The Weekend Review - Harinan Enkai, Kishiwada & Koyasan

Monday was Respect-for-the-Aged Day, a National holiday honoring the elderly, so we all had a day off of work/school. And what a long weekend it was...

Friday
Friday was a busy day at work, and I stayed late and recorded Megan's speech with her after school.

I was pretty tired by the time I left school, but instead of going home, I headed straight to the train station to meet a coworker for our enkai, or work party, for Harinan, my new school. The enkai was held at a traditional sushi restaurant in Higashi-Kakogawa, not far from where we live. About 20 staff members came and we had a private, tatami room to ourselves, where we sat on the floor.

There were about 5 courses at dinner:
1. the first was sashimi plates that were there when we arrived, including several crab legs and a smaller side dish with sea urchin and squid,
2. some kind of broiled fish (maybe Pacific saury?) that was filled with small, yellow eggs when you opened it,
3. another larger, white fish (maybe cod?), served cooked, but as a whole fish with the skin still on
4. nabe, or Japanese stew cooked at the table, with fish and vegetables,
5. and KIRIN beer. (I think I am forgetting a course and there is enough drinking at these events that I think beer should count)

These work parties are really all about getting to know your fellow staff members (see course #5 above - beer is the ultimate "social lubricant" in Japan), and even though I didn't attend the sports-festival that the party was celebrating, I was ultimately glad I attended the party. It was a little different from past work parties I've been to, however. For one thing, I used mostly Japanese all evening. I got to know a lot of new coworkers, though, while talking more with others I have already been forming relationships with. I don't expect to get to know people as well at my new school because it's one day a week (and only for this year), but I would say the party was a success in that I now feel much more like "part of this staff."
The highlight of the night had to have been when one of the top-level staff members stood up to give his speech (everyone had to give speeches - included my foreign coworker and myself), said about three words, and then decided he had to go to the bathroom and walked out, everyone just watching him to. We all just chuckled a bit, waited for him to come back, and then listened as he told this story about - get this - his hemorrhoids! His whole speech was about the problems he has gotten from from riding his bike (with hand-motions to help illustrate the hemorrhoids coming out) and then about how sitting "seiza" (traditional Japanese style, on your toes) at the party has made his hemorrhoids flair again. The guy seriously talked about this for over 10 minutes. At another point in the evening, a group of former students (who were apparently having dinner in another room) also crashed the party, freaking-out when they saw all the drunk teachers... but I never knew the kids so it didn't mean much to me.
The dinner lasted for about two-and-a-half hours. Afterwards, a large group had gotten together for a karaoke nijikai (second-round party), I had already made plans to meet up with other friends, so I thanked everyone and left.

I had taken the bus to the station (flat tire's still not fixed...) so my coworker - who left when I did - and I futarinori'd it (rode two on a bike) to Harima Town (about 10 minutes) and met some friends at the local pub. I definitely didn't need to drink anymore at this point (sushi, beer and lots of toasts don't make for the most sober of nights), but it was a good time and the walk home from the pub provided some much-needed air before bedtime.

Sat
I was up pretty early on Saturday morning. It was raining on-and-off-again outside so our monthly, 8am group-gardening session was cancelled. This was good news, but I was already up and was supposed to meet the old ladies at 10am (and planned to do the fashion museum after), so I used the extra time to go for a jogg. Glad I went. Running right after the light rain was a nice little break from the weather... it's getting cooler outside, but it has still been really humid.
I met the ladies at 10am, had a really good conversation about pretty much everything, but left feeling a little ill after not eating breakfast and staying an hour past the normal time, gorging on the most glorious homemade macaroons :p I got an email from my friend Ben saying he was going to be near the Fashion Museum, so I made lunch plans for Subway Sandwiches, hoping some real food would help.
Unfortunately, I hit train delays on both the Sanyo and JR lines, which meant lunch happened a lot later than I expected it to, but I finally made it in time for a toasted, turkey Subway sandwich (pretty much the only place I can get Turkey here!) and a quick trip through the fashion museum.

Visiting the Kobe Fashion Museum
The Kobe Fashion Museum's exterior may not be as shiny as the Guggenheim, but the building is almost as dramatic, giving you a preface that what you are about to discover inside is going to be worth the trip to this small, international island in the middle of Kobe. I have honestly been trying to get to this museum since I arrived in Japan, and even though it's not far from where I live, this was my first visit.

On the inside, the museum itself is small (the building houses several other galleries, a library and shops) and does not have much English (a problem with most museums and large exhibits in Japan), but I liked how spacious and open the place was. The fashion exhibits, specifically, include a permanent collection with an array of costumes and clothing from around the world. They do an alright job of covering various historical periods, even showcasing reproductions of Napoleon's correnation clothing and 18th century garb from America and Europe. I was a little disappointed because I expected there to be more actual historical pieces from famous individuals (based on the museum's advertisements of these collections) rather than reproductions, but it was still cool to see the size of the garbs (Napolean, for example) and I was pleasantly surprised by the more hands-on approach the museum took. There are pairs of white gloves next to many of the costumes, and they allow you to touch them in addition to observing them, also offering books of patterns showing how the costumes were made. For me, it added a layer of understanding to how each piece was made and made me focus more on the evolution of clothing design and style (by looking at what changed from one pattern, or material choice, to the next). I didn't spend as much time as I thought I would at the Fashion Museum's current special exhibition, focusing on Chinese dresses (I found most of the dresses rundundant and there was zero information in English).

One of my friends coincidentally went to the museum the day after me, and I apparently missed a photography exhibit on the 4th floor of the building, but my ticket also granted me access to a small gallery of paintings by local (Kobe) artists that I enjoyed.

So yeah, I would recommend going to the museum, but think it would be most worthwhile to go during an exhibit you really want to see (for me, it was the french prints) and I would plan in time to explore the island (which hosts the Canadian Academy and feels like a foreign country to some extent). They occassionally have weekend fleamarkets outside the museum, too.

End of the Night
After lunch, Ben hadn't wanted to come into the museum with me, but he waited for me when I finished and we went for a walk in a nearby park before catching a Rokko Liner (special train for Rokko Island) back to Kobe. We were heading seperate directions, but decided to stop in Uniqlo, the Japanese GAP, for a few minutes and ended up spending over an hour there. I got some killer deals, including a pair of my favorite (now discontinued) jeans on sale (FOR $10!!), but both of us realized we really needed to stop shopping and forced ourselves out of the store.

A konbini beer and a few hours of rugby later, the night ended after a great day. It was especially sweet when I learned that Goran fixed my harddrive!! The harddrive itself is supposedly in "itty-bitty-bits" but Goran has the data - including my pictures! - so I can finally let out a big sigh of relief.

Sun
I stayed in Amagasaki pretty late on Saturday, so I spent the night there and headed into Osaka to meet up with some Japanese friends on Sunday, the next morning. I was meeting up with Daisuke, Rumi and some other friends haven't seen in almost a year. I used to spend a lot of time with them when my friend Jane was living here, but I guess we have just grown apart and I finally realized it had been too long.
I met the group of about 15 people in a little cafe garden near Nishi-Umeda station. I had really come just to catch up with Dai-chan and my friend Rumiko, but the dynamic of that group has defiitely changed since I used to hang out with them. A few people now have kids (Rumiko had a baby about 3 months ago and my friend Yupi brought his 9 month old) and life situations have definitely changed, but it was really nice to catch up. I need to do it again :)

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri
After lunch, I met Dave, Chris and Richie at Osaka Station and we headed to the famous Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri (Cart-pulling Festival) in south Osaka. This festival was by far one of the best I have been to so far, and ended on an interesting note when I fell in a "gaijin trap" (uncovered, roadside sewer), but I'll write about it in another post...

Monday
I stayed at a friend's in Kishiwada on Sunday night with a group of friends. On Monday, a few of us decided to take advantage of the free day and drove to Koyasan, the holy Buddhist mountain in Wakayama Prefecture that Claire and I did a temple stay at.

It seemed a little strange just driving up to the mountain, which took about an hour and a half to get to from where we were (versus taking train for hours and making a weekend of it), but the trip made for really beautiful sightseeing and a relaxing afternoon. Actually, it was sort of the epitome of a picturesque mountain drive, with windy-roads, stunning-green, deciduous landscapes along steep cliffs and pretty mountain views over fog-clouded treetops.

When we arrived at the top of Mt. Koya, we had ramen, the local specialty, for lunch (was far less salty than what I'm used to... really delicious) and went for a walk in the rain. The main temple actually provided umbrellas to borrow and the rain and fog gave the path a more romantic feeling, especially since the place was almost empty, so it was a great time.

On the way back to town, we stopped at a gas station to get some snacks and something to drink. One of the people I was with made a comment about how lucky we are (something along the lones of "what a life we lead"...) and I have to admit, he was right. We're pretty lucky.... great weekend.