Thank you, Suntory-san!

The summers here are hotter than most other places I've been. And basically you have to shower about 3 times a day to stay clean. I'm kinda against sleeping with the air-conditioner on, so I have been waking up sweaty everyday. A friend gave me a portable tatami, which I've been sleeping on. It seriously helped me stay cooler and has been saving me from washing my sweaty sheets so often.

But anyway, the real reason for this blog entry is that in the midst of this heat I've found the most perfect drink! It's called Aquarius and it's the most divine form of liquid. It's like a slightly flavoured water (imagine rose water!) and when you drink it you can feel it refreshing you. Last week I bought 12 liters of it and I'm down to my last bottle already!

This fabulous beverage is made by none other than Suntory Boss! Now, you're probably saying "Who's Suntory Boss?" .........Right?
Well, I'm amazed that you haven't heard of him, he's been boss of them all since 1992!
He's become one of my best friends...Not just because he makes Aquarius, but also because when I first arrived here I was a sucker for the hot cans of coffee you can get from his vending machines. In addition to tea, coffee and Aquarius, he also makes a variety of soft drinks, whiskey and other (ridiculously cheap) alcohols, and something called Bubble-man, which is basically liquid sugar that's supposed to taste like bubble gum (?). In other words, anything you can drink, Mr. Suntory makes.

Man, I want a T-shirt of this guy sooOOOooooOOOooo bad!

going up?

this is the elevator in my building. it's like one of those robots from Doctor Who. prehistoric science-fiction.

the maa-maa phase

Well, on Saturday we had a summer party. It was very fun. Everyone wore yukata , like summer kimonos -- including me! It's like parading around in a bathrobe with an incredibly elaborate, fancy sash. I bought the biggest size they had, Double L. And it was still a little too short for me. But it was easily forgiven because I there is no gaijin size here.

Anyways, the party was great. It was a little confessional and more than one person revealed their feelings of love. (Quote of the day: "I love you but let's never talk about it again.") As for me, my Japanese has finally improved enough that I can have very small conversations. YAYYYYYYY!!!!!! About time! I was very surprised, because recently I've hit the second plateau and find that I can understand a lot of what's going on. I am no longer saying "Watashi wa heta desu". 'Heta' means unskilled, which is what I've been saying for the past 5 months. I'm now in my 'maa-maa' phase. My 'so-so' phase.

I went home when the sun came up and had to take off my wooden sandals. They are fun to wear but today it feels as if I got a nasty sunburn on the webbing between my biggest toes. Walking home, I felt the roughness of the pavement under my feet and remembered how tough my feet were when I was a young pup in Africa. It was as if I had leather soles.

Really it was one of the most fun nights I've had here. Long live the Summer!

monster wallpaper

Some cool graff I saw in Osaka. I always wondered if most of it would be in hiragana and kanji, or in roman letters. But it turns out that quirky characters are favoured here. Almost like the more bizarre pokémon creations that are a little too demented to show on TV appear on the sides of buildings. It's interesting: you see far less graffiti than in the West, but what you see is usually much higher quality.

sounds of the neighbourhood

Today, the sun is flooding in from my balcony. Outside it's bright and in the neighbourhood, I can hear the sounds of children playing and laughing. It's strange how the noise of children is the same in every language.

There is a kindergarten and a temple across from each other near my house. On Mondays, around 6am I hear the gong of the massive bell. The sound is so intense that it vibrates inside my body. Like the sound waves flow through me. Really I feel it just as much as I hear it, but it is somehow not invasive.

On weekdays I wake up with the sounds of children playing. I must admit it's pleasant. Today I can hear someone playing 'Ring-Around-the-Rosie' on a piano. To me this seems even more Western than something like 'Yankee Doodle', for some reason. I remember how surprised I was when I discovered that 'Ring-Around-the-Rosie' was about the Black Plague in Europe. No one ever tells you that when you are a kid!

Anyways, the tune has shifted to a 'Chopsticks' duet now. And as the children return to class after their break, I should also return from mine to get ready for work.

culture tip #2

the japanese believe that koi (or carp, as some call it) represents strength, courage and longevity. so on may 5th, children's day, boys will fly carp kites. the sky is litterally swimming with fishes.

canals

After my (day)trip to Kyushu, I've realised that I really like Kanazawa. It's not as big as Fukuoka, or as exciting as Osaka, but it has it's own unique flavour. Maybe because it's more traditional, or it has a very old history of being different, Kanazawa's people are quiet shy, but they warm up to you quickly and then turn out to be the most interesting bunch of them all!

So, today, walking along the canal, a man yelled "Excuse me!" I knew he was talking to me instinctively -- call it gaijin instinct. He wanted to know where the Samurai house is. The conversation was so brief that I'm sure, neither one of us could determine the other's accent.

Beside me the canal was flowing fast. Recently, I've begun to use it to predict what kind of day I would have. Judging by its speed, flow, force, sound, etc.

The two canals are not linked, because sometimes one is low and slow, tranquilly dribbling over rocks, while the other one is raging and seems to be overflowing. It's eerily accurate how you can predict your day according to the bowel movements of a river.

fig.4: the canal near my house

Baku to ze Fuuchaa

Well, the area where I work is one of the main intersections of the city and there is always something interesting going on. It seems like if there's not a big van parked there with people shouting communist (or fascist) slogans from a megaphone, then there's some kind of festival, or drumming going on. The other day, while walking by, I had to investigate.

Behind a big bush, was parked the Delorian! Can you believe it?! How cool is that?



"Loraine, you're my density. I mean...Destiny."

photos

fig 3.1: heading into the mists blowing across the Inland Sea

fig 3.2: jelly fish floating in the Kaiyu-kan

fig 3.3: looking up at the Castle in Osaka

mist, waves, and a (near)full moon

well...........

I am currently sitting in a HUGE house (by japanese standards) on the southern island of Kyushu. It's only 9am, but it feels like 3pm! We took the ferry from Osaka overnight and arrived here at 5:30am. The whole experience was quiet surreal. The reflection of the waning full moon off the dark waves can only be described as 'haunting'. It was beautiful, but haunting.

On the way we passed through a cloud of mist on the horizon. The wind blew salty air onto our skins and a little korean kid spoke to us in an australian accent.

Anyways, there are pictures to come.

Memorable things so far:

~Meeting up with Fred and Amy from St. Andrews University in Scotland. (Hadn't seen them for about 5 years!)
~Osaka Aquarium
~Eating a green tea flavoured ice cream in the shade of Osaka Castle
~Crossing the point-of-no-return once we got on the ferry.
~The heat of Kyushu

arial view

blue sky in Kanazawa. the heat broke this morning with an intense thunderstorm. now it's quiet again.

swimming in the milky way

A few days ago I went to the beach for the first time in Japan.
With the heat being nearly unbearable after the rainy season, it was packed with people. The air smelled of barbeque, and the sound of waves could be heard behind the squeals of children. But it was packed brimful!

Anyway, we decided to find a quieter spot and started driving along the coast. A long, white beach caught my eye in the distance and we made for it. Time was ticking by, and people were packing up when we got there. I desperately wanted to go swimming and jumped in after finishing my beer. It turns out that we were in a natural bay and a sandbank stretched a good kilometer out into the sea. So I swam...

After I tired and thought I was in deeper water, I stood up and noticed that I could still stand. But my feet touched something unlike I've ever felt before. It wasn't sand. It wasn't fish. It wasn't rock. So I dived down and noticed about a hundred starfish all over the bottom. I brought a few up with me. Across the sea, a white sun was setting, turning the water a polished silver, sparkling with waves here and there.

fig 2: a new star appears above the horizon

Touchy little guy, eh!

culture tip #1

fill the scoop with water. then wash your hands, starting with your left. then take a sip from the cup and rinse your mouth. now you can approach the shrine!

sea spiders vs. hungry monkeys

So yesterday we watched the sunset near Kanazawa port. We sat on the seawall and drank some beer. Once the sun had set we decided that it would be a good idea to climb down the wall and collect some rock crabs for dinner.

fig 1: crab huntin'

Naturally, the first one is the hardest to catch, but I snatched it SUPER-speed and with this kick-started a half hour long crab hunting venture. In the end, we caught about 15 small crabs. Not without getting soaked a few times. I mean, we were basically monkeys at sea -- and slightly tipsy at that! One crab pinched my baby finger and I was jumping from rock to rock to rock to get to Remi, who had the bag, when I slipped and fell waist high into the sea. I scraped my leg good -- which took the spotlight off my sore pinky a bit.

Anyways, we brought them home and boiled them, then deepfried them tempura style. Those little guys tasted mighty fine with a chili-garlic sauce. Mmmmm mmm!

The next day, I get to school and Remi's face is all swollen like someone beat him all night long with a meat tenderizer. It turns out that he had an allergic reaction to the shells! Man, those little crabs showed us sea-monkeys who's boss, huh?

ichido

Well, this is my first post...

I have finally decided to enter into the blogger world. More for myself than for anyone else. But this is an attempt to start writing regularly again. It was very difficult to make the decision to move to a digital medium -- seeing how I love ink and paper so much! -- but the move was finalised by a wicked, little digicam I bought from a store the other day.

And, if I may say so myself, digital is the crack-cocaine of the technology world. I understand why I resisted for so long, but I must say I enjoy the ease and digital-'high' I get from playing with my camera anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

Well...............so it begins. I will try to update this everyday...or every two days, depending on many factors, including my sobriety among other things.

And with this first post, I will leave you with a panorama of Notto Peninsula, a stretch of land north-west of Kanazawa that points like a giant middle finger towards Korea. It is a little like the Northern Ontario of Japan, packed with trees, old-fashioned cottages, and mostly old people.



The Japanese believe that these two rock formations are lovers that fell from Heaven into the sea. They are worshipped as quasi-gods........but maybe 'nature spirits' is a better translation. So the shrine atop the big, high-arched foot is connected to the smaller island by a giant rope. The rope forms a sort of 'tori' or gateway for the gods. If you look closely you'll see lightning bolts hanging from it. This represents the messenger of the gods.

It was truly beautiful. Enjoy!