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Kansai adventure: 10-24-99 I took a trip to the Kansai region in the middle of the month, so I should catch up on that here... it was a lot of fun! Kansai a region to the northeast of where I'm located, and it contains four famous cities, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe. My trip was only four days long, so I didn't try to rush around and see it all- I visited Osaka and Nara. I am saving the rest for another trip. I began the trip with an overnight ferry to Osaka, which was quite fun. My accommodations were in a dorm-style room that could sleep up to eight people in bunk beds. I only had one roommmate, though, and she turned out to be very very nice... the Japanese will often go out of their way to help people, and this lady really proved that! It turned out she lives in Osaka, and she offered to drive me anywhere I wanted when the boat arrived. Yes, my mother told me never to take rides from strangers, but.. well... this is Japan, and she was a nice lady. I tried to say, "No, that's okay, I'll be fine on my own," but she insisted on helping me out, and I was taught that it's rude to refuse an offer more than three times in this culture. People from Osaka are known for being very outgoing and lively, and she was very much that way. Anyway, so after the boat landed, she pulled up in a BMW... now, this is very rare in Japan, only extremely rich people drive BMWs, so I found it really funny... I figure I must have been lucky, to have run into a really helpful and rich person! On the drive into the city, she called all her friends on her mobile.. (Listen to me, I sound like an Australian, calling it a mobile!! I meant cell phone. Yikes.. I am surrounded by Australians here, I'm picking up their lingo. Anyway.) So she called up all her friends to tell them she had picked up a gaijin (foreigner) and would they like to have breakfast with us? I was trying so hard not to laugh.. it was like I was a new toy she wanted to show off! It was apparently too early in the morning for her friends, so she took me to breakfast alone, and then to her sensei's house. (I do not know what her sensei taught... that was never explained. She was just some sort of sensei.) We chatted there for about half an hour, while the sensei put on her makeup and smoked... and before we left, the sensei gave me her phone number and told me to call her if I had any trouble once I was on my own. The Japanese are so incredibly nice, I tell you! Then we went to her office because she had to pick up something. Turns out she is higher-up in some cosmetic surgery company.. interesting! Then she drove me to Osaka castle, but because I had my suitcase with me, she dropped me off at the New Otani Hotel (near the castle) and told me I could store my luggage there while I went sightseeing. Now, this was really funny, because the New Otani is a really expensive, posh place... and since she dropped me off in a BMW, it looked like I was rich and would be staying at the hotel- I felt a little embarrassed explaining that I wasn't staying there, but that I was hoping to store my luggage for a bit. Apparently this was pretty normal procedure for them and it was no problem, but I felt pretty silly. So that was my interesting experience with the kindness of strangers in Japan! I enjoyed a day and a half in Osaka... it's a really amazing city, the second biggest in Japan. Very modern, very lively- great food and shopping... besides Osaka castle, I didn't bother looking for anything historic or cultural... because I knew I would get my fill of that in Nara. Osaka is all about having fun, in my opinion! There is this one street by a river that is famous for its restaurants... the whole street is lined with all these different restaurants serving lots of different kinds of foods. This was quite a treat for me, as it's rare to have a variety of foods to choose from in Ube. The street was crowded with people trying to choose where to eat, and was really lively altogether... lots of fun! I chose a Thai place. Yum. Another interesting place I stumbled upon in Osaka was Amerika-mura, which means America Village. It's where all the young, cool people hang out... I felt distinctly uncool because I was by myself, I was wearing fairly plain clothes as opposed to the crazy combinations of patterns that are in fashion here, my shoes weren't platforms... oh well! I am going to have to go back and dress for the occasion. :) But I figured I was cool by default anyway, because I am foreign. ;) Amerika-mura was really really amazing... it is a blast just to watch all the people milling around in their crazy clothes, with their dyed hair and sometimes outlandish makeup. There were lots of little inexpensive stores (which all played American pop music) and it was supposed to seem like a little part of America... it was interesting to see Japan's take on America. It wasn't particularly American, but it was cool! After Osaka, I spent a day and a half in Nara, which as mentioned above, is very historic. It was Japan's first real capital, and although it was only the capital for a fairly short time, it left a big impact. There are tons of temples and shrines there, including Todaiji, a temple with the famous Great Buddha statue. I had studied it in my art history classes of course, so it was great to see it! The Buddha was really amazing. You could donate a roof tile for the purpose of the continuing restoration work on the temple, for 1000 yen (less than $10), and you got to paint your name on it, and where you were from, etc. So being a good art historian, I donated a roof tile. :) It's nice to think that there will be a roof tile with my name on it on one of the most important temples in Japan. I got a picture of myself painting on the tile, too, so it's a neat souvenir. On the way back to Ube from Nara, I decided to stop at Himeji, in Hyogo prefecture. It's famous for its castle, which is considered the best castle still standing in its original form. It was truly amazing. The castle is totally what you picture when you think of the samurai era. Its design is genius, with a complicated system of defense which relies a lot on psychology rather than thick walls (although it has strong walls too, if it's lasted this long). As a bonus, I got a free English tour. There is this lady who gives English tours to whoever asks, and I felt a bit bad that I was the only one on the tour, but she was really nice and we had a nice time talking... since I had studied the castle in my art history classes, and I knew more about Japanese history than the average foreigner, we were able to have a really nice chat while we went on the tour. All in all, I had a wonderful trip... it was my first trip out of the prefecture on my own in Japan, and I loved the sense of freedom and adventure, and the wonderful sights I was able to take in. Such an amazing experience... |