The other day I was helping plan an event we are having at work. I am thinking about making little quesadillas and was showing my Japanese coworkers what they might look like via Google images. Somehow, that got to a search for the different things that have been on the El Arroyo sign downtown on 5th. Every time I saw a new picture, I would burst out laughing. Of course it was a muffled burst of laughter because we were in the office, but a laugh all the same. Most of the signs I had to explain, such as "There is a person out there for everybody... your person may happen to be 5 cats" and "Hey Oprah, hope your Tour de Lance was dope!" and "A balanced diet is a taco in each hand." They both seemed to enjoy the jokes, but one of them pointed out that those jokes would never happen in Japan. That is a good point, Japanese are all about respecting people. I countered with what I believe to be true: that those jokes wouldn't fly in a lot of the US either. Dear Austin, I miss you.
Last weekend I joined the World Wide Wonders rowing team for a practice. Although it was about a 40 minute bike ride total one way, it was really enjoyable! Picture this, my friends.. are you ready? Four people on a little boat rowing through the little rivers that flow through rice fields in rural Japan northwest of Matsue. The day wasn't too hot but was pleasantly sunny. "Catching a crab" is when you get your oar stuck in the water and can't get it out, which only happened to me once. It was a bit terrifying though. I am hoping to keep this up, but can't let it get in the way of my other travels. It seems like such great exercise and an easy thing to continue doing when I am back stateside.
This weekend I took another trip with my friend Sachie and her husband Kei. We went to the Matsue English Garden to see the Rose Festival which just opened. We took a lot of pictures all around the garden, then had dinner at a really amazing restaurant called Laut. I believe this is the closest to a 7-course meal I have ever had. To begin, we had a little plate with salad, potato salad, fried noodles, something else and two whole baby squid. Surprisingly, the squid were not that strange and were quite delish. Next, we had a little shrimp, an egg thing that was similar to a quiche with no crust, and chicken that was bred locally on Mt. Daisen. There might have also been fish, but it is difficult to remember. Next in line was a cold potato soup, followed by a bread plate. Then was the first dish we chose: I chose a pasta with vegetables and seafood, and a pepperoncini sauce. Next in line I chose some fish and mixed veggies. Last, the dessert... espresso ice cream, a brownie, tea flavored mousse (sort of), coffee cake, and fruit. Oh ma goodness. What a fantastic meal and I was just the perfect amount of full at the end. Those fancy restaurants know how it's done.
My family, my friends, rainy season has begun. That does not just mean a lot of rain, nay, it includes 1000% humidity as a bonus. It is enough to cause even the most secure of hairstyles I can accomplish turn into as close to an afro as my hair can get. The temperatures are also beginning to rise to uncomfortable levels. A note to the rainy season, if you are reading: I can already tell this is going to be a tumultuous relationship. We are going to have many disagreements, and I would appreciate you considering my input in them. I am willing to keep this civil, and only ask that you do the same.
I did some research and it would seem that Matsue is approximately the size of Amarillo, for all of you Texans out there.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Hee-row-shee-mah
I believe that when in a foreign country, you should try to pronounce names the proper way - with the accent of the native language. I would especially expect this from an audio recording at a museum in the home country. Apparently the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima does not have the same belief and pronounces the city's name with a fantastic American accent.
Recently, I decided to check out Hiroshima and see all of the history (or you know, some of it). I invited some friends, and Sunday morning we were on our way Luckily, it's only a short 3 hour bus ride to Hiroshima. We oriented ourselves to our surroundings a bit and, with the help of a smartphone, we found ourselves at the magnificent Okonomi-mura. It was a 3 story wonderland of stand after stand of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is really fantastic because it is fried noodles with egg and cabbage and your extra mixins and the classic fantastic okonomiyaki sauce. I chose to add garlic, kimchi, and pork. As with my other okonomiyaki experiences, it was simply amazing- but I do prefer the more pancake-like Osaka-style.
After filling up on lunch and maybe some icecream cones (but who can remember, really?), we made our way over to Peace Park. It was pretty strange looking at the A-bomb dome because it is surrounded by lush greenery, but it is an out of place skeleton of a building. I looked at it and knew that it is a historical site and that in the not-so-distant past was the scene of such terror, but now it is so calm and surrounded by life that I found it impossible to imagine this area after the bomb. That was, of course, remedied by pictures and displays in our next stop, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This museum was one part background history of Hiroshima (which I mostly skipped.. sorry I'm not sorry), one part information about countries with atomic weapons now, and one part graphic, horrific artifacts (the worse of which actually included biological matter- grossss).
After having our minds blown by history, we went out and enjoyed the nice weather in the park and sat under some trees. We attempted a visit to Hiroshima castle, but unfortunately we got there just as the sun was setting and it was closed. One of the group had to make it home for work the next day, but the other three of us went and checked into a hostel. The hostel was actually pretty cool. It was normal as far as hostels go, and it was traditional Japanese style as far as tatami mats and futons. We didn't let ourselves get too comfortable because we had to go off and look for something to eat and do. Unfortunately, it was Sunday night and that is not quite when things are happenin'. We did manage to find a restaurant with some good food and, after a lot of searching, found a venue with some live music. Oddly enough it was all reggae - but we weren't too picky by that point. The DJs were fun to listen to for a while, then a band came on that was, well, as good as you would expect a Japanese reggae band playing on a Sunday night to be.
The next morning, we caught an early bus back home and I can't speak for the others, but I fell straight back to sleep after I got home. Traveling over the weekends is really fun, but so tiring! I was happy to spend this weekend around Matsue hanging out and doing nothing. I finally got the chance to go to an event put on at another eikaiwa in town. Every few weeks, there are dinner parties thrown with food themes. This time it was Southern European Tapas and included hummus, couscous (the food so nice they named it twice) and some other various dishes. It was really good and I got to make some new friends which is always great.
I have gone swimming twice now at the city gym which is actually a pretty nice pool. It's pretty difficult to want to try to go fast when I am so out of shape, but also I think maybe the pool is just where I belong.
Now it's time for some culture facts!
Tonight while walking home from work, we heard a man who was walking and would bang two wooden sticks/planks together twice, then rest for about two beats, then do it again. My coworker Izumi explained to me that it is called Hino youjin. The purpose is to walk around and remind people of fire safety - check your gas pipes, stove, etc. Good job, Japan. Good job.
Today at work, we had our first lesson with a student taking private lessons. Since they have private lessons, they get to dictate more what we study. Part of the lesson included talk about the three different types of Wagashi, or Japanese sweets, that are famous or important to this area. I forgot the names of the three, but it was interesting to learn about them. One is rice cake - mochi - covered in macha - ground tea leaves - rolled in sugar, one is basically compressed sugar, and the other is sort of a combination between the two. They all have different representations that have to do with the seasons. All three were very sweet- still feeling all the sugar I ate.
In other news, I just saw my first giant spider. Japan is known for massive, terrifying, bigger than a person arachnids (think Aragog from Harry Potter). Maybe possibly yes that is an overstatement, but with it's legs, this spider was bigger than my palm. Just chillin outside my front door. Waiting for me to get home. Then on my neighbor's door there was some creepy bug that I'm not sure what it was, but I was sure to, ahem, keep everyone safe in case it was deadly. I killed it. I killed the bug. But now what better way is there to unwind from such a terrifying entrance into my house than some Black Keys and stuffed bell peppers? I cannot think of one.
Woo-wee adventures!
Recently, I decided to check out Hiroshima and see all of the history (or you know, some of it). I invited some friends, and Sunday morning we were on our way Luckily, it's only a short 3 hour bus ride to Hiroshima. We oriented ourselves to our surroundings a bit and, with the help of a smartphone, we found ourselves at the magnificent Okonomi-mura. It was a 3 story wonderland of stand after stand of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is really fantastic because it is fried noodles with egg and cabbage and your extra mixins and the classic fantastic okonomiyaki sauce. I chose to add garlic, kimchi, and pork. As with my other okonomiyaki experiences, it was simply amazing- but I do prefer the more pancake-like Osaka-style.
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| Okonomiyaki master |
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| The marvelous results |
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| A-bomb dome |
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| World Peace Bell. Yeah, I rang it. |
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| Paper cranes. Fold 1000 and your wish comes true (I think?) |
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| More paper cranes |
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| Hiroshima post-bomb |
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| Dear North Korea, No one likes question marks. |
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| Where the bomb went off. It was in the air to cause the most damage. |
After having our minds blown by history, we went out and enjoyed the nice weather in the park and sat under some trees. We attempted a visit to Hiroshima castle, but unfortunately we got there just as the sun was setting and it was closed. One of the group had to make it home for work the next day, but the other three of us went and checked into a hostel. The hostel was actually pretty cool. It was normal as far as hostels go, and it was traditional Japanese style as far as tatami mats and futons. We didn't let ourselves get too comfortable because we had to go off and look for something to eat and do. Unfortunately, it was Sunday night and that is not quite when things are happenin'. We did manage to find a restaurant with some good food and, after a lot of searching, found a venue with some live music. Oddly enough it was all reggae - but we weren't too picky by that point. The DJs were fun to listen to for a while, then a band came on that was, well, as good as you would expect a Japanese reggae band playing on a Sunday night to be.
The next morning, we caught an early bus back home and I can't speak for the others, but I fell straight back to sleep after I got home. Traveling over the weekends is really fun, but so tiring! I was happy to spend this weekend around Matsue hanging out and doing nothing. I finally got the chance to go to an event put on at another eikaiwa in town. Every few weeks, there are dinner parties thrown with food themes. This time it was Southern European Tapas and included hummus, couscous (the food so nice they named it twice) and some other various dishes. It was really good and I got to make some new friends which is always great.
I have gone swimming twice now at the city gym which is actually a pretty nice pool. It's pretty difficult to want to try to go fast when I am so out of shape, but also I think maybe the pool is just where I belong.
Now it's time for some culture facts!
Tonight while walking home from work, we heard a man who was walking and would bang two wooden sticks/planks together twice, then rest for about two beats, then do it again. My coworker Izumi explained to me that it is called Hino youjin. The purpose is to walk around and remind people of fire safety - check your gas pipes, stove, etc. Good job, Japan. Good job.
Today at work, we had our first lesson with a student taking private lessons. Since they have private lessons, they get to dictate more what we study. Part of the lesson included talk about the three different types of Wagashi, or Japanese sweets, that are famous or important to this area. I forgot the names of the three, but it was interesting to learn about them. One is rice cake - mochi - covered in macha - ground tea leaves - rolled in sugar, one is basically compressed sugar, and the other is sort of a combination between the two. They all have different representations that have to do with the seasons. All three were very sweet- still feeling all the sugar I ate.
In other news, I just saw my first giant spider. Japan is known for massive, terrifying, bigger than a person arachnids (think Aragog from Harry Potter). Maybe possibly yes that is an overstatement, but with it's legs, this spider was bigger than my palm. Just chillin outside my front door. Waiting for me to get home. Then on my neighbor's door there was some creepy bug that I'm not sure what it was, but I was sure to, ahem, keep everyone safe in case it was deadly. I killed it. I killed the bug. But now what better way is there to unwind from such a terrifying entrance into my house than some Black Keys and stuffed bell peppers? I cannot think of one.
Woo-wee adventures!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Kimchi and Husbands
Whoa friends. So much has happened in my life. I have two adventures to report!
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
My story begins bright and early around 6:15 on May 3rd when I was getting ready to leave for the bus to Osaka. I had packed some essentials and thought I was pretty ready to go. Just before I walked out, I took one last look around my apartment thinking, "What am I leaving behind?" Then a thought flew into my head: Vanessa- you are going out of the country. That means bring your passport. Yes, this girl almost forgot her passport and then the whole trip would have been ruined. Yes, I did graduate college. I stopped at the konbini (Japanese convenience store) and bought some snacks for the bus ride. While picking out my iced macha latte, who should walk in but one of my students! Turns out he was off to spend the weekend with his wife to enjoy some shopping and relaxation. It was so great that they were on the bus because they told me how long we had at each rest stop and let me know when I was getting off at the wrong stop. Japan is difficult sometimes. The word for that is mendokusai. It was a great moment when I got to hear him speaking English in a real setting - ah, what a proud teacher I was. Once we made it to Osaka, he and his wife helped me buy my ticket from the bus station to the airport, and then I had some time to kill. I had to try the famous food of of the region, Takoyaki, which is essentially a flour-based battered ball with octopus inside and fried. When it was served, shoot, it looked good. Unfortunately, I got so excited right after they served it that I took a massive chomp and scalded most of my mouth. After washing that first bite down with a gulp of refreshing Asahi, I was ready to sit and wait for it to cool off. I had planned the day so that I would have time to explore Osaka for a while before my flight, but the way the bus to the airport was run on weekends was not to my time satisfaction and I had to arrive at the airport maybe 3 or 4 hours before my flight. That turned out to be just fine because there was an area where you could hang out outside on the grass and see waaaay off in the distance the water (Osaka Kansai Airport is on an airport island) and it was so sunny and nice and I had a cappuccino and there was free wifi. Then there was the plane, whatever, blah, everyone's been on a plane. I mostly slept.
THEN I went through customs but THEEEEN I found my best friend Sarah and we were reunited (and yes), it felt so good. She gave me a great "welcome to Korea" present- a phenomenally creepy piggy bank shaped like the K-pop icon and South Korea's livelihood, Psy. She took me to a restaurant close to her apartment that had some great food I don't remember the name of, but it was similar to Japanese okonomiyaki in that it was a pancake-like item with vegetables in it. The big-time difference between the two was that this was spicy and thin but whoooo-wee I love spicy food. Koreans do too-score! So we hung out there, drank some Korean alcohol called soju (think rubbing alcohol, sugar, and water. Obviously high quality), and caught up.
The next day was marvelous. We went off looking for the Seoul tower, couldn't find it, but stumbled upon the Seoul World Friendship Festival! There was a giant row of tent after tent representing many of the countries around the world. The first row we came across had information on the cultures and I think some of the stuff was for sale. The real treat came when we found ourselves at the mouth of the street of food tents. Now that we had learned about the different cultures, it was time to eat the different foods! It all looked so exciting- but what to try first? If only those were my true thoughts... We had filled up on ramen just maybe an hour before and still had some food babies. After walking to the Mexico tent, however, we could not resist the taste of the tostada. Oh what a magic experience it was. Then we passed the Guatemala tent which had papusas. Upon seeing this, we had to get one because our former roommate used to love love papusas. We made it back to the main grassy park area with a stage to see some dances, children singing, and hear the mayor of Seoul give a speech and tell us he loved us. That's right, the mayor of Seoul said "I love you" and he was talking to a crowd of which we were a part. That's pretty intense. After that we went to meet our other friend from college who lived in the apartment across from ours. We had a great meal that I also don't remember the name of, but you grill beef on a little grill that built into the table. There were different sauces for it and vegetables and it was so wonderful. After dinner, we met up with about 20 other people (with mostly foreigners, we were quite a sight, I'm sure) and went out for drinks. The cool thing about the bar we went to was that it sold beer out of mess kit tins from maybe the Korean war. Or some war. Of course we didn't get to keep them, but what a cool idea.
The next day we spent shopping in Insa-dong with Sarah's coworkers (until we lost them). There were so many cool carts and little stands with street treats. I ate some donuts and some ice cream and another vegetable pancake thing. Obviously practicing my healthy eating. The street vendors were really cool but wow, they also had H&M. That is so handy because not only is it my favorite store, but they have clothes that fit me! Mostly it's difficult to find clothes for a just-under-six-foot female in Japan. There aren't a lot of us.
The last day, Sarah had to work. I spent a leisurely morning hanging around her apartment, getting sneezed on by her cat, then made my way over to an area nearby with a park. I sat outside and enjoyed some lovely time to write in my travel journal (what, you thought this blog is the only way I document my experiences? goodness no). I walked around that area a little more and found an outlet mall and - what - more shopping? Oh yes, my friends. It was justified however by the fact that I bought warm-weather work clothes (which I am told I will need because apparently summer in Japan is the pits).
The next day I flew back and made all of my buses and it was great. Right now I wish I was back with my friend and we were eating kimchi because it is everywhere. Yummm.
IZUMO TAISHA
The weekend before South Korea I decided I needed to see something local. My other native instructor coworker recommended seeing Izumo Taisha. It is one of the largest Shinto shrines in all of Japan and is commonly referred to as the second most important. There's a really cool story about why it is important that was explained to me which I naturally forgot most of. It has something to do with there was this monster and it was killing everyone in a town or killing this one guy's daughters, maybe there were like 20 daughters. Some hot shot comes over and says hey I'll kill the monster if I can marry your last daughter that is the only one alive because the monster killed all of the other ones. The dad says heck yes, the man kills the monster, gets the girl, and saves the world. I guess? Then there was something like he got a really big rope and pulled all of this land together and that formed Japan. So congrats to you, mythical man-character, for playing a vital role in Japanese history. There's also a shrine at the top of a little baby mountain in the middle of a beach that is pretty but I don't have a picture of because I expected to swim so didn't want the electronics to get wet or sandy. You can see it here.
Anyways, I invited some friends and some of them invited some other friends and it ended up being 5 of us driving out (yes, driving! some of them had cars!). This was about three weeks ago by now so it's going to be the abridged version of the tale. We showed up and walked around and took a million pictures. There were a lot of cool things to see and inside there was even a traditional Japanese wedding taking place! Every 60 years it goes under construction for rebeautification (maybe also spiritual restoration or something), so we couldn't see the whole thing. But that is also a really important piece of history that we saw since you know, it only happens every 60 years. After we felt we had sufficiently seen the history, we decided to go get some soba. Soba is really just a kind of noodle and the traditional Izumo style is to have it served cold with three little bowls of just noodles with vegetables and sauce separate and you add in the goodies. Of course, I got that and of course it was delicious. Totally worth the 45 minute wait to get into the restaurant. Did I mention it was the first weekend of Golden Week? I didn't because I can read back to what I have posted, but that is the big vacation week of April/ May and the area was so busy.
After that, we adventured to the beach where the shrine on the baby mountain was and got super excited to swim. When we got out there, however, we discovered that the beach was a giant dumping ground for trash. So. Much. Trash. It was so sad. It could have been such a cool beach and so much fun, but it was just really really disgusting. How disappointing. Luckily, one of my friends that came lives in Izumo and took us to the pool she swims at. It is this big saltwater pool with these walkways and jets and mini hot pools in the middle and an area where you can stay in the water but swim outside. It was so nice! There was also an area for lap swimming which I enjoyed about 5 laps of - ah, the life of a retired (for now) swimmer. After enjoying the sauna and cold plunge a few times alternating, we found ourselves simply ravenous. Being in a smaller than small area outside of Izumo, there wasn't much to eat except a 24-hour place that could maybe be related to an iHop without breakfast? But not really. Also it had a magnificent drink bar- my favorite thing was the hot vanilla creamy milk (think white chocolate vanilla hot chocolate). After dinner, we had a nail-biting drive home because we were very close to running out of gas. It's not that we didn't pass gas stations, oh no there were plenty. In Japan, almost all gas stations are self-service which means that at 9 or 10 when the workers want to go home, you're SOL gas-wise. But we made it. What a great time with new friends.
Oh, I forgot to say why this part of the post is referred to as Husbands. Apparently Izumo Taisha is supposed to help you find your husband soon or something. My Japanese coworkers teased me about it plenty.
Next adventure: Hiroshima!
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
My story begins bright and early around 6:15 on May 3rd when I was getting ready to leave for the bus to Osaka. I had packed some essentials and thought I was pretty ready to go. Just before I walked out, I took one last look around my apartment thinking, "What am I leaving behind?" Then a thought flew into my head: Vanessa- you are going out of the country. That means bring your passport. Yes, this girl almost forgot her passport and then the whole trip would have been ruined. Yes, I did graduate college. I stopped at the konbini (Japanese convenience store) and bought some snacks for the bus ride. While picking out my iced macha latte, who should walk in but one of my students! Turns out he was off to spend the weekend with his wife to enjoy some shopping and relaxation. It was so great that they were on the bus because they told me how long we had at each rest stop and let me know when I was getting off at the wrong stop. Japan is difficult sometimes. The word for that is mendokusai. It was a great moment when I got to hear him speaking English in a real setting - ah, what a proud teacher I was. Once we made it to Osaka, he and his wife helped me buy my ticket from the bus station to the airport, and then I had some time to kill. I had to try the famous food of of the region, Takoyaki, which is essentially a flour-based battered ball with octopus inside and fried. When it was served, shoot, it looked good. Unfortunately, I got so excited right after they served it that I took a massive chomp and scalded most of my mouth. After washing that first bite down with a gulp of refreshing Asahi, I was ready to sit and wait for it to cool off. I had planned the day so that I would have time to explore Osaka for a while before my flight, but the way the bus to the airport was run on weekends was not to my time satisfaction and I had to arrive at the airport maybe 3 or 4 hours before my flight. That turned out to be just fine because there was an area where you could hang out outside on the grass and see waaaay off in the distance the water (Osaka Kansai Airport is on an airport island) and it was so sunny and nice and I had a cappuccino and there was free wifi. Then there was the plane, whatever, blah, everyone's been on a plane. I mostly slept.
THEN I went through customs but THEEEEN I found my best friend Sarah and we were reunited (and yes), it felt so good. She gave me a great "welcome to Korea" present- a phenomenally creepy piggy bank shaped like the K-pop icon and South Korea's livelihood, Psy. She took me to a restaurant close to her apartment that had some great food I don't remember the name of, but it was similar to Japanese okonomiyaki in that it was a pancake-like item with vegetables in it. The big-time difference between the two was that this was spicy and thin but whoooo-wee I love spicy food. Koreans do too-score! So we hung out there, drank some Korean alcohol called soju (think rubbing alcohol, sugar, and water. Obviously high quality), and caught up.
The next day was marvelous. We went off looking for the Seoul tower, couldn't find it, but stumbled upon the Seoul World Friendship Festival! There was a giant row of tent after tent representing many of the countries around the world. The first row we came across had information on the cultures and I think some of the stuff was for sale. The real treat came when we found ourselves at the mouth of the street of food tents. Now that we had learned about the different cultures, it was time to eat the different foods! It all looked so exciting- but what to try first? If only those were my true thoughts... We had filled up on ramen just maybe an hour before and still had some food babies. After walking to the Mexico tent, however, we could not resist the taste of the tostada. Oh what a magic experience it was. Then we passed the Guatemala tent which had papusas. Upon seeing this, we had to get one because our former roommate used to love love papusas. We made it back to the main grassy park area with a stage to see some dances, children singing, and hear the mayor of Seoul give a speech and tell us he loved us. That's right, the mayor of Seoul said "I love you" and he was talking to a crowd of which we were a part. That's pretty intense. After that we went to meet our other friend from college who lived in the apartment across from ours. We had a great meal that I also don't remember the name of, but you grill beef on a little grill that built into the table. There were different sauces for it and vegetables and it was so wonderful. After dinner, we met up with about 20 other people (with mostly foreigners, we were quite a sight, I'm sure) and went out for drinks. The cool thing about the bar we went to was that it sold beer out of mess kit tins from maybe the Korean war. Or some war. Of course we didn't get to keep them, but what a cool idea.
The next day we spent shopping in Insa-dong with Sarah's coworkers (until we lost them). There were so many cool carts and little stands with street treats. I ate some donuts and some ice cream and another vegetable pancake thing. Obviously practicing my healthy eating. The street vendors were really cool but wow, they also had H&M. That is so handy because not only is it my favorite store, but they have clothes that fit me! Mostly it's difficult to find clothes for a just-under-six-foot female in Japan. There aren't a lot of us.
The last day, Sarah had to work. I spent a leisurely morning hanging around her apartment, getting sneezed on by her cat, then made my way over to an area nearby with a park. I sat outside and enjoyed some lovely time to write in my travel journal (what, you thought this blog is the only way I document my experiences? goodness no). I walked around that area a little more and found an outlet mall and - what - more shopping? Oh yes, my friends. It was justified however by the fact that I bought warm-weather work clothes (which I am told I will need because apparently summer in Japan is the pits).
The next day I flew back and made all of my buses and it was great. Right now I wish I was back with my friend and we were eating kimchi because it is everywhere. Yummm.
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| At a rest stop to Osaka |
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| Takoyaki |
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| Osaka is really pretty and doesn't look like Japan |
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| View from the outside hangout area for terminal 2 of Osaka Kansai Airport |
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| Thailand represented in the Friendship Festival parade |
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| Republic of Indonesia |
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| Papusas |
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| Main festival grounds |
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| Mess kit tin beer |
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| Street treats in Insa-dong. Donuts filled with red bean paste :) |
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| Insa-dong. Super super busy |
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| Free hug campaign! |
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| I bought a ring from this jeweler and it was too big so he cut and resized it right there |
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| Pinwheel garden |
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| An example of the Korean food I ate. Dak Doritang |
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| There were a lot of beautiful things to see on the way to and from Osaka This is a picture of Mt. Diasen |
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| My beautiful Psy doll present from Sarah making his way back home. |
IZUMO TAISHA
The weekend before South Korea I decided I needed to see something local. My other native instructor coworker recommended seeing Izumo Taisha. It is one of the largest Shinto shrines in all of Japan and is commonly referred to as the second most important. There's a really cool story about why it is important that was explained to me which I naturally forgot most of. It has something to do with there was this monster and it was killing everyone in a town or killing this one guy's daughters, maybe there were like 20 daughters. Some hot shot comes over and says hey I'll kill the monster if I can marry your last daughter that is the only one alive because the monster killed all of the other ones. The dad says heck yes, the man kills the monster, gets the girl, and saves the world. I guess? Then there was something like he got a really big rope and pulled all of this land together and that formed Japan. So congrats to you, mythical man-character, for playing a vital role in Japanese history. There's also a shrine at the top of a little baby mountain in the middle of a beach that is pretty but I don't have a picture of because I expected to swim so didn't want the electronics to get wet or sandy. You can see it here.
Anyways, I invited some friends and some of them invited some other friends and it ended up being 5 of us driving out (yes, driving! some of them had cars!). This was about three weeks ago by now so it's going to be the abridged version of the tale. We showed up and walked around and took a million pictures. There were a lot of cool things to see and inside there was even a traditional Japanese wedding taking place! Every 60 years it goes under construction for rebeautification (maybe also spiritual restoration or something), so we couldn't see the whole thing. But that is also a really important piece of history that we saw since you know, it only happens every 60 years. After we felt we had sufficiently seen the history, we decided to go get some soba. Soba is really just a kind of noodle and the traditional Izumo style is to have it served cold with three little bowls of just noodles with vegetables and sauce separate and you add in the goodies. Of course, I got that and of course it was delicious. Totally worth the 45 minute wait to get into the restaurant. Did I mention it was the first weekend of Golden Week? I didn't because I can read back to what I have posted, but that is the big vacation week of April/ May and the area was so busy.
After that, we adventured to the beach where the shrine on the baby mountain was and got super excited to swim. When we got out there, however, we discovered that the beach was a giant dumping ground for trash. So. Much. Trash. It was so sad. It could have been such a cool beach and so much fun, but it was just really really disgusting. How disappointing. Luckily, one of my friends that came lives in Izumo and took us to the pool she swims at. It is this big saltwater pool with these walkways and jets and mini hot pools in the middle and an area where you can stay in the water but swim outside. It was so nice! There was also an area for lap swimming which I enjoyed about 5 laps of - ah, the life of a retired (for now) swimmer. After enjoying the sauna and cold plunge a few times alternating, we found ourselves simply ravenous. Being in a smaller than small area outside of Izumo, there wasn't much to eat except a 24-hour place that could maybe be related to an iHop without breakfast? But not really. Also it had a magnificent drink bar- my favorite thing was the hot vanilla creamy milk (think white chocolate vanilla hot chocolate). After dinner, we had a nail-biting drive home because we were very close to running out of gas. It's not that we didn't pass gas stations, oh no there were plenty. In Japan, almost all gas stations are self-service which means that at 9 or 10 when the workers want to go home, you're SOL gas-wise. But we made it. What a great time with new friends.
Oh, I forgot to say why this part of the post is referred to as Husbands. Apparently Izumo Taisha is supposed to help you find your husband soon or something. My Japanese coworkers teased me about it plenty.
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| A dance recreating the Izumo Taisha story |
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| You can buy little fortunes and people attach them different places like this tree |
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| You are supposed to make a wish and throw a coin up into the rope, but so many people did it that they had to put wire mesh over the bottom so the rope wouldn't get so heavy it fell. |
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| There was really beautiful nature around the shrine like this fire tree |
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| Rickshaw... what year is this again? Cool though |
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| Izumo-style soba! |
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| Back in Matsue, my friend and I tried natto (fermented soybean) sushi. I've met the second food I don't like in Japan. The first was sea urchin. |
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| Bonus Matsue sunset for ya |
Next adventure: Hiroshima!
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