A Year In Kansai

さいごの夜。The Last night

2010-05-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well this is it folks. My last post in Japan.

My time in Japan has come to an end. In exactly nine hours I will begin my journey back to the U.S. of A. Its hard to believe that I am done here, hard to imagine a world with out Japan.

I think the biggest thing that I have come away with is not more knowledge of Japan and its culture but of myself. Its odd to think I had to fly across an ocean to a little country of paper and wood houses to find what I really had inside me. I discovered that I can take more pressure, stress and handle it accordingly then I ever thought possible. I can remain calm in stressful situations, such as getting lost on the Keihan line for the first time. I can relate with people across cultures.
I don't know the scientific word for it, but there is a feeling many people have that people from other cultures are very different, extremely different. Maybe its a form of racism, I don't know. What I do know is that from being here I over came that. Seeing Japanese parents with their children especially was good at relating me to them. From being in my host family I saw situations play out in front of me that I had in my own childhood. Being scolded for a bad grade, having a father tell his child they can do better, playing with the child, drinking and watching TV.

It was hard to say good-bye to the Nakajima Family. I didn't realize how much I really cared about them till this last day. They had become my family. Two little sisters, a big brother and two parents. I began crying as I hugged Chika good-bye, as I hugged Shiori my hair got caught in her clip and we began laughing. I promised my host brother when he came to the states we would go hang out. And finally at the station, I cried as I hugged my host mother good-bye. After passing through the gate, and wiped away tears and did a formal boy and she returned it.

I have found many things in myself, love and compassion I didn't think existed, patience for difficult people and situations... and even some romantic love. I thought I was broken till I came to Japan when it came to romance. Prince charming? A silly story mothers tell their daughters at bed time. Silly, perhaps but maybe there is an ounce of reality there. I don't know if I've found my prince yet, but I realized that some where out there, he's waiting for me. I just have to find where he is hiding.

I have had many people tell me I am more mature now. I have to toot my own horn and say I believe that as well. I'm not the kid that got off the plane nine months ago. I'm on my way to being an adult. I have a better concept of reality, of issues outside of my own. I understand the value of money better, of what I truly need and what I just want.

You have all read the blog and know what I've done and seen. Is it really time to end it? I feel like in any second I will wake up from this dream and be on my way to Kansai Gaidai for class. I will walk in, see my friends, joke with them and run to class. Eat lunch with more friends, laugh and not study... WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP NIKKI!!!
But I am awake. I can't wake up from reality.

I've learned the more then I have in 20 years of life within nine short months. I've seen the world through the eyes of the Japanese. I started wearing heels and boots. I use chopsticks to eat everything. I ride trains and buses to get around. I wear skirts and baggy shirts. I use random Japanese words to convey my feelings. I take off my shoes when I enter a house. I eat rice with almost every meal. Am I Japanese now? How can I go back to America?

Nine months ago I was nervous and afraid of this country and now I am afraid of my own. But I won't let fear stop me. If there is anything I have learned in Japan its that you need to live. You need to get lost, because you find amazing things. You need to not understand, because then you are forced to learn. You need to be hurt, so you can heal and become stronger. You need to be challenged so you can learn to conquer. You need to love someone deeply, so that you can let your love flow to everyone around you.

All those back home, they have been the net that catches me. My words of encouragement and reason. They are now calling me home. I promised them I would be back, so I have to return. I couldn't have done any of this without them.

Finally I have gained friends. More then friends... brothers and sisters, comrades, partners. For nine months we have been here, supporting each other, laughing with each other, crying with each other. Staying up till 4am studying, watching movies, talking. We have been a shoulder to cry on, and a shoulder to help carry our drunk friends. We have been the voice of reason, and some times the voice of disaster. Some of my closet relations have come from this experience. My friend once related this to being stationed abroad you have no one but each other. I mean, if you are craving a cheeseburger then you have lots of people who can relate to this... if you miss how things operate back home, they understand. I have gained something amazing here and don't intend to loose it. I could leave Japan behind, but not all of these people and memories. They are more precious then gold and silver.

There is a song by Green Day called "Time of Your Life". Nothing fits this better.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

I did. I had the time of my life.

Minna-san! Arigatou gozaimasu!'

Nikki R. Brueggeman
Osaka, Japan - May 30, 2010

Trip with my dad

2010-05-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

Japanese Gardens

Dad and I decided to go check out some nice gardens in Yokohama. At the garden there was a pagoda that had been moved from Kyoto to Yokohama back in the 1800s. Why they did this I will never know… must have seemed like a good idea at the time. We were lucky to go to these gardens at the same time of a Bonsai Tree exhibition. I know what you are thinking… boring-ville right? Wrong. The exhibit showed how the trees were made, little wires moving the branches into all the right shapes. Even to the point of manipulating how the flowers grew, one tree had the flowers in strips! It was amazing to say the least.

Hakone National Park

This was phase two of the trip with dad. We stayed at Shokouso Ryokan, a traditional Japanese styled inn which is beautiful! It had a natural hot spring one could bathe in and the rooms were huge tatami mats along with a tea set, table and yukatas to wear! It was a little expensive but for my last tour in Japan I would say it was worth paying for. Also, the house use to belong to a samurai… so yes. Worth it!

We bought Hakone Free passes at Odawara station which cost 3,900 yen a piece, but when considering you can use them for all buses, trains, rope ways, cable cars and boats in the park it really pays off! Our first big stop was Hakone Shrine. I had to explain to my dad all the little things about the shrines in Japan and was constantly badgered with the question, “what does this sign say?”. Most of the time I could only briefly understand the writing because of all the Kanji and would have to give the watered down version.
“whats this say?”
“Um… tree… old… heaven… high…Um… the tree that reaches to the heavens?”

I have to admit this was probably one of the most beautiful shrines I’ve been to in Japan, on a mountain by a lake and surrounded by cedar trees… its like I had stepped into Princess Mononoke or something. Sorry for the Miyazaki reference.

There was a pirate ship on Lake Asahi. It was so awesome we had to ride it. Luckily it was covered by the pass, the only sad thing was we were unable to see Mt. Fuji because it was so cloudy. But, I think that the fact I was on a PIRATE SHIP made up for it completely. The ship connects three towns on the shores of the lake and takes only about 20 minutes to ride. Upon arriving on the other side of the lake Dad and I boarded a rope way. Up the mountain we went, me wondering and praying the rope held strong, but it did. We arrived at the Odawaduni stop about 10 minutes later. This is what I call the Yellowstone of Japan. There were hot springs every where! Of course we couldn’t go in them and oddly enough, they are used to boil eggs. Even more cool? The eggs were colored black. The water turned them black! I think my day was made in that single moment.

The air spelled of sulfur which made me more hungry for those delicious black eggs I had devoured only minutes before... but it was time to keep going. So we boarded the rope way and down the mountain we went into the mists. It was beautiful, and then I recalled that there was a scene in Jurassic Park just like this... and King Kong... then I was scared.

Open Air Museum
This is the last place I am going to discuss, we found this lovely museum in the park that was a bunch of sculptures (some of which you could play on!) through out the exhibit. It was a blast to say the least, there were places to slide down, things to climb, fake horses to ride and yes, even complete with a foot bath! My day had been made. There was even an exhibit called the Wood of Nets which was a network of nets you could climb through. I was excited! THis was like Disney land for me! And then I saw it... the thing that broke my heart... it hurt, it ached. The sign that said, "For 12 years old and younger."
Well... it would have been an epic day if not for that sign. But I perservered on and instead enjoyed a foot bath thanks to the natural hot springs in the area. Just as we were finishing up our tour through the museum it began to close, and also... rain.
The night concluded with me showing my dad the Japanese Drama, Nodame Cantabile and using the onsen at the ryokan one more time.
A good trip indeed.

The next day we caught the Shinkansen and returned to Kyoto where we met Nozomi. Our train arrived at 1:38pm and so we had lost half the day. I decided to take him to Kiyomizu-dera. The three of us journey off and up to the famous temple of Kyoto. After exploring it we sat down at a little outdoor traditional Japanese restaurant and had something to eat. It was getting cool and shops were closing up. We then walked about 20 minutes to Gion district and visited Yasaka Shrine along with the park behind it. THen, it was time to say good-bye to Nozomi.
Nozomi had been my host sister from three years ago when I went to Sasayama. It felt odd saying good-bye to a girl I consider my sister but at the same time, I have a feeling we will see each other again soon. As we returned to the hostel I sat down and hit the realization: tomorrow is my last full day in Japan. Its almost over. I am leaving one home for another. Wow.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and wow.

Graduation and bye-bye

2010-05-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is it. Graduation. The time to say good-bye and farewell to those who have been with me on this journey for nine long months, and for a select few just five. Its been a life time. Its been great.

The graduation ceremony isn't much worth mentioning except that they rushed over 400 students through a line and handed us our diplomas as Disney music played in the background. You have not lived until you've graduated to Beauty and the Beast.

Amber
Amber was my room mate last semester and at first I thought we wouldn't get along. But guess what? We got along beautifully and it blossomed into a frienship that has spanded these nine months. And so it was one of the more difficult good-byes I had to say here at Kansai.We met the day after graduation and had dinner after which she gave me a file on a thumb drive to put on my computer. I traded her back with a letter I had written. I hugged her good-bye as she got on the bus and watched her leave. I then went to starbucks and looked at the file. It was a slide show of the whole year. I felt tears fall down my face as I watched. I am going to miss her more then I can bear. As she said in her slide show, "just remember, when you look up we will be looking at the same sky"... I will never stop looking.

Yssan
My crazy girl. She made me laugh at every turn and we would always end up having long rants on something happening in the world. In fact, there was a level of understanding between the two of us that was astounding. I became obssessed with Xena this last semester and every time I mentioned it on facebook she would write the Xena cry, making me laugh every time. Its hard to think she is gonna be all the way down in Florida and me in Washington. We have to meet again... we gotta. AYAYAYAYAYA!

Peter
Peter was quiet literally the Merry to my Pippin, if you get the Lord of The Rings reference there... we laughed about everything. And he is quite literally the most funniest chap around. Oh, did I mention he was British? An added plus. We would often have little spats in the hall about the greatness of America versus how England prevails! Some of my best laughs came from the things he said.
I said good-bye at the graduation ceremony, then saw him as I was waiting for the bus, said good-bye once again. Then that night as I was walking home from the train station we ran into each other and talked for a good 10 more minutes before a tearful good-bye. He told me to call day or night for anything and I responded with if you are ever near me the door is always open. P.S., Peter. We saved yo butts from the Nazis.

Iain
Another Britt. In fact I would say he is the original Britt. He was one of the people I lived with in Seminar House 1 back in the day. We also would have arguements about America and Britian. One of my favorite arguements with him involved me making fun of the fact that England lost to America in the Revolutionary War.
"By a bunch of farmers with pitch forks!" I snapped.
Iain paused and looked at me, "You lost to a bunch of jungle people."
Damn it Vietnam!
He also loved to make fun of the fact I sometimes fit black stereotypes always offering me Chicken. Crazy Britt. We agreed in four years if we aren't married that we are getting married so I can get English citizenship and cheap education and he can have a cool room mate. SOunds like a plan.

Chiako, Asuka, Yuka, Ayaka, Sayuki
I could write pages about each of these girls. They were simply amazing. I have so many memories with each of them. Ayaka was the team leader when it came to events. Seriously this girl makes Martha Stewart look like nothing. She organized, hanami, karaoke... you name it she had it down to the mark. Chiako, one of the most adorable girls in the world and so innocent. She is one of those girls who you feel like a devil by just standing next to. She has so much hope and love for life in her, its amazing. Asuka, another cute lil' thing. She is always late. And she is just hilarious. We went to see Alice in WOnderland together and had a blast. Yuka, at first I didn't understand her as a person but then I realized how great she was. So full of life and spirit! And finally Sayuki, the silent one. She always seemed to be like the ever watchful one, who knew everything but said nothing. She observed very closely. But when you got her to start talking she was rather witty.
All these girls, love them. Miss them. I cried having to say good-bye. I remember Asuka was grabbing my arm and crying for me to not leave, and Chiako holding tightly onto me also begging me to stay. I doubt I would have gotten away if not for others who held them back.

Jean-Christophe (JC)
Where to start with this guy. He is everything you would want in a guy, charming... witty, and did I mention he speaks French? Well... a "variation" of the language, French Canadian isn't really French. Our friendship started out a little rocky but it grew until he became my closest guy friend on this campus. I have to say over time we rubbed off on each other and at the end of it all I had JC traits and he had Nikki traits. For example, I know how to say things in French that I probably shouldn't now. I fear he picked up a little too much of my sassy attitude because it came to the point where he would throw it right back at me. You have not lived until you have someone with a French accent say, "No, YOU shut up!" and then flicking their hand as they roll their eyes at you like they are a 14-year-old American girl.
It was one of the most difficult good-byes I had to say here in Japan. I just hope he doesn't loose that sassiness I taught him.

Imanda (Ivy)
Love this girl. We roomed together for Winter Break and developed a close frienship that holds tight. When together we were two of the loudest girls on campus. I haven't said good-bye to her yet, because we leave the same day and will be in the airport in Tokyo for about four hours together before I fly out. And she is coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Yep. Thats right... the brown and black duo are reuniting!!

Sarah
Oh my word! Sarah... this good-bye was so hard tha--- wait a minute... we go to the same college, I am seeing her in two weeks. NEXT PERSON!

The last of the people I am going to mention is Midori.

Midori was a girl who I met this semester, it was like looking into a mirror and seeing a half Japanese, meanier, sassier version of myself. And I loved it. She lives in Washington State like me so we quickly bonded. She would give me a listening ear, sassy comments about our teachers. We would sit next to each other in Japanese class and giggle, making cultural references. The list is long. But I think we will see each other many more times in this life. After all, she's over by Seattle... kinda... sorta... Hey, where is the Olympic Penninsula again?

I could fill a book with names of people who are close to my heart that I met here. This is just the tip of the ice burg. My Dad is arriving to escort me on my final adventure here in Japan. Here I go. Five days to live it up.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I've lost pieces of my heart.

期末試験！がんばって！ Finals! Do your best!

2010-05-20T01:54:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, it has taken us five long months to get here, Welcome to the Finals! Yes, you heard me right it is Finals week here in Kansai Gaidai and I began with a bumpy start. It began with studying as hard as I could Sunday night... drinking some coffee... and then staying up accidentally until 5am in the morning. I think it was around 4:23 am that I realized I hated my life.

I had two Japanese language finals, one that covered over 300 Chinese characters and that's not counting the numerous combinations! It was crazy. I finally finished with my finals today, May 20, 2010. It feels good to be free from school for a while. And at the same time there is a level of sadness in this completion. After putting in nine long months at this school it feels as if my time is coming to a close. Which it really is. I have only 10 days left in Japan. On May 23, in three days, my dad will be arriving in Japan. I am excited to say the least! Its his first time off North America and the first time he will go to a place where English isn't the first language.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and Summer 2010 here I come!

Shiori

2010-05-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

My nine year old sister is probably one of the most hilarious people you will meet. I have two sisters but I am closer to Shiori out of the two girls. Which doesn't mean by any measure I prefer her to Chika. I love Chika to, its just I usually end up spending more time with Shiori.

Shinkansen Story
(Keep in mind all these conversations take place in Japanese)

"When my father comes to Japan, we are riding on Shinkansen! I am excited, I have never been on one before." I mentioned one day at a family outing to an Udon restaurant.
"I went on Shinkansen when I was six."
"No way!"
"I ate bento, it was delicious!"
That little smarty pants... she then gave me a huge grin and giggled at me as I gave her a glare and said,
"I've been on a plane, to Okinawa."

"I've been to Shikoku (another island in Japan)."

"I've been to China!"I fired back.

"I've ridden on Shinkansen."She laughed out.

And that is how I lost a debate to a 9 year old girl.

Hana Yori Dango

We both love a show here in Japan called Hana Yori Dango. Basically its about this poor girl who is smart enough to go to a rich kids school. There is a group of four boys who are the richest called the F4 lead by a guy named Tsukasa. Tsukasa is a jerk, and puts out social hits on people who anger him. He does it to the main character, Tsukushi, who doesn:t like it and punches him. Thus begins a love that is hilarious and full of fun.
One afternoon me and Shiori were cuddled up on my bed watching it and she mentioned,
`who would you marry?` she asked
`Tsukasa, he is handsome.`
`He is mean, Rui is better.` she instructed.
`Rui is too quiet.`
`That is why he is better.` she giggled.

Love advice from a nine year old.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman, and I got schooled by a nine year old.

Ear piercing is a No Go in Japan

2010-05-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to get my ear pierced here in Japan... well to be honest in Okinawa. I am wanting to do the upper cartilage on my right ear. There are tattoo parlors here, and I've had a few friends get piercings up in Tokyo...so it can't be that hard to have it done right? WRONG.

Recently a bunch of new strict little laws were passed involving piercings and how they are done. Reaction by the Japanese populace? The usual. Freak out. Panic. Chaos in the streets. Godzilla wrecking Tokyo... ok not that bad but the point is paranoia set over the tattooing industry and they quickly banned piercing from the shops.

The good news is for about 6,000 yen (roughly $62.00) I can go to a hospital. Yes, you heard me... a hospital to get the "procedure" done. This includes a doctor doing a simple prick in the ear and then charging your first born for the cost.

You ready for the kicker? I can either go to the hospital or do it MYSELF. For around $14.00 I can shoot a needle into my ear all by myself. Here in Japan they sell mini self piercing kits in almost any jewelery store. Why they will not let a licensed tattoo artist do the piercing but give these kits to a bunch of kids who have NO idea what they are doing, I shall NEVER know.

I also wanted to get a tattoo here in Japan of a crane and Japanese maple leaves... but tattoo prices are double here in Japan then in the US because they have to import everything. The irony? Some of the top tattoo artists in the world are based in Japan. In this post I am including some pictures of traditional Japanese tatoos, they are actually beautiful to look at. Traditionally, the Yakuza (mafia) covered their entire bodies with tattoos and thus began the fear of tattoos here in Japan.

So, I guess the body decorations will have to wait until I go back to the Ol' U.S. of A.
I guess I suck it up and try the self piercing thing... but...

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am not going to be a hero.

Fish Baths and Glass Blowing

2010-05-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Fish BathWe got this brillant idea to do a foot fish bath where the little buggers nibble all the dead stuff off your feet. It tickled in all the wrong ways. I even squelled and pulled my feet out at one point because I was laughing too hard. I will admit though, my feet felt like they had more air for the next couple of days.

Glass BlowingA traditional art in Okianwa is that of glass blowing. We saw a couple of our friends had done it during Spring Break when they went to Okinawa so Amber and I were naturally curious. Well, she was dying of excitement because of the fact that she is an art major and has a natural attraction to anything done in a studio and I was curious of how to do such a thing. Alex was just along for the ride. I asked the desk at our hostel how to get there and they pointed out a place on Kokusai street. It cost 2,500 yen to do glass blowing (around $27) and yet it was one of the best experiences I've had in Japan. A big part of my excitement was how I understood 90% of what was being instructed.
あなたの友達は日本語をわかりますか "Do your friends understand Japanese?" They asked.
すこしわかった。。。"A little..."

I ended up translating most of the instructions, but it was still a wonderful time. The only thing that worried me was how hot that glass was. . It was red. Now... You may be wondering still why I am making a deal of this... that glass turns clear and blue, but at the moment it was orange and red. Yes. Serious burns could occur. Which is why the glass blowing instructors padded us up with gloves and arm sleeves that for some reason made me feel like a power ranger
First was rolling the boiling glass over shards of glass to make the pieces melt in and create a design. Next blowing into the glass via a tube. More heating, blowing (why did that sound so wrong?) and then rolling and cooling. The end product leaves me with a beautiful glass I will cherish forever. It takes 24 hours for the glass to cool so we went back the next day to pick up our things.

Beaches
Oddly enough it was hard to find a beach in Naha. They had one but to be honest it was a couple pieces of sand surrounded by concrete. So instead we found a beach about 30 minutes away by bus that was passible. The water was clear blue and the sand a beautfiful light, light brown. Alexis and I swam about in the water as Amber sat on the beach watching. She was afraid of sharks. HAHAHAH. Actually not, she had new tattoo she was afraid to get wet. Anyways, the water felt amazing! After some swimming we laid on the beach reading and just relaxing.

FOOD
I have to talk about food. I love it too much to ignore.

On our second night in Okinawa we went to a little resturaunt on Kokusai street called Jango Jango. It was wonderful! There we had Okinawa Soba and the biggest and I mean the biggest snow cone I've ever seen. It was run by a cute little old couple, the lady spoke Kansai Ben which made my day! We all wanted different snow cones to eat after our Okinawa soba so...
So, I used my mad Japanese skills and told the owner I wanted a snow cone with both cherry and mango. He asked, "together?" I said yes. So he thought I wanted to share it with the girls. We got a double sized cone for all of us.
We had to use team work and our spoons to eat it. And that is the story of the Okinawa Snow Cone.

The next interesting thing was called Puffy Snow. I still don't knwo what it was. Amber says it was shaved ice cream. Alexis says it was just ice. I say it was ice and milk put together without the sugar shredded and then stuff on top. We still don't know to this day. Either way, it was pretty interesting stuff. We got the chocolate one which had crunch chocolate pieces and chocolate syrup covering it.
Taco Rice. Its basically a taco with out the shell, and they put white rice at the bottom and just built the taco. I have this odd feeling that the Americans brought over the taco... the Okinawains got ahold of it and thought to themselves, "How can we make this better?" And thus taco rice was born.

Well, that was my Okianwa trip in a nutshell. I have much more to write, much more to say on other things. You will get a couple more blurbs about Japan, but time is winding down now. I am now in my final two weeks in Kansai. I honestly didn't think I was leaving Japan. Its crazy the end is in sight and I suddenly not sure if I am ready.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and the countdown has begun.

Ooooookinawa

2010-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Once a year a wonderful and beautiful thing happens in Japan. Its a time when the fauns and the faeries come out to dance in the rice patties, there are picnics in the magic forests and even unicorn hunting!
This is Golden Week. It means we had four work days off and it was time to play. So, what to do when you have gone around most of "mainland" Japan? Thats right... its time to be daring, its time to make a legend, its time to be a HERO that will go down in the history among the names of Achilles and Hercules!
Its time to go to Okinawa.

On April 28 I boarded a plane at KIX to Naha airport in Okinawa. It was a two hour flight that I slept all the way through. Alexis and Amber how ever informed me it was a beautiful flight with all the little islands and stuff... I chose to sleep, looking down at that water with all those sharks just waiting for the plane engines to fail... we were a flying buffet and I didn't want to be thinking of that. (And to make it better they a video in the plane where they showed us taking off and landing. So I got to pray to God AND watch the ground disappear on a large screen.)

First Day
Upon landing in Okinawa it was time for us to find our hostel, which we did with no problems. By the time we settled in it was already around 6:45pm and time to eat. We went down to kokusai street, where all the restaurants, bars and souvenir stores are located and found a nice Italian place to eat. For the first time in a long time delicious pasta! And a hot mocha that I think made me gain 30 lbs with every sip! It was heaven. On the way back to the hostel we saw a shop that was advertising doctor fish foot baths. Basically you put your feet in this pool with little fish that nibble all the dead stuff off your feet. We agreed to wait until tomorrow to do this.

Japanese Naval Headquarters
Day two began beautifully, nice and warm. So nice that I got to wear my shorts. I was very excited. I was a little too excited. But to be fair Kansai was quite cold when I left and the nice 70 degree weather was doing wonders for me. We decided to begin at the former Japanese Naval Headquarters near Naha. This was probably one of the most terrifying experiences I've had since being in Japan... and I went on the roller coaster at USJ.
It began with a small museum about how the people of Okinawa suffered as a result of the Pacific War and went into detail about the atrocities suffered, people homeless, starvation... suicides. The Japanese Government encouraged the Okinawan people to commit suicide to avoid being killed and/or raped by the American troops. What resulted was mass suicides, including a group of nurses tossing themselves off the cliffs. It was very eye opening and sad. Then we went into the underground tunnels.
I don't care if you are one of the most toughest people in the world, you've killed 20 people, you have won tournaments for Karate... when you go into these tunnels you KNOW something went wrong there. I felt erie all the time in the tunnel, the air felt heavy, it was far too quiet. And then I found out... people committed suicide in the tunnel at the end of the attack on Okinawa. In fact there was one room where the Admiral and his staff officers ended their lives by way of gernades. When I entered this room I felt sick... then I saw the walls. There were still large holes in the walls from the grenades. I grabbed onto Amber and told her to get me out of the room. I couldn't see... eventually after some more exlporing in the dark, damp, tunnels we emerged into the salt air and freedom.

Shuri Castle
A quick history lesson. As we say here in Japan: Mukashi Mukashi, a long time ago, Okinawa was called the Ryukyu Kingdom. As a history major I find the story of how they came under Japanese control fascinating, but for those of you who aren't much into the old books I will give you a rundown. Okinawa was once a kingdom with its own language, customs, food and fashion. It at one point was a state of the Ming Dynasty. In fact I would say even today there remains a great amount of Chinese undertones to Okinawian culture.
We decided to go and see Shuri castle, the home of the Ryukyu royal family. Now, I have been to a few castles in my time both in Europe and Asia, but I have to admit being a little disappointed in Shuri castle. I really have no excuse why, it clean, well kept, nice amounts of information and even some old artifacts but I just didn't feel it. I will admit the structure and items within Shuri castle were very Chinese oriented while at the same time there was a Japanese garden.

However my disappointment in Shuri Castle was made up for by the surrounding beauty. It was so lush and green! Japan has very volcanic soil and so there is hardly any grass growing. On top of that... they don't have lawns in Japan. They just don't... so I was overly happy to see grass, palm trees and vegetation surrounding me. My day was made completely

TO BE CONTINUED...

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I found some grass.

Boring Aku

2010-05-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've had many good ideas here in Japan. I have had a lot of bad ideas and then there are those that fall right in the middle. Needless to say I think Bunraku fell in the middle and then rolled to the bad ideas.
I would tell you what Bunraku is in my own words but its late here and I am very lazy. So... to Wikipedia!!!
Bunraku, also known as Ningyō jōruri, is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.
Goodness I love that website. Anyways, I had this idea to go to one of these performances. I thought to myself, this will be a good look at traditional theater. Two hours in I was already having daydreams involving me, a sunny beach and something fruity with a little paper umbrella in it. The story we watched was entitled, Onna something or rather. I don't remember. I have the paper somewhere here in my room but honestly I don't have the energy to look.
Now, I was bored out of my mind... but it is interesting to watch (for about 25 minutes), how they move the puppets, use the voices, etc. It takes three people to move the large puppets. Also, the puppeteers wear black and even have their faces covered with black bags. Kinda like a middle age executioner. Only the master puppeteers leave their faces uncovered. Also during one set or scene it is normal for the narrator who does all the voices to change to another person. Like I said it was very interesting to see how they moved the puppets around. Especially in various ways, they made the puppets pick things up, move their hand with perfect ease and moved about as if they were alive. It was slightly creepy at times, not going to lie.

Now there are various roles in Bunraku for the puppets. For young women, old women, young men, aristocrats, etc. The whole sha-bang.

Honestly, I was bored to death. All in OLD Japanese, even the Japanese people had to have translators. I thought I was gonna die. But, that doesn't mean I am condeming this art theater. Far be it from me to judge art ever again... not after the incident at the Louve... anyways... for more information about Bunraku check out the National Theater of Japan:
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en/index.html

I'm Nikki Bruegggeman and no no more puppets. No just no.

Ghost Stories from Kansai

2010-05-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

My host mother and I seem to have random late night conversations in the kitchen. It usually is after I have become curious from discussions in Shinto class and wanted to hear what a Japanese person had to say. So, as a result this is one of the conversations that followed:

“Okaasan, have you ever felt the presence of a spirit? Of a ghost?” I asked her. She nodded and told me a few stories, about hearing her mother and a few others. One of the most interesting was about her cousin. Her cousin claims to see her protector occasionally, who is an ancestor of the Nakajima Family from the Tokugawa period. A warrior. I was surprised by this and asked if everyone had a protector spirit. She responded, “No, but sometimes our ancestors return to protect us, or a spirit will come to help us on behalf of our family.” I mentioned in the west how we had Guardian Angels and asked if they were the same. She thought a second and answered, “No… the angels are different then the family spirits. It feels better to know your family is protecting you, ne?”

I recently returned from a trip to Okinawa where I visited the Japanese Naval Headquarters. During Winter Break I visited Hiroshima. In both places there was a massive amount of death. I have always been sensitive to the other side so to speak, so I decided to ask my Okaasan about spirits around the living. “When someone suddenly dies and they are afraid, or angry they do not leave that spot.” She responded and told me that in Hiroshima all those people were so surprised by their death they still hadn’t passed on, they were too shocked.
“What about haunted houses?” I muttered out.
“They are waiting for friends,” She responded. My face must have been blank because she continued, “You know how sometimes there are intersections where lots of accidents happen.” I nodded. “The spirits of someone who die there are lonely and they want friends, so they make accidents.”

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and its time to call an exorcist.

Hanami Season

2010-04-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

Its a bird! Its a plane! NO... no... its something much more big, much more powerful. Something this Gaijin girl has never seen in her life. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Hanami season.

I don't really know how to explain this phenomenon in Japan other then you get togethers with friends and family then go have a picnic under the blossoming cherry trees. Its a very beautiful thing! Hundreds of people flood the parks of Japan in hopes of a good spot. My host mother told me that often people with larger groups will send someone the night before hanami to save a spot. Its a competition! And one that I participated in three times and a couple more if you are counting.
One time I even made a trip back to Kiyomizu-dera for a light up that featured the sakura. In my opinion it wasn't has brilliant as the fall leaves light up but it was still nice. During my trip there me and few of my friends also had a few tastes of sakura. I was treated to green tea and sakura mixed ice cream, which as disgusting as it sounds is very good.

I would tell you about my experiences but there isn't a whole lot to say about hamani. I just went on a picnic with my friends and again two times with my host family. Probably the most memorable times was with my host mother and sister, Shiori. We had gone before to what the people in the Kuzuha area call the Sakura Park.... I don't know the real name. This time however we went to Yawatashi as the sakura were falling. We also saw pickled sakura that you could mix in rice, sakura soap, sakura lotion, sakura shampoo, sakura condoms... ok, there weren't any condoms but I swear that if Japan ever figures out how to do that...

Sakura doesn't last very long, as I have learned from Hanami season. Maybe two weeks and then its all gone. My host mother explained this is why the people of Japan love sakura so much.
"Why? Its only around for such a short time, then they die." I asked.
She smiled and responded, "It reminds us of a good life. It may be short, but it is beautiful, even when it begins to end."

The entire country of Japan goes on a stand still for these little pink and white flowers. Advertisements on TV all seem to have a theme of sakura, business offer sales because of hamani season and even the government gets involved and recommends the top places for people to visit. This is a national pride issue, one like I've never seen before. When was the last time you saw someone in America stop on their walk to simply gaze at a blossoming tree, or a family just sit down to relax together? Its been a long time since I went on a picnic in America, in fact the last time must have been back in high school. We just don't seem to do those things in America anymore.

With hamani season also comes a special event in Gion: Miyako Odori.

Miyako Odori is the spring dances the Geisha and Maiko do every year. I went with my host mother to this event and I have to say I enjoyed even more then the fall dances. I don't have the pamphlet on me to describe the dances exactly, but I will update the blog with a description of the dances. During this dance there was an optional tea ceremony before the perfomance. My host mother and I participated in this and at the end I discovered we got to keep these cute fancy dishes that we were served the treats on. Also, there are no pictures of Miyako Odori because they didn't allow photos during the performance. I think that Miyako Odori is actually performed in the school where the Geisha and Maiko of Gion are trained, so the rules are slightly different. Never the less the dances were spectacular and well done. I wish I could write more about it. If you are ever in Kyoto during Miyako Odori time (The month of April) do not miss this event.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I sat under the sakura

Bargaining and Summer Palace

2010-04-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

Here is my last little post about China. And it has to do with our last day in China: bargaining and the Summer Palace.

Before I talk about that, I forgot to mention the Night Market. Alright. Night Market. Some people say that if you are lucky on some nights a busy street in Wangfujing shuts down and becomes a night market with food and tastes from other worlds. I can say that this is true. A busy street shuts down and become a place where you can eat anything. ANYTHING. Did I mention you can eat anything? The culinary choices ranged from fresh strawberries to live scorpions on a stick ready to be fried. A few starfish sat on stand-by to be put in someone's belly, silk worms were strung together and someone mentioned Sea Horses. Me and Sarah stuck with the strawberries, fried pumpkin.

Sarah and I were staying at a hostel near Wangfujing a large shopping district in Beijing. If you want to find nice cheap stuff for souvenirs and gifts its a good place to head. I found some nicely priced things for friends and family. I was able to purchase large and nicely made paper fans for 10 yuan each; about $1.50. I bought one for my dad, for myself and a friend Alexis. Mine has a few faces from the Peking Opera on the front and the back smaller ones with the descriptions in Chinese.

We decided to go to the Silk Market, a large buildling with a bunch of specialty shops selling everything from Jade to fake brand names. We got there early and walking through the stalls Sarah mentioned she wanted to buy a bag. She didn't really know how to bargain so when it came to finding the right price for the bag she wanted she handed the dealigns over to me.

The Chinese lady began by saying she usually priced the bag at 900 (around $96.00) but because we were the first customers of the day we would get a SPECIAL morning price, so she began with 860 yuan. I began by laughing a little and saying 200 (my goal be somewhere around 350 yuan). She laughed back and told us that it was a good deal, but she would give us a better price. Price went down to 760. I looked at Sarah and said, "Didn't we see some in Wangfujing for around 300 yuan? The price dropped to 540 yuan. I rose it up to 350 yuan. The Chinese lady coutnered with 480. I drove back with 420. She nodded and said, "Deal." And that is how Sarah got her bag at the Silk Market.

I was on the outlook for a jade necklace and a wall scroll. I found a necklace I loved and the lady began at 260 yuan ($28.00). I offered 120 yuan, we bantered back and forth until it ended with 190 yuan as the deal. Looking back I should have tried the walking away technique but I was chicken to loose the necklace. Ahh well.

Next bargain I killed with. I am taking Sumi-e (Japanese and Chinese painting) at Kansai Gaidai so when we entered a shop with wall scrolls I began inspecting one with Chrysanthemums. The lady said it was around 320 yuan ($34.00) I commented that was too much. I told her I did this painting at school and offered 80 ($8.00) yuan. She countered with 220 yuan. We bantered back and forth as I informed ehr if I couldn't by it I could always make one... I bought the scroll for 120 yuan ($14.00).

Summer Palace:

I was told I had to go to see the Summer Palace before I left Beijing. And am I happy that I did!
To be honest, in the way of entering and learning about the buildings themselves there wasn't a lot of that but the architecture was beautiful and it wasn't overly catering to the tourist populace except in the souvenir area. Even there the souvenir had a peaceful feeling to it. The Summer Palace was huge! It would have taken us almost a full day to see the whole thing. So Sarah and I simply wandered through the more populated places. As we reached a hill we realized how huge this palace was. There is a HUGE lake that stretches far into Beijing and all around it are the boundaries of the palace grounds. As the two of us climbed the steps I muttered out,
"How did the court ladies walk in their dresses around this place."
"This is when they had bound feet, its not like they left the buildings, or the bedrooms for that matter." commented Sarah.
"Old school treatment of women... you just don't get that in America anymore."
"No, something about how its degrading to our sex?"

The two of us found a moon gate, or a large round whole in the wall that led into a garden. What else could to American women do but take a picture in it? With the two of us in it I think it was one of the best decisions the two of us made that day.
We spent the rest of the day admiring the buildings, one with a bunch of small buddhas carved into it. But finally it was time to return to the hostel and Wangfujing for some last minute shopping. Our time in China was at its end and it was a sad farwell as we took off the next day to return to Japan. I enjoyed it. I think I would love to return to China.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and China was nothing like the American Classrooms say.

Great Wall Climbing Club

2010-04-08T02:00:00.001-07:00

I would first like to apologize for my lateness in this post. I have much to discuss, much to tell and its time to finish up the Beijing story so we can discuss Japan once again. Here we go!

The Great Wall
Ok, lets all be very honest here, if you go to China you HAVE to go to the Great Wall. I feel a trip to China is almost incomplete with out such an adventure. I feel a little kinship with the wall (called Banri no Chuujou in Japanese) and with China itself because of Mulan, it is the theme movie of me and my friends back in America. I know thats an odd thing to say but coming from the Disney Generation, how else did we get introduced to China? First something interesting to mention: In an odd occurance of events, three other girls from Kansai Gaidai came to Beijing and stayed in the same hostel as me and Sarah. We all decided to go to the Great Wall together, you know to represent?
Sarah and I decided to go to the Mutinayu part of the wall, the oldest existing one and with the least tourists. We started our journey with the hostel tour group at 7:30am in the morning. From Beijing its a hour and a half drive to the Great Wall at Mutinayu. Sarah dozed off as did I but I woke up for the last 25-30 minutes of the drive as we went through small mountain villages. I remember my professor Mark Tracy telling us in class that when you get out of the big cities of China its like going back in time. People in the mountains and country live in the slums.
Once again, Mark Tracy has told the truth. The villages we went through were cruddy little shacks. There were bricks laying all about, knocked down buildings, wild dogs running around and even donkeys walking about aimlessy. People seemed to be building things but... from the looks of it, that was going no where fast.
So after our arrival to the Great Wall we began our climb. It was crazy to climb on something that was over 1,000 years old and imagine what it must have been like all those years ago. As we climbed up the steep stairs we occasionally looked over the wall. The wall was constructed as a way to keep the Mongols amoung other invaders out of China. The thing about the Great Wall however is that it isn't that tall. Maybe 7-8 feet high from the ground.
"It must have worked, until the Mongols discovered ropes" commented Sarah with a grin.
I chuckled. "That or the Mongols were REALLY short."
I then came up with a hypotehesis: Maybe it did work because the Mongols were famous for their horses... how do you get horses over a 7-8 foot wall? Sarah responded, "Pullies. Lift them up over the wall." She then continued with the explination, "Perhaps it was just used to alert the people of China, they would light up the large signals on the guard houses and the people would know of the invasion."
I chuckled, "So Mulan did tell the truth."
Speaking of Mulan. I made a promise to my friends back in Walla Walla that I would sing "Be a Man" on the Great Wall from Mulan, so I kept good on that promise.
Unfortunately Spring has not arrived in China and so the trees were bare and brown. Very brown. It made for a slight boring view but at the same time... I was on the Great Wall of China. I commented to Sarah and Olivia that I was both slightly disappointed and very excited at the same time. However, the mountain view was well worth it and you could see a little village in the valley, as well as part of the wall visitors were no longer able to climb on. One of the greatest wonders in the world and I got to see it, climbed it and even sang on it.
After the wall trip our tour guide took us to a restaurant where we had dim sum. It was delicious.
A word on Chinese food: I HATE Chinese food. Detest it. Then I went to China. Turns out the real stuff is actually really good. I have thus confirmed a theory: food in the country where it originates from is better than in the States.

Hair Salon
Black hair is unreasonable. It doesn't like to do what you want it to do, its disobedient. And after 7 months abroad with NO black hair stylist I was ready to shave my hair off. My hair was fluffy and hard to keep in its natural state. I had researched salons in Japan and found one in Tokyo but it charged 15,000 yen. Around $157. That was far too expensive. So being the dare-devil I was I googled Black Hair Salons in Beijing. And guess what! I found one. Over in the business district I found a salon called Simba Hair Salon. Instead of paying $157 for my hair I could pay $53. What a nice deal! I went to the salon and an hour later my hair was straight and manageable again!
Side note: We found a Diary Queen after the hair appointment. Double win for WSU.

Peking Opera
We wanted to have a little taste of culture while in Beijing so Sarah and I decided to check out the Peking Opera. We were very happy with the choice. It was amazing. I had learned about the Peking Opera from a couple years back when I watched the movie, Farwell My Concubine (great film, check it out), so I was very excited to see the real Peking Opera. Before the show you can watch the actors putting on their make-up in the lobby, which is interesting seeing how hard a process it is. During the performance there was English on a screen, translating what the actors were saying. The theater does two short stories. We watched were: Hu Village and Stealing Silver In Storage.
The stories are as follows:

Hu Village
Song Jiang, the uprising leader leads his troops against the Zhu village. Zhu village and its neighboring village Hu have formed a military alliance. In the Hu village a woman named Hu Sanniang captures a powerful general in the offending army.
This story was interesting, as it had a lead female character. I was slightly reminded of Mulan.

Stealing Silver in Storage
This was my favorite of the two stories. "After Bai Suzhen married Xu Xian, she asked Xiao Qing to steal silver in the storage house. The silver is being taken from the greedy officials and will be used to buy ingredients to make medicine for the people of China. This was also lead by a female, who had a couple of side kicks that made the opera more entertaining.
with this story there was also a wide variety of characters and more acrobatic tricks.
Also I have to mention the singing voices of the Peking Opera, they are high pitched and awesome. Seriously, if you are in Beijing. Don't miss this!

My next post will be small and dealing with another part about Beijing I liked: bargaining. Till then, zaijian!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and yes, I climbed that big wall over in China.

Beijing Jing Jing!

2010-04-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

I am back and full of dumplings.

China was AWESOME. I loved it! In fact I enjoyed my vacation so much that I didn't want to return to Japan. Sarah was literally dragging me through Beijing Capital Airport to get back on the blasted plan to Japan.
So what happened? What did I see? What did I feel? What did I hear? Well, sit back grab a box of cheap Chinese take-out and open the ears.
Sarah and I arrived in Beijing at 10:25pm and after going through customs and immigration we arrived at our hostel a little bit late. The next morning the two of us awoke and decided to go hit up the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. We also made reservations for a day long Great Wall Tour on the 24th. Our hostel was within walking distance of the Forbidden City so the two of us set out around 10:30am. Before we left we pulled on some nice masks that we had brought from Japan. During the time of our arrival there was a large sandstorm from the Chinese desert that was blowing through China, over Beijing and even towards Japan. That made the air quality look as if it was just cloudy but it was really dust and sand. We hadn't walked even 10 minutes before a man in a little gray cart pulled up next to us asking, "Where you going? Hello. I take you for cheap, you take picture." This was going to be a very common occurrence in our trip... We told the man repeatedly that we didn't want his services but he got out of the car/cart and tried to stop us. After that we decided to completely ignore people who bothered us... well I did, Sarah attempted to speak Japanese to them until she realized even that didn't work.
It felt almost crazy as we walked up to the famous red gate with the large photo of Mao on it. It was amazing, I had seen this place in pictures since I could recall and now... I was here. As we stood there looking at the large picture Sarah and I also felt as if we were being watched and we weren't wrong. Looking around the entire area was running with police.
In fact everywhere we went there was police. And I mean as in I would look one direction and see around 3-4 police men. Both Sarah and I came up with a saying: "China... you don't screw up here." Walking into the Forbidden City the two of us realized how really big this place was. To be honest, I thought the entire thing consisted of only the one building that we see in all those pictures of the Great City and in the movies. Turns out, surprise surprise that its is actually a city. The thing was huge! I thought we were going to spend 30 minutes there. We spent two hours going through the whole thing! It was crazy! I loved to look at the architecture and design and how it differed from Japanese ones. It was also like a breath of fresh air. Fresh sandy air. But after six months of looking at Japanese designs I greatly enjoyed the change in scene. We walked through the courtyards and looked at all the various buildings and especially at the incredible beauty of some of the rooms. My favorite was the building that the Empress lived in. She had a sort of public throne room and then a beautiful bed. It was more like a big whole in the wall with drapery around it colored with red silks. The ground was covered with large orient carpets and the walls had large paintings.
I am beginning to guess that red is a big Asian thing. I say that because temples here in Japan are red, and the royal palaces and temples in China are colored red. Its also the color of the communist flag of China. You learn something new everyday.
While there isn't much to describe of the Forbidden City as it was just us walking around being tourists... I shall continue on with our adventures.
Tianamen Square. Its a large square in the middle of Beijing. Well I think I just summed it up for you. However there is a lot of interesting things that went along with it. If you were alive during the 1980s or if you ever remotely paid attention to the History Channel or even a history book you would have seen this famous picture:
The young man standing infront of a bunch of tanks in an act of non-violent resistance. No one knows what happened to him. As according to Wikipedia: Video footage shows that two figures in blue attire then pulled the man away and absorbed him into the crowd; the tanks continued on their way.

We began our enterance into the square but found out that this "public square"had a fence all around it and a security check point that we had to put our bags through. We were told later by some people we met at the hostel that they had hidden microphones all over the area and if you mentioned the riots of 1989 that the secret police would come and get you. Obviously Sarah and I said nothing worth drawing attention of the Communist Government as we walked up to the monument to the People's Hero, just a large obelisk in the middle of the square. We both found two statues much more interesting. They were of a group of people, it appeared the original communist party consisting of men and women carrying things and at the front standing victoriously. This was in front of the Mao Remeberance Hall which houses Mao's body. From 8am-12pm you can see his body Tues-Sunday. We never got around to it but the statues were interesting enough to view as we stood there.
I mentioned to Sarah after we left that I wondered how much people really knew of that square. At the hostel, when the Chinese workers where asked why Tianamen Square was so important, why did tourists always go there they answered. "Its the biggest square in the world." The younger generations do not know the truth of why its so famous, while the older generations have been silenced well.
What was on the menu for dinner? Dumplings. 50 dumplings in fact. And how much did the WSU ladies pay for this? Together, for the both of us... our whole meal was 45 yuan. THats about $5.00 for us both.
I love China.
I would write more but I am feeling a little sick and going to do Hanami tomorrow, so I will write more later!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and NOTHING BAD HAPPENED AT TIANAMEN SQUARE.

Chuugoku here I kiku!

2010-03-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I got hit with the midterm bug and was busy for nearly two weeks. I have to say that everything is on its down hill slant here in Japan. That is not to say in the least it is bad, it means that things are speeding up to the dramatic climax that will come at the end of May when I have to leave Japan. It is crazy, is really almost April? Didn't I just arrive in Japan a couple of weeks ago? Was it only a day that I got attacked by deer in Nara with Pauline? That me and Amber were sitting in our room talking about everything under the sun from boys to Japanese Pop stars to the Bombing of Hiroshima? It had to be last week! But no, I have committed almost 7 months of my life in the land of the rising sun and only have two more left to give. It is driving me wild with worry that I haven't done enough, I have yet to see the sun rise on Mt. Fuji, to go to Tokyo Disneyland, to gravel to Hokkaido and play in the snow, all these plans, I... .I... what are happening to them?
I have my moments where I hate Japan true, but... in reality how can I live back in America after everything that has occured to me here? Is it really possible to eat a salad with out hashi (chopsticks) or have a meal that doesn't include a side of rice and miso soup? Did I really come from such a world? America almost sounds barbaric in comparison to Japan. School shootings, things being stolen, government corruption, bad public transportation.... the list goes on. Will I be ready to go home?

And after that little speech of all my issues I present a new issue in my life: I am going to China within the next 48 hours. Beijing to be exact. My plans include visting the Great Wall, Tiamenn Square, seeing Mao's dead body and visiting a bunch of other anwesome places in Beijing. (there may even be a Peking Opera Visit along with a Legend of Kung Fu show) All this sounds like fun and then I realized, I don't speak Chinese. This could end badly.
But never fear! I am not doing this alone, I am dragging along Sarah. So if anything bad happens we are gonna experience it together. Now to be honest, I am more likely to die in Seattle than in Beijing. Beijing is actually one of the more safest cities in the world thanks to the Communist scare tactics used by the government.... never the less you gotta be a little worried in these situations. Because of this I have picked up a little Chinese, the first being the most important in ANY language, "Where is the bathroom?" (ce sou zai nar?), and thanks to this phrase I can also use it to ask other things like, where is a cafe? (ka fei ting zai nar?) or something to that extent. The problem comes when they respond in Chinese... I didn't think this plan out... oohh well.
So the honest truth is that most likely you won't be hearing from me for about a week as I will be in China and kicking it with the commies. To be perfectly honest, I am kind of happy to be leaving Japan for a bit and getting a break from Japanese Culture. I didn't get that over vacation and at some point you just need a real break. Even if it is in a communist country, but hey, at least I am not going to North Korea.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and Beijing is my destination!

My dango

2010-03-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

"ahh... Dango wo tabetai!"
"donna dango wo tabetai?"
"Mitarashi to.... to... that pink and white and green one."
"You mean, Bocchan dango?"
"Um... yeah.."

Here is an ode to one of my favorite Japanese treats: dango. A delicious little rice flour dumpling that is just down right delicious. When I first arrived in Japan I have to admit I really did NOT like these things, and I detested their cousin mochi, another rice flour treat usually with anko (red bean) = which by the way I am still at odds with. So what turned my head to this little desert I love so much?
It was a short, sassy and at times stereotypical french girl named Pauline. She loved dango. I loved green tea. Green tea and dango are always put together with the Japanese, and so, it was unavoidable to fall in love with this food.
So today, I told my host mom about a craving I've had since I woke up, I wanted dango. I asked where I should go to get some and she recommended me to the Supa (grocery store), then decided to take me to this wonderful place and then she BOUGHT me the dango, which because she bought it I had to share with the family but ahh well. While at the Supa I found strawberries and was overwhelmed with a desire to eat some, I miss fresh fruit! Its so expensive here in Japan. I bought some strawberries for just me, which I plan to eat in my room while watching some J-dramas.
Ahh yes, some more changes. I am now watching J-dramas. Japanese Dramas, in case you didn't catch that. At the moment I am watching Shinsengumi! Its a taiga drama, or a year long drama that the station NHK puts on every year. I am on episode 11 and got about 40 more to go. At an hour long each it takes up your day quickly but its really nice, especially since I am learning more about the Shisengumi which were a special police force in Edo period Kyoto before the Meiji Restoration.
I have had a huge interest in the Shinsengumi and so this drama is right up my alley and I love every second of it! Even better? The Shinsengumi were based in Kyoto! KYOTO! Just another reason of why I have always loved Kyoto.
Little funny story before I go:
The incident that made the Shinsengumi famous was called the Ikedaya incident. A group of rebels were together and making plans to burn down Kyoto. You heard me, burn down the city I love more then cheddar cheese. Anyways, the Shinsengumi found out and came to the Inn and slaughtered all of them thus saving Kyoto. This was also a big step off point for the political change that took place in Japan called the Meiji Restoration. This event was huge, its in the history books, its big in all Shinsengumi stories, literature, dramas and even Kyoto history. Today the Ikedaya is there no more. Instead there is a KFC built on the spot with a little stone reminder to tell people that they are selling American chicken on such grounds. The real irony? The Shinsengumi were supporters of Sonno Joi, which was a huge movement at the time to rid Japan of all foregieners. KFC for the win!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am eating dango right now.

Backstreet Boys = English Lesson

2010-03-03T03:53:00.000-08:00

"He is happy"
"He... he... ith... iz... happi."
"he ich happi."
"Ya... something like that."

And so began my first English lesson at the Nakajima household. Part of the housing agreement with my host family is that I teach the two girls English. Its hard to do that on an everyday basis as my intent of staying here is to improve my Japanese (among other things). So my host mother suggested I have a set day and time to give them lessons. Well it was time to man up, it was time to bite the bullet. It was time to learn how the heck to teach a complex language like English.
This was going to be hard.

I employed the sketch book I haven't been using for a long time to help out with this teaching. The first thing I did was write down words that apply to people and then their Japanese equivalents.

I - Watashi
She - Kanjou
He - Kare
They - Mina
We - Watashi-tachi

Next was to teach them what goes after these words to state a condition (joutai) such as happy, sad, sick, etc. The first I taught where the conditions stated. I used pictures to help with this practice. For "She" I used a picture of Kate Winslet, "he" was Leonardo Dicaprio, "They" was a famous Japanese Band called Arashi. And so it began.
"How is she?"
"Eh?"
"Kanjou wa doudata?"
"Ahh! She.... She..."
"Hai, She is."
"She is.....happy."

"How is he?"
"He... is... is...sad?" ( I am thinking I need to teach them the word handsome for Leo...)
"YES!"

Next we looked through a picture book pointing at various words... then we came across the word umbrella. Well the best way to teach is through repitition I hear and also who doesn't love music? My solution? I was going to let them listen to Umbrella by Rhianna. They were giggling and copying Rhianna.
"Umbrella erra erra erra ei ei ei."

Next up I taught them the word "everybody" (minasan!) hmmm... if only there was a song written by a boy band from the 1990s that used this word alot... Backstreet... Backstreets Back!! I decided this time they should have a visual to go along with this word. So I went to Youtube and pulled up the music video for Backstreets Back. The room filled with giggles as Shiori attempted to copy the dance and they oohhed and ahhhed at the flips and 90s dance moves. I think it was a hit.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I used the Backstreet Boys to teach English.

Sakura Madness Begins!

2010-03-02T01:41:00.000-08:00

In Japan they love Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) and I mean LOVE. There is NO end to this love its like a fat kid and cake. I don't totally understand it but once the Sakura begin to bloom maybe I will...
Sakura bloom usually in March and April so we are in the Pre-Game season. When the real season starts it means its time for Hanami, or flower gazing. Where people go and have picnics under the sakura trees. Its a time for family. Japan has taken this love and put it EVERYWHERE. Hello Kitty has stuff to do with the sakura, its on plates, kimono, t-shirts, billboards and now Starbucks has harnessed the power of the sakura. You heard me. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Western world I introduce the Sakura Frappuccino. Found in the Shinsabashi Starbucks it is a rare breed of Frappuccino that can be found ONLY in Japan. It was quite a shock to see it in its natural habitat and nearly blended in.
As I entered the starbucks I also found sakura biscotti, donuts and macarons. I was too late! Sakura madness had already begun! What to do? How to fight it? I knew I had only one option... to give in. So I bought one and took a sip. My first reaction? I am drinking soap. My second reaction? A nice tasting soap. Third reaction? This stuff is good!
Sakura Frappuccino: because its almost that time of year.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and sakura can be drunk.

Japan Culture - Round 2

2010-02-25T01:08:00.000-08:00

Yes it is another update from the land of Bamboo, Samurai, Ninjas and Geisha! More cultural things ahead so read on!

Engrish - "But use proper English, you're regarded as a freak" - My Fair Lady.
You can't come to a forgien country and miss the slaughter of the English language. Japan is no exception to this, in fact they invented Engrish. It is not hard to be walking down the street and sight something in English then only realize it makes NO sense what so ever. However this has not stopped me from making a few Engrish investments. Such as one shirt that has a design on the back of it of two large angel wings, under the wings it says in gold letters: "I have a wing it is called the courage." I loved this so much I was tempted to get it tattooed on me... but that was one of those bad ideas that comes along with youth... continuing on my tale of Engrish, often I will find something so funny that I have to laugh in the middle of a shopping mall or store, often embarrassing someone I am with as I pull out my camera to take a picture of the terrible English. A couple of my favorites have been a store called Womb, a Shirt that says: Everyone came to Virginia also all I took in these vintage clothes! Pther times the products can carry English phrases that have lots of double meanings to them. For example there is a wallet in Shinsaibashi (a large shopping district in Osaka) that is neon pink. On this wallet are written the words: Master, Good Vibrations, Member, Peace. I don't know what to make of it... but I do know that every time I go into that store I stare at the wallet wondering if I should buy it for the giggles back home. But then again, I don't want my grandparents questioning me of exactly WHAT happened while abroad in Osaka. What happens in Kansai is not always guarenteed to stay there. Last semester me, Jonna and Sam came up with a theory of how these unfortuante sentances occur. The Japanese use google translate. The reason for this is because mukashi mukashi (once upon a time) the three of us were trying to order a dominos pizza here in Japan which you must use the internet for. So as we were looking at the pictures of the pizzas we were copying and pasting sentences into google translate, at one point we came up with the explination: "Due to the nature of the pizza we hear it is spicy."
Japan. Here smart English is avaliable.

Fear - "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" - Franklin Roosevelt
Japan is one of the most safest countries in the world. I am not making this up, look at any stastic, ask any international detective person. Bad things rarely happen in Japan. Take for example... in 2002 there was a reported 236 murders for the entire year in Japan. One year. That may sound like a lot... but compare it with the United States average of 16,204 people. One year. America the Great no? Which country would you rather live in?
As stated before, Japan is very safe. At night is alright for a woman to walk home alone in the dark, its safe to go hang out in the park with a couple of friends. Its ok to set down your bag next to you when you are at the ticket machine to pay. No one will steal your things! I lost my cellphone a couple days ago in the train station... I went back later and discovered someone had found it and turned it in. Another story: last semester my friend left her wallet on the bus. An hour later she went and picked it up from the bus company after someone turned it in. The worst crime I have seen personally is a stolen umbrella. Japan is strick on crime (you can go to prison for 3 years for bike theft).
But this has created a bit of a problem as stated by my professor Mark Tracy, "Because they live in such a crime free society they are always afraid of crime." He made this example of how 10 years ago a girl was felt up in a park. 10 years later, with no other reported crimes the park is considered "Very Dangerous" by the community. He also told us about an add for house burglar systems put out years ago that showed a masked person walking into a house and the title said, "The Chinese Are Coming." - this companies sales shot through the roof in a matter of weeks as people scrambled to buy more protection for their homes.
My host mother told me that if I am out past 12am to not come home, to go stay at a friends house or the seminar house. Why? It is dangerous after 12am. When I ride my bike my host mother tells me to hook my purse around the handle bars so no one can steal it.
I guess if you have never lived with fear you are always afraid. Japanese people often ask if I am afraid of the Yakuza (mafia) here in Japan. I respond, "iie, America no mafia no houga kowaii. mainichi, hito bito shindeimasu." (No, American gangs are more scary. Every day people die.)

Dress Up - “Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are.” - Quentin Crisp
Don't get me wrong on this, please don't. I love Japanese Fashion to a point... I have a hard time finding clothing here because as it turns out in Japan you are not allowed to have any curve. But many Japanese girls take fashion to a whole new level. Apparently the girls at Kansai Gaidai are some of the most fashionable in the Kansai area. One of my friends was told by a Japanese student she wakes up two hours before school to do her hair and make-up. Two hours! Some of their classes start earlier than 9am! That means given there maybe some travel time to school most are waking up around 4:30-5:00am JUST to look pretty for the day. This brings up the question, what are they wearing and how do they pay for this stuff? Lots of Japanese girls have more than one part time job. When I asked why a girl had two she said, "So I can pay for rent, food and clothing." My Japanese teacher informed us she had a girl who said that she spent 70,000 yen ($750.00) each month on JUST clothing. When we were told this my class of western students filled the rooms with gasps of shock. Most of us are struggling to make ends meet in our own countries with just college tuition. I told my host mom about this and she commented, "Well, that girl is just stupid. She doesn't want to study she just wants to be young and play around. Most Japanese Girls in this generation want to be students so they can do as they like... they don't study." Well said. I commented to my host mom I think western girls are usually more mature, she agreed telling me that in the west we are forced to grow up sooner, we get into politics and other things but in Japan girls are geered towards fashion, dreams and celebrities not studies or reality.
I can't make too much judgement: I have begun to wear boots. Boots are the way to go here in Japan, everything boots... and heels. I hate heels so I have adapted to using boots... my feet hurt but I look pretty. Ouch! I look sexy! Ouch! Ouch! My feet are breaking but people notice me! Ouch! OUch! OUCH!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Universal Studios Japan

2010-02-13T02:03:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love a day of fun in the sun? Well for me it was more of a day of fun in the soaking rain and constant adreline rushes but its all the same. How did this day occur? When I decided to go to USJ (Universal Studios Japan) for a day.

I rounded up two of my friends; Jean-Christophe (We all call him JC) from Quebec and Sarah from WSU, a fellow coug, to come along with me. Sarah brought her Japanese friend Ryo along for the ride as well. USJ opens at 10am so we meet at Hirakat-shi at 9:00am to begin the journey. By the time we arrived at Universal City it was sprinking but that didn't damage our spirits. As I heard the familiar theme music for Universal Studios I was transported back in my mind to being 8 years old and going to Universal Studios in California. Pictures were taken and then onto the ticket buying. The tickets to the park were 5,800 yen (roughly $60.00) for adults and around 3,000 yen for children.
We were worried about the rain canceling one of the rides, the rollercoaster so we jumped in line for that ride first. A little word on rollercoasters... I hate them. I mean I HATE them. But to be far the last time I was on one I was seven years old, so now being the big and tough almost 20 year old I am I decided to throw my silly childish fears out the window and go on the big kids ride. I have to learn how to listen to those childish fears. By the time the ride was over I was shaking, apparently my friends thought I was going to pass out on it because I was so terrified. The drop nearly killed me, I hate the feeling of falling and so for those whole 2 minutes I was in my own personal hell, at least strapped to it going down towards the ground and god knows how fast... you could choose a type of music to listen to and I chose Enemien's Loose Yourself... I did loose myself, but not in the music but in my terror. Rollercoasters - never again.
The Jaws Ride was fun as well although JC, Sarah and I all felt as if we were transported back to our homes in the US and Canada. The scenery of the ride was made to look like a seaside village in main, but for all of us we only saw the Canadian Coast and Pudget Sound. The lady who was our "guide" was awesome, she was a tiny Japanese girl who was pretty funny and lively. The Jaws ride has to be one of my favorites now, a large shark trying to attack and eat you with a little Japanese girl shooting it up? Can't be any more fun.
As we walked down the streets I we told Ryo how we felt as if we were back home. My greatest joy so far? Public trash cans! In Japan for some reason they don't have trash cans readily avaliable to the public. They expect you to carry your trash home. I have to admit it is very annoying but here at USJ it was mini-America. Everything had English, all the rides were just like the ones back home and they had American food!!
Before going to eat we decided to take a few pictures with the mascots. I found a cute lil' peguin mascot who was walking around and couldn't help the overwhelming desire to be next to it! But there were lots of little kids who wanted to take the picture with it and I don't think he saw us at first... until JC tackled him. I am not making this up, he didn't knock down the lil' penguin but he grabbed him around the waist in a hug. Then we got our picture, here is the evidence.
For lunch we found a 1950s American Diner complete with the mustangs outside, malts, burgers and even 1950s and 60s music. I got a cheeseburger meal with a small apple pie for dessert. How I miss true American food!! While sitting there music that JC, Sarah and I had heard since childhood was being played; Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis), Surfin' USA (Beach Boys), a little big of Elvis. What could be more American? Eating burgers and singing old school American songs. During that time we explained to Ryo what the songs were and that they were very old, songs that had b. een around when our parents were just children. Never the less I felt a little homesick as I remembered my trip to Universal with my dad when I was eight and also eating at many 1950s styled diners with him on various trips. But the presence of my friends made up for not having my family there.
The next attraction? Jurassic Park. Yes, because it was time to face off with the dinosaurs. This has to be one of my favorite rides, I enjoyed it to the max especially since I remembered going on it with my Dad back in the day and watching the movies when I was a kid. By this time the rain was coming down hard and we bought cheap ponchos to keep dry for the Jurassic Park ride. Sarah and I had to hold our purses under our ponchos to keep them dry but it was worth it.
The drop down was like the rollercoaster, but not as steep and me and Sarah decided to hold onto each other for the picture being taken... as it turned out with our ponchos on you couldn't really see us so we will have to do it again when we go back. We once again took to wandering the streets of USJ and decided to go to the Monster Rock Show which I have to admit was a little bit cheesy but I found another reason to enjoy it. We got in line behind a mother and a little girl who was staring at me, we all smiled and begin talking to her in Japanese making her smile. I bent down to ask her what her name was and found the little girl wrapping her arms around me in a hug. How could I not hug her back? From that point on the little girl (named Misaki) held my hand as we went into the building and found seats, not letting go for a minute. Her mother kept referring to me as "Oneesan" which means big sister. At various parts of the show (which had English songs sung by American actors) I would find her looking at me with a big grin. (My host mother latter pointed out that maybe she recognized me because I looked like a famous actress or anime character and related me to that person)I was still out of it that I had been so quickly welcomed by this little girl and having been speaking English all day I found myself unable to speak Japanese to Misaki, so Sarah took over. I feel bad in when I ever I am with Sarah I find myself relying on her to translate things for me, but when I am alone I am fine. Oh well, she wants to be a translator anyways....
After we completed the show we parted ways with Misaki and her mother and went to ride the Spiderman Ride. Spidey!! How could I not enjoy a ride that invovled an all American Hero such as the Amazing Spiderman? What I found even more odd was that me and Sarah could only sing the Spider Pig song from the Simpson's movie and not the real theme to Spiderman.
Spider Pig.. Spider Pig... does what ever a spider pig does...
I am going just come out and say this was my favorite ride at USJ.
Ryo had to leave at four for his job leaving the three Gaijin alone in our natural habitat. Our last ride was Back to The Future, which left me slightly motion sick, but was fun never the less. JC had to leave at 6 in order to go to a birthday party leaving just me and Sarah. Where were two ladies going to go? The Hard Rock Cafe of course! I had never been to a Hard Rock Cafe in all my life and I was thrilled at going for the first time. Now this is where I had the best American Food since coming to Japan. I ordered a Chicken Club Sandwhich that came with a side of fries. I was in heaven. It was too delicious. Sarah also pointed out to me this guy at the Hard Rock Cafe with piercings... not gonna lie pretty cute and get this... he had vampire teeth!
What is it with me and vampires? They always seem to find me here in Japan. Well, as long as they don't sparkle in the sun far be it from me to complain.
Sarah and I finished our day at the Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt Shop where I bought the most delicious tasting frozen yogurt I've ever had. A wonderful day with wonderful friends!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I had a day in America.

Livin' the Nihon no seimei

2010-02-13T01:29:00.000-08:00

Classes have once again begun here in Kansai and I am going into my second and final semester here at Kansai Gaidai Daigaku. Times have flown and things have changed... lots of things... such as waking up in the morning at 6:00am so I can eat breakfast with my host family. You heard me right... 6am. My host family eats at that time because it is when the girls are getting ready to go to school. That makes a problem. I love to sleep but I also love to eat. Solution? Wake up at 6 eat and then return to bed before its time for school.

Japanese Breakfasts: for some reason here in Japan they have this idea that eating just toast, egg and coffee is good enough. I am not kidding. Thats it. Even in resturaunts they have a toast set which consists of just that... I am going to starve. By the time I wake back up ride the 30 minutes to school I am already feeling hungry.I am still trying to figure out how to get over this little obstacle but I will figure it out soon!

I am having a blast otherwise though, for example my host sisters and host mom are awesome! My host brother and host father? I really don't interact with them. This has to do with their crazy work schedule and even more to do with Japanese Culture. Welcome to a male dominated society. It is quite different for me to see how things differ in this culture than from my own. For example, in my host family my host father only comes into the kitchen to eat with us and some times not at all. After he is finished eating he goes back to his study. Occasionally my Okaasan takes him things to eat in his study. My host brother I see more often as he hangs out in the kitchen with us and drinks beer as he watches TV. We talk usually when it gets a little latter, after he's had a few drinks.

Today we discovered that a few of the small fish that my host sisters own died. I was about to ask where the net was so we could get them out of the tank but Chika was one step ahead of me... with chopsticks. You heard me right. CHOPSTICKS. She was using disposable chopsticks and pulled out the two dead fish then threw them away. I was trying to to laugh because lets be honest here, would you have thought to do that?

I also had the privilage of watching the Opening Ceremony to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. My host sisters found it slightly interesting but took it at face value until I explained certain things as they were happening. (I later showed them part of the Beijing Opening Ceremony from 2008 which Shiori really thought was cool).
Continuing my day Chika took me to Kuzuha mall so I could buy bags to put cookies in for my friends for Valentines Day. Yes... V-Day is right around the corner and I am not talking about the one related to a war... well this one is... its the war of the world of love. Anyways...
Here in Japan on Valentines Day girls make chocolate for their boyfriends. Yep make, not buy, make. My friend Bianca informed me that there are certain types of chocolate you give to different people. Chocolates for teachers, for your female friends, for your guy friends, for your boyfriend... Ahhh Japan....
So we went to Kuzuha Mall and I bought a bag to put the cookies in for my friends. There Chika showed me this game she likes to play. She has a small booklet full of cards with little dogs or cats on some of the cards, on other cards it has pictures of clothing. She walked over to an arcade game and began to use it, scanning the cards created the character on the card to appear on the screen, and the clothing appeared on the character when she scanned it. She could then play the game (called Idol Puppy) where she pressed different colored buttons to match the pattern on the screen. Fun day.

Recent Updates: I have purchased tickets to Okinawa, I will be going there Gold Week in late April and early May. I am also planning to go to China for Spring Break. Beijing to be exact.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I think we are out of disposable chopsticks.

Tokyo Haze - Part 2

2010-02-05T07:07:00.001-08:00

Back in my adventures in Tokyo...

I have always been a child at heart, somewhere deep inside me at least there is a child who loves all things cute. That has been brought out a lot while here in Japan. But to be honest before I arrived in Japan, there were many sources that put me in touch with childhood feelings of joy and one of them was Studio Ghibli movies. For those of you who have no idea what Studio Ghibli is I will give you the run down: The Disney of Japan. If Studio Ghibli is the Disney Studio of Japan then director Hayao Miyazaki is certainly the Japanese Walt Disney. Through out the years he has made films such as Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa, The Cat Returns, Castle in the Sky: Laputa Spirited Away and most recently: Ponyo. If any of the movies sound unfamiliar or you have not seen any of the above I suggest you get of your computer drive to the nearest video rental store and get one of the movies, watch it then return to this blog post.
Anyways, much to the disappointment of children all over the world there is no such thing as Ghibli Land or Ghibli World... but there is a Studio Ghibli Museum. And guess where it is based? Thats right in Tokyo!
To be perfectly honest its in a little suburb of Tokyo called Mitaka, a quiet little place that when I arrived I knew in seconds why Miyazaki had chosen this little village as the place for his museum. Everything surrounding Mitaka is serene and peaceful, its a lot like the scenery and feeling one gets when watching a Miyazaki film. But my day was about to get a lot more Studio Ghiblier (Yes, I just made Ghibli into an adjective).
Our journey was about a 20 minute walk to the museum from Mitaka Station was directed by cute little signs that made sure we were on the right track with little Totoros on the signs smiling at us. The arrival at the museum was met by a ticket booth and inside we found that Totoro was waiting for us. A LIFE SIZE Totoro. Now I was in heaven, this was amazing and we hadn't even entered the museum yet!
Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the Museum, so I am restricted on what exactly I can tell you about this wonderful place. Inside were original paintings and sketches used in the films. It was especially interesting to see how the background pictures were painted before foreground and the main characters were put in, the paintings were stunning to look at especially since I had seen a great deal of the films, kinda like memory lane of High School. Inside the museum is a movie theater where they show short films that are only screened in the museum. This time they were showing a movie about six little Sumo mice. It was one of the cutest stories I have seen and I was excited that my Japanese was good enough for me to explain what was happening to my mother.
Outside is a little cafe, there was a huge line so we simply bought hot dogs at the booth there and ate them along with cups of tea. The museum shop sold various goods but not as many as Ghibli stores I had been to, but I could resist a few cute little items such as a Ponyo musical keyring and handkerchief. On the roof of the museum is a little garden area where stands a large iron statute of the robot from Laputa. Childhood memories flood back again, how could I NOT get a photo next to this huge Miyazaki Icon?
I think my life became completed by this experience. I've seen everything now.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I spent a day in the world of Studio Ghibli.

THIS JUST IN: Host Family Update

2010-02-02T01:17:00.000-08:00

I will continue my Chronicles of Tokyo very soon but I feel that I am spending far too much time NOT telling you about a new important part of my life here in Japan. I recently moved into a host family for the new semester. I have five people living with me, my host mother (Okaasan) who speaks fluent English, a host father who is a company worker, a host brother who is also a company worker and his two children; Chika - who is 11 years old and Shiori - eight years old. This is my new life with them...

My host family lives in a nice large house, I will put up pictures of it later and I have my own room! Now... while the host family is indeed awesome I have connected well with a few of the members, this being the women who I spend most of my time with.
I have to admit a special connection especially to Shiori and Chika. They are amazing. My greatest fear when I entered a family with children was that they would be in my room and breaking my things... no broken items so far, in fact I don't think they've come within 10 feet of my room. My first day when I walked in they smiled at me and greeted me. Cutest girls in the world.
Here are a few things I discovered quickly:

My Okaasan speaks PERFECT English. That shocked me, my paper said she spoke English but I thought like what happens a lot of the time here in Japan when people say they speak English they mean they speak about 15 words and they speak English. So when I was meeting the host family at the designated meeting with Kansai Gaidai I was shocked when Okaasan turned to me and spoke in full English sentences.

Shiori can moonwalk. Yes, you heard me... my 8-year-old host sister can MOONWALK. Better than most people from the states in fact! Shiori can also play Uno VERY well. I have been beaten more times then I can count by a girl who is half my weight and size can whoop me at a card game I've been playing since I was a kid. Humbling experience. Shiori also smiles alot, which I have to admit helped me relax when I first arrived at the house.

Chika, the eldest girl. She is also full of smiles as well, I have to admit she seems very mature for an 11 year old. She is not as loud as her younger sister but never the less I have a feeling she is more gentle spirited and quiet, but never the less she is really nice. She is perhaps a little more shy but never the less she is adorable.

I have discovered that they are both attending cram school. Quite different than America... I mean, these are KIDS going to Cram School. Much different, I mean I don't plan to go to Cram School in the States until I study for Law School. Well, there are reasons that Japan has high grade averages.

They also have a Nintendo Wii. The Wii here is awesome, I don't have one back home in the States so I don't know any of the new games. But here in Japan on their Wii they have Wii Sports... once again two little Japanese Kids beat me... but this one I was expecting, I mean... how could I NOT get beat playing on the Wii against Japanese kids?
Anyway, on their Wii sports they have a sword match game. Its AWESOME. Actually the words awesome and even Sugoi (Japanese word for awesome) don't even cover how cool this part of Wii sports really is. I did beat the girls at Bowling, which made me a little proud, at least I could walk away that night with a little bit of dignity.

I have discovered as of today that Shiori also plays recorder... my first thoughts when I found this out? I am going to need headache medicine. I was wrong, she plays very well. In fact when I left and returned heard a very familiar tune... one that I knew the words to...

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

You can imagine my excitement at hearing such a familiar tune. I walked in and told her that I knew that song and began to sing the words as she played. I then asked Shiori if she knew what that song was from, she answered, "Shiranai" (I don't know [it]). I told her it was from the Sound of Music, a famous movie in America and one I watched as a child and using my computer played her Doe-Re-Mi. Guess what? She knew how to sing that song. Complete English. To say I was impressed was an understatement. Turns out they sing it in school. As we continued to talk about music I played the Totoro Theme in English and mentioned I only know a little of the Princess Mononoke Theme in Japanese. Once again she flashed a smile and pulled out her recorder and played the Mononoke theme. I filmed it and was still once again surprised at how good it was.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I WILL win at a game of Uno!

The Tokyo Haze - part 1

2010-01-28T05:25:00.000-08:00

Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Asakusa among other names are still spinning through my head after my five day tour in the grand city of Tokyo. After collecting my mom's things we ventured back to Hirakata for a few hours before it was time to take the night bus to Tokyo. For future plans I have decided that I will be using the ever convient and fast Shinkansen for all my major traveling needs.The bus exhausts me and when you arrive at a place you get there very early in the morning... usually having to wait around for a couple of hours before things open. We arrived in Tokyo at 6:30 am. At 6:30 am my mind is NOT functioning. At 6:30 am I want to be in bed, not standing in Tokyo Station with no where to go. To make a VERY long story short this is what happened: we arrived in Tokyo, ate breakfast at a Lawson's comprised of potato chips, onigiri and more rice products, mom complained about something... I didn't really care about the complaining, Ivy was too out of it to even think. Do you ever notice that parents don't like to listen to you when you tell them things? IMPORTANT things? Things like in Japan there is NO SUCH THING as negotiation? From paying your bill at a restaurant to the trains, you do it one way and one way only. It took my mom at least a few days before she figured this out... welcome culture shock.Anyway, Back at the story: We went to find our hostel. Thanks to the bad directions the hostel gave us four hour later we found it. We

ended up in the room with this really nice Australian guy, although we thought we had booked a room for only us... and that was the

beginning of our day. The first day not much really happened. We went to Yasakuni Shrine which is a very controversial shrine in Japan because there are

enshrined war criminals.

To be honest, Ivy and I had seen over 30 shrines so this one didn't really click with us... I hate to say it but I think my time with shrine visiting is over for the most part. Unless it really stands apart like Miyajima, I don't feel like spending my time to see the same thing in a different place. Love Shintoism, love the shrines... but I am ready for something more.

Our next stop was the Edo Palace Grounds. This is where Edo Castle use to stand but now is just a wide empty space with a few buildings remaining. Once again, not that impressing. After a long day we all just trekked back to the hostel and rested.

Day 2

Harajuku

Our second day in Tokyo was much more epic and amazing. It

began with waking up nice and early at 9:30 am and going to Harajuku. On sunday Harajuku is the place to be. Harajuku - how to describe this place to you, its a shopping street. A shopping

street with a

lot of stores with crazy fashion, crepe stands and even more awesome: gothic lolita

styling' nihonjin.

While in Harajuku I purchased a few accessories that I found necessary: a pair of earrings, a few necklaces (one for my former roomie Amber). I could give you the full tour of Harajuku, shop for shop but I think people would stop reading this blog. So I will narrow it down: pink, lots of pink stores, crepes,

teenage girls with nothing else to do and did I mention PINK?

Near the street in Yoyogi park is where the teenagers gather in their wild fashion on sundays.

It is a meeting place to see other people with your

kind of interests and to just hang out. Well, this developed into a type of fashion statement which then resulted in Harajuku becoming famous world wide (with a little help from Gwen Stefani) and even more, the

wild Japanese Fashion that found its birth in this little area. So when you go to Yoyogi park you are not SUPPOSE to take photos of them. Basically these are the rebel teenagers with an attitude (I found one really nice girl who posed for a picture for me). I have to admit for the sake of this blog I did the unthinkable Gaijin

thing and just took a few pictures. I got some dirty looks but hey, they were giving me dirty looks for just being there in the first place so I didn't horribly care.

Our next stop that was fun in Harajuku was accidental. Kiddy Land. Not just ANY Kiddy land. THE KIDDY LAND. This Kiddy Land is five floors of cuteness and craziness. One entire floor being dedicated to Hello Freaking Kitty and another Snoopy (as an American, raised on Charlie Brown, I approve of this floor). My favorite part of the store? The Studio

Ghibli Section. Of course, who couldn't love it?

For those of you who have no

idea what Studio Ghibli is... its the Japanese Disney.

Their head director, Hayao Miyazaki is nothing

short of a God when it comes to making creative animated movies for both young adults and kids. My favorite of his movies are Princess Mononoke (mononoke hime), Ponyo (gake no ue no ponyo) and My Neighbor Totoro. Great films, great messages, I am in love with Studio Ghibli. Back in the day I made my mom watch Totoro with me as I described it to her and in the Ghibli section I was able to show her via stuffed animal what Totoro looked like. I wanted to buy out the store's supply of Studio Ghibli stuff but that would have to wait tomorrow when my biggest child like experience since Disney Land would occur: The Studio Ghibli Museum.

Akihabara

I gotta say we were all quite disappointed with Akihabara. This is mostly do to the reason that there is really nothing there unless you are hard core into computers and electronics.

Ivy and I hoped to find a Butler Cafe (like a maid cafe, but for lady clientele) but as it turns out there is only one in Tokyo, and its a two month reservation list. Ouch. Does this mean Akihabara is a complete failure? Not at all. In fact its the place in Japan I would recommend going to buy a new camera or computer. But if you wanna do Anime collecting then I would say skip it and go to Den-Den Town in Osaka. Disappointing as Akihabara was, the Vampire Cafe made up for this.

Vampire Cafe

Our last stop of the evening. This was the place and one of the biggest highlights of our Tokyo Trip. Walking into the cafe the floor has a picture shining down on it to make it have the appearance of a blood vein, with the blood cells all in perfect shape, above is a chandelier covered in cobwebs.

This was going to be epic. And epic it was. The wait staff (one who spoke english!) dressed to the mark. One guy was dressed in full Dracula apparel and I am gonna just come out and say it, was very handsome. He had red contacts in and was wearing vampire teeth, the cape and whole look was down the mark.

To be honest when ever he spoke to me I felt like taking a couple steps back out of pure intimidation. People with red eyes and vampire teeth: although they have the possibility of being attractive they will still scare you cold when they look at you.

The cafe was lit very dimly and used real candles, under one table in the middle of the cafe was a coffin. (Quick note to my grandparents, aunt and uncle, there were a few crosses present, so... you know... represent Christianity in the Vamp Cafe.) This was getting more awesome by each ticking second! We were seated at a booth where satin curtains hung on both sides. The waiter pulled the curtains closed to give us privacy, this made the cafe rather quiet although it had a good number of guests present.

When you wanted the waiter to come you rang a little brass bell.

The food? Well I am convinced that an angel came down from heaven and made the meal for us. Ivy had beef marianted in wine, I had a chicken and cheese dish while my mom had a salad. The food presentation was as always in Japan, well done. I couldn't stop myself from downing every bite, even though I was getting full fast, each bite was straight from heaven!

Well after such a wonderful dinner you gotta finish up with a nice desert am I right? I decided on the Deadly Love

(I think I translated that right?) parfait. Well I think it was named that because it was so deadly awesome you can't help but fall in love with it (ok, I think its time I start a food blog..). The bill was a little spendy, all and all I spent about $32.00 for my whole meal. But it was worth it readers, every last living dead bite worth it.

On the way out I had to see the Vampire Waiter smile one time so I said, あんたのふくはかこいです！(Your costume is awesome!) I was returned with a vampire smile and his red eyes lit up as he thanked me. Worth it. Eat that Edward Cullen.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and when in Tokyo Vampire Food is the only way to go.

The Brueggeman's Osaka Day

2010-01-27T23:39:00.000-08:00

What can make a trip in a foreign country even more awesome? A visit from a loved one of course! Well I am lucky as my mom came to visit me here in Kansai. I was especially excited, this is the second time she has left the contiential United States and gone to a foreign country.

Now we have both been to the exact same countries: Canada, Ireland, The UK, France and Japan. Fun stuff. For a blind person my mom has her ways of getting around! She arrived on the 14th of January. There was some trouble though, as is the murphy's law when it comes to traveling one of my mom's bags had been left behind in Seoul, Korea. This presented a problem; the next night we were going to Tokyo via night bus.

The airport, KIX in Osaka is built on a man made island on the edge of Osaka Bay. Why they did this I don't know, probably to save room... because building an airport on a man made island in the middle of Osaka Bay sounded like a good idea?

Well slowly the island is sinking from having an AIRPORT built on it. Thats gonna be a huge insurance check in 20 years.

Well, we gathered her one bag that had been saved and headed to a nice hotel in Osaka to spend the night. The hotel was nice for the price we paid (roughly $65 for the both of us), but it was in the "bad" part of town, with lots of pachinko parlors and karakoke bars.

The reason I say bad is because it was a yakuza run area and a little dirty. I didn't know that when I booked the hotel, but no matter all was well. The next day we had a whole day to kill before going to Hirakata to drop off my moms bags and then go to Tokyo. What to do with a whole day? Conveniently placed was Osaka Tower. I have been wanting to go there for a while and hadn't had the chance... and what a better oppurtunity?

To get to Osaka Tower, called Tsutenkaku you get a nice stroll through more pachinko parlors and sketchy street vendors. But once you arrive at the tower, its beautiful... and I say beautiful as when you go up and can see the city of Osaka. The tower somehow filled me with a sense of peace in the city of Osaka. In general I really don't like Osaka because its so busy and noisy, just filled with everything and everyone. Kyoto for me is where its at, laid back, traditional and more peaceful then its noisy Kansai counterpart.

We returned to our hotel after going to the bank to exchange my mom's money to discover the airport had not delivered our bags there, instead they thought it would be a better idea to send them to Tokyo to our hostel there. No. Just No. So instead we got to take the hour train ride back to the airport to retrieve the bags. Only in Japan...

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and Osaka be crazy.

Welcome to Japan: Culture Shock! Installment 1

2010-01-23T06:50:00.001-08:00

I have been writing a lot about all the places I've gone and things I've done and I feel bad for not giving a little insight to the culture, so before my whole Tokyo review I give you: JAPAN-CULTURE SHOCK! The first thing I am gonna do is talk about some cool things, then some frusterating things, and then some fun things. I will be criticizing and praising Japanese Culture. I want to say this before I begin: I truly don't hate Japan, but there are aspects of the culture that to a foreginer, and someone with Western views are frustrating and very hard to accept. With that said, here we go.

Kitty-Chan.
Kitty-Chan, AKA Hello Kitty. Every single place I go I see Kitty-Chan. Kitty-Chan has taken Japan by storm ever since the company Sanrio introduced her little fuzzy face in 1974 the little white cat has ruled Japan. And I mean RULED Japan. There is a Hello Kitty EVERYTHING here, Hello Kitty books, cups, tables, underwear, blankets, toothpaste, frying pans, beds, doors, and even microwaves (I even googled just to see if really existed because I thought it up on the spot), and yes... there are even Hello Kitty Condoms (among other hello kitty sexual items... once again my grandparents read this blog, consult google images for further research). Because when you are getting it on, you want to be cute? I don't understand the logic behind this but one thing is for sure: Japan is obsessed. That or my other theory is that Kitty-chan has a mind-washing effect on all it touches. This theory stems from the fact that as I go to different places the first thing I think when I see a Kitty-chan charm is "Cute!" I am getting scared. Cute things are beginning to appeal to me. Where is my hard-core American anti-cuteness when I need it? Gone! Gone With the Wind like the Old South! Kitty-chan is everywhere and on everything. Beware the Kitty! For further information check out the blog hello kitty hell at http://www.kittyhell.com/

Foreigner Treatment

My biggest frustration in Japan, how foreigners are treated by the

Japanese People. Mind you this does not mean all Japanese People are like this, but many times I have faced discrimination while being here. Japan has always been very isolationistic in its practices and almost every time its had dealings with foreign powers its been damaged in one way or another. Mongol Invasions, The Opening of Japan in the 1800s, World War II, The American Occupation... the list goes on of bad experiences had with foreign powers. Japan is also one ofheterogenous nations in the world, over 90% of its population is Japanese, making it extremely xenophobic. There is a strong emphasis in Japanese Culture on keeping it "pure" and away from foreign influences. This means trouble for foreigners. Many times when I am on the train people will often stare at me, or me and my friends. Even though I've been here for five months I still find it rude and annoying often times I get so annoyed that I stare back into their eyes, ( a very confrontational thing in Japan) making them look away. One professor at my university gave an example to his class: he has been living here for 12 years, he is almost fluent and married to a Japanese woman. But when they go to restaurants sometimes the waiting staff will ask his wife what he wants to eat, thinking he doesn't know Japanese,

and not bothering to ask him first. I have experienced the same thing before when I am with Japanese friends, staff or other Japanese people ask my friends what I want instead of asking me directly. Because as we all know its impossible for foreigners to learn Japanese.

Japanese Toilets
I am going to make this as PG rated as possible. Traditional Japanese toilets are basically holes in the ground. There, that is my thesis statement. To be honest if you haven't been raised with them they are a pain in the butt. Also called squat toilet, that is the basic idea,

you squat down to do your business. I honestly have NO idea how to really use the darn things,
the way I have done is to actually have to remove the pants completely to use them... so unless I am absolutely desperate I go looking for a
western style toilet. Now
onto the more modern and awesome toilets: there are heated seats.
Yes, you heard me HEATED SEATS. And there is a panel on the side of the toilet that looks like Captain' Kirks commanding buttons or something, (this is my bad attempt at a Star Trek reference and joke). When entering a toilet room in a Japanese house or nice business, there will be a pair of slippers for you to use only for the toilet room (which is separate from the bathing room in houses). Japanese Toilets: because when you are desperate it can be either warm or complicated.

Passive Aggressive Society

I have been raised in American Culture which for the most part is a very confrotational. If you make someone angry you know you made them angry, if someone is in pain, its obvious. Not so in Japan. The Japanese people never let you know how they are truly feeling, if they are angry they won't just simply tell you. Everything in Japanese is implied. One of the biggest problems many of my friends have had with their Japanese/American relationships both romantic and platonic is the inability some Japanese have to express their true desires. Many Japanese men never say "I love you" to their girlfriends or wives. My host-grandmother in Sasayama said that I was the first person in her life to say "I love you" to her directly. FIRST PERSON IN HER LIFE. That surprised me, she must be well into her 60s or 70s and she has had NO ONE tell her "I love you" to her face. She told me her husband never said that to her. In Western Culture passive aggressiveness is seen as an anti-socialistic trait. We don't like it, it annoys most Westerners, but in Japan it is the social norm. Its very rare to see a Japanese person just freak our and yell at someone else, they are usually very calm and collected even when they are angry.

Public Transportation
One of the top things I love about Japan. The wonderful public transportation system that thrives here. If you want to get anywhere in Japan you can reach it easily via bus, subway or train. All major sight-seeing places are within
walking distances of a subway or train station and buses will stop in front of these landmarks.

There is no need to own a car in Japan, compared to the States where if you want to really travel its a must. Once a person gets down how the trains in Japan works its just a cake walk from there. I will never forget
my first time here at Kansai Gaidai when we were going on the Kyoto trip during orientation. As we were waiting for our train a rapid train was passing by, standing behind the yellow line we waited, but did not expect how fast that rapid train was going. It flew past us making all the international students cry out and scream from the powerful air current that hit us and the speedy train flying by. Needless to say, even now I am not use to the rapid trains flying past me when I am at smaller stations. My biggest goal yet is to ride the famous Shinkansen: the bullet train. From Osaka to Tokyo it takes only two hours, compared to the eight hours driving by bus or car. Speedy little devil... I suddenly feel the need, the need for speed.

Lawson
Because Japan is amazing.
Lawson is a convience store, think 7-11 but nicer. You can buy a bento box, basically a
full course meal for around 450 yen (about $5.02?).
At these Lawsons you can also buy onigiri (rice balls), deserts like cake and parfaits. At the Lawsons you can also buy tickets to special events such as Sumo matches and even music concerts. When I bough the tickets for the Studio Ghibli Museum I had to go to a Lawsons and to their ticket machine to purchase them. Lawsons, for the people's happiness.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I will fight the culture shock.

Miyajima - The Floating World

2010-01-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

Remember the legends of the city of Atlantis that sank into the sea? Well, if it had been in Japan and been based in Miyajima well, it make look something like this wonderland. Its like there had been a Shinto shrine built and then water dumped around it. Ok, so obviously I am bad at this description thing but it is this, the place to go if you ever travel to Hiroshima, of course you should also go to Miyajima - the floating Shrine. Our arrival to the island was very quick on a ferry, it lasted for about 5 minutes, upon our stepping onto the island I felt a peaceful atmosphere surround me. And guess what we found on the island? Thats right... it was the return of the bambis. They were back and ready for revenge... at least thats how I took their sneaky noses nuzzling at my purse looking for treats. But this time, to my surprise I found the bambis here much nicer then their Nara cousins. For the most part they ignored us but at the same time came close enough for pictures and to nuzzle for food. As we walked along the road side towards the floating shrine we looked out at the bay and I felt myself transported across the world back to the Pudget Sound... except all around me I heard Japanese being spoken and I was walking through a torii gate. My first view of the famous Itsukushima Shrine was one that at first I wasn't dying from excitement, I'd seen pictures all my life of the famous floating torii and after a day of reading about people who'd melted into nothing, I was a little down I must admit... then I saw the shrine. My breath was taken away from me... and wasn't about to return for a while. Walking into the Shrine itself, it is amazing. Surrounded by water this isn't the place for people suffering from hydrophobia. But it is the place for people who love peaceful quiet places. The world all around Itsukushima Shrine is serene. I personally think its the ocean affect. As we finally disembarked from the famous shrine Tomoko and I begin to wander about the small village. Guess what we discovered? The bambis were up to their bad habits again! This time they weren't biting people, no worse my friends much worse: they were eating dreams.
In Japan at little shrines people often buy pieces of paper to write their desires and hopes, then then fold them and tie them on strings for the kami to read. To the Japanese people it was their hopes and dreams, to the bambis it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I probably will end up going to purgatory, hell or even be reborn as a bat for this but it was one of the funniest things I've seen since coming to Japan. The bambis were pulling these pieces of paper off the string and munching them down before pulling down other paper pieces. Well, I guess the papers are eventually gonna disappear some way, best way to go I guess is via bambi.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I hope those dreams are safe in the bambis.

Hiroshima Day- Part 1

2010-01-18T17:47:00.001-08:00

Everyone says if you go to Japan that you must go to Hiroshima. I have to agree. Its one of those places you have to see before you die. One of the most powerful places I have been to and at the same time one of the most serene and beautiful. I have come to realize that I really don't like living in Osaka, but I could easily live in other parts of Japan, Hiroshima is one of those places. After my trip to Hiroshima I have discovered many things, the first is that there is much more to Hiroshima then "that city that was bombed".
My journey began with my awesome tomodachi (friend) Tomoko, a night bus and six hours of driving west. The night bus system here in Japan is very nice, you get on the bus around 11:40 or midnight and then sleep on the bus arriving the next morning (rather early) in your city. Our bus left at 11:55 and arrived in Hiroshima at 6:30am. In the bus I found cushy seats and a head veil that pulled over our heads. I couldn't help but laugh as I recieved a free mask to wear over my mouth and nose to protect against germs (my later post will explain this obession with masks). My sleep was fitful on the bus, I found it a little stuffy but after a while I dozed off easily. Arriving at Hiroshima station at 6:30am was a bit of a shock to my sleep schedule. Tomoko and I pulled ourselves form the bus go into the station, and where else? Mickey D's and for all of you old folk out there who don't know that slang, it means McDonalds. After a nice breakfast there and my introduction to Tomoko of the wonderful TV Show that is Xena, we began our journey at 7:45am. Our first arrival was at Genbaku Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome) this is the famous dome one alwasy seems in pictures of Hiroshima. The skeleton of what once was a beautiful building, not only about five walls standing and the dome of the building still there. The reason this building is so revered is because it was so close to Ground Zero, literally only a football field away. All around it people were vaporized, trees disappeared in burning flames, but Genbaku Dome stood strong. Walking along the river and over a bridge we had a wonderful view of the dome as the sun rose behind it, shining through the skeleton of the dome itself. The air was filled with almost this haunting feeling, the knowledge that millions had died where I was standing, and by the river and the dome its the most overwhelming feeling of other beings within the area. The Peace Park we walked through was beautiful beyond all belief, there was a peace bell that people could ring... I would have but to be honest I was freezing at the moment it was a cold morning in Hiroshima. For me one of the most important memorials was the Children's Memorial to all the children who had died in or as a result of the Atomic Bomb.
Back in grade school I read the famous book, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", a true story about Sadako Sasaki who after contracting Leukima from the Atomic Bomb began to fold a 1,000 paper cranes in order to get better. She succedded in her goal but ultimately died. Her story however sparked the need for a children's memorial and so there it stands to this day. It was almost errie standing there as I looked up at this memorial, I'd seen pictures of it since my childhood of the dark reminder and now it was standing right before me. It was one of the most saddest and beautiful sights I'd seen... that day. All was about to change after entering the Peace Museum. The entrance to the museum is only 50 yen, about $.60 to get in, nice and cheap. Upon entering the museum the visitor is given a history of Hiroshima, it was used as a military base since around the Edo Period (circa 12th century), and from there Hiroshima was always a military base area. During WWII the original intent was to use the Atomic Bomb on Germany but then there was a desire to scare the Russians and so we decided to hit Japan instead. Then it came down to which cities to hit: The first ones brought up were: Tokyo, Nagasaki, Kyoto, Nagoya and Hiroshima. Tokyo was quickly removed because it was the seat of government for Japan, if all the generals were dead and the emperor, how was the US going to win the hearts of the people? Next up? Nagoya and Kyoto. I forget why Nagoya was thrown out, but the story behind Kyoto is interesting. Henry L. Stimson; the Secretary of War during WWII had spent his honeymoon in Kyoto and had gone on many diplomatic missions to Japan, many of which were to Kyoto. Because of this he couldn't stand to see Kyoto destroyed, "I told him there was one city that they must not bomb without my permission and that was Kyoto." Kyoto was removed from the list, leaving two cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima was especially important because it had no American POW Camps. Nagasaki was a massive International Port where the Japanese sent out aid to their troops in China.
The next part I want to mention is the massive amount of damage that the Atomic Bomb caused. In the museum were physical reminents of how powerful this bomb truly was. They had roof tiles that had been melted and distorted into shapes one could not recognize, building walls with human shadows, places where people had been standing when the bomb hit. The most depressing exhibits had to be that of school uniforms of children that had been walking to school, or a watch that was stopped at the time 8:15am, the time the bomb exploded. The museum was sad, it was depressing and in an odd way beautiful. After leaving the hostel both Tomoko and I were ready to be cheered up. Thank goodness for Miyajima. (TO BE CONTINUED...)

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I've seen the new Hiroshima.

Dressed to Kill on New Years

2010-01-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

お正月おめでとう！A late Happy New Years to all my friends and family. I am really falling behind on my blogs and I feel terrible about that, so here you go: My New Years in Japan in a nut shell. The next posts after this one will be as follows: Hiroshima, Ise Shima and Tokyo. And onto the Japanese New Year~

As mentioned before New Years in Japan is THE HOLIDAY. Its like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July all wrapped into one. Obviously this was the day to be out and about. Well, actually January 1-6 was the time to be out and about. Unlike the States where New Years Eve is the big celebration while we rest on the New Years Day, Japan celebrates the New Year from Eve until the 6th of January, stores are closed until around the 4th, no government office is opened during this time and even worse: the grocery stores are shut up. They locked away the food!! Luckily in Hirakata there were a few places we could go for our New Years needs... but it was a long journey to those places, like Frodo going to Mordor.
My New Years Eve was spent in a different setting then past ones, back home it was normal to be hanging out with my friends and at midnight have the countdown as the ball dropped in New York. In Japan however, there was a great change of events. I was told by my professor of a Shrine in Kyoto called Yasaka Shrine, apparently it was the place to be on New Years Eve. Calling together my loyal band of friends, aka Iain and Liz we set out at 9:30pm to Kyoto. Usually in Japan the trains stop at midnight, but on New Years Holiday the rules change. Trains run all night on New Years Eve! We arrived to Gion-Shijo station and began our trek through the busy walk ways, as we looked up it was a New Years Eve miracle: Snow began to fall. The first snow I had seen in Kansai, in Kyoto, on New Years Eve. Kirei ne? (beautiful, huh?) The snow fluttered down gently all around us as we advanced towards the shrine. When we arrived at Yasaka Shrine we discovered a beautiful night bazaar. What else to do on New Years Eve but to eat drink and be merry? I began the night with a frozen chocolate banana. I usually don't like bananas... then I came to Japan and they are every where in my parfaits, so I have obviously developed a taste for them... and my mom eats them all the time during the fourth of July. Call me homesick and nostalgic, but hey! It was New Years Eve and I was in the middle of Kyoto and I was hungry. The gourment banana was followed by a chocolate banana crepe, fresh made in front of me. Just to finish the beautiful dish I downed an American cheeseburger because I need to represent the States! Iain and Liz had takoyaki, while I stayed far away from that stuff, something about octopus, it just sends shivers down my spine. From the tip of my tongue to the bottom of my toes.
As we wandered around in the park behind Yasaka Shrine we found Chonin-temple. Chonin-Temple houses the biggest bell in the world. A tradition in Japan is on New Years Eve bells are rung 108 times to bring in the New Year. We found ourselves in a line and walking up, the time was 11:42 when we got in line, we climbed up stairs, and the ringing became louder along with the sound of some kind of chanting. As we reached the summit we saw an amazing sight: Buddhist monks, there were eight of them all holding ropes attatched to a log suspended from scaffolding. They would do a chant as they pulled on the ropes and after saying the word, sore! at the end of the chant they would ring the bell. Each time a different monk would be at the front of the group and lean far back as they rang the bell. We arrived at 11:53 at the top of the temple and watched, then on exactly the stroke of midnight, the monks hit the bell, right on. The Japanese people don't do a countdown... so you knew pretty easily where the Gaijin in the crowd were as we yelled out "Happy New Years!"
Happy New Years Japan: It is now the year of the tiger. All around vendors were selling souveirs with the tiger all over it, called tora in Japanese. Growing sleepy the three of us dragged ourselves back to Gion-Shijo to go home... but the journey for me and Liz would begin hours later as we experienced hatsumode, or the first visit to the shrine of the New Year.

Its not easy to tie a Kimono, in fact many people do not know how to do it in Japan, you have to actually take classes to learn. Classes take a long time... youtube.com does not. We streamed a video of how to tie a kimono and with a few first attempts, some confusion the two Gaijin girls had it down! A Kimono in itself is an elaborate thing to wear, you first put on an under kimono (which I didn't have, so I used a yukata - summer kimono) then you have to put the kimono at the right length, tie it. And to make a long story short: lots of tying. When finished the two of us set out to Kyoto again to visit shrines and see Japan on New Years. On New Years Day it is a common thing for young girls to wear furisode. Furisode are beautiful kimonos with long sleeves, they are worn by girls who are not yet married. I wanted to wear one! Furisode are also around $600 each. I settled for the kimono I bought at the market on Christmas Day. Our first stop was the famous Kiyomizu-Dera, as we walked around, took pictures and enjoyed the beauty of New Years Day... and a new gentle snow fall. I bought two inexpensive dishes that I thought were beautiful at a shop... about a couple hours later I dropped them. Well, starting out the Year with bad luck... the dishes were ruined. Oh well. Something funny also occured as we walked down the street, a woman came up to Liz to adjust her kimono. We couldn't help but laugh the whole time as she bowed and excused herself. Next on our list? Yasaka Shrine again. As we walked along, we came across a kimono shop. what could we do but stop in? There were a few things I wanted to buy for my kimono. Upon entering the shop we were greeted by a kind obaachan (grandmother) and younger lady. As we looked they talked to us and then explained we were wearing our kimono wrong... well two Gaijins trying to put on one of the most complex types of clothing in the world? This was no surprise... what was a surprise is that there is a certain way to fold the robe over your chest. The proper way is to have the left side over your right... we had it the vice-versa way... the way the Japanese prepare their dead. So we had been walking around Kyoto wearing our kimonos like dead people. PERFECT. New Years Bad Luck, strike 2. The ladies adjusted Liz's kimono first, as I looked around the shop and found something beautiful, a purple kimono. At first I ignored the attraction, but ever so slowly it grew on me until I picked it up and looked at it. For 6,390 yen, about $65.00, it was really nice (really nice kimonos start at around $300 a piece). I decided to buy it and an under kimono which I desperately needed. As the younger lady helped me put on my new kimono, obaachan folded the kimono I purchased at the market. She explained to me and Liz something that returned my good-luck. The kimono I had purchased at the market on Christmas day was to be worn at weddings, the obaachan told us it was made of good silk, and at the time of purchase was worth $300. She then commented it was an antique and in VERY good condition. I couldn't help but feel a little joy at this revelation. New Years Luck: returned. It was a nice little shop and the people there were very helpful... so if you are ever in the Kiyomizu area, let me know and I will tell you were to find that shop! (I have their card somewhere...)
We visited Yasaka Shrine and freezing (it snowed twice). As we explored the shrine in day light we watched girls in their furisode's walk about, oddly enough holding shopping bags with designer names like Louis Vitton and Chanel. I decided to not ask questions. Occasionally you would see a man dressed in a Hakama, a traditional men's clothing. Swirling around us was the world of Japan and for those couple of hours it was nice to be flowing in the current. We decided we'd had a good New Years experience and it was time to return to our nice warm rooms in our dorm.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I dress like a dead person.

The Search for Snow

2009-12-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

There is no snow in Osaka. None, in fact the people of Osaka think its a made up fable, kinda like Santa Claus or Tengu. It is nearing the end of December and I was craving a good amount of snow fall that never came. My solution? If the cold white stuff doesn't come to me, I must go to it. But I needed transportation, and more importantly companionship on this journey. Thats where Frank and Elodie came in. I go to school with Elodie and she moved here along with her husband Frank for a year. And they have a car. So we had to decided, where were we going to find the snow? Hokkaido? Wonderful choice but its a little too far. We would have to stick with the mountains of Honshu. And where was a convenient place within the area? In the mountains of Honshu near the city of Nagoya is a little village called Takayama. We began the journey early in the morning and I mean EARLY, as in I was in the back of a car driving on the Japanese highway at 3:30 am. The reason for this is that Elodie tells me around 6am traffic in Japan is so bad that you are stuck on the highways for hours within traffic jams. We drove into the mountains as the sun was rising and slowly dirt gave away to snow. When we arrived in the sleepy little village of Takayama it was about 7:00 am. My first great sight as we drove in was of this large building with a golden roof. Elodie, who was my walking guide book told me Takayama was the home of the headquarters of a Buddhist sect. The village of Takayama was closed down until around 8:30am so until then we found a nice little place where we could eat and wait out the cold. Oh? Did I mention it was cold? That usually happens when there is ice and snow all about. I was glad that I had lugged my large fluffy jacket across the ocean to Japan. That jacket however didn't save me from crashing on my butt from the ice that littered the walk ways.
After walking around the still quiet town we decided to go and visit Hida Folk Village an open air museum about farming villages in rural Japan. The Hida Folk Village was situated on a mountain side up on the outskirts of the city. A beautiful view of the Japanese Alps and with snow on the ground this village was something I was prepared to see on the cover of a Christmas Card. The farming village was amazing, walking through it not only did I learn a lot about traditional rural farming, but I also re-learned how to walk on the ice. The buildings had roofs made of straw that was matted together, inside each of the large house buildings there was always a fire going. We read the reason for this was it kept bugs out of the roofing and building, kept the building moist and preserved it as well as provided heat. After a while I am not going to lie that the buildings began to all look the same but never the less I still found them beautiful to look at. New Years was approaching and unlike Christmas, New Years in Japan is THE holiday. In preperation for this the entrance to each of these buildings had a small hanging decoration. The Japanese New Years Decorations are quite interesting and beautiful, they are a lot like the idea of wreaths but instead of being made from pine branches they are made from long grass and seeds with ribbons and decorative paper on them. Inside the houses, as is Japanese tradition there is a small shrine. In these house shrines around New Years two mochi are put, one large one and one small one, the small on the larger mochi and upon this small mountain a nectarine is placed in. Every where you go in Japan you see this in the shrines, the mochi and nectarine. Now a days you can go to the store and buy plastic versions of the mochi and necatarine, for really cheap. Its kinda like the plastic christmas tree, you use it every year and store it away. Anyways, after our exploration of the Hida Folk Village ended our exploration of Takayama: the town began. Our first business was to check out the local market they have every morning. Its a nice little place where I discovered you can buy Takayama souvenirs for cheaper then in the stores around. It was in this place I bought a sarubobo. I don't know how to explain these unique dolls so... TO WIKIPEDIA!!!
A sarubobo is a Japanese amulet, particularly associated with the town of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. Sarubobos are red human-shaped dolls, with no facial features, made in a variety of sizes. Traditionally, sarubobos are made by grandmothers for their grandchildren as dolls, and for their daughters as a charm for good marriage, good children and to ensure a well-rounded couple.
They are creepy and cute at the same time, and I was drawn to both aspects of the doll, so I purchased one to put in my room so when I have a bad dream and wake up in the middle of the night I will be both stunned by the cuteness and horrified at the fact there is NO FACE. I may have dug my own grave here. Ah well. I will update you on that when it happens. The town of Takayama is nice when walking through it on any given week day, this day it was slight crowded because it was fuyu yasumi, or winter break for the Japanese. Like I said, New Years is a comin' and every one is on the move. Even slight crowded it was a beautiful and serene feeling as we walked down the old district through all the old houses and shops. When in the Japanese Mountains, a must is to go and climb a mountain. We decided to do this to see the ruins of some castle there, but the ruins were just that, there was literally nothing there, so I would recommend just going up for the view which is beautiful, one can see Takayama and the Japanese Alps, quite a beautiful site. The guidebooks all say reserve at least two days for Takayama, but then again its a small mountain village, enough to see in one day. The next part of the trip plan was to travel to Nagoya. But after looking at the guide book and internet we discovered there was really nothing in Nagoya to see. The new plan? Go looking for hotsprings and luckily there was a convient place called Gero nearby that could cater to that.

My biggest fear was with my tattoo if they would allow my enterance to the hotspring, but it appeared to be short lived. The next day after spending a night in the hostel the three of us began our journey back to Osaka. The town of Gero is in the middle of the mountains like Takayama, and I have to admit I found a great love for Gero. All around the town of Gero were free foot baths that travelers could soak in. And since it was freezing, this was a nice addition to the trip. Because of our slight hurry we were unable to really explore Gero but we visited another little tourist attraction like Hida Folk Village called Gero Onsen Gassho Village. It was usually 880 yen entrance fee, but on this day it was free much to our joy. Inside the village we got to see more traditional farm houses, along with a pond filled with carp. Some of the most beautiful carp I've seen. I think I am beginning to get an unhealthy obsession with these fish. I love things with carp on them, such beautifully colored specimens. There were two carp in particular, a white one and gold one that stuck out me. Finally the great finale, a foot bath. Like I said, I was in the mountains, I was cold... it was like Pullman, Washington all over again. The foot bath water comes from the natural springs around Gero and it felt amazing after such a cold day. How could I be hating on the mountains of Japan? like I said, they call to a person's soul. I loved it there, but the time had come to return to Osaka and prepare for the New Year and the adventures that 2010 hold.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I found the snow.

日本のクリスマス - A Japanese Christmas

2009-12-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

メアリクリスマス！Joyeux Noel! Feliz Navidad!
And to all of you English speakers: Merry Christmas from Japan!
Its Christmas time and here in Osaka there is no snow. Not a flake, not a spot of white. As a matter of fact there are flowers here. FLOWERS. It is December 25. Flowers. One thought was going through my mind on December 24 - Damn it Osaka!
Now, Christmas in Japan.
Lets be honest here, I was home sick. Memories of past Christmases with my family danced through my head, opening presents on Christmas morning with my parents, my aunt and mom arguing over something silly like cranberry sauce, my uncle playing guitar, my grandpa watching a Christmas Special on 3ABN and my grandma in the kitchen tending to about 20 things at the same time... and me? Sitting on the couch with a book slightly ashamed at the silly banter and activities in the kitchen.. but now you can bet I would trade half my soul to be there with those crazy people on the most holy day of the year.
This year was different: Christmas Eve.
In the states I would be at my house with my mom, the Christmas Tree all lit up, our Christmas village all shinning and making the world of Noel dance in my head. We would be drinking Cocoa and watching the Polar Express. In Japan however, I was out at a Sushi restaurant discussing gossip and things that went down during the first semester at Seminar House 1 and plans for break. In Japan Christmas is not celebrated as it is in the West, in fact there is school on Christmas and business are open. From my experience if felt like the holiday in itself was almost ignored. But, its not the decorations that make it Christmas... its love, as one of my favorite songs goes: "Its true where ever you find love, it feels like Christmas". Upon returning to Seminar House 1 me, Liz, Iain, Ivy and Saki all made cookies then put icing on them. That was an adventure in itself... the Brit (Iain) was trying to heat up the butter in an odd way by putting it in a cup then heating a pot of water to lower the cup into the water and heat it... then I reminded him of a wonderful new and recent invention: the microwave.
We ate the cookies, then me and Liz sat down to watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol. As we sat there memories of childhood danced in our heads, we couldn't help but miss our homes. We were watching on Youtube so we had to wait for each section to upload... then as we were waiting we would play Christmas Music. We sat there in the dark with only the Christmas Tree lighting up the room. Then it happened...The clock tolled 12:00am and Christmas descended on Japanese as the song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas played in the background. We both cheered and hugged each other. A couple minutes later a few people who had gone out to a bar joined us and we turned on the Polar Express. What is better then this? Christmas with friends in a foreign country. We all happily finished the film then went to our rooms...

The next morning I awoke and opened the present my mom sent me to find candy and almonds! Yahoo! I then marched off the train station to meet Tomoko for a day in Kyoto. We went to Kitano Tenman-Gu temple where on the 25th of every month a market is held. Tomoko informed me that this was the last one of 2009 and so it was bigger then most. I walked about and found presents for a few people. The food at this market was wild, it ranged from fresh octopus to American Cheeseburgers. These cheeseburgers were huge, I mean huge, even in American Standards. However, my mouth began to water as I looked at them and memories of juicy burgers filled my mind, memories of Sharis, Denny's, The Ice Burg... I gotta go wipe my mouth excuse me...
It was during this excursion that I found a kimono. It was all black fading into red at the bottom with gold and cranes flying across it. Perfect for the season. I bought it and a gold obi. I am intending to wear it on New Years and visit a shrine in Kyoto!

Back to Christmas day... We walked around the area and after a while of laughter, praying at the shrine, eating frozen chocolate bananas we boarded a bus back to Gion. Tomoko then presented me with a Christmas Surprise: A trip to a Ninja Cafe!
Yes, you heard me right, a NINJA CAFE. What makes it a ninja cafe? Well its a cafe where the staff dresses like Ninjas. In Japan theme cafes are quite popular, there are maid cafes (where the girls refer to you as master/mistress - creepy no?), vampire cafes (you eat on coffins, lots of red and black), and so on the list goes. But I gotta go to a NINJA CAFE! It was more awesome then ice skating on pancakes.
We entered the cafe and found an amazing site: a desert buffet, where you could choose small deserts ranging from pudding to cake, rice and curry, pizza, a salad bar, soft beverage bar, ice cream, a ninja who made crepes and ontop of that did I mention there were ninjas? I was walking on sunshine.
The cafe had fake bamboo shoots all around, and was colored dark. On the walls were Japanese style paintings of scenes, where ninjas were hidden with in the picture. In glass cases were ninja weapons such as kunai (throwing stars). The desert at the cafe in itself was amazing. I love sweets, and this place had both style and good sweets. There was one desert a type of chocolate cake that was shaped in the head of a samurai with his battle helmet on. There were also bite sized pieces of Strawberry Shortcake (my favorite!). The staff simply dressed as ninjas, and delivered the food but I am told that in Tokyo there is a Ninja Cafe where the staff actually does flips and moves when the deliver the food... I gotta look into that, and the vampire cafe...
Anyways, I then received a Christmas Present from Tomoko, which deep down made my heart grow three more inches. It was a photo of us when we went to Uji in front of Byodin Temple, the frame that held it was a Totoro frame, one of my favorite animes. This Christmas may not have been an American one, no... it was purely a Japanese Christmas, ninja cafe and all, but it was also a Christmas that I will never forget. As there is repitition in a yearly tradition they all begin to blur, but sitting at a ninja cafe eating a bunch of cake will always stick out in my mind. Maybe I can begin a new tradition at home? Screw the special kay loaf, we are dressing up like ninjas next year!!
Tomoko and I have begun to make plans to travel to Hiroshima in January! Can't wait! As we left the Ninja Cafe I silently promised to be back and with more Gaijin... cause we need to Gaijin smash that cafe, the ninjas won't see it coming. It will be epic. Be there. The tabehodai (all you can eat) lasted until 16:30 but we were all full. It was at this point we decided to go for a look at a nearby area Tomoko knew. It was really nice because I found traditional Japanese souvenirs, they were expensive so I didn't buy anything but to look at them was fun! Especially the potter work that had been done. Slowly the shops gave away to a food market. You can find ANYTHING in the market... and I mean ANYTHING. I found crab... that cost more then I made in an eight hour work day at minium wage. At the end of the day I felt much better then I had the night before, and its all thanks to a little Japanese Girl from Shizouka. I love the Japanese.
Unfortunately, it was getting towards that time for me to return to Hirakata... tomorrow I am moving into Winter Housing for the break and need to be all packed up. On the way back to the station we happened upon a sheep santa, a guy in a sheep costume with a Santa Claus costume on? Japan win or loose? You call the votes, I am up in the air on this one. Tomoko and I departed at the train station after wishing each other Merry Christmas. On my walk home from the station I looked up into the sky...

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick...
To his team he gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Merry Christmas to my readers. ~ Nikki R. Brueggeman

Sorrowful Good-byes

2009-12-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

Like all good things such as ice cream for breakfast, long hot showers and days off of school... it must end. Such unfortunately was the case with my first semester here at Kansai Gaidai. The worst part of the end of the semester? People leaving. It was especially hard for all the year longs like me to watch all our friends from across the globe disappear from the Seminar House, one by one. In one day I saw five people leave... then came the days of December 18-23... my hell days. First to go was in the whole house was Anthony. When I first arrived at the seminar house, it was Anthony who first began his conversation with me, welcoming me to the house and mentioning his name and where he was from. I was going to miss him dearly, although I didn't get to say good-bye face to face I called him to say adieu. December 19 - Santiago. Santi, as I called him departed fairly early in the morning so I only got to say good-bye the night before. My crazy Argentinian... and all the silly things that happened, watching Rurouni Kenshin, eating Mashed Potatoes (Pudin de Papas as he called them), trying to speak Spanish with him, learning Argentina dances... it was a sad good-bye. Who was I going to talk to in History Class, who was going to call me Nikki-chan when I was walking around the house, or randomly say Majide? (Really?) when I told him something. After Santi left, the house was a lot quieter... too quiet.
On December 20 I saw the loss of two dear friends, Jonna from Sweden and Samantha from the States. The night before we went to eat Okinomiyaki and went to karaoke one last time. Jonna - my crazy Swede, when she tried to do the ghetto talk with her accent and high pitched voice it was the funniest thing in the world. I had many good conversations with her and was going to miss her randomly talking to me. Sam - Movie buddy, we always seemed to find each other when we were bored and laughed about stupid things, a majority of our conversations involved American Food, church life and odd topics that didn't apply to our life in the Seminar House. Good-byes that morning were hard as I watched Jonna walk from the house, I felt part of me going with her, tearing away. Thank god for cellphones... I texted with Jonna a little before she left. Last I heard she was sitting next to some British people. Later that morning Pauline and I took Sam to a train station where she could go directly via skyline to Itami Airport. Tears welled in our eyes as we hugged our wild crazy American girl good-bye and watched her walk through the gates. Pauline teary eyed dragged me away from the area, and off to Umeda we went for one last day of shopping. December 21 - Marianne. The other black girl in the house. Very quiet and reserved, but also had the most beautiful smile and disposition. When ever I went to sushi she was always there. December 21 also brought another tearful good-bye... Ashlee. My crazy former roomate from orientation... Ashlee. She was there my first day, we found Kansai Gaidai together, explored the realms of Arashiyama together, visited Kobe (didn't write about that, basically lots of sparkly lights and food), everything I heard and saw I shared with her, and she was my support. We met with each other and had donuts with a few other girls. Returning to the CIE we all sat and just hung out until 4pm when it was time for her to leave. We all made a deal... July 4, 2010 - Chicago, we were going to meet there. I walked with Ashlee to the main gate, the same gate that only four months before we had walked through together. I mentioned that it was all the further I would go with her, the first in our friendship... I always seemed to be following her and vice versa. She turned and thats when I broke down in tears. I am not an emotional person, but I couldn't help the tears that flowed through me. It was painful, and I knew that the next day was going to be just as painful...
December 22 - Pauline and Daisy. This was my hell day. To prepare we stayed up all night and spent the last night together in Daisy's room, a small sleep over, filled with coffee, laughter, tears and stories. Then the time came... 5:30am. Pauline was the first to leave. As she loaded her things in the taxi all the memories of things we had experienced flew through my head: studying in the computer lab, budgeting our money, trip to Nara where we were attacked by the evil bambis, getting coffee on campus, her teaching me French. As she came up and hugged me, I found I couldn't let go of her. Something within me broke as I realized this was the end of an era, standing outside at 5:30am I found myself sobbing on the shoulder of a Frenchie (as I called her). She begged me to not cry and promised to see me again... the taxi pulled away, next was Daisy. Steven and I sat on the curb with her as we waited for her taxi to arrive... when it did I once again cried as my tomodachi (friend) was leaving me, I finally found I was able to let her go.
The pain burned within me. I went to bed and slept the day away, not awaking until 3 pm. However, Pauline who was sitting in the airport until her flight at 2pm texted with me for an hour from 12-1. Some of the funniest texts brought my spirits up. I had told the Europeans that I am planning to go to Ireland for a semester my Senior year, and Pauline wanted to remind me via cellphone text: "ur american ass better move to ireland, and quick! Je tadore, Daisuki!" My laughter must have filled the house as I read each text from her until the sweet last: "Friends are like stars, even if you don't see them you know that they are right there, an important lesson I learned this semester: I even learned Americans can be good friends. It seems like freedom fries should be called friendship fries."
I was going to miss her.
My roomate Amber left the same day as Pauline and Daisy. Amber... all the things we went through this semester was crazy, from laughing so hard we couldn't breath to being each others spiritual and emotional support. Although we will be seeing each other next semester, we won't be living together, I am going to homestay. It was so hard to watch such a close spirit pull away and leave. We hugged each other and I felt myself falling apart once again. I could only say the words, Matta ne! (I will see you soon!) as the taxi pulled away. The count begins...

I wish I could write a paragraph on everyone who has touched my life here... but now they are all gone, except for a select few... each of which I treasure more then I did before. Me, Iain (The Brit), Ivy (The Kankokujin - Korean) and Liz (the Texan). Tomorrow we move into Seminar House 2 for Winter Housing... and so a new chapter in my Nihon Adventures begin.

Up Next:
Christmas In Japan: cake, Fried Chicken, Ramen, Brits making cookies and A Ninja Cafe

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and my heart has scattered across the globe.

An Interview with NHK

2009-12-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

NHK or the PBS of Japan as I like to call it has a TV program called "@ Campus". During this program they introduce various campus across Japan, and Kansai Gaidai caught their eye because of the fact that 20% of their student population is foreigners. Part of this program special on Kansai Gaidai the NHK people decided to interview some of the Gaijin. Guess who they decided to interview? Yep! Yours truly.
Now, the reason for this interview is because they saw me at the school festival running around in my Shinsengumi Costume (later during the interview I was going to regret this desicion of wearing this specific costume). Well, a couple days after the festival a girl came up to me and asked if she could ask me a few questions. Oddly enough on the Kansai Gaidai campus this is a very normal occurnance, as a lot of the students have assignments to talk to native speakers of English. The girl then told me she rememebred me from the International School Festival and my costume as the Shinsengumi. The questions began:
Why did you wear Shisengumi Costume? Because I wanted to, it was for advertising the booth I was working at.
Where did you learn about Shisengumi? Well, I saw an anime called Rurouni Kenshin and in it were the Shinsengumi. So I researched it, and became interested.
But Why did you like the Shisengumi? I am a history major, it interested me a lot to learn about it, just how they were and the codes they lived by were intersting.
So, you like the Shinsengumi but what about them was so cool? Well, in America we didn't have anything similar to the Shisengumi, thats why it is interesting to me.

The questions continued and to be honest they were the same questions but being asked in different ways. I felt a little frusterated as I tried to convey my feelings, but stayed patient. The girl then set up an appointment to film me about my time at Kansai Gaidai. A couple days later I was sitting in my room wearing my Shisengumi costume as three Japanese people instructed me on what they wanted me to do. The first thing was they were going to knock on the door of my room and open it to have me jump out at them holding a fake plastic sword and leting out a yell. This is going to be on national TV. Thats not a good sign. In the Interview with the cameras I once again felt frusteration in my soul as the questions began.
Why did you choose Kansai area? I love the Kansai people, always similing and laughing. It is a beautiful region, I had been here years before.
Why Kansai Gaidai? Because its in Kansai.
What do you think about Kansai people? (didn't I just answer this question?) I think they are very nice and friendly, a nd I love to talk to them.
You like Shinsengumi, yes? Yes, very much.
What do you know of Shisengumi? Well actually my knowledge of them is very limited, I learned a lot through my own research.
But you watch Rurouni Kenshin? Yes. I did when I was younger, which told me about Shinsengumi.
Who is your favorite Shisengumi? Well, it would have to be Okita Souji.
Do you think Okita Souji was like Kansai People? (This IS a national television interview, right?) Um, I don't know, maybe?
Do you want to be like Shisengumi some day? No, I want to be a lawyer.

Then the killer question:
Can you compare your desire to become a lawyer and your like of the Shisengumi Please?
WHAT? No... no... WHAT?
I could only give them a blank stare before I vocalized my confusion. "What?" I was responded with, "Well, if you look deep in yourself everything is connected, so connect these two things."
Now I was really getting annoyed. "well, they upheld justice in Tokugawa Japan and as a lawyer I will uphold the law in my own way."
Satisfied the questions continued until it was over. Later the next week they did a sort of showing of the interview and a few of my peers who were a part of that part of the special got to see me dressed up like the Shinsegumi and answering different questions. But in the long run I guess it could be worse. A girl from Britian was asked to play with her toy robots she had bought here in Japan and make robot sounds. Well, the show broadcasts next week... luckily a lot of the kids from Fall 2009 will be gone and not able to see me acting silly... but the nation of Japan will see it.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am going to be on Japanese National Television.

私の日本の秋。(My Japanese Autumn)

2009-12-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

America is beautiful in the fall no doubt. Well, in some parts of America at least. In the State of Washington where I am from there are two colors in autumn: Brown and Yellow. With the occasional splash of red and orange. Japan however is a mosaic of beautiful colors. The mountains here go from emerald green to ruby red. Its a transformation that I can not describe and unfortunately pictures do not do justice. I have had a few chances to get up close and personal with the leaves...
The first was a trip to Kiyomizu-Dera with my dear friend Tomoko. We met at Gion-Shijo station and walked through one of my favorite districts in Kyoto, Gion. After going to a Lawson (the Japanese 7-11, but nicer) and grabbing some food we continued our pilgrimage to the ancient temple. Tomoko I have to admit is one of the most entertaining people I have met and its always so much fun when I hang out with her. In fact funny things always seem to happen when I am with her, such as when she touches things they seem to always explode. Cookie tins fly open, pain bottles burst all over the place followed by the most adorable shocked look on Tomoko's face. I need to have a camera ready for when she does it again. Anyways, Tomoko took me up this famous street that is filled with shops where tourists can buy souviners, but it wasn't a complete tourist trap like most areas around famous temples. There are a lot of traditional shops that sell kimonos, fans and traditional Kyoto treats. Tomoko showed me a little shop that advertised it had the hotest chili in the world. I didn't believe Tomoko when she told me this so I decided to try some of this chili. I believe Tomoko now.
When we arrived at Tomoko the entire place was lit up beautifully and the leaves seemed to dance in the night air. It was an aray of red and gold all through out Kiyomizu and with the lights of Kyoto, it was a powerful sight to hold. Luckily the temple was not as crowded as it usually is during such events and we were able to move about quite easily. It was hard to get good photos with my camera because of the lighting but I snapped a few good shots. My recommendation? If you are in Kyoto during the Kiyomizu light up, check it out. Its a nice cultural event and a good chance to see a different side of Kyoto and Kiyomizu. I can't wait for the cherry blossoms in Spring!
The next adventure: Mt. Hiei in Kyoto. Anyone notice how all my epic adventures center around Kyoto? Anyone? Ok, back on to the story. My history professor who's name I can't pronounce took us up Mt. Hiei for a class trip. We took the cable car and then decided to go for a three hour hike up the mountain then back down into another prefecture and city. It is cold in the mountains. I had only a jacket, scarf and gloves. You can tell the story is going to involve me complaining about the cold can't you? We arrived at the top and saw the red mountains scattered about, then turning around one could see all of Kyoto laid out below us. It was a sight to behold as our professor pointed out various famous places in Kyoto most of us had been to before. Note to self: Must visit Imperial Palace.
The climb up the mountain sported a few stops and one point where we had a picnic lunch. In the cold. On a mountain. In November. It was cloudly and there was no sun. It was a little windy. I froze eating my lunch, all in the name of education.
Around 1:00pm we arrived at a temple that I don't know the name of but it was very peacefully set in the mountains, large and quite. While I was there I struck up a conversation with one of the temple attedants. Turns out I still need to practice my Japanese, as does my friend Yssan who is a level three. Good thing we are in a Japanese speaking country or that would be REALLY hard to do. While visiting another temple, a different one thatn the first but I still can't recall the name... I once again discovered my arch nemisis: Japanese Stairs. The stairs in old school Japan are not stairs, no, they are ladders. There is litterally a 85% slope when one walks up these stairs in the temples and up to the temples. There is no way to win... you suffer. And because we'd been climbing up a mountain all day these steps were just the last punch to my gluteus maximus (or for those of you who don't speak latin, ass) could take. Soon we could feel the mountain slope beneath our feet and we were on our way down the mountain into a new prefecture, Shiga. We began in Kyoto and ended in Shiga. Needless to say there was a sigh of relief when we reached the bottom of the mountain.
Good trip. If you are in Kyoto, check out Mt. Hiei, but be prepared... its quite a hike.
Next, I took a walk one sunday in Yamada Park with a friend of mine, Jonna. It is a nice park that has a huge lake in the middle of it and the trees were red. All over, red. The reason for all the red here in Japan are the beautiful Japanese maple trees that grow wild all over the place. The park was an autumn wonder land and we couldn't help but take pictures and simply admire the leaves. Time flew by quickly as we admired the trees and talked about our homes. I told Jonna about how in Washington the trees were never this beautiful. Jonna commented that the trees in Japan were far different then those in Sweden... at least I think thats what she said, granted I am writing this blog post at 2:30 am in the morning Japan time.
So beautiful. Well folk my first semester here at Kansai Gaidai is winding down to a close, finals are next week and I am feeling the stress as the man is trying to get me down. There was talk earlier of going to Korea but those plans fell through and so I am planning to remain here in good old Nihon for winter break. So what now? Who knows. I have six months left in the land of the rising sun and it feels in an odd manner like I have accomplished nothing in the way of cultural education. Wierd right? I find that I have more Gaijin (foreigner) friends then Japanese ones, although I can speak Japanese I just am having a hard time finding Japanese people I really click with as friends. I think its partially the language barrier but also a difference in culture especially when trying to relate with the girls. Well, tomorrow is another day... and I have a test.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I need to dig deeper.

Takarazuka - The obsession continues...

2009-11-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

Well I did it, I returned to Takarazuka for their rendition of Casablanca and LOVED it. Comparing it with Rose of Versailles I have to say there were certain aspects of Casablanca I liked better. For example, the fact that I knew the story a lot better from Versailles (which was a spin-off story). The lead otokoyaku (male lead) was beyond perfect for the role. I didn't describe before how the otokoyaku (or the female played male lead) act. They move about the stage in slightly exatterated shoulders slightly slung back and a slouch in their walk. The voices of the otokoyaku are also naturally deeper then that of the female characters. I am guessing the otokoyaku are tenors and altos.
Everyone knows the story of Casablanca and if you don't well then you need to stop reading this blog, get in a car, go down to the local Wal-Mart and buy it, bring it home, watch it then continue to read this blog. The movie in itself can be very slow at times but I found the Takarazuka rendition to be entertaining and at times comical. Acting wise when comparing Versailles and Casablanca I have to say I preferred the lead otokoyaku in Versailles. But in the way of supporting cast I really like Casablanca. I was especially interested how they played the role of Sam, the Black Piano player at the bar. The role of Sam in Takarazuka was a person who was colored black but there were no racist tones that we fear in America when we think of white people painted black to play a role. It was simply a given idea that the person was black, not a Japanese woman playing a black person. My only dissapointment in the end was that there was no long Revue show after Casablanca finished. Each Takarazuka show ends with a Revue number. Casablanca ended with the theme song, As Time Goes By, sung Takarazuka style. Disco ball, feathers and sequins. If you ever choose to visit Takarazuka take a pain killer with you so when its over you can stop your eyes from throbbing. In the end, I feel that if you can visit Takarazuka while in Japan that it is an experience well worth having. It is a very good look into Japanese Femme Culture, one that is very difficult to see. Also it opens a whole new door of discussion of what is truly beautiful in Japanese Culture. In Western Culture, especially the states I doubt a thing like Takarazuka would ever become popular because of the extreme homophobia of our culture. In Japanese Culture however, it is more acceptable to find someone of the same sex attractive. It doesn't mean that you see homosexuals and lesbians walking around on the street, but with in Japanese Entertainment, especially the talk shows it is common to see cross dressers and transexuals. That would never fly in the states. Actually, a lot of stuff here wouldn't even move off the ground where I come from. In closing is a video advertisement link for Takarazuka's redition of Casablanca, watch, enjoy, go buy the movie.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and yes, I did just do a promotion for Wal-Mart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kekrSumXzsI

Osaka Court

2009-11-22T04:52:00.000-08:00

Today Nikki went to court. Nikki didn't screw up in life but she still ended up in an Osaka court room, actually she ended up in about four court rooms. So how did Nikki accomplish such a feat? Well it all began with her Struggle for Justice professor, Mark Tracy. Professor Tracy has a field trip for his Struggle for Justice class where he takes his student to the Osaka Court house to observe trials. I am sad to report however that photography is not allowed within the court house so there are no flashy pictures of the trials being held that I observed. I will talk about a few of the ones I observed.
In the Japanese court system there is a 99% conviction rate. This has to do with a mix of culture and legal procedures in the legal system. In all honesty it is too hard for me to explain everything but first some interesting facts:

1. There is something called Suspension of Prosecution. This is where the prosecutor lets the criminal or suspect go with no charges against them. This is for any case. In other world, there are criminals walking around Japan unpunished. Why does this occur? First the Japanese are very big on imposing shame and remorse then forgiveness. The criminal is released with the promise that he or she shall not offend again. Secondly, There MAY not be enough evidence against the suspect. Also this is done to save the criminal socially. A labeling of criminal could destroy his career, family life and shame the family in society.

2. The Police are liked in Japan. Surprise, Surprise. Coming from the United States where the cops are hated and slightly feared the Japanese Police have a completely different aura around them. Its normal to ask a Police Officer for help or to have an officer simply give you directions and be sincerely happy to help you. My professor pointed out the reason for this is that since there is less crime there is also less stress on the police, making them much nicer. Here is an example of how culturally different the police are from America:
My professor was walking to 7-11 when he saw this occur. A salary man who was obviously drunk in the parking lot of 7-11 was surrounded by eight policemen. The man was yelling and carrying on while the police were trying to calm him down. At one an officer stepped close to the man and was hit in the stomach with the man's briefcase. Well, as his energy finally ran out the man began cry and apologizing. The police then got him a taxi and sent him home.
I know that in the U.S. the minute you even back talk to an officer you are being handcuffed and put in the backseat. Completely different atmosphere here in Japan.

3. The Defense Does Nothing. Now this isn't 100% true, I mean they do a little. Not alot, but a little With the high conviction rate of 99.99% its easy to see this. The reason is that the prosecutors have absolute power in Japan and I mean absolute. They decide when the defense and suspect can meet each other, how long they can talk and has the legal ability to censor the conversation and material between them. The prosecutor also can hold the suspect in questioning for up to 23 days. The defense is rarely given the evidence against their client so they may also build a case. Instead the job of the defense is to not stop a sentencing but instead to lower it.

The court cases I observed were; A theft of a purse, cover-up evidence, attempted murder, and a murder case. The purse theft was boring to say the least, not much happened the sentence was scheduled for another time.
The cover-up trial was about a man who had been making illegal documents online and then he tried to hide it. But he couldn't not from Japan's finest. He was given a year of prohbation.
Next, once upon a time there was an old man who was drunk and he tried to stab somebody. To be honest, during the attempted murder trial I fell asleep for a couple of minutes. The old man kept saying... "shiranai" which means I do not remember. Apparently he must have been really drunk. Next case: murder.
Wierd Chinese lady killed someone. There were a lot of people in the room.

Sorry this post wasn't as fun as most, its just stuff I find interesting.

NEXT TIME ON A YEAR IN KANSAI:
Now, As you know I was talking about Takarazuka back in the day... well guess what kids, Nikki is going back to Takarazuka! I am gonna see Casablanca. Stay tuned for laughs, tears and slight gender confusion.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I've been to court.

Gion Odori

2009-11-20T02:21:00.000-08:00

京都は私のいちばんが好き日本の町ですよ！古いし、きれいだし、人はやさししです。祇園は芸者と舞子の家ので、祇園は祇園おどりがあるんです。祇園おどりは芸者と舞子の秋のダンス。祇園おどりなら秋があるんです。冬と春と夏がありません。友達は祇園おどりに行ってみたがっていました。

Kyoto, as you know is my favorite city here in Japan. Its ancient, beautiful and the people are very nice. In Kyoto lies the area of Gion, the maiko and geisha district. In the fall there are traditional maiko and geisha dances called Gion Odori. My friend Ashlee discovered all about this event and in her excitement swept up a few other girls and we found ourselves sitting in a theater and waiting for this event to take place. Behind us sat a maiko with a customer. She had a beautiful elaborte hair design. In front of us was sitting a geisha with what I guessed was her Okaasan, or the lady who owns the house she was raised and schooled in. It was amazing to be surrounded by these beautiful women, and everything they represented culturally of Japan. What followed was one of the most cultural eye opening experiences. The name of this years Gion Odori was Higashiyama Ryo i Ki (East Mountain Buddhist Fables). The dance had six scenes and they were as follows:

Scene 1: Kachouzan
This was the opening act featuring five Maiko each in beautiful dancing kimonos. The interesting thing about dancing kimonos is that they are long and spread across the floor. Odd right? One would think a dragging gown would make the dancing hard, but in fact I saw the secret. Instead of laying flat the kimonos were tied at a sort of angle giving the kimono a slit in which movement was free. The sleeves of the kimono are long and so the maiko and geisha must hold up the sleeves as they dance. The maiko in this dance twirled their fans and moved with unseen grace across the stage, back and forward until finally flittering off.

To make this better? To the left of the stage were six elderly women. Three played the Shamisen (a traditional Japanese string instrument) while the last three sang in traditional Japanese style in the form of telling a story. Its not like normal singing, its much longer and drawn out in almost a whine.

Scene 2: A Cat Full Face To Three Directions and Sparrows Escaped from Picture
This one was far too fun to watch. It was done by the geisha. The story goes, there are two paintings on screens. One had a picture of two cats and the other of three birds. The pictures were painted so lively the animals came to life and the birds try to escape, the cats try to round them up. This was depicted by the geisha jumping out and perfect times from behind screens of the painting with slots in them. The slots had pictures of the animals that shut when the geisha jumped out symbolizing the leaving of the painting into the real world. The geisha playing the birds wore kimono with bird wings upon them. The two geisha playing cats had black and brown spots on their kimonos and white grass like material in their hair, mimiking whiskers. One of the geisha playing the cats had a shorter kimono so she could hop around and move with ease. In the end, the birds escaped from the room and the cats returned to their painting.

Scene 3: Forgotten Umbrella
This dance was my favorite out of all the dances aside from the finale, it is the one that kept my interest and was extremely impressive to the eyes. The story tells of how when a pagoda for a temple was being built a white fox in the form of a human goes looking for a new nest. She is shown kindess by the humans giving her a new nest. She transforms into her true form, a kitsune, spirit fox and leaves her umbrella at the site with a promise to protect the temple.
The woman who played the fox in human form also played her in the fox form. I was impressed at how quickly the woman changed, literally a minute passed and she was back on the stage wearing a white kimono and her hair almost changed. The dressers deserve nice props on this. I am thinking that dancing kimonos are easy to remove and put on. The thing is that traditionally kimonos can take almost 30 minutes to put on, or more ( I know from experience). The white kimono worn by the "fox" was beautiful to watch, it had hanging white strings all over it and it formed well with the dance and backdrop. After words we concluded this was the head geisha who performed this role since it was the longest dance.

Scene 4: A Nightengale Corridor
Comedy was evident within this dance. It was the story of a corridor in Chon-in temple that makes a squeaky sound no matter how a person walks upon. Three theives sneak into the temple in hopes to steal a scripture that shows the famous "Danmuri" motions of Kabuki. The theives are able to steal the scripture and then teach the other maiko how to dance. This story was one of my favorites because the story was so clear and the fact that theives were not doing this out of greed but because they wished to learn the new dances and taught it to all their friends. The maiko played a background role in this dance. I figured out quickly that most of the dances were performed by the geisha which makes sense (Maiko are only apprentices, they are not professionals in their fields).

Scene 5: Oo Shakushi
This was the most confusing dance for me because I wasn't exactly sure what was happening. All I grasped was there was this large ladle. This is what the hand out told us, "Warrior Miyoshiseikai is believed to have fought with a large wooden ladle at the summer battle of Osaka, Dancers depict a variety of ladles and punning around scoop-saving comically." Well, to be honest it just reminded me of goldfish in the pond swimming around. It was beautiful the dancers wore red kimonos that were offset by a blue background and flowers as props around the side of the stage, lotus flowers to give the impression of a pond. To be honest I think this dance was just a filler so the other dancers could prepare for the beautiful finale.

Scene 6: Gion Higashi Kouta
This was the finale, the one that blew away all who watched. The stage lit up and the backdrop was Kyoto with the maple leaves of many colors above hung traditional Japanese laterns and red maple leaves. The maiko wore their beautiful kimono while the geisha wore black kimonos. Geisha stood on one side in a group and the maiko in another. The women twirled their fans about gracefully, moving across the stage, each movement was a work of art in itself.
The word geisha means artist, a geisha in herself is a moving, breathing living art piece and this dance only inforced that truth.
As the women moved around the stage I felt myself growing aware of what it meant to be a geisha, a maiko but at the same time I felt that veil that is drawn across the world in front of my face, unable to push it aside. It remains there against the rest of the world. While I did not find all my answers my friend Ashlee may have found hers. She is now very interested in the world of maiko and geisha. Even now she is doing her own little research on them. I think I heard something about an undergraduate thesis? Ganbatte. Do your best Ashlee!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am trying to cut through the veil!

Kinkaku-ji

2009-11-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since my updates from the Land of the Rising Sun. That is because I have become lazy while in Japan. Very lazy. So lazy that I think I am beginning to put on some weight! Well lets stop the procrastination and begin with the review of Japan. First up is Kinkaku-ji or as it is better known, the Golden Pavilion. Now I know what you are thinking, a building covered in gold, sweetness on a stick. Well... not really. The true beauty of this place is the area that surrounds and creates the atmosphere of Kinkaku-ji. The fearless trio, Myself, Ashlee and Pauline set out with high ambitions and a new musketeer to the club, Mara. We arrived at the entrance to the park and found a historic and Kyoto tradition. The big Ooki (big) kanji symbol on the mountain is burned in July for a summer festival. In fact if you purchase souvenirs of Kyoto you will often see one of two things, a maiko and the symbol on fire. Back to Kinkaku-ji. The leaves in Kyoto are beginning to change colors ever slowly and Kyoto is becoming a beautiful fall wonderland. The leaves are becoming what the Japanese refer to as “fire Leaves” because when one looks at the mountains in the fall it looks as if they are on fire. It made for the perfect setting for a building covered in Gold. Kinkaku-ji was built back 14th century by a shogun, Yoshimitsu. It was especially for his visits from ambassadors and important guests, basically it was just for showing off. Well, it payed off because now hundreds of people pass by this marvelous building every hour. One feature of this area that makes this building so stunning is the reflection affect. Because the building is built on the banks of a large pond one can see the reflection of gold in the water and when you get your camera just right, you recieve amazing photos as a result. As we continued our trek through the park we slowly pulled away from the lake and beautiful building and into the shrine built near by. Pauline disappeared in a mesh of High Schoolers and returned with a grin on her face presenting me with a omamori. An omamori is a charm that one can purchase at temples that are meant to bring luck to specific areas of one's life. I have been stressed lately attempting to get good grades here at Kansai Gaidai and can only seem to pull B's. If you know me you then know how much I love to see those beautiful As on my papers. Pauline bought me an omamori for good studies. People may call the French, snooty, rude and bratty but the truth of the matter is they may be the only people who know how to woo and soothe the heart. Well needless to say this charm may be doing the trick, because the week after recieving the omamori I got an A on a quiz!

Anyway... back at the story of Kinkaku-ji....

We wandered through the beautiful park and found a mountain, well not a mountain a large pile of coins. The idea is that you stand behind the fence and try to throw your coin into a bowl, if so you make a wish and it comes true. Who couldn't pass up such an oppurtunity for a wish to come true? Me, Ashlee, Mara and Pauline, thats who! Ashlee went first with the lucky 5 yen coin and tossed it, it sailed through the area and landed in the dish. The crowd surrounding the area let out a long "ehhhh!" which is the Japanese verion of either, "Whhhaattt?" or "WOW!"
I was not so lucky. So I just rubbed my face on Ashlee's hand that tossed the coin in. I like to think it rubbed off a little bit on me. As we approached the end of the park we let out a little sigh of sadness at saying good-bye to the wonderful area. But I had a quick purchase to make before leaving. I went up to the omamori stand and purchased a little something for Pauline. "Dreams Come True" that is her omamori from me. I don't know what wish that is deep in her heart, but its all hers to make. Ganbatte Pauline! Ganbatte! (Do your best! Good luck!)
Our next stop? The day was young, the area was rainy, and Pauline and Ashlee wanted to see Gion. So off the fearless trio went. On the way we saw a rainbow that stretched over Kyoto, what a sight to behold. I was lucky to learn the Japanese name for rainbow from a few Nihonjin walking by. I don't remember the word, but I am sure it was a beautiful one.
We said good-bye to Mara at Gion-Shijo as she had to return home. The Maiko and Geisha weren't out but we knew the reason... Gion-Odori. The traditional Autumn dances of the Geisha and Maiko. I saw a determination in Ashlee's eyes. She wanted to see this event. And because of Ashlee, five days later I found myself sitting in a theater in Kyoto, the lights dimming and seeing five beautiful maiko as the dances began... but that is a story for next time.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I keep my readers in suspsense.

Halloween... Japanese Style

2009-10-31T06:04:00.000-07:00

Halloween, the one time of year a person can be anything, and I mean anything from a gothic vampire to a slightly risque' sailor. Now I am not hating on this wonderful holiday that allows me to act and dress completely different from what I truly am but I am saying that it can be more than one expects in the land of the rising sun. For Halloween I opted to wear my costume from last year, a female sailor I brought it with me from America and to be honest I don't remember it being as short... I wore shorts under it and everything but still it was shorter than I recalled. I arrived at campus in normal dress and changed while there.
In Japan Halloween is nothing more than a marketing ploy it is not celebrated like in the West. You buy candy, if you go to a party you dress up and that's about it. No trick or treating, no scary movie watching, no toilet papering of houses. It was quite funny walking around campus to see all the various costumes, there were anime costumes, made-up and fantasy every I went. The two I was most impressed by was Captain Jack Sparrow and Rorschach from The Watchmen.
The Japanese have always been into cosplay (costume play) and especially are goo goo gaa gaa for anything remotely cute. Apparently a French Creole Gaijin dressed up as a sailor is adorable, or so I discovered the hard way. On my campus the McDonalds and dining cafeteria are about a five minute walk from the CIE (Center of International Education) where I have all my classes. On this particular day however, it took me exactly 30 minutes to walk to McDonalds. I was constantly being stopped for pictures, at one point there was even a line to get pictures with me!
When I walked across the ampitheater at our campus to get into the McDonalds everyone who was there stopped to stare at me. We had our little visit and food at McDonalds we traveled back to the CIE where at 5:00pm the dressed up people began to assemble. Each costume was more unique and beautiful than the last. There was even a Hitler Banana! I kid you not and she was hilarious. I don't think she meant ot look like this infamous dictator but with the glasses and beard well... she pulled off what Hitler would have looked like if he dressed up as a banana. The girl is a CIE employee and she was HILARIOUS. My friend Ashlee and I went to get a picture with her and as I stood next to her she opened a peal on her banana costume and said, "Do you want to eat?" We couldn't stop laughing. I tried to take a good picture with her but because I was laughing so hard the picture didn't turn out well but the picture of Ashlee and the banana was rather nice. Other wonderful costumer apperances included a few samurai, Office Worker Ninjas, and really nice version of Alice and Wonderland by a few Nihonjin (Japanese Students).
In closing I include pictures of these groups.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I'm a Sailor on a ship called Kansai Gaidai.

The Deers Attack

2009-10-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Animals seem to have a fascination with me. I don't know why. I get chased by squirrels, I get chased by monkeys and now deer have joined the list of animals that have tried to take me down. One of my friends says I am just being paranoid but I see the look in those creature's eyes! They want me dead, they want me gone from this world! So what did I do to deserve this treatment? I had deer biscuits in my hand and the evil animals wanted them.

This last Saturday I headed out to Nara with my friend Pauline. The trip to Nara takes over an hour on train and at first we were kind of worried that we had got on the wrong train. Obviously we were on the right train or this story of deer attacks would not have occurred! We went to Nara Park which has a variety of temples and shrines, one of the most famous being Todai-ji which houses Daibutsu, a large buddha that stands 49.1 ft. First we had to get to Todai-ji temple and that meant walking through the park. Full of deer. Hungry deer. Angry deer. Our first stop on the way to Todai-ji was Kofuku-ji temple. It has a five story Pagoda and round building. The architecture was interesting but other than that there was nothing much to see. Before we went into the Kofuku-ji temple section Pauline and I made this grave mistake of feeding the deer. It seemed like an innocent thing, just feeding some cute little furry animals and taking pictures of them. We were wrong. We were so very wrong. The minute the deer saw the biscuits in our hands they came running. I was soon surrounded by at least five rapid deer who wanted only the buscuits. I tried to back away but they followed. One even bit me on the arm! Pauline was bit on the back and the deer decided to chase us down even after we had no more deer treats left. I especially loved the name that Pauline gave to the deer, she called them bambis. Well the bambis loved us a lot. As we kept on our trek towards Todai-ji we saw a little deer with a deformed face. It was a cute little thing who's tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth. Pauline and I felt so bad for the little guy that we made our second mistake. We bought more treats to feed the lil bambi. You are suppose to learn from your mistakes in life, to know what works and what does not. Apperantly we had not learned our lesson, but the bambis were about to remind us of this. They took us down. I began to bat the animals away with my wallet as Pauline took the treats and climbed up onto the wall to get away from the deer. The deer cornered her on the wall until finally they became bored and trotted off to other people with treats. One deer however stayed and followed us around for exactly 10 minutes, even through the main gate of the temple. We named her Butter. I don't know where we got the name, I don't know why we named her Butter but Butter was our new four-legged friend and was very close to Pauline who was eating Matcha (Green Tea) ice cream. But some relationships in life are temporary, as was the case with our new BFF Butter who soon ditched us for a Japanese girl with a plastic bag.
We finally arrived at Todai-ji Temple and paid 500 yen as the entrance fee then entered the grand temple. The Daibutsuden, or the Great Buddha Hall is the largest wooden building in the world and once you see the Daibutsu, the Grand Buddha it is understandable why. The grounds around this beautiful building are lush and green. It is a serene feeling as one walks down the cobblestone walkway towards the Daibutsuden. Upon entering the building one is greeted by the large buddha sitting within a lotus flower smiling and his left hand up in a stop sign motion. The main attraction is the Daibutsu, but there are also statues of other Buddhist characters through out the temple but this is the main attraction. I stood in awe at the large Buddha and felt an odd peacefullness wash over me. Although there were many people in the building I felt as if I was alone in the room, just me and this vast statue. As we left the temple we continued our journey through the park. We decided to go North. I don't remember the name of the temple but I do know when you go onto the balcony you can see over Nara. Its a beautiful view and I can't help but enjoy it. As it was growing late we began our walk back towards the station with our final stop at Kasuga Shrine were we were lucky enough to see a Wedding procession leaving the Shrine. We didn't want to pay 500 yen to go inside so we just looked around on the outside before we walked back through the forest. We were told there were over 2,000 stone laterns in the forest around the shrine. The trip to Nara was wonderful. And there was something for everyone, Ice Cream for Pauline, Awesome Shops for me and an important life lesson... don't feed the bambis.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am glad Bambi's mom died.

Shinsaibashi and the monkeys

2009-10-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

Its been a while, and to be honest I have been busy with school and other important things so for a week or so I haven't been out exploring the land of the rising sun. Well this weekend I got out there and went exploring. The first stop was Osaka-Jo (Osaka Castle), which I had already been to... twice. The reason I went this time was because after the trip to Osaka-Jo we were going to a famous shopping district called Shinsaibashi. Upon arriving at the park we quickly discovered that on sundays bands perform in the park. These bands are the huge fan based bands, but ones that are just beginning their path to success. Well needless to say one band in particular caught our attention, they were all dressed in traditional samurai clothing. The drummer wore a mask over his face and there was back up singer who honestly looked like he was high and waved fans around. The bass player didn't wear a top... yep... Just saying... it wasn't a bad view. He also had a tattoo.
Japan's irrational fear of tattoos: 0
Tattoo owners: 1
We liked their music so much we bought their CD which I have listened to and find the music very appealing. Its a mixture of traditional Japanese instruments with modern guitar and drums. The group is called Samurai Rock, and apparently we are going to one of their concerts.
The other three ladies went up into the castle while I stayed on the ground not wanting to pay to see a place I had already traveled to twice. I ordered some cold soba at a little food place. When it arrived it came also with a small quail egg that had been opened for me to pour into the dipping sauce. I am brave. I am fearless. I am an independent and strong woman. I am not eating a raw quail egg. Someone else can be a hero for the day. Nikki chose to be a red-blooded American and turned up her nose at the thought of eating a raw small egg.
The journey to Shinsaibashi for me was painful. I made this mistake of eating a whole pizza at a cafe we ate at, giving me a painfully bloated stomach. Luckily we found a drug store and I got some pills that helped. Shinsaibashi. How do I describe such a place? Seriously. It was just a mish-mash of stores, people yelling about all these wonderful sales and pretty little cafes that served awesome food. We eventually found ourselves in Namba an area of Osaka that is famous for Yakuza and Hosts. My room mate Amber swears she saw Yakuza, I think she is making it up. Shinsaibashi. Interesting, but nothing that the mall of America doesn't have.

On monday I traveled to a village in Kyoto called Arashiyama. I have to admit that I enjoy these small villages far more than the busy cities themselves. One can get into much better contact with the culture and people by visiting these places. You can see the true Japan. Its the same in America, if you wish to see the true America, don't visit big cities like New York, Chicago and for the love of all things holy never visit Detriot... but instead going to the smaller cities and towns is where you see the true America. Everything else is just a front. The small village of Arashiyama is famous for two things: The Sagano Romantic Train and the Monkey Park. My friend Ashlee and I arrived at Arashiyama at approximately 1:30pm. We bought tickets for the 2:50pm train round trip and then went exlporing. The JR (Japan Railways) line station for Arashiyama is off to the side of downtown. One has to simply take a walk down a road, following the Sagano Train line tracks and they will find a beautiful street. Off down one way visitors can walk through a bamboo forest. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the bamboo forest walk, but I hear its really nice. We had a quick dinner of Tempura Soba before returning to catch the train. I was skeptic at first of the train ride. It turned out to be a beautiful ride! The train goes through the mountains and along a river. Apparently you can combined a train ride and a boat ride down the river as well I will have to remember this for next time! The mountains swirl around the train as the river dances below it. When the train reaches its end stop, one finds themself in the middle of a valley. In fact, for a second I was thinking to myself, "How did I get back to Eastern Washington?" Nostaglia flooded over me as I looked at the mountains in the distance and the fields and tumblebrush all around.
The train ride back was just as beautiful as the journey to the valley. I couldn't wait to see the monkey park! We went along the bustling street, I found a Hello Kitty store, remember that famous painting I saw in Kyoto of the two demons? Apparently Japan has gone to far. They did a reproduction cloth, and it has Hello Kitty in it... so I bought one of them to prove my point: Japan has gone too far. Its hanging in our room with a note explaining Japan's extremism for all things Hello Kitty.
The monkey park: the highlight of the trip. After walking across the moon viewing bridge, which in itself is a beautiful view of the river and mountains. It is 550 yen to enter the park and a 20 minute hike to the summit. By the way, I think I found the place where Donkey Kong was based upon. I dragged poor Ashlee up the mountain as she admitted to me that she was not an animal person. I promised to protect her from the monkeys. Turned out I was all talk and no show. When we met our first monkey we both were wary of going near it, especially later when one just stood in the middle of the path and looked at us. After a long journey which I can only guess matched the journey of the one ring to Mordor we reached the summit. It was monkey heaven! We could go inside a resting area where we could also feed the monkeys through a large chicken wire fence. It cost 100 yen, and I couldn't resist giving my furry cousins some treats. They were quite cute, especially when you came near the fence they would stretch out their hands and open their mouth for food. After feeding we went outside the cage to simply watch the monkeys and look at the amazing view. All of Kyoto was laid out for us to see, I could even see the tower of Kyoto station. The mountain shadow covered part of the city as the sun was beginning to set and the rest was left to bask in the sunlight. The monkeys were running about making for a very nice photograph oppurtunity. Once again I am confirming my love of Kyoto. So peaceful and full of life. I have to admit, I will feel sad when I have to leave Japan in May, it will be Kyoto I miss. The last day in Japan I think I will go to Kyoto to say good-bye to it.
Eventually we had to leave the monkeys. They were sad to see us go, and even more sad that we were going to buy them any more delicious apple pieces. I like to believe they are going to miss me as a person even more. I don't care if its a fantasy... they miss me. In December the town of Arashiyama lights up the mountain, bamboo forest and moon viewing bridge in celebration of something... and I have a feeling I shall becoming back for that, all bundled up in my scarf, hat and winter coat.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I'm the Monkey Queen.

P.S. Please leave me a comment so I know people are still reading this!!!

Nikki - 1, Mother Nature - 0

2009-10-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

The battle has been won, but not the war. Last night Melor passed over the rockin' city of Osaka with flying colors and winds. I didn't stay up long enough to see all of its power but I heard it was something, while biking to school today it was common to see tree branches scattered around. I am alive, and thats all there is to say.

Also, I am going to tell everybody a little bit about the public baths. Now, if you had asked me a few weeks ago if I would have ever gone to a public bath I would have said no. Well, needless to say a few weeks ago I would have been more wrong than Senator McCarthy about having a list of Communists that worked for the government (sorry, sorry... just a little history humor). The public bath is a 30 minute walk from the Seminar house but it is worth it. Very worth it. The biggest hurdle to jump over was the fact I had to be naked. Western traditions of modesty and not walking around naked flooded my head as I stood in the changing room with my two friends. First off with the clothes, that was the easy part, being in underwear not a big thing... but you can't bathe in underwear so....10 minutes later I walked with my two friends into the bathing area.

Before getting into the baths one has to wash off with soap and shampoo at a sort of pre-bathing station. You sit on a sort of bucket and clean yourself off, often after soaping up you dump a deep bowl of water from the faucet over you to wash you off. After the scrub down we went into the baths and they were amazing. Very nice and relaxing. Of course, its easy to get hot in these baths so they have cold shower stations and places where you can dump cold water over yourself. The three of us opted to go into the steam room. After coughing and gasping for air in the steam room it became a very nice place. Sure, it was horribly hot and you had to breath differently but it cleaned out the pores. I really want to go to an Onsen, which is a hot spring outside. Unfortunately because of my tattoo I may be turned away from it, so I do not think I will try to enter one unless I am completely sure they allow tattoos. Oh well, there are hot springs in Canada I can go to... and probably some in the states.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I hear there is a new typhoon forming in the Pacific.

Row Row Fight the PoWAH!

2009-10-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Melor is coming to kick my ass and I am ready to take him down. This is going to be the fight of the century, the clash of the decade; it will be more popular than the race of Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral. Hirakata-City, Osaka. October 7, 2009. 6 pm. Be there. Girls drink free.

The projected trail of Typhoon Melor takes it straight over Osaka. This isn’t a simple autumn storm, this is a big dish of 100 mph winds, 200 mph wind gusts and heavy rains. In other words: this ain’t gonna be pretty. The International students are preparing, buying food and water, calling home to stop their parent’s fears and praying to any god they worship. Then again, there are those, in fact a large group of the International kids who don’t seem worried about the typhoon. Now, to be honest I have a little anxiety but I do feel safe. Japan has been dealing with typhoons since they began their civilization, their drainage systems and homes are built specifically for these types of storms. If you think about it, I am in the safest country in the world against natural disasters, these people are ready for earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis. I am not ready, but the Japanese people are and as they say, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” The Japanese people are going to the store, getting some extra water and food, so am I. Back to the group that thinks this is a small storm. I don’t think that many people understand what a typhoon actually means. It is a fancy name for hurricane. The Pacific has typhoons, the Atlantic has hurricanes. This is no small storm, this is a large, massive, dangerous storm that can kill people. A large, massive dangerous storm that I am honestly excited about in a sick and twisted way. After all, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Fear seems to be a big thing here in Japan, especially when it comes to swine flu. People walk around with masks on in fear of this flu with a fancy name. When we walk into the CIE building on campus we are suppose to use hand sanitizer to stop the spread of the virus. To be fair, Japan has dealt with both the SARS and Avian Flu, something America heard about but never had to deal with first hand, but in Japan these epidemics were a reality.

Back the Typhoon, I am writing to say I don't know if power will give out or what is going to happen. There are no plans when one is dealing with mother nature. In the event of a power outage, it may last a few days but I will send a quick note on here when Melor has left and let everyone know I am safe.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am going to make Melor my bitch.

The joys of a Japanese College

2009-10-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

I have written a lot about the sights and my adventures of Japan but I have left out a large chunk of my Japanese Experience: college. As many of you recall I was a little peeved with Kansai Gaidai when I originally arrived here. Well, a month later I am still a little wary of Kansai Gaidai the University and at times I have some issues with the nation of Japan but over all this wouldn't stop me from coming here.
My classes here are in English, except for my two language classes which are in Englinese ( a combination of English and Japanese). My classes in English are:

Struggle for Justice
Sex and Sexuality in Japan
Japan and Its World to 1860

So far I have to admit my favorite is Struggle for Justice. The professor for this class is basically Captain Awesome in the way of professors. In fact, I would say he is over qualified for this teaching position. He was a lawyer and prosecutor in the states for over 10 years. He has two PHDs in something... but never the less he is a good teacher. We are going over the criminal system in Japan and comparing it to not only Western Nations but also to a few other Asian countries. One of the first assignment assigned to our class is we have to build our own nation with our own criminal system. My group has come up with quite an interesting system, I personally wanted a simple dictatorship where things would be easier to rule and less restrictions, not to mention things get done quicker. But a girl in our group was unhappy with this idea because she "didn't want to live in that type of country". Well, first of all the name of our country is Strawberry Shortcake Land and to be honest, I wouldn't live in a country named after a fruity desert in the first place... but since our fake country couldn't be a dictatorship we opted for one with a chancellor who can be elected every 4 years. Its still a fun class.

Sex and Sexuality started out as a real dragger class. I mean, sex should be a slightly interesting topic, right? WRONG! Now, to be fair what this class doesn't have in in-class education it really makes up for in the readings assigned. In fact, I learn more from the readings then I have from the professor. I don't know if that is how it is suppose to be, but oh well. I think this is a general problem with professors in college. It is rare that I find a professor who will not reguritate the readings and say it in a different way. I find the professors I have the most respect for are the ones who take the readings assigned then build upon them, telling us things the readings did not and occasionally incouraging discussion in the class.
All the things I have learned about sex in Japan is very eye opening. For example, its very common for married couples to have a non-sexual relationship after having their children. Married couples can live happily without having sex, and its normal (and even slightly acceptable) for the husband to find sexual conquest elsewhere. Granted that may put a damper on the marriage but its woven into the society. This comes from years and years of planned marriages between families where the groom and bride did not know each other until the wedding day. The couple wasn't in love, and so if one party found another person who they did love well, you get the main idea.
They have things here called host clubs (or hostest clubs) that a person can go to. Basically you go to this nice sit down club and have someone of the opposite sex talk to you, flirt with you and make you feel special. The catch is their goal is to make you buy the overly expensive food and drinks at the club. Many people think these clubs are covers for prostitution rings which is not true. Most clubs will fire a host or hostest if they find out that person has had a relationship with a client outside of their club hours. I know a few girls who want to go to a host club, but in all honesty I don't like the idea of being pressured to buy things by cute guys. Not to mention I won't be able to understand what the guys say to me most of the time... and then again, maybe I can help them practice their English? Eh... I can do that on the Nakamiya Campus for free.
Just the other day we were discussing contraception in Japan. The two most used contraceptions is the condom and withdrawl. Compared to the U.S.A which the pill and condoms are the top used contraceptions. Most Japanese women do not like the idea of the pill because of the fear of all the side effects that come a long with it. Someone in my class pointed out a reason for this may be that American Culture is heavily based on chemical dependency. Have a cold? Here is a syrup with seven different things that will stop the symptoms. Have a headache? Take an Excedrin. Really tired? Drink a Red Bull. The list goes on, while here in Japan they have natural remedies for these things. I could write for hours about all the other differences in sexual culture that I have learned about but face it... my grandparents read this blog I am not going any further into sex in Japan or any other country for that matter.

Japan and Its World to 1860. Ahh, History. My beloved Major. Every time I take a history class I ask myself, why the hell am I a History Major again? I am beginning to realize maybe I am in the wrong major... then again I AM double majoring in Asian Studies as well. For those of you don't know I am History Pre-Law with Asian Studies and a Japanese Minor. My goal is to do International Law and work with Asian Nations. I am undecided at the moment exactly what I want to do with my Law degree. I am deciding between Human Rights and fighting against the Sex Trafficking Industry or Relations with Japan and the United States.
This class is a little slow at times, today we were learning about the Silk Road in China and the opening of China to the West. Which in itself effected Japan because Japan began to want in on the goods China was getting from the West. This class is nice in its own particular way because I am going to be able to travel to some of the places the professor is discussing in his lectures, such as Nara and Asuka.

Finally Campus life. I am just now working on becoming more involved with Japanese students and pulling away from all the other Gaijin. I am arranging coffee dates and get to gethers with Japanese students like never before. I need to work on my Japanese language skills and I love to meet new people. I am joining the Fine Arts Club and go to a meeting next Tuesday. I am hoping there aren't too many Gaijin in the club, not to sound rude but I just want to be alone with the Japanese Students for a time. That way I can see more of the culture and not be tempted to speak English. My Internatinal Class has over 400 students in it, 263 come from the United States. Lot of home here, a little too much. Thats why in a way I love just traveling around alone, why those trips with Tomoko and the trip to Sasayama was so free feeling for me, I could get away from all that noise and listen to the silence that is Japan.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am diving into Japanese Culture.

Fushimi-Inari and the beauty of Uji

2009-09-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

Been a while since my last update but that has to do with the fact that I've been doing a little bit of schoolin'. This post is all about my trip to Fushimi-Inari temple and then the next day to the beautiful village of Uji.
We left Seminar House 1 around noon and began our trek to Makino station where we took a train ride to Fushimi-Inari stop. The walk up to the temple is littered with little shops and tourist traps. Once we reached the temple itself however we found it to be much more peaceful and serene than Kiyomizu-Dera. While it was crowded there was less hustle and bustle, everything seemed to move at a gentle flow. The temple is dedicated to Inari, the goddess of Rice. Rice being a staple food here in Japan is a big deal, and because of this shrines made to the goddess Inari are held in high esteem in Japan.
Through out the temple a continuing theme appears, a kitsune (fox). The kitsune is considered the messenger and helper of the goddess Inari. One feature that sets a part Fushimi-Inari is the torii that line the walk way up the mountain. The walk isn't very steap and its a beautiful walk, constantly surrounded by the torii the outside world seems to melt away. On our way to walk up the mountain we saw a group of junior high students who were taking photos. Patiently waiting our turn my room mate, Amber and I jumped in to the place and took our photo. After seeing this the group of junior high kids excitedly asked for pictures with our whole group. Unfortunately we did not walk the whole way but we went up to a small resting spot where not only did we rest but were solicited by some junior high school kids. My friend, Eirik who is from Norway was very popular because tall white men are like captain awesome in Japan. It stems from the stereotype that western males are rich(Stereotypes, gotta love them). I don't know where these kids came from, or how they appeared but I turned around to find at least five junior high kids attempting to speak English to him. By attempting I mean they were reading a piece of paper and failing miserably. Now, I understand the difficulty of learning another language and especially at the age of junior high and the fact you are talking to someone who is much older than you... thats scary. But, I slowly got the feeling these were the kids that didn't pay attention in English class. They asked us a few questions, where were we from, why were we in Japan, etc. Eventually we just began to answer them in Japanese. The final step was a picture with us. After our interview and photo shoot the kids ran off never to be seen again. In either case, we began our trek back down the mountain.
I took the group to both Choraku-ji and Gion (which I have already reviewed) and then we took our trains back home.

The next day, a sunday was a perfect day for a perfect trip to a perfect village called Uji. Uji is a little village on the outskirts of Kyoto which seems to be locked in time. Uji is famous for two things: green tea and The Tales of Genji: the Uji Chapters. First the green tea. Green tea is what runs through the veins of every Japanese person, and it is what runs through the heart of anyone who loves Japan. Walking through Uji one can not miss all the shops dedicated specifically to Ocha (green tea). The reason I went to Uji was because I was looking at the blog of a man in the Kansai area who writes blogs about onsens. His blog is, http://sleepytako.blogspot.com I encourage all readers to check it out. David has given me a lot of help before and since my arrival in Japan. And I have him to thank for this wonderful little trip.
I met my friend Tomoko at the Chushojima Station and we boarded the local train to Uji. Our first stop was Nakamura Tokichi, a famous teahouse in Uji. Tomoko was worried it would be busy later in the day so we began our day with a nice meal and drink at the resturaunt. When first entering Nakamura Tokichi it is like going into a traditional tea house, one walks through a nice garden and then into a more modern cafe' setting. We were quickly seated and given the menus. Every thing looked delicious! But I finally settled with, I kid you not... green tea soba and a green tea float. For the record: green tea with ice cream in it is divine. I had never had soba before so it was quite funny as Tomoko had to instruct me how to eat it. Originally I was going to dump my sauce onto the noodles but Tomoko stopped me quickly and told me to dip the noodles into the sauce. The soba was delicious and I couldn't help but wish there was more for me to eat! The green tea float was equally delicious I tried to drink it slowly but my American habits of eating took over as I devoured the treat as if I was a starvin' man. But because I had been silly and not eaten breakfast, well, you get the idea. After our delicious meal at Nakamura Tokichi Tomoko showed me the beautiful sites of Uji. Sadly my camera battery decided this was the perfect time to die, but at least I got a few good shots before that occured. The first place we went to was Byodoin. It was a temple to the buddha of light and at one time was elaborately decorated, then time took its toll on the beautiful temple. But still today it is a site to see. In fact, I commented to Tomoko it looked almost Chinese in its design, if I had seen a picture of it I would never have guessed it was from Japan. It was beautiful either way. I just stood there in amazement at the beauty. Because it was next to the large pond it just seems to float on the water, as if it there is no land there to hold it up. Inside the museum on the grounds it explained the extreme elaborateness (is that a word?) of this temple in its prime. Gold plating everywhere to symbolize the light buddha. I would have liked to go inside it, but... well I like to hold onto my money and it looked as if there was nothing inside except the structure itself. Tomoko slipped me in earlier by telling them I was a high school student and I acting like I knew next to no Japanese. I strolled along under the bright green trees. I can not wait for Autumn to come to Japan and all the leaves changing color! Uji will be amazing! Time came for us to continue our journey through Uji.
Like I was saying earlier, the Tales of Genji are the stuff of legends here in Japan. In fact I just picked up the first book of the Tales of Genji from the Kansai Gaidai University Library to read because of this trip. The Tales of Genji is a story of a man and his various love affairs in the Heian period courts. But a portion of the story takes place in Uji. Uji was the get away destination for the nobles who lived in Kyoto. Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote this book and it took off instantly after it was written. Anyway back to the story of my trip in Uji. Tomoko walked with me over the bridge that is famous in the story. The Uji river is meant to wash away the pains of one's life, especially the pain that love causes to the human soul. Just standing there on the bridge, everything seems to flow away from you.
We visited the Tale of Genji Museum where I was overwhelmed with the desire to read this incredible story. (I found the books at my school book story, but it was around $50.00 for the whole story!)

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am reading the Tales of Genji.

Yama Climbin'

2009-09-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a grand day. It began with waking up at 9:00 am and eating down breakfast very quickly. The dynamics of a Japanese family are quite different from what I am use to. For example, my host mother seemed to be everywhere. There is a lot of dependency on the mothers in a Japanese Family. While my host mother was out, a few members of my family were hungry, including me how ever there was nothing to eat because mom wasn't home. Not to say there wasn't food in the house, that is far from the truth, there was plenty of food... but there was no one to prepare it thus there was really nothing to eat. I felt odd as my plates were taken to be washed and I was allowed to do as I pleased after eating. I am so use cleaning up after myself that I feel bad when someone else does it for me.Still, I can find no fault with my host family. Its a different way of life. There goes a saying when it comes to other cultures; "Its not wrong, its not right and its not weird, its just different." I have used this phrase almost every day since arriving in Japan, its not weird, its different.Back to mountains. I dragged poor Nozomi up into the mountains for my own selfish reasons and the trooper she is stuck with me. My host father and sister took me to a mountain and we began the 20 minute climb. It began with a walk through a bamboo forest and then an uphill climb into a beautiful forest. There were a lot of big spiders, luckily my host dad walked ahead knocking them away with his walking stick. I was loving it... Nozomi was gasping for air. I felt terrible, then I made jokes at her and we continued. All the way up the mountain my mind kept flashing to Miyazaki films such as Princess Mononoke and of course, My Neighbor Totoro. In fact, I found a bunch of acorns laying around on the forest floor. I picked them up and brought them home as a present my room mate Amber. I am discovering the little things in life are usually the most beautiful, Instead of going to a large department store that sells designer clothing and items I would rather visit a beautiful quiet temple on the top of a beautiful mountain. I think that one of my favorite places in the world is Choraku-Ji temple in Kyoto, I could stand upon that mountain for ours looking out at the beauty that is Kyoto. In the end the journey was worth it. From the summit we could look out at the beautiful valley and sitting down had a lunch of onigiri (rice balls) and looked at the beautiful valley below us. All around us mushi (bugs) were swarming and I was happy I'd put on insect repellent that morning before we went climbing. I was wearing my sorority coat and so I was pretty sweaty so I stripped it off and walked around to cool down. The wind moved all around me as if it was speaking. The mountain remained silent, nothing to say to a single Gaijin standing on its face.

Finally it was time for the merry troupe to head back to the world down below. The 20 minute climb down the mountain made my legs tremble and I couldn't help but feel relief when we reached the bottom. My host girl needed to use the restroom before we went to a small shopping place I wanted to visit. We stopped at a Lawsons. Lawsons is the Japanese version of 7/11, but with more awesome added to it. At Lawson I learned I could play a type of lottery for 500 yen. If I won I could receive a prize with a super cute bear upon it. Turns out I won this cup with the bear on it! Its cute but very small and honestly I don't know what to really do with it. I am sure I will come up with something... Anyway the merry troupe continued their journey. At this particular shopping center the customer can actually park on the roof of the building then take the stairs down. Nozomi and I skirted around the building quickly, her ultimate goal was the photo machines that I talked about earlier. I found a small Totoro handkerchief which I bought to use to wipe away my sweat. It was perfect! We quickly ran to the photo machines and began the picture taking, one of them ended up being my favorite I have taken in these machines so far. The side of this picture is written in Hiragana and it says Nan De Yanen? This is from a type of comedy that has originated here in Osaka called Manzo. It has different types of actors in it and for Gaijin like me it is spoken VERY quickly, its even fast for native speakers. Nan De Yanen basically means,

"What the Hell are you Doing??" its a pretty popular catch phrases especially here in Kansai. Its like "Git' her' dun!"

Ohhh the fun of Japanese. As we returned home all three of us were very tired, Nozomi informed me that Grandmother was going out to eat and asked if I wanted to go.

I was hungry and it sounded like a very good plan to me! The aunt and cousin came to pick us up and we drove for at least a good 40 minutes to another village nearby to a sushi restaurant. This sushi place had a conveyor belt. It was amazing! The price is determined by the different colors of the plates and how many you have of them. I gave a few of the deserts a try... coffee jello?

I am not a fan, by the time I tried the piece of cake I was stuffed and couldn't finish it. Still, it was amazing to watch the different kinds of sushi go by, squid, mushroom, kappa rolls (cucumber) and other odd types of fish I didn't know you could eat.

On the way home the family wanted to buy some cake from their favorite bakery.

I was exhausted at this point but followed after them inside the cake shop I saw some words on the wall that made me laugh and dash out to the car to get my camera. The sign said, "Tanaba enclosed by vast green and clean air, A dericious cake is offered by using a lot of ingredients that fully take the blessing of nature."

It still makes me chuckle. Well, sadly like all good things like days off of school, a warm hug on a cold winter's day my time in Sasayama had come to a close so I boarded the train back to Osaka with a heavy heart and joy at being able to once again be a part of the Matsumoto family.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I love dericious cake. HAHAHAHAHA!

Kurogame and Ocha please!!

2009-09-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Peace and quiet. That is the best way to describe the mountain village of Sasayama, Hyogo. IT is a far cry from the streets of Osaka and the buzz of Hirakata City. The village of Sasayama has its own rythmn which it receives from the mountains that surround it. I think I must have taken over 20 pictures of the mountains alone here in Sasayama. Currently as I type this I am sitting in a room with a wooden porch with a sliding door that I can open and see the mountains and rice patties from.

My day here in Sasayama began rather early, at 7 am to be precise. This is because my host parents had to go to work and my host sister does not have a driver's lisence. So we were up and eating breakfast at 7 am and then my host mother dropped us off downtown Sasayama to wander around for a few hours while she went to work. The streets soon filled with people from the big cities wanting to buy fresh produce and see the beautiful village. Sasayama is famous for three things: Kurogame (black bean), Kuri (Chestnuts) and Edamame (Soy Beans). I LOVE Kurogame! It is one of the best things made on this planet, in my opinion and luckily for me Sasayama has an unlimited supply! (well, maybe not unlimited...)
The adventure began with stopping at a kimono shop. All the shop attendants wore kimono and were more then eager to show us the expensive robes. I was scared to get near the beautiful garments, actually terrified to go near them. These silk robes start at $5,000 each. That is the lowest price one will usually pay for them. Of course there are ones that can be found for much cheaper but they are not the nice quality silk that I saw today. Nozomi translated a great deal of what the attendants at the shop said, I could understand most of their words but at times I became lost and just did the casual smile and nod response. As luck would have it there was a woman there who had gone to school in London for three years and spoke very good English! She led us to the back of the shop through a traditional Japanese Garden and to another part of the shop where the REALLY nice kimonos were being kept. She asked if I would like to put one on. I was excited and choose one from the many displayed.
Kimonos and yukata (the cheaper, and less formal version of a kimono) are not like bathrobes, they are very complex to put on a person. One actually has to take a class on how to put on these robes. I only know how to put on the robe itself, the obi (sash) is the most difficult part of the robes. There are hundreds of ways to tie one, from very simple to extremely elaborate like the Maiko and Geisha wear. In fact, Maiko and Geisha have a professional dresser come to their Okiya (house) and put on the robes for them because it is such a complex process. Sorry, distracted myself there. But the point is, I had to have someone put the robes on me. The woman who spoke english explained to me how younger generations often didn't know how to put on even simple yukatas and that it was sad the tradition was seeming to die out. I had to agree, I envy the Japanese and other older cultures who have these traditional clothes, and traditional dances. It seems in America we have very few things that unites us in the way of culture except for the younger generations which have music and pop-culture.
Now back to the kimono. I wore the kimono I had chosen for about five minutes and then I proceded to look at the other kimonos. Their designs are elaborate! On average it takes about one whole year to make a single kimono! No wonder they are so expensive! My favorite kimonos were the ones with sewn embrodery on them. They jumped out at the viewer. I left the kimono shop much more educated about the art of kimono making and on we went down the street.
We came across a pottery shop where I bought two beautiful green cups/bowls. An area near Sasayama, right next to it known as Tanaba (I could be wrong) is famous for its pottery. I couldn't resists the beautiful dishes, I will upload pictures of them later.
Today is a National Holiday here in Japan, Respect for the Elderly Day. Nozomi bought her grandmother some nice mochi treats. I have learned something interesting. When a present of food is given to the family or a family member in general it is first placed before the family altar for the anscestors and dead family members to enjoy first, then the family will have the treat.
The journey through Sasayama continued and new interesting things kept coming up, such as the deep love and popularity of Chestnuts. I have never been a huge nut person, so I didn't indulge in such foods but kept to my beloved kurogame. I found kurogame donuts! They were delicious, just as I remembered. Also, in a display of pure awesome I found a pink car. Yes, readers, this is a message across the world: EXTREME pink cars exist. Even the lights are pink! Hey! I found Hello Kitty's car!
As the day wore on the exploring lead to one place I remember well: Sasayama Castle. Sasayama Castle was actually destroyed a long time ago then it was rebuilt in the 1980s. Its rather simple but nice to walk around. Not wanting to pay to go into the actual castle itself (I saw it in 2006) We simply walked around the grounds. One can climb onto the wall and look out at the mountains and valley, the wind blows all around you and cools you down on the hottest of days. Remember how I said that in Hirakata the mountains speak? In Sasayama it is the wind that talks. The mountains here are silent. They have nothing to prove, nothing to say, they just stand guard over Sasayama. Silent Guardians.
I am very excited because tomorrow I am going for a mountain climb through the bamboo forest, well maybe not a bamboo forest but the point is I am dragging poor Nozomi up a mountain for my own selfish reasons. I am sure we will find a way to have fun. She is a very loving and care-free person. Always laughing. Some times I wonder if I say things wrong in Japanese all the time because she laughs so much. Haha.
A last note: My host mother's cooking is amazing! I love her meals! Last night we had a kind of fried chicken dish with rice and I felt sooo good after words, I told my family it was the best meal I had since coming to Japan and I feel it was very much the truth. There is no cooking like home cooking. Though, I must admit, I am missing some of my mom's home cooking, especially macaroni and cheese.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I'm about to go climb some Yama! (Mountians)

HEEYyyyyyy Sasayama!

2009-09-20T04:57:00.001-07:00

This post will be a little shorter than most as I am on a time limit. I have returned to Sasayama, Hyogo to stay with my host family from 2006, the Matsumotos. I boarded a train from Hirakata to Yodoyashi and after a little train switching I ended up in Sasayama. It is almost erie to sit in the car and watch the town of Sasayama fly by. My host family was shocked to hear me speaking Japanese. Last time I was here I only knew a few key words like water, please, etc. Now I am speaking full sentances! I don`t understand how to describe the area of Sasayama. The mountains seem to reach the sky and in the morning I know the mists will dance over the summits.

After arriving at the Matsumoto household I was fed a dinner of fried rice, and miso soup. Needless to say I was well sated by the nice meal and after words I was taken to an open market here in Sasayama. I found a nice stuffed animal for 200 yen. As I was reaching for my wallet my host father had already paid for the toy. I was so excited and grateful. From the open market which was upon a hill I could look across a valley of sorts at the mountains and parts of Sasayama. The items sold at the market ranged from simple toys to beautiful traditional Japanese items. I couldn`t purchase a really expensive item, so I simply browsed the area looking up and down. After a little trip to the open market Nozomi (my host sister) took me to an art show they were holding in the area. We walked up and down an old street where artists held their exhibits. Perhaps the most amazing one was where one could only see the picture by looking away. People stared at me as I walked by. It is rare to see Gaijin in Sasayama because it is such a small town in the middle of the mountains. But at the same time, the people here seem much more welcoming that those of Osaka. I shocked Nozomi by writing my name in Katakana and then a short message in Kanji in the guest book of one of the artists. After returning to home, I went for a short turn around the area, back to the shrine in the bamboo forest and up onto a hill where I could look at the beautiful mountains.

More tomorrow. We are going around to see Sasayama!

I`m Nikki Brueggeman and I am back where I belong.

And Now I Am A Fan Girl

2009-09-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

Fan girl. God forbid. I am now a fan girl of Takarazuka Revue. Like, a squealing fan girl, rapid screaming fan girl. As you know me and a few other girls went to see this all female performing troupe and needless to say we were BLOWN away by the performance. The troupe that performed today was the Flower Troupe. Takarazuka is split into five troupes: Snow, Moon, Flower, Star and Cosmos. Flower was perfect for this performance! I am a HUGE fan of the anime Rose of Versailles so there was no way of keeping me away from this performance. Takarazuka has many versions of the Rose of Versailles because of this show's popularity. This story focused completely on the character of Andre. I do have to admit a little disappointment at this because Oscar played a very minor role in the performance. But, upon looking at it in hindsight I am realizing it was very well done.

It gave a new view to the show completely. I do however want to see a Rose of Versailles that is based around Oscar and Marie.

But, back to Takarazuka and not my obsessive love for Rose of Versailles. The acting done was superb. Especially the roles of males. I have to say, I know understand why there are so many fan girls for this group. I don't want to go into the specifics but... I am now a rapid fan girl. The women who played the roles of men (otokoyaku) were amazing. Their singing voices, their graceful movements and the way they stay in character is mind blowing. I think the big attraction to this show is the otokoyaku because of the high class acting. The story of Rose of Versailles ends sadly as many of you can guess and I found myself a little teary eyed as Andre' fate.

The show ended and as I was whipping away tears I was surprised to see there was a 30 minute intermission. The title character just died, but apparently they were going to keep the show going. Ok. I was up for that. After a 30 minute walk around the theater (which was like a mall in itself) and a little shopping I sat down to see where they were going to take this story... but then I saw the stage had completely changed to show a flash sign that said the word EXCITER on it.

Did I just go from Japan to Vegas? Who ordered the glitter? I was confused, then as the lights dimmed an announcement came on, apparently there was going to be a different show, to cheer us up. I sat back ready to be slightly lost as I had been with the Rose of Versailles, then I was proved wrong. I was proved VERY wrong.

Granted after it was over I had a splitting headache from the usage of lights and lots of shiny clothing but I would do it again! EXCITER! was something that kept my eyes glued upon it and my heart in my throat. There was one segment with a man on his commute to work in New York City and his job at a Fitness Company where new equipment was being introduced. It was a down right hilarious skit! One piece of equipment would change the person when they got into it. The main character was a geeky and socially awkward man, as the segment began to slow he was forced into the machine and seconds later burst out as this handsome youth who was socially adjusted and smooth. I could have the lyrics wrong here but what sticks with me are the words; "Bijoux, Bijoux, EXCITER!" (Jewels, Jewels, Exciter!) either way I was blown away, far away. I didn't want the show to end. I was captivated, pulled into a whole new world I didn't know existed until this point in time.

I was in love with each and every actress who sang, every actress who danced, and ever actress that moved her lips.

I have never seen anyone move the way the day these women moved, ever move seemed like it came from a painting. The world of Takarazuka has sucked me in, its transformed everything I know of music. I have seen professional Broadway productions; Wicked, The Lion King, The Phantom of The Opera, Cats... but none of them measure up to the amazing quality of these women.

Through Takarazuka one can also see the cultural beauty of Japan. In Japan women are often quite, don't make a scene, keep it on the down low life style, but here in this small world of women, it is the female sex that rules. The women become the perfect man, and through their dancing and acting I often forgot I was watching women. I mean, I REALLY forgot I was watching women. Read into that statement what you will. I doubt one will ever understand what I speak of unless they have seen Takarazuka live. Everything that you known is twisted and thrown about leaving you breathless at the end.

The group I went with is already talking about going to another show the ladies will be holding this November. I am here for nine months and I know I will be returning at least a few more times to be carried away by the magic of these women. The soundtrack for EXCITER! comes out on November 11. I am buying it. I want it. I need it.

On the way home I did encounter a Japanese guy who was making eyes at me during our ride home and I swear he took a picture of me with his cellphone. Creeper.... creeper... CREEPER!!! He did the same thing to my friend Rhi, who was sitting next to me. Americans have a stereotype against them abroad, especially women. We are thought to be extremely to get into bed. The reason for this stems from our media. Think of this: our commercials to sell Chocolate, Dove for example involve a zoom in on a woman's lips and an attractive woman who is usually scantly dressed. In our movies its not uncommon to have a naked or topless woman. Compared with Japanese advertisements and media, where girls are modest and super cute! Well, not this American Girl! I love my clothing on my body. I don't bite into chocolate slowly and act like I am in the middle of an orgasm when eating it... I really just snarf down the chocolate like it will disappear. That doesn't make it better does it? Well, I hope you get what I am trying to get at here.

I highly recommend Takarazuka to ANYONE who loves the arts, who loves music and who is looking for a nice large clear window into Japanese Female Culture.

Onto other things, I have found the Kappa sign!! It is near Makino station and I found it on my way to buy some goods from Mister Donut.

A Kappa is a mystical Japanese creature. The Legend goes that a Kappa will drowned you if you refuse to pay homage to it. By throwing a cucumber into the water before you go in will ensure the Kappa will leave you alone and may even (depending on your sincerity) give you a special gift (such as a wish). But, old habits and beliefs die hard and so we have sign: warning us against the scary Kappa.

Up NEXT: Nikki travels to Sasayama, Japan.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I'm a Takarazuka Fan Girl.

Osaka, Hirakata Arcades and Parfaits

2009-09-15T02:21:00.000-07:00

I went on an trip with a group of ladies from my Seminar House. We decided to go to Osaka Castle. Back in 2006 I went to Osaka Castle with the Sasayama Sister City Committee and had a blast, but did not fully understand the purpose and history of the castle. This time around however I was able to absorb the information. I am still a little off on the details and it would take a very long time to explain... so please go to Osaka Castle and find out for yourself. The journey began at Hirakata-shi, the local train station where we boarded a train to Kyobashi. From there we transfered to Osaka-Jo Koen. While waiting me and another girl named Uyen discovered a sign: boarding for ladies only.In Japan they have a big problem with women being gropped especially on trains during the after and before work rushes. So to help with this problem they have made certain train cars women only for those designated times.I will say this: I have decided from now on to not go anywhere in a large group again, to many people= too many opinions= too manycomplaints. I advise taking a group of five max. It is just enough people to have fun and just a few enough to easily travel around.

I will admit though, Osaka Castle is one of the many wonders of Japan. The architecture is amazing especially the golden designs on the outside of the castle. It was burnt down in the 1600s and then during WWII when Osaka was bombed Osaka Castle was heavily damaged.

Now it serves a museum of the city of Osaka, talking about the purpose of Osaka Castle and all the historical events that took place there, such as the Summer War of Osaka. Although I do wish it was kept in the traditional way it would have been during the Tokugawa regime, it is still very informative. Inside one can see authentic Samurai Armor,screen paintings (my favorite being the Summer War of Osaka) and a replicated Golden Tea Room built for the Shogun of the Castle where he hosted formal tea ceremony for honored guests. The real one was broken down and melted for sale, but the reproduction looks just as stunning. From the viewing deck one can see all of Osaka in its glory, the city keeps going for miles and then it is carressed by a beautiful mountain range. I have to admit it was even more beautiful with the rain and mists swirling around Osaka.

It was very rainy in Kansai and as we were leaving the castle it came down in sheets of water. We walked out of the castle through Sakura Gate and down to Ote Gate. We then began a trek down Honmachi Street, as we continued down it we were looking for the train station that would take us to Shisai bashi, a famous shopping district here in Osaka. Needless to say we did not find it, but we DID find a nice little cafe called Dough Kitchen. It is right after one crosses the Hanshin Highway (or as I called it, the Street of Death).

We decided to leave Namba and Shisai Bashi for another time as it was growing dark and went on our way home back to Hirakata City. In Hirakata-Shi (the train station) is a large collection of shops and it was among these shops I found a beloved treat of mine. Strawberry Short Cake! JAPANESE Strawberry Short Cake! It has a nice amount of sugar, not too sweet and JUST right for my palate. I found it for 480 yen for a single piece which is expensive but I was so excited! I quickly purchased a piece and just as I was leaving the store

I saw another little desert shop that was selling them for 298 yen. Once again I have been throughly beaten by the world of economics.

Oh well, I will remember it for later.

On Sunday I begged my friend Saki to take me to an arcade in Hirakata. I quickly discovered something about arcades: they are money suckers. I only spent 500 yen there on the machines trying to get a toy but then realized in the end it was worth it. I guess I need to find someone who is REALLY good at those games and have them win me a cute toy! The day wasn't completely lost however.

Saki showed me how to use the picture booths. The picture booths here in Japan are far more entertaining and amazing then American ones. We can pick our own backgrounds and instead of sitting down one can move around and fit a rather large group in the booth.

The only problem with the booths is that everything, from the finding the positions to be in for the photo to decorating them is timed. I understand why that is, so you don't take 20 minutes to do something but for a Gaijin such as me its very rushed. Good idea to have a Japanese Friend or someone who is familiar with the machines to help you out! The machine can email the pictures to your email, or phone! One thing I love about them is that it also prints them out into stickers. My computer is covered with the pictures we took a couple days ago.

After a little window shopping we became hungry. I myself was craving a nice bit of dessert and something cold. We found a small cafe' and sat ourselves down. We ordered Spaghetti and I ate it down like there was no tomorrow. The Spaghetti here in Japan is very mild, the sauce doesn't have that bite and hardcore tomato taste that it does back in the states. In fact, none of the food here in Japan is extremely intense.

The sweets are semi-sweet, the flavors of the soda are less intense and as my room mate, Amber has put it, "Things are Naturally Sweet here." Its probably why I am loosing weight so quickly. This is a wonderful side effect of Japan.

Already my pants are big on me and I do not have as much fat sitting on me. Its a nice feeling being a little lighter and able to move around quickly. My only fault and thing I am forcing myself to do is to eat vegetables. I always seem to forget to eat them here, the rice and meat fill me up and I really do need fruits and veggies in my diet to stay healthy!

To continue the story we had our spaghetti and then I ordered a chocolate parfait. It had pieces of fruit inside it. I really don't like fruit in my ice cream, but I throughly enjoyed the fruit that was served with the parfait. I gave the pineapple to Saki because lets face it... pineapple is nasty. I am joking of course, everyone is entitled to the opinion but seeing as I am the one with a blog... I say its nasty. I also found some fun items while shopping, the first is this, a car air freshener... in the shape of a Marijuana leaf.

This wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't for the sticker on the package saying NO DRUGS and talking about how the usage of marijuana is illegal and destroys the mind.

Classes here at Kansai Gaidai are going well, they don't give us much homework because the idea is they want us to have enough time to go out and explore Japan. Its a really nice idea that is working very well indeed, as one can see from my blog. Unfortunately I have a review test tomorrow to make sure I am in the right level of Japanese Reading and Writing, thank God this is the last test because I do not think my nerves could take it anymore!

I am excited for this coming up weekend, first on the 19th is Takarazuka and then on the 20th I am going to Sasayama, Hyogo to visit my host family from 2006! And guess what! I am going up to the mountains with them! I can't wait to walk through the cool mountains.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and my pants are falling off!

Takarazuka, OHHHH Takarazuka...

2009-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

The Rose of Versailles is as mentioned before one of my all time favorite anime.

I love the complexity of the story and because I love to study the French Revolution its an anime that seems to be made JUST for me.

Well, as you know there is a women's chorus called the Takarazuka Revue. They are the Broadway of Japan, femme style. I am uber excited because I have got tickets for the Sept. 19th showing of the Rose of Versailles!I have seen parts of the show on youtube and just can't wait to sit down in the Takarazuka Grand Theater! Granted I am not going to understand the language, but having seen the full anime I will know whats going on. For those of you who are still wondering "What the in the world is the Rose of Versailles" here is a brief overview:

The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militiant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier. -(thank you Wikipedia)

I had my RA, Ayumi help me out and call the number of the company and order the tickets. When we arrive on the day of the show, all we must do is pay the cash and go in. The only cash is that the tickets are non refundable. So we gotta pay for them either way. My friend and friend, Amber pointed out that to pay for train and bus it will be about another 1,200 yen

but I am going to check out the prices and see if there is a cheaper round trip ticket for the trains. Either way, this is the reason I worked my brains out all summer, so I would have enough to enjoy various aspects of Japanese Culture. Though to be honest I never imagined myself having the opportunity to see Takarazuka, but now that I am, my excitement can hardly be contained.

Now, a little about some more experiences I've had here in Japan. Lets begin with this wonderful contraption. This is once again what happens when you don't pay attention, personally I blame my room mate Amber for this incident.

Now, at first glance and upon looking at it closer it appears to be selling DS games for 100 yen. This harmless little vending machine...Well needless to say we were walking on chocolate covered clouds drenched in rose perfume. Excitement filled our souls as hot fresh green tea fills a nice cup. We bought the games and raced home only to discover, they were erasers. Upon further review it is very obvious it was far too good to be true. Moral of the story: if it seems like reality, its all just a dream.

Next, rabbits as pets.

Now this was the very first time I had seen this in Japan, and the only time I've seen it but its still worth mentioning.

I was walking home from school one day when I saw a lady in the park with an odd looking animal. Upon drawing closer I saw it was a hop hoppity! (thats what I call rabbits) I asked after the name, it was named Mimi, cute name for a rabbit. The rabbit was being sniffed at by someone's dog (also on a leash) and it was quite a hilarious sight to behind. The dog would get close and the rabbit, I am not kidding did a jump kick into the air and the dog would dash off. I love this place. Moral of the story: Rabbits can do awesome jump kicks in the air.

The roof of our Seminar House. It is a beautiful view of the mountains, granted there are a bunch of telephone lines and poles but it is still an amazing view. You can see the tops of the Japanese houses and the tiles mixed with the green serenity of the mountains is to die for.

It is at moments like this when you realize that you are no longer home. It is moments like this that remind me I am all the way on the other side of the globe away from old friends, away from family and all that I have known since I was a child. Its frightening standing there and you realize that everything is so out of touch, everything is so distant. What frightens me is the odd call the mountains of Japan keep sending to me. If I stand looking at them for such a long time they sing out to me, "Come, Come to Us." I have never received this call from the mountains of America or the mountains of Europe, only the mountains of Japan have ever spoken to me.

In America I can listen to the wind, but in Japan the wind is silent, it has nothing to say, the mountains speak for it. And when you are on top of the mountains of Japan, they tell you to look, look at Kyoto, look at the valley, look at the sky and clouds.

I wonder what the rivers and lakes of Japan sound like, do they also sing and speak to the heart or are they like the wind, silent as a moth? I must admit the Rice Patties do not speak, they sing. They sing about the culture of Japan and about how important they are to this small island nation. The rice patties also dance, when the wind brushes over them they move together in a sway that catches the eye and makes you stop in your tracks to watch. Perhaps this is how the wind contacts humans, via the Rice Patties.

Now onto a more delicious topic. Donuts. Yes, wonderful chocolate donuts that are so

delicious and moist! Across the street from the Main Gate of Kansai Gaidai is a shop called Floresta: Nature Donuts. It is Awesome. I tried the Chocolate and Cocoa Mint donuts.

They were wonderful! I don't really know how to describe them but pure chocolate bliss. The donuts are served on a glass plate on a wood tray with a glass of lemon water.

The perfect offset to the sweetness of the donuts. I enjoyed it so much that I took the other exchange student from Washington State University with me to the shop later that day. She bought the rest of the chocolate and cocoa mint donuts for her host family. I have to admit my mouth was watering as we stood there, but I contained my desires for the chocolately goodness. Ah well, perhaps tomorrow I will indulge in the yumminess of Floresta Donuts.

I bought my bike today, nice and cheap. Here in Japan bikes are a big deal they are treated like cars. When one buys a bike they must register it with the bike shop. If you don't have your registration on you when you are out and about you can get into big trouble. If you steal a bike then you end up in jail for three long years. Tough laws, tough love. I have all my registration done now and the bike is mine! I am thinking about buying a helmet as well, wonder where I can find one...

Now all I gotta do is register it with the University and Seminar house, so I can get those stickers on my bike.

Now, on a final note I would like to address toilets in Japan. In the women's stalls they have a machine that if you wave your hand in front of it it will make a flushing sound to drowned out any *ahem* unpleasant sounds one may hear in the bathroom. Its a very nice idea and I have to admit I like it a lot, its a good idea. Many of the toilets in the lavatories in Japanese houses become heated when you sit down on them. Nice touch.

Oh! Oh one final thing!

After a nice stop at the Floresta Donuts today I went directly across a small street to a Thailand store! It was very small and cute, but I didn't purchase anything. I turned to leave thanking the shop keeper.

He stopped me and handed me a blue evenlope with the shop name and small map on it. I thanked him and walked back to the university. When I opened it I found inside a beautiful black necklace with a black stone in the shape of a fang. I am wearing it now and its beautiful. I am guessing its a publicity stunt and a very good one! I will be telling people about it!

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am a Floresta Donuts Addict.

Can You Hear The Bell Tolling?

2009-09-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

Classes have started at Kansai Gaidai and I have to admit, I rather like the ones I have been placed in. Sex and Sexuality in Japanese Culture, The Struggle for Justice and Japan and its world to 1860. I have swam through the drudge and boring crap that is the intro class, where the teachers go over the syllabus word for word (because we can't read on our own?) and now into the fleshy part of the class.

My language classes however are a whole different story. I really am trying to be understanding of this University, I really am and don't think for once that I hate it here, I really do like it... but if there is a way to complicate things it seems that the Japanese always find that way and do it. I have experienced this various times in my dealings of trying to arrange things, or trying to find out where I turn in papers. I am sorry if you take that statement as racist, hell, Americans do the same thing, I know... its just VERY frusterating.

After studying for over month for the placement test I discover that once you are in the language class guess what! You get to take another test just to make sure you are in the right class. I could go over how stupid and unecessary this seems to me, but I won't because in all seriousness its not worth fumming over. Its just all constant review, which is driving me next to insane, I want to learn. It just feels like the International Students have been put through the ringer since we got here, with meetings, tests, more meetings, paying money... and it feels like we have nothing at the end except exhaustion and high tempers.

I just want to make clear one more time: My frusteration is NOT with the Japanese People, or the Japanese Culture, it is with this individual University and all the dancing around we've had to do since arriving here. But to their credit the CIE people are amazing. As you know I can't get ahold of my dad because he thought it would be a wonderful idea to go into the middle of Michigan and go incognito on his whole family. No one can reach him. Thats not worrying my nerves what so ever. But, the long story is: I have no money. Well I went to the CIE (Center of International Education) and they gave me money. :D

15,000 yen on Monday and I get the rest today giving me a total of 50,000 yen until I can get my card to work. But soem good news, I have found my card DOES work on a machine here on campus, the bad news is that I can only get 1,000 yen at a time, or about $10.00. I will try for a higher number, but so far thats all I have been able to get. :(

Very stressful situation, but I will pull through. I am a Cajun Dammit! I can survive any curve ball the world throws at me!

Since the trip to Tokyo fell through I have been looking at other things to do during Silver Week (the five days off) I am in the beginning stages of planning to go see Takarazuka. Takarazuka is an all female chorus, kind of a broadway company. They are doing the Musical The Rose of Versailles. The Rose of Versailles is one of my all time FAVORITE anime, and I REALLY want to go to see it. The only issue is this: tickets have been on sale for over a month and its a really popular show, so chances are there may be none left. However, as I was reading from a site the company sets aside 50 tickets for each show. If one wants to see the show they go the day they wish to see it and get in line to buy a walk up ticket. So that means if its sold up, I am getting my ass up at 6am for a ticket, I will stand in line for a LONG time if I have to so I can see Rose of Versailles!!!!

As a kina funny side part here: I think I used up all my minutes on my pre-paid phone, I guess all those International calls do eat up the minutes, so luckily, somwhere in my room I have a money card I can use... now I gotta find it... that may be an issue. *le sigh* Well, when life gives you limes make Mojitos.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I WILL Gaijin Smash my way through Japan to get Rose of Versailles Tickets.

Holy Yen Batman!

2009-09-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

My head is smarting, spinning and twisting as if I have been hit by a bus... but the reality of the situation is that I am far too hot. Japan is much more warm than I anticipated it to be. I have already had minor heat stroke twice and now I am going to be using an umbrella to walk around outside. The locals always carry them to keep cool and at first most of the International Students didn't understand why... now we do. I have been told the UV rays hit Japan more directly than in other countries.

But over all, I am way too hot here! And a little money trouble doesn't help. Ok, Ok, so maybe I did go a LITTLE too wild with the spending, after all... I got excited, who hasn't! But to be fair, a good amount has gone toward essential things, such as buying a phone, buying food and... I am looking in my mind for anything else that I need and I am quickly realizing I could have lived without a yukata, and probably (maybe) could have lived with out the Shinsengumi outfit. Luckily I have a good amount of money saved, the bad news is that some of that money is in America... and I can't access it. I brought a card with me to Japan but apparently it doesn't work here. For cards to work in Japan to get money from the ATMs we need it to have a PLUS symbol on the back. Yes... I did not know that when I came here. So here I sit on 15,000 yen borrowed from the University. The money is coming out of my JASSO Scholarship. I pulled 50,000 from the scholarship (about 500 dollars) to see me through a while.

We have a long weekend coming up and everyone is leaving. There is talk about going to Tokyo with friends but because of the money issue and the fact I can not get ahold of my dad... and the vacation is happening in about one week....sigh. Well time for a budget and I mean A BUDGET. A CUT THROAT Budget. (Ok, I will stop with the capital letters) but seriously. I have decided to control my spending by a great amount. First order of business: a bike. Used bikes are pretty cheap in the long run, about 6,800 yen (or $68.00) but I called a girl who is selling one for 5,000 yen, about 18 dollars cheaper! Not to mention having a bike will cut down the bus rides I have to take so I don't die from heat stroke. Bus rides in Hirakata City average out to 220 yen per ride. Pretty spendy if you are taking them to and from school. Train rides can be around 300-400 yen locally depending what train line one takes. A ride to Kyoto(my new lover) from Hirakata comes out to be 680 yen round trip. Not bad really, but spendy if done enough times. And now to the real tough part: travel expenses and shit I don't need but want. Some things are essential to Life in Japan: such as a hand cloth for bathrooms, a hand towel for your face and slippers to wear around the house. Oh, and bug spray... as it turns out there are mosquitoes here, and when they bite you... it is a HUGE swelling area, red and puffy.

So back on track. My parents are giving me $200 a month to live on. That is going to cover food and other living expenses (soap, clothing, any over the counter meds, water, etc.) My Jasso Scholarship which is $4,400 a semester took care of the fees I owe to Kansai Gaidai (dorm, liability insurance, etc.) Leaving me with $2,240. After this emergency with drawl of $500, I will have left from my JASSO $1,960. Not bad. Not bad at all. But this doesn't mean I should go off the wall with my money and buy what ever I want. I have to admit I am spoiled... and really need to learn how to manage my money. But already living in Japan has taught me a lot, for example... food does NOT magically appear in the fridge like it did at mom's house. Neither does bug spray, laundry detergent or coffee. You have to buy those. Time to cut the cord and go for a dive in the big kids world.

Originally me and some other girls were planning to go up to Tokyo for an upcoming five day vacation, but as we began the budget for the trip we discovered the cost was far too high. The Night Bus, which is cheaper than the Shikansen is $108 round trip. Then to stay in a hostel, would be around $60.70 each for four nights. Along with that money for the train system in Tokyo has to be set aside. As said before, trains are cheap in Japan but they do add up, and so we were estimating around $25 for train travel for four days. that bring the TRAVEL EXPENSES alone to $193. That isn't too bad, but then we have to add in p

rices for meals, souvenirs and entrance to the places we wanted to visit, including Studio Ghibli Museum... if we reserved $10 max for each meal, three meals a day for four days that comes out to $120... bringing the grand total to $313 (give or take a few dollars). Now, I could probably with my JASSO scholarship pull off this trip easily, but the truth of the matter is that its no fun to go somewhere and not have anyone to go with. I think I am going to wait for the long winter break to travel up to Tokyo, and hopefully then the prices will have gone down. We shall see.

I am thinking about contacting the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Tokyo and seeing if there would be any members of the church who would let me, and perhaps a friend stay a couple nights at their home.

To liven up this post I leave you with these photos. This is a school bus me and another girl,

Imanda found while out looking for a good deal on bikes. It is too awesome for words. I would ride this.

I'm Nikki Brueggeman and I am hoarding my cash.