Current mood:

sleepy

Of Tea Ceremonies, Whore houses and Baseball games
I have...seventeen days left in Japan. Seventeen days to get my fill of Japan for years to come. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it :)

This weekend was NON-STOP craziness. From Friday at 3pm to Monday at 3am. Craziness.

On Friday I had a dentist appointment to look at where I thought I had a cavity. Going to the dentist in Japan...is very special. They have equipment that is far more advanced than what is in the States, but...the Dentist also does not wear latex gloves. Or any gloves. Bare hands in my mouth!!! D:

Anyway, I had a small cavity, that might actually be a sign that I need a root canal (oh no oh no oh no!) but he fixed the cavity in under an hour, gave me a clear filling, and so much novacane that my face was numb until midnight. (Im going back next week to check and see if I do need the root canal).

I drove from the dentist (with numb face) to the bus center and grabbed a bus to Kobe where I met up with several JETs for a birthday at the Lock- Up.

The Lock-Up is a themed resturant that serves izakaya type food (stuff you eat while drinking) and revolved around a horror inspired Jail house. All the rooms are jail cells that they lock you in, and once an hour there is a " monster show" where people dressed as monsters come out and "attack" you. Its really fun, and I got to sit with several people that I won't see for a long long time. Afterwards we did one hour of the most AWESOME Karaoke ever. It was non-stop amazing.

I had planned to stay up on the mainland for the weekend, and Brenda was nice enough to let me crash at her place near Kakogawa. We got in around 1am and actually did stop talking and sleep before sunrise (which we are usually not so good at doing). Saturday I was up and on the train by 10 so I could get to Osaka by noon (2 hours away).

In Osaka I met up with Mr. Wada, the 84 year old Eikawa student/lumberjack/farmer who we know. He is ...very interesting. He had wanted to take us on a tour of the "dirty" places of Osaka for some time, and we finally all had a free day to do it. Wada was a police officer in Osaka way back in the day, and he wanted to show us (foriegners) that Japan isn't as safe as many people believe. We totally did not take him seriously because, well..he's 84.

It was EYE OPENING. I did not know that places like that were in Japan! AND right in the middle of Osaka! He took us to the homeless village (seriously it was like a refugee camp in its size), to the red-light district that was open and running at noon on a saturday, and which also was...very unquie. The houses on the outside looked like traditional Japanese resturants, with slidding doors for the entrance, but the doors were open and the girls would be sitting RIGHT there where you would take off your shoes. They didn't say anything, just sat there and looked pretty waiting for Mr. Big money to come along. There were SO MANY of them, and all of them were open, and several...had customers. AND...right in the middle of the district..was an elementry school and park. WTF JAPAN.

We walked from there to the "new Ward" where there are lots of shops designed for people to buy pretty much anything and everything. We went into a ktichen store where you could buy ANYTHING ever made, ever! for a kitchen. It was amazing.

We finished the tour in a coffee shop, built to look like a Swiss Chalet. Just for fun.

From there I was due to meet a friend, but she called me to invite me to come to her house instead. In Kyoto. So on the train again, and off to Kyoto (2hours away). I met up with her and we went to a coffee shop and chatted for a bit; I hadn't seen her in 4 years!

Her house is in the mountains of Kyoto, but near enough to down town that it took maybe 20 minutes to get between them. Her parents own a souviener shop at one of the big temples and the house was full of old and traditional things. We went to a very very nice sushi resturant for dinner and afterward we did fireworks in a rice paddy for the 4th of July.

Woke up the next morning VERY early, to drive to Lake Biwa, which is the largest lake in Japan. Many people go out here for the nature and beauty, but I had never gone because it was so far away. Well! I went! For about an hour. It is a very pretty lake, but I liked the drive up there better. We went through the mountains and it was misty and green. Very pretty.


When we got back to her house she had a Tea Ceremony lesson, and I was invited to come along. It was taught by an old tea master at her house, which probably was the most beautiful Japanese house Ive been inside. The ceremony was classic and gorgeous, and I was allowed to participate. We started with flower arrangement followed by the tea presenataion. The Master also gave me a Yukuta that she had that was too long. Quite unbelievable!!

we left early (2 hours instead of 5!!) and headed into the city proper for lunch. I was able to find another Yukata for my mom and several really nice Obi's (the belts) After lunch , I said my farewells and took another train 2 hours back to go to the Hanshin Tigers Baseball game. The Tigers are probably the most popular baseball team in Japan, and the game was WILD. There were chants, and ballons, and noise makers, and there weren't any free seats: the place was packed! We sat in the opposing teams section and did our best to cheer on the Tigers. In the end the Tigers won 4-1 (yay!)

the game ended in time for me to grab the 10:20 bus back to Awaji, which meant...that I got home at midnight. Ugh! The whole weekend was one sleep-deprived trip of awesomness!

Today: I work.

Seventeen days left!