京都 - Kyoto

Wow. Where do I begin? Since I last posted, my Mum has come and gone, I have ridden the Shinkansen ('Bullet Train') across Japan and I have seen Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima. Well, let's do things in chronological order, shall we?

So, my Mum came to visit me in Nagasaki. I went to meet her at Nagasaki airport (the runway of which stretches out into Ōmura Bay) on Sunday 3rd February. We then spent the next six days in Nagasaki shopping, eating, sightseeing and socialising with some of my friends here. Her and May got on really well and everyone I introduced her to loved her. I took her to the hospital to meet some of the people I work with and about 75% tried to speak in English for her sake, even though only about 25% actually speak in English. There was a bit of laughing about the lack of a common language but that made everyone smile that little bit more to compensate.

It was nice showing my Mother my home turf here in Japan, but we had previously decided that we would travel a bit together too. On Sunday 10th February we woke up bright and early, said sayonara ('goodbye') to May and headed for Nagasaki Station. We got on a train to Fukuoka/Hakata (which took 2 hours) and there hopped onto an Hikari Shinkansen bound for Tokyo. We got off at Shin-Ōsaka Station and changed for a Shinkansen going through Kyoto. In a total of five hours travelling time we had travelled 854km, and the first 174 took two hours on the regular train. It was very impressive but a little weird travelling on the Shinkansen. If you imagine a film clip taken from a moving train and then imagine speeding it up and watching it in fast-forward, that was what it was like. Anyway, here's the Shinkansen we caught Hakata to Ōsaka:
After navigating Kyoto Station (which is the train station equivalent of a mystical labyrinth by the way) I managed to book us two nights in a traditional Japanese Ryokan (Inn).

It was a lovely little hotel. It was quite expensive but there was no arguing that we were travelling the Japanese way now. Plus, a large and delicious breakfast was thrown in. Can't argue with that. Aaaand do you see that table in the second photo... well, it has a heater built into it. You slide your legs under and it keeps your feet toasty while you enjoy a cup of ocha (tea) and an okashi (cake). Bliss.

The following day I headed out to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a Shinto shrine in the South-east outskirts of Kyoto. Although many of you might not recognise the name, some of you might recognise the place:


The shrine is dedicated to the Gods of rice and sake (Japanese rice wine) and is the main Inari shrine out of the 30,000 dotted across Japan. Needless to say, it is very popular with tourists and when I arrived there at around 10:30am it was packed. Even so, the beauty of this famous shrine was undeniable. The torii-lined pathway extends 4km up the mountain, Inari-yama. I didn't walk the entire 4km. As much as I was enjoying the stroll under the torii, the prospect of an 8km trek in the middle of February didn't appeal. Besides, I would be leaving Kyoto the next day and I still had some more sightseeing to do.

Next I went to Gion, the traditional entertainment district of Kyoto. It was here that I stood my best chance of seeing a real-life Geisha, as they still wander the streets here on their way to and from appointments. In a stroke of pure luck, I stumbled upon a Geisha posing for some photographers after being in Gion for only five minutes. Jackpot:
I stopped on the walk back to the Ryokan at the Kamo river. It was turning into a beautiful evening and what with the distant mountains and the river birds and the buildings of Kyoto on all sides of me, I decided to sit on the bank for a while and read some of my book.

After another night in the Ryokan, Mum and I went back to Kyoto Station. There we said goodbye. She got on a Shinkansen for Tokyo and I got on a local train to Shin-Ōsaka, and from there took a Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Mum is flying back to England from Tokyo Narita Airport today. I have been in Hiroshima for the past three days so I don't know what she got up to in Tokyo, but if her time in Nagasaki is anything to go by, it probably involved a lot of shopping :-)

Stay tuned for the next instalment, where Lily Goes To Hiroshima.

30 ⽇ - 30 Days

This is really it. I only have 30 more days here in Nagasaki, and 34 more days in Japan. How did I get here? How did I make it this far?
My Mum is coming to visit me on Sunday and will stay in Japan for two weeks. As great a blessing as this is, with it comes the need for a lot of preparation, planning ans socializing on my part. My social life has never been as active as it is now, I don't think. All of my friends at the hospital are really excited about her visit so I've been getting a lot of invitations for us both for dinner and stuff. I haven't had to turn anybody down yet but our schedule is getting so full that I might have to soon. I should stop complaining. It is reminding me how much a part of the hospital I feel now.

Speaking of socializing, May and I have been invited to Sinenkai this Thursday. Remember Bonenkai, the end of year party that was held in the middle of December? Well, Shinenkai is the start of year party. It will be a night full of food, alcohol and semi-naked dancing no doubt, at least it will if Bonenkai is anything to go by. Is it wrong that I am looking forward to it even though I know this? When I asked a few of the nurses on 6E if they were planning on going, they all raised their hands in unison and yelled, “Iku! Iku!” (“I'm going, I'm going!”). Looks like I'm not the only one who is looking forward to it.

No Beanstalk Though

Ha! I successfully made my own red bean sweet paste this morning, without a recipe I might add. Now I can conquer the world!

Here in Japan, everything has this sweet bean paste in it. You bite into a cake or pastry and expect it to be filled with jam or cream or something, but nine times out of ten it is filled with this paste. At first that bothered me but now I love it. I have no idea what it is called but it sure is yummy. I think I'm going to take some of the dry beans back to England with me so I can make some for my family.

Woo. Feeling productive.

⼦ども - Children

Here are a few photographs of the children who go to the hospital nursery. All of these photos were taken by May with her camera so I can take no credit for them whatsoever. (Where I have listed two names, the latter is the shortened version that we use over their full names).

Ayaka-/Aya-chan:
Aya-chan is the oldest child at the nursery. Last week, while playing with a piece of my hair, she asked "why is your hair yellow?". Very good question, Aya-chan. Unfortunately, even if I were able to explain in Japanese, I think the concept of genetic inheritance might be lost on a four year-old. Still, I think she has a lot of potential.

Tatsuhi-/Tabo-kun:

Hiroto-/Hiro-kun:

Reina-/Rei-chan:
Hiro-kun and Rei-chan are siblings. Watching Rei-chan play, you can tell she has an older brother. She's forceful, stubborn and a little rough. Oh, and everything is a competition. Yeah, I can relate to that, having grown up with two older brothers myself.

Yuto-kun:

Yuna-chan:

Rintoro-/Rin-kun:
May did well to get a picture of Rin-kun that isn't a complete blur. He never stays still. You have to watch out for him because he seems to like climbing on things and then jumping off them, and he'll happily use you as a prop in his never-ending obstacle course.

Haurka-/Haru-chan:

Yukika-/Yuki-chan:
It was a miracle to get a photo of Yuki-chan where she isn't crying. She doesn't like May and me, so cries for about 90% of the time we are there. The 10% when she isn't crying she is usually laughing at Hiro-kun pulling faces at her.

Tateki-kun (with Re-chan):
Tateki-kun is the most quiet, gentle little boy that you will ever meet. What's funny is that his Dad (who is a doctor at the hospital) is exactly the same.

Tateki-kun & Yuna-chan:

べっぷ – Beppu III

I know, I know, I went to Beppu like two weeks ago and I should really have posted about it by now. Better late than never though.

May and I left Nagasaki a week last Saturday on an 8:40 bus direct to Beppu. After a scenic and at points very windy journey, we arrived in central Beppu at around 12:30. Hungry, we quickly found our hotel, the Ekimae Goto Onsen, dumped our bags there and checked out the nearby train station for restaurants. We settled on a steaming hot bowl of udon in the end. We then explored the town a bit, found a Korean restaurant, much to our interest and then got on a tour bus of the local rigoku or 'hell springs'. These are some of Japan's hot springs that you definitely do not want to bathe in. Too hot and too toxic. Beppu is famous for it's hot springs by the way. There are two types, the rigoku hells and the onsen, in which you bathe. Our hotel, as its name suggests, sits directly over one of these onsen, which we had the pleasure of being able to use whenever we wanted.
We decided on the Korean restaurant for dinner because May has been making me salivate for months whenever she talks about Korean food – hot, healthy and spicy, mmm. The owner was Korean, so May enjoyed being able to speak in her native language for a night, and I was happy because I had a plate of awesome food in front of me. The owner was impressed that I managed to eat all of the kimchi soup that May ordered for me because kimchi is used in Korean cooking to make everything super spicy. Being English however, I grew up eating Indian curry so a little bit of spicy cabbage barely registered on my Hot-O-Meter.
After dinner, we explored a bit more, shopped, took some photographs. What made my night though was spotting something that I have been looking for in Japan for four months. It was something that I specifically wanted to give as a present to one of my family members and here it was, in a small souvenir shop in Beppu, Oita-Ken. It was cheaper than I expected too, although a little awkward to carry ;-)

Sunday started bright and early with a short train ride to Oita city, then a two-hour bus journey to Aso town in Kumamoto-Ken. From there we took another 40-minute bus ride up Aso-san (Mount Aso). We then took a cable car a few hundred metres to the top of Nakadake, one of the five peaks that makes up Aso-san. It was freezing - there was snow and everything - so we ran to take our first peek inside a volcano crater, got one of the Korean tourists who we met on the bus journey to take a quick photograph and then headed back down the mountain to a reasonable altitude. The photos we took didn't really do the spectacular landscape justice, but at least they have given you an idea of what I am talking about.

Cold, tired and hungry we made it back to Beppu at around 8pm. We did what anyone would have done in that situation: We went back to the Korean restaurant for dinner, into the open arms of the owner, and then soaked in the onsen at our hotel before heading to bed. Our bath was even more pleasurable as all the lovely food in our tummies hadn't cost us a penny. There was a Japanese man at the Korean restaurant who had had one too many sake's and on a whim decided to pay for the dinner of the two foreign girls sitting at the next table. Anything can happen.
After another quick dip in the hotel onsen the following morning, we checked out and caught our bus back to Nagasaki, squeaky clean but ready for a rest. It's amazing how tiring sitting on bus for hours on end is. I mean you're just sitting there, so why do you get off feeling like you need a good long nap?

*

People at the hospital are sensing that our time in Nagasaki is coming to an end. We have had three invitations this week already. Last week we had three also. We had to only pay for one of our meals last weekend. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, I am really enjoying making the most of my final few weeks in Japan. The people here are just great. Generous, kind, attentive. I have made some really good friends. It's almost a shame that I am leaving so soon.

せいじんしき - Seijinshiki Festival

The second Monday in January marks the Seijin No Hi, or coming of age day. Men and women who have reached the age of 20 (hatachi) celebrate on this day the start of their adulthood. It seems to be acceptable to celebrate Seijinshiki not just on this day though, at least things certainly look that way as May and I celebrated it this Saturday just gone. She is 20 years old according to the western counting system and I am 20 according the Japanese counting system (where you are 1 on the day you are born). So either way you look at it, one of us was supposed to be celebrating our coming of age.

Kumiko-san and Oka-san kindly arranged for us to be dressed in their kimono for the day. We had tried on yukata (summer kimono) at the International Festival that took place in October but these... these were bone fide, the-whole-nine-yards kimono. It took two people two and a half hours to dress both May and me. There were so many layers, bits of string, back-boards, padding, towels... ugh, it was all very exciting and interesting and something I will remember for the rest of my life, but boy, was it tiring. It was very similar to how I imagine being dressed in a corset would be like - lots of pulling, tugging, bracing yourself - as was the end result: very pretty, but difficult to walk and breathe in.


Once fully kimono-clad, we took a walk around the hospital (where we got dressed) and showed a few of our friends on the staff. There were many “Kawai ne!” (“Cute!”), “Sugoi ne!” (“Amazing!”) and “Kirei!” (“Pretty!”), which was all very nice. After some photo-taking we then got in to Oka-san's car and drove to Suwa-jinja (the main Shinto shrine in Nagasaki). Something to note: riding in a car with a huge obi shaped into a flower on your back is tiring work!


After only a few hours of wearing the kimono, we were glad to get them off and back into our jeans. I have a new-found respect for women who wear kimono regularly, particularly geisha, who's kimono are notoriously heavy. Really, it was hard work just standing in them. Doing anything else required additional effort too. Still, kire katta desu, ne! (they were pretty, weren't they).

べっぷのしゃしん - Beppu Photographs

I still don't have any time to write, so here are some photographs to keep you all quiet.