The Great Outdoors

Since this is the time of year in which we first arrived in Japan, many things are reminding me of that time.  Things such as the deafening sound of a bajillion happy frogs in a rainstorm, the state of my yard, and the merchandise being offered in stores.

One thing I did not know before I moved here is how much Japanese people love to camp and cook out.  And they have the cutest, tiniest camping paraphernalia here.  In Aeon there is currently a display (the exact same one that was there last year) of camping equipment complete with mannequins.

they look like they're having a good time, don't they?

the telescope is a nice touch

In the first photo, see if you can find the teeny tiny grill. 

Don't see it?  Here.

This is pretty much the only style of grill available here.  Charcoal only, from what I've seen.  I actually finally bought us one yesterday (after eyeing them for a year) but I got the deluxe model that is twice as wide and has a tray attachment for small food.  But it's still a teeny tiny grill.  Hopefully we'll get around to actually using it.

Update 6/22/12: I saw big American-style grills at Costco recently.  But the Japanese people weren't paying them that much attention.  You can also get other large camping equipment (i.e. tents) at Costco in early summer.

I also purchased another thing that I have been eyeing for a year.  The company sends some dudes to mow our yard twice a year, but it just hasn't been quite enough.  By the end of last summer my front yard was a mosquito-infested jungle.  So I bought a lawn mower.  Not just any lawn mower, but a Japanese lawn mower.  It may be the most awesomely ridiculous and adorable thing I have ever purchased.

In the photo above are the two styles of lawn mowers available here.  One is old-school manual, but another expat got one of those with her house and reported that it wasn't that great.   So I bought the yellow electric one (approximately $175).  It's child-sized.  And it plugs in.  Like a vacuum.  It's awesome.   (It really bothers Chad when I talk about it like that so if anyone else out there thinks I'm a moron, YES, I realize it has a blade in it.  It's the same as the manual mower, but with a tiny little motor in it.)

yes, I scalped it a little

And you have to squeeze the handle to make it cut--because it's a toy--so I think it would be really hard to cut off an appendage.  I think the biggest problem I'll have is keeping the cord out of the way--because it's a vacuum cleaner.  In fact, I'm probably going to call it the yard vacuum, because "lawn mower" is pushing it a little.

The only bad part about it? 

It terrifies my frogs.

he's not too alarmed, because he's up high, but his friends on
the ground were freaking out

Our 1st Japanniversary

Exactly one year ago today I was more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life.  I'd been living out of two suitcases for weeks.  I was freaking out a little and wondering if I could handle five years in this strange new place.  I was about to spend several jetlagged nights watching subtitled American movies at 3am.  I thought my house smelled funny (when it has been shut up awhile it has an odor which always reminds me of those first nights here).  I'd never seen such liberal use of concrete.  I hoped I could easily and quickly find a toaster, bathroom rugs and a toothbrush holder (I did).   Throwing out the garbage correctly was a major accomplishment.  So was doing laundry.  I had no idea that a rice paddy full of frogs could be so LOUD.  I had no idea how much I was going to miss central-heating-and-air-conditioning.  And I had no idea how cold it could get in the winter.  I didn't know how much I would grow to miss real American hotdogs.  Or decent sour cream.   I didn't think there was any way I'd ever be able to pass the Japanese driver's exam. Heck, I doubted I'd ever be able to find my way back to my own house. I also didn't think I'd ever be able to get myself into Tokyo on the train alone (I can).  Much less be able to navigate the Tokyo subway system (I can....more or less).  I didn't know how really nice, quiet and thoughtful most Japanese people are.  I probably could not have managed a full, coherent conversation in Japanese.  I thought I'd shrivel up and die from lack of Internet. I was about to go to Starbucks and McDonald's a lot.  I had a pretty good idea how nice it would be not to have a traditional 9-5 job.  I had no idea how to say "Yes, I'm expecting a baby." in Japanese.

I had no idea what an everyday adventure I was going to have!

Down South

This week is Golden Week (a big holiday extravaganza that I will hopefully post more about later) and since Chad doesn't have to work, we booked a trip to Yokohama.  Yokohama is on the southern coast of Japan, not too far from southwestern Tokyo.  We stayed in the Minato Mirai area, which is basically a tourist trap (malls, restaurants, arcades, ferris wheel, museums, etc.) right on Tokyo Bay.

Worth mentioning is that Yokohama was where a lot of foreigners first entered Japan in the 1800's after the country opened itself up to outsiders again.  So it has a long history of foreign influence---much more so than other parts of the country.  And of course, Yokohama was where a lot of the WWII action went down.

We pretty much just walked around, ate (Cold Stone Creamery, El Torito Mexican, and whatever other American food we could find) and shopped for a router because we forgot our travel router and the world crashes down around us when we don't have WiFi in our hotel room.

the giant Cosmo Clock 21 (at one time the tallest ferris wheel in the world)
and the amusement park area along the bay

looking the other direction, arcades and pleasure boats, hotels in the background

the Nippon Maru, (a retired sailor training ship) sitting in the bay at night

nighttime view of Yokohama from our hotel room

On Sunday we took the trains out to the Kamakura area, mainly to see the Kamakura Daibatsu (enormous Buddha statue) at the  Buddhist Temple Kōtoku-in.  I was surprised to find that the area around the temple was another tourist trap and also a beach town.  There were surf shops, ice-cream parlors and souvenir shops everywhere.  We even sniffed out a burger joint for lunch.  There were also a bajillion people, which Chad was very happy about because he looooves being in crowds of tourists.

you can see Chad standing in the middle of the street
here---all those poor people have no idea that he's on
the verge of a murderous rampage.....

As I said, the "beach town" aspect of the area around the temple was a little bit of a surprise. Initially we thought we should have stayed in a hotel there so we could enjoy the water too, but on closer inspection the beach was pretty nasty. Not polluted, because Japanese people don't litter, but just small and slimy with ocean goop. It seemed to be mostly a beach for surfing.

windsurfers

Anyway, the Diabatsu was pretty cool to see, but we didn't go inside of it (for an extra fee) as we had heard that it wasn't really worth it.  History tells that the statue was built in the 1200's and had a building around it that washed away in a tsunami (as did subsequent rebuilds) so in the 1400's people just gave up and let Buddha sit in the open air.

O ye who treated the Narrow Way
By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,
Be gentle when "the heathen" pray
To Buddha at Kamakura!

To him the Way, the Law, apart,
Whom Maya held beneath her heart,
Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat,

The Buddha of Kamakura.

For though he neither burns nor sees,
Nor hears ye thank your Deities,
Ye have not sinned with such as these,
His children at Kamakura,

Yet spare us still the Western joke
When joss-sticks turn to scented smoke
The little sins of little folk
That worship at Kamakura —

The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies
That flit beneath the Master's eyes.
He is beyond the Mysteries
But loves them at Kamakura.

And whoso will, from Pride released,
Contemning neither creed nor priest,
May feel the Soul of all the East
About him at Kamakura.

Yea, every tale Ananda heard,
Of birth as fish or beast or bird,
While yet in lives the Master stirred,
The warm wind brings Kamakura.

Till drowsy eyelids seem to see
A-flower 'neath her golden htee
The Shwe-Dagon flare easterly
From Burmah to Kamakura,

And down the loaded air there comes
The thunder of Thibetan drums,
And droned — "Om mane padme hums" —
A world's-width from Kamakura.

Yet Brahmans rule Benares still,
Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill,
And beef-fed zealots threaten ill
To Buddha and Kamakura.

A tourist-show, a legend told,
A rusting bulk of bronze and gold,
So much, and scarce so much, ye hold
The meaning of Kamakura?

But when the morning prayer is prayed,
Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade,
Is God in human image made
No nearer than Kamakura?

---Rudyard Kipling