Week 44: R

ROOFTOP, blue.

RAIN. We are smack dab in the middle of rainy season, and any day without rain is to be appreciated. Of course, any day with rain is to be whined and complained about (so far it hasn't done any good, but you never know).

REFLEXOLOGY PATH. Who needs a Parcourse in the park when you can have a reflexology path?

Two food Rs coming up, but I'm going to have to go out to dinner this week to get the pictures! What I won't do for this blog.

What to drink

Hmm...It's time for a little pick-me-up in the afternoon, but it's difficult to decide what to drink. Will it be (1):

or (2):

Week 43: Q

QUAIL EGGS: Update! Since my post 26 weeks ago, I have eaten quail eggs (in a salad, in Japan), I just don't have any photographic evidence of the fact.

QUIET: A bridge in Gifu Park.

A cemetery in Kyoto.

QUEUE: As a tribute to our British officemate (and because I needed a Q word), let's talk about QUEUES in the subway station. Queuing is an art here. Can you imagine (Italian friends) allowing everyone off the train before you get on? And respecting the order of who arrived at the platform first? Now if we could just get people who are in the passing lane to walk up the escalator and not just stand there, the subways would be perfect!

Week 42: P-2

PEACE PARK, Hiroshima. It's pretty remarkable that not even a year had passed since the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima when they were making plans for a community space dedicated to world peace. The Peace Park (of which I have no photos because it was POURING rain) and the peace museum are designed for learning, reflecting, and acting on the prospects of peace. 140,000 lives were lost in the bombing of Hiroshima and most of the buildings were vaporized. This is one of the few shells that remained standing.

 

 PACHINKO.  Now, a place where peace does not reign -- a PACHINKO PARLOR. Pachinko was created in Nagoya, so it is only right that we visited one of these famous gambling gaming locations. Gambling, of course, is illegal in Japan, so there is no gambling involved. In fact, I'm sure that the winners take their tokens and decorate their homes with them. They don't go to a secret location down the block and get a cash payout.

[In this photo: pretending that we understand the manager.] We went to a PACHINKO PARLOR last night, and it is now my most favorite game! I'm sure that we had beginner's luck, but a $10 pay-in left us with a $5 payout in cash, plus $9 in merhandise (which in the stores here would have cost at least $15). And how great will it be using the Pachinko toilet paper and shampoo?

Week 42: P

A crane, PERCHED on a rock in a POND in a PARK in Kyoto:

A PAGODA in Nara:

More POSIES. This is the walk from the subway station to our university. Very wisely, some developer put in high-end clothing stores between transportation hubs and the all-women's university. About as clever as the marketing people who have cute boys handing out flyers at the subway exit.

The PHILOSOPHERS PATH in Kyoto:

PRINTCLUB PHOTOS. One step beyond mere photobooth pictures, Printclub lets you take the pictures then add all sorts of things like glitter! words in English=cool! bows and hats! and even fake eyelashes! When we ask our students to give us a photo on their student questionnaires we get loads of these unrecognizable Printclub photos.

I have some PLANS to go somewhere this week that will give me another P. Stay tuned!

Odd revelation

So, as I was walking up the hill (no, not The Hill, but a hill) to school yesterday, I was noting all the girls who had dyed their hair a lighter color, which normally ends up a mousy brown. (You cannot dye your hair in high school, so they all go a little crazy in college.) At 9:00 in the morning, many of them had their parasols open so that they wouldn't darken their skin and I am sure that they had applied layers and layers of the whitening cream available in the stores.

What does all this skin lightening and dyeing their hair mean? Yip, they are paying a fortune in time, money and energy to look like .... me! I wonder how horrified they would be if I told them that in class today?

Week 41: O (okonomiyaki)

OKONOMIYAKI: Say it once, and there's music playing. Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. Okonomiyaki, okonomiyaki, okonomiyaki, okonomiyaki......

Okonomiyaki is a specialty in Hiroshima, and we tried it not once, but two times when we were there. It has a crepe/pancake-like batter at the base, with cabbage, pork, and udon noodles, and is topped with a fried egg and special okonomiyaki sauce.

Have you ever seen anyone more genki for okonomiyaki?

Our special chefs whipped up the delight.

Round one:

The next day, we went to a place where they have 29 different okonomiyaki stands. (Actually, we couldn't find the place and, in the pouring rain, went up to some 20-something Japanese guy and just asked, "okonomiyaki?" He jumped up, opened his umbrella, and led us three blocks to get to the front door of the place. A great reminder how gestures like that leave a great impression on foreign guests!)

Here's our counter. As you can see, okonomiyaki is serious business.

Round two:

Week 41: O

ORIX fans: ORIX is the team from OSAKA, and when we went to the Nagoya Dragons baseball game we just happened to get tickets right in the middle of their travelling fan club.

This is one of the yell leaders. The other ones had trumpets and drums, not to mention a giant flag. When your team is up to bat, you have to stand the whole time and sing chants. Each player has his own personal chant (with accompanying gestures) that you do during his whole at-bat. We were trying to approximate what the fans were singing in Japanese, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't what we kept yelling for one guy's chant -- Conductor say, he so gay!

Hmm....what else is different about Japanese baseball? Certainly the concession stands didn't offer the same fare that they do back home. Some things, however, they have picked up from U.S. stadiums -- the beer was $7.50.

In the end, though, Japanese baseball is just as exciting as American baseball.

OSU KANNON -- Is a shrine and outdoor shopping arcade in downtown Nagoya. We went there today to search out a shop where you pay for clothing by the gram. My students (who are designer snobs) told me that it was "very too cheap," but I told them that I was very too poor. I left today with two skirts and four tops for about $20.00 total.

The maneki neko, or beckoning cat (no, that is not the Nazi salute) has its origins in our region of Japan. Makes you want to enter these stores, doesn't it?

Happy 六月!

(Missing my garden.)