No title can explain...

Ok, back in Kyoto after the two most strange/interesting nights in Japan. More on that later. First, Hiroshima.

A beautiful city. I didn`t spend much time in it, but I did see the entire Peace Park/memorial/museum/grounds, and it was one of the most moving things I`ve ever done in my life. I met an Australian girl at the hostel (bumped into her 3 times in the morning, and when I saw her getting breakfast at 7-11, she decided we should walk around together), and we walked around the museum together. It was nice to bounce feelings and thoughts off of, because it was such an intense museum. If you are ever in Japan, make it a point to go to the place, because the message is so vitally important.

First of all, they do it correctly right from the start. It`s 50 yen to get in (about 50 cents). In an effort to reach as many people as possible, it is available to anyone, regardless of socioeconomic status. It covers all angles of the tragedy, from political agendas to the science behind the A-Bomb to a whole library devoted to testimonies of survivors along with the name and face of every person who has died as a result of the bomb. There are trees that survived, and are still growing in a corner of the park. There are many memorials, and a few buildings that are a shell of what they once were to serve as a reminder of the damage done to the city. The thing that struck me the most were the many watches and clocks in the museum, all frozen at 8:15 AM, the exact time the bomb was dropped.

There is no anti-American sentiment throughout the museum, the only message is for peace on Earth and the destruction of all nuclear weapons. There are countless letters written by successive Mayors of the city, protesting every nuclear test that goes on. Every memorial is one for peace and rememberance, and almost every inscription uses the word Peace. Instead of focusing on how horrible the event was and leaving that to linger in our minds, every effort is made to show hope for the world, and its future without random destruction.

It is a very emotional place, an important cultural landmark, and exactly the way the whole experience should be handled.

Oh, and it snowed. I think there is a cloud that is following me around Japan and dumping on me when it sees fit. I didn`t walk around much after the museum because of the driving snow, so after getting some noodles for lunch I went to Kobe.

So, Yuka (kindred spirit, fellow traveler) is from Kobe, and she offered to show me around so I could see the pretty sights at both day and night, so I was going to meet her after she got off of work, so we could visit the nearby viewpoint on top of the mountain, to look over Kobe at night.

But we never got there.

I show up to the train station around 5PM, with plans to meet around 8:30. I walk over to get a map of Kobe, and this nice elderly Japanese lady starts talking with me in very good English. She looks like a traveler, and is very nice, so I walk with her to the subway to get into the main area of Kobe.

She works for Ford Motor Company (in Japan!), and I learned that she was just divorced, finished raising her kids, and on her way to Taiwan to see the world. We were a similar type of traveler, and I had nothing to do, so we sat in a hotel cafe, drank unlimited wine (for 2 hours - 10 bucks!), ate some snacks (french food... eh), and talked about everything. Philosophy, literature, culture, food, etc. She was very enlightened, and full of interesting opinions, and I enjoyed talking to her.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered that most Asians have a lower tolerance than most others... but I was drinking too.

She gets on the phone with Yuka and convinces her to meet us at the subway station, and then offered us a floor to sleep on for the night. Nice enough, but starting to get a little creepy.

Then we got up to leave. That`s when the alcohol usually takes it`s full effect, right?

Right.

Stumbling out the door, we walk over to the subway station. She was plastered, I was tipsy, but I could still think, so I guided us towards the station. Where Yuka was there to meet us.

Thank God.

This lady (Miki) spoke fantastic English, but strength in numbers was what was needed. We decided to take her to her friend`s house, and then get the hell out of there. Along the way, she stumbled, grabbed my arm, slapped my butt, and generally acted like a drunk person.

We finally got to the area of the apartment, but Miki wasn`t sure where it was, and kept deciding not to make a phone call. She would make us wait in one spot while she wandered around the street, trying to get her bearings. Finally, Yuka got Miki`s cell phone, reached the friend, and we got out of there.

Barely.

I was hugged, pleaded with, cried to, pleaded with again, hugged again, and generally all sorts of freaked out until we were able to say goodbye. And get out of there we did.

Hey Mom, she wants to meet you.

It was raining and late, so the mountain view decided like a bad idea (and that episode was exhausting), so Yuka and I then found a place to stay, ate at an upscale Izakaya (look it up), and had a fun night of food and Karaoke (Her voice: much much much better than mine).

The next day, still raining (saw that the state of the union was going on.. yay CNN in Japan), we ate at an Italian restaurant for lunch, had a burnt creme brulee and a really good apple tart, and walked around Kobe`s pier. Very beautiful, albeit very foggy. There was a cool aluminum fish made by Frank Gearhy (sp?), a gaudy memorial (hehe) to fashion, and a section of pier that was left as a rememberance of the earthquake of 1995. Stunning. Between Aso and Kobe, the strength of Nature and it`s unforgiveness/lack of warning really left an impression on me. Yuka was there, so I was getting firsthand testimony and description of the earthquake, visual descriptions of parts of the city affected and how so, and general information which was very heartfelt and amazing to hear.

Back to Kyoto we went, with the intention of going to one of her student`s (she teaches English and studys it at Kyoto University, don`t remember if I`ve mentioned that before) houses so that he could meet a `real live American.` Until then, I walked around a bit while she went to another student`s house, and burnt my mouth on Takoyaki (totally worth it).

So then we head out to the suburbs of Kyoto, really dark, nice houses, totally different from anywhere I`ve been. And we teaches us some English!

The kid (Hideya) is 14, and was super-happy-fun-excited to meet me. Seriously. He was bouncing around, acting really nervous, and genuinely pleased to have the opportunity to chat with me.

And chat we did, until we started going through his English workbook. Yuka had me run through it with him, and it was all well and good until he made a mistake.

``Explain it to him`` she says.

Um. Not counting you journalists and people well-versed in the intracasies of the English language, you won`t believe how hard explaining a foriegn language is to a person who doesn`t understand it. We take the grammatical rules we know for granted, and when forced to really think about them, finally realize that they make no damn sense. Also, I didn`t come into the lesson expecting to be tested myself. Sneaky girl, that one.

Not that this didn`t stop me. Yuka did most of the teaching, but I had a killer point with the difference between `was` and `did,` explaining how they get different modifiers because one is for action and one is for description.

Yeah, anyways, after the lesson and the tea/sweets brought by Hideya`s mother (and Mikan, which the acid in made the burns in my mouth remember that they were there), we were invited to see his father`s pet project, a wooden shelter totally heated by a central fire. Seriously well-built, very smokey, with a doxun that stood on his hind legs to get warmer by the fire.

And the father, who was well into his umpteenth glass of shochu (I had some of this stuff earlier. Think straight Vodka).

We had a great conversation (with Yuka translating most of it) about the nature of food and the heart, his shelter (which he was proud of with good reason), and the parties he observed and wanted to have. Seriously, he wants me to come over, bring all of my friends, and have a party where I cook for everyone, and then we can all enjoy his new deck, wood burning mini-cabin, and future hot spring in his backyard.

So, if anyone wants to go to Japan, I think we should plan it. Really.

He was drunk, but so hospitiable, and constantly inviting me over, extending all sorts of hospitality, and genuinely being nice (he was drunk, so thus he was truthful) to an American stranger he had never met, and probably not heard too much about. But he said I had a good Aura, so I guess that counts for something.

Anyways,

I think that about sums it up for the adventures in Japan thus far. I have a few more days here, but they shouldn`t be filled with anything too exciting or crazy. I will of course add more if that changes, but I`m going to sign off for now. It has been an amazing trip, worthy of a post-mortem as I`m recovering from jet lag and have the time at all hours of the night to ponder and write some.

Thanks for reading, I hope I`ve been entertaining. Those that know me know how much I hate blogs, so this isn`t going to continue on and become everything that I hate about the internet and our society in general (idea stolen from Tozzi, and a good one it is).

Peace.