Ohayō, everyone! It is the second morning of my time in
Japan and I have so much to tell from my first day. I have already seen and
experienced things that in the past I could only read about or watch on the
internet…
First off, a little about the crazy weather here in Japan…let
me spell it out for you. H-U-M-I-D. I’ve been to southern states before, and
Florida, etc., but never in my
entire life have I experienced feeling like this. I always feel damp, and my
already-curly-and-frizzy hair is just going poofy. It’s also been very rainy
here, not that I’m not used to itJ.
Yesterday, a major typhoon hit the island of Okinawa, and they thought it might
come near Koyasan (where I’m currently staying), but this morning it’s looking
like the storm has mostly passed.
As I mentioned before, I am staying in Koyasan, a small but famous
town nestled near the top of Mt. Koya. Koyasan was dubbed a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO in 2004 for its ancient sacred sites and pilgrimage routes. Koyasan
is a very important site for people of the Shingon Buddhist sect, and many of
the temples, statues, trails, trail markers, and graveyards here are over
twelve centuries old.
My current host family are very nice, very generous, and
they love to laugh a lot. I enjoy being around them…even if they don’t speak as
much English as I anticipated. They are both in their early seventies; it is
often the case that the older generations aren’t as proficient in English.
Communication has been a little bit difficult, but they usually speak to me in
Japanese peppered by English words, and their younger daughter, Kukiko, is an
English teacher who is at her parent’s house sometimes, so I’ve been getting
along language-wise, even if occasionally I don’t understand correctly and make
myself look a little stupid. I am getting quite used to being called “Zoe-san”,
though. J
About their home...it is beautiful and traditional and as “Japanese”
as you can get. These days, many younger, suburban families are reverting to
more “western-style” homes, but some homes, like my host family’s, remain more
traditional. All the floors are covered in delicate tatami mats, and many of doors are the traditional wood-and-paper
sliding screens. It is also decorated in the traditional Japanese style, but
beautiful painted screens and calligraphy wall hangings.
It is time for me to start getting ready, but I have one
last event from yesterday to talk about. The only thing that I was not looking
forward to about Japan was onsen, or
public bath hot springs. It sounds great in theory, except for one minute
detail…you have to be completely naked. So, taking that into consideration,
what do you think I do on the very first day? That’s right. Onsen. My host
mother basically told me we were going, and without the language skills to
refuse, I was basically stuck. So, me and my modesty went very reluctantly. It
turns out, it not as bad as I thought. It’s certainly never going to be my
favorite thing, but you are allowed to take a towel to cover yourself when
walking around, and if you get into the water fast enough, no one is really
going to see you. I did get a few stares when walking around, but that’s
because I was the only non-Japanese person in the whole place.
Well, until next time, sayonara!
Zoe
0 comments:
Post a Comment