Okaasan had a community meeting to go to today, so we had dinner early. We had some sort of curry rice—and again, with the portion control, only this time I couldn’t eat it all. Okaasan was very understanding, and I offered to eat it for lunch/brunch tomorrow, so I think everything’s okay. Also, it turns out I’ve been putting my dirty clothes in the wrong basket for about six days now. I’m so embarrassed!
Today was a pretty lazy day. Okaasan helped me practice my kanji for my review test on Monday. After that, I went on Google maps to show her where I used to work (the Aldo Leopold Nature Center), and the family farm. It turns out that in Japan, people eat alfalfa sprouts (the main crop we produce on our farm). And here I was thinking that it was only for hay! We also had a long talk about the family’s chickens and who we got them from (a friend of Mom’s who’s sorta famous in the ornithologist field). And of course, I managed to mix up my vocab, using tsukuru (to make) instead of tsuru (crane), to explain about him. In the end, I showed her a clip from Fly Away Home as an example of what he does with cranes. It was an…interesting experience, especially because she paid more attention to the wing-clipping scene than the actual flying scene I intended to show her.
Then we went to her sports club to check it out. It seemed really cool, and the lady there was very helpful. She was also super impressed by my knowledge of katakana (the alphabet used for foreign loan words). She was so impressed, in fact, that she spoke super-fast Japanese at me the entire time. I only caught about 1/8th of it; thank goodness for Okaasan! After checking out the sports club, we returned home where Okaasan gave me some scrap silk (from her old kimono) and taught me how to make tedama (手玉), known in the USA as bean bags. This is my first time working with silk, and boy is it hard! With felt (what I usually work with), it doesn’t usually matter how you stitch or how hard you pull the thread, but with silk you have to be very, very, very careful. I learned this the hard way, as you can probably guess. The rest of the afternoon was spent attempting to sew with silk. I can happily say that now I think I have the hang of it! I also got to help with dinner tonight! Okaasan let me grind sesame seeds and then added salt, satou (sugar), mirin (sweet cooking wine), and shoyu (soy sauce), to make a delicious coating for some cooked vegetables. I also got to cut kyuri (cucumbers) for instant pickles (just add salt and vinegar, steep, strain, and serve!).
After dinner, I explained my family to Okaasan. She was amazed at the sheer amount of family I could remember (I can remember up to my second cousins (and if you’re reading this, Hi Andy!) on my mother’s side and about four generations back for both my mother and father’s sides), and I got to show her pictures as well. Never let it be said that I don’t like taking pictures of my family. I love it! Of course, I only had pictures of those still alive, because I didn’t think to scan the older pictures of my family. I’m a little disappointed in how I failed to remember that.
Those of you who know me well will be surprised at my menu. For those of you who don’t, I’ll try to explain: I make no attempt at hiding my distaste for certain foods, such as mushrooms and fish. Now, though, I find myself eating at least one mushroom a day (usually for breakfast) and fish at least twice (breakfast and dinner). And I don’t mind it at all! When I came to Japan I made a decision—I was not going to let my likes or dislikes ruin my trip; I decided to have none. Except for eggplant, I told Okaasan that I would eat anything she put in front of me. She accepted, saying that it would be a fun “cha-ren-ji” (challenge) to see what I would eat. And yes, sometimes it is a cha-ren-ji. But it’s a delicious cha-ren-ji; one that I’m happy to have taken. For all of you reading this blog, who are planning on going abroad, be it to Japan or somewhere else, please take this challenge as well. Don’t let your attitude shape your experience. Try things that you know you might not like, you may be surprised at the results. I know I was!
Sunday:
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| The outside |
was probably not kosher at all to use someone else’s religion like a tourist trap. However, I did take some pictures around the shrine (it’s a shrine-temple mix) before Okaasan and I went in for the service.The service was incredible.
When you first enter the shrine, the lights are dim. Barefoot, you pad over the tatami mats before settling in front of the long, tapered prayer candles with kanji written on them. Settling down into seiza style (bottom half of the legs folded under you), you get a whiff (actually a full face of) the sandalwood incense that is used across the whole temple. You settle down, knowing it’s going to be a long time, and wait for the burning in your legs to subside. Then the ringing starts. It’s pure and clear; you can feel it in your heart. The head monk starts chanting, and the other monks join in. Suddenly, a heartbeat occurs, rattling you to your very bones. It’s the taiko drum one of the assistants (apprentices?) is playing. Dum, dum, dumdum, it gets faster and faster. You feel yourself slipping into a trance-like state as the fire in front of the priest reaches towards the ceiling.
This is Japan.
Then, of course, when the service is over, you have to make sure you don’t accidentally break you foot by stepping on it in the wrong way (your legs get numb about 10 minutes in) and keeping your balance while dodging nimbler Japanese folk.
Also, there was a shrine to Inari (the god of foxes and rice), where I took a picture of the guardian foxes.
Also, I noticed this around the post of one of the mini-shrine/temple things. Yay for commericalism in religion in Japan!
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| The closeup-- SAILOR MOON LIVES~! |
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| The mini-shrine |
Then it was back to the studying! I have a test on Monday and it’s about kanji—one of my most dreaded topics. Wish me luck!
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