As all of you are aware, today is the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region. To mark the occasion, I went to an interfaith prayer service in Kamakura today and got a chnace to see one of the disaster zones last weekend.
I got a chance to go to Sendai to visit my friend and while there saw one of the disaster zones. This was not a part of our plans but after our day of fun with my friend and her Japanese friend, he asked us what we wanted to do next as he was our chauffeur and guide. We didn't know. He hesitated for a moment and told us that he would like us to see one of the hardest hit areas in Sendai-shi from the tsunami. We both agreed. It struck me first and foremost how he had invited us to see this area. Instead of asking, he said he would like to take us to see it as though he was saying that he wanted us to see the struggle and reality of what Japan had and is still going through. On the way there, we passed so much land that was just flat. I wasn't sure if it was due to the tsunami or if it was just farm land. Then some still standing but heavily damaged houses started to dot the scenery and we knew we were starting to come into the heavily impacted area. Now, much of the debris form the houses has been cleared away so the landscape is pretty much just flat ground but those few standing houses are a large testament to some of the damage done. Our friend started to point details like the trees and the old gas station. We started driving closer to the coast and passed by a school. My friend and I both gasped as there were piles of debris in the school yard. I immediately thought it was children's school things still left unclaimed. Catching on to this, he slowed down and showed us that they were actually cars and motorcycles that had been tossed into the school or the surrounding area. There is no where to properly dispose of these things so they just sit in the school yard.
We pulled up to the shore to a memorial built for the people who died or are still missing in this area. I followed my friend and we said a prayer to pay our respects. Now, something to understand about this experience. We were with our Japanese friend who lived in Sendai at the time. Japanese people generally do not outwardly display too much emotion in public. I knew that I would be upset by this trip so I kind of removed myself from it a bit. It was almost like I wasn't in my mind and wasn't processing what I was absorbing. I didn't want to get too upset or "create a scene" for our friend who would not know how to handle that kind of response. True to form he himself was very removed and almost stoic the whole time.
When we first got up to the shrine, though, I almost lost it. In Japan, people will leave offerings for the dead: their favorite drink or food generally. Laying at the foot of the shrine were a couple of packs of special mochi given to little girls for Girls Day. I knew that meant that these sweet treats were meant for young girls about ages 3-8 and it saddened me so much to see those offerings for some little girls who never made it home that day.
The shrine
Some of the offerings left for the dead and missing.
I had to step away so we stepped up to the ocean to take a look.
My friend stopping to touch some of the twisted guard rails to the ocean
After we had some time to compose ourselves, we continued walking through the area just surveying what was left which wasn't much.
Nothing left now but some foundations where a whole neighborhood used to be.
Even processing it now, it feels like a dream that I was actually there. It made me want to help with the reconstruction so badly. I was so relieved that I'm going to do some volunteer work in the area soon. Otherwise, I think I may have walked away from this with a feeling of helplessness and distress. I have really come to love this country and to see this kind of destruction and suffering was painful. It gave me so much admiration though for the people of Tohoku who are just picking up the pieces and moving forward. They are all unsung heroes. I can't even imagine the strength that takes. There is a lot of work to be done here but I know that the people will keep moving forward as best as they can. Please hope, pray, and give for Japan.
Here's some additional video and photos from my visit to the disaster zone.
Today, on the actual day of the anniversary, I made a trek out to Kamakura to go to Kencho-ji, one of the most sacred Zen Buddhist temples in Japan and the most sacred in Kamakura. I had seen a flyer for an interfaith prayer service to be held at the temple at the exact time of the earthquake 2:46 PM. I got there at 2:20 and there was a large line to get in.
Hello line and gate
I easily made it in in 5 minutes though since they were not charging the entrance fee as they normally do. I followed the mass of people and got there just in time to see the procession. It started with the Shinto priests, then came the Christians, and then the Buddhist monks.
Many sects of Buddhism were represented
Many sects of Christianity were represented
The Shinto priests
The lady next to me thanked me for my sincere prayers (that is literally what she said)
After the procession, one of the sacred bells was rung and a moment of silence was observed. Then the service started. Each religion had it's chance to offer up a prayer. It was so beautiful to see everyone together praying for one cause. It felt wonderful to be so connected in that moment. Even though the service was two hours long, everyone remained prayerful and respectful while all religious figures were speaking. One of the things that struck me though was that the Christian ministers were the only one that actively involved the crowed with prayers and songs. Although it was super interesting to hear some Buddhist chants by the monks while we all prayed and meditated. This was the most emotional I have ever seen or felt Japanese people before. Older women shielded their faces as they wept. Men stood silently as they allowed one or two tears to slip out. Younger women, like myself, took out hand towels and dabbed at our eyes when we just couldn't hold it in any longer. Yet, there was no wailing or hugging just this silent display of grief and pain for the people in their country who have suffered so much. Words cannot describe how beautiful and emotional this service was for all involved. Even if I didn't understand the prayers, I felt like a part of the spiritual whole and it was amazing.
This weekend I ventured to the north of Japan for the first time and let me say it was pretty great! It was kind of an emotional roller coaster but I'll get to that later. I started with a very early train to Tokyo to catch an 7:45 shinkansen. I am NEVER going to get tired of taking the shinkansen. The best way to travel across the country is by a comfortable bullet train. I also spent a bit more money this weekend and took the fastest and most comfortable of the shinkansens. It was so cushy and smooth! There was a whole car that was just comfy coaches and tables called the conductors car. It was well worth the extra cash.
Once I arrived, my friend took me to her place. I dropped my stuff off and we hung at her mall until her freind could pick us up. Her mall was awesome fun! It was made to resemble an American style mall. In fact, it was even called The Mall. It was fun to stroll through and see all of the fun boutiques.
Her Japanese friend, Kazuto, came and picked us up to show me around Sendai. First on the list was to stop at a traditional Japanese hot spring called an onsen. I have been to an onsen before but this was my friend's first time. It's kind of an intimidating experience the first time. There are some rules that you need to follow. It's also super intimidating for most people because you have to go in naked. The girls are separated from the guys so it's not as awkward as it could be but it is still a little unnerving for most foreigners. It is a fantastic experience though! The hot springs are so relaxing especially if they are natural and outdoors. We did an outdoor one despite the fact that it was 3 degrees outside. I was told that was the best time to go to an outdoor onsen and they were right! The water temperature combined with the air temperature just made for a perfect mix. If the water got too hot, which it frequently does, you need only step out for a minute before plunging back in. Everyone at the onsen is so friendly too. We had a couple of people smiling at us and trying to help us out. There was even a lady who spoke some English to us! Great experience!
After the onsen, we headed over to the site of Sendai castle. The castle was destroyed many years ago but there is a great shrine, statue, and view to to see there.
Sendai city
The lord of the castle
The beautifuk shrine and Kazuto!
After our stroll through the castle grounds, we hopped back into Kazuto's car. He asked us where we wanted to go next. We both just shrugged. He then said that he wanted to take us out to a tsunami affected zone. We both agreed wanting to witness first hand some of the damage caused by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
We pulled up and the who area was just desolate. It was an amazing, heartbreaking, and emotional experience. I need to write a whole new post for you all just on that. For now, here are some photos I took from the area.
A shrine to remember those who died or are still considered missing
We headed back to my friends place after that and hit the sack right away since we were both pretty drained from the day.
The next day, we woke up to snow! I was very excited at first and then remembered that I had to walk through it all. Gross. Fun and odd fact, Japanese people use umbrellas here when it is snowing. Very puzzing to me.
Seriously, I don't understand...
We headed off to Matsushima which supposedly has one of the third most scenic view in Japan. It was very beautiful! I'm sure it would have been more beautiful if it wasn't 1 degree and raining though. We actually hopped on the wrong train at first. We started walking towards the main area of town. We made it about 5 mins before we turned around and headed back to the station to just take a taxi. It really was miserable out! The cab driver dropped us off and we were off to see the islands and the view! The most interesting thing was that the closer islands were actually connected by footbridge to the mainland. Although we highly doubted the safety of some of these bridges...
Oh hey there slippery 2X4s, why are you the only thing between me and the ocean?
But it was worth it
The longest bridge. Took us a good 5-7 minutes to cross at 252 meters
We headed back to her place, grabbed dinner and I went back on the shinkansen for the three and a half hour journey home. I also brought back with me a fantastic cold that has just wiped me out all week. Curse you not waterproof boots and leaky umbrella! It was well worth it though.
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!
As of last week, I have been in Japan for 6 months now. I'm halfway through my adventure. It's pretty hard to believe! I feel torn. As though, I just arrived but have also been here for eternity. Life here remains to be a constant roller coaster. Some days, I just don't want to leave Japan and some days I can barely leave my apartment because I feel so homesick. I have to admit though: I am in a much better place emotionally than I thought I would be at 6 months. I figured by the 6 month mark I would be over this whole experience. I would be homesick and stressed. I thought this would be my low point. While I do totally feel those things sometimes, I still have those wonderful moments when I have to pause, soak it all in, and just stand in disbelief thinking: THIS is my life. How amazing is it that I can just hang out in Tokyo when I feel like it. Call friends to go have a beer or go to karaoke. I may not have a million friends here, but I have learned to just travel by myself and be okay with it. I didn't expect that from myself. In America, I was a social butterfly. I always had friends to call or plans with my boyfriend. I never took myself out anywhere. After all, I thought, who goes to dinner and a movie by themselves? Maybe I've just grown to be more of a loner here. Maybe I just justify myself by thinking that I don't have many friends so what else am I supposed to do? Maybe I'm just more confident in myself. I was never the type of person to feel sorry for myself so I certainly wasn't going to let myself stay in all weekend and mope. I don't know if it just hasn't come yet, but I still don't feel like I've hit "the low point" with this job. I haven't just sat around all weekend sobbing from loneliness or just thrown my hands up at work and wanted to give up and go home. Is it sad that I would even expect that from myself? Or that I would expect every job that I have to make me feel that miserable? I'm kind of cautiously hopeful that I will never reach this point while I'm living here. It kind of makes me want to stay her for another year knowing how comfortable I am at the job. I genuinely enjoy it! But then, I remember all of the friends and family, people that I love, that I have for me back in Chicago and my heart aches. I miss everyone so much. I couldn't bear to be away for another year.
Let's do a quick rundown on some aspects of my time here.
1.) The job: I've really loved this job. I know a lot of my friends complain about it but I still think it is great. I get to work with a new group of kids everyday. About 75% of them even want to be there and want to learn. I've gotten used to the companies way of teaching things and can easily come up with lesson plans and props. I love it. I think it is a much better fit for me than my job in the States was. I also especially like not ever having to deal with parents lol
2.) Friends: While it has been MUCH more difficult than I thought it would be to make friends here, I do have a couple of good and wonderful people that I have befriended here. They are kind, adventurous, and open. We all are having common experiences with being foreigners in a strange land and that allows us to really bond I feel. I must admit though that this experience has really shown me how shy I can be. After college, you really don't have to try too hard to make new friends and I felt like I was rusty at it. I was shying away from people a reluctant to approach other foreigners who were just hanging out at the same bar as I was. I'm trying so hard to get out of my shell a bit more like I was in college and I've made a couple of new friends recently who have helped me feel more like I am accomplishing this goal. A part of this though is also that I have a boyfriend and many of the other foreign guys I meet are not looking for a friend. That shuts me off to meeting more new people right away. Let's just say this is still a work in progress.
3.) Travel: I've seen a lot of places and a lot of things. I'm pretty satisfied with where I have gone so far although I'm starting a list now of all the places I have yet to go and see. I hope this will motivate me to do more on the weekends.
4.) Language: This is one area that I am pretty disappointed in. I'm normally really good with languages. I can pick them up and understand then quickly. Hasn't been the case here. I just feel like I haven't learned much Japanese. I'm definitely happy that I can now understand at least all of the things that they ask you about at the convenience store but I most definitely cannot hold any semblance of a conversation in Japanese. I'm sure part of it is that I really am not exposed to too much Japanese. At work, everyone speaks English and I speak English all day. Surprisingly, I have learned to read a lot though! I think this is due to the trains. They have everything in English but sometimes I get bored and just start reading the signs in Japanese. I know somewhere between 150-200 kanji which is pretty impressive. A part of it is also my fault because I have not been actively studying...oh well...
5.) Food: What can I say about food? It's still awesome. I adore the food here. Japanese food rocks! I've tried so many new things and loved most of them. I'm pretty sure natto was the only unpleasant food experience I've had.
After almost three weeks of them being gone, I am finally coming to the close of the stories from my family's stay. I wore them down pretty hard! On the 9th day, we had a pretty relaxing day. We got up late and rolled into Tokyo to visit a garden. We went to the Shinjuku Gyoen. It was beautiful and had many plants from all around the world! It was a nice find for someplace I could go strolling in the future. We mostly spent our whole day there wandering around.
The skyscraper district in the background
The traditional Japanese Gardens
More of the gardens
Fish!
Enjoying a picnic lunch
Yummy!
The French part of the garden
After the garden, we ran to see the Imperial Palace. My family was thoroughly disappointed in it though as you can't actually enter the palace grounds or get near the Palace. After that disappointment, we just headed back home.
The next day, we went back to Kamakura. We had missed a whole bunch of temples including my favorite temple in Kamakura, Hasedera. We saw the three most important Zen temples in Kamakura first. I'm not going to lie. I don't remember the names of these temples. This was actually the first time that I had been to the temples. They were beautiful with a very quiet and serene atmosphere.
The path up to one of the temples
Clearly have to come back here in the spring
A sacred bell
Another temple
Another bell
Such a stunning gate
After our hike around Kita-Kamakura, we headed over to one of my favorite temples in all of Japan, Hasedera. I had been bummed that we missed it on our first trip over to Kamakura and was very happy that they wanted to head back to it for our last day. It had a little bit of something for everyone! It had the history and feel of olden day Japan for my dad. A great garden for my mom. A wonderful view for my sister. A sacred cave for one of my brothers. And, well, I'm not too sure what Tom got out of it...Everyone thought it was a great way to end their stay in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Hello temple which I love
Sacred cave
What a view!
After our exciting day trip, we met up with a friend. My sister had a foreign exchange student as a roommate in college. She was from Japan and just so happened to live in the same prefecture as me! I called her and we met her at my station for some Japanese karaoke! Everyone had a blast singing their hearts out and catching up with Jenny's old roommate.
It was a fabulous end to a fabulous day. Later, I had to say goodbye to them and head off to work the next day. Goodbye family! You are missed! See you again in 6 months!
