Sayonara Japan!

So tonight is my last night in Japan. In the morning I jump on a plane to Singapore to meet up with my brother and sisters in Malaysia. I can't wait, as I've seen their photos from the 2 weeks they've been there already, and lets just say I am sooooooooooo ready for some sun. It's been raining here the last few days.

My last few days at the Tsujimura family home were awesome. They were the warmest and friendliest family, so much so that the few days I was going to stay there turned into a week. We did girly things like watch movies and go shopping, and I also went to a stone spa, which is like a big sauna where you lie down on a slab of stone for 90 minutes and drink water and sweat all the bad stuff out. Kinda weird, but I felt good afterwards. Before we left we gave gifts to Mayumi's family, and we all got a bit teary when we presented Mayumi with a photo album with photos from our time in Japan. I guess you get pretty close to people when you share a room and work with them for 2 months. We finished off with a picnic in the park next to a cherry blossom tree that has just bloomed. Beautiful!

Amanda and I then went to Kawaguchi-ko, a town at the foot of Mt Fuji. Unfortunately it was pretty overcast, so we couldn't see Fuji-san all that well, but we did a nice hike and went for a bike ride around the lake and got to see some Icicle Lava caves (sounds cooler than what it is, actually). And now here I am back in Tokyo where I began, almost exactly 2 months ago. Back to the city of neon lights, vending machines and lots and lots of people. So to reflect on my trip, I thought I'd do a little list of top 5s:

Top 5 Highlights
1. Doing a tea ceremony in kimono, especially the part where Amanda ate a clove of garlic right before going into the ceremony to kill the germs from her cold and stunk out the elevator.
2. Snowboarding in Hakuba - the mountains were amazing and so was snowboarding once I stopped falling over. Thrown in with that is all the fun nights spent at Tracks and at Aqua Alpine too.
3. The whole weekend in Kanazawa - Kenrokku-en gardens, the art gallery and the friendly people. Loved it.
4. Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum
5. Onsen - once you get over the naked part, this is by far the most relaxing and cleansing way to end a day.

Top 5 Things I Will miss
1. Being able to get anything from vending machines that are situated every 200m... beer, hot food, hot drinks, tickets...
2. Feeling extremely safe... I never felt in danger once in Japan. And also the cleanliness of everything... even train station toilets were good!
3. The extremely efficient public transport system (althought not the extremely high price for tickets). I love that you can ride a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto in 2 hours.
4. The food! So good for you and so tasty.
5. Of course, all the people I met here... especially the Tsujimura family and all the Hakuba regulars.

Top 5 Food/ Drinks
1. Okonomi-yaki!
2. Sushi
3. Soba and Tempura... yum yum.
4. Calpis - it's a flavoured drink that's a cloudy white colour and tastes sort of like creamy soda, so good with some Sho chu (Japanese alcohol)
5. Suki-yaki

3 Things I will not miss (I couldn't think of 5)
1. The constant stream of recordings and midi music that blares from speakers EVERYWHERE. That sweet ladies voice gets so annoying after a while.
2. The coldness... it's bearable, but I am hanging for some sun.
3. Not being able to communicate properly... I got good at it by the end, but I guess I thought more people would speak English here.

So that's it. See you in Malaysia!

x meg x

Goodbye Mountains

It's been 2 days since I left Hakuba and I am just beginning to realise how that place is its own little world up there in the mountains, so isolated from the rest of Japan and so different from the rest of Japan. I worked my last shift on Saturday morning and although it was sad to say goodbye, the snow was quickly disappearing and most of the friends I had made were leaving, so I was pretty ready to move on. Besides, my friend Mayumi had invited me to her home in Nishio for a few days and I couldn't wait to meet her family and experience Japanese food and culture for a while, as you don't get too much of that staying in a hotel owned and frequented by gaijin (foreigners).

Having said that, my last few weeks at Hakuba were so much fun. One weekend I had off I took a few trains to Kanazawa, a largish town on the west coast of Japan. I pretty much just picked the location from my Lonely Planet guide and said "I wanna go there". It was well worth the 4 hour 4-train journey to get there. I stayed at a gorgeous little backpackers which was in a 100 year old building on the canal and owned by the nicest man who made sure I was looked after and recommended a little sushi place for dinner. So I walked there and was greeted by "Mama" a lovely lady in a kimono who spoke great English and her husband made me the best sushi I have eaten. It was a tiny place, but was filled with people, and I met three lovely History teachers who practised their limited English on me and kept feeding me more sushi and sake. They were very funny and were amazed to hear I was also a teacher, because they thought I was 18! After one of them began to tell me "I love you!" after maybe his 5th glass of sake, I decided it was time to call it a night, but it was one of those great Japanese nights, where I was walking around the Kanazawa Scramble afterwards with a big stupid smile on my face. Or maybe that was just the sake. The next day I went to see the sights, walking through Kenroku-en gardens which were absolutely gorgeous despite the overcast day with plum trees and Japanese pine trees and picteresque lakes and panoramic views of Kanazawa, which put the Botanical gardens to shame. I'm sad to say my camera went flat halfway through, which was a shame. I also went to a Contemporary Art museum which was amazing and an old Geisha house in this cute little Geisha district. I also went to a gold leaf factory where an old man somehow explained the whole process to me using no English at all and visited a Samurai house. All in all a great weekend and it was good to get out of Hakuba for a while.

The last week at Hakuba was spent partying with all the friends I had made during my two month stay at Hakuba, where else but at the local Tracks Bar. I performed a few songs on guitar during a gig with two other Australian boys I befriended and it went down pretty well. The week before the place had a group of African drummers and dancers perform (well, they were Japanese, but the style was African) and it was amazing. I don't think I could compare, but I gave it my best shot, haha. I also spent my last week snowboarding almost every day, as we had a good dump of snow the week before, probably the last for the season. I was doing intermediate runs by the end and even attempted a few little jumps. Once you finally get the hang of this stuff, I can see how it could be so addictive.

So now I'm in Nishio, a small town by Japanese standards about one hour from Nagoya. We were met by most of Mayumi's extended family and sat down on the floor in the  lounge room to a massive feast of sashimi (raw fish), suki-yaki (beef, cabbage, mushrooms, etc, cooked in a big hot pot on the table), kani (crab), mussels, sushi and Asahi beer. Despite not speaking much English, the family was soooo lovely and I spent the night being plied with sake by her father and helping her niece with her English. The next day we went to a public pool in Nishio for a swim, which was similar to a pool experience in Australia, except they have little rules that are different. For example, every hour we had to get out of the pool for ten minutes to rest, then before getting back in, we all had to do some aerobics stretches to funny music. Everyone would be just standing around in their bathers doing the stretches which everyone seemed to know off by heart. I was laughing so much I couldn't do them properly. That night we had dinner in Nagoya at Shooters, an American-style restaurant owned by the same people that own Aqua Alpine, the hotel I worked at in Hakuba.

Yesterday four of us girls and Mayumi's mum and her friend got dressed in kimono and went to a tea ceremony. Now, I say "dressed in kimono" as if it was as easy as just putting one on, but man is there a process involved. It's like wrapping a really, really, really fancy and intricate present. So many layers and ties and everything. Her mum was also nice enough to do our hair for us and supply some special shoes and socks (I forget the technical names). It took us a few hours to get ready, then the tea ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. The tea ceremony was full of old ladies, and a couple of old men who were all fascinated by the gaijin in the kimono. We had to kneel on the floor (which by the way, really hurt after a while. I couldn't feel my legs after about 5 minutes, but looking around at all the Japanese ladies who were 3 times my age, they seemed to be fine, so I just endured it. Japanese people must have bodies made for this stuff...) while ladies in kimono served us rice sweets and green tea in bowls. It was fun. Then we showed off our kimono at a sushi train restaurant where we stuffed ourselves full of sushi delivered by bullet train. I understand how Japanese people stay so thin - the obi (the band around the kimono) is so tight on a kimono that you can't eat too much. That night, after another feast on the floor in the lounge room of okonami-yaki, Mayumi's dad took us to karaoke where we sang English and Japanese songs in a private room until 12:30.

Mayumi's family has been so hospitable and lovely since we got here on Monday night, it makes me a little sad that my time here in Japan is soon coming to an end. But I am so glad I have had the rare opportunity to experience every day Japanese life and the kindness and hospitality of these people who have made me realise that my first impression of Japanese people as being introverted and shy was just that, an impression.

Just one week to go....

Love Megan

My Hakuba Home まあい はくば ほむ

It's been a while since my last confession... I mean blog post... because I've been fairly "snowed under" (aah terrible pun, I know) with work and other fun things. The last two weeks have been quite busy at the hotel, so I was working ten hour days, breakfast from 6am to midday, then dinner from 5pm to 9pm. It was actually ok, because I still had the best part of the day to snowboard, although often I was too tired.

I have definitely carved my own little niche in the mountain here though. When I go to the local pub or walk to the mountain or ride around on a bike, I bump into people I know. I feel right at home in this little alpine town, despite being a foreigner. I guess the main reason is because there are so many other foreigners here. The snow is amazingly beautiful, however, since that first week I came here, the snow has never been as good. Everything was covered in a two foot layer of snow, like piles of meringue or marshmallow and it was raining soft little snowflakes every day. There were icicles hanging from the hotel balcony like some kind of Ice Palace and this may sound stupid, but the snow is SO white. All the dirt and filth that humans create is just buried and hidden away under this pure, white, sparkling snow. I love it.

The last few days have been really clear and sunny, which means fantastic views from the summit, but icy runs down the mountain. And believe me, I have felt the full brunt of that ice on every part of my bottom. But I had a great run the other day where I made it down the mountain several times without falling over once and manipulating some nice turns. I don't know if you've heard, but people are saying I'm the next Torah Bright :P

The last few days I got to catch up with some friends from home, which was good to share some experiences and sample some Japanese food together each night. I was able to teach them some Japanese words too! I have been trying to learn Japanese while I'm here, thanks to the girls that work here, Mayumi and Tomoko. They have a lot of patience with my pronunciation and questions. I finally feel like I can almost hold a very basic conversation, although I know a whole lot of words and not necessarily how to string them together in a sentence. But when I listen to people talk in Japanese, I can pick up a few words and that's exciting. My favourite words so far are

1. Bakchikku - means fireworks, and I love it because it sounds like what it is
2. Sukebe Jiji - pronounced like "scabby jiji" and means dirty old man
3. Kombanwe - means good evening and I like it because it sounds african
4. Sugoye! - means awesome or great.
5. Gambatte - means go for it!

Yesterday I also learnt how to read Hirigana in one lesson, and found it is actually easier than I thought. But most things are written in Katakana, a more complex written form, so I can only read some things, and even then I need to know the English translation. But it is fun. I have been amusing the girls by trying to read anything and everything from labels on drink bottles to pamphlets.

Last night I also had my first onsen experience. An onsen is like a big communal hot tub where you have one for females and one for males and you go there to relax and bathe, sort of like a sauna and spa. The difference is you are naked. I went with two of the girls I work with and at first, it is a little daunting. But there is something liberating about not giving a damn and by the end you are so relaxed you don't care. It' all very hygeinic because you shower and scrub before you get in. And when you get out, your skin feels so soft and you are so relaxed and clean, it was sugoye. This one had an indoor and outdoor, but you don't stay in for more than half an hour because it gets pretty hot after a while.

They also bought a cheapo guitar for the hotel, so I have been able to get some singing and playing time in, which is so good, because I was missing my guitar immensely. Some guys down the road also have a jam session every Sunday night which I try to go to, becuase one of them has a guitar exactly like my Cole Clark at home - yes, I am blatantly using him for his guitar, haha.

So that's how things are going at the moment, I will try to do like ET and phone home eventually, I miss you all, all the time, but things get a little easier every day. I will be sort of sad leaving this little family here, but can't wait to get to Malaysia and see my real family too! I have a bit less than 4 weeks to go.

Lots of hugs and kisses,
Meg

Alpine Country

If any of you talked to me last week (on Facebook or wherever) you will know that I was feeling particularly homesick. I was staying at a place where virtually no one spoke English, I had no luck getting a Visa and I was feeling a little alone and pointless in this alien world called Japan. One night I spent about 40 minutes trying to get a phone card to work to call home, then I finally got it to work only to find it would only last 7 minutes. I was standing in a phone booth in Kyoto in the middle of the night blubbering into the phone to my mum. She said it would be a good story to tell my kids.

But after that, all the job offers started flowing in. I got two offers of work at the snow and two working in Osaka teaching English. I ended up taking the one in the Japanese Alps at a ski lodge in Hakuba called Aqua Alpine. I get to wait tables and pour drinks at the bar, get cheap accommodation and food and then in the afternoons I get to hone my snowboarding skills. But more about that later.

Before I took the job I travelled down to Hiroshima, a pretty cool city in its own right. On the way I stopped at Himeji to see Himeji Castle, a cool building that the whole city basically grew around back in the 1800s. People are so much nicer in these smaller towns! I hadn't walked 200m from the station when an old man struck up a conversation with me about Australia. In Hiroshima I went to the Peace Memorial Park where there was a building still in the condition it was in on August 6th 1945 when the Americans blew Hiroshima off the map by dropping an atomic bomb. I went through the museum and unlike the Vietnam War Museum, it was very balanced and presented Japan as being just as responsible as America in the events that lead up to the dropping of the bomb. The museum was more about trying to stop the development of nuclear bombs and trying to achieve peace. It pretty much dobbed in all the countries that still possess nuclear weapons (you could imagine which ones they would be) and had a lot of stuff about the after effects, etc. While looking at the Children's Peace Monument I got hassled by some lovely ladies from Jehovah's Witness. You can't escape them.

Then I caught a ferry to a little island called Miyajima which was a cute little place. There were deer everywhere hassling people for food and a floating temple on the shore. I wanted to do a hike to the top of the mountain on the island, but I ran out of time as it takes 4 hours. That night I had the best meal in Japan so far. Hiroshima is famous for its Okanami-yaki which is a type of savoury pancake cooked teppanyaki style. They cook the pancake then just heap a whole lot of stuff on top - cabbage, noodles, squid, prawns and bacon all with delicious sauces and spices. It was so good. And the guys who cooked it were a lot of fun, trying out their English on me. I washed it all down with a glass of sake for a perfect Japanese meal.

The next day I went back to Kyoto, before heading up the mountains to my new job. The train ride was amazing, as was the fact that trains even go out there. They must have to clear the tracks of snow ten times a day. It was snowing when I arrived and everything was covered in a thick layer of white powder. When I woke up the next morning and looked out the window, it was cool to see the snow falling down, and I felt like a little kid waking up on Christmas day, even though I've only ever known hot Christmases. This place is owned by Aussies and partly by Steven Bradbury, the guy who famously won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics by letting everyone else fall over. Most people that work here are also Aussie, apart from two Japanese girls I am sharing a room with. I help them with their English and they help me with my Japanese :) Not that I need it up here, the place is overrun by Aussies.

I went snowboarding for only the second time in my life yesterday and it was amazing. Everyone at the hotel rallied together to lend me some gear and I got out there and did the Beginners run about 5-6 times. By the end I wasn't falling over quite so much and was pulling off some nice turns. I could get good at this by the end of March!

So that's where I'm at right now, and I will probably stay here until the end of March before flying to Malaysia. I will have to upload some snow shots onto Facebook at some point.

Keep the messages coming, I love hearing about what you're all up to!

x meg x

Alone in Kyoto

Since arriving in Kyoto, I think I have literally ridden a bicycle from north to south and east to west a few times over. My butt is sore. But it is a pretty flat city and quite safe to ride in, no one even wears helmets. Kyoto reminds me a little of Melbourne. There's not very many high rise buildings and there are old 17th century wooden buildings just hidden amongst the modern ones. I got lost walking to my hostel and found myself down this little backstreet with a mossy water wheel out the front, I kid you not.

My last few days in Tokyo were okay. I went to the Kabuki-za Theatre in Ginza to see a real life Kabuki performance. The theatre is a cool traditional building, but it's going to be torn down in April so I got in first! It was definitely interesting - only men perform in it and they all paint their faces white and the sets are quite intricate; they have a mechanical rotator on the stage that changes the sets. I couldn't understand a word of course, but I had an English audio guide. I guess the best way to describe Kabuki is like a Japanese version of Shakespeare. I also spent some more time with Claire and a few of her friends in Shibuya/Shinjuku which is the neon wonderland you always see in photos. We went to the top of a tower for a stellar view of the massive metropolis that is Tokyo, illegally ate some ice cream on a ferris wheel and then booked a private room for a Japanese Karaoke experience.

I rode the bullet train or shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, and that was an experience in itself. That thing is fast! I got from Tokyo to Kyoto in about 2 and a half hours. By bus it takes about 8. They have seats like on aeroplanes, but with heaps more leg room. Just as well really, because it costs about as much as an aeroplane too. But it had to be done.

My hostel is very quiet, but comfiest bed ever. And it's pretty central to ride to anywhere, which I have been doing. I have seen enough temples, shrines, waterfalls, Zen gardens and castles to last me a lifetime. The best temple so far was Ginkaku-ji, The Golden Pavilion, which true to its name, was golden.

Yesterday I followed this path up into the mountains around Kyoto from one of the temples and I kept going and going until I was afraid I might be lost. There was not a sign of civilisation anywhere and I had veered off so many forks in the road I wasn't sure I could get back. But I did. It was a nice little walk. Then that night I rode into Gion where there are lots of old buildings and exclusive tea rooms where the geisha hang out in. I walked down a dark road and sure enough, a few minutes later a taxi pulled up and two geisha got out and walked into a building. I think they may have been apprentice geisha or Maiko because they looked pretty young and their shoes were really high.

Not much happening on the work front - I don't have a Visa and I can't get one here, so it hinders my progress a little. If I can't get work I may need to cut my Japanese adventure a little short, as it's too expensive to stay here for two months without income.

Wish me luck!

x meg x

Lost in Tokyo Translation.

Well, if I thought things would become less interesting when I was on my own, I was wrong.

My last few days with Ash were spent literally shopping until we dropped. Bangkok must have some of the cheapest shopping in the world. So we went around town in buses, tuk-tuks and taxis to some of the biggest markets and shopping centres in Bangkok. Among these were Chatujak Market (15,000 stalls), Pat Pong Market (best place for knock-off handbags, watches, etc.), Khaosan Road (backpacker central) and Union Mall. Union Mall was something we stumbled upon and it was definitely somewhere undiscovered by tourists. But we began to get paranoid that people were ripping us off simply because we were foreigners. This made us coin the code "NFF" which means "Not For Foreigners". My feet were so sore after this marathon shopping fest.

We also took a tour to a place 2 hours out of Bangkok where we saw the Bridge over the River Kwai and rode on the "Death Railway", which wasn't dangerous, it was called that because in WWII the Japanese made the prisoners of war build a railway so they could get supplies in to their soldiers and a lot of them died building it. We also got to ride an elephant (yay for Ash!) and ride a bamboo raft. The next day we did the floating market, which is pretty cool to see. Basically there are a series of canals where people float around on boats and try to sell you stuff. We had people pulling our boat over with hooks and trying to get us to buy their stuff. It was crazy. Ash got to feed an elephant, but alas, she was trying to stick the food up its trunk. For those of you zoologocally educated, you will know that this is like trying to stick food up someone's nose. Poor little elephant.

So then Ash left me :( and I was all alone. I stayed at a hotel near the airport for my last couple of nights and it was definitely an NFF area. Everyone was staring at me when I walked down the street and the Thai boys were wolf whistling at me, which was a little unnerving. I met a guy at the hotel from Brisbane, who reminded me of someone I know. He had rented a motorbike and said he needed someone to ride on the back and hold a video camera for him so he could film the ride into Bangkok. Having no idea who this guy was and having had so much bad luck with motorbikes previously, I would like to say I declined the offer. But then that wouldn't be very interesting would it? So I jumped on the back and off we went. Of course, I didn't realise then that he had no idea how to get into Bangkok from where we were, which was about an hour out.

So we kept stopping at intersections and tapping on taxi windows to get directions. Not the most effective GPS. We even found ourselves at a service station at one point surrounded by workers trying to draw us a mini map. So we ended up riding around for hours until we found signs leading to the airport, which was near our hotel. But we went too far, then got stopped at a tollbooth because motorbikes aren't allowed on expressways apparently. By now it was nearly 1am and I had dirt all over my face and was about to fall asleep and I had to get up at 5:30am to go to the airport. He started swearing at the toll guys and I thought this is it. This is when I get arrested and have to stay in Thailand forever. But the toll guys were actually very nice. They showed us where to do a u-turn then and we got back. Then, just 200m away from our hotel we were stopped by a police barricade. What luck hey. When I got back I felt like I had ingested the whole smog cloud hanging over Bangkok and then some.

I arrived in Tokyo a few days ago and caught a train out to my backpacker's hostel. I'm not going to lie to you, I was scared out of my wits and I had a bit of a cry on the train. My first impression is that Japanese people are quite cold and uninviting. No one smiles at you and the cold inidifferent way they look at you in passing is almost worse than the wolf-whistling from the Thai boys. The more I learn, however, the more I realise they are particularly shy and also not so used to foreigners. Japan has a very low immigration rate, which is probably just as well, because the small island country is packed full of people. When you look out at the sea of faces, it's very rare to see anyone not Japanese, or at least Asian. You could imagine how I must stand out. So I was feeling pretty sorry for myself the night I came in.

Then Claire walked into my dorm. She was a friendly American who lives in Korea but speaks fluent Japanese. She invited me on a day trip to Nikko. Having no idea who she was, or where Nikko is, I of course said yes. She was a very handy travelling companion to have. We caught a train to Nikko, about 2.5 hours north of Tokyo and it was 2.5 times better than Tokyo. The place was a very quiet and peaceful mountain village, very picturesque. We were surrounded by dark mountains sprinkled with snow at the top. All the little shops and cafes were traditional Japanese style with sliding doors and everything wooden.

We walked uphill to some temples and shrines which they must have paid millions to restore, because they looked magnificent. All gold/bronze trimming and intricately carved archways, poles, dragon heads, colourful wall and roof murals - everything you think of when you imagine Japan. Claire was an invaluable guide. At one point an old Japanese man muttered something near us and she turned around and blasted him in Japanese then stormed off. I was like what was that about?? Apparently he had said something like "very big" in slang Japanese and she thought he was talking about her, as she is quite tall for a girl, even by Western standards. So she turned around and said "I speak Japanese and that was very rude!" then stormed off. In hindsight, she said he may have been talking about the bloody big temple behind us.

We went further up the mountain and it was COLD. We saw a beautiful waterfall that was falling on rocks covered in snow, it was very pretty. We had lunch in this cute little Japanese restaurant where we were the only customers and the old Japanese lady looked after us with some suba noodles. It was deliciously warm. Once again I was grateful for Claire, because the menu was all in Japanese.

We then went to visit a friend of Claire's in a place about 45 minutes away. While we were waiting for her at the train station, Claire convinced me to try on a kimono. I thought why not, it will make a good photo. So next thing you know I'm walking out of there having bought the whole kit and kaboodle - kimono, obi, undergarments - for about $70 aussie dollars, which is pretty cheap.

Then to top off my day we went to a quintessential Japanese restaurant with low tables and cushions around. The food was delicious. The wait staff were uber-polite, bowing to us and treating us like royalty. I let the girls order, as once again the menus were all in Japanese. But they taught me a helpful phrase "osusume wa nan desuka?" which means "what would you recommend?" for next time I can't read. All in all a great Japanese day - the food was great, the people friendly and the scenery breath-taking (or maybe that was the cold). I just had to get out of Tokyo.

Now I'm job hunting without much success yet. Fingers crossed!

Love Megan