We had actually gone out to the river over the weekend, just to swim and frolic and had talked about the possibility, but I completely forgot. Oh well! I managed to pack my bathing suit (but no towel), a pillow (but nothing to sleep on), and my iPod (but no money, a dead cell phone, and a dead camera). Overall, however, it was a success. I had grilled zucchini in hotdog buns, along with pumpkin slices, bell peppers, and the other (limited) vegetarian barbecue fair. Afterwards we built a proper campfire and hung around, telling scary stories and shining the torch into the darkness as people are (for some reason) wont to do on camping trips.
Here's where we swam! The river is gorgeous, and the water is nice and cool. Or quite freezing, if you happen to catch the current flowing down from the top of the mountains. On the whole it was quite lovely. Although I am slightly covered in sand. In any case, let's see. We had another farewell party since I last wrote.
An Australian girl had to leave early because of the similarities of the Japanese/Aussie school calendar. Twas sad, but lots of folks turned out to wish her farewell and celebrate the last day of class. She's the one draped in the Australian flag, by the way. I couldn't begin to tell you where I am in this photo, haha.
Our last day of class was very relaxed. We ate snacks and talked about our "Japan experience". And, at the end of class we took a picture! So here's most (minus my kiwi friend Feliks and a Chinese student named Yui) of my Japanese class from this semester, plus one of our grammar teachers.
Aside from academics, there have been so many festivals since I last updated! Three, in fact! But, to be fair, the first one was a pretty big deal. Called "Gion Matsuri" it's named for a famous maiko/geisha girl area in Kyoto. Super traditional, super popular, super 京都らしい, the best translation for which is possibly "Kyoto-y"? Essentially the festival is week long, but on the final day they have a huge parade with really wicked floats, assembled without nails and moved primarily with manpower alone. (Except for these bums on the roof, who just add dead weight, haha). In any case, the typical way to celebrate Gion Matsuri is to go to the parade dressed up in a "yukata", the summer version of a kimono. It's quite a popular tradition, even the 外人 get in on it...
Myself included! Yep, I got my yukata on, despite it being about 100 degrees outside (or about 38 for you Celsius freaks). It was quite fun though, and afterwards we had an amazing lunch at an Indian restaurant where I used my (limited) Japanese skills to negotiate a meatless version of the lunch special for myself and a vegetarian friend. The next festival fortunately took place at night...
Fushimi Inari shrine is best known for its seemingly endless trails of "torii" gates, ascending upwards along stone staircases to the very pinnacle of the temple. I had never been before the night festival, but it was still stunning, if not slightly creepy, in the darkness. Covered in glowing paper lanterns of all shapes and sizes, we wandered the grounds, still sweating despite the absence of the sweltering Japanese sun, and enjoying some shaved ice on the cheap. Inexplicably enough, the mascot of the shrine is a fox, so there were incredibly cute fox things everywhere, and a Canadian housemate even dressed up in a fox costume, much to the amusement of the Japanese festival-goers.
Last, but certainly not least, was the "Tenjin Matsuri" in Osaka. Osaka is actually only about a half hour by train away from Kyoto, but I don't find much reason to go over there, so this was my first real excursion there since the beginning of the semester. The "Tenjin" festival consisted of two things: boats and fireworks. We wandered down the riverside, looking at all the classic Japanese festival tents which include snacks ranging from fried cheese balls (which I steered clear of), takoyaki (or fried balls of batter and squid, yum!), and ice-cold fruit on a stick (I had two amazing slices of pineapple). We watched the boats go down the river for a bit and there was much traditional drumming, dancing, and costumes. After a while the fireworks started and we wandered to find a place where we could see them. Easier said than done...
We ended up in a back alley with about a thousand Japanese people, whose every other word we joked was "やば" or "見えへん", something along the lines of "crap!" and "I can't see!". Osaka, being a city with tall buildings, is not very conducive to fireworks displays, but overall we got a good eyeful. Afterwards I went with two Canadian friends to a place called Spa World, a huge multi-floor bathhouse where for about $35 we got to spend as long as we liked in the many, varied baths and have a place to sleep for the night. Some of the baths were pretty amazing, we were on the Europe floor so we had a Mediterranean cave bath, a Spanish waterfall, a Finnish ice bath, and a salt sauna (among others). It was basically the most relaxing thing in the world, and the perfect end to a day spent wandering about Kyoto and Osaka in the ample humidity.
At this stage I'm sure you're wondering how much longer this entry could possibly get, and the answer is: just a little bit. Outside of everything I've mentioned so far I've also...
Graduated! Yep, they had a little ceremony for us, then fed us free food and showed a slideshow of pictures from the past year. The beginning ceremony was a bit taxing, not only did I rush to bike there in dress clothes (sweating like nobody's business), but then we had to sit through what had to have been the longest single speech in Japanese I have ever heard. The only amusing part was I received honorable mention from one of my teachers for my "Show & Tell" project in which I came in wearing a hat, spoke about the origins of the "Mohican" hairstyle, then pulled off my beanie to reveal that over the previous weekend I had shaved my hair into a mohawk. Even for those of you who hated the mohawk, you have to admit, that's pretty funny. In any case, I received a bound diploma and a decorative box with the Ritsumeikan insignia on it for my trouble.
So that's what's been going on in my Japan life this past couple of weeks... And now, it's almost over. My friend Xi-chan will be arriving tomorrow evening and spending the final days with me, running around and doing lots of touristy things in Kyoto. Then, on Saturday August 2nd I will fly out of Kansai International Airport, homeward bound. (Or, at least, Detroit, Michigan bound). I find it hard to believe where the time has gone... Lately I've been going around on my own quite a bit, taking photos with my 35mm camera. Yesterday I went out to a place just beyond the boundaries of Kyoto, near a lake and the foot of some mountains that are bordered by endless planes of rice fields. I thought a lot about my time here. I snapped shots of the rich green fields, the sunset over the top of the mountains, and a white crane standing serenely at the water's edge. There were a surprising amount of other Japanese people wandering about this seemingly uninteresting place. Some were praying at a small shrine. Children ran about trying to catch the small frogs hopping about in between the rows of rice. Many more still were sitting in their cars, alone, stopped on the side of the road, reading, smoking, or watching the sunset. Some even had the engine cranked and were running the A/C. Japan is full of things like this. People with one foot in, one foot out of the past. It was as though they were all feeling some sensation of loss for something they never really possessed. I took photos until the light disappeared, slipping behind the edge of the horizon and back towards the side of the earth I call home.
So that's what's been going on in my Japan life this past couple of weeks... And now, it's almost over. My friend Xi-chan will be arriving tomorrow evening and spending the final days with me, running around and doing lots of touristy things in Kyoto. Then, on Saturday August 2nd I will fly out of Kansai International Airport, homeward bound. (Or, at least, Detroit, Michigan bound). I find it hard to believe where the time has gone... Lately I've been going around on my own quite a bit, taking photos with my 35mm camera. Yesterday I went out to a place just beyond the boundaries of Kyoto, near a lake and the foot of some mountains that are bordered by endless planes of rice fields. I thought a lot about my time here. I snapped shots of the rich green fields, the sunset over the top of the mountains, and a white crane standing serenely at the water's edge. There were a surprising amount of other Japanese people wandering about this seemingly uninteresting place. Some were praying at a small shrine. Children ran about trying to catch the small frogs hopping about in between the rows of rice. Many more still were sitting in their cars, alone, stopped on the side of the road, reading, smoking, or watching the sunset. Some even had the engine cranked and were running the A/C. Japan is full of things like this. People with one foot in, one foot out of the past. It was as though they were all feeling some sensation of loss for something they never really possessed. I took photos until the light disappeared, slipping behind the edge of the horizon and back towards the side of the earth I call home.
