Day 7: Kanazawa

Kobe to Kanazawa

Today Marina, Catherine and I hopped the high speed Shinkansen train to the other side of the island to visit my friend Cory in Kanazawa. Cory has been teaching English to junior high school students there for about 6 months.

Kanazawa rice fields

Kanazawa is a more traditional, smaller town than the ones we have visited so far. There are rice fields everywhere with older buildings. Cory’s apartment is huge by Japanese standards (he has his own separate bedroom and office!).

We got there kind of late, so we went to an Isikaya to eat dinner with Cory and his friend. The food was amazing. We had whale, yellowtail collar bone, and sushi.



Marina and Cory bonded over the difficulties of being a geijin (foreigner) in Japan and the many cultural differences. For example, in Japan, many young people rebel and are experimental, but as soon as you turn 30, everyone cuts their hair, changes their wardrobe and gets married practically overnight. Everyone does what is expected of them because if they do not, they are shamed. As a result, the country is very safe and peaceful, but there is a lot of pressure on the public to conform. Think 1950s US.

Similarly, though women have the same rights in the US-written Japanese Consitution, they are not equal. Women get paid significantly less in Japan. They are also not allowed to use the imparative form, and use a more polite vocabulary than men.
For example, a woman cannot say “No” or “Wait”. She must say a more roundabout, “Maybe another time” or “Please, go a little slower, do you mind?”. That is a really rough translation, but you get the idea.

It can be really hard for foreigners to understand the differences because there are so many. In class, Marina's teacher once tried to shame her for speaking like a boy. I think I would speak like a boy too.

Day 6: Kobe

Today, while Marina was at school, Catherine and I explored downtown Kobe. The way Marina described Kobe, I thought it was going to be a small town in the country. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It is a cultural center in Japan.

Nankinmachi Gates

Our first stop was lunch at Nankinmachi, Kobe’s Chinatown. You can tell you are in Chinatown immediately because everything seems to be red- huge red gates at every entrance, red signs, red statues. There are a ton of street vendors selling cheap Chinese food.

Then, we went to The Kobe Earthquake memorial park on the coast. Since Japan is volcanic, earthquakes are common. The people expect an earthquake around Tokyo every 70 years, so many of the buildings are built with this mind. It was not predicted to hit Kobe though, so the earthquake devastated Kobe in 1994, killing nearly 40,000 people. With the rubble, they built an island off the coast of Kobe called Port Island.

Right beside the park, it a place called Harbor Island. It is a mini amusement park, and Catherine and I were drawn to the Ferris Wheel. Both of us our terrified of heights, so I have no idea why we decided to go in the “special” all glass booth.

Terrified Catherine on the ferris wheel

It was very windy that day, so the booth was shaking so bad, we barely got to enjoy the fabulous view of Kobe from the top.

Kobe view facing North from the water

We ended up subjecting ourselves to more fear, by buying tickets to the Ghost Mansion. We screamed the entire way through the glow in the dark, fake blood building.





That night, Marina took us to a Ichiban with some of her friends. At this place, you take off your shoes and sit at a traditional low table. Here you eat and drink, and you usually get a snack with every drink you get. Here, I was brought the wrong food, but someone else at the table had to eat it. Japanese never send anything back, and you can hardly get any modifications on your food. This is so different from “the customer is always right” attitude, but I respect it. As a waitress, I can definitely appreciate an order that doesn’t have to be changed!



After dinner, we went to a bar and sang Karoke. The bars in Kobe are very small- about the size of a dorm room. There are hundreds of them packed into skyrises. There were about 20 people at this particular one, and it was packed.



I liked this place because the Karaoke was in front of the bar instead of only in a private room. My friends and I cannot sing, and most of us are tone deaf. It is not the same as Japanese tone deaf, though, which is completely different. It is like they are all tone deaf in the same way. Even the musak we hear playing in stores in Japanese tone deaf.

Day 5: Back to the future

Tokyo-Kobe May 17th

Today was our last day with Kei and we were sad to leave. We had so much fun with him. But, we were excited to finally see Marina. It took us about 4 hours by train to get to Kobe.

Kobe is one of the best cities to live in Japan, I think. It is big enough to get whatever you want, 24 hours, and never be bored. It is also small enough to not get overwhelmed by all the human traffic. It is also very close to the beach, and has beautiful, green, chocolate-kissed shaped mountains in the background.

Marina's Neighborhood in Kobe

When we got there, we caught up with Marina at her favorite kaiten-zushi place.

kaiten-zushi

This place is INSANE. It is so Japanese.

Basically, you sit down in a booth, and beside you, little plates of sushi come out. Each plate costs 100 yen ~ 1 doller. You take what you like off the conveyer belt, and when you are finished, you throw the plate down a shoot off your table. If something you want doesn’t come out fast enough, you can order it off a computer at your table, and it will come shooting out off a little cartoon boat that stops at your table via another conveyer belt. Everything is computerized. You get beer from a vending machine, and tea from a hot water dispenser at your table.
When you are finished, the computer prints out a ticket based on how many plates you have thrown out, and you take it to the front to pay.

Its awesome.

Day 4: Rookie(s) of the Year

Today we spent the day in Tokyo. We went to the Meiji Temple in Harajuku and it was beautiful. They gardens surrounding it reminded me of Central Park in New York because it seems to be an oasis of green in a busy metropolis.

While we were there, we wrote prayers and sealed them with a kiss.

We also saw many traditional weddings while we were there. I felt bad because there were so many tourists taking pictures of the weddings, but they didn’t seem to mind. Kei told us that it was fine as long as we bowed, and maybe said a congratulatory greeting. Many of the Japanese are happy to let you take pictures, as long as your don’t try and “steal” them.



The bride wears a white robe with a huge dome covering her head- Star Wars-style. The wedding party walks around the temple signifying going into a new life.



After that, we went to the Takeashita Street in Harajuku. There were many young people from all over the world, down this crowded street.




Kei led us to a building that was incredibly bright and loud- not American loud, cute, high pitched Japanese loud. This whole country is so darn cute. I remember watching TV with Kei and noticing how every commercial had a little cartoon animal selling things as opposed to the sexy and cool American commercials.

Anyways, this building was full of photo booths! They weren’t just any photo booths though. These were more like computer games, that automatically edited your face to make your skin clearer and your eyelashes bigger. Kei said it was “Japanese magic”. Then, you add writing/glitter/hearts/has/sunglasses/whatever to your pictures, and it prints out your pictures as stickers! It was actually a lot of fun.

Art Gallery in Harajuku

Then, we wandered around to a super colorful art gallery. Kei explained that artists from all over the world decorated it, and showed there. Krista- you would have loved it.

At the end of the day, we went to the baseball game to see the Tokyo Swallows. The game was hilarious. We had great seats right behind the dugout. In true American form, Catherine and I cheered our American cheers- screaming at the players. The English players on the team definitely heard us, and I think they enjoyed our obnoxious cheering and off key renditions of “Take me our to the ballgame”. I’m pretty sure Kei was embarrassed, but we eventually got the people around us to join in.



At the game, there are girls that carry kegs on their backs selling beer. There are also cheer captains in front of every section that whistle a tune, and everyone repeats it by clapping.



When the Swallows make a good play, everyone whips out these mini vinyl unbrellas and does a little dance with them. It’s hilarious.

It was definitely an experience.

Day 3: Enoshima Island

Today we woke up to the sweet sound of the doorbell. It was my bag! It is so nice to put on my own clothes- though I did like wearing Kei`s Thai pants.

Kei made us some delicious Japanese food for lunch. We had mackerel, cabbage, small fish, and rice.



Then, we stopped off at the candy store on our way to Enoshima island. We bought mooshi candy and Japanese chocolate.

Candy Store!

Riding on the scooter to Enoshima, I really started to feel like I was on the opposite side of the world. I think it was the juxtaposition of listening to Catherines iPod (read: STS9), and being in a completely different place that I was used to.


Let me try and break it down. Things in Japan are the same, but different. There is farmland like in GA, but there is cabbage instead of peanuts. There are construction sites, but the cones are red instead of orange, and the caterpillars are turquoise instead of yellow. There are turning arrows in the streets, but they are skinnier and longer. It is hard to explain- its like an alternate universe.

Enoshima island is beautiful. It is also known as dragon island, and has dragon souvenirs and statues everywhere. On the way up to the top of the island, we traveled down a narrow road with tons of seafood for sale (BBQ squid and octopus press snack), and wild cats everywhere.



At the top, is an amazing view of the island and a temple with red gates.

love prayers at the temple

Then, we climbed to the other side of the island and went fishing.



At the end of the day, we stopped by the grocery store and bought groceries to make Kei shrimp and grits (thanks for the recipe, mom!).

love kara and catherine

Day 2: Bicycles and bullet trains

Hello family, friends, and internet stalkers. I have been to the future. And, no I am not talking about the 11 hour ahead time difference. I'm talking about Tokyo!

This morning, Catherine and I went to see her fathers friend, Alex around noon. His secretary gave us perfect directions from our address including timetables to meet him at Ebizu Gardens. He took us to a gorgeous restaurant on top of the Westin Hotel with an amazing view. We had `real` Hibatchi. Basically you choose 1 of 3 kinds of Japanese beef- I had tenderloin, Catherine had sirloin, Alex had one of 10 hamburgers they make a day- and they cook that and vegetables in front of you. It was amazing.



Alex explained so much about Japanese culture, gave us amazing travel tips, showed us his office, and even gave us tickets to a baseball game in Tokyo for Sunday!



Then, we went to the fashionable Harajuku, for a little shopping and sight seeing. We bought fake eyelashes and tried on wigs (so Harajuku!).



We also took pictures of fashionable people in the street. They must be used to it, because everyone posed for us.





Then, we went to meet a couchsurfer named Ken for dinner near the Shinjuku station. It seriously looks like a space station. The architecture, the fashion, and the neon signs is enough to make your head spin. Catherine accurately noted that was what happened when you put a 1/4 of the US population in one city.



I am so amazed by how safe this place feels. People leave their bikes unlocked in busy areas. But, they will jack your umbrella, so make sure you put it in an umbrella lock.



Over whiskey and sake, we discussed everything from Korean- Japanese relations to 9/11 conspiracies (gulp). He made the mistake of asking Catherine if she wanted to be like Condelizza Rice (BIG mistake).



Then, we came back to Fujisawa back to Keis house where he had more food waiting for us (he is so thoughtful!).

At around 1 am, Catherine mentioned something about Karaoke, and Kei jumped and told us we had to go. So off we went.




I drove his extra scooter, and we sang Japanese and English songs for 3 hours. He found our English stacking on his Japanese songs and our Bohemian Rhapsody particularly hilarious.




On our way home, we saw the sunset over the cabbage fields.


PS: Comment! We like to know who is reading our blog.

love kara and catherine

Konichiwa Japan!

NRT airport

We arrived yesterday to the the busy airport in Narita. The flight was long, but I slept through 90% of it thanks to my new prevent jet lag technique. Its called, `dont sleep the night before, so you`ll be dead on the plane`.

We had to check our backpacks, and they lost my bag. Everyone was extremely helpful and friendly, though, and I should get it back sometime today.


We took a train from the airport to the Tokyo main station, then went to Fujisawa, where our couchsurfing host Kei lives. He picked us up by scooter and took us to his adorable apartment. There, he had dinner ready (rice and chicken curry) and Japanese cocktails. It was delicious. He stayed up till 12 with us even though he had a surgery he had to perform at 7 am this morning. Kei is an operation nurse and has traveled all over the world. He has been to Thailand 11 times and Nepal 4 times. His apartment is much bigger than I imagined and is full of souvenirs from his travels. He is extremely generous and gave us a key to his house, a cell phone, and access to his 2 bicycles and scooters. Tomorrow, he wants to take us fishing on a nearby island.

Kei in his apartment at breakfast this morning

Today, we are going into Ebisu Gardens to visit one of Catherine`s fathers friends who has offered to take out to eat at a popular restaurant in Tokyo.

sayonara! kara and catherine