In November and December, I was lucky enough to do a lot of traveling in Japan. I took a long weekend and visited my friend from high school, April Baity, in Nara City. She is also teaching English here. Nara is a very important place historically for Japan, and it is full of wonderful sights. Nara is also close to Osaka and Kyoto. Osaka is a very industrial, hard-working, no-nonsense city, while Kyoto is the culture capital of Japan. I was able to see all three cities. I toured Osaka by myself, since April had to work that day, and did well navigating the subway system. I was able to see Osaka castle, Shitennoji temple, a German Christmas festival, and the Osaka Sky Building, which had awesome views from the top. And I tried Osaka’s specialty, takoyaki (fried octopus). In Nara, April and I went to Nara Park, which is the site of Todaiji Temple. This temple has the largest wooden Buddha in Japan. It was the perfect day to go…..sunny, warm, and with the leaves changing beautiful hues of red, orange, and brown. My favorite part of this park was the wild deer!! They roam around freely, and you can buy deer food and feed them. They were aggressive; they definitely know what’s going on and start to follow you as soon as you buy the food (the ladies who run the food stand have brooms that they hit the deer with if they try to eat the crackers before they are purchased). One of them tried to eat my scarf, and I got a few head butts from impatient, hungry deer.
Kyoto was last, and a bit disappointing, only because it was raining all day, and we did not have nearly enough time to see everything. We saw Kinkakuji, which is the famous Golden Temple in Kyoto. Absolutely stunning, even with the rainy weather.
I’m definitely going back to the Kansai region and spending more time in Kyoto!
The weekend after that, I went to Fukuoka with a big group of other JETs to see a Sumo tournament. The sumo itself was interesting, but to be honest, I lost interest after the first thirty minutes or so. I personally can only see so much of huge men wrestling with each other. But, I consider it a life experience that I can say I had. I enjoyed seeing the city with Nicole and Brian, although we had to deal with a rather frustrating bus schedule. The sightseeing bus was really nice (and had a somewhat tacky, yet cute, Christmas display in the back), but it did not come to the stops at the designated times. We got to see some temples and shrines (including a wedding ceremony), try some Fukuoka ramen (apparently the best in Japan), and go into the Fukuoka sky building. We also went to a yakiniku restaurant, where you cook your own meat and vegetables on a grill…delicious!
The next week was crazy but so much fun. Omiya had its annual English Winter Camp, where the top first year students (84 in all) and a group of ALTs go to a recreational facility and spend two days doing activities only in English. It was a lot of work for everyone, but a lot of fun. The kids got to debate, put on skits, cook curry for dinner with the ALTs and teachers (the best part of camp, in my opinion), and make speeches. It was great being able to become close with my group of students and help them to become more confident speaking English.
Literally right after Winter Camp, Matt and I drove to Nagasaki (a good 6 hour drive, but a fun one because we sang along to Broadway musicals the whole time) for the all Kyushuu debate tournament. Both of our teams did well, and my team made the semifinals (the top four teams out of 16). We got fourth place; the top two places went to the Okinawa teams. Those kids are practically native speakers (being surrounded by Americans and English media) and really, really good at debate, so I was really proud of my kids for holding their own even in the face of such good teams. I almost cried after it was over; I really miss spending time with them after school!!
That night, Matt and I went out to explore Nagasaki. First we ate in Chinatown, which was delicious of course, and then we decided to go to a bar. The only hiccup in the evening was a creepy Canadian man with a Hitler moustache who insisted on following us everywhere (Matt dubbed him “Canadian Bacon,” an appropriate name considering his girth). Luckily we lost him and were able to go to a karaoke bar by ourselves. This was soooo much fun, and probably the best bar experience I have had so far. The hostesses were really sweet and friendly, and we had some good conversation with two police officers. I also got everyone in the bar to sing “Top of the World” with me, which is practically the national anthem of Japan (in karaoke, anyway).
The next day, we did a bit of sightseeing, including the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum. The park was beautiful; the museum unsurprisingly shocking and disheartening. The museum is unique in that, as you walk through it, the atmosphere of Nagasaki immediately after the bombing is replicated. The most powerful visual piece in the museum, in my opinion, was a clock found in the rubble. The hands were stopped at exactly 11:02, the time of the bombing. There were also some heartbreaking artifacts found near a school, including a student’s lunchbox. Matt and I were practically in tears by the time we finished, but seeing the rest of the Peace Park was a fitting and beautiful conclusion to the experience, and gave us some closure. The Park has a lot of water (fountains and ponds), which is symbolic of “cleansing” the victims and of peace and harmony on Earth.
On December 17th, I was lucky to be able to go home for Christmas! I had a wonderful time in Chicago, and was fortunate to spend a lot of time with my family and closest friends. We had our annual two family Christmas parties, the first with my dad’s family, and the second with my mom’s. As usual, on Christmas day, the Marousek (mom’s) family went to a Czechoslovakian restaurant in Cicero, and then headed back to my grandma’s house for Peter Creepers (a concoction of my grandpa’s—pineapple juice, whisky, and raw eggs) and more food and revelry. I spent New Year’s with my friend Rachel and some of her friends who I had never met before. We had a lot of fun…maybe too much. Two of her friends, Mary and Anne, are professional musicians, and we went to a bar a few days after to hear them and their friends play some really good Irish music. I also went to the annual party at Megan’s house, and we made some fantastic gingerbread houses. Ours ended up being very gory, with a murderous, bloody mouthed, axe wielding gingerbread woman in front and “bloody” animal crackers all around the house. All of this stemmed from a minor mishap with red icing. Yeah…we be crazy. ;) And of course, I spent a lot of time with Jenny, the best sister in the world! We went downtown one night for sushi and hookah, and then ended up having a gut bustingly funny Snuggie photo shoot in her (and my old) apartment in Lincoln Park. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Jen, my extended family, Jamie, Kim, Rachel, Rachel, Kristina, Andrei, Megan, Viktorija, Al, Nick, Mary, Anne, Shea, and Amy for making my time at home so great!!!
When I came back to Japan, I met up with my old friend Kim, who lives in Tokyo. She is stationed at Yokota Air Force base and is a meteorologist. I had not seen her for years, so it was a very happy reunion indeed. We went to Tokyo Disneyland, which was the most fun I have had in ages!! I felt like I was seven years old again. It is laid out exactly like Disneyworld—the rides are the same, the atmosphere is the same, the parades are the same…..We went on It’s A Small World (still my favorite), Peter Pan, Snow White (still terrifying…haha), Big Thunder Mountain, Captain Eo, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We tried all five flavors of popcorn in the park (Curry, Soy Sauce and Salt, Caramel, Chocolate, and Honey) and I bought white, fuzzy, sparkly Mickey Mouse ears.
Well…now I am settling back to life in Japan. I cannot say enough how much I love it here. It was hard for the first week back; I got pretty homesick. But I realize that those feelings come and go, and that everyone who I love at home will be there when I get back. Of course, some late night talks and outings with my friends here made it easy to transition too. I have officially recontracted for another year, and I am looking forward to more traveling, continuing to improve my Japanese, and closer friendships with all of the wonderful people here. I am considering joining a Japanese choir with Matt, as well as playing with the school band (now that debate is over), and joining a gym!
Before I finish, let me plug one of the most fantastic places in Japan—Round One! Round One is a huge sports and entertainment complex that I went to this weekend with an awesome group of people—Carmen, Matt, Khanh, Carl, Reo, Michihiro, and Jack. We played intense games of soccer, tennis, and volleyball, did some taiko drumming, and also did some rollerblading and tried out the rodeo horse (this was obviously hilarious). Definitely looking forward to going back!
Well, goodbye for now! I love and miss everyone at home!!!
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