Sugar Cube: September 2009

As of yesterday, I have been in Japan for an entire month. It went by so quickly mostly due to how busy I have been. I live pretty far from the center of Osaka, but I usually travel to Osaka about once or twice a week for entertainment and inevitably, shopping. A couple of weeks ago, Maria, her roommate Courtney, and I went to Osaka Castle with some new and old Japanese friends. It was beautiful and so well preserved. I have included a ton of pictures from that day. Japan is covered with Ginkgo Biloba trees, which after seeing in person are by far my favorite tree. They have beautiful fan-shaped leaves and are always such a vibrant green color. At Osaka Castle, Courtney was approached by a large group of school children all dressed up in their adorable uniforms including little white hats. Before they could muster up enough courage to talk to her, she invited all of them to take a picture with her. They were ecstatic and Maria and I joined the picture. It turns out, they were on a fieldtrip and had an assignment to find foreigners to speak English to. They had a sheet of paper and would read questions such as, "Where is your favorite place in Japan? What is your favorite Japanese food?" It was adorable, and they were so excited to talk to us. The boys were shy, well, most of them. One of them told Courtney in English that she had a "nice figure." It was so funny! The girls were very bold and quick to introduce themselves to us. At the end, they shook all of our hands and thanked us multiple times. I think it is amazing that in Japan children learn English at such a young age. After leaving Osaka Castle, we went to Tsutenkaku, which is a well known tower in Osaka. There are many shops and restaurants surrounding it and it is beautifully lit at night. After that, we walked to Namba, which is becoming one of my favorite places in Osaka. There is so much to do and see in Namba.

Adorable dog spotted.

Adorable dog's owner stops to let us pet and take pictures of said dog.

Second sighting of adorable dog. Napping with a tiny towel laid across it's back.

Japan beautifies everything, even railing and manhole covers.

Cute culture

Earlier in the same week, I received a phone call from a Japanese woman. "Andy desu ka?" (Is this Andy?) At this point, only my American friends had my phone number so I didn't know who it could be. The woman asked if I knew who she was and I said no. She told me her name was Kaoru and I still didn't know who it was. It turns out it was my good friend Tanya's cousin. Tanya's father is Japanese and most of her relatives from that side of the family live in Osaka. Tanya had given her family my phone number and email just in case I needed anything while I was in Japan. It was so nice of her. And within days of receiving my information, Kaoru was already calling. I felt so special. She said she wanted to meet up with me and I told her that Sunday would be perfect. She speaks perfect English, which is great because my Japanese is still very poor. We decided to meet in Umeda which is the center of Osaka. Sunday approached and I realized I would have to take the complex train system by myself, something I had not done yet. Luckily, Jake is very familiar with the lines and mapped out the route I would need to take. It seemed easy enough and I would only need to change trains once. I made it to Umeda with no problems! I felt very accomplished and realized the train system is pretty simple. I called Kaoru when I arrived at the meeting place. I brought a tiny cake for her that looked so delicious. She came right up to me and she was with her (and Tanya's) uncle Hironobu. I had heard such great things about Uncle Hironobu from Tanya so I was so excited to meet him. Hironobu had emailed me earlier in the week letting me know if I needed anything to give him a call. He advised me that he didn't speak English very well, but his English was very good and he could understand everything I said. They asked me if I was hungry, I was starving! They took me to a beautiful restaurant downstairs from a theater. It was a tonkastu (breaded pork) and fried prawn restaurant, two of my favorites! The restaurant was dimly lit and had big stones that you stepped on surrounded by tiny stones. We sat down and thankfully Kaoru read the menu to me. They ordered me a bento with tonkatsu and several tiny bowls full of different items. And Hironobu ordered three enormous fried prawns, one for each of us. The tonkatsu came with a small mortar and pestle full of sesame seeds. Upon grinding, the smell of sesame was intoxicating. Most meals I've eaten here come with a small shredded cabbage salad. This was no exception, but they give you a huge portion of cabbage that they refill when you finish out of a huge basket. My bento arrived and it had tonkatsu, eggplant, soft tofu topped with a tempura mushroom, another spicy tonkatsu type meat, and a mystery bowl which I couldn't figure out. It was delicious and kind of nutty. I started to eat and realized how huge my portion of food was. I just started powering through so I wouldn't get full before I got to my panko breaded prawn. When I finally got to the prawn, it was heaven. It was enormous as I said before, but also tender and perfectly fried. They served it with lemon and exceptional tartar sauce (or as my mom would say it "ta-ta sauce"). It was definitely the best meal I have eaten in Japan. And I drank the coldest, most refreshing beer with my meal. After lunch, they asked me if I wanted to go shopping. I of course said yes. They took me to Loft, which Hironobu advised me was one of Tanya's favorite stores when she lived in Japan. It quickly became my favorite store. It was seven floors of the most amazing Japanese products. I found the stationary section and loaded up! After shopping, we went back to the busy Umeda Station. We said goodbye to Kaoru and Uncle Hironobu showed me the way home because he lives a few stops past mine. It was such an fantastic day and I am still amazed at the level of hospitality they showed me. I am essentially a stranger to them, but they treated me like family and I am eternally grateful. Kaoru also invited me to wear kimono with her in Kyoto in Autumn. You can rent beautiful kimono, get dolled up, and walk around Kyoto taking pictures in them. I can't wait!

At school, they have a ton of clubs and events that the international students can sign up for. I signed up for so many different events. I will be cooking and serving food for the International Festival in November, wearing a yucata and learning a traditional dance this Saturday, attending a Japanese cooking class on Sunday, and I just went to the Kyoto Handicraft Center last Sunday to make a Japanese woodblock print. It was so much fun! I have detailed pictures of the process below. After we made our crafts, the whole group of us had lunch at a restaurant with a beautiful view of Kyoto. I had the "Japanese lunch" and it was delicious. Kyoto is the most beautiful city. There are many shrines and temples and you are bound to see several people walking around in beautiful kimono. I am so excited to see Kyoto in November when all the leaves are turning orange and red, I know it will be breathtaking. After lunch, we walked to the Heian shrine. There is a beautiful, brightly colored torii (Shinto gate) at the entrance to the shrine. The shrine was huge and every building was very detailed. I took tons of pictures, I'm so glad we went.