English was very good though she did tend to switch between languages a bit. I have been pleasantly surprised almost every time I have interacted with a random Japanese citizen because of how incredibly kind and respectful they are. It was honestly a delight to talk to this woman because of how respectful she was about us coming to her country and how interested she seemed to be in us. It was quite flattering, actually.

Sorry for the weird angle, I snapped the picture without her knowing.

We passed her continuing on the path past the large lake on the right to a less traveled path with a wall of bamboo on the left until we reached a hill with blossoming trees. The flowers on the trees looked like flowers from a bush plant in the west but these were definitely on trees so I’m not sure if it’s another breed or what, but have a gander.

Disappointed to have not yet found the elusive plum trees we continued and found, among many other things, piles of wood that appeared meant for burning, a small pond, a man playing the flute, some cats – wait, back up, cats?

Yes. Cats. I spotted the first one running out of a bush and into a dried river bed and naturally crept closer to have a look. After a moment I realized there were in fact two cats, one in the river bed and another on some dried grass near me. Delighted I photographed the felines as they stared off one another intently. Quite pleased at seeing my favourite furry friends I caught up with Ellen and Michael and we looked ahead to our path splitting 4 directions. As we debated which way to go, Michael spotted something that sealed the deal; one of the middle paths going up a hill had 2 kitties lounging beside it. I set off up the path hoping these kitties might be friendly than the last two and be up for some petting when I spotted the 3^rd. As my delight grew, so did the number of kitties present, or so it seemed. Around this point Ellen opted to begin a kitty count as cats begun appearing from all sides as a woman ahead of us handed out some food for the kitties.

Do any of you know what heaven looks like? Because it looks like this:

Oh... hello there.

Hey God? I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'll stop that whole atheist nonsense now.

The reason the cats are so friendly.

Seriously, they were everywhere! I’d turn around and another kitty would show up, it was amazing! And even better, most were friendly and all for a head rub! It was heaven. Eventually I allowed myself to be pulled away by my companions and we continued up the hill to find the plum trees we’d originally set out for.

               If the kitties were a wonderful treat, the plum trees were the icing and fresh strawberry on top. They appeared to have just begun blossoming as the trees were filled with beautiful fresh buds and a few were still bare. I can show you (somewhat) how beautiful the grove was but I lament being unable to reproduce the wonderful smell they provided. It was really something else.

               After the flowers, we continued exploring for a bit more, keeping up the kitty count, before decided to head back before it got cold as Michael and I had abandoned our jackets in the dorm. Excited about the wonderful new park full of spring flowers and kitties we stopped for a drink at the park entrance before leaving wherein we noticed a product for sale we had yet to see: a pancake flavoured drink.

               Not. Even. Kidding. Japan has it all. Michael got the drink and reported that it was actually quite good. I stuck with grape soda. There was also a corn drink. This stuff is to random for me to make up.

               Drinks digesting we began the pleasant walk back, stopping by the Sanko market with a 100yen store to get some basic supplies and dinner materials. Returning home we cooked our cheapo pizzas (and ate fruit with them, mom) and relaxed. In total, we’d walked over 5 miles to school and back and again to the park, not counting our excursions inside the park so we all enjoyed sitting down to eat. But as I relaxed I began planning my next trip back to the park full of my favourite vice: cats!

Ja ne!

Final Kitty Count:
-19 Cats in the park
-1 Cat on the river side on the way home
-1 Baby crying like a cat being upset
-1 Suspiciously cat-like lump of dirt.

*Sumi-e is a traditional Chinese-Japanese method of brush painting using sumi ink and sometimes watercolor. More on this later!
º”Sensei” is the Japanese word for teacher and it applies to all kinds of teachers.

The 8th Wonder of the World - Kyoto

Japanese Word of the Day
English: “Amazing”
Japanese: “Sugoi”

               If I were to ask you right now to think of 5 of the most beautiful places in the world I highly doubt Kyoto, Japan would be one of the ones you thought of. Before a week ago, it wouldn’t have been on my list either but after experiencing its beauty first hand it now stands a strong contender.

               Friday (2/4) began the same as much of the rest of orientation week: my friends and I got up relatively early and hiked to campus for morning orientation. We usually aimed to arrive 15-20 minutes early (because early is always good!) and I intended to use this time to get my laptop registered with the school network so I could finally begin using it and actually working on this blog. The reason I had waited so long in the week to get my laptop registered was due to a rather problematic cycle. Being on the KGU network required an updated antivirus software which I, due to a fit of laziness, had not gotten around to installing. When I went to update my software in my dorm I found I could not connect to the internet via Ethernet to get said software which would allow me to get a permanent internet connection. See the problem? So I took my laptop in, got it working with the internet and with a few updates was ready for the network.

               With the reassurance that I would later have back my precious internets I attended the final batch of orientation sessions with my friends. And what a lineup we had today! First was a general meeting on sexual health in Japan followed by a women only seminar. What fun!

               Actually it was really boring, except for the occasion joke thrown in.

               But then we met – Dun, dun, duuuuuun~!

               But seriously it was pretty boring. Random unprotected sex=bad. I feel enlightened. Women’s orientation wasn’t much more interesting. Obviously all the males were freed from the room before the dreaded conversation about PMS and what not began but near the end a male professor stood up to say something and I realized he was the lone Y chromosome left in the room. Poor, brave man. He’s my professor for Popular Culture as Social Practice, too.

               Once orientation was finally over celebration commenced by picking up our schedules from the mailboxes and seeing what classes we got. I managed to get all 5 classes I had picked; Spoken Japanese, Reading and Writing Japanese, Manga: The Graphic Fiction of Japan, Popular Culture as Social Practice, and Sumi-e (Chinese brush painting). During the orientation that morning we were also told that it is ill-advised to take the 5 courses allowed and 4 is more manageable. Woopsie?

               But there was no time to lament my intense course load as there was an optional trip to Kyoto to bring orientation week to a close. The Usual Suspects and I grabbed lunch and went back to Seminar House 4 to drop off our laptops and other unnecessary items before heading back to the meet up location for the Kyoto trip. As we approached the multimedia hall we saw swarms of students both international and Japanese gathering before being divided into seating areas. As we sat down I appreciated the sheer number of students in attendance both international and (more surprising to me) KGU students. In fact once we were divided up there were more KGU students than international students. For those wondering, the KGU students had come to serve as tour guides for us silly gaikokujin (I’m making you learn words!) and teach us how to use the bus and train systems. At first I wondered why they were all being so generous in aiding us but I realized later that they benefited in getting to use and practice English in addition to learn more about foreigners. Japan is a very international country in a business sense but away from specialized international schools like KGU it lacks much of the outside world.

               But I’m digressing, as I tend to do. My group of the four usual suspects was paired with four Japanese girls who I confess I cannot remember the names of. I think two were Kanako and something that rhymed with that except with an S. Regardless, they were all very nice and helped lead us to a bus stop where the one who took charge (we’ll call her Heels for now˘) showed us how to read the bus schedule and what bus to take to the station. While waiting for the bus we waited outside a pastry shop which played music. For a while we all tried to place what seemed to be a familiar song but were unable to pin it down until the chorus came on and we realized we were listening to a lounge version of Thriller sung by a woman. Japan is awesome. But back to buses! To this point, my group had only been to the station once before and we had walked the entire way (a solid hour walk one way) so I confess I had a guilty pleasure in riding the bus that the 220Yen fare could not deprive me of. At the station our lovely guides aided us in deciphering the train map and showing us how to get tickets but at this point I must confess I still have no idea how the bus or train systems work. Maybe I’m making excuses but that whole “being in another language with an entirely different alphabet” thing still trips me up. Competent of what I was doing or not we were soon on a train for the first time in Japan rushing away from Hirakata and towards Kyoto.

               Time for a little background on Kyoto! During World War II Kyoto was a major town that America chose not to bomb due its historical significance as a previous capital of Japan. As a result, Kyoto has kept many of its pre-war buildings and is a well preserved artifact of Japanese culture as it has retained many great shrines, temples, gardens and other relics of Japanese history. As a result it is not uncommon to see women and men in traditional or religious garb, especially near the temples. But don’t think that it is an outdated city of the past; the bustling city of Osaka is a high-tech metropolis that is considered the heart of the Kansai region. It’s also the home of the world famous company Nintendo for my video game fans out there (and we saw the building from the train!)

               We departed the Osaka train station and landed right in the busy city surrounded by a mixture of beautiful traditional buildings and highly modern office buildings. Our guides set us off in the direction of a nearby temple and we began passing through the city. As we walked we found the Japanese solution for the Coppertone sunscreen girl; a boy rushing off with a shiba inu*pulling down his shorts. Except this is Japan and censorship is silly so his statue penis was completely exposed. Yay Japan!

               Statue nudity aside we also witnessed some of the most beautiful candies in the world. They looked more like tiny beads than candy in a variety of colors, shapes and designs. At one of the candy stores we passed Heels stopped and picked up a container of what looked like triangular ravioli and told us it was a famous treat of Kyoto called yatsuhashi. These are triangles of raw flour with varieties of sweet bean paste flavors in the pocket in the middle. I personally could eat it but wasn’t much of a fan, though my international comrades seemed to like it.

               After a bit of walking we reached our first temple, which I am ashamed to say I cannot recall the name of and am too lazy to do the research to discover the name of. What’s more important is it was very beautiful! While the main gate of the temple faced a busy intersection of town as soon as you passed into the gates all the hustle and bustle of the city seemed to pass. Suddenly, we were immersed in a naturally shaded and calm sanctuary that even the city noises couldn’t penetrate. Upon entering we were directed to a small shrined basin of water where visitors are to wash themselves. Using the wooden ladles provided we rinsed our hands, symbolically cleansing ourselves of burdens. I could use one of those in the seminar house.

               As we left the washing area we began the path up to the main temple area, passing booths where temple workers (more than likely monks based on their clothing) sold beautiful prayer bead bracelets, hair beads (which are worn with kimono), old coins used in Japan, old sword hilts, all sorts of things! To be honest, I want to describe what all we saw but I’m not sure I can do it justice. With this blog I will post a link to a photo album with pictures and more in depth descriptions to better explain what I saw. I will mention that at the top of the temple there was a booth where Shinto priestesses sell luck charms and fortunes. To get your fortune you draw a straw from a cylinder container with a small hole. You take your numbered straw to the priestess who provides you your corresponding fortune and then you get one of your Japanese tour guides to translate it for you since you don’t know Japanese. If you get a bad fortune there is a string of other bad fortunes where you can go to tie your fortune and at the end of the day it will be burned and erased. For those curious, I was a spoil-sport and didn’t get my fortune.

               At this point I should confess my guilty pleasure of seeking out women in kimono to take pictures of. I think kimono are some of most beautiful garments in the world and Japanese women do not take wearing them lightly! To wear a kimono means properly dressing in many layers and doing up ones hair in a beautiful way with tabi and geta.^ With my amazing 32x times zoom camera I used my awesome ninja skills to get (blurry) pictures of many women (and a man or two!) wearing kimono and I’ll be sure to share them with you. I hope you all can end up appreciating them as much as I do!

               After being thoroughly impressed at the beauty of the temple we departed down a side road lined with traditional buildings and continued on to an even bigger, more famous temple. Except it took us a long time to get there because the streets became lined with the most amazing stores! Fans, paper lanterns, paper umbrellas, origami paper, kimono print bags… everything you could imagine and more! And of course many shops selling kimono and yukata² though I knew I could not get one on my very first trip to Kyoto. No, no, I plan to bide my time and find the best deals on the most beautiful to call my own! Also, I need to budget and kimono and yukata aren’t cheap³. I managed to stave off my kimono lust by getting a Hello Kitty in a Kimono ketai for my phone and a beautiful kimono cloth pattern mini umbrella. Surprisingly, the things for sale weren’t horribly overpriced. The mini umbrella I got was 500yen (~$5) which is about the price I see them for in Hirakata city markets. Not to mention mine is much prettier and has its own little case!

               We also passed by a silly souvenir shop selling a…. strange variety of products, most of which I can’t remember simply because of the dancing cats that stole the show. As we walked by, sound triggered cat dolls began moving. One variety was a row of cats hanging by their hooked tails that proceeded to roll around laughing (causes all of us to burst out laughing) while the other variety sang a random blues sang and did a little dance for us. It was a riot.

               We also found a store selling a variety of spicy pepper sauces to put on dishes.  They were all quite good and if I go back I may get some for my rice. The best part was the store’s logo which was two women in kimono seeming to scream from the spiciness.

               At long last, we reached the final temple which an astonishing view over Kyoto right as the sun was beginning to set. We didn’t actually go into the temple because it cost money and we were all getting kind of tired and knew we had to walk back as far as we’d just come. But we did take the opportunity to stand atop the hill and admire the view of the city we’d just traversed through.

               As dark began to fall around us we set off back through the streets of shops to return from which we came. As we walked I noticed that the city seemed even more lovely as lanterns lit up while dark fell between the buildings. If anyone has seen the Miyazaki movie Spirited Away, think of the beginning when Chihiro is running through town as the city begins to turn dark (right after her parents turned to piggies). That’s what it looks like.

               I confess our walk back wasn’t very notable beyond noticing a Confederate flag in someone’s window. Back at the station we said our sayonaras to our wonderful guides and back in Hirakata stopped by a Japanese burger shop for a quick dinner on the hour walk back home. Once we reached the Kansai Gaidai gates we stopped in the vending machine section behind the cafeteria for a quick vending machine ice cream snack. It was quite good! My feet also appreciate the moment of rest they got while I ate it. Upon eventually returning home we said our goodnights and went our separate ways to collapse upon our futons and allow the blood to return to our poor feetsies, a sign of a good day in Japan.

Fun fact: While typing this article I accidentally wrote “Osaka” instead of “Kyoto” 5 times.

Ja ne!

˘This nickname comes from the over-the-knee and incredibly high (and thin) heels she was wearing. I’m not calling her heels as a jeer but rather in awe of how she managed to navigate not only a moving train but the stairs and cobblestone paths of Kyoto in those things!
*This is a Japanese breed of dog, notable for their curly tails. They’re sooo cute!
^”Tabi” are a kind of socks where there is a slit between the big toe and the rest of the toes so it can be worn with ‘thong’ sandals. “Geta” are a traditional kind of sandal that are wooden and have two blocks on the bottom elevating it above the ground. Do a Google image search and you’ll see why wearing them is so impressive!
²At this point in time I realize I should explain why it seems awkward every time I say “kimono” or “yukata”; the Japanese don’t pluralize so it’s actually incorrect to say “kimonos” or “yukatas” despite the English language making it seem weird.
³Actually, this is dependent on where you get it. At least two temples in Osaka have monthly antique flea markets where people often sell kimonos and yukatas for very little. I intend to attend these.
°”Ketai” is the proper word for all the dangly charms the Japanese put on their phones and bags. I have two now; Hello Kitty and a Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Alien Karaoke

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: “Juice”
Japanese: “Jῡsu” (No hiragana this time, it’s a loan word and I suck at katakana)

               Did you know that Lady Gaga is popular in Japan? Well she is. In our orientation Wednesday morning we were taught how to fill out our names on forms with the following example.
 

               Clearly, the staff in charge of us international students have a good sense of humor. This was demonstrated again in our general safety in Japan orientation including such slides as:
 

               It was actually a very good and informative (if not a bit common sense) orientation on safety. I think it would have been more important if I had any intent to bike while in Japan as bike accidents are unfortunately common. One professor also professed his desire for students to wear bright colors and have lights on their bikes so that he could see them when driving out at night and avoid an accident. Touché, professor, your argument against getting fired for vehicular homicide is compelling.

               I confess the majority of Wednesday has either slipped my mind or simply wasn’t notable but we ventured out in exploration again before enjoying a short break for coffee at the Seattle’s Best Coffee on campus. It sucked. I should rephrase; it wasn’t bad coffee just had far too much foam, not enough substance and cost about 3-4x as much as the vending machine coffee. D-, would not buy again.

               Max had made plans to meet some friends of his at a karaoke bar near school and upon invitation the lot of us decided to come along. We met up outside the building literally next to the campus east gate and cautiously proceeded inside. Someone described it best by saying they thought we had stumbled into someone’s living room. Two incredibly soft couches with low coffee tables lined the wall opposite a bar with stools with a miniature karaoke stage in the corner. On the couches were stuffed animal Dalmatians that appeared to be shedding fabric but upon closer inspection I discovered were tissue box covers* We took our seats at the bar and the proprietor, a petite Japanese woman, ventured out of her back room and startled at the sea of gaikokujin in her bar. I should take a moment to reassure my parents but saying that I did not drink nor was it a requirement. Karaoke bars are called such because many people like to get drunk and sing but just as many people come to sing and enjoy themselves sans alcohol. Speaking of such, Ellen and Michael (who also don’t drink) weren’t overly interested in the karaoke experience so they opted to leave while I stayed to play chaperone^.  

               Now some of you are bound to be wondering how we sang at a Japanese karaoke bar considering none of us are fluent in Japanese. The answer to that is quite simple: American music is very popular in Japan. In fact, most restaurants and super markets I’ve been to have been playing American music though of many different eras and genres. While in a bento box shop we actually got rick roll’d after a Beatles song finished playing. But I digress! There was a fairly large collection of American music to choose from as well as an enormous section of anime music which the Otaku° among us delighted in, myself included. In our group we had a mixture of Lady Gaga sonds, Disney classics, and Gurren Lagann songs. All in all, I’d say it was a fun experience though I’m not sure it’s really my favourite activity in Japan.

For the Gurren Lagann fans.

               The next morning I confess I delighted in sleeping in not because we were out late at karaoke (it ended at 10) but because I had yet to get to sleep past 8 or 9 and there was nothing scheduled until afternoon. I did have to run by school around 11 to pay a fee for my art supplies upon discovering I got into the Sumi-e painting class I wanted. After regrouping for lunch the usual suspects and myself decided to explore the area in front of school (previously we’d been exploring the east side and near the seminar houses). While out we stopped in a convenient store for drinks and I stupidly left my orientation packet which I realized when we’d crossed the street and begun heading back to campus. When I returned to the scene of my clumsiness the store clerk saw me and smiled and handed me the folder she’d stored behind the counter for me. Japanese people are so nice! ²

               On our way back I feel I should mention we stepped inside a model shop. While it did have some western model kits like airplanes it was mostly Gundams and other anime mechs. I find it really interesting that there’s enough of a market in anime models to have stand alone stores for the hobby.

               When we did return to campus we went to an orientation on living in the seminar houses. Before the spiel on dorm life there was an advertisement video for the clubs on campus. At one point it introduced the culture clubs office and showed a Japanese student telling us to come visit them while students wearing storm trooper masks tossed balls back and forth in the background. Even more surreal was the fact that a Jessica Simpson song was playing as the background music to the video.

               One important thing the meeting discussed was the need to get an alien registration card for our time in the country. Given the lack of meeting scheduled for the day my friends and I had already planned to take a trip into Hirakata to the city hall to get that done. Alas, now everyone else was aware they needed to go to city hall and that this was a perfect chance to get it done. By the time we arrived at the train station in Hirakata we had bumped into another large group of students(8 or so) going to get their alien registration whom we joined up with.
 

               As we waited for all members of the group to finish their registration we looked around in a park outside the building and I saw my first woman in a kimono. Using my super awesome 32x zoom stalker camera I managed to get a picture of the woman from across the road and delighted in the wearing of ethnic dress. The more normal people discussed a nearby department store and we deemed it a waste to have walked all the way out here³ and not at least look around. So with the last person registered as an alien we set off to a 6 floor department store by the train station.

               As one might expect the department store was mostly filled with boring things like clothes and shoes, pshaaaw. By the 3^rd floor we’d discovered a supermarket and by the 4^th floor a super cute shop. And when I say a cute shop I mean it literally sold cuteness. Every pencil, every bag, every clock had a big smiling adorable face. It was amazing. Eventually I tore myself away from the overwhelming adorableness and we continued up to the next floor where we found… could it be?! Surely not! An anime and manga store! Oh gloriousness the true fun had begun! Oh wait, I forgot, everything is in Japanese. Dammit. It was still incredibly fun to go through the aisles pointing out the things we knew and the variety of merchandise sold for comic series.
 

               Eventually we left and continued wandering around the complex. There were several restaurants in the building and they all had absolutely amazing looking food and I think 2/3rds of them seemed to specialize in desserts. It was mouth watering. They were also about 1000 yen each, so that kind of killed the desire for them, though. As we ascended the final escalator we debated what we might find on the top floor, having seen so many other shops below. None of us guessed it. The top floor was taken up by a giant arcade. Bright colors lined each machine that flashed lights and yelled out their own slogans and music each competing to be the flashiest and draw in customers. At least 2 walls were completely lined with gachapon⁺ which are like the 25¢ machines that sell stickers and plastic toys in America. Except in Japan they have popular anime and cultural characters often in the form of phone dangles. I personally had to resist getting a kitty one.
 

            After fully exploring the amazing top floor we departed the store to seek out food only to find that here in the epicenter of town everything was rather expensive. Everything except for McDonalds and KFC˘ which were placed side by side. Michael and Jordan opted for McDonalds while Ellen and I headed to KFC. In case you were wondering, I order food by pointing at the menu pictures or names if I’m feeling daring. We got our food and retired to a quiet corner by a window where the boys joined us shortly. As we sat, a little girl walked by with her parents and upon seeing me in the window became wide-eyed and pointed. I smiled and waved while her mortified parents tried to stop her and hurry her away. While Japanese adults have been incredibly courteous and patient with us the children betray the wide-eyed curiosity with which non-Japanese individuals are viewed. I confess that after a week of being surrounded by the Japanese it’s begun to affect me too. Yesterday (2/9) I was bagging my food at a market and turned to see a Caucasian adult male next to me which deeply surprised me enough to double-take. The poor man just smiled at me and joined his Japanese wife and daughter with their bags.

            But I digress. Again. After eating we found a video game store next to the station in which we proceeded to nerd about the international versions of all our favourite games not available in America. The best part was going upstairs in the store to find a mini arcade where Jordan and Michael played Silent Hill the arcade game. All Silent Hill fans may now weep over the death of the famous silent hill plots. Also, pyramid head was there. That sell out.

Even better was the juxtaposition of what was next to Silent Hill.

            After our fun adventure it was getting late and we had an hour walk back to the dorms from the station so we set off into the night. Also it was uphill. And 2.2 miles. Needless to say, I was a tired Madeline when we got back to the dorms and delighted in a grape soda I’d picked up from a drink machine in the way. As a general rule in Japan any drink with fruit in the name is good. Or Lipton. So if you ever go to Japan try all the drinks you can! Also be prepared to walk a lot.

Ja ne!

The Usual Suspects: Jordan, Max, Michael, and Ellen respectively.

Random Facts Footnote Section:
*Enka is a type of Japanese ballad that requires the singer to show great emotion, often to the point of breaking into tears. A professor noted it most resembles the blues.
^Remember kids: The first time you drink unknown drinks in a foreign country be sure someone in the group is sober.
°Otaku is a Japanese term for people interested in anime, manga, etc; it’s similar to calling someone a nerd.

²I heard from another student that a (foreign) professor did an experiment where he set his briefcase down in the middle of a subway and went to sit away from it but where he could see if it was tampered with. He waited three hours and no one so much as touched it.
³From the dorms the station is an hour walk. From campus, about 30-40 minutes.
⁺The name “gachapon” is a phonetic name. “Pon” is described as the sound of the plastic balls containing the toys hitting the machine as they drop out. I forgot where “gacha” comes from.
˘KFC has an interesting persona in Japan; On Christmas day everyone in Japan wants to eat KFC causing there to be a reservation list. I’ve heard this trend comes from a misconception that that’s what Americans do on Christmas.