5.12.2012

It's Saturday, I'm going home in ten days.

Last night Ojichan had jyuku while Obachan and Ema had a meeting/get together at the high school so I got to ride in Kazu's cool car and we went out to eat Hiroshima style Okinomiyaki. I told him I'd just have the normal one, but he ordered us the "special". Which was amazing! Normal okinomiyaki is basically cabbage, meat, flour and water and maybe eggs mixed together into a batter then cooked. But the Hiroshima style is a whole different thing. First they brought out soba noodles and started cooking that before pouring a little bit of plain batter on the grill, the woman used the laddle to smooth the batter out into a thin sheet. Then there was a lot of sliced cabbage, like 3 inches piled on top. She started cooking mochi seperately at that point. Then on top of the cabbage was set shrimp, squid and pork. Next was the egg, she cracked it on to the grill and same as the batter, smoothed it out into a thin sheet. The noodles went on top of the egg, mochi went on top of the noodles, then the cabbage and meat and pancake portion was flipped ontop of the mochi. It was absolutely massive. Spices, sauce, and mayo decorated the top and it was moved to the part of the  skillet close to us. It was really good:)

Today I went to Hashirigata for the morning, but decided I'd try to spend some time with the family during the afternoon. Since yesterday was harvesting day (since today was the morning auction at the market) I hadn't really spent any time in the green house. But the market is not open on Sundays so Satuday is always a green house day. I finished picking the new sprouts and adjusting the support strings on the tomato plants so today I got do something new. I sat on a little cart that could roll, and clipped off the bottom three "branches" of each tomato plant stalk. I know it doesn't sound that hard, but the tomato plant vines are kind of woven into eachother. The green house is 50 meters long, so I went up and down the row in 2 hours. I couldn't believe it took me so long but I listen to the RKK radio station while in the green houses...so first it was "mamonaku, kuji ni narimasu- ba ba baaaaaaan" then the next thing I knew "Mamonaku, juuji ni narimasu - ba ba baaaaaaan". Today the radio show wasn't very interesting. I guess they don't do the 8:50 AM horoscope reading on Saturdays...and luckily the "bag" talk is over. For about two days straight there were all kinds of discussions and stories about people and their bags...which was interesting at first but got kind of dull after a little while. I also think that about 5% of everydays radio talk time is made up of "sou desu ne~" or basically just "ne" in general. It makes me think of when Dad "speaks Japanese" which basically his a very exagerated " desu NE~~~"  and I end up laughing because all of Dads Japanese imitations are actually really on the spot:)

I left at 11:30 and got back to Uto around 12. Kazu and Ojichan had already eaten lunch and were doing their own things so I ate ramen, apple and mini cucumbers while watching some TV before working on packing. I think it will all fit... then I showered and decided to go on a bike ride.

I first visited Obaachan and Ojiichan's grave because I haven't this time. The day was beautiful and the view of the mountains from the cemetary was really beautiful.

Next I went to the Todoroki Spring, where I always go. Last time I went though it was winter time and I had been the only one there. Today was warm (I decided to be a proud foreigner and biked around in a tank top today, proper Japanese girls don't do that sort of thing, you'll turn brown if you do!) and because it was warm there were all kinds of people at the spring. A group of about six little kids were playing in the pool of water while other people were collecting water from the top of the spring. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was golden and everything seemed to glitter with beauty and joy. Listening to the children's voices and the birds and the water trickling - I was in a very happy place. I remember playing there too, with mom and Elijah and Ema and Kazu. I don't know when that was...I think it was when I was in 5th grade.

Then I walked a little down the road to where there are ruins and mossy steps, bamboo and giant trees. I'd gone there too in December, but it had a completely different feel now that it was warm and green. There was a pool of water and a little stone bridge before the steps and in the pool a turtle had its legs stretched out as it sun bathed on a rock. The turtle and I enjoyed the forest together for a little while...it was really beautiful.

Just in the past week I can see how much the tabacco plants have grown, some have the flower already. I think that perhaps after the tabacoo comes rice. Around the end of this month they at least harvest the wheat and start to prepare the fields for rice. Apparently the wheat harvest is really finicky and if the weather doesn't hold up, you can lose the whole crop. Apparently Chizuko-san's cousin lost all ten fields because there was took much rain and warmth and so the grains started sprouting...they then use a tractor to just mixed it all into the earth...natural fertilizer. I also learned that after harvest there is certain plant that is scattered over the fields that aren't going to be used in the spring so that when it gets time for planting rice, they can mixed that flower into the earth and it is an especially good fertilizer for rice. Pretty cool.

I came back from my bike ride and had a nice talk with Ojichan before he had to get ready for his 5:00PM class.
Tomorrow is the MTB race, two hour enduro followed by onsen and buffet lunch at the hotel that's hosting the event. Ojichan organized it so he isn't participating, but Ema and her high school team are. We are leaving at 5:00AM since it is about an hour and a half away in the northern part of Kumamoto. Kazu has to work tomorrow so he wont come. He's been outside washing and working on his car for about two hours now...he really, really loves cars.

I have a lot of time to think...so I've been thinking a lot about home...as well as my experience in Japan. It really does feel like it has been the fastest eight months of my life. I don't really know what to expect when I get back to Oberlin... if it will feel different...if I will be different. It seems so surreal that I'll be sleeping in my own bed soon, that I'll be fighting Elijah for the good side of the couch at Dad's house, that I'll be able to pet my cats and cuddle with them, that I'll see my family and friends, that I'll be speaking English, that I'll ride my own bike across town and see all the familiar sights that are Oberlin. What's it going to feel like to take off from Osaka? To land in Cleveland?

I like running through all my favorites memories from Japan, like flipping through a photo album - just snap shots here and there that I hope to never forget. A facial expression, a wave, kind words, gesture - like Hana-chan's joyful face while harvesting shiitake mushrooms together...just a moment...but all that good feeling from that moment is still here and that's what makes it so special to me. For some reason I can recall everyone's laughing face pretty well - maybe because everyone laughed often enough it is now printed onto my brain...whatever it is, I'm very happy that is something I will take home with me.

It's still not the end, but from her it is a lot of good byes... not until I land in Cleveland will I get to say "hi!" or "it's been a while" again:) But that will feel really, really nice.

Kagoshima was really wonderful. Kazu dropped me off at Uto station (in his new, cool car that has the engine in the back instead of the front so I got to put my bag in the hood of the car! whoa!) and then took the train to Kumamoto, found platform for shinkansen, rode shinkansen for like 45 minutes got to Kagoshima. Megumi was waiting for me at the gate and we took a taxi to the ferry and then took the ferry to Sakurajima, the "used to be island" volcano in the middle of Kagoshima. That ferry is famous for udon so we ate that during the ride. Then Megumi's friends picked us up at the otherside and we drove into the mountains of Teramizu to the campground where we met Megumi's college professor and about 25 other people for the overnight camp. Megumi's friends are mostly guys - I think due to the fact she went to technical school for woodworking and what not. One of them was "Joe" who lives in Miyazaki - he is the same age as Megumi and really kind and hilarious. "Testu" and "Gaku" (shortened names because they have terribly long names) were also really nice. They were 29 and 30, but they didn't treat me like a little kid which I really appreciated.

We set up camp and then the five of us plus three other women went on a river walk which was fun and perfect activity for the hot day. When we got back to camp other people had started tempura and BBQ so we basically just got to eat. Another of Megumi's friends came later , Shogun- he works at the nearby by chicken meat/egg company. I got to eat all kinds of strange tempura - even ocha leaf tempura!
There was a night hike for the kids (there were about 8 kids, elementary age)  and after chatting and drinking some more I got tired and went to bed while everyone else stayed up but it was fine. Megu, Joe, Shogun and I had plans to get up at 5AM and climb a mountain to see the sunrise. The night was cold so I slept on my belly with my arms under me - which I haven't done since the Smoky mountains while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Anyway. I was the first to get up and somehow we managed to get Joe up (who had been awake till 3) and we climbed the mountain. The valley of the mountains is where the chicken company is, so it is dotted with the houses for them. But the place is famous for the azaleas (which had just finished blooming) because the mountain we climbed and part of the valley is basically entirely azaleas - it is a major attraction during the blooming season. We had a late start so about half way of the mountian the sun came up over the other mountain. But the top was still incredible - rising sun to one side, view of the bay and Kagoshima, a view of the valley of azaleas and chicken houses and a perfect view of the valcano that happened to start spouting ash while we were up there (that happens 3-4 times a day). Joe had a pretty difficult time making it to the top, but it made him feel a lot better so it was fine and back at camp we made coffee and tea until everyone got up and we made breakfast.

We were done with camping stuff at 12 when Megu and I met another friend - Rumi - near the port. She was going to drive us around Sakurajima. She was born and grew up (with four older sisters) and still lives there with the ash spouting volcano. We ate lunch before driving around the island. One side of the island where all the ash goes is really rocky and only has pines, while the other side seems pretty normal. Cars that have been parked too long are dusted with ash, the city gives the residents bags to collect ash so to keep the place clean. One area looked like it was dusted with flour - the trees and plants were all whitish. I couldn't live there...it even gets in your eyes and hair and clothes and stuff when it's bad.
Rumi was really cool - she too treated me like an adult, and we listened to Monkey Majik (aweomse band) toured the island and even got to see her families mikan and loquat farm. The island is famous for the smallest mikan in the world and the largest daikon in the world - pretty funny.
We also went to see a giant Nagabuchi memorial...which was both amazing and amusing. We ate mikan ice cream before she dropped us off so we could return to Kagoshima for the night. I'm really hoping Rumi and Megu come visit me in America together - Rumi is learning English so she was excited to meet me and the idea of going to America.

We took the ferry back to Kagoshima and went to a little tonkatsu restaurant. The city is also famous for "kurobuta", black pigs. So I got to eat kurobuta tonkatsu that came with cabbage, miso soup and rice. It was a tiny little traditional style restaurant - and the tonkatsu was delicious.

After that we got breakfast materials and snacks for the next day before taking a taxi to Tetsu and Megumi's friend's place who is in charge of a house that is actually an NPO office. It's emtpy during breaks and nights so they were letting us stop there for the night. The house was beautiful. Shiny and clean and new Japanese style with wide open wood floored rooms and lots of windows. We ate snacks and drank tea and chatted before taking baths and falling asleep.

In the morning I made yogurt/apple/banana mix while Megumi prepared this thing (which I forgot the name of ) but is like mochi/dango but is made with rice that is cooked with ash water. You eat with kinako and black sugar powder mixed. It was really good! I could eat it all day - and I know Mom could too:)

Then we went to the sweet potato sweets cafe/shop that Megu used to work at and got to try some samples:) After that Megu rented a car, we went to Tsutaya to rent CDs (Nagabuchi, Monkey Majik, Blink 182 and I think "Ikinogakari" or something like that). Then we went to the other shore side to see the Sand and Flower Festival. Basically a sand version of the Sapporo Snow Festival. It was super hot but also incredible - my famous piece was done by an Italian woman, a sculpture of the Wizard of Oz. It was really beautifully done. I can't imagine making such pieces of art from sand...I can't even make a mini sand castle. We walked the route and enjoyed sand scultpures of Star Wars, Broadway, Titanic, Totoro and more! For our first lunch we got shaved ice and shared a sausage on a stick. After that we made our way back to Kagoshima, bought souveniers, ate our second lunch of sushi and chatted before she took me back to the station.

It was really sad saying good bye. She waited at the station with me, and stood right outside my window until the train left the station. She cried a little and I was kind of surprised. I think one of my faults is I don't really trust that people truly care about me or are genuine until a display of emotion like that...it's kind of pathetic on my part. I was really touched. I know how I feel about Megumi...I think we will be friends for a long time. It's pretty amazing that in this big world we happened to meet at the right time in the right place. Before she came to Kikuchi, I almost chose that time that she was coming to go to Mashiki, but the way it went we got to meet and clicked right away. Very amazing.

I'm looking forward to either the day she comes to visit in America or the day that I get to return to Japan.

I'm back in Uto and it is really hot. Today I went with Ema and Obachan to see an art show of bead work. It was incredible... tiny little beads, such beautiful artwork - the time it must take! The patience and steadiness! Not for me, but what a sight to see!

Right now in Hashirigata it is still very busy. Almost 200 boxes of tomatoes today and lots of cucumbers. I went with Yoshifumi-san to the market when taking the cucumbers. There was so much there! Boxes and boxes of carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, daikon, eggplants and watermelons...filled the place. I bagged the tomatoes and cucumbers that can't be sold in normal stores for the afternoon. Tomorrow I'll  go for a full day, because I only went from the afternoon today. I think I can get through the houses one more time clipping the sprouts...

I wrote that portion on Sunday, but now it's Friday and I haven't posted yet!

I finally got through picking off the little sprouts of the tomato plants - twice. Yesterday I spent the whole day lowering the strings of the tomato plants...hard to explain...but it was kind of tiring. I literally did the same thing for like 5 hours - but it gives me a lot of time to think and luckily there was a cool breeze that managed to get into the green house. It's been 29 or 30 degrees Celcius recently...hot.

I went to eat a unagi dinner with one of my mom's friends - Eiko-obachan on Tuesday. It was very beautiful and very, very delicious. Eel has recently gotten more expensive than usual becuase for some reason the population has gone down...oh no!

Sunday is another MTB race with the family, which I'm looking forward to. Everyone is so busy, it is rare I get to spend a day with the family.

11 days.