I often think of things to put on the blog while I am walking, but then there are so many other things I want to do, too, that I don’t quite get the blog entry written. It has been more than a month since I posted, and Margo and Lisa have asked when we were going to do a new entry. If people are reading, we better write!
Life is Japan continues to suit us well! I am loving my work here. David’s job, unfortunately, is not as exciting as he would like it to be. It’s not a fulltime job, so he does have time to do some projects that are exciting. He is not complaining as Tokyo suits him better than Galesburg or the Midwest in general ever has! We both enjoy our non-work time. There is always something to do! Mostly we just walk in or to places to discover another part of the city. We found these great Korean red bean pancakes on a walk a couple of weeks ago that I am anxious to have again!
Last weekend, the Japan Study Program had its fall retreat in Nagano, a mountainous area about 3 hours by bus west of Tokyo. It was cold and rainy on Saturday, but Sunday was sunny and beautiful. We have a wonderful group of students, so even though David did not attend because he was sick, I enjoyed talking and interacting with the students and Michiyo, the Program Associate. Michiyo, her daughter, Sarah (Michiyo’s assistant), and I snuck off Sunday morning to go to an onsen (a hot springs public bath). It was fabulous!
Lisa, Ben, and Sophia arrived in Japan on October 5th, David’s and my 26th wedding anniversary. It was a great way to celebrate! We met them at the Nippori station with little trouble and at first Sophia looked like she wasn’t going to come to me, but when I spoke to her, she clearly recognized my voice, and let me hold her! Since their luggage, including Sophia’s stroller, was tied up in a workers strike in France, there were many opportunities to hold her! We had to go shopping to get necessities and for the first few days we didn’t have a stroller. I loved holding her, although, she really is a bit heavy for hours of carrying. The stroller that Ben and Lisa purchased on the third or fourth day helped us all out.
In addition to shopping, while Ben, Lisa, and Sophia were in Tokyo, we went to the National Museum in Ueno Park one day and went to Asakusa to visit a famous Buddhist Temple and grounds and to shop in a traditional shopping area of Tokyo. Both trips were very nice.
Lisa, Ben, and Sophia, went to Gosen City a few days after arriving in Tokyo. We missed them, but that was a busy week for us. I had a lot of responsibilities for the Japan Study Program and David was interviewing and going through orientation for his new job. I had coordinated two events for JS, a dinner with the Program Associate from the States and a trip to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. While leaving the museum, I ran into a student I knew from my first year at Knox College. He is the student that asked me to be the advisor of the Chinese Club at Knox. I believe he is from Singapore, so in Tokyo, a city with 12 million people that is not in the country that is home to either of us, it was incredible to just run into each other! He is in a graduate program at a university in Tokyo. We exchanged contact information and should see each other again.
The weekend before the Nagano retreat, David and I joined Lisa, Ben, and Sophia in Niigata for a few hours of shopping then went to Muramatsu (that may not be spelled correctly) where the Sekuras live. Their city is being combined with some other cities and will be Gosen City now. We were there for three nights and had a wonderful time! It was the best weekend we have had so far. Mrs. Sekura is a wonderful cook and the family is so gracious, fun, and interesting to be with that every minute was fabulous! Time with Lisa, Ben and our granddaughter, of course, topped the bill, but it was great to share the time and space with other people who lover our kids and granddaughter so much. So-chan (Sophia shortened with the Japanese honorific term for children added) charmed us all, and kept us all busy! While in Japan, So-chan learned to crawl, pull herself up to furniture, and to walk pushing a little toy or holding onto someone’s fingers. She matured more every day, and she is a good eater. Just feeding her kept many people busy, and, of course, what she ate caused other needs, too! Her favorite food was the wonderful Niigata rice! It is excellent and we were eating rice that had been in the field the week before. Rice lovers, you don’t know what you’re missing until you have had rice that fresh! We have tons of photos of Sophia, but they still don’t seem to be enough. We miss her so much!
While at the Sekuras’ we went to an onsen. It was fabulous! Lisa, Sophia, and two Grandmothers enjoying the baths together may not happen again. We spent a large portion of the day there, as after bathing, we ate lunch in a large room with low tables that were perfect for So-Chan. A lot of other children were around in the play area, too. We just ate and hung out after bathing. It was a very relaxing day.
We returned to Tokyo with Lisa, Ben, and Sophia after our visit at the Sekuras’ and went to parks and shopping close to our apartment. We had meals late after So-Chan had gone to bed and David got home. (He doesn’t get home until 9:30.) Since the Goold family returned to Oxford, my attention has been on teaching (finally read some of my students’ papers), working on a research project, and catching up on JS items, and of course going to the retreat in Nagano. I am still enjoying the course I teach and am excited about all of the components of my work here. It feels so good. Every day I feel a bit more relaxed and excited; it’s a freedom I have not felt for a very long time.
This weekend, I will be preparing a speech, the first of a series of three. I should be more concerned than I am because I have only written a paragraph so far, but it is on critical pedagogy, a topic I know well and can talk about easily with confidence. I am actually looking forward to having a captive audience and meeting students and faculty from education! You can get the details at this site http://www.waseda.jp/sils/en/student/info_05KarenENG.html.
David and I have also decided to begin private Japanese lessons. We met the teacher on Wednesday and will begin classes one hour a day on Mondays and Wednesdays. It will make us more busy, but we want to increase our speaking ability. Just studying on our own means that we forget the things that we learn so easily because we’re not really using Japanese except when we’re studying. Classes are expensive, but we think it is something we need to do.
Time to work on that speech!
What a great idea to take Japanese classes. We are meeting at the Innkeepers on and off on Fridays for coffee. Love you, miss you. See my entry under “new camera”.
Magali
Wow, you *have* been busy! Sounds like a lot of fun.
I just reread this and remembered I wanted to ask you to sometime (when you’re not so busy) to write more about the baths. I’m curious if there are separate baths for men and women or if they alternate days or if everyone is in the same one at the same time? Are they deep and big like a swimming pool or are they shallower and smaller? Is there one or several? Are suits worn and do little ones wear diapers? Any details would be appreciated.
I had all of these questions two years ago before coming to Japan and could not imagine the entire experience, at least not in a positive way. After one bath, I was hooked!
They do separate men and women. That is however, a post-WWII reform. They have an interesting policy to be fair at most places. They alternate by days or weeks which side is the men’s and which is the women’s. Because the real onsens are natural; it is impossible to have them the “same,” so you always have to look for the appropriate curtain or you could make a big mistake! Red with the Chinese kanji for woman means the women’s side. Men’s go to the blue curtain. This seems to be quite consistent. The locer rooms, may not change, but the actual bathing place probably will.
There is usually more than one bath. They are usually different temperatures. Usually there is a hot one and a less hot one. (These baths are not for those who like cold baths!) There is often an outside bath, which are my favorites. These are usually bigger and more elaborately designed to represent being in a mountain pool. There are usually big rocks along the side and threes and plants all around. People can choose which bath they want and people usually move from one to another.
Everyone baths together, but this means, you only sit in the bath at the same time. The showering MUST come first and it too is done together. It’s like a locker room with lockers and a changing space that goes directly to the showering area. Everyone gets a shower spot that includes a small stool and tub. You are supposed to have your own towel. Shampoo and soap are provided but you can also bring your own. Everyone scrubs! It’s amazing because the Japanese really SCRUB! After you are thoroughly clean, you go to the bath area.
Babies do not wear diapers. No one wears anthing into the bath. Sometimes women will put their small towel (like a kitchen towel) on their heads, but clothes don’t go into the baths. The wather is very warm. It is so relaxing! The best ones have natural spring water flowing into them.
The water is not deep. If you sit on the bottom, it will probably come to your shoulders. There are ledges that allow you to be less submerged but still sit. They vary in size, but even the smallest bath I’ve been in could hold five or six adults. (They would not be touching each other; I don’t think they would ever allow so many people that you would actually touch each other. Although it is not usually obvious at most places, but the small one I was at, actually did not let people into the shower area if it was already full. Also, the Japanese just probably would not get in the bath if there was not room (unlike on a subway car).
If you have more questions, please ask.