10. Hike and haiku

Today  was a great day for exploring the neighborhood.  After breakfast I took my shoes and jacket on and walked outside in the warm sunlight. I was heading for the woods,   but after just one turn around the nearest corner, I saw this beautiful pond and stopped for a moment, let the wind reposition my hear and sat down for a while. Then, a haiku poem was born:

en vind som blåser

vannets bilder viskes ut

jeg og meg – borte

I will not explain the meaning, but if you make up your own ideas or get your own understanding of this poem, feel free to post a reply in return!

After some minutes of creative writing I went on and walked around for two hours, included a long stay at the Food Market, where I tried to find suitable presents to bring home to my family. I also found another  place to buy  Yaki imo, or roasted potato/baked sweet potato. Yeah!

I took pictures on my way:

9. Photographical pick ups

Here are some more pictures from Higashiyamato area:

And by the way.. The name of this lovely soy bean powder is Kinuka!

8. Higashiyamato/Tokyo

Bedtime in Japan is much better than bedtime in Norway. I have slept so good during my first two weeks her in this wonderful country and I am looking forward to sleep even better in the following weeks.  Although it is a little bit cold in the late night hours I think it is nice with hard beds, especially the one that are straight onto tatami mats on the floor. My dear friend has no tatami floor, but the bed is a little hard and that makes my bedtime dreams come true.  I love it and I hope my sleep here  will continue after  arriving Norway, or I might find it necessary to cut out  my bed and just sleep on the wooden floor.

Well, today I woke up a little late (I think), and did not  go  to breakfast before 10.30 am! After this morning snack (of course with a cup of green tea  ”cha” on the side) me and my friend rehearsed for our concert the 25th december.   I think it will be fun, but we have to do  something with the sound of the loudspeakers, unless I want to sound like a crow in some songs…   Maybe we take some songs with microphone and some song without. We will see, but waht is most important anyway is to have fun while playing!

Yesterday, the 21st of december, we went to Tachikawa to go windowshopping (is  a good way of shopping as a student) and then to Akihabara to buy some presents for  my dear family and to a friend of Miki. What we ended up doing was not in our plan, but we did not find out that they only sell computer games that works in Japan, in Japan. So no Final Fantasy 13 (released 17 th of december!) to  buy for use in Norway, and no Nintendo DSi either… I will have to buy a magazine for the long flight home instead of a DSi… I did actually want to act a little “childish” and buy one of those technical things, because it could help me get rid of my technophobia…

Not a place to stay too long… Only electronics, computers, gadgets, and even worse…

cables:

Heaven for some, hell for me… I guess my brother would have loved this place!

After burning some yen at these enlightined stores, we went to Shibuya to meet some friends for dinner. We had one hour  to spend before meeting the other ones, so I said I wanted to go to a food market to buy some necessarities to bring back to Norway. Wasabi, misopaste,  some more gifts for my beloved ones and also something made of soyabeans. A powder that I unfortuanately do not  remember the name of in  Japanese. Some thing sounding like kinkuka, kakuki or kinkaku… Well, it is used to make sweets from beans…

So, after a hectic journey through the busy food market we met the other Norwegians and the Japanese people. Off we did go to Izakaya. A place where you often go to drink as much as you like and eat as much as you like. For me, that means to drink all I can of orange juice, tea  and water, since I  am not  very fond of alcohol, and of course tasting and eating all  the exiting food from Japan. I am always surprised by the meals because it seems like Japanese chefs never loose their creativity in cooking. And it all looks so good and fresh!

As you can see. Alot of nice colours and flavoures mixed into a wonderful meal!

After the coloured dinner we went off to take Purikura,  pictures that you can change by writing onto them after  they are finished.  You can add small  stars, hearts, bubbles, giraffes (I had to add one!) and make whatever you want out of the photographies. We took pictures inside  the picturetakingbox, and  it all seemed at least as colourful as our  recent meal. Perhaps even more colourful!

We took the train back home, and I went to sleep in my Japanese styled bed (a good one) around 00.30 am. Sleepy and  satisfied  after all the  impressions of the young and Japansee culture. I like this country even more now. Both the ancient and  old traditions with tea, haiku, nature, language and history and the young and magical, energetic, wild and colourful young activities!

Good night to all of you.

7. Tokyo/Higashiyamato

A day of intensive  meetings and a great enlargement of social activity!

The 20th of December I  went around in the Shinagawa area from around 10 am to 1.30 pm  to wait for my dear friend to come and meet me. I woke up a little bit too early because of my roommate’s return to her friends in London, so I spent some time  watching television for  children in the hotel room until checkout time at 10. Walking around with a huge and heavy backpack was not exactly the best way of “doing Shinagawa”, but I thought it would be strange to leave the bag after I have left the hotel. So, I went window shopping in the foodmarket, looked for a place  with wireless internet connection  (there are none…) and ended up eating berries and  waiting in the hotel lobby for my friend to appear.

After some rest, she came. and I was SO happy to see her. Although there were changes in her plans for the day, so we did not go home, but met some Norwegian students who study Japanese and one japanese student who studies Norwegian. We ended up at Starbuck’s and I must tell you it is hard to find seatings for six people in Japan in the afternoon! But the nice coffeeladies helped us  to make room for all of us. That would not have happened in Norway, I guess… It was good to sit down instead of carrying that heavy backback for some time…

But, we had more plans for the day. Dinner with some other Norwegian students who study Japanese. There are so many of them:) So we walked around to find a suitable place, found it, had dinner, and  then, we took the train and monorail back to Higashiyamato and was picked up by my friends’ father. Ah! Finally home!

6. Kyoto

Kyoto is maybe mostly known because of the last climate law or climate agreement, but for me it is like a large bowl full of traditional soup and japanese tofu. Like a wonderful place where you can inhale and taste all the different flavours of japanese culture.

I have never been to so many nice castles and temples, like the Golden Pavillion, where the reflection of the gold made such a nice mirroring effect in the little pond that surrounded it. And all the goodlooking bonsai trees that were so tightly roped and fixed in development, that the only place they could possibly move on their own was in their water reflections. Back and forth, back and forth just as the wind blew over the nice little lake.

Not to forget the great Nijo-jo, or Nijo castle, which had two main temples and alot of green gardens. The japanse tend to give more space for nature that human shelter such as buildnings and stuff, a thing I really like, because it means that you can walk around and see the beauty of nature instead of always going inside. But I have to tell you, so much fresh air also make you sleepy! The last day in Kyoto I went to the hotel around 4 pm and sat in my bed reading, watching japanese cartoons , taking small naps, because I had experienced so much that I really needed some rest. But, when ou have a great book such as one by Murakami Haruki, there I no need to feel bad about sitting inside reading:)

Kyoto made me think. Kyoto made me smile. Kyoto is a great city. Just in the beginning I thought it was too big, because we were taking bus everywhere we went, but the secnd day, when we had no bus pass, I walked by foot and found out it was not that large at all. Although, it is the largest of the cities we have visited (exept Tokyo).

One of the best things that happened here was my first experience of a tea ceremony. The relaxed atmosphere, the details of serving tea properly and the tasty tea really made me feel wondrous and good. But, I am a little tired of all those sweets. We get sweets served everywhere we go, and I have understood that it is a bad thing to say “no”, so I feel like I am eating sweets all the time. They are a little too sweet for me, but I must say that I have some favourites, despite the overwhelming sweetieness. That is roasted black beans, even also rolled in rice flour or cocoa! Yum! And of course; the Fuji apples. They are huge, waterish and tasty.

I have to go here again. I found out they have a seven year long education in doing the tea ceremony which tempted me alot to try to get some more experience with traditional culture of Japan. I also want to check out the Geisha area a little more in detail becuase I only got to see two beautiful geishas (one of the on film!) and I really want to know more about what they do, and speak to one and ask some of my questions. I have alot of them… I feel so curious and I do believe I ask too many questions on our trip. I hope I am not bothering our sweet guide…

I write this post while sitting in our hotel room, on a tatami mat, with one of the most famous toursit attractions right outside my window. Yes, I am looking directly at Mt. Fuji. Too bad it is not climbing season, but don’t worry Fuji-san, I will come back and do some mountain-massage with my Norwegian feet. One day. Oh, how I look forward to that day:)

5. Nagasaki

Wow! What a place.

Nagasaki is by now  my favourite city in Japan. Big and small at the same time. With a lot of stores, but also nice gardens, trees and walking routes, I have found a place to maintain in complete relaxation. I can change between being busy and hurried, and find rest in the nice hills.

I went up the hills nearby our hotel, and found a samurai path, that led to the statue of Sakamoto Ryoma, which was a samurai who also made a good way for himself as a scientist (I think) and also started trading.

You see, Nagasaki is very culturally mixed. With hollenders, chinese people (they have their own Chinatown), deutch people, portugese people and so on. Nagasaki has been a big trading centre and is therefore so multicultural. I went to the folklore museum the second day and there I got to see many things which made it clearer that this really is a city of trading. One thing that caught my eyes (or ears) was the music they played in the museum. I sounded like a mix between portugese and japanese traditional music. Very funny:)

We had two days with no plans in Nagasaki, and I spent the two days walking around, and I really feel that I have “done Nagasaki”. That means that I have walked south, east, north and west and really catched alot of great sights. I just mention:

samurai statues, chinese temples, buddhists doing meditation (with sound/singing), baseballmatch with local elementary schoolkids (who gave me a cup of “kohii” – coffee), the folklore museum, got a bite of the famouse “chizu kasterei” – cheese Kastillacake, saw some bow and arrowpeople training with their bows (they have really nice clothes!) and so on…

I tried not to think too much about atomic bombs while staying here, because after the guiding in Hiroshima, I started thinking about the poor poor people who was affecte by this crucial thing… I maintain in a non-atomic state and look forward to the journey to:

Kyoto: city of geishas and tea ceremonies!

4. Rain in Hiroshima

We have been travelling for a while in this beautiful land, and some of the most memorable sights (or experiences) was the day we arrived Hiroshima.

This day, the 10th of December, was the only day with rain so far… I guess “rain in Hiroshima” means that there are still memories fro that awful day in August 1945, when the atomic bomb came over this wonderful city.

But, a big amount of rain did not stop us as we went straight out again after leaving our luggage in the hotel. We went to the piece park, where I did some running, following the maps suggestion of a nice running course… I went alone then, ran down the riverside, but after a while, I got lost inside a shopping arcade. So I asked a couple of schoolgirls where I was, “Kono doro wa doko des ka?”, and I was totally out of place. They gave me one of their two umbrellas so that I would not be (more) wet…

So I walked in the right direction for a while, but got lost again, and asked another girl this magical question of direction… She knew my hotel, where it was, and she followed me home… How sweet:) The best thind is that on our way back to the hotel, we started talking about different stuff, and we found out we were the same age, so we kept contact, and now I have a nice friend in Hiroshima. Whom I want to visit again:) I feel so exicted!

The next day in Hiroshima went as follows… We met a private guide who showed us alot of sights which could be connected with the atom bomb attack. Things that were not told in the museum. I also understood what it is like to be a “survivor” or the bomb. It does not mean that you were there when the bomb came, but you were affected in some way. Maybe your mum was there, maybe you got some after-effects from particles that came from the bomb, years after the main attack… So to be a “survivor” seems more common than I thought.

Well… The second part of this day was much more enlightning, though. We all took the ferry to a beautiful place called Miyamajima island. Here, there were monkeys in the trees (I did not see any) and deer walking around in the streets. This place is famous for its grand Torii gate which stands in the middle of the sea. It was a really tremendous sight when we came “ferrying” to the island.

I walked around by myself this time. It is nice to just walk and see what comes up, and what came up for me was a mountain. Mt. Misen. I went through these beautifully coloured gardens, nicely shaped trees, and there, suddenly I saw a sign which said how long a distance it was to the top of Mt. Misen. 2,7 km. Not much for a Norwegian mountain climber. So I gave it a shot! After two hours, during sun set (I was afraid it would be dark before I came down to the main land…) I got back and onto the ferry…

I went off the train on Nishi-Hiroshima, so I had to take a new train to get to the real Hiroshima… It all sounded so similar on the speakers, so I was completely sure I went off right.. But, I did not… In the evening I was a little bit tired after the climb so I took a bath in the bathtub and relaxed.

Tomorrow: Nagasaki!