Japan Exodus - Day 37: ひさしぶり！Long Time No See!

Good morning! 

Japanese lesson for today is "Hi-sa-shi-bu-ri!" ("Hi" pronounced as "he" the English). We save this expression for when a significant amount of time has passed since last the speaker has met the audience. For instance, I have not seen my good friend in over a year since he came to visit me in Kouchi. Perfect opportunity.

Yesterday was a mad dash out of Nara after walking around Todai-ji. Feeling somehow smaller leaving than when I walked in, I screwed my head on straight and made for the mountain range that stood in the way between where I was and Kainan City where Go's family lives. For all you curious map onlookers, thats just south of Wakayama Prefecture City. My friend Go actually lives in Osaka, that city where I so cautiously tried to avoid being stuck, yet ended up loosing a lot of bit of time all the same. He is taking the train down to see his family and take a small cycle with me over the Golden Week holiday. However, a little misfortune was upon us that I'll get to in just a moment. 

Last thing's first. We took this photo just as Go and I were about to leave for the trip after staying with the family for a day and half. Thats Go and I in the middle, his two sisters to our right, his dad in the middle, brother in law and another sister and his mother on the other side. The man taking the photo is Nanri's (middle sister with the pink pajama pants) new fiancé, and her older sister Kaori only just recently found out that her and her husband are pregnant with their first baby. So, lots of action happening in the family! 

After cycling all day from Nara to Kainan to meet Go, I was so swept away with meeting everyone and trying to keep up with the conversations that I never once looked at my phone. I was also desperately tired and wanted to sleep. Normally I am in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9pm. Mind you that I wake up at about 4:30 or 5am these days to get up and going before the day warms up too much. So, to be up past midnight talking and drinking with the family really put me out. 

Point is, it was only in the morning that I realized that because I had not checked the weather, a small storm had come to ruin our plans. Just our luck. 

A strong wind warning over the town's loudspeaker that morning, I suppose to warm people to not be weary of inside out umbrellas or to avoid wearing skirts this day. You have to take these warnings seriously. If school had been scheduled for today, classes would have been canceled. And so, accordingly, we canceled a day of our trip. A little sad to loose a day, though we called up some friends to hang around town and make the best of the windy situation. Maybe we'd go fly a kite. One of the things to do: drive the car up to the final temple where the pilgrims of Shikoku's 88 are actually supposed to finish. This, was all news to me. I thought the 88 were Shikoku only. But, I was wrong.  

After temple the time came to try some very authentic, very delicious "Gomu tofu." You really cant buy this anywhere else. The texture is smoother than the normal grocery story tofu, which can easily crumble on you. This was much richer, similar to the texture of a perfect flan or pudding. These three dishes all stood together, though that does not make them any more easier to try and eat with chopsticks to the uninitiated. Especially the middle chi-tofu that was doused with a little fresh milk, making for all the slippery chopstick ends, sleek food texture, and an overall more challenging food bite.  

How very Japanese. Drinking hot tea while overlooking an immaculate garden.

For all the attention sand gardens get as Japanese stereotypes, I don't really see a lot in Japan. Never outside of temples or government gardens, and not even in all temples or government gardens. When you do happen to see them my eye automatically tries to see where the lines happen to start and end, or in what order the lines were raked. That is part of the fun for me. 

Go took a photo of us at the entrance to the temple. Thats me, his two school friends that he has known since kindergarten and one of their girlfriends. This level of acquaintance is really rare and out of place to me, since I don't even remember my kindergarten friends, much less know any of them today. But in Japan you are pretty much paired with the same students all through the grades, at least in the small town settings where I taught class. Your stuck with the same kids at least until High School, so you had better play nice. And, I think that is part of the point. Teamwork. 

Go was not supposed to take this photo of the golden room, but I am glad he did. Yes, those are screen doors lined with actual gold. 

A quick home made snack to put a little fuel in the tank. 

The tour of the temple was actually quite long, and sometime in there we got to have tea in the tea room and listen to a monk talk about his time in Hawaii.

After the lecture, the walk, and snack, we everyone was primed for a well deserved day time nap in the car. Except for Go that is, who was driving. 

I woke as we drove through the woods somewhere en route to what I assumed was back home. I looked over my passenger side shoulder to see the three friends still sleeping in the back. Go was paying attention to the curves of the green mountain pass. We had played with the idea of going to a sento or onsen (public baths), so it could have been that too. We were really far out away from anything, perfect place for a bath. But, Go started to slow down the car and finally park, we were either next to a really small onsen, or something else.  

 A little dessert in the middle of no where. 

After dessert the drive seriously took maybe half an hour of driving to get out of, with no other houses or anything else around, before getting back on to the highway. How this little ice cream shop could survive on its own all alone out in the middle of the wilderness is a curiosity. When I asked, Go said that the shop is out there because it only uses the freshest ingredients, and is famous for its isolation because of it. 

Reminds me of a story I was once told of Aristotle. Once he became the public figure and gained popularity among the masses and casual spectators, he removed himself and his lessons far into the woods. If what he was going to say held any real value to you, you'd make the trip past the dangerous woods to hear him speak. 

Keeping in tone with Japanese style, Go's mother put out the family's samurai armor figurine and other worldly possessions for display while we were out on the town. Tonight was to be the big dinner with (including the announcement of the new baby) four generations worth of family. I might have felt that I was intruding if the family were not so nice. I think I earned sufficient credit after we all connected the dots and realized that it was I who Go had cycled with to the top of mount Fuji two years ago. Climbing, or cycling, Fuji-san is so revered to people, it was like a wearing a VIP pass that night.  

Not to mention, Go's mother and his there sisters cooked up a dazzling meal of never ending food and drinks. What you see above is just one "course" of three or four dishes. We continued on to eat three courses worth of food. 

All in all, there were ten of us, including the passionate Tiger's fan grandmother who came in to join us from down the way, and who was perhaps the most vocal of the entire lot when it came to watch the baseball game that night.  

Do you recognize the yakikatsu? They're the same style skewers I ate with Lico back in Kobe. Very popular and very delicious.

Hey! And wouldn't you know it, it was Kaori's birthday on May the 1st, so we all had a little cake to celebrate the occasion. I held my tongue over my birthday falling in the next week, I didn't want to steal any thunder. But, the secret got out somehow, and I was included in the blowing out of the candles. 

People always ask me to point out the differences between our two cultures. So here is another one. No presents on your birthday is...well, I'll say that no one expects presents for birthdays from what I've seen in Japan. Presents are more for Valentine's Day and Christmas here; as compared to the States where consciously recognizing a birthday without a present could fall anywhere from passive aggressive behavior to pungent rudeness.

I had passed on the couch. Again, I might have been embarrassed to have fallen asleep but there is a culture in Japan that acknowledges hard work by public resting. I say: pretty awesome. And when I awoke the next morning, I was all ready to go and happy that the storm had passed. Go was right there beside me and we prepared quickly to get an early start. Hence why some people are still in their pajamas in the first photo.

And, as what comes with change are new experiences. That is, we had to change our plans because of the windy storm. I suppose we could have left the night before and made a little headway. However, when plans - like most everything - are kept rigid rather than mailable, they tend to break. And it is because we were flexible that Go and I were let in on huge tip. Back at the temple, Go's friend Kouki clued us in on the best Ramen shop.

He was not speaking casually. This is not the best ramen shop around town, or the prefecture. This is the consistently highest ranked ramen shop - IN JAPAN! And we only found out about it because we spent the day talking and avoiding the storm. Tune in tomorrow to see just what the number one voted best ramen shop year after year looks like.

Noodle Love,
-A