弘法さん

If you´re ever in Kyoto on the 21st of any of the non-winter type months, get your butt over to Toji (東寺) for the Kobo-san flea market. Toji is the temple with its famous 5-storied pagoda, images of which show up in a lot of Japan travel literature.

The temple itself was designated by UNESCO as an “Ancient Treasure of Kyoto” Heritage site. I’m not 100% sure if that means it equates with a regular old World Heritage site, like Nikko or Himeji castle, but it’s still pretty cool.

The flea market is really good! You can find just about anything there, from mountains of used kimono (going for about upwards of 1000 yen, cheap!) to tea sets, jewelry, old coins, toy robots, you name it, they probably have it. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price. I got a kimono set for 3000 yen because the lady was impressed with the fact that I could haggle in Japanese. I also picked up some vintage beads and a homemade sinobue. I ended up spending about 7000 yen including transportation and food for the whole day. Not bad!

 

The flea market is named after Kobo Daishi (the posthumous name for Kukai) Who is said to have invented the syllabic Kana writing system (yay!), as well as founded Shingon Buddhism.

There are also lots of yummy Kansai-type foods at Kobo-san. Mmm.

Of course, scythes for all you grim-reaper types.

To get there, from Kyoto Station take the Kintetsu line to Toji station and walk up the street for 5 minutes. You can’t really miss it with that huge pagoda. You can also take the bus from Kyoto Station that says its going to 東寺東門 or 東寺南門. Either way, make sure you get there early enough to beat the rush. Happy shopping!

flying in an airplane is safer than walking across the street.

On July 28th, 2010, United Airlines flight 852 from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to San Francisco International (SFO) experienced a CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE approximately 20 minutes following takeoff. Right after the flight attendant said they would start the meal service, the right engine on the Boeing 777 exploded while we were in the air. The power went out. The plane dropped. I was pretty sure I was going to die.

Then we started to level out. The power came back on. We waited for the pilot to come over the loudspeaker… for what seemed like ages…. was actually more like 5 or 10 minutes.

The pilot said that a bearing inside the engine had broken off and hit the turbine, causing the right engine to fail. We were going to make an emergency landing back at Narita, but we were too heavy to land, so we would have to make a fuel dump. As long as the left engine held out, we would make it back to Narita safe and sound. Which thankfully, it did.

Once the plane landed at Narita, passengers were not allowed off of the plane, since there was fuel dripping out, it could have erupted into flames during landing or taxi, killing us all. They had to make a long safety check before ever pulling into the gate. Once at the gate, we waited even longer to be let off the plane, as the Japanese Immigration people had to decide just what to do with us once we were off. This was the most time-consuming part of the entire ordeal.

After a few hours, Immigration had decided to issue all of the foreign passport holders who had been making connecting flights, and/or had cancelled visas in Japan temporary visitor visas, valid for 90 days. Japanese passport holders went through immigration first, their departures being cancelled. I was in the short line for people with re-entry permits, my departure also being cancelled.

Then we picked up our bags and went out to the parking lot, where there were buses waiting to take us to the Hotel Prince Takanawa in Shinagawa – a good hour and 30 minutes away from Narita. Not a soul had mentioned anything about re-booking.

I hadn’t had any food or water since I’d left for the airport on the bus at 11:30 that morning (save for some pretzels on the airplane) and it was now close to 1:00 in the morning. I was hungry, thirsty, and ready to get the hell out of Japan, but this unforeseen turn of events had thrown me back in and caused further stress.

We arrived at the hotel – a swanky business-type place with rooms larger than the average Japanese business hotel (they were about the size of a normal American hotel room). There was nothing to eat… and wouldn’t be until 6:00 in the morning.

In the meantime, I’d contacted my dad and told him about the entire harrowing experience. I guess at some point between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM dad had called United and managed to get me on a plane to Dulles.

After breakfast at the hotel (which at the time seemed like the best thing I’d ever eaten) it was back on the bus to the airport. I felt really sorry for all of the 300-some people who had to wait in line to re-book their flights. Luckily I escaped the nightmare, but I still had to wait in line to check-in for my new flight. For some reason United wouldn’t let me carry on my bag. I relented and checked it.

I was on my way to DC and slept from about Alaska to Montana. When I noticed on the map the the plane was circling…we were avoiding something, which luckily was only bad weather. However, this new maneuver had cost us 30 minutes, which meant I was going to have to run through the airport to make it to my flight to Pittsburgh.

The line to go through immigration at Dulles was INSANELY LONG. Then, I was angry that I had to check my bag back at Narita, so after I had gone through immigration, I had to take the time to wait for my stupid suitcase to go through customs. I waited and waited. The time was getting closer for the flight to Pittsburgh to board. Past boarding time. It was almost time for takeoff. STILL NO BAG. I collapsed on the floor. I was crying and wailing and carrying on. Hyperventilating, even. Stupid United had almost killed me and now was going to make me miss my flight home by not putting my bag on the goddamn luggage carousel?! I had a total nervous breakdown. Right there. In the airport. The TSA people had to calm me down. One TSA woman was really nice to me, she brought me some water and told me that they would send me my bag once it got to Dulles (or even Pittsburgh) since it was ticketed properly. She just kept telling me to go to gate A2. Make sure you get to A2. All of the flights are delayed, so you have plenty of time to get to A2.

After going through security (which was ANOTHER long line that took FOREVER) at Dulles, I ran. I ran to the gate. I was crying and my chest was tight and I was probably hyperventilating, but I ran anyway. I ran as fast as I could. I’d never been to Dulles, so I had no idea where gate A2 was, but I ran there anyway.

I got to the gate. They had just started boarding. I didn’t miss my flight. I think I hugged the flight attendant who was working at the desk when he said they hadn’t left yet. I collapsed on the floor again. I was crying again. I was saying a lot of things that didn’t make sense to people who were asking me what was wrong. I was SO HAPPY that I didn’t miss my flight home.

I was a complete mess. A bundle of nerves. My hair was disgusting. I could barely walk. I probably should have been drugged and put in some kind of safe place where I couldn’t cry and carry on like I had been. Then we got to Pittsburgh. EVERY GATE WAS UNOCCUPIED EXCEPT THE GATE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO. I was FURIOUS, but I couldn’t do anything. I was too exhausted. I just laughed.

I stopped at the baggage claim to see if my bag had made it. It didn’t. So I went home.

My bag was sitting on the front porch at 8:00 AM the next morning.

夏の始まり Beginning of Summer

It’s the beginning of summer! You can totally tell because the hydrangeas are coming out in full pink, blue and purple force, and the rainy season has started. There’s also some kind of old tradition about eating unagi around this time of year. Its supposed to keep you healthy for the duration of the summer or something. I went to dinner with one of the teachers from one of my old schools last night for this unagi tradition. If it’s a tradition that involves eating delicious foods, I’m all for it.
The past couple of weeks were pretty nice. There is a row of azalea bushes behind my apartment and I really enjoy the fact that they are highlighter pink. I try to keep my back windows open so I can enjoy them while they are blooming. I had a visitor as well… I didn’t even realize that there were geckos in Japan until I saw this little dude crawling up the screen.

Last weekend I played the last show with Z and the Vicelords of Valhalla at Gokurakuya. I’ll be very sad when they are gone. However, for foreigners in Japan, existence is extremely transient. So many people are here one day and gone the next. I think that Japan intends to keep it that way… which sucks. What about the people who want to stay? What about the fact that the population is declining ever so steadily? One day, this country isn’t going to have anyone left. However, that day is not to-day, and I plan to make the most of my time here, without timelines or deadlines for leaving. People ask me: “How long will you be in Japan?” I always like to answer '”Indefinitely”  or “well.. I like it here, so I’m not sure.” I like to think that it makes people a bit nervous and probably slightly uncomfortable. It sure doesn’t make me feel very welcome to have someone asking me when I’m going to leave.

日光 NIKKO DAY TRIP
I went to Nikko with Lindsey and Shin-chan and gave them the guided tour (you know, since I am a native Tochigi-an and all). Nikko is beautiful, but man… there are so many people and ridiculous pitches for o-mamori that it sometimes gets to you after a while. It was still fun and AWESOME to hang out with two of my most awesomest friends from Gaidai!

蛍 LIGHTNING BUGS
On Tuesday, I went to a firefly festival up in the hills AND to a new Indian place here in town for dinner. The fireflies were SO cool… and one of the signs that summer is here! I wish I could have taken photos, but it was so dark, my camera definitely wouldn’t have been able to capture anything. Anyway, just imagine small greenish yellow flickering dots against a pitch black background of trees…or who knows? I couldn’t really see because it was so dark. Hundreds of them. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life. I know we have lightning bugs back home in Pittsburgh, and it made me homesick, but I know they’ll be out when I get home this summer!

梅雨 RAINY SEASON
I got completely drenched going to school  I mean.. like.. I brought extra clothes to get changed at school, because I looked out my window and saw that the rain was just not planning to let up any time soon. I sincerely loathe the rainy season and the fact that I nevertheless must commute to work in inclement weather. Subsequently, I ordered some rain boots from Rakuten… hopefully I will get them before the end of the rainy season. I do have a raincoat…. and of course a nice big umbrella, but a torrential downpour is a torrential downpour, if you know what I mean.

Stay dry.
Love,
Bridget Beaver

the fine art of traveling ( in coach).

Since I started making the trip to Japan a somewhat usual thing, my dad and I have become quite skilled at hunting for low fares online. It really is a mixed bag, though. I won’t recommend any singular site, since it constantly changes. I have had luck with asia.com, atiflights.com, and airlineconsolidator.com. I know they aren’t the big guys like expedia or travelocity, but the price of airfare is contingent on many, many different factors other than what website you’re buying your tickets from. Heck, one time I even bought my tickets directly from Delta and it was the cheapest out of every site I’d been to. You really really have to do your homework.

I’ve decided that it’s time that I share these things with you guys, so you too can learn to travel like a pro! I guess I’ll include some general travel tips in here, too. I’ve gotten really good at packing (although not on this particular flight. I wanted to bring back some shampoo that I can’t buy in Japan so I had to check my bag. remember: no liquids above 3 oz.! I also packed an extra set of sheets and some new jeans – talk about bulky.)

When you travel (especially internationally) Its important to keep in mind these things:

★ How far in advance you book your ticket. If it’s too far ahead or too soon, you may end up paying more. Sometimes you can get deals by booking at the last minute because the flight isn’t full and the airline wants as many people on a flight as they can fit. It’s cost-effective. The more people they can shove into their flying cigar cans = less flights = less gas money. Basically all of the airlines in the U.S. are bankrupt or close to it, which is why they’ve resorted to treating people like… well.. cargo. Remember, you can’t always be guaranteed deals at the last minute, so if you can, always ALWAYS ALWAYS book ahead of time.

★ Buy round-trip tickets. It’s always cheaper to get round-trip tickets. I cannot stress this enough, people. I could get a one-way ticket to Japan for $1800 and stay indefinitely, but since I know when I can take my vacation days, and my family does SO enjoy it when I come home, I book my return flight super far ahead in advance for only $1300. I guess if you don’t want to go back home go ahead and get your one way ticket – we don’t want to see you again anyway. (I kid, I kid.) If you don’t know when you’ll be coming back, just take a good guess and you can always call your airline and have it changed (well.. for a fee, of course.)

★ What day & time you book your flight for. If you can help it, don’t book your flight on a weekend, a Friday or a Monday. Especially between 8 and 11. Go for the middle of the week at a weird time, like… 7:20 AM on a Tuesday morning. Yeah I know it’s early, but it will save you the hassle of trying to make your way through snaking security lines, and the nameless rabble of human cargo wandering throughout the terminals. Also, airport bathrooms are super clean at 6:00 in the morning. Even at JFK!

★ The number of connecting flights and the times between them. Sometimes airfares are cheaper if you agree to get tossed around for a bit. For example: You can take a flight from New York to Minneapolis, then to Portland and THEN to Tokyo. If you are into doing this, remember that some airports are MASSIVE and you need time to navigate from gate to gate. If you are making a connecting flight in any major hub (Chicago-O’Hare, Atlanta, DFW, JFK, LAX…. etc.) make sure you have at LEAST two hours between connecting flights. The flight I just made would be a perfect example of what not to do: I booked a flight to Tokyo with a one hour layover in Dallas-Ft. Worth. We arrived at ten till 9 and we didn’t make it off of the plane until 9:30. THEN I had to make my way around to the opposite end of DFW on the little train to the right terminal. I ended up having to run to my gate. If I had gotten lost (thank goodness I didn’t) I’d have totally missed my flight. By the time I found my seat and called my dad to let him know I’d made it to the gate, we were already starting to taxi the runway.

★ You don’t really need to take all of that crap on the plane. I mean you really don’t. You can barely get at it if you fly in coach – what, with all of that spacious one foot of leg room and a seat mate who is four times your size. Take a good book (or magazine) your iPod and ONLY absolute necessities (like prescriptions, eyeglasses, tampons, cell phone, whatevs.) You can always buy stuff whenever you get to where you’re going. I don’t think you’ll need to re-apply your lipgloss 50x on your 15 hour flight, chiquita, sorry, but you’ll be just as grody and disgusting as the rest of us once that recycled air gets into your pores. If you ABSOLUTELY must have it, put it in your checked bag, like if you want to follow my bad example of stuffing your favorite shampoo into your already overstuffed luggage. Just wait to buy it there. That way you can lighten your load, and not worry about liquids while you go through the TSA lines or anything potentially leaking all over your checked bag.

★ I guess as far as airline food goes, American Airlines had the best. We had pizza (which was actually really really good) and Thai Chicken & rice with ginger carrots. United would come in second – they gave us instant ramen for the “light snack” on my first trip to Japan. I forget what we had, but I definitely didn’t find it disagreeable. Northwest’s food was comparable to United’s and.. well.. Delta’s food was just.. unappetizing at best. Just take some breakfast bars or something on the plane. Since it’s such a long flight, it’s hard to not eat anything.. but some of that airline food man… it’s gross, but you HAVE to eat something on that 12 hour flight.

★ Bring a scarf, sweater or hooded sweatshirt to wear on the plane. It gets super cold when you're 36000 feet above the Bering Sea. Also, wear something comfortable. I mean, you don’t have to look like a total piece of trash (I.e. your dirty old UGGs and sweats that are cut up beyond recognition. We aren’t going to go cheat on our Soc001 test at PSU, ladies. This is international travel. Who knows who you’ll meet? You need to look comfortably gorgeous.). I wore a dress made of cotton jersey, black leggings and a cardigan sweater. I brought along my fringed square scarf for extra warmth and black flats because they are easy to slip on and off at security checkpoints. I guess the other thing not to wear (besides your gross boots and massacred sweatpants) would be any super conspicuous jewelry or accessories. There’s a pretty good chance if you go around flashing your Fendi luggage and aren’t super reverent over it it’ll get stolen. Especially at a place like JFK… wretched hive of scum and villainy.

★ So far, I’ve flown on United, Northwest, Delta and American Airlines to Japan. I’ve joined all the frequent flier programs and somehow I still don’t have enough miles to do anything worthwhile. I guess I just haven’t flown around the world enough times to be deserving of redeeming award travel yet. I guess it’s a good idea to join, though. It makes check-in easy and also if you need to change your reservations and you booked through a third party (like… expedia or orbitz) it makes things slightly easier. You can also sign up for up-to-date flight notifications, that can be sent right to your phone, just in case they decide to change the time of departure or just completely cancel on you. Remember – these companies are all basically bankrupt and they will do ANYTHING to save a dollar. Even straight up lie to you and say the weather is bad in order to cancel a not-full flight to Pittsburgh so they can throw you on standby in the morning *cough*Delta*cough*. Also, if you do end up missing a flight or need to like.. re-book or whatever, think about making fights with more than one connection. It’s an easy way to rack up your miles and re-enact the John Candy classic: “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.”

★ Be nice to your flight attendants. Say “Please” and “Thank you.” They appreciate it!!

Finally, use your good common sense, be safe, stay hydrated, don’t overpack, if you can help it avoid JFK (have you noticed I don’t like that airport?) and O’Hare (not at peak travel times, anyway) at all costs, and most importantly, have fun. Traveling is fun! You’re up in the sky! How many times do you get to fly like a bird?! You get an awesome view, you get to sample the rare delicacies of airplane food, flip through the duty free catalogs, watch the in-flight movies and TV shows. kick back, take your shoes off, put that tray table down and recline your seat! It’s gonna be a good flight!

Learn to bow.

I've lived in Japan before, and with a Japanese family, to boot. So, sometimes I feel like I have a little more insight than the average bear. I started thinking about some of the most important things for people to take into consideration during their trip to Japan and I made a list:

Learn to bow and say excuse me. - I think that すみません is my most uttered Japanese word. As far as bowing, it will start to become a habit. You will bow while talking on the phone, and you will bow if someone lets you cross the street & there is no walk signal. Even a slight nod is a sign of 'I respect you' and it puts people at ease.

Learn some Japanese. - Even a few words go a long way. People really appreciate it when you try, and it makes a lot of Japanese people who don't speak English feel so much more comfortable with you. And don't just prattle off the titles of your favorite manga/anime in Japanese. Learn to ask where things are, get directions, how to count money, and what the server suggests on the menu (お勧めは何でしょうか？）

Eat the food. - Yeah. I know. Japanese food can be really weird sometimes (natto, umeboshi, uni, basashi, just to name a few) but trust me, despite looking super strange, you might just find something you really like. At least you can say that you've tried it. Plus, it is really polite to finish your plate, double points for that!

Don't question everything so much - sometimes it's just best to accept things for the way they are and deal.

If you go to a shrine or a temple, be sure to take photos in appropriate places - yeah. Sometimes people get really offended if you take pictures at religious venues. If you NEED a photo, try to be discreet, ok? Unless of course everyone else is taking pictures, too.

What may seem strange to you, might not seem strange to someone who's lived in Japan their whole life. - Example: the Japanese variation on English. There was a Hair salon not far from my host family's house, but instead of saying Hair Salon on the storefront, it said "HEAR SALON." They caught wise when they saw the gaijin standing outside and laughing. They actually changed the sign in the next couple of days. How's that for saving face?!

Sort your trash - just do it. It's good for the planet and your neighbors won't hate you.

Bring something to read that is written in your native language - sometimes listening and reading to Japanese all day makes me really tired... and I need some English time.

Go to Hiroshima. Visit the museum and the monuments. Be respectful.

Get to know the town where you're living - you never know there might just be something really awesome about it that you never knew. Hirakata, where I used to live, was famous for its yearly chrysanthemum festival. Two stops up on the train line was a shrine to Thomas A. Edison!!

Take the Shinkansen somewhere at least once - Especially if you're living on a student budget, shinkansen tix can be kind of expensive. I love the bullet train, I wish they had them in the United States.

Start walking and biking - unless you've got a car, you are going to need to kick up your walking/biking skills a notch. Japan is all about those two modes of transport!

Watch SOME Japanese TV - come on, even if you don't understand it, its just ridiculous and entertaining. The commericals are great, too.

Don't get upset if they don't have your size - Man, I really wanted so many adorable Japanese clothes, but they never had the sizes to fit my gigantic American frame. I found some cool accessories to wear w/ my American digs, but don't fret, while you may feel that you look dumpy and gross compared to the super-amazingly-put-together-outfits of Japanese women, some of them secretly envy the comfort of your chuck taylors and inexpensive jeans.

Make sure you have enough cash - Yeah.. lots of places DO take visa, and some even take Amex, but in a lot of little towns and out-of-the-way shops/restaurants they only deal in cash. Postal Service ATMs are super convenient.

Don't let the culture shock get you down - yeah, I've been denied service at restaurants and turned away when I needed to do important things like get a cell phone, but don't let it get you down. It's not that they don't like you... it's kind of an irrational fear of someone so different, and not being able to help you properly, ne?

Oh no.. packing...

I will most likely be taking this mountain of purple shoes to Japan. Anything else?

Of course!!

So, I usually take those little sewing packages that you get from hotels whenever I go on a trip that requires me to wear something nice. This is kind of an extended trip, so I decided to make my own sewing kit to throw in my bag.










I wrapped some black & white thread of various types around a little piece of pink cardstock that I cut with some zigzag edge scissors. I poked some different sized needles through the wound thread so they don't get lost in the fray. Then, I threw in some buttons that came with some of the garments I'll be taking along. Plus safety pins of various sizes and colors, a pair of scissors, a needle threader aaand a mini screwdriver just in case my glasses decide to break.










Everything fit nicely into this little ziplock that used to have buttons in it.
I guess if you want to guage the size of this little package, the pink cardstock is about as long as a business card. This is definitely something that is going to come in handy, I think.