Tokyo 'r Us RE-ENACT

So last Friday we went on a bus tour to Hakone with the JLSP students and volunteers matching the JLSP student numbers.  Two busses, lot’s of talk and snacks made a real nice bus trip. So anyway, Hosaka-sensei appointed me and Kyle as translators in our bus. Actually, I did all the translation in the bus while Kyle got to do it out at Hakone. It was kind of embarassing but still educational.  I seem to have the knack for translation Japanese -> English rather than English -> Japanese. Listening comperhension is fun though, and you get to be proud of yourself for being able to understand what is being said. I give myself a pat on my back as I write this. Good job Simon. The university has a ”buddy-system” for these type of trips, which basically means they pair a JLSP student with a Japanese volunteer student from Nihon University. The Japanese students are asked to use as much Japanese as possible since after all we are here to learn Japanese. My buddy was Mitsuyoshi, real nice guy and funny as well.

So anyway, the bus ride took about 2 hours, including a 10 minute break at some sort of rest stop. Funny enough this rest stop had a real big store for omiyage (presents) and some small food stands. I think it’s the biggest rest stop I’ve ever seen in my whole life. In Sweden you usually only see maybe a few restaurants and a toilet. I was kind of suprised of how well the toilets were being handled here.  Stopping at these kind of places you don’t expect a royal welcome from the toilets, but Japan is different (at least some parts).

Enough about toilet talk and let’s move on to the snacks. For some reason Japanese people have a tendency to bring lots, and I mean lots, of snacks with them for trips. Ikuho had brought with her snacks enough to feed a whole army. I’ve noticed that Japanese people eats alot of sweets. There are like crepes stands at every corner, icecream stands and what not. Of course, Swedes eat alot of snacks and candy as well, but I never though it was this popular in Japan. You’d think that Japanese people are eating raw fish and rice constantly but BUH BUH wrong. But then again, as a foreigner I can’t keep myself from eating all the macha (green tea) flavored candies, icecreams and frappuccinos. They are infact godsent and unbeatable, no doubt about it. Unfortunaly though for a student like me is tha they ’re expensive as hell, but then again it’s not like I buy them everyday either.

From sidetrack to maintrack, the bus trip was fun. I made some conversation with Mitsuyoshi. Infront of us were Liz and Ikuho and to the right of us were Kyle with his buddy Yuki and then David with Asami. We had a few good laughs and it was fun! I guess my need for flying or traveling alone has taken a turn cause it is more fun to travel together with someone in a bus or airplane. The bus tour included a tour guide as well, but in Japanese. There were alot of beginners in Japanese in the bus and I don’t think they understood what she said. Oh well, hardly anyone cared though. Most of the students were sitting and talking to each other instead.


 

We arrived at Hakone around 10 a.m and the weather was nice. Although not good enough to see Mt. Fuji during the day. We did get to see it during our way home though. We started out at Hakone shrine which was quite big and nice. But most shrines looks about the same and it didn’t stand out very much from the rest of the 10 000 shrines I’ve seen in Japan so far. There’re the usual things there such as charms, fortune telling and stuff like that. There was a wedding ceremony held there though and this is actually the second one I’ve seen so far held in a big tourist attraction place. When we went to Kamakura, there was a wedding ceremony being held there as well. I’d say it’s probably a bit embarassing but at the same time very nice. The people who gather around the ceremony to watch are not only watching it because it’s sort of a tourist attraction but also because they want to wish the groom and bride good fortune. As usually you clean your hands before you go in with what they call pure water. Hakone sort of lies at the foot of mount fuji so it was a bit chilly, so it was a good thing I brought my jacket. I didn’t wear it when we were at the shrine though. I didn’t die from it but it wasn’t like summer weather either so. They sold omochi there as well (rice cakes) with different flavors. Me, Asami, Mitsuyoshi and David shared a plate with different flavors and I ate the one with sesame which was really good.


  
I think the time was like 11:30 or something when we headed towards our next destination by bus, which was the Hakone Checkpoint. During Tokugawa period the Hakone Checkpoint was used as a measure to search people and to control the ones passing through. During the Edo period the checkpoint was the border to the Kanto region as well. In any case there were some exhibitions here with models showing how they worked during the Edo period.



After the checkpoint we went to eat food at a restaurant and oh my goodness it was really nice food. In Japan they call it “washoku”, which means Japanese style food. Japanese style food is usually divided into small dishes with different kinds of food. Small plates, but there are many of them. After the meal we went upstairs to the gift shop and I bought some ricecake (mochi) for my grandparents and for Masuda. I asked Masuda when we could meet to have a bite and talk some, but he hasn’t answered yet. I hope I can meet him soon!




There’s a big lake in Hakone as well. We crossed it by a pirate ship. Can you imagine? A pirate ship in a lake. First I thought, does this have a history to it? But that’s impossible. Who would build a pirate ship in a lake covered by forest and land. I mean, it’s not like you can raid a beach and then hide afterwards. Anyways, the view was beautiful from the boat. Since the weather was clear the sun was reflecting beautifully on the lake as well. Before we rode the boat, we bought some icecream and it was really nice. I hade one with sesame flavour. I think I’ve fallen in love with black icecreams and black mochis by now.




Once we crossed the lake, it was time to go by the ropeway. Since Hakone is surrounded by mountains you can get very nice views from the ropeway.  And from the ropeway, we could some steam coming out from the mountains. I was wondering what it was. They had been talking about some sort of black eggs before we got to Hakone, but I wasn’t really sure what it all meant except for that it was black instead of white on the shell and that you could eat it. Accordingly to legends, if you eat one egg you prolong your life by 7 years. Two eggs, 14 years and three eggs a whole life time (I think). In any case, I got my answer pretty quickly. Once we got to the top, it started to smell like rotten eggs all over the place. Apparently, the steam was sulphurgas and the eggs are boiled in the water thus making them black (but still edible).  Not so much of a pleasant experience for the nose, but it was still fun. After this small adventure it was time to head back home. The time was almost 5 p.m and we were pretty well synched with the schedule so it was all good.



The busride back home took longer than the way to Hakone. You can imagine it yourself, a Friday night and heading towards central Tokyo. Yeah, that’s right, lot’s of traffic. It took about 1.5 hour longer than going the other way but it was still expected from the very beginning. The teacher warned us about it beforehand so it was alright. Besides, we still had each other and there were lots of laughters and talking!

Between October 14th and 17th (Wednesday and Saturday) my good friend Johan from Stockholm stayed at my place. He’s been traveling for about 2 months in Japan and Korea but his trip ended last Saturday. I met with Johan a few weeks ago as well when he was in Tokyo after coming back from his trip to Korea. We’ve been talking alot about different stuff and it was good to have a familiar face around here. Since Johan was leaving soon Johan and me decided to have a small reunion with Ikuho, Midori and Gakuto. All three of them had been studying in Stockholm last year up till spring term this year. So Johan had made Korean food for us and was waiting eagerly for us to come home.
It’s been almost 5 months I think since I saw Gakuto last. He’s been busy studying and stuff like that so it’s no wonder he hasn’t time. Midori and Ikuho are both volunteers so I meet them from time to time. It was very nice being able to have this get together and eat good food. Johan’s cooking skills are as good as ever.



During Sunday I went to visit my grandparents. They live in the Ibaraki province in a city called Ushiku. From Shimotakaido it takes about 2 hours tog get to Ushiku station. On the way to my grandparents I walked from the station and it took about another 25 minutes. The weather was as clear as ever and the sun was frying my back. I wish I had brought an extra t-shirt with me but whatever.
Ushiku is a pretty small town for a Japanese and after living in Tokyo for over 1 month it really does feel like a rural area. There are about 70 000 people living there but the town itself is pretty big I think compared to a Swedish town… Well, compared to Karlskoga if anything.

I arrived at my grandparents house and was greeted by my grandmother. I was very happy to see both my grandparents since it’s been over 2 years since I met them. They’re old as well so while I have the chance I would like to see them more often. Unfortunaly, there’s alot to think about here in Tokyo as well and I’m practically busy almost everyday. My grandfather is 92 years old now and to me it’s an age I can’t even comperhend yet. He’s been living for 70 years longer than me and it’s hard to imagine what it’s like. They had ordered some sort of Chinese food and it was delicious. Apparently the chef was Taiwanese but I guess that happens pretty often. I mean, in Sweden there are alot of sushi restaurants which are run by Chinese or Thai.
And for the first time I’ve heard my grandfather talk quite alot. He can be pretty quite but that day he talked alot. We talked about life, the Japanese language, me being here and all sorts of stuff.
Around 5 p.m we’ve been chatting and eating for a while and I was about to head home. My grandmother offered to take me to the station by cab, which I refused of course since it’s not that bad walking, but she insisted and so we went. I bid my grandfather farwell and went to the station where I bid my grandmother farwell as well.
Asami is collecting Hello Kitty cellphone straps and in each city and or prefecture they sell straps which are exclusive to those areas. So anyway I bought two of them and headed back for Shimotakaido.



About two hours later I got home and was pretty tired but as usual I had homework and quizes. This week is a very busy one… So anyway, the camera works very well but I haven’t taken that many pictures with the Tamron macro yet. I’m thinking of buying a cheap tripod because taking photos with macro without a tripod is very hard. You can imagine yourself when you’re zooming very far and naturally your hands are shaking.

So that’s it for now, I hope you enjoyed my rambling and the pictures. Take care until next time.