First is that the rice is a brilliant golden green color, and it is accented by a certain bright red lillie, Higanbana. They are planted along the road and they border many rice fields. They are goreous and delicate.
Then there are the bamboo forrests. Their tops look different in a mass, so the mountains covered in trees have a ripply look. When the wind blows it looks more like sea waves than anything else. Today it was rainy and so the mountains were clouded and the mountain tops faded in and out of view through the silver.
The tradtional farm houses are beautiful. And even the traditonal houses in the city are attractive with blue, green, red and grey roofs. The ones in the city have tiny little gardens, usually garnished with cute ceramic statues of badgers, cats, mushrooms and frogs. There are many ginko trees and some grow larger than any Ginko i have seen before. The cicados here make a raspier more rattling sound with more tones...that's not a very good description, but if you have ever seen a miyazaki film (and i'm thinking totoro would be the best example) then you should know the sound.
The streets are terribly narrow, and like in some other places there are mirrors to make it possible to see around bends and corners. But the cars are tiny to, easily half the size. Some could probably even fit in the bed of a good size pickup in America. Even the trucks, cement trucks, delivery vans- everything is smaller. There are delivery three wheal scooters that people ride. Scooters are more popular here than in the US because they can fit in narrow spaces and move through traffic. Bikes are also everywhere.
So are children in their school uniforms. Everyday that we visited a popular site or spent time in a large city, we were able to see hundreds of children varying in age. But the smallest have little blue shorts and skirts and white blouses and little yellow caps.They are the cutest. I think it is their voices. Japanese is such a cute langauge, with words like "pekopeko", "zaazaa", "bechabecha" or "mechakucha" and with their shrill voices and polite manners, it is undeniably adorable. Today we went somewhere and one young boy was taking a photo of another in front of the attraction. The posing boy made the peace sign and Michael, who was walking by, came in behind the boy and also made a peace sign for the picture. The boy who took the photo showed the other boy the photo with much excitement and ran away to their friends calling out "we got a foreigner in the photo!" It was adorable.
Yesterday we went to Miyajima Island to see the floating Torii. This was the start of our list of lucky moments. The island has more free roaming deer. The antlers are cut so they can rub on the trees, and there are so many people feeding them crackers, they don't really eat the greenery. I think they like ice cream though, because we were eating it and one came over and head butted her! We walked to the Shinto Shrine which is in a little cove behind the torii. The lucky thing number one was, the tide was higher than normal and had actually flooded the areas where we could have walked. It was mystical though, the bright red paint of the shrine and the water all over the wood floors. Like a city of water, all empty except for a few men in white robes standing in a shallow area to wait out the tide.Just the red paint, the white robes and shiny rippling water. After the water had gone down and before they let us walk through the shrine though, we saw the tail end of a traditional shinto wedding photo session. The bride was in a traditional Japanese kimono, thick, red and decoartive. With the tradtional wig, perfect and rounded with delicate ornaments. Her face was white and she kept her eyes down, she was so beautiful. Later on we got to see her again, this time in the white kimono and a veil. The husband was wearing a tradtional black kimono himself, and then man that was pulling their rickshaw wore a tradtional Japanese hairdo, pulled back and tied up. It was like a little step back in time. As they were pulled down the street people called out OMEDETOU! Meaning, congratulations. Soon we left, but I felt more peaceful to be in the presence of such beauty on the island.
We took a train back to Hiroshima station, then the shinkansen to Kumamoto where Mom's friend Hiroko's husband, Kei-chan (at least that's what we call him) picked us up. We went to his house on the outer edge of Kumamoto in somewhat of a country house. They have close neighbors but also room for a garden, so nothing like the crammed living style of the city where a lot of room is a three foot width around the house, if that. They let me stay in their daughter's old room, her names is Yuka. She is getting married in November. I am very excited that I was invited. Clara told me about her sister's wedding in India, and though I know it will be very different, I know it will be amazing too. Like in India ( at least from my understanding) people spend tens of thousands of dollars. Renting a kimono for the marriage photos alone cost a few thousand... but she is beautiful in normal clothes, I cannot wait to see what she will look like in the different wedding dresses and kimonos. She speaks english along with her brother Shin (pronounced sheen). The last time I saw him he was younger and had longer crazier hair and interesting clothes, but now since he has a teaching job, teaching english part time, his hair is shorter and he looks older. It's interesting what a hair cut can do! Today Keichan took us to a famous Aquaduct about an hour away. Here is lucky thing number three. They used to open the aquaduct often, but soon it became so famous that they realized it would be beat up too quickly, so now they only open it for people who pay (usually large tour groups). We went there, not expecting to see the amazing sight (it is a large stone bridge the makes a perfect half circle over the river. On either side of it are bamboo forrest and directly in front and behind are terraced rice fields. So the yellow of the rice, red of the lillies, the grand sight of the bridge, the silver sky, waving bamboo forrest-it is truly an amazing sight. We asked if they were going to open it today, because there were three or four groups of elementary children walking around chittering in their little uniforms and holding their different colored umbrellas and jumping in their yellow rubber boots since it was windy and rainy. The said they would be opening it at 11:30, which was only an hour away! I had wanted to go there since the time before my grandfather was in the hospital, he took Elijah, mom and me there. It was still beautiful. We walked around on various paths around it to pass the time. There is a large waterfall that the rivers run into, and the time before we were allowed to go down and be right by it...but now it is blocked, probably dangerous. I was sad, but there is still a suspension brdige that runs right in front of it so we could still get a good view. Then we went back tot he bridge and waited with all the little school children to open the gates so the water would come rushing out.It would come out perpendicular to the side of the bridge and spout out into the river below, but it was a famous view. When the man came and unplugged the holes, the water came spewing out forcefully. So impressive. I got shots from on the brdige and below. Michael filmed it and the audio, as soon as the water comes out, turns into children screaming in excitement. We were very lucky to see that...without paying about $100. After that wwe went to Kumamoto castle. I have gone a few times in my life and everytime is it impressive and beautiful.
Later in the evening, Keichan drove us to my Mom's brother's house in Uto. He was still teaching in the jyuku, but Ema, my cousin, was here and she showed us in. Soon Makito-jichan (mom's brother) came and we chatted. But I was so tired I had to come to the back room in the old part of the house (like where mom grew up!!) to relax. Miyako, my aunt, is in the hospital since she just had surgery...we will see her Sunday. I was glad to hear she is recovering well. Kazu, my other cousin, is off at college. Maybe I will be able to see him later when I know more Japanese. That would be nice.
For now I'm tired...
10.1.11
Today was a great day and it is only 3:30 pm! It didn't start out so well, though, only because it started at 6 am...And i know that 6 am isn't really that early...just for me since I became lazy over the summer:p
Then we went to Ema's high school high in the mountains, about an hour drive. Ema, though, rides her bike to school most days and it is 35 kilometers (21 miles!) and almost all up and hill and windy roads. Going there takes her 2.5 hours, she says, and she has to leave at 4:30am. But she said going home is fine because it is nearly all down hill. But...what??? 2.5 hour up hill before school at 4:30 am?? She is very strong and yet so small! Kazu, who is in college, went to the same high school and did the same thing. My uncle, their father, Makito is a serious mountain biker. He actually teaches mountain biking at their school, which brings me to the topic of their incredible school.
It is not like a normal high school and it is considered very unique. It is called "green life" and has three grades and a total of about 70 students, so it is very small. It is kind of an adventure and crafts school. They offer classes in sewing, cooking, wood craft, mountain biking, survival, forrestry, kayaking and other things of that sort. The school has a place for many kayaks and mnay mountain bikes, a green house, a place to grow fish, kitchen, gym, field, rock climbing wall and a stream that runs behind the school. Ema is taking mostly sewing and cooking. But what an interesting school! So every school has a sports festival around this time. Parents and people of the town come to watch and cheer on the students. Usually the festival has mostly different track events. However, since it is an outdoors school there are a few special events. So today we got to witness some very amazing things!
The festival opened with the three grades presenting themselves by marching in a circle with their respective flag. Green for 3rd years, red for 2nd years (Ema is second year, go red!) and white for the 1st years. There were a few speakers, then the flag of Japan and the school's flag were raised. Then the events began. The first was...a log cutting race! There three teams (for each grade) and each team had about 5 students and two guests, which can be members of the audience or teachers (basically everyone event had that). So Michael said he would participate for Red Team. The saw was about a foot or so long and the log about 5 inches in diameter. You had to run about 30 ft, saw a small chunk of the log off, and run back with chunk and drop it in a crate so the next person could go. At first, red team was not doing so well...but the more people that went, the fast they seemed to be! People were introduced as they were sawing, and Michael was introduced as "Mikerusan (MY KE RU SAN) from America!" The audience went OOOh! Everyone loves a strong foreigner (especially in a log sawing race). Michael became a Festival celebrity after that, I'm sure everyone was surprised to have an American come to this small school way in the country for the High School Sports Festival! The sports continued. Ema participated in several. One is the Three Legged Race, where the two people bind themselves to eachother and run. You have to be coordinated yourself and with the other personal. It was a little painful to watch some students struggle along and near tripping...however, Ema and her friend Fuukachan (foo-ka chan) were really good and minus a little trip in the beginning went fast and clean all the way to the end (the track was about 100 meters around, since they don't have much land, they cannot have a full sized track). She also was in a balancing event. Where about ten student from each group had to balancing on round platform about 2.5 feet in diameter. Maybe just 2 even...They all had different strategies to do this. Ema's group looked like they all held hands in the middle (or something) and balanced eachother our that way because some people only had one foot on the platform and others two. I saw another group had a few people on their shoulders to conserve space down below. I think they all made it (they had to stay balanced for 10 seconds).
She also participated in this one race which I will call the Fun Run. There were a series of obstacles and I think this one was the most amusing and hilarious. First your had to duck under a bar. Then someone gave you a slip of paper to tell you which costume you needed to put on. There were three boxes with different costumes (winnie the pooh, elementary school girl outfit, chinese dress, chinese"Shame" outfit with a pink wig and others). Then you had to run to a station where there were bowls of water. You had to get your face wet then walk to a table that had a shallow tubs on it. These tubs were filled with flour and had some kind of candy dispersed inside. You had to put your wet face in the floor and get a candy in your mouth. People's faces were white and they came over to the next station coughing and laughing, covered in floor and wearing hilarious costumes. Next you had to get a peice of paper that had a description of someone such as "Someone who thinks they are handsome" or "my most favorite person" or " a strong person". Then someone would have to come from either the students or the audience and the two had to run together to the next station where there was an umbrella. They had to open it and both run under it to the finish line. Ema won her section:) There was also a dance for everyone, which she did very well with. But since there are way more boys than girls at this school, there was a group of mothers who dressed up in their old high school uniforms (Miyako, my aunt, actually started that tradition a few years ago when Kazu was in school). It was all very fun and happy. Then there was a relay race for all the students. Ema ran and she is so fast! Apparently she is famous for being faster than many of the boys:p (maybe if they rode their bikes 21 miles everday to school, up hill, they would be fast too!)
Oh!I nearly forgot! There was one that was pretty incredible. There was a...maybe ten foot wall supported on a frame on the other side of the wall, about 3ft down, there was a platform where you could stand. The obejective was to run and jump and get one person to get over the wall and stand on the platform so they could pull others over. So a group of about 8 (several students, a teacher and an audience member) all had to get over the wall. It was impressive to see the kids pull themselves up and others, quite intense! Then after they all got over, they had to hold hands and run to the finish line. There were other events too, like tug of war and jump rope and one for all the mothers. It was called fishing, and people got poles with hooks and students set out different gift bags, so with the pole you fished for those items. It was fun to see all the mothers excited about it:) And I just remembered...there was another very interesting race. Each grade had to set up a tent, then make a flame using flint, enough so they could set off a large sparkler. Then one person on their team had to get on a mountain bike and ride it around the track, but half way there was a line about head hight with a small goody bag. They had ot grab it only using their mouth then cross the finish line...but it wasn't over! As soon as the biker crossed the finish line, they had to take down the tent and put NEATLY into the bag, only then were they done! The first years had a hard time making a fire, but it was definitely amusing. But the way they put up and took down the tents, they put our senior class to shame! For our "senior prank" we camped out in front of the school and we had about 10 tents...it took us quite a while to put them up. These kids could have done it in 10 minutes!
In the middle there was a lunch break and Michael pointed out that it was a lot simplar than in America. In America you have to set up tables and chairs and many trash cans and offer food even. Here, people all brought their own Obentos (lunch boxes) and blankets or mats for the floor in the gym. Everyone cleaned up after themselves and took away their trash- hassle free! Also, it was amusing to see about 50 people's shoes all set at the door of the gym, because in Japan you take off your shoes even when you go to school. The students have their own slippers but guests can just wear their socks. There are special bathroom slippers so that what is in the bathroom stays there. No wonder things can stay so clean! Plus I think that they don't have janitors, because the students clean the school, including the restrooms. It's pretty impressive, how dutiful the students are. The prepared tents for the audience to watch the festival and even shoveled sand and brought it to the places where it was wet to make it less so.
I wonder what it is that makes these students so behaved and obedient. I suppose it is the culture...or maybe that the schools cost money and you have to take entrance examinations to get into different high schools. This is also a tiny school, perhaps at larger schools you see more..."normal" high school behavior. I don't know. Parents are strict though too, probably more strict than the majority of parents in America.
There was an adorable baby girl who I was watching. She had a full head of loose curls and was in a little red outfit. She was very quiet and observant. During lunch she had a fan club and a father of a student said,"My daughter used to be cute like that too, those were the days." I feel that there are many comments like this in Japan, but maybe the direct translation to English makes it more harsh than it is in Japanese...
The sports festival was great, the time flew while watching it and it was amazing to see all the different events and talents of the students.
Tonight we are seeing Misaki and her parents who we call Misaki-mama and Misaki-papa:) Misaki and Ema came to America I think two summers ago, some of you might remember them. Misaki is attending a high school in Kumamoto, its focus is English. It will be good to see them!
Also, to Emily and Isabel if you read this...do you remember how we were talking about Man Man Pizza? I didn't find a Man Man Pizza specifically, but I did find a shop called Manman, it was written in hiragana and is technically pronounced "MahnMahn". I was in a bus so I couldn't read what it was for...but that's okay! I found a Man Man!:p
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