A grand update! Epic! Gigantic!

It has officially been one month since I updated my blog, but was honestly because I was too busy to sit down and organize my thoughts effectively. However, it is a Friday night, I am broke with no plans, so I might as well update with a monster of a post. And here we go...

Essentially, the entire month of October was nothing but field trips, field trips, Kenpo practice and midterms. Oh, doesn't that sound just FUN?? The first of the field trips was to Himeji Castle, one of the largest castles in Japan. I actually went twice, once with my host family and then once with the Japanese Samurai History class.

The first time was with Cole, my host family and I, and it was during a national holiday meaning we drove. And it took about an hour and a half. Ridiculous. Oh, and the place was terribly crowded and it was a kinda rainy day. But I must admit, though it was no Neuschwanstein, it was very interesting in its own special way. There were no tapestries or murals that you would see in Western castles, but you got to see how the Samurai would set up their defenses for the castle! As the professor, a very nice Russian lady who sometimes doesn't know when to stop talking, explained, some princess named Sen 千 lived in the castle for quite some time. She is apparently a very famous figure in Japanese history, but I don't study classical history, so this fact was lost upon me. All I remember was that she became a nun after her second marriage. At the top floor of the castle was a little shrine, but I sincerely believe a starbucks would be better...

Lunchtime during the two trips were vastly different affairs. With my host family, Cole and I were taken to a very expensive Italian restaurant in Sannomiya (we're talking about 30 bucks a plate) where we could dine to our hearts content since we weren't paying. With the class trip, however, we had to pay out of your own pockets, so hello cheap-ass tourist cafeteria food! I actually consumed quite a lot of icecream and udon noodles.

The only difference between the two trips was that with the class we went as a group to the gardens just off the castle grounds. The gardens were very small, very Japanese, and had a lot of slugs. The slugs were too gross so I didn't take a picture of them. The garden was nice, lots of fish and water and other things that make you really want to pee. And wouldn't know you it, they kept the bathrooms waaaay out in the front by the entrance so you had to go through the whole thing in order to use the facilities. Oh joy. But now I am castle'd out, and have no intention of ever going to another Japanese one for as long as I live. Or until this year is up. Not sure, haven't decided yet.

Next up: THE AQUARIUM! I went with a Japanese boy to this place, so everyone who knows about it pretty much screamed that it was a date. Though I do rather like said boy (and not because he is Japanese, you sick people. His personality is awesome, even by American standards), I am nearly 100% certain it was not a date. I have an obsession with penguins and he has one with turtles. It evens out into a "let's go to the aquarium!" type of situation.

The Osaka aquarium is called Kaiyukan 海遊館, and it has some baby whale sharks! Ahhh, excitement! However, the entrance fee is hefty, 2,000 yen or approximately 20 dollars. My friends who went the week before me said they were there for a few hours, more than 3. I was there for about 2, perhaps? It was not very crowded but it was very difficult to find a good spot to sit and rest for a time and still see fish from the seat. As you can see, this whaleshark here is a perfect representation of my Aunt Mimi, whose name in Japanese means ear. Yes, ear. Like the one you found in your icecream, auntie. So we hung around the aquarium and then got dinner, after which we returned to my homestay to watch some horror movies. Or, I should say, movies he found scary but I found silly and/or confusing. Oh well, I guess I am not Japanese enough, eh?

Time to talk about.... KOYASAAAAAAAN. This little trip was on Sept 28th, but it actually marked SEVERAL turning points in my life, including the aftermath in which I was introduced to a certain someone (see above). So, essentially Koyasan was a little fieldtrip to the Buddhist Mountain thingy where we were to live with Monks and eat only vegetarian food! According to Janine I have now lived out her escapist fantasy. In my mind, I went through an icy hell of a weekend. Basically, I saw what Buddhism really consisted of: homosexuality (as found in my research on the social history of homosexuality in Japan), lack of flavor in the food, and also rocks. Lots of rocks. Some of them pretty, some of them...I dunno, but they were there for a reason. Generally, they were grave markers, though the names were not often written.

Living in the monastary was definitely a new experience. We stayed in a small one called Ho-on-in, where it was just (about 50 westerners) and 3-4 monks. And the head dude and his family. And the poodle. The food was all vegetarian, and I must admit I am beginning to get sick of tofu. The rooms were seperated according to gender, boys got a big ass room x2 and the girls got smaller side rooms. I was paired with Leila, Val, Julienne and Diana, and we all huddled together for warmth since the futons didn't offer much.

One thing about staying with Julienne: her hair is so long that if she flips it forward she looks like Sadako from the Ring. And guess what she did in the morning? Yep. The Ring crawl. Last thing we all needed at 6 am before the morning chanting and meditations. And I totally fell asleep during those meditations. As in, faceplant into the tatami mat. I was OUT, and even worse, I was in the front row nearest to the head monk dude. Yeah, that was not rude at all!

Essentially, second day was free time to go out and roam around the other temples in the area. For those of you that know me well, you should know that I have less than zero interest in religion. As in, going to the Vatican has no effect on me, so why should going to the greatest Buddhist sanctuary in all of Japan have any effect? I actually was more concerned with getting my paws on some real meat. The moment they gave me the lunch stipend, I ran to the nearest restaurant and ordered some tempura udon, others got katsudon or unagidon. But hey, meat is meat and hot food is hot food. And not tofu is NOT TOFU.

There is a professor at this University named Konishi. He is very....VERY gay. While at Koyasan, he burst into the boy's bathing area and took pictures of them while they were washing. Yes, in the nude. And on the way back on the train we all were given the "treat" of seeing our fellow students in the buff. Needless to say, all the other sensei on the excursion were in shock.

Halloween was also an event to be had, for my friend's experiences please see the young brit's site: http://darlosworld.co.uk/ . As for me, I did not dress up but rather went as me. Only I said I was a whore, much like what my father said to Awate last year about me. But there was a well-dressed banana and a monkey in the mix, in addition to a hello kitty cow and a power ranger.

I just went out with Cole, Julienne, Vanessa and Stephanie to a yakitori shop (super cheap, 280 yen a plate!!) for a few hours before heading back home. I am such a boring soul, but I can't afford to go all-out smashed gaijin in the streets JUST yet. Maybe when I am in Tokyo with Awate and Masa, relive the good old days. If I could remember them. Anyway, that about does it for the blog. I could write more, but my fingers are getting tired. Until next time!