Homeward Bound

After 14 months, to say I am looking forward to setting foot on American soil would be an understatement. Endorphins are buzzing around my brain like bees around the hive. Family. Friends. Food. Over-sized everything. Gluttony (yes, I know it is one of the evil sins). Pizza without corn and ketchup on it. Boat rides. Spices other than salt. Fast English. Not speaking slowly. Twins. Vikes. Celebrating with friends. Radio. My dad's sermons. My mom's cooking. My parents conversation. Hugs. The thrill of driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Two letters: TV. Mexican food. Comedy. Mom's meatloaf. Dad's stories. Microbrews. 4-wheeler rides. My cat. Sit-down toilets. A bed! Re-energizing myself. Not hitting my head on things. Sharing. Listening. Talking. Understanding. Picking on my older brother. Sassing my sis. Being home. Catching up.

Tohoku: 東北

Single, white male looking for serenity, beauty, and openness that other parts of Japan fail to even acknowledge. I am looking for that all-natural Japan--a place where the only things in my periphery are plush horizons, virgin forests, and sunsets so beautiful you store it in your memory bank, not your digital memory card (hypocrisy to follow). In my opinion, natural beauty trumps cosmopolitan aesthetics like queens over jacks. Where can I find such a place? The answer: Tohoku.

Tohoku is the northernmost region of the island of Honshu in Japan. Tohoku is the Japanese equivalent of the scandinavian upper midwest states like Nort' Dakota and Minneso-tah. It's a place where the locals' intellects are questioned based on their speech patterns and strange verbal idiosyncrasies. Of course, I wouldn't really know anything about that due to my Minnesota upbringing and poor Japanese skills. I did, however, have an English-speaking Japanese buddy along with me to enlighten me. His name: Kaz.

Doogie Howser is to medical science as Kaz is to English. To put it a different way: Bobby Fisher is to chess as Kaz is to English. Or, if analogies just aren't your thing: Kaz is the best English speaker I have ever met. But as most of you know, most English speakers aren't very good. The best speakers are made in Japan, like Sony and Panasonic (rim shot! Thank you...thank you very much). Anyway, he is simply a phenom. In fact, his English are more better than mine English.

Kaz and I road tripped throughout the Tohoku region for about a week. We hit the big stops along the way, ate the local specialty dishes, and took in some of the most amazing nature I could have asked for. We saw a pagoda in the middle of the woods that had more stories than The Lord of the Rings series--five to be exact. We explored a couple castles, took in a sumo museum, and followed the ancient trails of the famous haiku writer Matsuo Basho. I had the pleasure of taking an oceanside outdoor bath on the edge of the Pacific, and swimming in the clearest lake in Japan.

Kaz taught me Japanese, and I taught him slang. I now have a favorite Japanese song, and he knows some ebonics. It was a good old-fashioned road trip--taking in the sights and sounds, exchanging ideas, and getting out on the open road. Just substitute the beef jerky for some seaweed, and trade that coke for some green tea.

Smörgåsbord

The summer haze is melting to discernible horizons. The sky is clearer and the sun is more evident than ever, but tan lines are fading fast. Looking at my feet and the criss-cross pattern left from shade and sun and a pair of sandals, these tan lines are a great mnemonic for an amazing summer. I hope my memories don't fade like my tan does.

After Hokkaido, Luke and I still had a lot of exploring to do. So, we jumped on the Japanese band-wagon, known as "bullet train," and migrated south. Travelling at 285 kph, we were in Kyoto in no time. We spent two days in Kyoto riding bikes from temple to shrine and shrine to temple. We walked under thousands of torii, pedalled down dangerously small streets in Gion where we were paying more attention to the geisha than to the road, got a full tan due to the reflection of the gold-plated Kinkaku-ji Temple, slept in the sketchiest hostel this side of the equator, and tried not to think while thinking "Don't think!" near the edge of a famous 15 rock zen garden. Supposedly, you can start to see many different things represented by the "strategic" positions of the rocks if you meditate/don't think/hallucinate/transcend being long enough. Luke and I were there for nearly an hour and we walked away with the following conversation:

L: "That was really peaceful."

I: "Yeah. It was. I felt so content and at peace. I feel like I could stay there all day."

L: "Me too."
I: "So what did you see?"
L: "I saw 15 rocks and a tourist trap. You?"
I: "12 rocks, 2 stones, and a boulder."

***Note: Luke did not actually say that, I just added that because I have the power as narrator. I was still in euphoric bewilderment thus I can not recall his comment verbatim***

We said our sayonaras to Kyoto and went further on down the train line to Himeji. Himeji is home to the most beautiful and most famous castle in Japan, aptly named Himeji Castle. Now, I am no castle expert, but I would have to say that, yeah, I agree...it's the nicest castle I have ever seen (FYI: castles seen: 4). We took siege upon the castle, climbed up its impenetrable defenses with the help of sidewalks and handrails, and guffed with our 80-year old tour guide.

Like fall fowl, we kept heading south. Eventually we came to Hiroshima, missing the 61-year anniversary of the dropping of the A-bomb by a couple days. Hiroshima is a very international, open, beautiful city. It is hard to imagine what it looked like 61 years ago. Luke and I went to the A-bomb museum to truly understand the reasons, impact, and consequences of the explosion. The museum was refreshing because it didn't portray Japan as being only a victim--it gave a the complete history of all events leading up to the dropping. Of course, it was very sad, disturbing, and at times too vivid. The museum also focused on the disarmament of all nuclear weapons and the absurdity of their usage. There is a flame in the park outside that will remain lit until there are no longer nuclear weapons in the world.

Just off the coast of Hiroshima is Miyajima, an enchanted island filled with day adventures, monkeys, garbage-eating (tame) deer, and an enormous sea-borne torii. Miyajima is recognized as one of Japan's top 3 places for scenic beauty. We got off the ferry and were instantly outnumbered by deer. I'm glad they didn't know about that deer I bagged back in 9th grade. Anway, Luke and I were hot, so we decided to take a dip into the Pacific. Most tourists come to see the giant red torii and snap a few photos. Luke and I wrestled in the water near it, cutting our feet on the sea shells. It was obliterating to our feet, but so energizing to the young boys still trapped inside of us. After we finished, we hobbled to a nearby shop and bought a heaping pile of strawberry shaved ice. With ice cream headaches still fresh, we left our bags at the shop (with the permission of the owner) and hiked up to the top of the 530 meter mountain. We barely made it back to the shop before dusk. The old Japanese lady was waiting for us and exalting in our return. She was worried about us. Luke and I grabbed our bags and were about ready to head out when we were herded onto the porch for beer and crumpets (read as: tofu). It was awesome. I am continually amazed by the generosity of Japanese people. Anyway, we sat and talked over three beers. The woman spoke very good English and told us of her (single) daughter living in America. Her husband listened attentively with timely chuckles. Later, he showed us his sword collection, and we learned of his samurai blood.

The next couple of days were spent in Nara and Iga-Ueno. Nara was the ancient capital of Japan before Kyoto. It has the largest Buddha statue in the world which is in the largest wooden building in the world, a very famous 5-storied pagoda, and a beautiful summer fire festival. Iga-Ueno is little known outside of Japan...it is known as the birthplace of ninjitsu and has an existing ninja house and museum there. Luke and I went there in hopes of being excepted into the brotherhood, but we were too big. It turns out that about 95% of the tourists that go there are male between the ages of 7 -13. With that said, it was awesome! We got to flip through spinning doors, whip some throwing stars (I won a free T-shirt, size M for boys), and watch an amazing ninja fight. Luke was instructed to not throw the shuriken (throwing stars) like a baseball. And he took his advice seriously, most likely because the man was dressed all in black and sporting the two things that Rafael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles used.


Well, that rounds out that leg of the summer. Luke and I headed back to Tokyo and made the most out of all the options and the wild night life there. We slept in capsule hotels for three straight nights and did a bit of souvenir shopping before he had to go back. It was sad to see him leave...a friend within arm's reach was replaced with a swollen lump in my throat and tickling tears coming down my cheeks. I went back to my village feeling more alone than ever before, but also more refreshed and satisfied with life than I can remember.

Stiff Upper Lip

This has been the first weekend in about 4 months in which I actually stayed in Uenomura. Normally, I can't deal with the deafening quietness....the low-key nights....the simple living....and having to cook for myself. Sounds almost unliveable, doesn't it? Uenomura has no conbini, convenience store, and yes, they are everywhere in Japan. In fact, 7-11 is now Japanese owned, and I secretly think the name describes the location of the stores being seven to eleven kilometers apart. Also, Uenomura is the Florida of Japan; over 50% of the population is older than 65. Thus, the only young people to hang out with are the students I teach during the week, and they aren't really into downing a few cold beers.

With that said, I do do a lot in my quaint village. There is women's volleyball practice on Tuesdays. Pottery class, which can be a real challenge on the mind when you don't speak the lingitty, on Wednesdays. Thursdays are reserved for my English conversation class. And about every other Saturday, there is a Japanese class for some of the foreign wives (and there are quite a few) that live in Ueno. I hit all that stuff up occasionally, however, I never miss a volleyball practice.

Last night I went out with my Japanese friend to see a play. We soon found out that the play wasn't showing, so we decided to hit up another venue. Bish. Bash. Bosh--about 30 minutes later I was dressed in a kimono, sporting a Japanese poncho, sword, and straw hat. I was dancing the extremely slow Japanese dance (called buyo). Also, I agreed to perform in front of the village during the next holiday, "Old People's Day." I kid you not, there is an "Old People's Day" here in Japan. Anyway, they practice every night (I am about to head there now, actually) and they take it very seriously. So far I have only done the dance with my teacher, and I basically just mimic all the contortional movements he does. The crowd seems to get a kick out of my limberless frame and short kimono.

This morning I went to a bar-b-que, Japanese style, on the riverside. It was with my Japanese class. I found the whole scenario very peaceful. I helped cook and prepare all the food with the 40-something year old women. Later, I found my niche while teaching the young'ens how to skip rocks. It made me realize that, although I thought I was seeing so much on all those weekends when I would leave and explore Japan, there is quite a bit to do right here at home.

Stay tuned for future installments, including exploring Kansai, Tohoku, and hopefully a video of me doing my thing on the Japanese dance floor. Until then. Oh, here is a picture of me with a mustache. Does that make you proud, Pops? I had to shave off my extremely manly beard because the principal would not allow a scruffy hooligan working at his school. He actually told me the children might be scared! I wasn't going to shave it off, but he was gracious enough to make a deal: he gave me vacation time so I could come home. That's right, I'll be home from 9/29 - 10/9 for a couple college buddies' weddings.