Rainpocolypse and Thanksgiving

Whew! After a long absence I'm back! I'll just jump right in to what I've been up these past weeks. Being very much afflicted by the weather these past few weeks, I'll start there. Japan is well known for having a rainy season that pops up roughly around June every year. The exception to this rule seems to be my region which has been perpetually bombarded by rain for the last 2-3 weeks almost nonstop. I've never seen rain go on for this long and it we even had thunder and lightning for about 3-4 days in a row! As much as I love rain and storms, I can't pretend that this is a little much and I am desperately hankering for some solar power soon. 

On the plus side, since all the crappy weather has also made it impossible to do my regular runs and bike rides, I have been forced to get acquainted with Sean T. and have been slowly getting my butt kicked by insanity less and less.

Despite the relentless torrent of rain, the nature and fall scenery in Ishikawa continues to be sublime. Two weekends ago, I got a chance to head down to Kanazawa to do what they call in Japan "Autumn Leaf Hunting." As I coming to realize, Japan really values seasonal activities and foods.  In a conversation with one of my Japanese English teacher, I was told that there are certain times when one should go to certain places and certain foods that should only be eaten during a specific season.

Kenrokuen Garden at Autumn

Kanazawa Road

Train I took to get Kanazawa oh Japan:)

After I finished my fall leaf hunting excursion, some fellow JETs and I went out to eat in Kanazawa and had Japan's version of "Chinese" food. Japanese Chinese food differs significantly from American Chinese food in that they are a lot less meat focused and usually feature ramen, potstickers, and tofu related dishes. It's really interesting how Chinese menus seem to change and adapt to the respective cultures' tastes that they are surrounded by. (Although they all remain pretty greasy and delicious).

Japanese/Chinese Meal

Fried Gyoza

Spicy Tofu Dish

To combat homesickness and to bring a little bit of home to Japan, several JETs and I had a Thanksgiving feast yesterday where we all contributed our own side dishes. I brought a little Norwegian/Minnesota pride by making some lefse by scratch. Although they turned out pretty well in the end, I daresay I shan't be making them again in the near future. The reason is that these suckers evidently need about a metric ton of flour in order to make them less adhesive to one's rolling pin. Flour is also pretty darn expensive in Japan so I ended up having to throw down more than 10 dollars on flour just to make one batch.

Ya sure you betcha it's some lefse doncha know!

 Other goodies that JETs made included some usual staples;  potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, etc. However, we did get some entries that were new to my thanksgiving experience. Some Japanese friends of one of the JETs brought over a bowl of chopped cow tongue, another person made some vietnamese spring rolls. My favorite entry, however, was made by a guy named Jiri, a guy from the Czech Republic who brews beer in a local restaurant made some fabulous Czech beer! As most of the beer in Japan tastes like keystone in my opinion, having a good brew made for a most jovial Thanksgiving indeed.

Jiri

Of course, no Thanksgiving celebration is complete without Turkey and thankfully, one of the JETs was able to deliver! As there are virtually no turkeys in Japan, I'm quite happy they were able to acquire this delectable specimen. 

Turkey!

Overall a very fun night.

All in all, a very fun night that helped fight some of the homesickness. (Still can't make up for the many wonderful friends and family back in the states though).

In other exciting news, I have booked a flight to see my friend of colossal proportions, Colleen O'Connor, in China at the beginning of January! I will be visting her in the city of Kunming, which is in the Yunnan Province in Southern China near the borders of Tibet and Vietnam. It will be weird going to China and not seeing Beijing, the Great Wall or any other famous spots, but I nevertheless expect the adventure of a lifetime.

I am also very glad I was able to book the trip because the process of it was an enormous ordeal! For starters, I had to send money back home in order to put money on my American credit card so I could purchase a ticket (Japan really isn't big on credit cards and almost all financial transactions are done in cash). The process of sending money home was about as pleasant as a rectal exam. For starters, After completing the very very detailed form to send money home, I was told by the post office worker that I had to do the whole thing over because I hadn't put my address in Japanese characters. After meticulously rewriting the whole, much to my horror, I discovered that I had accidentally switched the numbers of my American and Japanese bank accounts and had to start over yet again. So, after two hours of hell, I finally was able to turn in my form.

The next major challenge to my upcoming trip has come in the form of obtaining a Chinese tourist visa. As the Chinese embassy infuriatingly won't accept applications by mail and the closest one to me is 8 hours away in Tokyo, I had to dig in the recesses of the internet to find a Japanese company that could apply for the visa by proxy. After searching the internet high and low, I came across a very badly translated site that says it can do such a thing. As I found the link on A JET forum I really really hope this company will prove able to process my application...I also had to give them my passport as well so I am praying to whatever the patron god of bureaucracy is here that my application and visa will find there way through the system at the moment.   

Anyway, here's hoping it will all work out in the end.

The Way of the Sword and Ancient Ruins

Since I began living in Japan, I have been itching to try my hand at some form of martial art. After mentioning this at my Board of Education, I am now officially taking kendo lessons at a nearby dojo every Wednesday and Saturday evening! 

For those that are unfamiliar, kendo, which roughly translates as "the way of the sword," is a Japanese martial art that concerns itself with swordsmanship (albiet with bamboo replicas called shinai and not the real deal) and cultivating a focused mind.

The shinai

Kendo is similar to western fencing in that competitions are about gaining points by being the first to strike against ones opponent in certain areas of the body. In kendo, there are four basic pieces of equipment that one wears and is allowed to strike. The first is the men that covers the face and shoulders. 

The men

The next is the do (pronounced like Homer Simpson's iconic d'oh) that covers the chest. 

The do

Next is the tare ( pronounced like a Canadian saying "tar" then "eh") that covers the waist. 

The tare

The last pieces are the kote (pronounced like a Candian saying "coat" then "eh") which cover the hands.    

The kote

Yet, kendo slightly differs from western fencing in that it not only encourages physical self-cultivation, but mental discipline as well. This concern with ones mental state can largely be attributed to kendo's history. Kendo's origin's can be traced to two key points in Japanese history, the development of Buddism and the origins of the Samurai warrior class. Back in the day (around 1000-1600 A.D.) Japan had yet to become a unified country and thus suffered from chronic civil war. This period of warfare and instability lead to the proliferation of an increasingly influential militaristic aristocratic class. These warriors would later developed in to the renowned Samurai we all love today. Developing at roughly the same time as the Samurai class were new sects of Buddhism in Japan. One of the most influential Buddhist teachings to emerge during this period was Zen (heavily influenced by Buddhism in China), which emphasized awareness with ones surroundings and the ephemeral nature of life. Since warfare and battle were constants in the nasty, brutish and often short life of the Samurai, it was only natural that Zen had a lot of appeal. Thus, swordplay in the Samurai way of life emphasized not only physical training, but training ones mental state of being as well. Although the Samurai are long gone, many of the ideals of the warrior code survive in modern kendo. Indeed, the point of kendo, as I am often told by my sensei, is more concerned with calming and preparing ones mind and spirit rather than on winning a match. 

Having never done kendo in my life, I am currently practicing with elementary-age kids (many are my students) and so far, practices have consisted of the following:

We start by doing a series of taiso or exercises and warm ups.

Next, all the students line up and sit in the proper seika poistion (where one sits on their feet, which I daresay is quite painful on the hardwood floor we practice on at the moment) followed by chanting the names of the various pieces of armor, the men, the do, tare, and the kote (why this is I have yet to figure out). After that, we place our hands on the floor and do a low bow towards the sensei to show respect and humility.

Since I am a novice I usually get a private lesson from the second in command while the sensei leads the rest of the class. Thus far, I have learned how to hold the shinai properly, how to step properly, how to yell properly, how to bow properly, and how to sit properly as it seems there is a right way to do virtually everything in kendo (part of the mental discipline I assume). So far, everything I have done has been greeted with a coy smile from my instructor followed by a it`s difficult isn`t it so I can only assume I am blundering my way through at the moment. Nothing to do but practice, practice, practice I guess. Also, as the whole class is conducted in Japanese, I will naturally be a bit of slow learner, seeing as I can only understand about 50% of what my instructor says at any given moment.

We then end the class the same way as we began, by doing exercises and bowing again to the sensei. Anyway, here's hoping my warrior spirit will increase in the coming days.

As I had a whole day to myself and the weather was gorgeous (around 65 degrees!) last Sunday, I decided to do some self-exploration around my town. My first stop was the Makaki Ruins, which are about a 20 minute drive from my house. This site boasts one of the few archaelogical ruins of the Jomon culture, which thrived in Japan around 6,000 years ago.  Although the museum itself turned out to be closed for the day, I nevertheless got to see the excavation site and a few reconstructions of some the remains found around the surrounding area.

Beautiful autumn day at the Makaki Ruins

Reconstruction of a Jomon era Monument at Makaki Ruins

The wood circle

Excavation Site

After my excursion at the ruins, I stopped by the grocery store for lunch and to my pleasant surprise, someone was carving up a fresh tuna right at the entrance. Since there was a huge crowd of locals clamoring to get some tuna, I decided to do as the romans do and buy some myself (it was quite delicous).

Giant tuna at the grocery store (there was a stampede of people behind me)

After returning home and storing my precious tuna, I decided to take a little hike around my village. My first excursion was the area behind my apartment, which until 2005 was a railroad. Evidently, the railway became defunct as the population in my town became too low to merit continued service.

Old railroad by my apartment

Tunnel of doom! Kind of reminded of Miyazaki`s Spirited Away

My next path lead me along the ocean and some of the country roads Noto has to offer.

Mountains across the sea

Country road by the ocean

All in all a beautiful day

On a final note, I will definitely be keeping my eye on the election tomorrow. Thus far, none of my coworkers have even acknowledged that there is an election happening in 'murica so I might be the only one looking/caring at the office.