Curry Class!

Hey everyone,

I think it's pretty obvious by this point that I'm not very good at this blogging thing.  I hope you'll forgive my serious lack of updates...  I'm going to try something new: writing.  I don't really like it, mainly because I can't convince myself that people might actually want to read what I have to say, but I haven't taken any interesting pictures in a long time, so this will have to do.

I woke up this morning to the sound of anime music, as is my custom of late.  My current alarm clock - an app on my phone - requires me to solve some basic arithmetic before I can hit the snooze button.  While this worked very well at first, I have developed a surprising ability for solving 69 + 52 = ? through the haze of my half-awakedness.  I fear that the only solution to waking up on time now may be to go to bed early, and we all know how impossible that is.

When I finally did wake up, an hour or so after I intended, I quickly turned on the hockey game.  Since the host family was out, I had my computer follow me throughout the morning so I could keep watching - yes, I'm that Canadian.  Eating breakfast, doing laundry, showe...  I mean, there's no way I'd bring my laptop into the shower, right?  Right. Unfortunately I had to catch a walk/bus/train to get to school for noon, so I didn't get to watch the end of the Habs/Bruins game.  Just as well, since Les Glorieux lost 1-0...

Class today was entertaining as usual.  I don't feel like I've really expressed how amusing class is - one day I will take notes about the funny stuff and post it here.  It really is fantastic.  We ended today's class with a composition (作文、さくぶん).  This particular composition will be used as the basis for a speech we will present to the class as our final oral examination.

Aside: every time I say/write/think "oral examination", I feel as though I'm referring to dentistry.  But that's neither here nor there.

There was no assigned topic, so I decided I should inform my class about what Canada is like.  After a long-winded introduction - as is my custom - I proceeded to explain that Canada is a very large country, so people have different customs depending on where they live.  For example, all the people in the west of Canada are cowboys, and all those in the east are fishermen.  Canada is a very cold country, so everyone lives in houses made of ice, called "igloos".  Furthermore, in the winter, all the roads ice over, and people skate to and from work.  Sometimes, though, the sun shines very strongly, melting the ice, which makes skating difficult.  In that situation, people use dogsleds.

I kid you not, I wrote this.  Curious to see what my teachers think about it.

After class, we had a cooking class!  It was really great: a bunch of students from 法政大学 (Hosei University), some whom I had met before, joined us to cook curry!  I had never cooked Japanese curry before, but I had a good idea of how it should be done...  And of course, the Japanese students that we were paired with proceeded to do approximately the opposite of what I expected.

Clockwise from top: Yuto-san, myself, Abigail and Jil

Despite my worries, we were able to make a fairly serviceable curry - it wasn't nearly as spicy as I might have liked, but it wasn't soupy like some of the other groups'...  I considered it a success.

Somehow, I got roped into doing all the cooking...

 We talked with the various Japanese students at our table about everything from portion sizes at McDonalds in Japan vs. USA/Canada, how one says "I'm full" and whether or not it is appropriate to call one's self a "baby" when referring to spicy-tolerance levels.  All in all, a really great day.

Cooking - and eating - is fun!

After a fantastic meal - of which we all ate too much - I accompanied a few friends of mine back to the dorm, and then made my way back to the host family.  Now, I'm completely exhausted and wanting sleep, so I think I'll go do that.

Hope anyone reading this enjoyed it!

Kamakura Trip! (Day 2)

Day two!  First stop was Hokokuji Temple, famous for its bamboo garden.  Pictures, go!

I love how, in Japan, you can go from metropolis to forest in almost no time

Not sure why it's wearing a tuque...

Bamboo garden!

More garden

A cool dragonfly that we saw

Next stop was Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, one of the most famous temples in Japan, certainly the most famous in Kamakura.  Pictures!

Torii gate at the entrance

Cool bridge bro

Unfortunately the lotus plants weren't really in bloom.  The story goes that the lotus plants on either side of the bridge represented the two families that built up Kamakura: one side would bloom white, the other red, the families colours.  However, today, the plants have mingled, so red, white and pink show up on both sides.

Lotus...?

This is a pineapple stand - yup, you can go buy a piece of pineapple on a stick

On our way to the temple!

Weddings are often held in this pavillion - it was too hot that day, though,
so we didn't get to see one =(

Who's this guy?

The guards got upset at me for taking this picture...

Next stop was Komachi-dori street, which is famous for Kamakura lacquerware.  Here are a few other gems that I found:

Gotta love the random French!

Ghibli store!

Next, we went to Hasadera Temple.  The garden here was so beautiful, I had to take pictures.

He looks so happy!

Before I get questions, no, that's not a swastika; yes, Hitler ripped off the Buddhists

These small statues, called 地蔵 (じぞう, jizou) are laid in memory of
miscarried and aborted children, or children who die very young

Now, I found out that my camera can take panorama shots and actually stitches them together for me - here are a couple that I took of views from the temple.  Unfortunately, they won't look amazing in the blog, so I suggest clicking on them to get a better view.

The day's final stop was the 大仏 (だいぶつ, daibutsu), or Great Buddha.  It was actually built in 1252, and was put together with over 30 different moulds.  A pretty impressive feat, I would say...

Gate leading up to the 大仏

People posing for pictures

It's actually really big.

This statue has survived countless earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis...  The priests at the temple tried time and time again to build a roof over the statue, but it would always get destroyed.  The statue, however, has remained largely unharmed...

It's customary to make sandals for statues of divinities, allowing them
to go out for a stroll, if they should so desire...

One of the "cool story bros" about the 大仏 is that the currently US president, Barack Obama, actually visited the statue as a child.  He returned there in 2009, and is quoted as saying 

"I looked up at that centuries-old symbol of peace and tranquility — the great bronze Amida Buddha. And as a child, I was more focused on the 'matcha' ice cream ..."

Since then, a myriad of shops have opened up selling Obama-cha, green-tea flavoured ice cream like he had as a child.  Here is a sample, though this one was swirled with sweet potato:

Obama-cha (green tea) and sweet potato ice cream
I had this for about 30 seconds, and you can already see it melting...

Finally, it was time to head home.  On our way back to the station, we happened upon a 100Y Shop, like the dollar stores back home.  Here are a few gems:

"A soft towel with the feeling that the touch is very sufficient"
Nice.

Promenades dans Paris:
On nous demande toujours quelle race est ce chat-là.
Eh bien nous disons: on ne sait pas... on ne sait pas,
nous-mêmes, qu'est-ce que c'est comme race..."

And then!  In one of the stations, outside the bathroom...

Who the heck needs a map of the bathroom?!

Finally, it was time for the long train ride home.  A few of us were more tired than others...

Poor Tanaka-san...

That's it for the Kamakura trip!