TravelStream™ news feed for member brianneinjapan on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/brianneinjapan en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:15:19 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1212237960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1212237960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1212237960/tpod.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:15:19 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Miyazu, Kyoto-fu, Japan

With only a few weekends left in Japan, I'm in a rush to pack in all of the things that I want to do before I leave. This weekend I crossed Amanohashidate off of my list of things to do. It is a famous sandbar, connecting two sides of the tango peninsula (Monju and Fuchu) in the northern part of Kyoto prefecture. Amanohashidate means 'bridge to heaven' in Japanese, and is known as one of Japan's top three scenic views. It is approximately 2.3 miles long, 600 feet wide, and is supposedly covered with 8,000 pine trees, though I'm not sure who took the time to count them all. I took the train straight from Tokyo after my Peace Boat interview, and arrived on Saturday a few hours before my friend Shannon. It was an excellent way to relax and clear my head after a stressful week leading up to the interview. The area of Miyazu was very quaint, and very much in the middle of no where. (3 hours from my home in Kobe.) I took a bus across the peninsula and surprisingly had no trouble finding my youth hostel that was tucked away in the mountain. I immediately noticed how kind and friendly people were. Everyone seemed to be interested in why I was there, and had all the time in the world to stop and chat with me. I enjoyed a lovely evening roaming around the port and pine grove, trying to catch sunrise, which I inevitably missed because of the cloudy weather. (Inevitable only because I seem to be having the worst luck with sunrises and sunsets these days.) One man caught me snapping pictures at the port and invited me back to his house (he lived about 6 meters away.) He had all sorts of questions about why I was there and what I was doing in Japan. I did my best to answer him, and exclaimed how lucky he is to have such a beautiful view from his house. "Oh this, this is nothing, you should see it on a good day," he told me. He later introduced me to his wife, who showed me all of her homemade crafts, dolls, bags, pictures, flower arrangements, wall hangings, etc. I wonder if I'd be as productive with my time if I had a view like that to wake up to each morning...We got on the subject of my job, and she informed me that her middle aged daughter had started taking private English lessons in a nearby town. Oh I must know her daughter's English teacher, she exclaimed (because I'm a foreigner living 3 hours away AND I speak English.) I told her I was pretty sure I didn't know any private English teachers in the area, but she called up her daughter to get the name of the teacher just to check. A few minutes later it was confirmed that I did not in fact know the man who had been living in the boondocks teaching English for 4 months. Cheers to you if you come across this Marco!Later that night, I started to get hungry and went in search of a restaurant or even a convenience store. I walked and walked and walked, but everything seemed to be shut down. Finally I happened upon a western looking shop called St. John's Bear. The woman was closing a back awning but when I approached her to ask about store hours, she beckoned me in saying it wasn't a problem. She seated me, asked how I was doing, and gave me a menu- ALL in Japanese. But when it came time to order, she suddenly seemed to forget that I spoke Japanese and insisted on having an excruciatingly painful conversation in what she thought was English. I have never in my life been so utterly confused by a single conversation. I tried to make things simple by ordering the daily special, which she told me was sold out, but then told me I had to get it, only to later inform me that the chicken was cooked in yoghurt (which causes my throat to swell up), so I couldn't get it after all. I tried to ask if there was anything without dairy, but she just kept saying things like "umm, one, say, off, I, cook, umm, leaves, read, umm." GOOD! These words were mostly in Japanese, with a random English word here or there. I couldn't understand why she was speaking such short, childlike Japanese with me. I tried to tell her that I spoke Japanese, but she kept talking to me like I was a two year old. Then I wondered if perhaps she wasn't actually Japanese and maybe that's why she wasn't speaking to me in Japanese. That feeling of guilt left quickly when her husband came out and they spoke to each other in fluent Japanese. Upon hearing their conversation, I tried to tell her that I'd just take anything off the menu that didn't have dairy but she wouldn't hear me out. She kept talking over me with her husband yelling things in the background, and waving around a chicken breast. Finally it got to be too much. I stood up, went to her husband, explained my allergy, and asked what he recommended. He told me that he'd just cook the chicken in a different sauce, no problem. WHEW!The food came in a blink of an eye, and I ate slowly, trying to pass time until my friend Shannon's train would be getting in. 30 minutes later the husband came out and brought me my self-serve coffee himself, and proceeded to stand there waiting for me to drink it. I thought this was a bit odd, but the town was dead, all store lights were still on. Perhaps he was just bored and curious about the new foreigner in town and wanted to offer her the best of his services. I quickly tried to finish my coffee, despite the fact that it was scalding hot, and got up to pay. He seemed relieved and I asked him what the store hours were. He bashfully told me that they had actually closed at 8 (15 minutes before I even entered the restaurant) but continued to apologize to me for the inconvenience. I felt awful for taking up so much of his time, and for riling up his wife, which sent me into a long winded Japanese style apology (loads of bowing and repeating the same thing over and over.) He assured me that it was fine, and even sent me out the door with two free hard boiled eggs, from his very own chickens, to eat for breakfast the next morning. A few minutes later my friend Shannon, arrived in some Japanese person's car, because the buses and ferries had all stopped. Thank God for good Samaritans. We cozied up in our lovely hostel for the night, and awoke 4 hours later to catch the sunrise down at the pier. We enjoyed our homegrown eggs, as we played Where's Waldo with the sun that occasionally peaked through the clouds as it climbed its way up into the sky. It was still rather cold out, and nothing was open yet so we went back to our hostel and caught a few hours of sleep before heading out for the day. Later in the morning we rode chair lifts up the mountain to Kasamatsu Park, where we took in the view of the sandbar mata-nozoki style. Apparently when one bends over and looks through their legs at Amanohashidate, it appears as if it is a bridge leading to heaven. There are 'mata-nozoki' stands all over the place where you are expected to try out this theory. I tried, and while it was beautiful, I'm not sure it's the route that's going to get me to heaven. I later found out that the sandbar got its name not so much from the view, but from an old Japanese legend. Long, long ago the God, Izunagi-no-Mikoto, and Goddess, Izanami-no-Mikoto, used the sandbar as a bridge to come down from heaven in order to visit the Konomiya shrine in Fuchu. Either way, it's a lovely view. We took the chair lifts back down the mountain, and rode speed boats over to the other side of the peninsula where we rented bikes and rode back across the 2.3 mile sandbar. The weather was beautiful and the bike ride was very refreshing. We picked up lunch at a supermarket and stopped to eat along the beach on our way back across the sandbar. Just as we were packing up for the day, and getting ready to catch our train home, our friend Brenda arrived. Really bad timing- but all I can think to describe it is 'zannen.' Maybe equivalent to "shucks" or "it's too bad." This is just the start of me being lost in translation. Soon I will be back in the States, away from Japan and all those speaking Japanese. But that doesn't mean that these Japanese phrases will immediately stop popping into my head, nor does it mean that I will be any better at explaining them in English. Living in another country not only offers the experience to study a language, and experience the life of a local, but it also allows the chance to start thinking like someone else. In my case, I've started thinking like the Japanese in many ways. I've gotten use to extra packaging, public transportation arriving on time, and people being courteous. I have come to expect excessive apologies and bowing, along with chopsticks and warm toilet seats. I speak passively and have forgotten how to tip. I think it's normal for girls to wear leggings in the summer and I shudder at the sight of a guy in baggy clothes. I throw peace signs in my pictures. And I cannot avoid certain Japanese phrases, even when I'm speaking English, simply because they're better said in Japanese, and take on different meanings when translated into another language. BUT... that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to coming home and seeing all of you!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1211545200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1211545200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1211545200/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:38:45 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kobe, Kinki, Japan

This week I volunteered to get away from my desk, while my students were taking their midterm exams, and head out to take pictures for a guidebook that our students made. The weather was beautiful, and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get out and enjoy it. I had two days to try to navigate my way around Kobe, searching for the places in the book. My job was to take pictures that somewhat matched the descriptions, so that Kobe city could later use them to create a listening test. I had a riot! And I learned a lot about Kobe. I visited temples, shrines, parks, lakes, rivers, stadiums, shopping streets, sought out fault lines, got free rides from strangers AND managed to take loads of pictures. But more importantly, I met many people and spoke Japanese for nearly two days straight. It was a great experience for me. The places in the book were all over my ward (Japan's system of breaking down areas- kind of similar to townships in the States) and I hadn't the slightest clue how to get to most of them, so I had to stop for directions- a lot. I had a number of interesting experiences but would just like to share a couple. Mystery man in the park: At one point I approached Oike Lake where I was suppose to take pictures of a park. There were no signs locating the park, but I was pretty sure I was at the only lake in the area. So I walked up to an elderly man who was busy painting a picture of the beautiful scenery. In Japanese I asked him, "is this Oike Lake?" and he told me yes. As I was walking away he said, in perfect English, "Are you Brianne?" My mouth dropped. Here I am prancing around in a park no where near my home or school, scantly clad to work on my tan, and someone recognizes me?? He must have seen the shock in my face, because he went on to tell me his name. It didn't ring a bell until he took off his hat. Turns out, he's the substitute professor who comes to critique the young art teacher who just came to my school this year. He only comes once or twice a week, and we've never been introduced to each other- but I have seen his face 2 or 3 times. The fact that he knew my name, could speak English, and just happened to be painting a picture of the same lake that I was suppose to be photographing was eerily coincidental. After formally introducing ourselves, we continued to talk for a while. I was busy rambling away, trying to explain why I wasn't at school, and he offered advice about how to get to the most picturesque areas. Now when I see him I make sure to say hello to him (on the rare occasions that he comes to school.) I'm still waiting for him to bring in his finished masterpiece that he was working on that day at the lake.Boy on the bus: After a discouraging day out to the middle of nowhere to find fault lines that no one seemed to know even existed, I was heat stricken, and still feeling the effects of the virus that I picked up in India. I boarded a bus back to the station, and quickly became lost in my own thoughts as I stared out the window. I was thinking about the people who helped me out that day, or the people who purposely avoided me. I zoned in on people in general, and couldn't help but think that even though the world is small- people are NOT actually all the same at heart. I knew it was a bad thought to think, but honestly- people in different countries have different priorities, different thought processes, and different concerns. Part of me began to think that Japanese people (this is me thinking negatively AND over-generalizing here, my apologies) can be a bit heartless at times. As I am thinking this an elderly man gets on the bus. I'm sitting in the back seat, three seats in, and cannot possibly offer him my seat without disturbing the rest of the passengers. There is a high school boy sitting next to me, and his mother is on the outside. She gets up, grocery bags in hand, and offers her seat to the elderly man. The bus ride is very shaky and instead of walking away, she takes him by the arm and guides him to the seat. I rarely see people give up their seats to anyone in Japan, and I ride packed trains at least twice a day if not more. It just isn't something that is done in Japan. If you get a seat, you keep it. School kids, men and women my age, it doesn't matter, people rarely offer up their seat. In the few instances that I have seen someone offer up their seat, I have never seen anyone do it with such care. Usually they just get up and walk away, or maybe motion at the free seat. But this woman nearly carried the man to the seat, groceries in hand, leaving her young, healthy son behind. At this point I'm wondering what is wrong with this student that he didn't let his mom take his seat, or at least offer to hold the groceries. My negative attitude is not yet gone and I'm seeing the worst of this situation, not the better. He opens his bag and pulls out some form of sugar in a box. I watch him nonchalantly pop one in his mouth amidst all of us sardines packed into the back row. At this point I'm thinking mean thoughts, 'yeah, you just eat that sugar, you lazy little...' and at that moment he turns to me and offers me a piece of candy. I am dumbfounded. Not only do people never offer up their seats, but they never EVER share food with strangers. I could not believe my luck. I took the candy, not because I wanted to eat it, but because I didn't want to disappoint the boy who was breaking out of the norm to speak to the foreigner sitting next to him. I thanked him, and commented on how delicious the candy tasted. I tried to name the flavor, and mistakenly said buta instead of budo- although a single letter difference in Japanese, it changes the meaning from grape to pig. I quickly corrected my lazy tongue and he laughed, and said 'grape' in English. Yes, good~ now the excited teacher in me was coming out. I sat for a bit, savoring the taste, contemplating what I should say next, and what language I should use. Should I speak to him in Japanese so as to not scare him? Or should I say something simple in English, and let him practice what he has learned in school? But he was up and out of his seat before I had the chance, apparently the next stop was his. I couldn't help but smile at how quickly a small series of events changed my outlook for the day. After my encounters on the bus, I was no longer thinking about my dehydration, my stomachache, or the fact that I had ridden 6 different trains and 2 different buses in the last 4 hours. Instead, I was thinking about the adorable little town of Murayama that I happened upon in the mountains. Turns out there are beautiful, quaint little areas of Japan existing right here in Kobe. I thought about the yummy popsicle, with actual chunks of grapes inside it that I had found to quench my thirst. But mostly I thought about how God is always looking out for us. He saw how my happy go lucky mood for the day had taken a turn for the worst. He realized, before I did, that I was no longer appreciating all the good things that had happened over the day and was instead stuck in a rut, assuming the worst. He knew this wasn't my style, and that it would be a shame to let such a great day go to waste. So he helped me out~ working through the people closest to me to bring me back on track. Amazing!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210246200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210246200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210246200/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 09:24:09 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

You know how sometimes things get sooooo bad, but all you can do is laugh because you know it's going to turn out to be the best story ever? Yup- had myself a cup of that tea when I returned to Delhi after the work camp. Our group of volunteers was all planning to board a tour bus straight from Delhi airport to explore India's golden triangle. Since I had already visited Agra, I had this crazy idea that I would go off to Jaipur early and explore a bit on my own before joining up with the group a few days later. Oh how silly and naïve I was. After much discussion, and some mad havoc in Delhi- I found another guy (James) in the group who was also planning to avoid a return trip to Agra. He had his hopes set on visiting the blue city of Jodhpur and I figured his company, regardless of the location, would be better than venturing off solo. The tour guide (DePee, who I prefer to call T-Bone) hooked us up with the numbers for a bus company, gave us directions, and told us he'd drop us off anywhere we'd like on his way out of town. The next thing we knew, we were thrown out to the curb, McDonalds in hand (since he insisted our stomachs couldn't possible tolerate Indian food this early in the game.... I think he must have misunderstood the fact that we had already been in India for over a week at this point), completely clueless to our whereabouts. It all happened so fast that we had no time to respond. Trying to remedy the situation, we (and by we I mean 2 inches of Brianne's right butt cheek) took a death ride to the Red Fort to try our hand at a bit of site seeing. In the Delhi heat, with our luggage on our backs, we quickly realized we weren't going to get around in the hectic city like this. We tried calling the bus company to find out their location in order to take our luggage there and leave it, but were dismayed to find out that we were given a false number. No problem, we'll just give ol' T-bone a call and get the correct number, right? WRONG. Turned out the rest of the crew was as fed up as we were with Mr. T-bone and they had kicked him off the bus. No bus company, no T-bone, next step- find bus of our own. After being haggled for an hour by touts loitering around the bus station- we finally found our way to the government issued ticket booth. I was quickly helped by a man who appeared from nowhere inside the ticket booth, he told me I was in the wrong place and walked me back up stairs to where we had been, and handed me over to a familiar face- the tout who had been stalking us earlier. Turns out the guy had followed us down to the office, snuck in, and fed us a line to get back upstairs. By this point, in the sweltering heat, with all of our luggage- we couldn't have cared less and agreed to fork over the 400 rupees for the bus ride that could cost less than that. Come back at 8, bus leaves at 9- they told us. Getting through traffic took longer than we anticipated and we showed up at 8:15. Everyone was in a rush, so James and I split up- he went to fetch our bags that were being held in the station and I did a snag and beverage run. Waiting for him to come back, they kept urging me to get on the buses that were approaching. Hop in a random moving vehicle crammed with lurking Indian men.... nah, I think I'll wait for my friend. When James got back we were shoved into a small truck, where I rode the stick the entire way to the NEW bus stop. There we waited in a room crawling with geckos for our bus to show up. At 9:30 we boarded a rickety bus with lush reclining seats and got ourselves all settled in for our 14 hour ride. Not 3 minutes into the journey something hit our tail end, and we pulled over at the next left. No one said anything. We waited. 30 minutes later I turned around to glare at the man poking his feet into my hinny through the seat, and saw the flashing lights behind us. We had been pulled over. We took a few pictures, and the police car drove away. James and I didn't think much of it because we assumed we were being pulled over for the collision. Two hours later (we had adapted to Indian time by this time in our trip, and had gotten lost in conversation) James went outside to check things out. We learned that our driver wouldn't be back, he had been arrested and taken to prison because he didn't have the adequate papers to be driving the bus. If we were lucky another driver might show up in the morning to drive the bus, either back into town, or on to Jodhpur. An accident, a police car, an arrested driver, a postponed trip- and yet NO ONE deemed any of this important enough to tell us?By this point, James is pissed, and I'm delirious (or at least that was the excuse I used for not being able to stop laughing.) We made our way off the bus and hailed a tuk-tuk who refused to bargain down his price of 100 rupees for a ride to the bus stop (a typical ride should cost only 20 rupees.) We had no idea where we were, so we agreed to the price, only to be driven 5 minutes down the road, where the original bus terminal awaited us. For PETE'S SAKE! Marching into the scamming office, we were luckily able to get our money back, and were chauffeured down to the government offices in the basement where we were told we could take a local bus to Jaipur and transfer to Jodhpur in the morning. 'Local' in India apparently translates to 'run down ghetto worse off than a school bus.' We got some more fluids, used the loo (during which someone tried to barge in on me and actually broke the hinges off the door) and boarded the bus by 1am. There were no lights, no AC, no reclining seats, not even a head rest. The hard as rock metal chairs came half way up our backs, and the heat and humidity had us clinging to the window for fresh air. Our new found friend sat in the back whistling at us, and random folk hoped on the moving bus, as we rolled through each stop light, trying to sell us stuff. We couldn't stop the bus because each time we idled the engine would kill and someone from the street would have to come on and help crank start the engine- CRANK START!!!!! I took a crank start city school bus across the country, after my tour bus got pulled over and the driver went to prison- who'da thunk? 6.5 hours, a sore neck, dry mouth, and moldy passport later- we finally arrived in Jaipur only to find out that we would be able to catch a connecting bus to Jodhpur until that afternoon- making it impossible to meet up with the rest of the group when they arrived in Jaipur later that evening. Having spent the last two nights on rickety buses, and fed up with all the travel- we decided to make a beeline for our guesthouse and pass away the day in Jaipur- oddly enough, my original plan. We managed to snag the only bicycle rickshaw that hadn't heard of our guesthouse, but he was too proud to admit it and instead drove us (and all of our luggage) up and down the hills and in and out of the alleys. At one point he actually asked a strapping young lad to help push us over the bridge- how's that for making you feel like the ugly, over weight American?Alas we arrived at our guesthouse which, thanks to team amazing leader Emily, was absolutely wonderful. We enjoyed long showers and spent the morning eating breakfast in the lush garden, and retiring to a game of cards- or 3. Afterwards I put James down for a nap, and hired a cabbie to take me out for the day. He showed me many a place in Jaipur, (the pink city, Hawa Mahal, Lakshmi-Narayan Temple, Jal Mahal, City Palace) took me to more ATMs than I could count, until one of them finally worked, helped me pick out fresh mangos, showed me his secret hook up for delicious street samosas, took me to the bank, the market, and treated me to fresh mango juice. At the end of the day I went back to the guesthouse and met up with the rest of the crew, happy to be reunited, and joining them on the last leg of their journey back to Delhi.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209286800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209286800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209286800/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 09:12:11 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kavali, Andhra Pradesh, India

As many of you already know, I recently volunteered to build houses in India- many thanks to those of you who helped to donate to the cause. Longitude, the Rhode Island based NPO that I went through, organized a group of 22 volunteers (20 of which were Assistant Language Teachers from Japan, like myself.) We went to Andra Pradesh, in the south of India, and helped to build houses for the Dalits (or untouchables) in Kothasatram and Indiranagar. These two villages were rural, about as easy to get to as Tainer Hollow. From Delhi we had to catch a two hour flight to Chennai, the nearest airport, and from there we had a 4 hour bus ride to Kavali, the nearest town with a hotel- where we stayed during the work camp. The KI villages were another 30 minute drive of that town. I grew up on a farm, so I know inaka (the sticks) when I see it- but 3rd world inaka and WI inaka are quite different. Our villagers lived in straw huts with dirt floors, and sometimes ate less than a single meal a day. During our time there we had to venture off in the fields to relieve ourselves, and bring in our own drinking water. I got the impression that the village we were working in was rather fortunate, as they had a local well, and a single line of electricity (that they often threw wires up on to steal juice for the TV or stereo that they had tucked away in their hut.) It was hard for me to understand how they could go without meals, but still possess these luxuries. Ravi, the leader of the ARV (Association of Relief Volunteers) group we worked with, broke down the village politics to us on the first day. Apparently class is a big issue in India, as the people we were building houses for were called the Dalits (or untouchables of India.) There was even a hierarchy amongst the two villages we were helping, which was apparent in the way they dressed, the size of their living quarters, and the way they treated each other. But as ARV was trying to bridge the connection between India and the Dalits, we were also trying to build friendships amongst the villagers and apparently it's working. A year a go the youth from the poorer village were too afraid to cross the line between Kothasatram and Indiranagar to come into the volunteer's tent to play. This year the kids roamed freely wherever we went.Our week consisted mainly of getting up at 7 for breakfast, heading to the villages around 8, building houses until 12, taking a long lunch break through the hottest part of the day, resuming work at 3, and heading back to the hotel around 7. We ended up taking a few days off because of sunstroke and Delhi belly (the inevitable stomach virus that comes with being in India) and even made it to the beach twice after work. One evening we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the Children's Feeding program (where funds donated on the website pay to feed each child in the villages an egg and a glass of milk each day) and another night we were invited to a ceremony commemorating the opening of an office for clean water in a nearby village. On our last night, the villagers dressed us up in traditional Indian clothing and we cut the ribbon on the first finished house before having our closing ceremony. At the ceremony the kids told us how happy they were that we came, and one woman even spoke about her gratitude- comparing us and our donors to Gods. While the days were long, the work was hot, and the heat was unbearable.... the experience will definitely be unforgettable. I was amazed with how open and welcoming the villagers were to us. They would invite us into their living quarters, hand over their children, and decorate our hair with flowers from their cash crop. It just goes to show that the less you have, the more you're willing to give. How can I have so much, and do so little with it? Coming back to Japan has been a bit of a shock. Yesterday I went to the doctor's office and was surrounded by hoards of people who were literate, well dressed, and having their health problems examined. Everyone had shoes, children had toys, and there was so much order to the whole process that I just wanted to wreak havoc and scream- disrupting everything and forcing people to break out of their routines, open their eyes, and realize how well off they are. I'm really glad I walked through this door that God opened for me. Not only was it an amazing experience in itself, but it has shown me that my desire to do more is not outlandish nor is it unachievable. There are people in the world who do amazing things, and I want to be one of them. Not just to create awareness and perhaps help others, but also, selfishly, to help myself grow as a person. I realized that I am happier when helping others, and while I am young and capable I should get out and do as much as I can.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209139200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209139200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1209139200/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 07:53:51 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

I flew out of Japan on April 25th with my friend Isaac. We arrived in Delhi at 2:30am, and took a cab to our mothball invested hostel for 3 hours of sleep before waking up and driving to Agra. We took off at 8am and arrived around 12 in our private air-conditioned car. In Agra we first visited Itimad-Ud-Daulah (otherwise known as the Baby Taj)- the tomb of Mizra Ghiya Beg. It consisted of many beautiful buildings, and hoards of Indian tourists who wanted to take their picture with the visiting foreigners. It started with one guy hollering at us from a far, I pretended not to hear, but kind-hearted Isaac approached the man and signed us up for an hour long photo shoot with what seemed like every man, woman, and child in the vicinity. I remember one moment in the rush where a woman fell over her own child (who had been discarded on the pavement.) I bent down to check on the baby, and she told me "you no worry about baby, you take picture." Wow! I couldn't help but wonder what this family was going to do with all these pictures afterwards. Part of me wonders if this is where they get the pictures that come in the frames when you buy them.....After the baby Taj, we went to visit Agra fort, one of the finest Mughal forts in India. On the bank of the Yamuna River, was first built for military purposes, but was turned into a palace by Shah Jahan, to which he was later imprisoned, for 8 years until his death, by his son Aurangzeb who seized power in 1658. I couldn't help but imagine how tough it must have been for the man to be confined to the fort, overlooking the Taj Mahal-the building that he built in memory of his beloved wife. I can only imagine the thoughts that went through his head each day as he gazed out at the memorial, unable to escape the memories.Saving the best for last, we visited the Taj Mahal in time to catch sunset there. I'm really glad we waited to go there until last, not only because it was the most beautiful and would have made the other sites seem less impressive, but because the heat had died down tremendously by this time- making the white marble floors a little more bearable to walk on. The Taj Mahal, known as the monument of love, was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 giving birth to their 14th child. The building took over 20 years to be completed, and by no surprise, as it's truly a magnificent structure. The entire time I was there I couldn't help but grin, thinking-I'm here, I'm at the Taj Mahal! They say the Taj is no where near as beautiful as it once was, due to acid rain and pollution. Since 1994 they have forbidden any new industrial developments in Agra, and have banned all polluting vehicles from coming within 500m of the Taj. What amazed me about the structure (in addition to its beauty) was the size of it. As the rest of the sites in India, it wasn't just one, but a series of buildings (minarets, mosques, jawabs, cenotaphs) all intricately designed. A series of ornamental gardens and fountains surround and divide the buildings. Walking out of the vicinity backwards, in order to enjoy every last second of the view, we made the hike back to modernity, met our driver, and saddled up for our 4 hour drive back to Delhi, where we would be allotted 3 hours of sleep before meeting the rest of the volunteers at the airport for our 5am flight to Chennai.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210372200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210372200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1210372200/tpod.html Tue, 13 May 2008 07:08:29 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Delhi, India

Oh Delhi. It's funny, I've always considered myself a city girl, ask my father, I'm sure he'd agree. But whenever I travel, I tend to HATE the big cities. Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh, Seoul, Bangkok... and of course Delhi. Yuck- yuck- yuck! Delhi is a traveler's nightmare. The city is loud, traffic is congested beyond belief, sewers are backed up, lodging is over priced, there are more touts than mosquitoes, and cattle roam the streets. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Delhi has its safe havens... I just wasn't lucky enough to find very many of them. Every time I returned to Delhi, I found myself faced with one problem or another: Isaac and I not being able to please anyone with our tips; a hoard of children trying to mug me at the mosque; James and I not being able to get out of the city; Emily, Ashley and I not being able to find a hotel that would take us in for the night. Delhi was rough. Surprisingly enough, the tourist attractions (once inside) offered a safe haven. I'm not exactly sure why this was either, since all sites cost locals far less than tourists- them paying 20 rupees to our 700. They all seemed like great places to escape to but perhaps the locals were just sick of it. I mean come on, how many times can a Minnesotan actually visit the Cherry and the Spoon? Once inside, sites like Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Jama Masjid, and Jantar Mantar were peaceful and serene offering fresh lawns to lie out in or cool cubbies to hole up in. Seemingly the perfect place to bring a good book, a journal, or a stack of unwritten postcards and waste the day away.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423540/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:20:39 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kobe, Japan

KOBE (March 17-19th)With the Japanese school year wrapping up this week, I had to go into school Monday- Wednesday to teach my final classes. I arranged for volunteer guides to take the family around while I was at work. On their first day they trucked around Kobe, exploring the harbor, Chinatown, and the cable cars up the mountain. I met them that night and we had a taste of Kobe beef- complete with digestive tablets for dessert (never seen that back in Wisconsin...) Day two involved a trip to the Earthquake museum and then a visit to a local farm out in the country. Mom and Dad were pretty amazed with the automatic milking system, and astounded by the 7+ dollar liters of milk. That evening we met up after I finished work, and we went to explore the harbor at night. We went inside Kobe Tower, much to mom's delight, and visited a fryery (kushi-katsu in Japanese) where we picked out random meats and vegetables, coated them in batter, and fried them up in the huge vat on our table. Dad and Alana were pretty scared by the smell when they entered the restaurant, but they ended up thoroughly enjoying the experience. On the 3rd day Mom and Dad went off to explore Himeji Castle in the rain, and Alana came with me to school. The vice principal introduced her as my "younger" sister in the morning staff room, and all the teachers gasped in surprise. We watched one of my JTEs teach a class, where the students just happened to be singing THRILLER as their warm up. Next she was put to work hanging up endless travel posters that my 2nd year students had made. Then she helped me to team-teach my final class at the school, which involved playing a game about the United States. Alana informed me that I have an accent when I teach my students, (When I teach class, I have to speak in really clear and concise English) which made me realize not that I teach with an accent- but that I have an accent when I speak normally. I've spent the past year trying to deny the fact that I have an accent, but if I'm speaking differently when I teach my students- perhaps the Midwestern dialect isn't as straightforward and clear as I'd like to believe. Wednesday night for dinner we went out for yakiniku (meat on a grill.) This was one of my family's favorite foods in Japan.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206423240/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:18:59 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kyoto, Japan

KYOTO/NARA (March 15-16th)Erma gave us a wake up call at 5:30 am the morning after they arrived, and we headed off to Kyoto to explore some traditional Japanese life. We had a little bit of trouble finding a hotel in Kyoto because of the high travel season, and ended up staying in a ridiculously overpriced ryokan. But I'm glad we did it because it ended up being the only opportunity mom and dad had to sleep on futons and experience tatami. We spent the day exploring temples, and met up with my friends at night to feast on tonkatsu (batter fried pork.) Afterwards we hit up a karaoke joint for a little singing. I thought Alana would be the one to most enjoy this experience, but she was so JET lagged that dad (yes, my father Tim) saw the microphone more than she did.The following day we visited the old area of gion, saw some rickshaws and geisha, and were drug into a barber where dad experienced a Japanese shave- complete with the shaving of the forehead and eyelids! From Kyoto we took the train to Nara where we enjoyed a picnic in the park. Then we took a daunting hike to visit the largest wooden structure in the world which houses the Daibutsu (big Buddha.) After trying various street foods, playing with the tame deer, and doing a little shopping, we boarded the train back to Kobe.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1205535600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1205535600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1205535600/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:18:17 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kobe, Japan

They did it! The fam came to Japan (Mom, Dad, and Alana) and they had a great time! I'm soooooo proud of them! Seeing my sister being taught Japanese by my students, watching my dad use chopsticks, and hearing my mother recall the things she learned from her last visit here filled my heart with pride! We had ourselves a grand week of fun, exploring Kobe and visiting places like Himeji, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Iwakuni. Because of a high abundance of pictures (compliments of all parties involved), I have broken down the trip into sections depending on where we went. Please feel free to look through and allow mom dad and Alana to show you a peek into the life I live:
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206205560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206205560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianneinjapan/japan-2006/1206205560/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:17:40 -0400 Living in Kobe

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Kobe, Japan

OSAKA/KOBE- (March 22nd-23rd)We boarded the bullet train again and took a quick trip to Osaka. Dad had been begging to go to Tokyo all week, so I wanted to show him a glimpse Japan's city life. We were probably in Osaka for less than an hour- but that was more than enough. The crowds were unbearable on the Saturday afternoon. We got a mooove on back to Kobe, and hit up a shnazy izakaya (Japanese style restaurant where you order many small dishes of food and eat them all family style) for dinner, and then went out on the town for a bit. Dad was dismayed at the small size of all the venues, and informed me that it is more fun to go out in LaCrosse than it is to go out in Kobe. This is why my father lives in Wisconsin, and I live in Kobe. We all crammed into the same hotel that night and surprisingly slept until 10:15 the next morning because of their amazing black-out-blinds. After rushing to get up and check out before 11, we stopped in to a Japanese cafe and sampled loads of patisserie goods. I then drug my parents out to gakuentoshi (30 minutes out of the city) because they were itching to see my apartment. We were there only a few minutes, before we went back into the city for some final shopping. That afternoon we attended KBC- a lively church in Kobe- for the Easter service. We sang our hearts out and then headed off for some more last minute shopping at the dollar store. Our last meal consisted of ramen at my most favorite ramen shop in Sannomiya, and then we went back to the hotel for our goodbyes. Mom was more eager than ever to go through all the luggage and organize things and pack up, but I begged them off for yet a few more hours of card playing. My enthusiasm must have paid off, or perhaps I was meant to be left on a positive note... whatever it was- I managed to win my way around the table in our mini 500 tournament.I said goodbye that night, and went back to my apartment on the last train that night because I had to get to work the next day. I left beaming with pride, that my parents (and I) had survived the trip. They might come back and complain (yes mom didn't care for all the food, and dad wouldn't give you a nickel for a truck load of hardly anything here...) BUT I think they really enjoyed themselves. It was fun to have them here, and to be able to show them around my city, and give them a taste of my life for the past two years. We've loads of pictures to show from the experience, and lots of good memories. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to travel again without thinking about 'getting a moooooove on it' and I'm definitely never going to be able to forget the population of Kobe or Hiroshima after having to tell it to dad every 5 minutes. (1,530,295 and 1,159,391 respectively, in case you're wondering...)
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