Talk about whirlwind tour - holy smokes! I don't even know where to begin!

After a few failed landing attempts due to bad fog, Eli arrived safe and sound in Matsuyama at the end of April. It was quite entertaining to see him all wide eyed with the strange reality of this wonderful country surrounding him! It reminded me of myself when I was 'fresh off the boat'! Not having much time to waste I had arranged for Eli to come to school with me the next day - a bonus foreigner for my students! It was a great chance for them to practice their English because they know that Eli does not speak a word of Japanese - they tried extra hard! After an exhausting day at school (5 back to back classes) we headed out to a welcome party that I had organized. I was happy that so many people came - some teachers, people from the Board of Education and my adult conversation class! It was a lot of fun and I was happy that Eli got to see a typical Japanese enkai (party).

We took various day trips around Ehime to some of the neighbouring sights, including Uchiko - a small town with lots of pre WW2 history. Uchiko has a famous traditional kabuki (Japanese Play) theatre which we visited. Acting runs in Eli's family so it was of special interest to him. The theatre is made entirely of wood and the audience sits on cushions instead of seats. Under the stage there is a set of tunnels - with a variety of gadgets, including 2 trap doors and a revolving stage! The rest of the town is an interesting mix of flashy lights and traditional shopping streets.

On the Monday we headed to Hiroshima via high speed ferry! It was a quick trip, just taking a little over an hour. The days activities included Peace Memorial Park, the Atomic Bomb Museum and the "Atomic Dome". The last being a building which was a few hundred meters from the epicentre - left standing as a reminder. I must admit, the park and museum where not at all what I expected. It was built in an almost Soviet style - very square, blank and lots of concrete, blah. Granted, it is no supposed to be a cheerful place. The park is located about 300m away from the epicentre and has 3 main components - an eternal flame which will burn until all atomic bombs are destroyed, a symbolic coffin that holds the names of those who perished and the Museum. If you look through the structure above the coffin you can see the flame and the Atomic Dome in the same line of sight. There are also numerous tributes, statues etc throughout the park in rememberance. There is a childrens monument, a Korean monument(forced labour), Chinese (also forced labour), American POWs etc. The Museum was less graphic than the one in Nagasaki - or maybe I am becoming accustomed to grotesque radiation damage exhibits..... There are pamphlets in a multitude of languages and tours are offered every 30 minutes. There was a lot of information to take in but the point is well made. The purpose is to inform everyone about the effects of nuclear war. The museum in a plea to stop nuclear weapon production and testing and does not fall short of criticizing other countries for their own production and testing. As was not the case in Nagasaki, there is mention of Japan's imperialist policies pre-WW2 which was a refreshing change. On the way out of the museum there were notebooks in which you could write a message of peace etc. Since the museums opening in the 1960s thousands and thousands of books have been filled. Many of the recent entries discussed the current state of affairs. Interesting to read.

After wondering around the park and museum we headed out to find a place to eat. We found a WONDERFUL restaurant called Doma Doma - note to all those visiting Hiroshima/Me in the next little while. It was an izikaya restaurant - meaning that it served Japanese 'bar' food if you can imagine. Lots of small dishes - steamed dumplings, salads, squewered meat etc. Similar to tapas?? The waitress was blabbering on to me in Japanese - didn't quite understand what she was saying as it was not the usual: What will you have to drink? etc. She ran off to get someone else who spoke a bit of English - turns out they wanted me to fill out a survey - - - - too bad it was all in Kanji! (i.e. Chinese Characters!). Humm, if I don't know what you are saying, do you think I'll be able to read the survey!!! She was just trying to do her job, can't blame her but it was amusing nonetheless. Yumm yumm. Took in a bit of the Hiroshima nightlife walking through the outdoor shopping arcades listening to numerous buskers. We also went to a puri kurabu - ie Print Club. Basically a small booth that takes your picture and you can add various designs etc. to the picture! Too much fun and sooo kitschy! Great!

The next day we headed to Miyajima - a small island near Hiroshima. Many years ago, the actual island was the shrine. In Shinto, it is believed that natural objects can themselves be gods or kami. The mountain on Miyajima island was once a kami and common people (ie not priests) could not visit the island. Those who were granted permission had to pass through the 'floating' torii (a Shinto gate which precedes the entrance to a shrine) which the island is now famous for. The torii is in in the water and is thus 'floating' when high tide is in. The view of the torii with Mt. Misen in the background is one of Japan's three best views. The other two are located in northern Honshu - and surprisingly, Fuji-san is not one of them! Today, the mountain is open to all visitors except for one day a year when a special pilgrimage takes place. We arrived in the late morning and the tide was still in to the torii appeared to be 'floating'! It was quite beautiful! There are hundreds of tame deer around the island - cute for the first 10 minutes only! After wandering around the shrine we headed up the mountain via cable car. The view was spectacular - just wish it had of been a bit more clear! So, if deer weren't enough then why not have tame monkeys too! And no shortage of them either! There was a whole group of monkeys waiting for us at the top! There are free lockers for your purse etc. in the lift station - apparently the monkeys are not shy about helping themselves to anything you might be carrying! The signs warning us not to look the monkeys directly in the eye were very amusing! It's another 30 min hike to the top of the mountain - where we enjoyed a wonderful bowl of udon noodles! We spent the rest of the day walking around the old shopping street and various shrines on the island. Later in the afternoon when the tide was out we wandered down to the base of the torii. Apparently it was struck down (at least partially) from a typhoon a few years ago - explaining the astonishingly bright (and new) paint!

On Wednesday we jumped on the shinkansen - otherwise known as the bullet train, or shink - bound for Osaka. This was both mine and Eli's first time on the Shink. I had very high expectations.....which were slightly crushed by the smell of dog pee from a near by canine companion. Yuck. Enough said. We stayed with another JET, Reena while in Osaka and took in some of Japan's most flashy, busy streets! Osaka is a fun city with lots of excitement but it lack in cultural history - - so we headed to Kyoto the next day.

For me, Kyoto was the highlight of the trip! Everyone tells me that you could spend weeks there looking around - I had to see it myself to believe it! It's true! You could NEVER get bored in that city! We arrived mid afternoon and made a bee line to the ryokan that I had booked. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel that is very much based on total rest and relaxation - not to mention all things Japanese! After walking through some old shopping streets we finally found the ryokan - wow, it was beautiful! Just as we approached the door it slid open and someone was taking our bags off our shoulders, there was incense burning, beautiful flowers and attendants galore. Having sat down so that a lady could take my shoes off (yes, you read that right!) she asked me my name. To which I replied in my most polite (albeit simple) Japanese.....after looking in the book it was quickly determined that we were at the wrong place.....dee neee. I knew it was all too good to be true! I had booked the annex to this ryokan and assumed that it was in the same compound....silly Emma. Oops. After being given back our (very heavy) bags and a map, we were back out on the street. Thank goodness it was only a few blocks away. Embarrassed Much! I am happy to report that the Bekkan Ryokan that we actually stayed in was very enjoyable! Sawa-san was our personal attendant and was so polite and helpful! After giving us green tea (perhaps the best I have had yet!) and a yummy cookie (it was red bean paste which I usually loath, so it's saying a lot) she told us about the customs etc about staying in a ryokan. You stay in a traditional tatami (woven rush grass mat) room that is sparsely furnished. This room is used for both sleeping and eating. Futons are laid out for you after dinner by your attendant. We were lucky and got a corner room that looked out on to the garden! It was very peaceful! Sawa-san brought us dinner in our room, one course at a time. Talk about being dumped in at the deep end! Poor Eli - he had no idea what was coming! Hahahaaa. The meal was very traditional, composed of mainly 'new and interesting' Japanese vegetables (unlike anything Eli had ever seen before!). There are many pickles and cold dishes, each with a unique taste. There was also sashimi (raw fish and squid), some pickled fish (sorry don't know the name - but it was delish!) and even a bit of beef! Most of the things I had eaten before and even if I didn't know what the name was, I knew what tastes to expect. An unfair advantage over my travel buddy I'm sure! Rice is traditionally used as a filler at the end of a meal - Eli had a more than one serving! After dinner it is common to take a bath in the ryokan's ofuro - communal bath. The bath is allotted to each room for a designated time which is prearranged. One of the attendants came to get us to take us to the bath - and my worst fears came true...they gave us only one bath! Eeeek! I thought Toshie had told them that we were only friends! This is quite a hard concept for the Japanese to understand as young men and women do not often have close friendships or share hotel rooms for that matter!! I was full of apologies as I let Eli bath and I waited my turn. I think that the attendant was the most embarrassed of us all! :) Grassroots internationalization - - as my friends would say! After we returned from our baths, Sawa-san had put out our futons for us and asked what time we would like to have breakfast in the morning. To Eli's dismay, breakfast was so less odd than dinner....but he did manage to try almost everything - except for the things that I wouldn't even eat! We had asked Sawa-san the night before if we could go out in the garden and she said that she would bring us special outdoor slippers in the morning. Right after breakfast she brought us the slippers and started to put away the futons. The garden was quite simple, lots of moss, grass and flowering bushes but beautiful nonetheless. After settling accounts, Sawa-san came back and gave us a small gift - two beautiful pairs of chopsticks! Spoilt rotten I say! I had also mentioned earlier that I had been bitten by a number of centipedes - so....she wrote down in Japanese and English the name of the medicine that I should take next time I get bitten! Talk about service!! Following about a hundred sumimasens (saying excuse me in Japanese - very common when you leave somewhere!) we finally were on our way for the day. We headed to Nijo-jo - a famous castle and garden that was once home to the Shogunate. It is famous for it's 'nighting gale' floor! The floor is constructed in such a way that when you walk on it make the noise of birds chirping. It is impossible to move throughout the building without making a sound. Hence, this was on of the first security systems - effective, cheap and invisible! That afternoon we tried to go to the Imperial Palace but unfortunately we did not get there in time to catch the tour - it only takes place 2x a day. Lesson learnt.

That evening we headed out for a wonderful meal of inoshishi and kuma! I am will let you look those words up in the dictionary yourselves! I didn't order the second one - it was a present from the owner! It was a BBQ restaurant and the man that ran it was quite fluent in English and cooked delicious food! After dinner we headed off to Gion - of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' fame. At a play house we watch a demonstration of 6 different traditional Japanese arts! Ikebana (flower arrangement), Tea Ceremony, Koto (Japanese harp), and three various types of acting etc. which names escape me. It was a little touristy in its appearance but a good opportunity to see some traditional Japanese art. After the show we walked around the streets of Gion and the atmosphere is unlike anything I have ever experienced. So much tradition and history just in a few streets! Amazing. We were lucky enough to see a group of immaculately dressed Geisha enroute from one engagement to another! The next day we went on to see two more shrines in and around Kyoto. In the afternoon we went to the "Thousand Torii Shrine" - sorry don't know the Japanese name. Anyways, the shrine is located up a hill and consists of hundreds and hundreds of Torii - one directly after another over the path all the way up the mountain! It was just stunning! We went in the afternoon and as we were climbing down the sun was peeking through the bright red torii's!

On the Sunday we started on our way from Kyoto to Tokyo, but not without stopping at a kite festival enroute! We stopped in Hammamatsu City which is right along the coast! This city is famous for it's annual kite fighting festival and there were crowds to prove it! In Japanese festival tradition we had a few late morning beers and sat back to enjoy the sights and festival food! Squid on a stick anyone?? Or perhaps fried octopus is more to your liking? Wait, I have it - roasted sparrow! Not that early in the morning, thankyou! I'll just stick to my Asahi and sweet potato! We were at the festival on the middle day and only learned later than they do not fight until the final day - which we unfortunately missed! It was still great to see hundreds of HUGE kites in the air - each one requiring a team of about 15 to keep it on the ground! Note: there was no attention paid to the surrounding powerlines....... That afternoon we caught the shink and continued on to Tokyo - thank goodness there were no dogs on our car this time!

Ahhh, Tokyo! The land of all things modern, flashy, strange and tacky! My kind of place! While there we were able to take in the flashy and loud electronics shops! The coolest thing that we found were cellphone batteries/chargers that were solar powered! Neat-o! We also went to Sony tower where they display all of their new and fun gadgets! Wow! We also were able to go to the Imperial Residence - though you are not allowed inside, much to Eli's disappointment! It was surreal to be in such a green, open space right in the middle of downtown Tokyo! Similar to Central Park I would imagine.

The next day we both had to go our separate ways - but not before one last meal! Sushi, you might think! Or Japanese noodles - Nope! We went for Japan's answer to McDonalds! It's called MOS Burger (Mountain, Ocean, Sky). We had been looking for one a number of times but could never find one when we were hungry! All of our prayers were answered. Not a very traditional last meal - but a very typical one at least!

Ok, I think I'll end there!

School has been going well! It is once again festival season so each and every weekend is packed full of new and exciting things! This weekend I am off to help clean up a local beach. Should be a good time! Next weekend I will be heading to Osaka for a bit of the big city life. From Monday to Wednesday next week all recontracting JETs have to attend a conference in Kobe - which is 30 min from Osaka, hence the side trip! Can't wait!

I hope that all of you are well! To those of you in Ottawa - I am deathly jealous of A) the Senators B) the Tulip Festival and C) the Canal

Much love and hope to hear from you,

Emma
xoxoxox

emma found her way @ 8:21 p.m.