I had an adventure this past weekend away from the city! I
went to visit my friend out in Nagano. The name may sound familiar to some of
you as they hosted the 1998 winter Olympics.
I was excited to be up in the
mountains. I was even a bit happy to see snow. Don’t get me wrong, coming from
the Midwest, I was happy to have a winter that didn’t involve massive amounts of
snow and below freezing temperatures but I did start to miss the snow a little…
Anyway, the day started with three hours of travel into the
mountains. I got to take a shinkansen to get there. The shinkansen are the
Japanese bullet trains. The train I was on was going roughly 150 mph. They are
super aerodynamic and the fastest trains in the world. The one that I was on
was considered a slow speed shinkansen. I can’t imagine how fast the high speed
ones go. The train itself was super nice! It was roomy and comfortable.
Overall, a very enjoyable way to travel. Better than a plane if you ask me.
Luckily, I had just downloaded some games into my I-pod so the time passed
pretty quickly.
My train!
A soon as I arrived at the station, I was greeted by a small
festival. My friend had no idea that it was happening. We had some great street vendor food for
lunch. Japanese food is AMAZING but if you can get it freshly made, hot off the
grill, it is the BEST! We also enjoyed some traditional Japanese performances
of taiko drums and enka music.
Taiko drums
Some Enka music
After we slurped up our udon noodles and grilled
chicken, we headed off to see Matsumoto castle. The castle was stunning as was
the view from the top. But the best thing that happened at the castle was a
photo opportunity. There were two men dressed in full samurai armor taking
pictures with people in front of the castle. My friend and I jumped at the opportunity.
After all, who doesn’t want to be photographed with samurai?! We started to pose
and then about ten Japanese people around us whipped out their cameras and
started snapping pictures of us. We took about 5 shots in all before everyone
was satisfied including one where we let out a warriors cry.
The castle. This is one of my favorite pictures I have taken in Japan.
SAMURAI!!
After the castle, we headed back to Nagano city for a fun
night out. The main item on the agenda was karaoke. We met up with some more
people and headed out. Karaoke here in Japan is awesome! You get to have your
own room so it is just you and your pals singing your hearts out. The best part
though is that you can get all you can drink. That’s two hours of singing and
drinking. Sounds like a dream come true. Still not exactly ready for bed, we
went back to a friend’s apartment and played video games until 3:30 AM. Fun
night in my book!
The next day, we took a bus up into the mountains to see
some monkeys! Nagano is known for some of its onsens, hot spring baths. One of
these onsens was taken over by monkeys that are native to the mountains. They
have only ever taken over this one small pool and are quite indifferent to the
people that come to gawk at them. They were even walking in between us and
splashed some people watching. They are totally fine as long as you don’t touch
them or look them in the eye for too long. I was just blown away by how close
you could get to them and how much they basically just ignored all of us who
were taking pictures of them. They were adorable. We then headed back into town
for some cheap Italian food and a bottle of wine before I had to get back on
the shinkansen. I really enjoyed being able to get out of the Tokyo region and
seeing some friends. Weekend well spent.
Monkeys!
My new friend :)
A rare picture where the monkey actually looked at my camera.
Happy (late) Valentines Day everyone! I didn't do too much to celebrate it this year myself but I did get to experience it here in Japan. They do celebrate Valentine's Day here and it is pretty much the same. Much like America, it is a largely commercial holiday. The department stores have been selling gourmet chocolates and sweets for weeks now. They are always so beautiful and tempting...
Chocolates that I bought for my boyfriend
However, unlike in America, most ladies home make all of their
chocolates and sweets. The stores have been packed with chocolates,
special heart molds, and decorations. That leads to the major difference
between the way that the Japanese and Americans celebrate the holiday:
Valentine's Day is a day for guys here. The ladies spend hours creating
sweets for their boyfriends and crushes. I never would have guessed that
though from the pink frilly decorations and chocolates that were all
over the stores. The guys are flattered though when they receive a very
cute and well decorated sweet. It shows that the lady spent a lot of
time working on their gift. The girls don't totally get tossed aside
though. The Japanese have a whole separate holiday a month after
Valentine's Day called White Day where the girls get gifts from their
boyfriends and crushes. Sounds like a good deal to me!
I personally got a couple of homemade chocolates and a chocolate
pie from some of my older students as well as a package from my
boyfriend. It was filled with nerdy delights and a beautiful new
necklace. We got a chance to Skype while we each opened our gifts which
was very nice. He definitely did well!
