Setsubun (the bean throwing festival)

Setsubun on the old Japanese calender used to be the day before every season, but now it just refers to the last day of winter before spring, which in Japan is always the 3rd February. Because it's a time when the weather's changing it also means a lot of people getting sick (like me, yay colds!), so to get rid of ill health they chase out the demons (oni 鬼) and bring in good luck/health (fuku-san 福 )

Then after the "mamemaki" (bean throwing) you have to eat the number of beans that match how old you are to ensure another year of good health. I forgot what number I was on which is probably why I have a cold now and Wes doesn't (boo)

(Above is Hirose-sensei and the one other student)

So of course when Sunday 3rd rolled around Wes and I headed into Tenjin back to the shrine with the giant Fuku face (the big white one from the previous post). Well after stopping in a few book shops we went to the shrine and it was packed! So many people going there to pray and get street food and every 15mins one of the priests and a load of committee members would throw beans and sweets and balls into the crowd which shouting "oni wa soto! fuku wa uch!" because it's equally good luck to have things thrown at you (especially for children). We were too far to get any sweets or beans sadly but Wes and I caught a ball that had "protection for the household" (家内安全) written across it so I guess getting blessed by temple is good luck ^^

We then went to the huge mall next to the shrine called Canal City, which I hadn't been to since I came to Fukuoka in my gap year. It was kinda nostalgic ^^ The mall was mostly clothes but we found some gems like a music shop, a figurine store, and a ghibli store and other similar toy novelty shops. Sadly the pokemon centre I remembered being there was gone. Also because we were starving we found a ramen plaza with restaurants that sold different kinds of ramen from all across the country. It was gooooood~

Class Activity to Hakata

Last Wednesday (30th Jan 2013) one of our teachers was ill with a cold so the others teachers decided we'd go with Gaku-san (one of the school administrators) out to one of the older areas in Fukuoka which is called Hakata 博多. It seems to be a pretty famous area for its sweets and dolls, old crafts and traditional festivals. There are also a number of old shrines in the area which is where we went to.

So after getting the train and bus into Tenjin and across to Hirakata we first stopped off at the Hakata Folk Museum which had lots of random pictures drawn by local people upstairs. They also had a crafts section that had glass blowing, Hakata dolls, spinning tops, fabric, all made in the area. There was one girl painting some of the spinning tops.

Downstairs it was mostly information about a huge festival in July called the mans festival which goes on for 15days and involves men running around Hakata carrying 1ton floats and shouting a lot. The picture above is one of the floats that was on display in Hakata (not the museum) but the ones the men carry around are less than half this size. There are also different districts which compete with their floats and how fast they can carry them. Here's a video of what it's like It's just a shame that Wes and I will be leaving literally a few days before they have the part of the festival where they run around the city.

Next to the main part of the museum was another folk crafts section and I got to have a go at weaving fabric! It was kinda cool. The girl doing it said it took her an hour to do 1 foot of fabric!

We then headed over to a shrine where they're famous for their Setsubun celebration because each year they put giant faces of the goddess Fuku who brings good fortune and health on their entrances. It's supposed to be good to walk through her mouth into the shrine. Every temple and shrine seems to be doing setsubun celebration stuff, this one's just famous in particular. (I'll put up what Setsubun is in another post)

                                      

These rocks are so heavy that only a sumo wrestler can pick them up. If he can he gets his name engraved in it. These two are of the current Yokozuna's (top sumo wrestlers) who came to the shrine and were able to lift the rocks by themselves.

The last place we headed to was a Buddhist temple down the road from the shrine. I'd completely forgotten until I was inside that I'd been there before. Inside they have a giant Buddha made out of wood, which you can go underneath and see the different kinds of hell. Then you go through a long pitch black tunnel and at the end is a single light with a picture of the Buddha. It was cool. Gaku-san was so scared though (I mentioned it to another teacher at school and she said she'd never done it she was so scared). Hehehe.

Omnomnomables

I can't exactly remember how I survived in Japan last time I was here in terms of food. I think I mostly made weird western/Japanese stuffs that tasted strange and lived off that for a year...mostly tomato based stews with various vegetables in them.

But this time I swore I would learn how to cook Japanese food properly! And so far Wes and myself have been working pretty good at balancing the labour for cooking and have been working on a number of Japanese foods. It does mean we have to go food shopping everyday to get fresh meat but we have enough time to do that and means we get a lot of discount stuff that needs to be used right away.

Our breakfast has probably been the hardest to work out because dairy and wheat products are more expensive then what I'm used to, and we just don't have time to prepare rice and stuff every morning before class. So breakfast consists of bread, jam, yoghurt, a fried egg and a cup of tea. We've started taking bananas to school too cos we both get the munchies.

Classes finish at about 12:30 so we're often both starving and have to resort to either onigiri or pot noodles for lunch. I'm liking the pot noodles cos they're only 50yen (30p) which saves a fair amount of money during the week.

Dinners are the big ones and here's what we've made so far (and what it starting to turn into our weekly food stuffs)

Salmon and carrots with miso and salad (we didn't have any rice the first 2 days)

Fried chicken with mushrooms, rice, miso and salad

Udon in miso with broccoli and mushrooms, and rice with chicken

Curry with salad (Curry is so amazingly cheap to make here, out of half a pack we get enough curry for 2 meals each! Curry is now a weekly thing)

Katsudon (Pork fried in bread crumbs, cooked in soy sauce and onions and egg over a big bowl of rice.)

I got my recipe for this from cooking with dog

Salmon with rice, miso and salad (this is a pretty cheap and healthy meal so will probably be added to the weekly menu)

Yakisoba (stir fried chicken and noodles)

Nikujyaga (literally meat potatoes, a meat and potatoes and veg stew, very nommy)

Wes and I have both slowly been learning how to improve all these recipes and fingers crossed by the end we'll know how to make even more nomable Japanese food than this. 

Going Out to Tenjin

So yesterday (Saturday 26/1/13) Wes and I decided to explore the down town area of Fukuoka, an area called Tenjin. It was the place my best friend Mog and I had studied before, so I kind of knew the area but it's been about 6 years and I didn't really do as much exploring then as I could have. Especially cos we wanted to go to the local Kabuki theatre called the Hakata-za which was where Takarazuka were doing the Legend of Galactic Heroes!! (For those who don't know Takarazuka and how much I love it click here for a previous blog about them - I went so many times when I was in Osaka! Yay Japanese musical!) So the first thing we did when we arrived was head over to the theatre to see if they had any tickets for the day, which they did, so we got a couple for the 3:30 showing for that day.

(This is the poster for the show we saw)

Update (3/2/13): Someone asked me what the show was about. It's about a giant galactic battle between two groups. I didn't really understand the story much cos I was so tired but it's basically the story of on guy who becomes the ruler of one side and has to deal with political crap and because it's Takarazuka, falling love with the blonde haired lady at the back of the poster. At the same time they tell the story of the general on the other side and all the political crap he has to deal with. But because it's Takarazuka it's all singing and dancing and highly entertaining.

Wiki has a better description of the original story than me.

So we had about 4 hours to kill before the show and proceed to wander around Tenjin. We first check out the Across Fukuoka building which was supposed to have in International Square (国際広場) but it didn't really have that much, only seemed to have special events where foreigners and Japanese people meet, so no new friends made that day. 

(The Across Fukuoka building has gardens built ontop of it. Inside it's huge and spacious)

We then wander off to an electrical store and a huge bookstore (4 floors) which much time was lost in...More exploring took place and before we knew it it was almost time to head back to the theatre! But we were so hungry we had to rush to find a place to eat before the show started.

Needless to say, at the end of the day we were both knackard (that didn't stop Wes stopping into an electric store to droll over their camera though, hehehe). So we went home on the train (which is super close, only 6 miles! Fukuoka's a small city compared to Osaka/Tokyo), had curry udon and went to bed. 

One thing I have to say about Tenjin though, is that it's so big, with so many tall buildings and wide streets and shops EVERYWHERE that we barely made a dent in it and defiantly need to return a couple more times to really see the rest! (And hopefully get more pics of the place) 

(P.s I may have spent all my spendage for that week on theatre ticket, books and these adorable figurines! They were cheap I couldn't not buy them!)

First Five Days

So we finally made it to Fukuoka, Japan after an easy 16 hour flight which was probably the smoothest long distance flight I've ever taken.

Our apartment is a cosy 19.5m2 with a small hob, sink, washer, fridge, shower, bath, TV etc. The bed room is a loft situated above the kitchen/entrance which we have to climb a ladder to get to. The apartment though seems to have been made for a but it's comfy and will do us fine for the next 6 months. Luckily there's a heater/air conditioner too so the chilly Japan winter isn't getting to me too much (I actually think it's been warmer here the last few days than in England). (Note: These pics were taken after I'd tidied)

Our first few days (the Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th) after we'd arrive was mostly spent waking up at 5 am and then falling asleep again until midday (yay jetlag!). But when we were awake we spent the time exploring the area, including the local 100yen shop/super market (getting plenty of items for the house and food), and the nearest mall Aeon which has EVERYTHING (well...a bookshop and doughnuts). Wes invested some money in a map of Fukuoka which has been a life saver so far. Also, despite the fact we've gone to many, many cheap bookshops already we haven't bought that much manga! I also invested my first few yen on a cooking magazine which turns out to be full of amazingly useful Japanese recipes. I admit I haven't tried any out yet but I've certainly been using it for inspiration.

We began classes on the Monday 21st. We were met at the station by one of the teachers and led to school which is a small office on the 4th floor of a building (next to a bookshop called Book Off). I think we were both surprised at how small the school was. It has one office, 2 classrooms, and 1 private classroom, a small kitchen and toilet. And besides Wes and myself, 1 other student. Apparently the school has over 100 students at it's other campus, but that's for people studying for over 1 year. And I must admit I was a bit disappointed when we were put with the other student (a 30-something Canadian who's living here with his Japanese wife and daughter) whose Japanese is not as good as ours so we're going over a lot of the grammar and vocab we already know. But it is only our first week and we're only just getting into it, fingers crossed it'll pick up soon. In the mean time we've been exploring, shopping, cooking and translating manga. We have plenty of time for our own study, just haven't got round to it yet... Practice N2 kanji is on the list of things to do for the rest of this week.

This weekend though we plan to go to Tenjin, the main shopping district in the centre of town, less than 6 miles away so we can cycle there! OH yeah! We got bikes to get to school with! Cost 10,000yen, but when the train costs 400 a day there and back, that's only 5 weeks cycling to school and back to get our money back. Yay!

So fingers crossed I'll update again with pics of the school our bikes and the area before an update on the weekend! o/

Back to Japan-land!

Who'd have thought it's been 558 days (or 1 year 6 months and 8 days) since I left Japan in 2011. Wesley and I are still happily together! Since I left Japan we've seen each other a lot travelling between the US and UK every 3 months or so (the longest wait was 6 months! Gack!!). BUT very soon it will no longer be long distance as we plan to move in together! Although we have yet to pick a place to settle down in our first plan is Japan.

So before I get onto that I'll give a very quick update of the last year and a half. Besides jumping backwards and forwards between the West coast of the USA and the UK I had my last year of Social Anthropology in Canterbury *sad face* It was a manic year but I had lots of fun with my societies, completed my dissertation on cosplay, got a first class honours, and got my JLPT N3 certificate. Yay~ I worked the summer taking care of international University students and the winter as an administrator. I've even started translating manga for a scanlation group doing shoujo comics! It's lots of fun :) Wes has also been busy with his final year of uni and is in his last week ever!

We've been planning to go back to Japan together since January this year I think. Wes and I both want to become translators (well I want to become an interpreter eventually) but we both needed to improve our Japanese. I looked into various graduate programs, intern-ships and schools and we settled on a school in Fukuoka that was cheap for long term study and intensive JLPT classes (http://www.ulearnjapanese.com/).

The plan is that Wes will come here for Christmas before we fly out on the 17th January 2013. Fingers crossed at the end of the 6 months we would have taken (and I hope passed) the JLPT N1 exam and are able to get work translating!

And so I am proud to announce that this blog will re-open as Niffer returns to Japan-land this 2013! ^___^

The End of the Fairy Tale

And so we finally come to the end of this tale, written a full 7 months after it finished (woops) ^^;

[End of May 27th-1st June 2011]

With the exams finished everyone was in a state of excitement, sorrow, dread. Or at least that's how I felt. The day before graduation was spent hanging out with the girls at the end of the hall and gothic "Rainbow" Sarah swapping clothes with Jessie and running around the dorm scaring people (it's a shock when you saw two completely opposite fashions get switched).

28th May started early as I had planned to meet up with Naho and Mio to get my hair, make-up and yukata done for graduation. They were an amazing help and the end result was...I couldn't keep my smile off my face for the whole day ^-^.

(The amazing girls who...I cannot describe how amazing they are)

Shortly the people started arriving and students in their best suits and dresses, new yukatas and kimonos were turning up and the frantic photographing began. I felt like that was really the last time we'd be together like that, the whole of us in a big group....but that (nor the rain) dampened our moods. The graduation ceremony itself was very formal and tiring sitting straight trying not to crease my yukata. There were speeches before we all got up row by row to pick up an empty folder for our graduation certificates (which were later found in our pigeon holes). After the ceremony we all went to the cafeteria for an all you could eat buffet! SO MUCH FOOD! Japanese students weren't allowed in the ceremony nor the buffet so I snuck out before the others to return to the CIE to talk to Mio and Naho, and Yuka turned up! Saying final goodbyes to her our group then (which prodding from me) headed into town to get purikura photos of us in our nice gear. I didn't care about the rain nor the funny looks we were getting, I was just happy. Everyone's crazy though and we got TONS of purikura (Mio and Naho demanded ones of me and Wes ><). Then had to rush back to pick up my clothes that I'd left in the CIE office before it closed! After changing we said our goodbyes and I went back to the dorm with Wes to drop off things before going to his for tsukiyaki and all night karaoke!!! SO TIRED O_O The follow day I had an appointment with a girl for my dissertation but I just...it was 5am and I was so tired, I sent her a messaging with the typical Japanese excuse that I had a cold and then got the train back and slept!

29th May - I had arrange to go to my speaking partner Haaki's house one last time. Thinking back now I really regret not getting her e-mail address nor her house address! Although her English was poor and she only spoke Osaka-ben she was amazingly nice and I really enjoyed going to her house. I wish I'd gone more. Well this visit was fun, we had tenpura and her parents gave me gifts! Both her mum and dad got me gifts without telling the other and they both ended up getting me fans! Hahaha! One was a western fan and the other a Japanese uchiwa. We just talked about random things as usual, the differences between Japan and England, her dogs, my family. I realised that I'd really gotten a grip of understanding their fast speaking Osaka-ben...almost ^^;;

30th May - Knowing things were coming to an end we were all desperate to spend time together. I went over to Gabes and met with Wes and Alex to hang out in the morning. We riffled through peoples recycling for text books and found a pile of...suspicious magazines, so while Gabe was distracted we slipped one out and put it into his luggage! (He didn't find it til he'd gotten home a few days later!!!) For lunch we made our final trip to Kappa Zushi, I can't remember why but Gabe went another way and so on the way I showed Alex and Wes the wonders of the roller slide that was on the way. But because it had rained the previous week they got absolutely soaked!!! Hehehehe. Similar to the previous term the evening meal was spent at all you can eat yakiniku (grilled meat), and despite being so stuffed (and setting fire to the grill a couple of times) I still insisted on besting people at the number of ice-cream I could eat!


After and hour and a half of meeeaaaat we rolled out onto the streets of Hirakata. I had to say farewell to Shizuka who had joined us for the meal (don't worry, she's in London right now and I met up with her the previous December! People can still meet even if separated by the globe...)

I can't remember who but someone had brought fireworks so we all walked out to besides the river (where I'd never been to before) and lit them in the park. They were only hand held fireworks though, like sparklers but Japanese style. But the fire from the tiny things were not enough to keep the cold away so I was certainly eager to get back and go to karaoke. What else did you expect we'd do? It was one of our last nights together and we all sang until we were about to fall asleep. Laughs were shared and tears were shed and I remember wishing 帰りたくない！

1st June - My last day...Wes came over early to help me pack and send parcels (or rather Wes sitting in my pile of crap while he sang songs and I packed cos I knew what was going where).

Okaasan inspected my room and we vacated to Taylia's where Brad was hanging out too. It was basically waiting for the taxi I'd booked to come take me to the bus stop at 1pm. The wait was heart wrenching, and when it finally arrived...I just had to push on. Push through the over-whelming feeling that...I don't know what it was really. I said my goodbyes, faster then I wanted to but I knew I'd cry if I lingered. No point really. I burst into tears as I tore myself away from Wes, thinking I wouldn't know when I was next going to see him. The taxi driver handed me tissues and I apologised through tears, forcing myself to calm down.

I was happy to see Brad at the bus stop too and we waited together and sat together on the coach to the airport talking. I enjoyed our conversation at that time, feeling nostalgic of our trip to the bar together. He's such a nice guy. All my friends were. I spent a while with him the airport before my gate opened. I couldn't wait before I got home and began to frantically text Wes telling him what I was doing and how he was. Until I had to check in that is. I was worried then about my bag: It was only just under the weight limit and my hand luggage was full of books, I didn't want then to tell me I couldn't take them all on. They let me however and I spent a rather dull and tiring time going through the airport and waiting around for the flight. I kept texting Wes right up to the very moment the plane was about to go off and I wouldn't be able to us it anymore...and with that I left Japan...

And so this poorly written and badly updated story comes to an end. I feel like it was more a diary for myself then anything else, and I'm really glad I did it, even if things were late. I'm glad I finished it.

I've have so many high notes which have outweighed any of the low ones, although low ones were to be had. The exciting and sickening arrival followed by my first encounters of the Americans in my dorm and my first trip to the konbini. I will never forget being in the kitchen for the first time and meeting people that I never knew I'd become incredibly close to. There weren't many not nice people, and those kinds I avoided, which meant I made such a large number of amazingly nice friends. I miss our time in the CIE or going out and exploring Japan. Living the dream. It really was living the dream. An unexpected dream I never knew I'd wished for until it happened. So many unexpected things I was able to do, like Tokyo, Osaka-ben, random shopping, meeting Kagrra, buying stupid amounts of stuff, seeing Takarazuka, learning so much about Korea and Korean culture and now wanting to learn it, being able to research and meet cosplayers and female otaku, the events surrounding the earthquake, meeting Hester and really becoming a better Anthropologist thanks to him, just really feeling Japan and the people I met there change me for the better. I can't express in words how much everyone I met there means to me even now. I know that one day we'll all meet again (and not just over skype which we've done a few times now). The only thing left for us to do now is look to the future but always fondly remember our pasts. I love you guys and I'll miss you and the time we spent together