Japanese Mayonnaise, Intriguing Geography, and Anime

Jules has been busy with classes and activities this past month and we've been busy here with graduations, college orientation and broken ankles. This first update (below) from her was from the last week of May, but after that I'll just string her recent emails  together for you all to enjoy!

My Japanese language class had a fun activity recently. Everyone took turns describing their country (in Japanese, obviously) to a classmate from another country, who then drew the country on a whiteboard. Between people not knowing geography, and the describers having difficulty explaining things in Japanese, the results were quite entertaining. Australia (drawn by a Korean) was an oval blob with kangaroos hopping all over it. Canada (drawn by a New Zealander) was an oddly proportioned rectangle with snow and moose.
You may have seen the news that there was an earthquake recently in Japan, but it was on the other side of the country from me, and I didn't feel a thing.

Since not much has lately happened, I'm going to tell you about Japanese mayonnaise. Why? Because it is delicious. It has an orange tint that American mayo doesn't have, and it comes in flexible plastic bottles that are really fun to squish. Just like stress balls, except with mayo in them. The flavor is different, less creamy and slightly tangy. An American exchange student, who always hated mayo at home, likes the Japanese kind so much she now carries little packets of it with her everywhere.
Love you all, and hopefully I'll have more interesting stuff to talk about next week.






In early June, in my Japanese culture class, we learned about Shinto. The most interesting thing for me was learning that Japan has over 80,000 Shinto shrines. 

The Torii (Shrine Gates) that lead to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto (dedicated to the God of Rice)

For comparison, a quick internet search estimates the number of Catholic churches in Germany at around 9,000. Granted, shrines tend to be far smaller and less elaborate than churches, but still: 80,000! The professor also showed a few clips from the movie Princess Mononoke, to give the class an idea of contemporary depictions of Shinto.

Watching Princess Mononoke and other Studio Ghibli movies has educational value!
My classmate and fellow exchange student , Amy Lim, had never seen the movie before, and after hearing a few other students praising it after class, she decided to rent it and watch it in our dorm common room Monday night as an informal movie party. That's a party I'll definitely be going to!

Screen grab from Princess Mononoke 

 This complex film is one of Julia’s all time favorites about human greed and abuses of the earth, unfairness & compassion, the loss of spirituality among mankind, and the connection to the animal kingdom that we must maintain to protect our own humanity. The film is beautifully hand drawn and a strong piece of fiction.


The Princess Mononoke Movie Night went well. I shared the lemon drops you sent me with the group. Afterwards, we discussed some other Studio Ghibli movies that people hadn't seen yet, and decided on Grave of the Fireflies. So next Monday's movie night will feature lots of crying. Yay!

I got the prompts for my final projects. For my Japanese culture class, I have to write a short paper, in Japanese, about my thoughts on the topics covered in class. For my intercultural communication class, I also have to write a short paper, but it can be in Japanese or English. There are five prompts to choose from, and I think I'll do the one on the languages used in my home country.

Amy Lim, a fellow dormmate/ exchange student, mentioned that she was going on Saturday to see fireflies at the nearby Shimogamo Shrine, which is famous for them. Arianna and I decided to go with her. The fireflies themselves weren't that exciting; they were very scattered and impossible to photograph. And my camera battery was dying, so I didn't get many decent pictures. But it was fun.


And yay for Camille's graduation! High school is finally over!


In mid June I went to a workshop on finding jobs as an exchange student in Japan. It turned out to be geared towards students who are living in Japan for a year or more, and thus can work long-term, so it wasn't terribly useful for me. But there were recommendations for a few companies to try, including ones that have branches in the United States.

Last week I went to the shopping mall at Kyoto Station. 

The giant Aeon Mall

I was able to buy a can of pickled vegetables, and another of olives, which I haven't been able to find anywhere else. There were also giant cheese wedges, which I was really excited about. In America, they would be normal-size cheese wedges, but because lactose intolerance is a lot more common in Japan, most dairy products come in tiny servings. I decided to save the cheese as a reward for a later time though.

As predicted, the Grave of the Fireflies movie night ended in lots of crying.

The anti-war film, Grave of the Fireflies, tells the story of two orphans immediately post war in Japan. It is tragic.

This week, we're watching our first non-Ghibli movie: Battle Royale.


In my Intercultural Communication class, we had a big discussion instead of the usual lecture. It rambled, since everyone was getting a say, but I liked the rambling. There was a Bulgarian girl with some very strong opinions on cultural differences. The Japanese students were mostly quiet, except when someone asked a specific question relating to Japan.

I had my first forgot-how-to-English experience this week: A Japanese student handing out flyers for some event started talking to me in English about the event. She asked me if I had a phone (the flyer had one of those codes that you scan with a smartphone) and I just stared at her, because I couldn't remember what "phone" meant. Then she asked, "Ketai?" (cell phone) and my brain went, "Aha! I know that one!" So I told her that no, I didn't have a smartphone, and that was the end of that.
There's a big mall near Kyoto Station, but the only time I tried to find it on my own, I got horribly lost. This Friday, I tried again, and managed to find it within ten minutes. I didn't buy anything, just wandered around looking. But now I know how to get there in the future. I also got some nice pictures of Kyoto Tower while I was there.

Love you all!

Aoi Matsuri and the Month of May

On one of Julia's treks into or out of the Kyoto main train station recently she came upon a lighted art installation that changes randomly every few weeks or so. She had yet to see it and took a picture as it was a display of one her new favorite things in Japan. Koi!

She also sent us a nice update:

 "Two Fridays ago was Aoi Matsuri, one of Kyoto's three major festivals. We didn't get a day off from classes, but we did get to leave class early to see the procession as it went through the park near Doshisha Campus. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera, but fellow exchange student Arianna Hayes took some great pictures.

The Aoi Matsuri (葵祭) is one of Kyoto's three most well known and historic festivals and takes place every May 15. (The other two are the the Gion Matsuri - which goes throughout the month of July- and the Jidai Matsuri - on October 22nd each year.) Because of the popularity of the Aoi Matsuri, which began back in 794, the word Matsuri came  to mean festival in the  Japanese language as far back as the 1100s! Which is before the Canterbury Tales were written by about 200 plus years... Aoi means Hollyhock- so in many ways, the Aoi Matsuri is a celebration and welcoming of spring much as Easter is in Christian nations. Almost all of the participants in the parade wear hollyhock leaves pinned or sewn onto their clothing.

By the time the Imperial family moved to Kyoto in 1185 the festival was already a VERY big deal. During the festival all eyes are focused on the centerpiece- a grand parade with more than 500 people dressed in the clothing style of the nobility from the Heian Period (794-1185) who then walk through the city from the Imperial Palace to the Kamo River Shrines.  Doshisha University is across the street from the Imperial Palace. So Julia had a front row seat!

No one is certain how the festival began, but it is believed that there were natural disasters such as river floods that the people believed were  caused by the deities of the Kamo River Shrines. The disasters decreased after the Emperor made public offerings to the gods,  and thus - in the beginning anyway- a new celebratory tradition was begun in honor of the Emperor's sacrifice. 

Historically, a young female member of the imperial family acted as the Saio, the high priestess of the Kamo Shrines. In those days, during any festival, the Saio performed the sacred ceremonies at each of the shrines. Today, a single woman from Kyoto, who undergoes purification rituals,  is newly chosen every year to serve as Saio and she travels through the parade on a simple palanquin carried by 8 men.

Today's festival is an elegant reminder of those parades and celebrations of old as well as a nod to the great and long history of the region. There are giant floral bouquets, women and men on horses in elaborate costumes and make-up, men in clownish bright yellow striped jumpsuits,  parasols crowned with more flowers, gorgeously adorned ox carts, and dozens of beautifully clad women and children in kimono accompanying the year's Saio. 

Saio on her Palanquin

More from Julia:

"Later that day, I went with a group of other students to Ninja Kyoto, a ninja-themed all-you-can-eat restaurant. I was expecting it to be very touristy, and it was a bit, but most of the customers were Japanese. The staff were all dressed like ninjas, complete with masks and fake knives (at least, I assume they were fake!). There were lots of great desserts, though no one was able to keep eating for the full hour and a half we had reserved. Towards the end of our time there, one of the staff gave a juggling performance. He started by juggling some balls, gradually increasing the number, then switched to plastic bowling pins. Finally, he juggled knives! I'm guessing those were also props, but you never know. They are ninjas, after all. 

Friendly Ninja Maître d'

Are those real Ninjas??? They look a little clean...

ninja knife juggler

the Ninja cheesecake frog dessert...

Sometime around Mid May- Julia received her first care package from home. We sent her the one thing that she couldn't find in the local conbini- that she was really craving, and some other stuff too.

 This was the photo response we got to Chips n Salsa in Japan!

We also sent koi food for her to feed the campus fish!

As she promised, Julia took a few photos for us of the Doshisha Campus. If you didn't know it, Doshisha was founded in 1875 and established along the lines of a classic British University. It is a beautiful campus and most of it looks like it should be on the east coast of the U.S. or in England. 

This is the Kofukan Building - where most of Jule's classes are.

The main campus walkway.

As we turn to June, the weather in Kyoto is settling into humid, humid, humid:

"Humidity is starting to set in. It's not that bad, but the combination of clouds and heat is really confusing for me as a Californian. Those things aren't supposed to go together! 

I sent in a submission for Ploughshares Emerging Writers Contest. There's an entry fee of $24, but I also get a subscription to their magazine out of that and it's $1000 if I win, so it seemed a fair gamble. 

 In my Japanese culture class, we went to a study room and practiced Buddhist Zen meditation, which is something we've been learning about in the process of learning about religions in Japan. A Buddhist monk came to the class and explained the principles and history of meditation, then we tried it for about 15 minutes. My legs got stiff from trying to sit correctly, but apart from that, it was relaxing."

(Julia doesn't normally sit cross legged!)

     Love you, and hope everything is good at home.

-Julia

As we waltz into summer, Julia is approaching her half-way mark! 

As of June 7 she will have been on exchange for 10 weeks and her total time in Japan is 20 weeks! And after that, it is just 7 weeks until Camille and I arrive in Kyoto, and only 8 weeks until Nick gets there too! Time sure does fly when you're busy!

I'll leave you with a last couple of photos shot by Jules on one of her outings-

Her morning walk to school along the Kamo.

Japanese Wysteria in Bloom.

Sayonara!

Golden Week, Map-eating Deer, & Tea Ceremonies,

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, and I apologize for that. May is always crazy busy: fundraisers, end of track season, and the High School Career Fair  that I also run. 

But as we approach June, I finally get some breathing room again!

Time to catch up on Julia in Kyoto! She writes:

 “Remember the okonomiyaki I mentioned before? I made it! 

Julia's homemade Okinomiyaki!

 On the subject of food, I recently went with some other students from my Japanese class to a parfait place. We all got delicious desserts, a few people got actual food, and talked about the class.

Julia's Parfait!- the reddish lump is Red Bean paste
 made from Adzuki Beans and lightly sweet. Good Protein!

 Afterwards, half the group went home, while the other half wanted to do karaoke. I went with the karaoke group. We mostly sang popular American songs that I vaguely knew, but there were a couple of anime theme songs thrown in, plus the Japanese version of "Let It Go." We got back late, so I didn't get to sleep until 1 AM, but I had the whole weekend to sleep in.

I've been walking to school the last few days. It takes about half an hour, but I get to pass by the river where I usually go running, and seeing it is a good way to start the day. There are ducks and pigeons and some kind of raptor. (I haven't figured out what it is. Probably a hawk?)"

Enjoy Julia's walk to school!

These are all shots along the Kamo River in Kyoto- the main river. The northern part of the city actually sits at the confluence of two large rivers flowing from the mountains above town- the older Kamo and the Takano- that merge together to become the great Kamo River. The Kamo that Julia sees every day will continue to swell in size throughout the summer months.

Remember to click on pictures if you'd like to see them larger!

Julia took this picture of a great Blue Heron on the Kamo

And now more from Julia:

Golden Week is coming up, which means a week of no school. I feel like I'm just getting used to the schedule… Anyways, some students are talking about traveling during the break, but no definite plans yet. I'd like to go to the deer park in Nara, since I'm pretty sure I know how to get there via the subway, and I need more animal contact. The koi fish are nice, but they're not furry. They do give very nice finger nibbles though.

There's a store near the university that sells manga, DVDs, and CDs. They have used CDs for just 300 yen! I bought the only YUI album that I didn't yet own, and was able to import it onto my iTunes. And yes, Camille, they have K-pop. And Acid Black Cherry. So if there's something that's hard to find in the US, let me know." 

 A Little About Golden Week:

Golden Week, one of the biggest holiday celebrations of Japan, was a few weeks ago from April 29-May 5th: During the week Julia had no classes and had an opportunity to do a little exploring.

Golden Week is actually 4 different holidays that are simply grouped together:

April 29 is Showa Day (Showa no hi) which was the birthday of Emperor Showa, who died in 1989.

May 3 is Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi), the day in 1947 when the new constitution came into effect.

May 4 is Greenery Day (Midori no hi) (which used to be celebrated on April 29th) and is similar to our Arbor Day, but much more popular than Arbor Day. Greenery Day became much more popular during Emperor Showa’s life and after his death because he was a devotee of the natural world.

May 5 is Children's Day (Kodomo no hi) however it is really just the Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku) which is celebrated on this day! (The Girl's Festival is celebrated on March 3.) Families pray for the good fortune of their sons with colorful displays of carp kites and samurai dolls, which both symbolize a long, strong, successful life.

Here’s what Jules had to say about her Golden Week and her visit to Nara, an ancient Imperial City of Japan just a few hours south of Kyoto by train:

 “I went to Nara with three other students. Our goal was to go to the deer park, which is exactly what it sounds like: a park full of deer that people are allowed to feed. For 150 yen, you could buy a packet of deer biscuits (shika senbei). The deer in Japan are a lot smaller than in America and they acted like a cross between dogs and goats. They followed people around and tried to eat things they shouldn't. One buck ate the tourist map my friend bought! Afterwards, we went to see the nearby temples. I took lots of pictures, which I'll be uploading soon once I edit them and decide which ones are best.

I also took pictures of Doshisha campus. Those will be added later too.

Adorable deer among the shrines. It is illegal to hurt the deer in anyway.
 To protect the deer, no traffic is allowed in the main part of town .

Julia collecting water to drink at a shrine in Nara.

Nara was previously an Imperial Capital back in the middle ages, for a few hundred years.

Todai-Ji Buddhist Temple in Nara- Japan's largest statue of Buddha lives within.

Enjoying yummy street food- Julia's having onigiri- hot steamed Rice cakes!

Yes, that's not only legal- it's encouraged!!

More from Jules:

"Today, I'm at one of the other girl’s dorms watching anime (Mom edit-Japanese Cartoons –not always for kids!) and eating lunch with the group from Nara. It requires a lot less running around than yesterday!”

“There was a test when we got back from Golden Week, but I misread the schedule (easy to do, since it's in Japanese) and studied the wrong topic, so I didn't do very well. I explained this to the professor, and she offered to let me retake the test. I did the retake on Friday, which felt a lot easier than the first time.

Japanese language test! Have fun reading that!

 In my Japanese culture class, we've been learning about tea ceremonies. Yes, there's a whole ceremony centered around drinking tea. The professor brought in green tea and rice candies for us to try. The candies ran out before I could eat one, but I got to try the tea. It was less bitter than the green tea I usually get in the U.S. -not quite sweet, but good.”

Tea Ceremony - And this is a link to watching a video of a Japanese Tea Ceremony.

That' s all for this post! Sayonara!

Kyoto Rains & Julia Eats

Julia sent us an email with a few delicious details!

My classes are Japanese language (Mon-Fri), Japanese Culture (Thursdays) and Intercultural Communication (Mondays). Japanese is mostly review at this point. My classes are only scheduled monthly, so some of them may change at the end of each month (like the classes that only meet once a week). My program is Japanese Language and Culture and the language portion is likely to stay the same all the way through August, but the culture courses are like to change more frequently.

I tried to buy a phone yesterday, but the vending machine wouldn't accept my credit card.

yes- you buy your phone from a vending machine...

The people working there were very polite and apologetic and gave me and Ariana (one of the exchange students who came along to get her phone plan changed) free tea. You could only pay in credit at that particular store, so long story short is, I still didn't get my phone. There are a couple of other places I can try instead…

There's a koi pond on campus. If you stand at the edge of it, the fish will swim over to where you're standing and say, "Feed us, human!" Okay, they don't actually say that, but they're clearly thinking it. I'm going to name all of them. 

I've been making a lot of soups for myself. I bought a bunch of different kinds of noodles, and I've been throwing them together with eggs, vegetables, and tofu. My grocery shopping process is basically:

“Do I know what it is?

 Is it vegetarian?

And…

Do I know HOW to eat it?”

 If the answer to those three questions is "Yes," then I buy it.

Other than an inexplicable craving for chips and salsa, I haven't had an issue with missing foods from home. I have plenty of stuff to experiment with!

This Giant Crab- kind of Famous in Osaka- sits above the crowds in a major shopping area... Julia took the photo when she visited the neighborhood in early April.

Editor Mom here: I went searching online and found all sorts of great looking Japanese recipes that Julia might be able to make with her ingredients on hand; especially tasty-looking is this Udon egg soup!

Ingredients (for two)

·         Udon Noodles – 200 g. (use dry udon, avoid the “fresh” pre-cooked kind you sometimes see in Asian stores)

·         Napa Cabbage – a few leaves

·         Spring Onion – one

·         Konbu – one small section

·         Eggs – two

·         Dashi – 3 teaspoons

·         Sake – one tablespoon

·         Soy sauce – one teaspoon

·         Salt – one teaspoon

·         Tenkasu – tempura bits

Preparation

·         Chop the napa cabbage horizontally, thin

·         Chop the spring onion

Cooking

Set up two separate pots, one large one (to cook the noodles), the other one smaller (to make the soup)

1.       Fill the large pot with water and bring to a boil 

2.      Cook the noodles for two minutes less than the instructions in the package suggest. (Usually the package says to cook the udon 12 minutes – if so, cook it for 10.) Do not add salt to the cooking water, Udon is already salted. 

3.      When the Udon is finished cooking, drain it and rinse it with cold water. Use your hands to rub off the slimy residue (after this udon becomes “al dente”).  

4.      Shake well in the strainer to get rid of excess water. Set aside.

5.       Put two cups of cold water in the smaller pot, place a piece of konbu in it, then bring it to a boil

6.      Once the smaller pot boils, add three teaspoons of dashi, the tablespoon of sake, the teaspoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of salt. The broth for Udon soup should have more dashi and be saltier than the broth for osuimono.

7.       Add the napa cabbage 

8.      Add the now cool udon into the broth.

9.      Once the broth boils again, crack open the two eggs and pour them over the Udon – be sure the yolks are a few centimeters apart so they can be served separately.

10.   Add the spring onions

11.    Cover and cook over a low fire for 1 or 2 minutes – ideally, the egg yolk should still be runny at the end of the process

12.   Ladle the broth and noodles onto large bowls, then place one egg yolk on top of each bowl. (That’ll be the “moon” we’re watching!) Be very careful to keep the egg yolks intact.

13.   Sprinkle with tenkasu if you like.

14.   Serve right away: udon needs be eaten hot.

Interesting Tidbit: when eating Udon you are suppose to slurp! It cools the noddles as they go in! Enjoy!

Julia took this photo outside the Aquarium in Osaka- That's one BIG Ferris Wheel!

Julia has had a few technical difficulties with ATM machines in and around Kyoto, so here's a link that might help. (Plus the guy who does it is kind of humorous...He takes his "Intro to Japanese ATMs" seriously!)

http://www.thejapanguy.com/how-to-use-a-japanese-atm-the-basics/

I think this would intimidate me...

And now- here's more from Julia’s recent email:

Rainy season has officially started. It's been raining roughly every other day, though luckily only for an hour or two at a time. Humidity is increasing as well, but it's not anywhere close to Florida-levels. 

Friday evening, I went to a welcome party for new students on campus. I got there early, so I went to say “hi” to the fishies before the event started. When I got to the pond, someone else was already there: a black and white cat, who was watching the fish and looking very serious. I'm pretty sure she was a stray, because she was skinny and did not want to be petted. But now I know where to leave cat food.

 The welcome party itself was fun. There were delicious desserts and a yummy vegetarian sushi (cucumber slices instead of tuna). I talked with two girls from Malaysia for most of it. We're all in the same dorm, but we hadn't spoken before due to all of us being shy. 

Saturday, Arianna and I went to an event for Doshisha freshman considering study abroad. All the current exchange students were invited so that the freshman could talk to us about our countries and the study abroad process, but not everyone went. Arianna and I ended up staying after the event ended so we could keep talking to two Doshisha students who were considering studying in California. We exchanged Facebook information with them, so that we can set up a time to meet and talk again. 

I found a recipe for Okonomiyaki that I can modify to make vegetarian! I bought the ingredients yesterday, so tonight, I'm going to try making it. 

Okonomiyaki- a regional specialty of the Osaka and Kyoto areas, usually made with a base of Napa Cabbage (like a potato pancake, but bigger).

 In other food news, I've discovered I really like red bean paste. There's a conbini nearby that sells a delicious breakfast thing that looks like a sandwich made from two pancakes with red bean paste in the middle. I have no idea what it's called, but it's really good. 

http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/dorayaki-japanese-red-bean-pancake/

Say hi to the animals for me!

Love you all,

Julia

Dorayaki is the sandwich with red bean paste! Conveniently, Mom found the recipe online and is sending it to Julia in her first care package which is on its way this weekend!!! With Chips and Salsa!

Meanwhile,if you want to watch someone make Julia's new favorite food, click the link and enjoy the show!

 making dorayaki at a food court.

 making taiyaki video… cute! Taiyaki is another similar Red Bean Paste snack. Red Bean Paste is called Anko, in Japanese!

Sayonara!