Himitsu

Hey all! I've got such exciting news.

I went to taiko tonight and I've got a ton of awesome cultural stuff lined up for the next week or so.  Here's how it looks:

Thursday (tomorrow): Go see Kyoto Geijutsu Daigaku Taiko club

Friday: Go see Taiko Center of Kyoto

Sunday: Go on the walk of Genji Mono Gatari (aka Tale of Genji) with some people from taiko

Tuesday: A day of taiko on a mountain from 9am to 5pm

Wednesday: Taiko practice as usual

Saturday: A separate taiko event to teach you how to play for Matusri held at an Elementary School

the following Sunday: Matsuri where the taiko group I've been playing with will be performing! (and Jen's birthday)

WOO! That's a lot of taiko, but I'm ridiculously excited. The people are all really sweet. I was a little nervous going to practice today because I felt so lost last practice, but everything was fine.  I think they're warming up to us all more.  I've got one song down about 80%.  It's a betta song and so much fun. The miyake song still eludes me, but the teacher commented on my kata today and said that I had wonderful posture! 

I can't wait to bring all these back and teach Senryu! I'm getting some ideas about what we should incorporate into new songs, too. There are some really cool vocal things they use in songs here, like call and response and rhythmic kakegoe.  Their movements are great too! There's this one part in one of the songs where they're repeating a pattern, but where there would be a hit, they replace it with ma and do this kind of hop-stomp.  It looks really good.  I also like the multiple people on one betta idea.  It makes for a much more festive and together feeling.  

I'm really glad Nellie introduced me to the AKP kids. I probably still wouldn't have taiko if not for them.  Besides that, they're a great group of people.

In other news, I tried Azuki Pepsi.  Azuki is the red bean that gets used in a lot of Japanese cuisine.  It's kind of sweet, so it went well with the pepsi.  It tasted a little like pomegranate and cranberry mixed together with some Pepsi flavor.  Not bad.  It's probably the first soda I've had in two months.  

I need to do laundry. There's just too much fun stuff, so my clothes keep piling up! I forfeit doing clothes last weekend for washing sheets and blankets.  They're nice and clean now... to MY standards.  I feel more comfortable snuggling in them now.  

I'm not doing anything for Halloween.  There's a cosmo event, but it's kind of pricey.  I'd much rather save my money for traveling over spring break... or a shakuhachi.  

Lots of good things lately. I hope this streak continues! 

I miss you all! I can't wait to share these new things with you when I get back. 

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

p.s. P90X... it hurts so goooood.

Duermete feel my soul Again

I've been slacking!

So Thursday we were let out of classes early so we could all go watch the Jidai Matsuri (時代祭).  They hold it at the old Imperial Palace which is right across the street from school.  They put on a big fashion show, basically.  They dress people up in garb from across the centuries in Japan and turn one of the paths into a giant runway and have a procession.  It's pretty cool to see.  They dress up royalty as well as peasants. 

When I was standing on my tip-toes to see who was coming next, the two ladies in front of me offered their spot at the railing so I could see better.  They were so sweet! I refused at first, but they said they see it every year so it was fine.  As a result I got some good pictures.

After we left Jidai, we killed time until Cosmopolitan met up at 4:30 to head over to Kurama. 

It was ridiculously crowded at Demachianagi (I think that's the right romaji...) station.  We bought our round trip tickets and then waited for about 45 minutes to get onto the train. I literally ran to get a seat.  

The ride was pretty long, so I was glad I had one.  Jen was chilling in my lap the whole time. It was a fun ride.  One of my Japanese friends, Jun, was talking with us in English and Japanese and one of the women next to us noticed.  So when he went to ask them a question (of course, in Japanese), the woman comments "You speak very good Japanese" (日本語をよく話せるの)! We all just burst out laughing. It was hilarious. The woman so so embarrassed, but she laughed it off. We joked with her for the rest of the ride.  It was the perfect atmosphere headed to a matsuri.   

When we finally arrived it was dark out and very cold. As I exited the station it took me a bit to realize that there was a mountain looming right next to me. The entrance to the forest was about 100 meters from where I stood. It was so cool!

 

Lilly, Jen and I waited at the station for a bit for Hide to arrive then we headed up.  There were tons of people there.  The street was long and narrow, winding up the hill and ending at an Onsen.  We got in just before it started.  

At first we didn't understand what was going on, then we realized that the main event was the 10-odd groups of 3 or 4 guys in fundoshi carrying these monstrous torches up and down the hill.  

Just before the road turns to keep going up the hill, there's a shrine.  I think that's where they were mostly headed.  For the next couple of hours they paraded back and forth.  

As you kept going up the street you'd see a few taiko banging along as the men chanted "Saya Sairo" (or something close to that).  

We watched and got some awesome photos, but what we really wanted was some food! It took us a while, but eventually we found out that all the food is at the top at the onsen, so we worked our way through the crowd.  When we made it to the top they had all sorts of delicious things for sale. 

 

I had a niku-man (肉まん) which is a steamed bun filled with meat, some tako-yaki (たこ焼き) which is like a donut thing with squid (octopus?) in the middle, and a cat tail thing which was flaky pastry with a light glaze.  It was all well worth the wait.  

When we'd all had our fill and had enough of the cold, we headed back to the station.  We waited a good 1.5 hours to get on the train.  It was insane. I got in a little past midnight.  

It was was a great experience.  I think I like Kyoto matsuri more than Tokyo ones. I definitely enjoyed myself more this time around.  

Apart from that, I got my health insurance problem taken care of last week.  I don't know what happened, but my monthly bills were 3x more than they'd originally told me.  No worries, though.  It's all fixed.

Sunday night I skyped with all my taiko buddies back home! It was their halloween party.  I missed everyone so much. I don't think I realized just how much I missed them until I got online with them all at once.  I got to meet some of the newbies as well.  I can't wait to meet them all in person when I get back. 

It makes me happy to think that I can still connect with them even though I'm so far away.  I felt very loved that evening. Which is sweet, but it made me more homesick than I've been since I came here.  Can't wait for that group hug. I don't even care if it pulverizes me into sweet oblivion because it'll mean I'm back home.

Sigh.

Anyway, Jen and I started P90X yesterday.  I'm feeling pretty sore right now.  I can't wait to keep going! I've been feeling like a bump on a log without the crazy amount of taiko practice I used to get.  

And on that note, I leave you to go do some Plyometrics. 

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

There Goes the Fear

It's starting to get colder here.  The sun is setting earlier and earlier each day. My year is continuing.

This post isn't for any particular event that happened; just a little reflection.

I've never been on my own for so long before, and I've certainly never been away from home for this long.  It's been almost exactly 3 months since I came here.  I look at my room and the place that I've built for myself and it feels like so much longer than that.  

If only 3 months feels long... I've still got over 3x that much time left here (that sounded redundant, but I'm not sure how to fix it). The prospect of that much time is a little scary.  

I'm making friends, and that helps make it a little less scary.  I'm making future plans, too.  

I still can't help but miss home from time to time.  It's stupid little things that make me miss home, too. For instance, on the train to Kurama today I was sleeping on Jen's back (she was sitting in my lap) and the smell of her jacket reminded me of the sofas at the taiko house.  Or one girl's dress looks like something my mom would wear. 

It's lonely sometimes, but I persevere.  I don't really have the option of not persevering, but beyond that, I want to push my limits.  I came here not only to learn about a different culture, but also to learn about myself.  I want to become a better person all around and I can't do that if I stay in my comfort zone all the time.

So here's to new things, new people, new places, and new experiences.  

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

p.s. -That's not to say out with the old... because I still love you all beyond belief and can't wait till I can hug and play and cook and smile with you all again.  <3

p.p.s. -Keep an eye out for my post tomorrow about Kurama no Hi no Matsuri and Ji-dai Festival!

Kappa Jam

Sorry person in room 305.  I didn't mean to wake you at almost midnight by playing Kappa Jam on my floor.  I sincerely apologize for making you come up in your pajamas and inquire about my well-being because you heard my ruckus.  I just can't contain my joy for Taiko.  

I promise to play on my chair from now on.

ごめんなさい！

Caitlin D.

Sweet Disposition, She's Got You High Vagabond

Another COSMO event! 

Sunday we went to Fushimi-inari jinjya (伏見稲荷神社) and the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum.  Both were amazing! 

When they first mentioned Fushimi-inari, I didn't realize that it was the jinjya with all the torii.  It's a HUGE place.  When you first get off the train, it just looks like a little town.  It's pretty touristy because of the jinjya, but if you overlooked that stuff, it has the feel of a small town.  It was more towards the southern hills, so it felt a little rural. 

 

I really like going into the hills.  

I think the jinjya is meant to bring good harvests.  There were lots of fox statues around with grain in their mouths.  They made me think of the jackals usually seen in Greek mythology.

Once you get past the main shrine where you make your offering and pray, there are thousands of torii lining the way up the mountain.  At one point you reach this nice little pond.  It's a little murky, but it's a nice little respite.  I'd really like to come back to this temple in the morning in the winter.  If it snows, I bet this place will be amazing.

There were more places to stop along the hike.  One of them had Ice Cream.  It was super good! The mix was vanilla and some kind of rice flour.  Sounds weird, but it was delicious. 

Eventually we went back down and moved on to the sake museum.  It was quite entertaining.  Noah did a candid translation of the old woman's explanation of how they make sake. Apparently Fushimi is a traditional sake-brewing district and one of Kyoto's top 100 scenic areas.  It was quite beautiful.

  

After our little tour of the sake museum they let us do some taste-tests.  We got a 40 year old sake, a newer sake, and a plum dessert wine.  They were all pretty good.  The two regular sakes had a really mild flavor.  I quite liked them.  The plum wine was a less-sweet form of ume-shu.  I'm sure it'd go wonderfully with a tart of some kind.  Maybe pear... AH! FUTURE PLANS! So gonna do that when I get the chance.

We left with small bottles of sake.  They were free omiyage! Most people drank their bottles at the river (that's all the rage here, drinking by the Kamagawa River-- it's called Kamanomi 「鴨飲み」).  I saved mine for some other time. 

We also went to a kaitenzushi place called Kappa Sushi (カッパ寿司).  It hit the spot.  We were all starving by that point.  I ate 8 plates.  I had some tempura sushi, takoyaki, salmon sushi with mayo and onion and avocado, and other scrumpcious morsels.

  

It was a long day, but super fun.  

I also made a new friend! His name is Kohsuke Fukushima.  He studied abroad at UC Santa Cruz a couple of years ago.  His English is ridiculously good.  He makes Jen and I endlessly jealous.  We wish we could be as fluent in Japanese as he is in English.  それじゃ、もっと勉強しなくちゃならない！

That's all I've got for now I think...  

Oh! Since Halloween is coming I made some decorations for my room.  I had to do something.  And as per mother's request, here's some photos of my rice cooker.  I've got it pretty much figured out.  Now I can get those box meals that you can just dump in with some rice and they cook with the rice.  

When the rice is done, you've got an awesome meal!

mmm... Speaking of food, it's dinner time for me.  

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Yatai-Bayashi

Taiko. That's right. I played taiko today. 

So my connection came through! I get to play taiko for free once a week... as long as I lie and say that I'm in AKP. 

They meet in Uji, which is about a 20 minute train ride from Kyoto -eki, at a Cultural center.  They have quite a few drums- maybe 10 chu-daiko and equally as many shime!  They warmed up playing drum-rolls on beta-chu and slowly speeding up.  

Then we started with a song.  I picked that on up pretty quickly. One of the women was really helpful.  She showed me the patterns.  It was cool! You play in groups of 3 on one drum and rotate out.  You start with each person playing it through by themselves, then you switch with each pattern, then you all come together and play it on one drum at once.  It was super fun. They work a lot more with vocalizations and have a much looser style than I'm used to.  

After that song, we went into a miyake style song.  I watched it as the senior members played it through a couple of times, then gave it a try.  They taught the first portion last week, so I had to catch up a bit.  I still don't have it down very well.  That's alright though because they gave me written music for all of the songs we played.  I'll be studying in my room (sorry person below me, you'll hear some banging coming from your ceiling).  

Miyake is still a little awkward for me.  I wish I had the mirrors in the barn to see if I'm doing it at all correctly.  

Speaking of correctly... I did the same thing I always do with swing-ji.  I reversed the hands.  When the sensei  came around he's like "Hantai!" and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do opposite.  Then I realized my hands were backwards.  Anthony gets the problem.  It took me so long to get swing-ji right for Kappa Jam!

Anyway, back to the practice.  After that song we played another beta-chu song.  It was cool.  

Kimiko, my new friend from Wellsley on AKP, and I had no clue what we were doing, but we gave it our best.  It was super fun!  

The last song we played was yatai.  It's a little repetitive, but I really like yatai-style.  It's a good core workout.  

It was an interesting evening and it's reminded me how much I missed having taiko.  Chatting with 

Kimiko made me realize how fortunate I was to have such an established group back home.  The Wellsley group is a lot like Claremont, they have a problem keeping the group alive.  The person that had formal training graduated last year.  They don't have many drums either.  I hope for their sake the East Coast ITC plan goes through.  She'd heard about Invitationals and was super jealous.  I want to share all I know with her and I want to learn everything she knows as well.  We're already comparing our versions of Matsuri.  We've got plans to go early next Wednesday and make laundry-basket drums to play on together.  

We asked if we could come early and just use their drums, but apparently the cultural center has a lot going on most days, so the noise is a limiting factor.

So there you have it.  I've got taiko! Woot!

Oh! While I was waiting for the group at Kyoto-eki, this woman comes and sits next to me and starts talking to me in English.  Her name was Misako.  She was 63 years old and had taught herself English.  She was really cute and friendly.  Apparently she did this a lot because she had several notebooks filled with messages from people all over the world.  Some of them were thank you messages, others just read "Misako, your English is excellent!"  It was really random and really fun.  She made me an origami crane.  I'm going to hang it in my room.  

That's all I've got for now.

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Father, Son, Life and Death

I promised I'd update, so I will.  Unfortunately there's nothing on the taiko front just yet.  My contact messaged me about 30 mins before I was going to leave telling me that it got pushed back to Thursday night.  So I'll update on that tomorrow night.

On that note, Agard has kindly offered to meet with me on weekends so I can still go to taiko! Otherwise I would have probably dropped the class.  This is the only taiko I've found, and that class is at the same time.  Fortunately it's not an issue!

Agard also brought me the rice cooker today.  I had a delicious dinner of bananas on rice.  It was super good.  Apparently Anthony had it when he was a kid.  Thought I'd give it a shot.  

I've been a bit homesick lately.  It only seems to be when I'm around people, though.  That's a little sad.  Whenever it's just me going about my business on my own I'm happy as a clam.  I've been particularly enjoying listening to music while biking home from school.  It makes me feel truly blessed to be where I am.  

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Brightly Wound

Well it was an eventful weekend.  Karaoke Friday night, refrigerator Saturday afternoon, and a Costco trip Sunday.  

I'm so happy! I've replaced my poor broken hard drive.  I'm not sure how to dispose of the body though... 

Anyway, I found a 1 TB western digital at Costco for ¥9400.  I think that's a good price, but I could be wrong.  Either way, I now have a wonderful 900-something Gigs of space to fill up with whatever I want.  I'm going crazy with Luelinks.  

Also, I heard that the Avatar movie was massacred.  I wasn't expecting much after hearing M. Night Shyamalan was directing, but I was holding out hope.  Jen told me the whole fire nation is Indian actors.  I have nothing against the people of India, but the fire nation is Chinese.  Also, the water tribe is not caucasian.  They're Inuit.  Seriously.  The casting is rather upsetting. The last shred of hope I have for this movie is the sets.  They seem to be pretty detailed.  I am curious to see how they'll do Appa... and if they'll even include Momo. 

Bah! Whatever. 

I'll post again on Wednesday or Thursday to let you all know how taiko went.

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Lovebug

Again, I apologize for the wait. I know you all wait for these posts with bated breath... not. My delinquency with these posts has been brought to my attention and addressed appropriately (I wrote a post-it in RED PERMANENT MARKER!  It is not to be ignored).  So let's see what's happened most recently...

Classes have begun.  I've got a lovely schedule. I was previously registered for a ridiculous amount of courses, but I decided not to stress myself out too much.  I'm going to study independently in addition to classes, so come the spring placement test I can jump up a level. If you make it into level V, they allow you to take normal university classes!  Though, I hear there's a ton of paperwork...

Anyway, here's a picture of my happy little schedule.

We actually had a day off because of typhoon 18 this last week.  It was kind of nice.  The weather was really cool to watch.  I just sat at my window watching the cars pass and the clouds change.

My room is coming together quite nicely now.  I picked up a refrigerator yesterday!  It was only ¥7400 including delivery.  It's a nice size.  Comes up to about my waist and fits all I need.  I'm very pleased.  God love the recycled student goods shop!

Also I've found taiko!!! I'm so excited about it! A girl I met through COSMOPOLITAN (this wonderful circle that takes exchange students to do cool things around Kyoto) who's with AKP (Associated Kyoto Program).  She's from Boston.  She told me that they have a taiko opportunity set up for them.  She invited me to come and play with them every Wednesday night from 7-9pm.  I can't wait.  I can't freaking wait.  There are no words for how happy I am about this.  It's a little far, a ¥250 train ride each way, but it's totally worth it.  Once a week isn't that bad.

Last night I did karaoke for the first time! It was awesome.  My first song was Lovebug.  Jonas Brothers are meh, but I really love singing that song.  I'll definitely be going back. 

After karaoke Lilly stayed the night.  In the morning we ate breakfast like hobos.  Jen made 5 scrambled eggs and we had peanut butter bread and ate it on a cardboard box on the floor.  It was awesome.

All in all I'm starting to settle into life here.  I'm happy.  Jen and I have been talking about what it's going to be like going back to the states.  We think we'll have bad konbini withdrawals and it will feel weird when we're not thanked for our business profusely before leaving every shop.  I could see a life here.  I think I'd like to come back here after I graduate. Definitely something to think on.  

Though, the same thing that draws me back home now will still matter then-- family and friends.