Are we all Caught up Now Dear Friend?

Hitchin’ A Ride- Vanity Fare 

It feels like my trip was so long ago!  I can’t believe I haven’t finished telling you all about it yet!  Things have been really chill in Toyama since my return.  Everything was so fast passed and crazy during the holidays that it has been really nice to spend a lot of quality time with Tannis, Natalie and Leah.  Lots of bike rides, jogs, reading and tea dates, curry and party nights at Ajito. 

To finish up telling you about my lovely trip with my buddies, I must mention something that someone told me I forgot to talk about.  It was a really funny moment in Kyoto, and those of you that know Ash will get a kick out of it. 

Ok, so we’re walking along the street after our wonderful day at Kiyomizu temple, and we can’t help but notice that the buses seem to turn off completly when stopped at red lights.  Ash was so mesmerized by this that she can’t stop staring at this stopped bus, I keep walking when all of a sudden i hear a loud ‘Toooong!’ I look back and Ashleigh is holding her face, almost in tears after walking straight into a metal pole which instantly produced a golfball sized lump on her eye.  I felt bad for laughing, but i made up for it by buying her a beer (the coldness for the swelling, and the alcohol for the pain, yah i know, always thinking ).  Similar to the ‘box’ incident in Florida.

Anyways, where was I?  Right.  So we’d just had our day in Hiroshima, depressing, but fantastic despite everything.  The next day we took a short train ride and a little boat ride to Miyajima, a pretty little island close to Hiroshima.  Miyajima has a beautiful bright red shrine in the water and a beautiful temple on the waterfront.  When the tide comes in, the temples legs are covered by water and it looks like the temple is floating in the water.  Very nice.

Lindzy’s Diary

Saturday January 5th: Hiroshima Train Station 11:00 am

The four of us went to the lower peak of the mountain by cable car.  We were greeted by delightful and playful monkeys and pretty deer!!!  How wonderful!!!  The monkeys were so darn cute.  I think the Japanese were a little shocked by how loudly I can squeal when excited.  We then climbed the two kilometers to the very top of the mountain.  There we had a beautiful 360 degree view of the islands of Japan.  It all looks very tropical and exotic.  I can’t wait to go in the summer.  The four of us had a blast chilling on the top of the mountain taking in the sights and taking numerous pictures and having fuuuuun. 

Ash and I walked back down the mountain rather than taking the cable car.  It was (obviously) wonderful and beautiful.  Sigh.  I love mountains and nature and trees.  By the time we got down the sun was setting.  We got to see the sun set behind the mountains as the tide came in and the city lights came out across the water.  The shrine and the temple looked beautiful at night with all the lights on them. 

Now I’m sitting in Hiroshima station with Ashleigh.  Clinton and Laura just left for Tokyo this morning.  It was a teary goodbye–well really, only I cried.  I’m totally loving living in Japan and travelling, but I really miss my friends and family.  It was really hard to see Clinton and Laura go, but I guess I’m really lucky that they came.  And I know, along with all my other friends, that they will always be my friends and always be there for me.  I’m really going to miss them though.  It was iiiiiincredible to have them here, I’m so grateful that they took the time and money to come out to Japan. 

This is Ashleigh and my time to try out our hitchiking thumbs.  This may be the last time people hear from me.  Haha.  I’m actually not that worried.  If I had a bad feeling about it, I wouldn’t do it, but I feel confident that it will be a good experience. 

Hitchiking was a wicked experience.  Looking back, Ash and I were a little freaked out, and total hitchiking dummies. 

Scene One:

Standing in a random spot that we picked. We looked at a map and from what we could decipher, this street headed west, where we wanted to be going.  The first car to pull over was a darling middle aged woman in a bright yellow car and a funny hat.  She looked at us like we were crazy when we told her where we wanted to go.  She said she couldn’t go that far.  Fair enough.  So off she went. 

Twenty minutes later she was back, hat and all.  She offered to take us to her house where we could stay the night.   Oh the Japanese, how sweet.  We politely declined and told her that we really wanted to make it to Nara or Kobe that night.  Did we realize that that was about seven hours away?  Yes.  She then informed us that we were standing on a bad street for hitchiking; here people were heading home, away from the city.  On the other side of the station was where people were getting on the highway.

Scene Two:

After lugging our stupid luggage back to where we started and going to the other side of the station, we finally chose a spot after I was unsatisfied with two other spots.  The first spot just felt too close to the highway, people were speeding up to get there go on.  The next spot was awkward for me, and I didn’t feel right about it.  Finally i decided that a spot closer to the lights, in front of a convini (in case of hunger) was a much better spot.  Yes I definitely felt good about this one.  No need for the convini, a car of two young men pulled over in ten minutes. 

“Jump in, get in!!!”  Hmm, really nice offer and all, but they happened to have a bike taking up the back seat, and they had no idea where wanted to go.  After talking to them for a bit, we came to an agreement that they could take us a few hours out of town and we would squish in around the bike.  They were really nice guys, one of them had lived in California for five years studying, so we could actually communicate.  They were a tonne of fun and Masa (the driver) had a great sense of humour.  It was a fun drive and they even took us to a nice touristy town to see a pretty (yah you guessed it) temple with another fabulous view.  They finally took us as far as Fukuyama, about a three hour drive out of their way.  They enjoyed it though, it was something exciting for them on a boring saturday afternoon.  Anytime buddies!

Scene Three:

Side of the highway in a busy town, outside of a convini again.  Once again, ten minutes later, two young men in a pimpin SUV pulled over to ask where we were headed.  Kobe?!  Are we crazy??  Choto distance, choto (small).  Sure!  These guys didn’t really speak English, But it was fun to chit chat and teach some English words and meet these two extremely nice guys.  Their short distance drive turned into a take you all the way drive.  Yes, that’s right, almost four hours later we arrived in Kobe.  They actually got a little upset with us.  “Japan is not safe, you should not hitchike.  We are nice guys, and security drivers so we take you to your destination.  Are you sure you have friends here? ” 

These guys were so cute.  Actually they all were.  Nicest people in the world.  They say that Japan is unsafe, but I think that the Japanese are way too polite, that a good person is going to pick you up before anyone bad can get the chance.  When we’d gotten into our second ride, Ash and I got an email from Masa asking if we had a ride, and if not, he could come back and pick us up and take us to Kobe.  What??  What a sweetheart. 

Also, when the second ride was getting over two hours,  Ash and I tried to inform the guys that they could drop us off and that we felt really bad for how far they had gone out of their way.  About 20 minutes later, Shogo (the artist) hands us his keitai, where he had been translating a note for us.  It talked about how we shouldn’t feel bad and they are happy to meet new people and take us to our destination safely. 

Ash and I have since received numerous emails from the guys, terribly translated, but so darn cute.

We did get to Kobe safely, where we stayed with a friend from Guelph who was living there. 

Almost done the trip!  We chilled in Kobe for the day, where Natalie met up with us, and then headed to Osaka in time for Ash to catch her bus home.  Natalie and I indulged in drinks that night (my last night of my vacation!!) and shopped like craaaaazy the next day in Osaka.  There was crazy sales going on.  I caught a night bus that night to head back to Toyama. 

What a trip.  Looking back on it all and writting about it reminds me of how good of a time I had.  Damn I love Japan, and Clinton and Laura, and Ashleigh, New Years and temples, new friends and random conversations, hitchiking and train rides, monkeys and deers, buddhas and boats and bikes, shopping and walking, talking and exploring. 

Ping Pong!

HeeeEEeeey 2008

Guess Who’s Gonna Get Some-MoneyBrother

So 2008 eh? Remember when it was just 2000? And we all thought the world was going to end? Eight years later… wow. And where am I? In Japan. Siiiiick.

I welcomed in the New Year by gracing Nara with my presence, along with Clinton, Laura and Ashleigh of course. Nara was a nice day trip to take. I was starting to get a little templed out, but Nara didn’t bore me because it had its own little ‘Naraness’ that the other cities didn’t have. The four of us rented bicycles and made our way through the quaint little city to the star attraction: The Great Buddha. This 50 foot Buddha is kept inside the doors of… yah you guessed it… a temple. The size and brilliance of it was amazing. There were a few other statues in the temple and around the Buddha. All were beautiful. The other weird thing about Nara are the deer. There are deer everywhere. They were alright… they kind of freaked me out a bit, I kept waiting for one of them to lunge at me and bite me or something.

Lindzy’s Diary:

January 1st, 2008

That night Laura, Ash and I went downtown Kyoto for some Karaoke. Clinton chose not too join, which is too bad cause us three had a greeeeat time. We went for two hours–which quickly changed to three hours– and once that hour finished–four hours was necessary. All you can drink didn’t help either. Yet another amazing night with two of my oldest bestest friends… guess how many times No Doubt got played? …

January 3rd, 2008 7:30 pm.

All you can drink=rough start. Today Ash and I went on seperate paths from Clinton and Laura cause we all had different goals. Ash and I rented bikes from near Kyoto Station. We took off on a gorgeous bike ride, on a gorgeous day to a gorgeous temple. Today we were off to see the Gold Temple. Gold it was! When you entered the temple grounds, there stands a large three tier temple, completly gold, in the center of a pond where, with the sun shining on it, reflected its image in the water. Absolutely brilliant.

Our next stop was a famous rock garden. How necessary to visit and how Japanese. The best part was the brochure which told us that it was up to us to discover its meaning. I give credit to Ash for discovering the best discovery. I can’t tell you though, cause you have to discover it yourself. Ash: “Are you ready? I’m done discovering.” Lindzy:”Just wait, let me discover something.”

Afterwards we met this dude from New York who had the same bike rentals as us. So we teamed up and went for a bike ride sneaking into temples–getting kicked out, getting lost in Kyoto, hitting up some sushi for dinner and enjoying some beers from the convini in front of a temple getting to know each other. We had to end the night with him after one beer though, cause Ash and I had to catch a night bus to Hiroshima.

January 4th, 2008

Yesterday the four of us arrived in Hiroshima. Hiroshima had a different feeling to it–it felt really modern– and yes I know everything was rebuilt after the bomb, but it was just so different from the rest of Japan. It really did feel like being in Vancouver or something. The people didn’t even feel Japanese.

Ash and I arrived first at six am from the night bus. After some coffee and breakfast we set out to discover a bit of Hiroshima on our own before Clinton and Laura arrived on the Shinkansen. We ended up walking up this huge road that curved up along the side of a mountain dotted with temples and the sounds of early morning prayers and the smell of incense. 1000m later we were at the top looking over Hiroshima at the sight of the peace monument–a giant silver statue that stares over the city. There were a few benches and an old man making a smoky fire and watering his garden.

Once we made our way back down and met back up with Clinton and Laura, we wasted no time in our journey to depression. We hit up the Peace Memorial Museum, the A-bomb dome and the park. All of it was super beautiful, eery, sad and informative.

The city has a certain air to it; I’m not sure if that comes from being white in a city that may feel hostility towards foreigners, or if its from the sadness that you end up feeling from all the devastating history. The people didn’t feel as friendly or welcoming, but Hiroshima is a nice city nonetheless, and definitely a place to see to remind everyone that peace is cool and a-bombs aren’t.

Our hostel was amazing though. The woman that runs it is an adorable little old lady that reminded me of my Nanny. She had oranges for us, and wine and was always eager to make sure you were comfortable. We also met some really cool Norwegians, and ended up playing Yatzee with them all night and chatting.

I’ve lost count of which day I’m on. My second favourite place is next though, as well as a hitchikers guide to Japan. I miss travelling already, and miss Clinton and Laura even more, but writting this out and remembering all the amazing places I went is making me super happy.

still miss you all! xoxo

The Last Day of the Best Year Ever

Hotel Song-Regina Spector 

 After Mount Koya, the next stop on the map was Osaka.  Osaka is a raaaaad city.  It’s funky, upbeat and a total blast.  I definitely need to go back.  I was expecting Osaka to be similar to Tokyo… but it surprised me with its uniqueness.  The people are extremely welcoming, any time one of us paused for a moment to check a map, a Japanese person was beside us, asking us if we needed help.  Even though it rained the whole time we were there, Osaka was still bright and a joyful place to be.   Clinton, Laura and I spent our first day there in an arcade, wasting money and taking numerous photos with Print Club (the most fun photo booth ever!  it’s completly addictive).  Arcades are amazing here, but I have to say, the language barrier can sure screw you over.

Clinton and I both put sen yen (1000 yen= 10 dollars) in a token machine which we assumed was needed for the whole arcade.  Babong.  The only thing these stupid tokens are good for are even stupider games.  These games are similar to slot machines in a casino, but no money is won, just lost, as you can only play with these tokens that cost you money.  Sure you can continue to play the more you win, but these games are so boring!  Well, I think they are… didn’t really now what to do or how to play since I can’t understand Japanese.  Clint and I were not happy about this.  Print Club fun to the rescue!  Wait till Ashleigh tries this with us!

Ashleigh was scheduled to arrive in Osaka the next day (December 29th)…

Lindzy’s Diary:

December 30, 2007

On December 29th, the four of us went to the Osaka Aquarium.  It was amazing!  And totally Japanese: HUGE, bright, and extravagant.  There were so many wicked fish, including a whale shark!  I thought about Erik and Scott the whole time, they would have loved that place. 

Aquariums, shopping, and the largest roller coster in the world (but possibly not the largest, since once you were on the ride, it said ‘Welcome to one of the largest roller costers in the world’…yeah, after I paid the 700 yen to ride THE largest), is not a shabby way to spend the day.  I can’t express the amount of happiness that I felt, chillin with Laura, Clinton and Ashleigh in motha-effin ja-paaaan (pretty much half of Alice st!!!!).  Ashleigh had some buddies up in Osaka that took us out to the wet and wild streets of Dontonbori (the place to be in Osaka) for a night of partypartyparty where we met wicked people, saw wicked things and had a wicked time.

Next day we hit the road again… don’t stay anywhere for too long!

Dec. 30, 2007

After dragging the grumpy kiddies out of bed early, we headed on a train to Kyoto, the capital of Japan before Tokyo, and one of the only cities in Japan that America chose not to bomb.  This is because Kyoto is known as the heart of Japan and the US feared that if they destroyed this city, they would destroy the whole country… (some things never change…).  Well needless to say, the city definitely deserves the title.  You can just swim in the richness of it all. 

First of all, our Ryokan was nestled inbetween the city and the river amongst old Japanese style homes where people are extremely curious at the sight of foreigners.  I found this quality about Kyotoins (?) cute and innocent.  Kyoto must be the top three cities visited by tourist in all of Japan, yet the Japanese are still impressed, curious and interested in you.  The best moment I had was waiting at a stoplight with Ashleigh on our rented bikes, when all of a sudden an old lady was right in my face (she had no sense of personal space whatsoever) and practically yelled “Hallo!”, whoooa!  Hiii. “Amerika?” “Canada.” “Segoi!”.

Second of all, Kyoto is packed full of temples, shrines and old monuments.  We spent the three days we were in Kyoto checking as many of them out as we could.  Ash and I got seperated from Clinton and Laura a lot on these days because Ash and I liked to doddle and take it all in, while Clinton and Laura were trying to get as much in as possible, since, well, they had to leave, and we are here for a year.

  Dec. 31 /07

Clinton, Laura, Ash and I went out Temple hunting today.  New years eve day was exactly what I should have done for my one and only (probably) New Years in Japan.  Our first stop was the Kiyomizu Temple, the most beautiful temple and sight I have ever seen.  It was breathtaking–Japan never ceases to amaze me.  Kiyomizu temple is the one reason everyone should come to Japan.  Actually maybe Kyoto is. 

After walking uphill past old Japan and little shops, we finally reached a gorgeous temple nestled in the mountains of Kyoto.  There were tonnes of people, but it was so massive, that the structure stood out amongst all the tourist.  Sauntering up the cobblestone path visiting some of the tourist shops is where Ash and I lost Clinton and Laura.  Every step you take has another surprise.  Whoa!  look at that temple!  Whoa!  look at the temple behind it!  Whoa look at the other one!  After being amazed by all the temples and the fantastic view of Kyoto we paid 100 yen for another surprise.  Had we looked into it we would have known where we were going and was to be expected.  The gentleman warned us before entering to hold onto the railing the whole way, cause it is very very dark.  Ok, ok.

I have never been in so much darkness.  It was suffocating in fact.  It freaked me out–cause you are just walking in complete blackness, down some stairs and then god knows where.  All of your other senses are going crazy, I felt better when I closed my eyes –it was more understandable for my body why I couldn’t see.

After two long minutes you start to see a small speck of light in the distance.  As you walk on it grows brighter and finally you reach a stone.  After we exited we read all about this mystery stone.  Apparently this journey through the cave is meant to represent the birth canal and what it’s like to be born.  Gotcha.  That makes total sense.  I now understand why babies come out crying.  You are also meant to turn the stone, make a wish for luck. 

After our wonderful stroll we made our way back to meet Clinton and Laura and get ready for New Years.  We planned to go to Gion–the old Geisha district.  We got in a lineup which took us too see the ringing of the bell–which they do 108 times.  We were informed that this was for all of the 108 sins of mankind.  We asked the man who informed us if he could name them all?

“I’m sure you can think of a few.”  Probably.

This was really amazing to see.  We met tonnes of adorable Japanese women and got blown away by the crazyness of it all.  Lots of incense, lots of partyin and festival food.  Not at all like back home–but thats for the best. 

It definitely was a wicked way to spend New Years.  New Years is really important in Japan.  Some people compare it to our Christmas, but I can’t see that as being correct.  New Years here is very spiritual, very family intense and a time to relax and hope for a good year, a time to party and celebrate with close friends.  I find in Canada its all about that one moment when the time changes.  It’s always a big deal and people are always looking for the best place to be and the best thing to wear and the best person to kiss and being in front of the TV for the countdown.  In Japan, there was no countdown, it’s an all week celebration, where everyone in the country is pretty much on vacation.  The best place to be is everywhere with your loved ones, and there is no kissing, just constant card sending and reunions with friends.  I was really happy I got to ring in the new year a la Japan style.  People are still bowing and wishing Happy New Year two weeks later.  I was bummed that I didn’t get more Christmas cards from my students, before I realized that they care more about New Years.  Today at work I recieved some of the cutest New Years cards ever. 

Well, there’s part two for you, and only five days into the vacation.  Next comes Deer, a Great Buddha, and a gold Temple. 

peace. xoxox

Why I’m not Zen, and therefore not a Buddhist

JUMP- Pointer Sisters

I got on a night bus December 26th in Toyama with too much luggage and drained from work, completly and totally ready for a twelve day vacation. Those last four months of work breezed by, but I definitely worked hard and I’m totally feeling this break. I slept the whole way and woke up ready to go get ‘em….

Lindzy’s Diary:

Dec. 27th/07 7:30 am

I’d just like to note that I almost spelt December like my students… with an ’s’…

O.K so I’m in Osaka, by myself and its kind of overwhelming. One definitely needs to prepare themselves for being surrounded suddenly by 2 million people, in a city where there is more than ten million, and they are all asian.

…The cool thing about the buses here is that there are two aisles, and three seats, so you never have the awkwardness of sitting next to a random while you sleep.

After the bus I needed to sit down with a coffee to try to think of a game plan. I’ve got to meet Laura and Clinton at a train station–ps. there are like a million. I know where the shinkanses arrives, so i’m good there–I just have to figure out which train station i’m in, and how to get from point a to point b.

I’d like to point out that I was getting super annoyed that you can smoke everywhere in Japan and that my morning coffee was being ruined by these cancer stick lovers, when I left the cafe, I saw that I was sitting in the smoking section rather than the not smoking section… I just have a tendency to ignore signs I can’t read… duuuh.

This cafe is ridiculous by the way. They claim to be a french bakery with their croissants and french coffee (right) and they play trinketty jazz music–but the atmosphere is all wrong. Basically it’s like they got Ikea (only more expensive version) to decorate.

A note on the business men here (as one just sat beside me and smoked a cigarette faster than I have ever seen anyone smoke before). There is something about an old japanese man in a suit thats super hot and for real. They just look so refined. Especially if they have grey hair. Haha, and especially if after downing the first cig, he puts another in his mouth and washes his hands simultaneously–whoa for real, world record chain smoker here.

I’m really pumped to see Clinton and Laura!!!

Our first stop today will be the Holy and Sacred Koyasan to check out some history and chill with some Buddha’s. We are staying the night in a temple–haha, this is probably the holiest i’m ever gonna be!! (other than my baptism of course). I’ve read that we practice with the monks for a day, but I can’t be sure–Laura did all of the planning.

I feel like this break is finally where I get to do some travelling in my life (other than Canada and the US), from Osaka to Koyasan, to Kyoto, Kobe, Nara and Hiroshima I’m finally going to see parts of Japan I have been looking forward too since forever. Everything– every weekend–has been wonderful so far, but nothing beats twelve days of pure travelling!!

Dec. 27/07 Koyasan 21:46

The meeting with Laura and Clinton was wonderful. I was literally so excited that I was shaking and almost in tears. It feels like I’ve been gone forever and that I havn’t seen my friend in even longer.

Having Clinton and Laura here is so amazing! I love that they get to see the country I live in and how crazy and wonderful it is. Travelling with two of best friends is more than I could ever ask for (Plus! Ash meets up with us soon!)

Today the three of us travelled up to Koyasan by train, cable car and bus to arrive at our nights stay at the Temple. Koyasan has so much history–it was a blessing to get to see it. We spent the day catching up and setteling in, walking around the town a bit –but ended up having to run back cause we forgot to turn the kitatsue table off! oops!

Friday December, 28th 2007 5:30 am

I am not zen, I am not buddhist, I am not ready for this.

The point of staying at the temple is to practice with the buddist monk and you know: do as they do.

At 5 pm yesterday was our first 40 min meditation before dinner. It was held in a beautiful meditation room where we sat in front of a beautiful gold shrine, wit gold lanterns and chandeliers hanging above us and gorgeous 500 year old paintings of buddhists Gods surrounding us.

So Clint asked me yesterday if I ever lie in my diary–No, no Clinton I don’t– and I’m not gonna start now. I am not a good buddhist, nor am I very Zen (Apparently…)

I was looking forward to this meditation. I love yoga, so same thing right? Babooong. Sitting cross legged for 40 minutes trying to clear your mind is damn dear impossible for me. Seriously.

I’m not sure if I should feel bad for this but the unzen like thought that crossed my mind included: “I’m hungry… I wonder what they serve for dinner…”

“My back is killing me…”

“My legs are falling asleep”

“I wonder if anyone is gonna be upset if I stretch my legs out?”–With these thoughts I opened my eyesand peaked around–just to see everyone with their eyes closed. I turned my head to the other side when I felt a tug on my hoodie by non other than Clinton who almost made me LOL. “I’m so glad Clinton and Laura are here!!!”–yet another unzen like moment.

I’ll try harder this morning. It’s so damn early, but i grabbed a hotsu coffee from the vending machine so that I won’t be at risk of falling asleep. Don’t know if I actually will considering it’s freezing cold in that room!

Last note before I head off: It is kind of nice to ‘meditate’ a little before you eat. Makes you really appreciate and want the food.

Friday Dec. 28th 2007, 23:00

“The guy from much music said you get two porn channels and you can watch them for five five minutes, but then they start charging you — so be careful.” Laura, after me and Clinton accidently flicked the wrong button on our Japanese remote and saw the most disturbing views ever… shudder. No worries Laura, not sure how anyone can take more than one minute of that stuff…yikes…

Mediatation feels sooo long ago!! I’m proud though–I was the first one up and the second one in the temple on time and got tot alk to this dude from Tokyo. This mornings meditation was great, they did a lot of chanting, which was all very rythmic and beautiful. Every now and then the addition of cymbals, bells or drums added to the whole experience. Since I arrived early, the Japanese dude was able to translate some of the things the priest was saying. When everyone strolled in 10-15-20 min late, I was the cool kid who knew what to do when with the ashes and incense.

The three of us spent the rainy day walking through a grand ol’ forest with over half a million graves over 900 years old. Talk about breathtaking. I can’t think of a better way to spend a drizzly cool December morning then in a forest where the green moss covers the ancient tombstones, the big old trees tower above us and the old cobblestone path leads to staircases, pathways and unimaginable views.

To think, this was just the first two days of my vacation. Wait till you hear the rest of the ten. Japan never ceases to blow my mind. Makes me laugh that i used to try so hard to hide my diary from my little brother, and now i’m putting it up on the internet. Hope you enjoy… more to come soon!