The downside of not knowing Japanese...

So I know I blogged earlier, but this is blog-worthy at the moment. A guy just showed up to our apartment from the Hankyu Department store. I answered the door, and in typical fashion, did not understand a word the guy was saying. So I (finally) knew how to ask if he understood English, to which he replied that he didn't. He then kept talking for about a minute and I was doing my best to try and understand any of the words he was saying. I finally got the idea to call the lab and see if Casey could have someone translate what he was saying. He chatted on the phone with someone for about 3 minutes, and hung up, said something else to me in Japanese, and then handed me a bag with a gift in it. He left and I still have no clue what is going on. I opened the gift- this is the second one we have gotten from the Hankyu Department store, and the first one was not supposed to be for us. It was pink towels with flowers embroidered on them that said "Princess Rose" (imagine the look on Casey's face when he saw that!). This time, it is a box of tea. Both times there have been no cards, so we have no idea who it is from. I assume if he just talked to someone at the lab, then this one is really for us, but I still don't know who to thank. I guess I will ask when I go up for dinner soon. How confusing!! I no longer want to be the stupid foreigner- I just want to know what the hell these people who keep coming to our door are saying!! :) I'll find out and update later.

It's later. I just got back from the lab, and found out the following; the tea is actually from Hankyu Dept. store, as an apology for sending the previous gift to us on accident. Just another example of the politeness of this culture! I'm glad to find out that we can actually keep (and enjoy) this gift. :)

-Ashley

Koala Bear biscuits and Osaka University

So I thought I would start out by posting a picture of the little koala bear biscuits that I wrote about last time. I don't know how easy it is to see what they are doing, but this pack of them was pretty entertaining. The first one looks like he's in the zone being a DJ (check out the eyes). The second is holding it's tummy with a little tear coming out of its eye. Third one is yelling, and the fourth looks like it's drinking (and spilling part of the drink in the process). Lastly, we have the little koala hugging the earth, with Japan showing in the center. :)
These are now making me think of the little magnet some people have that has a bunch of different faces on it with different feelings, and you put a circle around which one you are feeling that day.
Now on to other less dorky things. (Hopefully.) So today I woke up early, and went to the lab to meet Tanaka-san. We had to go to the City office to change the date I will leave Japan to March 10th on my Alien Registration card. It was pretty simple, so not much to talk about on that aspect. I found out she is going to go with me sometime next week to get a haircut. (AHHHH!) I could easily have nightmares about this situation. I keep imagining myself going in there and there being some kind of miscommunication, and either getting a really short haircut, or getting some kind of mullet. (I have seen plenty of them here and it looks like it's trendy... it's not quite as trashy as some I have seen in the US, but still it is enough to make me nervous about there being a misunderstanding). I have found a few pictures online that I will have Casey print for me when I go with her. I tried to explain to her today what I want, and to me it sounds simple, but hopefully there is nothing that is lost in translation. I am basically to the point where if I don't get it cut soon by a professional, I will do it myself, or have Casey do it. It has a mind of its own right now and that's not working for me. Then again, it's been almost 3 months since I got it cut, so I understand why it's being so annoying. I don't think I can go almost 2 more months with it like it is right now. I'll definitely be writing about that later...
Tonight I am going to go to the lab for dinner. They are ordering pizza, and Casey has to stay later anyway, so it works out well. This will also be the 4th time I have gone up to the lab today. There is this hill that goes from our apartment to the University, and it's a killer. It's a steady incline but I am out of shape enough that I am gasping for air anytime I try to make it up the hill on my bike. Today when I was with Tanaka-san, she asked if I could make it, so I said I would do it for her. I definitely felt the burning sensation in my legs, but I made it up there. Then when I went up the hill about 25 minutes ago to take something to Casey, I decided that once is enough and I walked up instead. Who knows what I will decide to do on the way to dinner. I really need exercise but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that it's a good idea. :) I also hate showing up to the lab completely out of breath and with a bright red face. I felt like I looked like a stop sign.
One positive thing about going up to the lab is the guards who stand at the gate. The first time I went up to the lab by myself, I saw the guards standing there, stopping people who were coming through. I kind of freaked out (naturally) because I wondered if they would ask me where I was going, if I would understand them, and if I had to have some kind of pass to get in. I probably looked so suspicious because I had an eye on them the whole time I was walking by- it turns out they are really nice, and just waved at me. So I have now made it a habit to wave at them every time I go there, and now they sometimes go out of their way to wave or yell "konnichiwa!" at me. :) Maybe I'll get a picture of them before I leave.
I have noticed lately that bowing is addictive. I think I probably bow at everyone. In fact, Casey did something for me last night (I think he held the door or something) and I bowed while I said thank you. :) That should be fun to do when I go back to the US... I'm sure I'll do it for awhile. Also, people bow while they are on the phone, which is really funny to watch. I believe Casey did this last night. Poor guy had a really bad day yesterday (but he was in good spirits about it). A long list of things at work didn't go well- equipment broke, bad results on his experiment, etc. Then he came home and got this weird phone call that he couldn't understand, so he got really frustrated about not knowing what to say to the person (but he was bowing at them either way). We left for dinner, and when we got to the door of the restaurant, he realized that he had forgotten his wallet at the library. (It is then that we realized that the phone call was someone from the library calling to tell him they had the wallet.) He went to school to get it, and then I met him for dinner. He was embarrassed about the wallet situation, thinking that most people don't do that. While I was trying to encourage him and tell him that it happens to everyone, one of the customers at the restaurant came back in because he forgot his wallet. So, I think Casey felt much better after seeing that.
I guess that's about all. I'll probably have plenty to write about this weekend because I am going on a tour of Himeji castle tomorrow with some of the International students. Should be a good time- hopefully the 'dog meat' kid from the International Student Year End party won't show up. :)

-Ashley

Exploring Ishibashi

So I haven't been writing for fear that I would be boring you with details about my job or the housewife duties... because until yesterday, that is about all I have been doing since I wrote last. I decided to spice things up a bit yesterday, though, and after my Japanese lesson and lunch with Casey, I went to Ishibashi station to explore. It is very close to Osaka University, and I have already been there before when I was lost, so I had a better idea of the layout of the place this time. It was fun to walk around without any real itinerary, and I enjoyed seeing the various shops on the shopping streets- I didn't realize there were so many! I stumbled upon a few places of interest. The first was a 100 Yen shop (like a Dollar Store but with much higher quality items). It is there where I found the animal crackers with the names printed on them (from Karen's Farewell party), which is great because they are a lot less expensive than I thought they would be!! Looking at the back of the box is almost as entertaining as the crackers themselves... they have the names of the animals written in Hiragana AND Katakana, so I can figure out all of the Japanese names for the animals. Don't know if I will have the patience or real need to learn them at all, but it's still sort of neat. (Okay I'm a dork.) Another noteworthy snack that is detail-oriented are these little Koala 'biscuit' snacks with chocolate in the middle. Each one of the Koalas are doing a different thing on each biscuit. Sometimes they are mad, or even crying. Sometime I will take a picture. Who knew food could be so entertaining? (Yep, I'm really a dork...)

Another shop that interested me was a clothing store where most of the clothes were under 1,000 Yen (or about $10). So I found a shirt for 500 Yen with 'Engrish' on it (I love that the word 'important' is spelled wrong). Sometimes these seem to try and have a deep meaning but it is definitely lost in translation. The one I bought is a little tamer than some I have seen. It will be strange to wear these shirts in America... but if someone really reads it, it should be a fun conversation-piece.

Other than that, I walked around, got a ton of interesting looks (blonde hair will do that), and went grocery shopping. I cooked again last night and it turned out alright. At least I bought the right ingredients this time... I just didn't cook it quite long enough. Everything was fresh, though, so we didn't have to worry too much.
Today I guess I will be cleaning the apartment (joy!). I got a lot of things for work accomplished today so I already feel pretty productive. Oh, and I am trying to cut down on the electricity use- we got a bill yesterday that was OUT OF CONTROL. And it's basically because I have had the heater on during the day while I'm here. Looks like I might be piling on more clothes! Oh well... maybe with any luck, it'll get a little warmer around here. :)
Not sure what I'm up to tomorrow, but Saturday I am going on a bus tour with Yanagi-san and some of the International students to Himeji Castle. Should be a good time! I'll write again later.

-Ashley

King Kong, Natsuki-san, and Yamayaki...

It's been awhile! I apologize for slacking on the blog this past week. There really hasn't been a whole lot to write about lately, but now I've had a few days so I think it might be a bit less boring. Let's hope. :)

So last week I remember doing a few things. Casey and I went to see King Kong (I think on Tuesday). It was nice to get out and see another movie. This one was especially long and pretty expensive (about $27 after the conversion from Yen). I thought the special effects were really good, and when I saw Kong's face, many times it reminded me of Charley. I actually ended up crying at this movie- fairly rare for me, if you can believe it- but I think it was because I was thinking about missing Charley so much. That's pretty sad, actually. But it looked to everyone else like I was just crying because the movie was sad, so I didn't get many strange looks, for once. Okay I probably still did anyway. :P

Friday night Casey and I were treated to dinner by a student who worked in Dr. Kaneda's lab and did research that Casey helped work on last year as an REU. Casey never got to meet the guy until we went out with him on Friday night. A few other students from Dr. Kaneda's lab went with us. It was pretty fun, and nice to get out and see the lab members again. I hadn't really seen them since our 5 hour karaoke marathon. Still can't believe I did that...

Saturday, Natsuki-san and I met up in Umeda and went out for yogurt parfaits. We enjoyed talking and getting to know each other better, since we had met under the conditions of New Years Eve and didn't really get to talk that much. We found out that we have quite a bit in common. After about 2.5 hours of talking, we went shopping at Loft (a huge department store with like 7 or 8 floors, each floor having specific items like stationery, clothing, home items, etc.). There were a ton of sales going on so we went crazy. I got a pillow on sale because I have had a terrible time sleeping with my small feather pillow from the US that was pretty much worthless for support. Now I am sleeping better than I have in a long, long time (in Japan, at least). I also bought Casey some fuel for his coffee maker so he can finally get to use it. I bought a few other things, and am sort of longing to go back and enjoy the sales. I might drag Casey there sometime this week (because I tend not to shop compulsively when he is around- he's a good influence). Anyway, I had a blast with Natsuki-san, and I hope to go out with her again soon. She lives in Kobe, so we won't have as many chances to hang out, but we plan on doing so at least a few more times before I leave (two months from tomorrow!! Where is the time going?!?).

Yesterday, Casey and I went to Nara, to a festival called "Yamayaki". In our Lonely Planet: Japan book, it says the following: "This festival commemorates a feud many centuries ago between the monks of Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji: Wakakusa-yama (the hill seen in the picture) is set alight at 6 p.m., with an accompanying display of fireworks." So that's what we saw. We got there super early so we could get a good seat. It was a good idea, but the few things we wish we would have done in the process are 1) bring a blanket and/or wear more pairs of socks, and 2) bring a tripod. Our pictures aren't terrific but you get the general idea. The fire wasn't as spectacular as the fireworks were! We tried to get as many pictures of those as possible, and some were pretty decent. You can see all of the pictures at photos.yahoo.com/lilbitfromks in the "Japan Trip 6: Nara- Yamayaki" album. There are also a bunch of pictures of Casey feeding the deer- they were pretty aggressive this time!! A few pictures should show them trying to jump up to get the food from Casey's hand. One even tried chewing on his coat since he wouldn't give it food immediately. Another ate food out of a little boy's hand, scaring him half to death. I guess the surprising thing was that the parents just let the deer take the food, and didn't try to shoo it away or anything. I guess as long as he wasn't hurting the kid, they didn't care? Who knows. So we had a good time and besides the cold, it was nice to enjoy something that so many people were a part of.

That brings us to today, where I plan to study Japanese, knit, do laundry, and maybe get my butt out of the apartment for awhile. Today is a holiday for people who are turning 20 this year- it is like a coming-of-age day. I may go out and see if I can find anyone in kimono or anything exciting going on. If so, of course I will try to get pictures, and write about it later. :)

-Ashley