Selected quotes from Atheism for Lent 2018 study
8 years ago
I had hoped to put up some photos today that I have been slowly accumulating onto the camera on my mobile phone. Unfortunately it turns out that this will not be happening any more (at least not today). This is not because I failed to get a memory card this week, as I purchased one on Sunday at Will. It is also not because of any troubles I have had getting the memory card to work with my phone or my computer. It is in fact because I managed to delete all the photos that I moved onto the card by pressing an option on my phone that did not in anyway look like it would delete everything on the memory card. I am somewhat annoyed by this. Fortunately few of the photos I did take looked very good anyway, and while there were a couple probably worth saving Lok Yin also has similar photos on her camera. I should be able to make them available sometime soon.
(Insert Expletive Here)
Anyway..... I'll try not do that again, and attempt to take new and better pictures in the future.
On Sunday past much happened that was amusing, painful and tiring. The day started with Lok and I getting up to get ready to go to some Kimono trying on thing that she had agreed to go to. We were out by quarter to ten where we met the only other JET going (Kim from Miyazu) and got driven the short drive to the place where the event was to be held and stuff... happened.
It turned out that we were to meet with the Owner of a Kimono factory at his house and factory. We were taken to look around the factory at first, where we were shown much weaving equipment . His wife even demonstrated how some of the machines worked. If you've ever been taken around industrial revolution textile factories then you pretty much know what was there, except that these machine were for Kimono's so were somewhat more complex. It was okay I guess...... but I can only get so worked up about clothes.
After this we went into the main house and sat in the lounge (western style) to drink green tea and talk a bit. Lunch was soon laid out and consisted of tempura and sushi. It was pretty good stuff, pretty high quality Japanese food I think. In truth it wasn't really till we got shown around a few rooms of the house, got fed the fine food, and shown the Kimono worth £500,000 that I realised our host was kinda wealthy.
After a leisurely lunch it was Kimono time. To my surprise they were able to find me a male version, that after some confusion, I put on (well actually I stood there getting it put on me). It was a little short (and I later worked out that it belonged to the host) but it was a nice shade of green I guess. After a while we were all Kimono'd up and there were many pictures next to the previously mentioned expensive kimono.
Then to my dismay there was flower arranging......I perhaps could have covered up my general distaste for being forced to cooperate in this activity slightly better. But I have only so much tact and it isn't nearly enough to survive in polite Japanese society I fear.
Finally, out of the blue, we entered into a Japanese tea ceremony. It was a bit of a shock as it wasn't what we were expecting. All in all it pretty rounded out the holy trinity of traditional Japanese activities. Such a shame that like the previous activity things did not go so well. See.... I had to sit down, on a tatami mat, Japanese style. It wasn't pretty. I can't sit that way, legs tucked under, sitting on your feet. It wasn't working. They tried to wedge pillows in to ease things and I managed to get to a state where i could kinda sit. I was, however, in excruciating pain the entire time (even when my feet got kinda numb). Through this I was told to do this, and that, in broken English and poor translations. Much of it required me to bow and lean forward. Each maneuver sent more cascades of pain over me. Leaning forward to drink my tea caused so much anguish that I drank at a rate that made people think I didn't like it. I had heard a lot of things about the super bitter green tea of tea ceremonies. I'm not really sure what the fuss was all about, its not a bad cuppa but it did taste a little of vegetation. All of these problems paled into insignificance though when I remember what happened when I was told I could stand up again. It was really REALLY embarrassing, when, aided by my wife, I managed to fall upward (I can think of no better way of describing it). My feet really hated me after that little escapade.
Fortunately that was the last activity of the event and we were soon off home. In retrospect I did really enjoy most of it (the food and experiences) but it was so much to take in I am afraid my very confused demeanor most of the time made me look less that enthusiastic about the whole thing. And in Japan its all about looking enthusiastic even if you aren't. Again with the requiring more experience in Japanese Etiquette (that is if they ever let me try again).
It was about 4 in the afternoon and we still had to head off the the local DVD rental place to give back a copy of A Beautiful Mind (incidental quite a good film), and do some food shopping for the next few days. The weather wasn't that great though and when we arrived (after a 20 minute bike ride) the heavens opened. It didn't stop after we'd done all our shopping, and it was getting dark. We waited as long as we could but eventually we had to head out into the pouring rain to cycle home, not a waterproof in sight. And we did make it, were soaked to the bone, but we made it. It was fun though, there is something primal about getting that wet in the rain. It helps when it's not cold of course and you can have a nice hot shower when you're home.
PS. I have changed the comments laws and regulations of this blog to allow any Tom, Dick, or Harry to post on this blog. No User ID or google account required. Thus no excuse for not commenting (though thanks for those who braved the system in order to post). If I get any problems I might rethink the idea but I doubt I'll see much comment spam.
PPS. I realise there have not been many photo's uploaded yet. I have resolved to get a SD card this weekend that should solve the issue. So come rain or shine I should have an Album link with some pics up by next week. Thanks for bearing with this long post. But Sunday was a very long day.
Exactly two weeks in to me living in the small district of Kaya in the small town of Yosano I decided to run off to the City. Well, there is only so much to do here....
The City was Maizuru and it lies about half way up the western coastline of Japan. Its not really a very big City but with two department stores and a cinema and only a 1 hour train ride away it's one of the most convenient Cities to escape to. We got up at 7 on Saturday morning, were
out the house for the 8.10 bus to the station and then got the 8.34 train to West Maizuru. There we had donuts (that were light and tasty and not too sweet) and wandered around a nice little park that used to be a castle. After a bit more public transport we worked our way through both the aforementioned department stores, bought a small kettle, and headed home. We are quite happy with the kettle as it was small, cheap, and well we didn't have one. There was some confusion as the shop assistant tried to explain that it can only boil water once, but we managed to convince her that we knew what a kettle was in the end. They have water heaters here like you might get in a coffee house in the UK. They use too much hot water at home for tea and stuff so find them more convenient than a kettle. We disagree.
On Sunday there was cake.
This Wednesday Lok and I went to a Introductory meal for the Yosano Town JETS held by the Board of Education. It was pretty well attended with maybe 5 tables each with 40 people each and was in the Youth Hostel at Nodagawa (which was incidental not like any youth hostel I'd ever been to....). We sat at the centre table with the rest of the Jets, the Chairman of the BoE, and a couple of others (whose names and positions elude me). It was basically a meal, buffet style, it was very nice and a good time was had by all.
Some highlights (or low lights) were-
- Having to do a very short introduction speech (a few lines really). I chose to do this in Japanese so it was a bit tough but my effort was well received.
- It was my first chance to get us to the Japanese way of drinking. Essentially you should never have an empty glass, but you should never have to fill your own. So there seemed to be a lot of making sure the people near you had enough beer/ ice tea in their glass. Its an odd thing to have to be conscious of. Also as I like to have a bit more control over how much I drink (alcohol wise) its a bit hard to keep count of how many glasses you've had as its never actually empty. You kinda have to drink slooooowlllllly.
- There were a lot of Japanese coming over to practice there English on me and such. Which was good, many of them were quite capable. But I don't take to being one of the centres of attention well.
- They sang the town song. They have a town song. They even wrote it out in phonetics so that we could sing along.
So yeah, Wednesday night was a good night. Crazy, but in a good way I think.
Technically I only got as far as my first full day in Japan in my last post so here's some more of what I've been up to.
During Monday to Friday I didn't really get up to much. I shopped (for food mostly) and wandered around the area a little more and did a little bit of cycling (to WILL (a small conglomeration of shops about 20 minutes walk away (I'd call it a mall only well.... its tiny really))). Also I pottered around the house trying to clear up a little and just generally settle into the place. Did some cooking too but generally nothing of particular note occurred.
On Saturday Lok and I hired a bike (the house only came with one) and the 2 of us cycled off to Nodagawa. Its well....technically its a district of Yosano town. Yosano town is made up of 3 districts - Iwataki, Nodagawa, and Kaya - and as I've mentioned we live in the Kaya part. These districts all used to be separate towns but Admin decided it be cheaper to join them together and in truth after cycling to Nodagawa I couldn't tell where one place stopped and the next started. I did confirm though that there is not very much to do in any of them. But I think with some perseverance some interesting spots could be found and if nothing else there is a train station in Nodagawa (plans to escape are already forming). Whilst
cycling to Nodagawa we came across a Ramen Restaurant (Noodle Broth type thing). It looked pretty crummy but the Ramen was very nice, will go there again I'm sure.
Sunday included another trip to Will, this time to a nearby Cafe. We ate some lunch and read for a bit before shopping (again for food mostly). I ended up having to carry a 10kg bag of rice home, suffice to say I'll be cycling next time we need rice.
That's pretty much the first week and I'm now well into the second. I'll leave you with a poor quality photo of my current place of residence. Hopefully I'll be taking more photos of better quality as soon as I work out how.
I've been in Japan just over a week now and well... I haven't really posted much. I've meant to, but I haven't really felt I have been up to much.
On the Sunday after I arrived Lok and I wandered around the local area so that she could show me the sites..... or site, really. Kaya is not a large place by any stretch. It has a couple of bakerys, a book store, 2 supermarkets (small) and a restaurant or two. There is other stuff but well... its not what I'm used to. In fact, there has been alot of that lately. Things here are just a long way out of my comfort zone so it's taking me a bit of time to get settled. I think I'm getting there but it could be a long and winding road.
Things are not helped by our current accommodation. It's a old 2 storey house. Many bugs, one air conditioner and a kitchen that lacks any of the appliances I'm used to. Except maybe a fridge and rice cooker. We don't even have a real kettle, and the hobs are so inefficient that heating water can be a bit like waiting for paint to dry. I have been making an effort to cook though, stir frys mostly. The oven just happens to be a microwave/ oven so well..... its not very big. Its gonna take some getting used to.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. I might try write more in a day or two, I think I have more to say than I thought. Whether its interesting though is not for me to judge....
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