Second Round: China

Fuzhou China… a strange port city with a downtown that lights up and reflects off the water. We arrived late at night after a terrible airplane transfer that we navigated well, each Pacrimmer taking their place, helping out and working as a team. Moments like those, all running through an airport following the person in front of you, picking up the slack, alphabetizing all 27 passports, picking up extra bags, these moments make it possible to see it so clearly… what an amazing trip I am on… with even more amazing people.

Our apartments in China are huge. Four of us share a flat bigger than any apartment I have even dreamed of living in. We don’t really have a proper kitchen but Anna, Rachel M, Jane and I could care less because we have… A WASHING MACHINE! These things are hard to come by and we could not be happier the first time we pool our laundry together and actually sort it! The shower doesn’t really stay warm for too long and the beds are squeaky but there was fruit and candy on our table when we arrived, and this instant homey feeling was priceless.

The next day we are taken to see the school that was hosting us. Fuzhou happens to be a Tacoma sister city and the school we are studying at is Hwa Nan Women’s College which was started by the Trimble family. This same family is the one that built Trimble Hall at UPS and gave me much of the financial aid that allowed me to come on PACRIM. The school is a series of buildings fairly close to our apartments and we have a classroom on the 3rd floor that overlooks the river and the downtown area.

For Thanksgiving Hwa Nan and a few of their best students had prepared a wonderful meal and event for us. Prior to our meal we all met our Hwa Nan buddies, girls at the top of their class who were paired with us to show us around Fuzhou. They were all very excited and could not wait to practice their English and hear all about our freedoms and challenges as young Americans. My buddy and I spent a bit of time at our first meeting talking about our similar interests. Christina is her English name and she is a very creative, beautiful person. She is an applied English major and although words sometimes failed her out of nervousness she was a very eloquent speaker and thinker. After a great traditional thanksgiving meal and a strange pumpkin tart we went out to walk down to the river and see the area a little bit. At this point we got over some of our initial stereotypes about each other. For instance… not all Americans are Christian and we do have Chinese food in America. Likewise I learned that Christina did not get to choose her major and that despite the one child policy she had 3 siblings.

Over the next few weeks we spent a lot of time in class learning about the cultural and political makeup of China. Christina and I also spent more time together and she took me to see some her favorite parts of Fuzhou and we had fish ball soup… which sounds terrible but reminded me a lot of matzo ball soup with its salty broth and flavorful dough. Fish balls are famous in Fuzhou and Christina could not have been happier when I actually enjoyed them. One particular day Christina and I, along with Marline, Rachel J and their buddies, found ourselves across town at a popular shopping area. We had an idea to get our photos taken together and this idea turned into a full day event. China (like many Asian countries) has colorful, cheery photo booths all over the place. Many of these are actually more like studios and have costumes, digital backdrops, props and so many other options. We found one we liked the look of and our Chinese friends spent ten minutes talking with the man in charge. We stood around taking it all in even though we had no idea what they could possibly be debating for so long. In the end we walked away with huge glossy sheets of photos of us doing very silly things and airbrushed to the max. The day was a successful one.

One night after a day spent reading huge packets of political commentaries and historical accounts about the opium trade a few of us decided to venture out on the city bus to find a certain restaurant. One of the young woman teachers (a recent UPS grad actually) took us under her wing for the evening and taught us the ropes of the bus and we arrived at the restaurant with no problems at all. Soon enough we had plates of Chinese dumpling filled with everything from mutton to wonderful Chinese green onion. We sat around the table talking about class and beer and all those good things until it was time to find a public bathroom. The meal was wonderful… the bathroom… not so much, but that’s China for you.

The apartment building we lived in was pretty much filled with pacrimmers so we decided that for Anna’s 23rd birthday our apartment was going to host an event. After much discussion and consternation we decided that the party would be half birthday and half costume party… the theme: Dance Party American History. Each pacrimmer was required to come dressed as a certain character from the history of America. In the end we had a greaser, a bag lady, a few hicks, an American Indian, a 1950’s housewife, coked out Mary Kate Olsen, characters from Back to the Future, Doug, and Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman and many other creative costumed individuals. We spent the evening drinking brandy and cokes and dancing and eating cheese (and by cheese, I mean an entire wheel of Gouda) and a cake made entirely of processed choco’ pies. The party was quite the success and the pictures surely prove this.

After awhile we all had to really get down to business concerning school. Our new professor who was out visiting from UPS, Karl Fields, expected a lot from us. His lectures were well planned and interesting so we read the materials he gave us cover to cover and prepared for class with questions, notes and definitions about everything from the opium war to communism. One weekend we took a trip to the historical sight of Gutien. This place is famous for a small building that housed the first meetings of the Chinese Communist Party. We sat outside on some stairs as Professor Fields lectured and this was perhaps the most distracting class I have ever been in. All around us people were taking pictures of us and running to sit in front of our group as their friends took their pictures. Motorcycles were whizzing in between us and Professor and even a tiny rooster decided to disturb the event and come and walk around Professors legs as he tried to compose his thoughts. In the end the lecture was a bit lost on us but the event was amazing. We were able to visit Mao’s office and view the small, airy room where the original concepts of a Communist China emerged. On this same day, not to far from Gutian, we also visited the traditional round houses that were being built in the early 1900’s. These houses served as tiny communities were everything from gardening to child rearing happened in the same large, multi-family house. These houses are built from very durable stone and have very few ground floor windows. In this way they are very safe and the community living within them could survive for months without leaving the safety of their home. The tour guide that took us around actually still lives in a round house today with her family. In addition to these visits we also had the worst Chinese meal of our visit, complete with many unidentifiable meats and spices.

When we got back to Fuzhou our time was coming to a close. We wrote a paper, studied for and took a test and all spent a little bit more time with our buddies before we headed for our next stop.

December 11 2008

I stood on the porch of the noodle shop, I stood one step off of the street and again wondered why there is such little sun here. I stood there eating an egg pancake dripping with hot sauce and studied the sky for any signs that sun would be coming soon. I took a rest. I wrote a paper. I peeled Asian pears with a very sharp knife. I did laundry and hung it all up on the front balcony. We drank beers and ate tuna and gouda sandwiches off of cardboard boxes we used for plates. We had a meeting about the PACRIM family, about issues and confrontation, but somewhere out in the farmland of Fujian province, somewhere behind a row of drying persimmons and roosters all fighting for space, it occurs to me that China is as big and vast as my future. It is as unknown and undetermined as my future, as confused and conflicted as my heart and mind… but somehow people still smile and hold babies, people still drink beer and pick persimmons, just as I keep traveling.

a little taste of winter...

There was a moment, riding this train to the islands border. All the lights form a contour that meets the waters edge. The Notwist sets the tone and I close my eyes: blink in reverse like Doug Coupland taught me. There is a moment when my face is blended as a reflection in the window with all of this and I remember one late night looking at my face in Tory’s rearview mirror, wondering how our feelings came to be displayed there…. on our faces, for all to see. On northern Honshu the weather is cool and stings your face awake. There is light and dark that share the island well, lighting it up in the morning with a wonderful haze and then setting it dim early in the evening. We pull into the train station and Hokkaido brings the beginning of our adventure, a new island, a new city.
Steph and I packed our things into two groups; things we were taking with us to Hokkaido and things we were leaving in Osaka at our host families house for the week. We bought pocky, water and cheese breads and headed to Kyoto station to meet Todd’s smiling face. By late afternoon we were on our way to Tokyo to transfer to our overnight train to Sapporo, and by late evening we were settled on our northbound train with whiskey nightcaps and pajamas. We arrived in Sapporo very early the next morning and were greeted with immense cold and chilling wind, so we took a few moments to bring out all our winter gear and bundled up to go explore the city. With our bags in one big train station storage locker we left the station and had a fine breakfast of coffee and toast at a nearby café with a view of the clock tower and the bustle of a workday morning in Sapporo. We waited patiently for the airport visitor center to open and then like children in a candy shop we gathered pamphlet after pamphlet of museum guides, history tours, and other various tourist attractions. We were all so excited that we determined A) we needed coffee and B) we needed a plan. In a few hours time we were on our way to a huge sculpture park just outside of the main part of Sapporo. We took a fairly quick train and a bus and found ourselves in a pretty vacant area… quiet, relaxed and pristine, we entered the park and proceeded to explore for the next 4 hours.
The Sapporo art park and sculpture garden is a huge plot of land just outside Sapporo and houses the Museum of Contemporary art, 5 different studios and residencies, 3 event and display centers and a garden containing over 70 locally or internationally sculpted works all placed within a landscape of white birch and green lawns. Our arrival date was not particularly well planned and soon enough we found out that the Museum was closed between exhibits and that during the winter months the park was also partially closed. We wondered around for a bit, visiting the buildings with displays and the studios but eventually discovering that we could not see much of the work in the park without trespassing. We were a little irked that we had traveled this great distance and the park was off limits. So in an act of curiosity and great concern for the future of my thesis Todd used his Japanese to inquire as to why the park was closed. Steph and I stood by him and nodded when it seemed appropriate and also tried to look earnest and slightly disappointed.
In the end we were sent to an office and a man handed us informational packets and badges and we were off to explore the cold, beautiful park… and best of all admission was somehow free! We spent a long while exploring the grounds, taking pictures, discussing works, watching a school group run about and finally we played a little in the cool air as it began to gently snow on the group of bronze portraits that encircled us.

Eventually we left the park and headed back to the train station to get our bags and head to our hostel. After a brief train ride we found our home for the night and made ourselves comfortable. That night it began to heavily snow and so we went out into it after dinner and wrote our names in the slush while we took pictures of each other. By the morning Sapporo was a white beauty and the remnants of our names were covered with ice and snow. The shoes I bought in Mongolia were now full of holes and so the task of buying new shoes was the first of the day. After a bit of searching we eventually found an athletic shoe store and from this point it was actually very easy. I pointed to a pair I liked and asked for the right size and when the clerk motioned that they did not have them she just brought out the one pair that they did have in my size. My choices were limited, but easy. I paid and then Todd, Steph and I headed to our event of the day, the old Hokkaido city.
This is an area with a bunch of historical buildings and forest. We spent a few hours roaming around and playing in the snow. We visited an old time-y post office, print shop, and farm. I took a few family portraits in the snow and then we all ran to catch the bus to our departing train.
As we waited for our train to Hakodate, (a picturesque bay area town almost on the southern tip of Hokkaido) we drank Sapporo beer tall boys and chatted about our coming days. We boarded our train and waved Todd goodbye as he stood on the platform holding his beer. The train to Hakodate was relatively easy and short and we arrived in the early evening to the beautifully snowy, tiny town of Hakodate. That night we were on a quest for crab (a delight that Hakodate is famous for). We decided on a cute little restaurant with a colorful front and nice woodwork. We went inside, took off our shoes, sat on tiny pillows and proceeded to hand gesture the word “crab”! It worked well and after awhile we had a plate of crab, sweet and delicate. The entire menu was in Japanese so we asked “sake?”, “sashimi?” and soon enough we had flasks of smooth rice wine and flavorful, melt in your mouth fish of various types served on beds of lettuce.

It began to snow and so we paid and went out to explore. We walked around the town and found a park that had been untouched by footsteps. Steph and I teeter tottered and bounced around on the playgrounds spring-loaded Anpan Man characters (this is a strange Japanese children’s cartoon that encourages healthy eating habits). We walked towards the beach, through a temple and down a bank until we reached the waters edge. It was covered with snow and the waves came to meet it. When they did touch, a tiny strand of snow would turn to ice ever so briefly before melting into the sand. We stayed awhile talking about Hawaii, throwing snow into the cold water, and looking at the surrounding landscape, trying to place ourselves.
The next day was our big day out in Hakodate. We had planned the day very well, according to the 5 pm train we needed to catch to Tokyo. The day started out with coffee and apple pie at a very cute little shop we noticed tucked down an alley. At this meal we pulled out our maps and brochures and decided we would go to a few museums, do some shopping, head to the ropeway to see Hakodate from its highest point and then proceed to the train station. We began our walk and I promptly dropped the map into the water as I peered over the edge at the boats. We managed to have a pretty good idea of the city though, so we took off to find some outdoor art and hit up some little shops and a hotdog restaurant our host mother recommended. We found the ropeway and bought tickets. The ropeway took us to the top of Mount Hakodate and we stayed there for a long while, exploring the view, looking at the gift shop, enjoying the cold air and beautiful sky before we headed to Tokyo.

Soon enough though, Steph and I have to run to the train station. We run with heavy bags over the icy streets in the evening darkness. We find ourselves standing caught at a crosswalk and we both look at each other knowing very well, we could be stranded for the night, but neither of us decide to entertain this idea… we just wait and when we can, we keep on running. We arrive just in time and the train starts to move as we settle into our seats. It is dark out now, but the large train windows allow us to view the bright speckled lights of the coastal cities. We barely make our connecting train and to ease the fright of our upcoming transfer at Toyko station we bought a few beers and had a meal of nuts, beef jerky, and Pringles. When we arrive Tokyo Eki is big and crazy and we regroup to navigate its many lines. In the end, with the help of a Japanese railways ticket man, a silly British dude and his Japanese friend, our maps, notes and the guidance of a construction worker itching to take a break from work, we arrive at our hostel to find Norah and two nice beds waiting for us.
Tokyo was a busy next few days. We spent our time at museums doing research for our various thesis projects. We took the above ground subway to the Mirakan technology museum and spent a very long time there watching demonstrations and seeing Asimo man. We went to the natural history museum and I visited a huge public park with art throughout it and several areas of art museums that displayed outdoor art. Norah, Steph and I ate some wonderful food and some not so wonderful crunchy meat kabobs. One night while sitting in the lobby of our hostel we got sucked into watched comedy Utube videos with a group of Slovenian karate instructors staying in Tokyo for an international competition. Eventually we all headed to a nearby jazz club, but the cover was costly and the bar was packed so we opted for a tiny Irish pub and spent the evening talking about geography, music, politics, food, and Japan, drinking dark beer and Asahi. Oh how universal it is that everyone falls in love with Japan! The next night Steph and I venture out for sushi. We find a great looking, crowded and tiny place and so we take a seat and wait for some room to dine. When we finally get seated we order beers and just smile at each other as the fish rolls on past us. There is a huge bowl of wasabi and boxes of ginger. We are very excited and after the meal we walk around a huge market before we head back to the hostel.
On our last day in Tokyo we wake up and have a leisurely breakfast. We pack our bags and head to an area that has a huge 3 story stationary store. We have a very hard time finding it and so we stop for a bit to admire the huge buildings all around us. In the end we never locate the store but we do find a million camera stores and so I buy a new lens cap and we board our train back on towards Osaka. Although we were very sad to say goodbye to the new places we met, we were very excited to see Otasan and Okasan and tell them all about our adventures. We arrive in Suita and walk one last time, back towards their house. We are greeted with warm tea and special little mochi sweets. We sat around the warm rock table and showed them pictures and gave them our gift of Hokkaido cakes. Otosan was insistent on driving us to the hotel where we were expected to meet up with PACRIM again and so unhappily we all piled into the Honda and headed to downtown. We were very sad to have to say goodbye and Okasan must have been as equally sad because she repeatedly invited us to visit again. Steph and I were not sure if it was ok to hug her but when we asked, a huge smile covered her face and she held us and said goodbye a few more times. We waved goodbye and finally they drove off as we stood watching the street.

Later that night (my last night in Japan) as I am trying to fall asleep i find myself thinking about how small things all go together to form the bigger picture. It is odd to listen to all the sounds that form into music, to see all the mountainous things that form islands. It is strange, to notice all the memories that happen to contribute to my idea of love and worth and validity.

flashback... japan... I am in your arms

Flashback to Japan, the crowded trains, the bright lights, the rain and snow seeping into my socks, the view from far above the city… I wait for something, I can feel myself waiting for something…. but lets start from the beginning.

The first thing I noticed about Japan was that all the hand rails had brail. I found myself thinking, “Japan is so clever” and then knowing that most of my time there would be spent with this same phrase running through my head. On some level Japan made me very nervous. There were so many rules to follow, so many unknowns. But by the time I met my host family and Stephanie and I were safely seated in the back of their Honda headed out of Kyoto, I somehow gained a sense of comfort. Everything leading up to that moment though, was rather stressful. Making sure our clothes were clean, memorizing our Japanese greetings, wrapping our home stay gifts, and wondering what exactly the months ahead would hold for us, made the hours leading up to our meetings very nerve racking. The ride to Osaka was very pleasant. Our host mother (Okason) and our host father (Otasan) were just thrilled to have us and explained all about their family and all the other foreign students they had hosted in the past. Although they both claimed that they did not speak English, Okasan knew more than she let on and our conversations went well, especially when the element of charades was added in. When we arrived at their home in a suburb of Osaka called Suita, we found that our new family were small business owners and that their home was cozy and well kept with an entire top floor for me and Steph to share. Otason was a shoji screen door builder and his shop was the front bottom part of their home. Okasan worked at the post office and spent much of her time knitting beautiful sweaters and scarves. Since we arrived on a weekend we had plenty of time to get acquainted with the family and the area before we started our days of commuting the two hours to school in Kyoto. Most other students had been put up in Kyoto, so although we were much further away we also got to see more of the area.
Okasan was a great cook so Steph and I ate really well. We had green tea with every meal and although we ate at home most days we would sometimes go out for udon noodles. Our first udon experience was at the park that was built for the World Expo of 1970. Our host family took us here because there was a large history and pottery museum that would give us some background on where we were. This was very helpful but more helpful than our history lesson, was the contemporary lesson on vending machines that was to follow. Okasan asked us if we wanted coffee and Steph and I both beamed at the possibility. However, we found ourselves at a vending machine and as Okasan is pumping yen into the thing, both Steph and I realize that we may be getting cold, nasty, instant coffee and as we prepare ourselves for this, Okason hands Stephanie a warm can of coffee. Stephanie is thrilled and holds the thing up to her face for warmth, which gives Otasan and Okasan a hoot! Soon we are all having our warm delicious coffees while walking amidst the beautiful trunks of cherry blossoms, tea fields and bamboo walkways. As the outing comes to a close we decide it is lunchtime and I get my first real udon soup. The noodles are very thick and there is something like sweet tofu on the top and I eat it right up. Okasan is very happy we like udon. How could we not… Japan is so clever!

School soon starts and Stephanie and I somehow navigate the trains and buses and end up at the right place. The weekdays find us on morning commuting trains and jammed evening trains. We eat at Kombini’s (convenience stores) because they have everything from sushi, to cream puffs, to coffee. Sometimes A few of us would go to this tiny coffee place owned by a few hippies and we would sit and drink coffee and eat friend noodles or curry.

The weekends were relatively ours and we spent some of this time with our host families but some on our own. One weekend I decide to have a bike day. I had compiled a list of great shops in Osaka and so I took the train into downtown with little direction and tried to find my way by instinct. This was harder than I first imagined and so I found the subway and got myself to the bay area right above Sakai. I had a map, but all the directions for getting to bike shops were in Japanese, so I was purely looking at numbers and not names. Eventually I find what I think is the right street to locate the particularly neat bike shop I am in search of. I don’t think that I appeared lost but I was pretty absorbed in taking photos of the some 10 bike shops I came across on my way to the Uemura cycle shop. At some point a young man stops me and asks if I am doing a study or something. I say no, that I just really like bikes and that I am a bit lost and so we walk and talk as he gives me directions. He was originally from India but moved here to go to school and then he met his wife and just never left. As he sends me on my way he warns be that if I don’t watch out the same thing could happen to me and I might just end up staying in Japan forever. I think that there could be worse things. When I do arrive at Uemura, it was well worth the hassle because it is perhaps the Spoke and Sprocket of Osaka. The place is jam packed with bicycles and very busy. There are so many colorful bikes jutting out of here and there that I worry I am going to knock something over. The shop is run by a family and I spend maybe 3 hours looking and talking. I am caught staring at a beautiful pink Nakagawa frame and the owner just laughs at me. It is too big and too expensive… but hey… a girl can dream.

Soon enough my host family learns of my bicycle obsession and so our host sister Yukari tells me about a cycling convention happening in a few days. She says that she will even take Stephanie and I if we want to go. Stephanie is perhaps not as thrilled about the idea but she says sure. The convention turns out to be a huge event and Stephanie and I spend a few hours riding bikes and talking with people and taking a lot of pictures. Stephanie has a trek at home so we got a few pictures of her in front of a large crotch shot of Lance Armstrong. I locate the Nakagawa booth and spend another bit of time admiring the work. At first the reps do not take me to seriously, but I really wanted to know what the going rate for the frame was so I mull around and whip out a business card when the timing seemed right. Suddenly I am taken very seriously and I talk with a rep as Stephanie rides a strange clown fold-up bike in the distance. Soon enough I am shaking Mr. Nakagawa’s hand and they are giving me gifts and introducing me to other Japanese builders. There is still a lot more to see though so as I am trying to walk away a young man comes up to me and asks “Nakagawa told me you own a bike shop!” I say that yes my family owns a shop in America. He than proceeds to tell me he is a pro Kieran racer and goes on to impress Stephanie and I with his race stats and his earnings and finally asks if I would like to see him race and have dinner with him. I say that I would love to see a race but that I cannot have dinner, I don’t have a phone! He seems to take this graciously but still writes down his contact info and race times. (in the end he emails my dad and their brief correspondence seems to satisfy him) All in all the day was fantastic and Steph and I got some exercise and some swag.

At some point school really starts to become busy. My computer breaks one evening and the rest of our school days seem hectic and busy without my little apple helping me out. I am at school almost everyday using the worst computers and internet that I have ever used and my faith in Japanese technology becomes something to laugh at. We are taking two classes, a Japanese history class and a Buddhism course. I spend my days writing about strange religious phenomena, Japanese wars, Mongolian, Japanese and Chinese architecture, Shinto and politics. I am learning a lot but also missing out on the world around me a bit. To fix this, Okasan takes it upon herself to take us to do important Japanese things like a tea ceremony, a visit to the Asahi beer factory, recommendations of temples and parks we must see and a visit to a foot onsen (soaking pools). These visits combined with school field trips end up bringing about some of my favorite Japanese memories.

October 27th 2008
Japan makes one very aware. No matter what you plan to do, you must always know what time it is. Japan is prompt, if you are late you are out of luck, the big temple doors will close while the attendant just looks at you. In order to say hello for example, you must be aware of the time. There is no “hello” in Japan. There is “good morning”, “good afternoon”, “good evening”, and “goodnight”. These greetings have distinct start times that must be followed. “Thank you” is similar; you must know your place in order to say thanks. Is this my elder? Is this my peer? Am I thanking them in advance or for something they have done or for something they are presently doing? Whatever the case, you become very aware…. and you always bow. in fact, when in doubt… bow.

October 30th 2008
At night Stephanie and I have Suntory times; whiskey and coke while we work on papers and read for the coming days. I get distracted and find myself looking at pictures of home, of the past, of people I know, who know me, of my life that sits somewhere else right now. It is November and things everywhere are changing. America will soon have a new president, the leaves change to deep reds, the Asahi Ginger Draft beer is disappearing off of shelves, I will soon be on my own, alone in Kyoto … a sound I like.

November 7th 2008
Today I woke up to rain on the rooftop. I traveled downstairs for coffee and toast, yogurt, oranges, and a bit of sushi. I composed my sentences for a paper of which my interest waned and then dissipated. I cleaned my little Japanese bedroom, careful to open the screens, make the bed and organize all my books in a row on the desk. I put on a hat, we left the house as we chirped our “ittekimasu!” (I’m leaving!) to walk to Suita Station on our way to school. It is like Washington now, with its cold mornings that bite the lungs and its fall evening so good for walking.

November 9th 2008
Its November and it starts to get gold in Japan. Okason brings us warm blankets and a heater. I go to task writing a paper. I mend clothes and organize for the coming days. Today Todd and I ventured south to have a day of art and temples. This is nice after a day spent fighting with computers, paper writing, and all the other things that make homework seem impossible. We ended in Uji- a city split by a river. It began to get dark so I set my film speed higher and we stand really still for pictures. We visit art I never thought I would see with my own eyes and temples I did not know existed. We arrive a little bit after closing to the great Phoenix Hall and so we are left to just peer into the closing gates. Instead I buy Gen Maicha green tea which is famous in Uji and call the trip a success. Later that evening I arrive home to find an after dinner snack waiting. It is much like high school… homework, new friendships, public transportation, arriving home to the smell of dinner and a family of faces ready to hear what you have filled your days with and what new things you have discovered.

November 10th 2008
Today I walk down thick streets streaming with people. It is nighttime now, evening followed me like the cool weather that is reaching Kyoto now. I do now know these busy streets but I take them in, I get to know them. I listen to MEW as it starts to rain. Each drop falling gently on my jacket, my hat, my nose and lips. I travel towards the station having gotten off of the bus early. The streets are crowded but the bus was unbearable so I opt to use my feet and memory to lead me to the station. I follow the sight of the tower and the rhythm of Japan’s commuting hour. Earlier in the day we saw old time Kyoto. We followed the same sightseeing route the Dutch followed when they visited in the 18th century. We visit the hall of one thousand Buddha’s, the ear mound, a few temples and a shrine to cure hemorrhoids. This trip is nostalgic but highlights the way things have changed. I do not mind the industry and modernization that has entered these things. It is enjoyable to see co-existence.

November 11th 2008
In the end, it is Obama that really makes me miss America (not Obama, Japan… the Barack kind). I expedited all of our ballots with cash money my parents mailed to me. The Election Day is about a week later on a pleasant, quiet Wednesday like any other in Japan. In the early part of the day I was actually much more concerned with finishing my paper, but after the two hour commute to find that the school, the library and therefore my only computer access was off limits… I was somehow free to forget about that terrible dilemma and enjoy the election festivities. A small group of us gathered at Marlene’s host families house and settled in to watch the coverage… half in Japanese and half in English. It was early afternoon and I had a skype date. I could hear the commotion downstairs as I chatted away and checked the online poles. Finally however, the news came through and I broke away to go downstairs and listen to the speeches. The TV coverage was all in Japanese and so we found Obama online and crowded around to listen. Somehow the picture was lost and we were left staring at a black screen with only a booming voice flowing out of it. At one point Obama says something about all of the huddled masses in the distant corners of the world listening in… and that was us! We got a shout out! After we listened to the speech twice and also McCain’s gracious concession speech we decide it was celebration time! The small group of us grabbed some yen and headed to the Kombini to buy some Chu Hi (the Asian version of Zima) and some ginger draft beer. We followed the river bank by Marlene’s home and ended on a little set of stairs to sit and cheers. After we had all clinked our tin cans and realized we were all suddenly filled with pride, we began a quiet, out of key rendition of the star spangled banner. It just seemed right to be there in the sun, on just another Japanese Wednesday, on the banks of the river, sipping our celebratory drinks and watching all the dog walkers around us that could care so little about our victory. That night back in Osaka Stephanie and I tell Otasan and Okasan about the day and Okasan smiles and says “Yes we can!” and everything felt right.

As our time in Osaka neared its end, Stephanie and I began to plan our week off. Okasan seemed particularly invested in getting a word in about where we should go, so in the end, our trip plans mirror her ideal vacation. We spend our last morning in Osaka with Okasan having coffee and sweet bread and apples cut to look like bunnies. We pack our things and head for the coast.

man... oh man...

Do not worry. Things have been crazy. Japan was a blur of clean air and scenic adventures. China (round two) was a whirlwind of school, history and interaction that left me dazed. Vietnam is both beautiful and devastating, a mix of everything I had preconceived Asia to be and also what I never could have imagined. I have a journal full of text, and no time to translate it onto these pages for you all.... but soon, very soon....

I sit on a dormitory balcony watching the haze start to darken this place. Soon I will go out into it and get a cold, sweet, Vietnamese coffee and talk about politics, government, and the future of this place with a few friends. I wish to share these moments with you.... cheers!

Osaka to kyoto and back again

My mama probably remembers very well our late night outings for cream puffs. Sometimes a girl just needs a puff and my mother knows that I need them more than most girls. In this regard (and many others for that matter) Japan was for me. Japan offers me cream puffs just about as much as I take her picture.

We arrived in Japan early in the afternoon. The airport always tells you a bit about a new place but it is really when you emerge from the comfort of it that you learn the truth about a place. We all boarded our bus and headed off towards Kyoto. As much as I wished to enjoy the scenery I promptly fell asleep and did not awake until we were in the city. This was no problem though because I get to commute two hours from Osaka to Kyoto everyday and this provides plenty of “viewing time”.

We are presently students at the “Kyoto School of Art and Design”. On a daily basis I am reminded of how much I miss art school. Sometimes I immensely regret my choice of education because of this and I have to remind myself that if it was not for UPS I would not even have the chance to regret it. If it was not for UPS I would not have the best host family in the world. I would not have my own bike to ride around Osaka. I would not live within walking distance of 3 bike shops. I would not be learning Japanese in a comfortable exciting setting, eating wonderful home-cooked food that I cannot pronounce, spending time learning about the tea ceremony from my host mother (she used to practice) or all about making shoji doors (my host father owns his own shoji door company), and I would definitely not be eating the best cream puffs of my life in tiny shops with stacks of books. Japan is everything I expected and nothing I expected all at the same time. It is brilliant. It is historical and modern. It is clean and organized but also busy and mysterious. I enjoy my little 3rd floor bedroom with three walls of shoji screens that let the light in early in the morning. Stephanie and I share the top floor and spend our time conversing as best we can with our host family and going to museums and parks. We play a version of charades that always results in laughter. Japan is laughter. Japan is polite and bright with smiles. I am learning new phrases everyday and using them incorrectly as much as correctly. I enjoy the two trains and the bus that Stephanie and I take to our school everyday. We eat bread before we leave and two hours later we eat bread before school… and I eat cream puffs every chance I get.

MOMA and more

China remains a blur of cities. Small nine million people sized cities and large cities like Beijing and Shanghai all blend together to form my view of this strange, vibrant, loud country.

Xian reminds me of Tacoma. In this “home” of a city we stay in a fairly large hotel that overlooks the drum tower used in the time of he cities birth. This tower is beautiful and traditional in its structure and colors. The view from my window is vast with old and new. At night the city is bright with lights and during the day children fly strings of kites in the square. We go out to explore the city with cameras and dreams of new clothes. We find a wonderful market and buy chocolate, fruits and whiskey and cokes pre-made in tiny glass bottles. The highlight of our visit is a trip to the terracotta soldiers. We take a bus to the grounds and walk along wet paths until we emerge in front of huge buildings housing the find. We learn of the farmers who discovered the first detachable soldier head as they dug a well. We walk all around the huge plot of land that has become the museum. It begins to rain as we walk from building to building seeing all the rows of heads, bodies, horses, and bronze works. My camera surprises me and carefully captures the scene even and mood.

The overnight train leads us to Shanghai and we find that Shanghai is big beyond words. It is loud, crowded and so pleasantly comfortable that I fall right into the pace and structure of the city. There is the comfort of starbucks and a hotel with internet. I begin to plan for all the art I will see here. I make a list of 5 museums and galleries that I must see. I notice the vast size of the city upon planning this and our group outing to the TV tower and various temples reiterate this the concept of “vast” as I have never known it.

What I love best is standing on the bank of the Bund. I stand on the English side and stare out towards the Pudong side. This side has so many new buildings that a panoramic inspection of the scene would be confusing. New vs. old is highlighted with extreme color. The new area of Shanghai intrigues me so much that I almost jump with excitement when I discover that The Shanghai Zendai Modern Art Museum (the MOMA) is located on the other side of the Bund from us. I convince Todd and Rachel to come with me (it was’t too hard really) and on our free day we venture to the subway and begin our adventure. It is relatively flawless and after a short ride, some walking and lunch at a greek restaurant (who knew!?) we are in the MOMA (on free admission day no less… this means we get avigato’s later!!) enjoying a show called E-arts Shanghai. This exhibit is a city ide exhibit all about electronic arts. The show is wonderful, exciting, and interesting. I begin to feel inspired and wish that I was home with all Tacoma to support my habit. Instead I buy a book and we head home. That evening Jeff, Rachel and I go to an underground bar and have a few drinks. On the way we find a chocolate mouse tart and drink Chamay white beer. We are pleased beyond words as we enter the cute tiny bar of which we have sought. We relax and enjoy each others company in the warmth of the tiny hidden bar.

The next day we find ourselves packed and ready for the new tastes of Japan.

we find ourselves in a little valley

"not if the earth could look like this, he thought. Not if he could hear the hope and the promise like a voice, with leaves, tree trunks and rocks instead of words. but he knew that the earth looked like this only because he had seen no sign of men for hours; he was alone, riding his bicycle down a forgotten trail through the hills of Pennsylvania where he had never been before, where he could feel the fresh wonder of an untouched world."

It is Ayn Rand who best describes the Wutai Shan valley.