Kimonos, smiling moons, and all things Japan

A few days before I left for Japan I read in a letter from a friend, "Don't forget to look up at the stars and moons, all are looking at you." Well, its true. Every morning and night I open my window, look outside and say hello to the day or goodnight to the moon, whispering "Goodnight Magic Japan Land." And it really is magic. I've spent more time looking out that window at the street ahead of me--- a huge neon-yellow sign advertising a "family-style" restaurant spinning in circles, quickly blinding me every fourth of a second, people walking to the train, people on their bikes, a busy intersection and the random house I live behind and can spy on. It was during the first week here that I caught a glimpse of the moon early one evening- say, around 5 o'clock, pm. I love those early moons, when its still light out. I realized it was 1am for my California people, the night before. I pictured them looking at the same moon, at that same moment, only, a day before. I still can't get over this, and can't seem to grasp my head around the moon's largeness. It's the biggest thing I think I have ever seen, yet I can't even see its bigness. So weird. One day last week my mom called me from skype (from the US,) it was 10am for me, and 9pm for her the night before. As we are talking my dear friend Reynolds skype-messaged her, thinking it was me. Reynolds is Indonesian but getting his masters in Scotland at the moment. So, at the same time the 3 of us were communicating from 3 different time zones- night for her in the US, middle of the night for him in Scotland, and the next day for me, Japan. I think it was a little mind boggling for all three of us.


I go to my favorite cafe about once a week to talk with my hot-springing waitress friend, Ayano. As I am leaving this week she says very nonchalant, "Oh I told my grandmother about you, and how you are interested in Japanese culture, and she wants to give you her kimono that she doesn't wear anymore. But its heavy, maybe you don't want it?" OK THAT IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE THING I HAVE EVER HEARD! I am going to adopt a kimono from my Japanese friend's grandmother in Japan. Killer.

So, the more I travel I have come to realize that cool-ness really is relative. I do believe that we are told what is cool, and then we think it is ourselves deciding it, opposed to the consumer culture we live in and support by buying, only continuing this process. Like, for example, doggie clothes. Yes, doggie clothes. Those grandmas in NYC who have little Chihuahuas and put clothes on them. And its not cool. BUT, they are grandmas, so they have an excuse. Can someone please tell me what is the excuse for the millions of Japanese people who think its cool to buy wardrobes for their animals??? I have seen everything... jean overalls with a red and white stripped shirt underneath, leather, yes yes LEATHER, its all here. People (everyone!) put clothes on their dogs. Its a scary version of 101 Dalmatians where the dogs match the owners- here, you will see a dude with slicked hair and dark sunglasses, a leather jacket to prove his toughness, and who is next to him but his little dog Binkie, with matching clothes. And he's cool for it.



Japan has a reputation for being technologically advanced. And, well, its true! Every cell phone in existence not only has internet, but you can watch TVs on your cellies. But, for my favorite example: so, there are different forms of payment for the subway/my above-ground train. You can put a little piece of paper in the machine and it spits it back out on the other side, or else you buy a pass that you keep re-charging and swipe as you walk into the subway. Just last weekend I was telling my friend-from-home-living-in-Tokyo-friend Andrew how I get this secret adrenaline rush every time I leave the train and I can feel eyes surprised that I am getting out in the middle of no-wheres-ville an hour outside of Tokyo and when I take out this pass and swipe it I feel like really I am yelling to everyone, "ha! I am no tourist- I live here, so there!!!!" Well, I got schooled, because not only do you not need to take the credit-card looking pass out of your bag at all, but I have discovered the machine seems to recognize it through all the millions of contents in your bag! So, instead of fumbling around in your bag looking for this one thing, you walk by, lift up your bag that has your whole life inside it, and MAGIC, the machine beeps and you can go through. I'm sorry but really- is this simple thing not so amazing? A machine that can detect a little piece of plastic inside your bag?????

Japanese Tea Ceremony

"What did you do last night?"... I ask every student this, every day. Yes, it gets annoying. BUT, sometimes they tell me something cool. Like, 2 weeks ago, when a few students said in their (very!) broken English, "tea ceremony class in dormitory." Ohhhh realllly?!?!?!?!??! They weren't able to tell me much, but did mention that their tea-ceremony teacher speaks English. I mentioned that I would love to talk to her and the next day my student Yuka comes in all shy and quiet, looking into space deep in thought and finally says, "here is number, you call my teacher today, she wait for you call." Turns out I can't make calls on my phone, also turns out my student took out hers and called for me, I had a talk with their teacher and vwalla, magic, I have a plan to meet her.

I thought I was just going to meet her in the hallway before she taught the dorm class, have a quick convo about the logistics: how much she charges for a class, etc. No no, its never that simple in Japan. At the end of the day my students bring me into the dorms... great, no shoes aloud, not like I have a complex about my feet smelling or anything... then we go upstairs and there is a freakin TEA ROOM in the dorm. This is what I am talking about with the Japanese culture being hidden. Everything on surface level is pretty much the same- students walking in jeans and t-shirts with books, going to class, etc. But then amongst it all, hiding, secret, a tea room! The sliding doors are opened by the teacher in full out kimono, mats covering the floor, 7 students rehearsing how to run the ceremony and I spend the next hour and a half sitting with them watching, praying I don't miss the last bus and wondering why I never knew that it is this painful to sit on your knees for so long. The whole thing really was incredible- how serious the students took it, how everything is so about tradition. For example, when I got to try the (BITTER) tea that one of the students made (literally, made. Grounded tea in a bowl) my instructions are as follows: "First you hold with this hand, then you turn clockwise twice, then u bow your head and lift up the bowl in thanks, then you sip, then you turn it in your hands the other way and wipe where you touched it in this manner".... etc., etc.



So, at the end of class she tells me she would love to give me one-on-one classes 3 times a month. How is tomorrow to start? Apparently, I'm learning about Japanese tea. Last night after work I found myself wandering in the dark trying to find her house and when i finally take my chances and ring a doorbell, a sliding door opens with her in a now different kimono, bowing to me, as I look into a whole house of Japanese-ness. I mean, everything was screaming Japansese. It was like being at the MET for a Japanese exhibition, seriously.

Everything is a ceremony, and everything I do is wrong. The way you walk into a strangers house, the way you take your shoes off and how you make your first step into the hallway--- it all MUST be done in a certain way. And it all includes being really graceful and formal, bowing a lot and looking at the appropriate place at the appropriate time. It was amazing. I spent 2 hours with this woman, and she refuses to charge me for the first lesson. She mainly taught me the different ways to bow (very important to do the right one at the right time!), and the proper way to enter the room. Its very particular how you open the door and pull yourself onto the tatami mats, sliding your body on your knees to your established position in the room. The way to stand up and sit down is the best. Basically, its Japanese tea aerobics for me- you go from your knees (which fell asleep 20 minutes ago) to standing, all in one smooth motion, as if you are being pulled up by a string. Not easy.


She has been studying/ teaching tea for 48 years. 48 years! No wonder she can sit on her knees for 2 straight hours, 10 minutes for me and literally I am sore as I write this. I'm still so confused about so much, but what I gather from her is that "the way of tea" is a philosophy- a way of thinking- and the tea ceremony is just one reflection of this. She also showed me the Buddhist shrine in her house, which honestly looked just like any ordinary chest in a house, but when she opened it, I saw that its filled with little statues and offerings and a bell that she kneels under and dings every morning. I saw her rice offering from that morning. When it was time for me to leave, she walked me to her corner in her kimono, including the wooden shoes. As I left her in the misty rain, I kept turning around and there she was, still standing on the corner bowing continually until I was out of her sight. There is still so much to learn...

Japanese Onsen (Hot Spring!)

When I started chatting with the Japanese waitress who speaks English at my fav nearby cafe, I felt lucky to have met her. Then, the 2nd time I go she mentions that we should hang. Wow, a Japanese friend in the making- I love it! What I didn't have in mind is that in Japan its very appropriate for newly found friends to travel to the mountains together to cleanse their body and soul in natural hot springs, and, well, of course- naked!... welcome to my day yesterday!

Ayano- my waitress friend- is basically the coolest Japanese woman in all of Japan. When she invited me to go to a hot spring with her, I had no idea what this meant, other than the fact that I would be bathing naked with small, flat, tiny Japanese women- clearly I'd fit in so nothing to worry about! Um, right. So, ok, this part turned out to be as expected. BUT, what I didn't know and was happily surprised to find out is that this place was what (I imagine!) a spa to be. We went to Hakone- the mountain region outside of Tokyo, and then took a bus up into the mountains. Everyone leaves their shoes outside, and you enter into this all wood and tsunami matted reception room--- incense burning, sounds of waterfalls, etc. First we hit up the restaurant- which was so Japanese. We sat on mats on the floor and I had my first sushi- salmon, not bad! We ordered shrimp and I nearly shrieked when what is placed in front of us but a plate full of little shrimp faces- with eyes, antennas and all and Ayano just plops the whole thing in her mouth! Me? Um, hell no.


Then we pass through all these corridors and rooms for people to sleep- literally, its just these open areas with mats for people to lay down and rest, and then finally, we get to the hot springs. You step outside and it was BEAUTIFUL. We were up against the bottom of a big, green, luscious mountain of moss, with natural hot water dripping down in little water falls into different pools, all made of natural rock sizing from a jacuzzi size to baby-pool size. People went from one bath to the next, each having their own unique atmosphere- for example one had a cave with crazy amounts of natural steam, since the water was so damn hot. Of course there are also benches around for cool-down breaks, where sadly I spent most of my time as the water was TOO hot! There were families, friends, old, young-- everyone very peaceful and quiet, having their own meditating experience amongst natural beauty, hot water and the naked bodies of strangers! It was really freeing and had a very Zen-esqu feeling, like everyone was one with nature. As if this wasn't enough, we ended the day with massage chairs and Hakone's famous dessert- basically, bean curd balls. Smushed between pancakes I can handle, but solo... I pretended to like it.



The best thing of all was spending time with my new friend. We spent hours cracking up at the random things we think are cool about each other's cultures, that to us seem ordinary. This is all started when I asked her if she has ever eaten outside. She got all excited, like a giddy school girl, "oh oh oh I want to do this so bad, I see in movies, it looks sooo fun" "Well, why don't you," I answer. Her response? "No, no, never... I just can't!" I was laughing for a good 10 minutes. (Reference to my previous entry). I told her about PB and J and mac and cheese, both of which she had never heard of--- I'm planning on making her both. She made a comment about my BIC pen and how there is a shop in Tokyo that sells American things and they sell the pens for 200 yen (2 dollars!) I told her they are cheap nothing pens in the US and she shrieked with shock. I asked her what else they sell and- get this- she says "you know... cute things... like, bathroom spray." I'm sorry but what??? "Yay, I love American bathroom spray, the packaging is so cute, not like Japan bathroom spray." I have no idea what the hell she is talking about.

Also, she took me to this store in Tokyo that is famous for their sweet potato (see pic to believe)- I ordered plain and purple flavored... the sweet potato ice cream they make in Kamakura is made from that purple "sweet potato." Oh, which reminds me, when I was talking to Ayano I did a quotation mark sign with my hands and she goes "I see people do this in the movies, what does it mean?" I couldn't quite explain but then became really, really aware of how often I lift my fingers and make quotation marks with my hands... hello weirdness that I never noticed before! Then she goes, "also, I see in the movies people have cluttered rooms with stuff everywhere! It looks cool to me so I tried it but I couldn't take it, I had to clean it!" Basically, the typical girls room in the US- posters everywhere, clothes on the floor, bottle collections and books piling up everywhere--- is so, so opposite to the Japanese standards of pure order and refinement, so it looks foreign, and therefore cool.

Oh man--- and the best part is that she is going home to her husband explaining equally weird things that I said about her culture. Like, when I told her that sushi is trendy in the US and people use sayonara as an alternative to peace out- she had no clue! And when I excitedly showed her my Japanese bookmark made of traditional paper thinking she would be impressed and she laughed and basically said that she would never buy something like that. So funny. The cafe she works at is owned by her mother and I'm going over on Monday after work because there is a temple ceremony that every Japanese baby experiences when they turn 3. Her niece is having hers on Monday and afterwards they are going to go to the cafe to take pictures of her in her $250 rented kimono and I'm invited!

First Tokyo Weekend!

Did you know questionnaire!:

1. Japanese magazines, brouchers, etc. are bound on the right side. So, when you pick up a magazine it looks backwards!

2. They drive on the opposite side of the road here!

3. Its very non-conformist and inappropriate to eat outside. I mean, they did tell us in training not to eat on campus walking from one building to the next, which I assumed just meant its unprofessional. Well, last Sat night I got some food to go and on a pretty empty street I found the only place to sit--- the steps of a closed store. Well, it looked closed anyway. I had this sense that people were doing a double take, going by me on their bikes, looking at this foreigner sitting there eating her dinner... but I shrugged it off. Suddenly, I look behind me and can someone please for the love of God tell me why there are 3 men in business suits inside the store peering at me outside the window, looking like they are so confused... no no no... more like ENAMORED by this sight, their eyes laughing at this confusing and ever so ridiculous sight of me eating. Then one starts walking towards the door, obviously to tell me to leave as the others are laughing behind him---- well, as imagined, I pretty much ran away in embarrassment. So, yay, now we all get to know not to eat outside in Japan.

Questionnaire Complete- you passed! Now on to my amazing first Tokyo weekend!:

I got off work on Friday and wanted to somehow celebrate the end of my first week teaching but didn't know anywhere to go. I was on the metro home and decided I would just get off the next stop and see what was there, where life in Japan would take me. So, I get off and like I was warned, there is nothing. I live and work in the suburbs, and everything seems to die very early. Just as I am about to turn around, I notice some lights at the end of the block... I go a little closer and see a sign that says cafe.... well, I basically discovered the most amazing little non-Japanese cafe that exists in all of Japan! Its trying to be like a French bistro, with 4 little tables, coffees, desserts, etc. The woman who works there was simply wonderful and to my luck she speaks English! I sat with a piece of cheesecake for two hours, chatting with her, reading my Lonely Planet Japan and having it register that I AM IN JAPAN! This cafe is going to be my weekly Friday after work tradition.

Saturday morning I went to my first 100 yen... 1 dollar... JAPANESE LESSON! I know, I know- how can a Japanese lesson be 1 dollar. I was wondering that too. I go to the location and its a community center of sorts. They point me to the room and I see a bunch of shoes outside the door... ok, I guess I am going to go in barefoot too. I duck my head to go inside this small room with mats covering the floor, cushions to sit on and low tables lining the walls to write on. Besides for me and one Australian girl it was all Chinese families, with little kids running around the small room trying to learn Japanese. I was paired up with Goto- a Japanese grandfather, probablly in his 70s, who speaks English and doesn't know how to be a teacher, but still, it was all so charming- very Japanese, and its always nice to interact with locals.

That night I went to the movies, which by the way costs 18 dollars. Yay, I know, worse than NYC! I wanted to see a Japanese film so I decided on the one film that looked visually entertaining- a colorful kids movie... or so I thought. I have no clue what this movie was about but I think it was made for someone on drugs. It was very psychodelic- going into different worlds on top of worlds and using different forms of imagination. Check out the trailor, which tailors it down some: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=bWn71fkqBcw. And I found out that the Tokyo International Film Festival is coming up!

On Sunday I met up with my sister's wonderful friend Janet, who is half Japanese and half American. I went to church with her and her mom and met some really wonderful inter-racial families, and ran into someone I worked with 6 years and haven't seen since but is now livingin Tokyo- small world! Janet took me out to eat at this wonderful Japanese place and taught me what all the weird foods I've been trying actually are. THe most interesting thing she taught me is not to pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks because at Japanese funerals they pass the bones from person to person using chopsticks and so people never pass food at the table in this way. Also, its not rude to slurp your soup! Interesting, thanks Janet!

After that I went to Asakusa, where there is the largest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. So, now I have been to the largest Shinto and Buddhist Temples in Tokyo. I was watching one man pray at a shrine and of course he saw me, but then motions for me to come over. He basically gave me a 15 minute animated explanation of the, well, I dont know what exactly. He was pointing and impersonating and laughing and I kept interupting to say in Japanese that I don't understand but its like he didn't believe me, and just kept on talking. In the end, I had to throw some money in the shrine and copy what I saw him do before continuing on my way.

I ended the weekend with some good, classic America: I went to Starbucks!