On Sunday and Monday, I went out to the nearby town of Fujisaki to participate in some cultural activities intended for foreigners. I first heard about the offerings the week before, Hwang and Paku, both Korean students, came into the International Center at school to ask if I had signed up. I hadn’t, so they gave me the run down. There were a variety of events throughout the week - a welcome party, kimono, visiting local schools, a kite flying festival and making mochi, which are a kind of doughy rice cake. I was able to make the first two.
Sunday was kind of a lazy day for me. I spent it mostly sleeping and working on the last post you saw. Around 5 o’clock or so, I got a call from Paku wondering where I was. I had completely forgotten about the welcome party! I’ve been so busy lately I’ve been having trouble keeping track of everything I’ve been doing. I told him I’d be right there, got my stuff together and hustled out the door. I showed up just in the nick of time, with Paku sitting in a taxi with the engine running. I threw my bag in and sat down.
We had a nice conversation almost completely in Japanese. Paku, along with most of the other Asian ryugakusei, are very skilled at Japanese. Soon enough, we arrived in Fujisaki. It was hard to tell where Hirosaki ended and Fujisaki began, but the town was clearly the smaller of the two. Hirosaki has a pretty busy downtown with many flashy and tall buildings, as you might have seen in some of my photos. When we got to our final destination, I saw that the meter on the taxi read almost 3000 yen. A bit expensive! But, luckily, the university was paying for all the transportation, as Paku explained to me. Phew!
Inside, we made our way to the third floor were we met up with several of the other ryugakusei from the International House, including another one of the Korean students named Elieen. The room was large conference-type room with flags of various countries of the world hanging from the ceiling. There was a large group of whom appeared to be Westerners near the front of the room. In the middle, there was a long, long table covered with all manner of Japanese food. Good thing I hadn’t eaten dinner! Before everything got underway, Paku asked Elieen to take a picture of him and I:
After some introductory speeches, we go to the eating. I tried a bunch of different foods, many of which were very delicious and some, well, I didn’t care for so much. A highlight in terms of different-ness was the ham watermelon, which was literally a piece of raw ham on a piece of watermelon. I didn’t quite see how the two complemented each other, but it didn’t taste too bad.
Soon, the evening entertainment showed up. A large group of what I assumed to be junior high school students marched in barefoot along with a set of different drums. The sound of the drums rattled and domintated the room. Here is some video:
All the foreigners in the room were taking turns going up in front of the crowd to introduce themselves. I learned that the group of Westerners up front were a kite flying troupe who were up for the kite festival portion of the week’s festivities. They were from all over the place, including the U.S., Australia and England. Pretty soon, it was the Hirosaki University ryugakusei’s turn to go up and introduce themselves, including myself. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous, even though I had introduced myself in Japanese many, many times. I did my best, apparently impressing many of the Japanese in attendance based on all the “oooh”s I got. I also got the opportunity to talk to some students from a local junior high school. They were all trying out their English, albeit a bit timidly. I’m sure they had just as much fun as I did. :) We wrapped up the night with a group shot of everyone sitting at our table. The Japanese man next to me is actually a member of the Diet, the national legislative body of the Japanese government.
The following day was just as fun. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I got a great introduction to the much heard out kimono and tea ceremony. It took place in the same room as the previous night’s welcome party, but the room looked much more empty without all the tables and people in it.
Slowly, people started filing in, including a group of older Japanese ladies who would be in charge of the day’s activities. They opened up box after box of kimono, and began laying them out on the tatami mat they had just rolled out. All the girls in attendance were excited looking at the options, picking out kimono to go with the obi, the large sash-type belt that is worn with kimono. Selections for the men weren’t quite as colorful, but I still think I looked pretty cool. I was instructed to roll up my pants legs and then one of the ladies started outfitting me. I was done much faster than the girls, whose kimono were clearly more complicated to put on. Here’s me and the kind woman:
Not too shabby! One of the girls there was Sarah, who is from New Zealand. I got a picture of her getting outfitted and one of us together:
After all the kimono had been donned, it was time to head out to the tea ceremony. It was just down the hall in a nearby room. It was hard to believe that this room could exist in such a building, too. It was just out of a movie of old Japan: tatami mats from wall-to-wall, wooden paneling, paper doors and a cutout in the floor where a pot of water was boiling, ostensibly for the tea ceremony.
The ceremony was very quiet and deliberate. First, we were served okashi, which means “sweets” or even “junk food,” but in this case it was a small, sakura-shaped cake:
And a shot of us after being served the okashi:
The woman preparing the tea went through a series of very deliberate motions - boiling the water, pouring it out, mixing the tea, serving it. It was very relaxing and serene I must say, the entire process very much an art. Finally, we were served the tea. Here’s a shot of me enjoying the green mixture:
At the end of the tea ceremony, we all lined up to get a group shot:
All in all, it was a really good time. I glad I made the effort to get signed up and make my way out to Fujisaki. I certainly got a good “taste” of the more traditional culture of Japan. I look forward to my next opportunity to wear kimono and drink tea!
I’ve been having a busy week overall. The day after the tea ceremony, I was off with the Adventure Club to do some rafting. Unfortunately, the water level was a bit low so we had to start further down river. But it was still a good day - we ended up going three times, making it a very long day.
Last night, I went out to a izukaiya, a type of traditional Japanese bar much like Happachi. It was the same bar that Yuya works at, whom I had a nomikai with the previous week. It was me, Hojin, Melanie, Takashi and some of Takashi’s friends whose names escape me now. It was a casual affair, just chatting, drinking and enjoying a wide range of munchies. Afterwards, there was a party that Lim was holding for his girlfriend who had just arrived from Korea for a week to visit. Again, it was a casual affair, just hanging out and having some food and drink. It was the first time that I ever sampled Korean food and I was throughly impressed. There was kimchi, kind of spicy sauce made from tomato (I think) and added to noodles, in addition to a stir-fry.
Tomorrow, I’ll be off with the Adventure Club again for a five day rafting trip at Ani-gawa, a river approximately three hours south of here by car. We’re going to be staying at a campground. I was lent a large backpack to stuff all my gear in, and I’ll also be borrow some more gear tomorrow. I need to some of that packed tonight if I can, but that’ll be tough since my laundry is out in the dryer, which takes literally four hours to dry your clothes. >_<
Well, that does it for today. See you in a while!
Zensayshun Says:
