Nara is my new favorite place

I spent the night at my parents' tiny hotel room last night so that we could get up early this morning to head to Nara! Nara is famous for it's shrines and temples, which are located in its massive Deer Park. I'm going to shamelessly copy and paste from Wikipedia again:

Tame deer roam through the town, and especially in Nara Park. These deer might be considered "tame" if the visitor does not have any "shika sembei - Deer Biscuits" when they see them.

According to the legendary history of Kasuga Shrine, a mythological god Takemikazuchi arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital of Heijō-kyō. Since then the deer were regarded as heavenly animals to protect the city and the country. Snack vendors sell small biscuits to visitors so they can enjoy feeding the deer. Some of the deer have learned to bow in response to tourists' bows. They nudge, jostle, and even bite for food.

I hung out with Santa while we waited for our express train from Kyoto to Nara.

As we made our way through the park, we came across several vendors. They were selling the flat, thin biscuits in packs that tourists can feed to the deer. Not wanting to miss out on being harassed by ungulates, the three of us bought shika sembei.

The second you buy those biscuits...the deer know.

As you can see, deer are everywhere.

Fawn!

^ Here's a video of my mom and a deer bowing to each other. She really got a kick out of that.

After wandering around a feeding deer, we went to go see the Daibutsu. It's a giant bronze buddha...the hand is as large as six tatami mats (that's the size of my room)! Totally awe-inspiring. If I was religious...seeing something like this would really make me believe, you know?

Wafting incense around you wards off illness.

In the back of the building, there's a giant column with a hole in the bottom. Legend has it that if you can fit through the hole, you can become wise. This is a little cruel, since only children, flexible, and/or skinny people can make it through.

Victory.

Class Day

Today, my parents decided that they wanted to drop in on all my classes and see what an average school day is like.
They arrived on campus right before my 12:00 class, Speaking Japanese. My parents didn't understand a word of it, but it seems that they enjoyed my professor's enthusiasm and crazily illustrated sample sentences.
Then, it was off to Issues in Contemporary Japan. For the past couple weeks, class time has been devoted to student presentations. Today's were on homosexuality in Japan. My parents became active members of the class during Q&A; my mom even pitched in her opinions on Queer as Folk.
We ate lunch in the cafeteria, where the food is both cheap and surprisingly delicious! I had told a group of friends ahead of time that my parents were coming, so we had a nice big group lunch. Everyone was really nice and included my parents in the conversation.
The last class of the day was Popular Culture as Social Practice. We just happened to be watching a movie today, which is just as well. Kamikaze Girls is a really good movie - watch it, if you possibly can.
Since that class gets out at 5:30 (and the movie went even longer), we decided to go out to dinner. I decided to take my folks to Kappa Zushi, a kaiten zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurant near campus. The sushi here is both delicious and cheap (since Kappa Zushi is a restaurant chain). And the novelty of sushi traveling around a row of seats on a track never gets old.



All in all, a really fun day!
I hadn't been looking forward to today (who wants to chill at school?), but it was actually really nice to show my parents around. And since they've met my friends, now they know who I'm talking about when I Skype them.

Not many pictures today, so here are a couple shots of campus I realize are long overdue.

Osaka Aquarium

I had classes this morning, so my parents headed into Osaka by themselves. Since neither of them can read Japanese, I was a little nervous that they'd get hideously lost. I called them after classes, around lunchtime, and was pleasantly surprised that they had arrived at their intended destination with no trouble.

The Umeda Sky Building is the tallest building in Osaka. My mom (who is afraid of heights) and my dad (who isn't) rode in a glass-walled elevator to the top floor. My dad freaked out, so my mom continued alone to the observation deck at the very top of the building.

After my classes, I went to meet up with my parents at the Osaka Aquarium. Aquariums remind me of both how much I love aquatic life and why I am afraid of the ocean.

I would love to swim with a whale shark, not gonna lie.

Yum.
These fish are so foolishly designed.

Oh, penguins. Never stop being adorable.

Santa momentarily took a dip in the whale shark tank.Rays are so cool.
I can't be the only one who sees the little smiley face. I:

After visiting with our fishy friends, my parents and I went to a nearby mall to find a restaurant. We discovered a really cool restaurant called Kushimaru where you essentially tenpura-fy things on a stick. I'd love to go there again.Okay dad.

Kiyomizu-dera

Yesterday, my parents came to Japan! They're staying for a week - which is all too short if you ask me. It's a looong flight and there's too much too see in just 7 days.

I stayed in my parents' hotel room for the first night. We got up bright and early this morning to meet up with my friends Mai and Nozomi. We had plans to visit a famous temple in Kyoto called Kyomizudera - a temple that I had yet to see!

Nozomi suggested that we eat at a famous Soba restaurant in Kyoto before heading up to the temple. Lunch was delicious, and we were treated to Kyoto わがし (japanese sweets).

As we walked to the temple, we came to this corner. My dad started raving about how he'd seen it in a guide book and totally loved it. So here's the obligatory photo.

And the obligatory photo-of-the-photo.

Today was a holiday, so the temple and the surrounding shops were flooded with people. My dad took a lot of artistic shots of people with umbrellas, but I'll spare you. The temple gate was absolutely beautiful - it just sort of appears just as you clear the shops.
The temple is famous for its gorgeous view. Built into the side of a mountain, it's particularly pretty in the autumn when the leaves turn red. (Maybe not quite so pretty in the rain.)

I lied, here's one umbrella picture.

A Sudden Development

After my classes today, I went to Meirin Elementary school, which is near Kansai Gaidai. I have been corresponding with teachers at the school through a KGU student representative for the past couple weeks.
I ended up speaking to the Principal of the School. We discussed what I was interested in and what I wanted to do with the kids. After going over my schedule, he asked me if I liked sports. I told him that I played Varsity Softball at my home university. Because he thought that was cool (and because I guess my Japanese was good enough), he told me to start up a Baseball/Softball club for the kids! We'll meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Words cannot expressed how excited and terrified I am.

Mostly excited.

Haircut

I got my haircut today at the family salon. It was really fun! The staff was friendly and asked me lots of questions, though it was really difficult to understand their Osaka accent. After I got my cut, the stylist who cut my Otousan's hair told me to have fun in Japan and gave me a big hug. I was really surprised, since a lot of Japanese people shy away from physical contact. My Otousan told me to give the stylist who cut my hair a hug as thanks. I did, and the stylist looked happy, but a little uncomfortable. Maybe they thought that hugs are an "American" thing, and were trying to make me comfortable. It was an interesting exchange.

One of the stylists told me I had a ちっちゃい顔 (chicchai kao), or "small face." I had no idea what that means, though. I just asked one of my Japanese friends and he said that having a "small face" implies that one has cute style or proportion. Who knew? At the takoyaki party, I was told I had a ねこじた (neko jita), or "cat tongue." Having a cat tongue means that you have a sensitive tongue and therefore can't eat hot foods.
I love learning these kind of colloqialisms.

Spring Semester

I'm staying in Japan for the Spring Semester! I made the decision a couple weeks ago, and I think I finally have things straightened out. I'll be coming back to New York on Dec 20th, so I'll see all my Obies and NYC friends before I head back to Japan in late January.

Not sure yet if I'll be staying with my same host family, another family, or in a dorm next semester. I hope I get to stay here...I really like my family!

Takoyaki Party!

Today is the anniversary of the founding of Kansai Gaidai, so all the students had a holiday! My speaking partner, Megumi, invited me to her friend Mina's house to make Takoyaki. It was really interesting to see the inside of another Japanese home. It was also interesting because this is Mina and Megumi's first semester at Kansai Gaidai, and I assume they met sometime on campus. It was also Megumi's first time to Mina's house, so I wasn't the only new person.

Takoyaki is a traditional Japanese food that is Osaka's specialty. Takoyaki basically translates as "octopus balls." It's made of a flour-based batter, chunks of octopus (tako), tiny onions (negi), and a spice I just don't know the name of.

Megumi and I met up at Kyobashi station, then we took the train together to Mina's house. She picked us up at the station and we went to the grocery store to buy ingredients and a new whisk.

Mina chops up the octopus. She said she couldn't cook, but she could cut up an octopus like a pro.
Then again, she also forgot to buy several ingredients. So I guess we had simplified takoyaki.

A little chewier than I like, but quite delicious.

We started actually cooking the takoyaki by pouring batter into little ball-shaped molds. After a few seconds, we added the negi, octopus, and spice. I guess there were other things to add, but we forgot them, so...
After a while, we would periodically flip each ball over so that the other side could cook. Each batch took about 5-10 minutes.



Megumi's finished result! She topped hers with a special takoyaki sauce and mayonaise.

Mine just had sauce. I think I ate about 15 of them. If you're okay with raw octopus, I absolutely recommend takoyaki!


It turns out that Mina's mother has a Kimono License. I'm not sure exactly what that entails, but she has her own workroom in the front of the house.
She went to a famous Kimono styling school for about a year to learn how to properly fit and wear a kimono. She also made the flower screen and a (out-of-frame) picture made out of pressed flowers. She was really artistic!
After we were almost finished eating, Mina's mother returned home and was really excited to meet Megumi and me. She then asked me if I thought kimonos were pretty. I said yes, and she offered to dress me in one.

Even though I think foreigners look incredibly foolish in kimonos, I am not one to pass on such a cool opportunity. She was incredibly sweet the whole time, talking about the art of kimonos (only some of which I was able to understand) and her favorite colors.

So here I am!

We then retreated to Mina's room on the fourth floor, where we turned up the heat and turned off the lights and watched Juno.

Megumi and Mina want to come to New York during January or Spring Break in March. I hope they do! I'll show them around and give them a place to stay.