Tempus Fugit

IT’S ABOUT TIME.

Forgive me, dear readers. Lately, I have been so swamped with ungodly amounts of work, travel, and general cavorting with the natives that I have neglected this poor, little study ablog of mine. Stay tuned though; my workload has just lightened up a bit, so I plan on updating this Nasty Larry later this evening. In the meantime, please enjoy this somewhat irrelevant and wholly irreverent.

A little late, perhaps, but still pertinent. Please do the world a favor and listen to the Institute.

Keeping Busy In The Floating World

Studying abroad ain’t easy, dear readers, but it’s so very very fun. As you may have noticed, I’ve been a bit too busy to post lately, for which I apologize. These past two weeks have been full of midterms, festivals, and the largest Buddha in the world.

Where to begin? I say, I do believe that Kyoto has the vapors! Someone fetch a moist towel and get Al Gore on the line about this global warming tomfoolery. It’s technically “autumn” in Kyoto, but most days it’s rather hard to tell. The weather is perpetually humid and shifts between grey, rainy days of the Morriseyan mode and being just cool enough to warrant a sweater but just warm enough to make wearing one too hot. To quote Lewis Black, this “is not weather; it’s malaria.”

Despite it all, Kyoto remains beautiful as ever, especially its myriad temples. As the leaves begin to change, their majesty increases exponentially. If you ever get the chance to come here, I highly recommend it during this time.

The gate of Nanzen-ji

Recently, I visited Nanzen-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple home to one of the largest gates in Japan, with my friend Corey and had the distinct privilege of encountering a geisha on the temple grounds. She was absolutely stunning and did not say a word to me when I asked her if I could photograph her. Rather, with a certain quiet elegance, she moved her head ever so slightly and I had my answer.

Shut up, Edward Said. She's beautiful and you know it.

Such an Orientalist moment, but, honestly who cares? I mean, look at her! But, I digress.

This past weekend,  I traveled to Nara, ancient capital of the Japanese empire and home to both the largest Buddha in the world (the Daibutsu) and friendly deer who roam the streets. Apparently my anozmia (read: I don’t have a sense of smell) worked to my benefit yet again in Nara as the deer are clearly not housebroken and, as such, do their dirty deeds right there on the streets. Take that, genetics!

Sorry, buddy, I don't have any food for you

Apart from the biscuit-hungry, street-roaming deer, there were many more impressive sights to be seen. For example, Kōfuku-ji is temple complex with a five-story pagoda located right off of the main road. Walk down a short dirt road for about a minute and a half and….BOOM!

Five stories of fun!

Majestic, right? You don’t even know the half of it until you’ve feasted your eyes upon Todai-ji, the largest wooden structure in the world and home to the world’s largest Buddha. It kind of makes America’s “world’s largest strawberry” and other inanities pale in comparison. I would say “humbling,” but I know no one in America would take note.

The exterior of Todai-ji

The craziest part of it all is that it’s only two-thirds of its original size. In a word, “mind-blowing.”

America personified in one man at Todaiji

The Daibutsu

This man was equally mind-blowing. At first, I thought he might have been the Daibutsu, but I was evidently mistaken when I tilted my head up to behold the real thing. Massive, imposing, yet strangely welcoming, the Daibutsu is truly a sight to behold. You feel tiny — both physically and metaphorically — standing next to it, but at the same time it has a calming effect. I guess that’s the point of Zen to a certain degree, yeah? Five hundred metric tons of serenity.

This Wednesday, I went to the Jidai Matsuri (“Festival of the Ages”) and the Kurama No Hi Matsuri (“Kurama Fire Festival”). My pictures are currently offloading from my camera, so please hold on to your literal and proverbial horses because I’d like to wait and post about them separately from this and in greater detail. You see, dear readers? This is called a “teaser.” It will (hopefully) inspire you to come back soon to this “study ablog” of mine.

Other than that, not much else is new with me. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but if so, I’ll post about it right soon. This week, I am on fall break, so I’ll be traveling to Tokyo and Nagoya, sampling the local wares, enjoying the nightlife, and eating enough delicious food to hibernate for the winter. I’ll most likely be lacking internet access for the next week or so, but I’ll try to pop into an internet cafe and update if I can. I’ll leave you with a picture of some zany street performers I saw by the Kamogawa River.

Yoga FIRE

Additionally, if you’d like a postcard, please send mail me your address at danielmcasey [at] gmail [dot] com. Once again, for you visual learners out there, my flickr has been updated with many new pictures, so please view at your leisure. Much obliged, and I hope you’re all doing well. Well then, until next time, dear readers.

An Appetizer (A Small Pre-Meal Jumpoff)

Ah, another week another update, dear readers. I apologize for the longer-than-preferable lapse between posts, but 光陰矢のごとし （kouin ya no gotoshi, literally, “time, like an arrow,” but in this context it means that life is short).

My pictures are slowly uploading now, so I’ll hold off on a full-length post until tomorrow, most likely. I’m rather exhausted now anyway, so it’s best I refrain from writing too much lest I go off on several incoherent tangents about lord knows what.

Please accept this as a token of my appreciation and a reward for actually reading my infrequent musings:

Shugo Tokumaru is a singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist from Japan who is currently blowing up my iPod playlists and blowing my mind. How can I characterize Shugo Tokumaru? He’s a bit like the Japanese Sufjan Stevens minus the pretension. One writer described him as “Sigur Ros meets Hello Kitty.” While I’m not sure how accurate that description is, I am sure that “Parachute” is beyond catchy and will be stuck in my head for several days to come. Please, please, please enjoy this song and stay tuned for a legitimate update post-haste.

DOWNLOAD: Shugo Tokumaru – \”Parachute\”

A Lesson In History

For those of you who don’t know, I really like sketch comedy. So much so, that I am a proud member of two different, extremely funny groups (that’s not an opinion, by the way. It’s a fact). I’ll admit it: I was a bit worried about The Institute this semester. Not that I don’t have complete faith in Luke and the rest of the cast, but six members of your approximately nine person cast go abroad for a semester it’s easy to find cause for worry. As I knew they would, they blew me out of the water with their new slew of videos.

This one, for example — “The History of The Institute” — is a real treat for those who have been with us since we began three semesters ago. Self-parody and spot-on editing make for a heady draught of comedic ambrosia. Sure, it’s a bit self-indulgent, but this is the house that I helped build and I’m glad to see it’s still standing tall. Way to go, guys, way to go.

Check out other Institute videos here.

The Heart of Darkness Is Full Of Delicious Food

Long time no see, dear readers. I apologize for the lack of updates, but I have been exceedingly busy and, hey, this ain’t Twitter (see also: patience is a virtue).

Two weekends ago, I went to Okayama (岡山）, a prefecture in the countryside, and did a three-day homestay in Asakuchi (浅口）. To be perfectly honest, when I heard we were being forced to spend three days in what sounded like the middle of nowhere sounded mildly hellacious. They were robbing us of a weekend, I tell you! My host family even asked “どうして岡山に行く？” (Why are you going to Okayama, of all places?). Filled with dread, I plopped myself down on the bus and fell asleep for ninety percent of the five-hour trip.

The view from the front door of my homestay

Thankfully, my fears were entirely unfounded and it wound up being one of the best weekends I’ve had yet. Upon arrival, we were ushered into the town hall where we met with the town mayor and other relatively important public servants. Not only that, but we were also on Japanese television! Sure it was public access, but that’s a resume builder, I tell you what.

My host mother and I at the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge

My host family were three strong — mother, father, and college-aged son Yuuji — and hellbent on feeding me until I burst. This is truly the land of 食べ放題 (literally, “as much as you can eat”). Over the course of the three days, I ate such delicacies as tempura (ain’t no tempura like homemade tempura, America), kabocha soup, fresh, local crab and homemade chocolate cake.

The Honshu-Shikoku Bridge

My お母さん (host mother) and I went to the Honshū-Shikoku Bridge, a marvel of engineering and one of the longest bridges in Japan, which connects the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. Here’s a map, for your reference.  Afterwards, we went to a local town and dined on the freshest octopus (たこ) I’ve ever had. Those lemon-tinged tentacled treats still haunt my taste buds.

Delicious and as-of-yet-uncooked tako ("octopus")

Look at that and tell me it doesn’t look delicious. Okay, uncooked, it’s mildly terrifying, but still — it was tasty.

Other highlights from the trip include:

• Going to Tenmondai, Tokyo University’s astronomical research center, and looking at various telescopes and watching a hilariously dated show at the planetarium.
  

  View from the Tenmondai Astronomical Observatory

• Riding a crab boat with my host father and his swarthy, but hilarious friend
  

  My host father atop his friend's crab pots.

• Digging up (read: stealing) local sweet potatoes with my host mother while walking their overly-energetic dog Nene-chan
  

  Ah, nothing brings people together like stealing produce.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I am looking forward to seeing them again when they come to visit their daughter who lives in Kyoto. At the very least, I’ll eat like a king when they come.

OTHER NEWS:

Classes are going well, I believe. Japanese Pop Culture continues to be relevant to my eventual thesis and usually interesting despite the occasionally inanities spewed forth by some of the resident otaku in our midst. My Japanese History Through Film course may win the award for “Best Midterm Ever,” as we are to go to either the Jidai Matsuri or the Hi Matsuri, two enormous and extremely rad-looking festivals then write a short paper about our experiences.  One word — “totally awesome.”

For my Japanese class, we are required to do a “community internship,” a murkily defined project which will culminate with us interacting with Japanese people. Somehow, I managed to swing it so that my “internship” is to join a student group on campus. As such, I will be starting practice this week with the LED Basketball Circle, a student basketball team. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the SPACE JAM.

Anything else? Probably, but I should probably resume studying so I can tear down this [language barrier]!

Oops, wrong language.

The Jumpoff – Volume 2

The Cool Kids are one of the hottest hip-hop duos in the nation right now. Coming from Chicago, these two take the rap game in stride, delivering tongue-in-cheek verses about everything from riding bicycles to playing Street Fighter to saying “What’s up?” to some cuties. Drop in some old school bass, rad synth lines, and you’ve got yourself an instant party starter.

“Delivery Man” is an as-of-yet unreleased cut off of Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound comp. The video is fire and almost seems reminiscent of the Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff, except with cooler shoes. Put it in your tape deck, roll down the windows, get nice.

DOWNLOAD: The Cool Kids – Delivery Man

the sound of a typhoon on a sunday morning

What a way to start your day

There are few things more pleasant in this world than awakening to the sound of a typhoon gently beating down upon the roof outside your window. After a string of brutally hot days, the great gods of wind and thunder Fuijin and Raijin have graciously delivered a typhoon unto the good people of Kyoto. I know that what you might be thinking — “A typhoon? That sounds serious.” — but fear not, gentle reader. It’s just a big ol’ rainstorm on a wonderfully grey Sunday morning. It almost reminds me of Boston; this summer was nothing but heat stroke-inducing days interspersed with epic thunderstorms. Actually though, this is more like what I imagine everyday would be like if I were Morrissey, except with less self-imposed celibacy and pompadours.

I made another friend in the form of an old Japanese man, though this time he didn’t speak a word. We were at the covered shopping arcade in Teramachi, a large shopping district in downtown Kyoto, and wasting some time by playing one of those crane prize games, the kind you might find at your local cinema. We played one outside of a store full of them (apparently, they’re huge in Japan) and were largely unsuccessful. After a bit, an employee came outside, opened the machine, and rearranged things so that it was tantalizing yet physically impossible to get most of the prizes. Enter the ojii-san (literally: “grandfather,” but used for old man too). We shared a laugh over what happened and then he nodded and disappeared. A moment later, he returned with a prize from one of the machines — Snoopy riding a banana (weird, I know) — and handed to me with a smile before disappearing back into the crowd. Bemused, I put it on my backpack and went about my way; I haven’t seen him since.

The Sanjūsangendō

Our history professor charged us with finding a piece of twelfth-century Kyoto, so yesterday I traveled to Shichijo with some of my erstwhile compatriots to find ourselves something worth seeing. We completely and utterly hit the jackpot by exploring the Sanjūsangendō, a Buddhist temple that was constructed by the legendary samurai leader Taira Kiyomori and home to the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa during the 1100s. Not only that, but it is also home to the 1,001 images of Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy, and the amazing statues of Fuijin and Raijin, the Japanese gods of wind and thunder respectively.

A sampling of the 1,001 statues of Kannon

It’s hard to describe the feeling I felt upon seeing 1,001 amazing statues of this Buddhist deity. “Breathtaking” is certainly appropriate, but somehow I feel it doesn’t do the Sanjūsangendō justice; “overwhelming,” might be a better term.

So very very tasty

Fact the first: Thursday was my birthday.

Fact the second: My host mother is an amazing cook.

Inevitable conclusion: Delicious birthday dinner.

Pictures say a thousand words, but, tell me, can you eat a picture? If not, then please know that this sashimi was the best I have ever had and lingers on in my mind even now. For those of you who don’t know, sashimi is a Japanese delicacy — small pieces of raw fish sliced very thinly. To my more conservative readers, please don’t let the “raw” part discourage you; it is absolutely delicious and probably just as safe as whatever you’re eating normally.

Also served was sekihan, a Japanese dish consisting of adzuki bean and rice that’s traditionally served on special occasions like birthdays, holidays, and weddings. Adzuki beans are one of my favorite things in the world, so I was beyond pleased when my okaa-san unveiled the rice. After dinner, we dined on cream puffs from Beard Papa’s, a Japanese cream puff chain that does dessert right. My, oh my, what a wonderful birthday dinner. I did miss having my mother’s chocolate cake, but this was a pretty good substitute.

All this talk about food has made me hungry for asagohan (breakfast), so with that I leave you, dear reader, for the sounds of rain falling and the tastes of Japanese cuisine.

Coming of age, whale sharks, and Nietzsche

Today, I have been alive for two decades. I can’t really wrap my head around it yet. Technically, I won’t be twenty-years-old until 8 AM on Friday (8PM on Thursday, you know — the perils of living in the future), but still. It’s September 18 and I have apparently been alive for two decades. I wonder what Nietzsche thought of birthdays. They’re probably the kind of monumental history which he despises…unless someone were to give him a pair of moustache clippers for his birthday.

That moustache is pretty monumental in and of itself.

In Japan, twenty is the age of full adulthood. At age eighteen, one can drive but cannot consume alcohol. Unlike the America with its terrifying Five Year Plan To Increase Drunk Driving And Underage Alcoholism (the gap between the driving and drinking ages), Japan merely has a two-year span in between. Even so, the country has neither a problem with drunk driving nor underage alcoholism. Beer is readily available in myriad places in unmonitored vending machines, making it a breeze to buy at any age.  Seriously — there’s one right across from my homestay.  I guess it’s a case of the the grass always being greener, except a tad more fatalistic (and no, this is not my being an Orientalist).

The promised land of milk and...beer?

This past weekend, some fellow gaijin and I made the trip down to Osaka.  Leaving Tokyo out of the equation, Osaka is the New York to Kyoto’s Boston. Including Tokyo, I guess Osaka is…Philly? No, I couldn’t do that to dear old Osaka. In any event, it was a fun-filled trip full of Ferris wheels, fried food, and freewheeling.

Dotonbori is one of the best places in the world to get street food.

It was a bit of a whirlwind tour, lasting almost twenty-four hours in totality. Leaving Kyoto at 10 AM, we found ourselves wandering the vibrant, metropolitan streets of Osaka a mere forty minutes later. Kyoto is a city — there’s no doubt about that — but Osaka is a city, man. You dig? It was such an overwhelming experience after having just begun to get used to the confines of Kyoto (of which I still have so much to explore).  We rode a ferris wheel atop a shopping center which gave us a pretty amazing view of the city. It’s much more interesting from the ground, by the way. Although, I bet that view would be pretty phenomenal at night.

After that, we went to the Pokémon Center (it does exist) to see what all the hubbub was about. Apparently, we went there on a day that they released a brand new game, Pokémon Cubic Zirconia Platinum. As much of a dastardly marketing scheme as it is, the games themselves are actually really fun. That being said, enough is enough Pokémon! This aggression will not stand!

Capitalism, I choose you!

After earning our gym badges, we departed for the Osaka Aquarium Takyukan, one of the largest public aquariums in the world. It was, in a word, breathtaking. They had everything from sea otters to giant crabs to a whale shark and more! Other than it being intensely crowded, a good time was had by all and I managed to get some rad photos, particularly of the jellyfish. Check my Flickr for more on that and other pictures from my trip.

Peanut butter & jellyfish

Later in the day, American reinforcements showed up, swelling our numbers to unwieldy amounts. Luckily, we found an okonomiyaki (think omelettes, but way better) jumpoff that was able to seat thirteen. Afterwards, I fulfilled one of my many dreams — doing karaoke in Japan. It was every bit as awesome as I was hoping it would be, although I do regret that no Japanese students were with us. Having wiled the night hours away singing everything from Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” to the “Freebird” for a new generation, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”, we caught the first train back at 5:30 AM and I stumbled into my bed by 8 AM. An action-packed day, for sure, but it was so worth it; I can’t wait to return.

A quick side note before I “Seacrest OUT” of this piece: meeting other Japanese students has been one of the best parts of my experience thus far. The American students are all great people, but nothing quite compares to these brand new foreign friends we’re making. For instance, this past Monday, I went on a group outing with Atsuo, an auditing student from Kyodai Kaikan in my Pop Culture class, and two cuties. Such interactions are only made possible by getting out there and getting to know the locals. I’ll talk about it in greater detail later (as it’s 2 AM and I grow weary) though, so don’t worry about it for now.

THINGS TO COME: A primer on all the delicious foodstuffs I’ve been eating, more tales of my adventures, ruminations on classes

By the way, I’m still nineteen in America. Good night, everyone.

One week later

Slightly over one week deep into my semester in Japan, I am finally starting to settle into my life here. Making friends hasn’t been a problem thus far, but communicating with them had been. Many of us don’t have internet access at our homestays and nearly no one had a keitai (cell phone). Until now, that is! Ladies and gentlemen, behold the pinnacle of cheap Japanese pre-paid phones:

There are a staggering amount of tiny pictographs and emoticons.

It takes a little getting used to, but it’s nice to be able to get in touch with people again. If you want my number, e-mail me, but if you’re not in Japan it’s going to be a rather expensive phone call. I would recommend either Skype (danielmcasey) or e-mailing instead.

Getting to school is much easier than KCJS made it seem. I ride my bike to the station (approx. 7 minutes), then take a train to Sanjo Keihan (approx. 20 minutes), transfer train lines to Muratamachi-eki (approx. 10 minutes), and then have a short walk in the blistering Kyoto sun (approx. 5 minutes). All in all, not too bad! I just need to figure out how to buy a monthly pass so I can save my precious yen for other things like “cultural activities.”

Can't wait to ghostride this piece

It’s a bit early to tell how my classes will be, but I have no complaints thus far. I am taking three classes — a double-length Japanese class Monday through Friday in the mornings, Japanese Pop Culture on Mondays, and Japanese History Through Film on Wednesdays. So, what does that mean? Yes, I have class everyday, but most days I am done by noon and the rest of the day is mine to explore the city. All in all, a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. Though, some more of my time will be taken up soon once I either find a gym (the one at Kyodai Kaikan is a gym in name only) or join one of the student groups. Any suggestions on what kind of group I should join?

This weekend, I think I’m heading off to Osaka with some friends from my Japanese class so that we can try to catch a Hanshin Tigers game. If I get to see some Japanese yakyuu (baseball) before the season ends, I will be an unspeakably happy camper. More on that to come though.

Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray! Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times Trained with every discipline here at Koshien Crowned with constant victory glorious, matchless feat Always proud, invincible "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

( FOR YOU VISUAL LEANERS OUT THERE, MY FLICKR IS UPDATED WITH NEW PICTURES)

♦♦♦

For those of you who need a little more bass in your life, listen to this Hollywood Holt jam that my homegirl Carrie sent me:

Hollywood Holt – Beat In My Trunk

♦♦♦

That’s all for now, folks. I need to go shower before heading back into the city tonight to hang out with some rad ryugakusei

Trouble is the spice of life

Large groups of college students in an unfamiliar area are a true litmus test of patience. After yesterday, mine was particularly acidic.  Before I went exploring in Teramachi, Kyoto’s preposterously large shopping district, we spent approximately an hour deciding that we should split up since we weren’t going to find a restaurant that would seat thirty people. Sixty minutes, guys?  ざんねんだね

Thankfully, a good thirty minutes of that time was spent talking to a seventy-year-old retiree named Kozo. The tiny, bespectacled man walked up to us excitedly and asked if we were Americans (good guess). Like many Japanese, he’s very interested in learning English and was eager to practice in a real life setting. He was reading John Updike’s Terrorist, but having trouble understanding it. Together, we went through various phrases that he didn’t understand and I tried my best to explain them. Explaining what “a flying fuck” was and why he shouldn’t use it in polite conversation, for example, was quite the experience. Thankfully, his zeal for learning made it a breeze. Eventually, he gave me a rundown of his personal philosophy. In a phrase, “trouble is the spice of life.” Well put, Kozo, well put.

Classes started today. Interestingly enough, everyone that used Tufts’ Japanese textbook (Genki!) was placed into the lowest level Japanese class.

Genki banzai!

If Koizumi-sensei wasn’t my favorite professor at Tufts, I would be mildly upset.  On the bright side, my Japanese professor seems like he’ll be a hoot. He’s very young and friendly and only speaks to us in Japanese, which can only help.  My Japanese Pop Culture class seems like it could be intellectually stimulating. Hopefully I can use this class as an opportunity to begin my senior thesis (the subject of which I really should finalize sometime soon), but we’ll see where the wind blows.

Note to self: Thrylla and Charybdis, great name for the next disco-influenced dance-party DJ sensation.

→ For those who are interested and didn’t see the link on the sidebar, the URL for my Flickr (where all my photos will be posted) is http://www.flickr.com/photos/29466443@N02/

Once again, let me apologize for the lack of substance in these posts. Once the shock of actually being here subsides enough for me to realize that I’m actually here, I’ll be able to use my words again like a big boy. Until then, oyasuminasai♥!