Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto

So today was a pretty exciting day. Probably the best day I have had so far in Japan!!! My friends and I joined 3 other Japanese college students who taught us how to use the Japanese trains as well as the buses. It was a little intimidating, but the crowds on the trains were no worse than they are on my home train line in Illinois. The train ride provided us with an instant snapshot of life stretching from Hirakata-shi to Kyoto, our final destination. The towns, very similar to suburbs of Chicago are condensed along a flat plain with rolling blue-green mountains framing the background. Beautiful. Seeing another people's life and land through fresh, new eyes makes me wonder if Americans are numb to the beauty of our own lives simply because we live it every day. I certainly never have found anything too spectacular about corn fields, but perhaps I will look harder when I get back home.





Our new friends are students, as I mentioned before. All of them were freshmen in college, and all of their majors were English and Chinese. They were an interesting group of girls, and we enjoyed trying out our Japanese and English skills on one another so much that I nearly forgot that I should be taking pictures of the beautiful things all around me. After changing train lines once and noticing that all the buildings were getting gradually taller, I figured we were nearing Kyoto.



I must say, Kyoto was much different than I expected, at least the part that I visited. I had simply assumed it was another large metropolis similar to Osaka, but it very much had an old, woodsy, traditional feel about. The walk up to the jinja we were going to visit (Kiyomizu Temple) was a very steep slope. The Japanese girl whom i had been talking with most of the trip and myself began to pull ahead of the main group, but by the time we reached the beginnings of the temple and the end of the slope, we were both breathless.



My first reaction to seeing the characteristic oriental building styles and the bright orange roof was a sort of disbelief. I am really in Japan.



All those pictures and movies I have seen have temples like this in them, no wait, these ARE those temples and I am here, now. Every single building there was probably older than the United States. Each of them was painfully beautiful, unique, and breathtaking. I more than likely walked around more than half the time with my jaw on the ground. Keep in mind I hadn't even entered the grounds yet. I will admit, I ran up the steps to the doorway of the temple grounds not because I felt like reaching the top faster, but because I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning. The orange and green archway building that acted as the door to the temple grounds was not only just an entryway, but it housed two triple sized intricate wooden statues of the ancient warriors who had protected the temple in the past.




The details were amazing, and one of them even had great abs. Once inside, I felt like I was flying from place to place, not having the time to dedicate to each object what it really deserved.





We stopped for a few minutes to enter the womb of the Mother Buddha. It is a series of tunnels beneath one of the temples which is kept in perpetual darkness for you to be better able to relax and set free your mind, soul, etc. We removed our shoes, and with me leading walked down into the dark tunnels. We were instructed to hold onto the beaded railing along the walls, and I was a little unsure of the entire thing when I walked face-first into a wall. I realized, however, that I had just missed the turn. The entire depths were, as they said, pitch black, and it had a strong smell of sweet incense, which was very very calming. In the center of the labyrinth was a large gray stone with a symbol on it that I didn't recognize. We were told to place both hands on the stone and make our wish or our prayer, and then proceed to find the exit. We were told that when you exited the womb, it was to be reborn refreshed and renewed. It was quite an interesting experience.

After that, we entered the actual temple area, washing our hands- left one first, then our right one- in a fountain. The temple was beautiful, full of large gongs that elderly religious Japanese would offer up to and ring on. The temple it seems was full of smaller, individual shrines, and I almost felt irreverent for not knowing more about what I was seeing. I felt truly foreign, but very lucky to experience it.



There were a couple of interesting things on the temple grounds. The only really hands on 'events' that one could participate in were to lift a series of spears, one was completely iron and was near 60 or 70lbs and the other was a giant wooden spear a foot or two taller than myself. I guessed it weighed over 500Lbs because no one in the entire crowd could lift it.



The second event was to walk through the love and matchmaking shrine which is still commonly used by japanese people to test out their luck in love. Many married couples will also return to the shrine after their marriage. What you must do to test your fortune in love is to walk from one ancient love rock to another safely with your eyes closed. If you have someone walking you through it and succeed this signifies that you will have help in obtaining love. When I chose to walk the walk, the only 'help' I received was our new Japanese friends saying "Aaaahh!!! hayakudesu!!"- too fast! We Americans just see a challenge and we run towards it, even if it is a symbolic test of love, ha ha. (I did reach the rock safely)



Inside the temple I took advantage of having my fortune read and was handed a translucent paper full of Japanese kanji that I could not read. I asked our new friends to translate for me, and they promptly started shrieking and being generally excited, their eyes wide with shock. Apparently I had received the best fortune that was possible to receive and Japanese people in the crowd came over to see me and congratulate me and nod and bow. From what I gathered, some of the fortune said that I have and will continue to have the best lover, the best health, and the greatest chance one can have at success and fortune. It is tradition to fold up your fortune and tie it to a series of metal bars near where your fortune is given to you, but I was told mine was so good that I must keep it. So I will keep it, and maybe find a nice, little frame for it!



The rest of the temple was a beautiful experience, the final thing we did had to do with 3 separate streams which are natural waterfalls which pour down from the side of the mountain. Each stream represents a different desirable thing, one for love, one for health, and one for wisdom. It is said that it is greedy to try and drink from all 3, so all 3 of the Valpo girls headed up there at the same time and we each drank from one of the 3 different streams. A very neat experience!





On the way down the mountain from the temple grounds, I noticed a repetative phenomena that started occuring. On the hills of the mountains and even housed in little temples were small liter-sized miniature people statues, dressed in red. Some had flowers laying in front of them, some even had little offerings of food, and some had hats brought out to cover their heads. I found out that these hundreds of statues were representative of aborted infants and that people would come to bring them food, to comfort them, and even keep them warm. They are called "Jizo" or "Water children". It was a very interesting thing to see permanent, ancient, though continuing representation of the loss of infants at a Buddhist temple. It was quite sobering.




After the entire temple experience. We headed down a street full of shopping vendors selling the MOST AMAZING things. Imagine any old town Americana place that has a bunch of antique/ neato shops times one hundred. They sold everything from Katanas to rice cakes to ice cream, to cell phone charms. Needless to say, I picked up a few gifts for my family. Be ready.

After the shops, we found a okonomiyaki restaurant where the seven of us could fit, and let me say. Okonomiyaki is the MOST delicious Japanese food I have EVER tasted. It is described as a Japanese pancake or omelet, but it is just so much more. Plus, mine had squid in it, though I asked for shrimp. It was a wise mistake, I think. Oishidesu! Simply amazing.





Well that is all for now, talk to you all again soon,

Sarah


Here are some more images from inside the temple

たこ焼! (Tacoyaki) and my host family!

I must say, my fellow Valpo students and I were very blessed to have a fellow student who had been here the semester before! He has led us to several different dining out experiences, and last night we got to enjoy tacoyaki, or octopus balls! It was a new experience for all 4 of us, that was for sure. We each ordered a dinner of 8 tacoyaki balls for around 円３００ (about $3.00) at this tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only two tables that sat 4 and a 'bar' that sat two. It was clearly a family operation, a mom and pop shop.



There were two really interesting regulars at the bar who hushed to listen every time I tried to speak Japanese to the waitress(I am the designated orderer for our group). The tacoyaki, slightly larger than donut holes and each filled with a chunk of octopus, looked delicious and were covered with a type of steak sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. Japanese mayo is delicious and is put on everything here. While I wasn't a fan of the texture of the tacoyaki, the flavor was good.









After dinner, we walked down an street leading to Makino train station that was full of shops, bookstores, 百円(dollar) stores, butcher shops, barber shops, etc. It was just after 7PM, so all the shops had closed for the evening- which is something else that takes some getting used to. There is no such thing as a 24-hour store or a Walmart in Japan. The only store remotely close that IS open 24 hours is a McDonald's. Clearly staying out late is not part of Japanese culture. This means no late-night snack runs or last minute errands. You must be prepared all the time!





Today, after our our orientation to what we could expect from host family life, aka expect the unexpected, we received preliminary information on the dynamics of our families! Here is what i know about my family:

Junji Yuo- Age 56, my host father and a company employee
Michiyo Yuo- Age 58, my host mother and a housewife

The have one dog, and their hobbies include calligraphy and painting. At least one of them speaks English, and they hope to learn more from me through daily conversations. Their reasons for hosting students is because they would like to have more people in their family, which is a good reason! Neither one of them drinks or smokes, and my commute from their house to school is only about 45 minutes. I am excited and lucky to have this family, because I feel that they will be very protective of me. If they would have had children, they would be my age, so I feel that they will be loving. While I AM disappointed that I don't have any little siblings, I am also a little releived because I will have plenty of time to do my homework in quiet and be around other people who enjoy peaceful activities like painting, calligraphy, etc. Cool beans!



So to celebrate my placement with a host family (and because we enjoy eating out) me and my Valpo friends went to a good, traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables where they played the greatest hits of Bob Dylan, Pat Benatar, and Elton John, mixed with the Japanese dubbed versions of similar songs. Authentic, right? The food was delicious, and definately authentic Japanese. They made the noodles right next to our table using a pasta machine just like the pasta maker my family tried to use once when I was a kid. Pretty cool! However, our waiter was a nice young man who didn't speak a word of English. So when checkout time came, I assumed I asked him for separate checks, but neither of us knew the correct phrases to tell the other that we didn't understand, and we fell into a 10 minute language barrier war because he was too polite and I was too polite and none of us realized it wasn't a restaurant that you pay the waiter, but pay at the door. It was interesting being lost for words, saying the wrong obnoxious phrases, and struggling in general with no easy way out. Everyone had a good laugh though, and I successfully paid for our meals and said goodbye.



It has been a good few days! I ate at McDonalds just to see what it was like in Japan. It's the same; the food is less filling, but you crave more of it when you're done. I also finally got my CELL PHONE!!! These phones are interesting because the messaging is free, but it uses an email account set up for your phone, so essentially, anyone who has an email address can text me at any time throughout the day! Also, incoming calls for me are free, though outgoing are not. Here is my phone messaging email and my number:

slouise01@softbank.ne.jp
08038435499



Call, email, text, whatever, whenever! I would love to hear from any of you.

That's all for now, good night!

- Sarah

Traveling to Japan: The First Few Days

Hello friends and family!

Traveling to Japan was much different than I anticipated. First off, I assumed the actual travel to Japan would be taxing and difficult, however, after the 13 hour flight, I was no worse for the wear, aside from some swelling in my lower extremities.

Throughout my travel, I wasn't feeling over stressed at any point, but, rather a strange numbness. The airport in South Korea was a little misleading to me, simply because everything was written in English and all the stores took USD. Even the airport in Japan didn't give me that feeling of being a minorty, but then again, I was in the international wing with many other exchange students. All of this continued on the bus ride to the university seminar houses, or dorms. I was on a bus full of American and Swedish exchange students, and I was beginning to feel a bit 'ripped-off'. Where was the culture shock I had heard of?







The first feelings of fear leaked in when I walked into my seminar house, was asked to take my shoes off, and was led by my sweet, little okaasan (a house mother of sorts) up to my temporary housing. It was when she left me alone with a 20-page orientation manual and said 'yomu'(read) that I truly started to panic. Where could I find food? Where were my roommates? I felt much better when one of my roommates, a student from the DC area came to the room and offered to take me to campus, about a 20 minute walk, to eat dinner with her, but still I had a daunting checklist of paperwork and fees to pay. I was stressed when at dinner every other student seemed to be years ahead of me because they had arrived 2 days earlier. The showed me around campus and discussed all the things they had already done and the different places off campus that they had found.








When I finally came back from campus, I was nearly hyperventilating. I sat on the couch surrounded by new women I had met and had a panic attack. Japan wasn't right for me, I had way to much to do and no idea how to do it, how was I ever going to find any way to survive here, and different ways to find food? It was then that I sat back, took a deep breath, and realized I had only been in country for 6 hours.

I decided at 8:30 PM that it was time for bed, so I rolled out my futon, put it together and hopped in. It was the best night sleep I had ever had. I woke up early, without an alarm clock at 7AM. The day was very productive, starting with a good breakfast of jello and soyjoy... the only food I could recognize and eat in my vulnerable mental state. After the University's official welcome, I was calmed a bit when what was expected of me was clearly stated. After I started accomplishing the little things- finding my own food, finding a bank, reuniting with my fellow Valpo students who were equally overwhelmed- things were looking very up.

The evening concluded with a fun trip to Kapasushi Restaurant for my first sushi in Japan. Sitting with my friends enjoying Japanese sushi from mystery meat to hamburger sushi, I felt better. I started to enjoy the culture I had been dropped into and experiencing the culture in a positive way, the way I had originally intended to!


I found a shortcut path to the campus through a traditional, quiet, beautiful Japanese neighborhood. The walk in itself was a calming experience and the people in the neighborhood would greet me as I walked past. The list of humorous and poorly phrased 'engrish' translations was building and building, making my mood brighter and brighter. So now I am excited to experience this culture minus the panic, and am happy to have you all read along on my experiences!







some of the funny things I have found:

A sweet candy that comes in "miracle" flavor

"Nudy" brand chapstick








Keep praying for me!

-Sarah