On this fine Monday we headed out to a place
that was overflowing with traditional Japanese arts. The building was
historical, and well-maintained, with tatami and wooden floors. The surrounding
gardens were also beautiful to see. I don't recall needing to go to the
bathroom here but I do remember that they were also traditional style- holes in
the ground :P
In this place, there were three sort of lessons going on. I say lessons because they taught us how to perform them, but it was very brief. Our group split into two at first, about six and six at first to start flower arrangement or the tea ceremony. For those of us who went to the tea ceremony first, I hope I can recall some of that awkwardness. Somehow I ended up sitting in the first spot, so I stumbled semi-gracefully through the process. I do appreciate our translator-dude that tagged along, but I was more confused from listening to the ladies instructions with a follow-up dub in English. Basically every move was questionable, and awkward, but hey, it was pretty darn good tea and the sweet that came with it was also delicious. I really should figure out what those are called... *googles* Scratch that, I will ask someone later.
While we were doing the tea ceremony there were a couple of musicians playing traditional instruments: shakuhachi, koto and shamisen. Dr. Hara challenged us all to try; in the past, he said, only a few students were able to create a sound with the shakuhachi, a kind of flute like instrument where you have to blow at the right angle to find the sound. My memory is fuzzy, but I want to say Tim, Matt?, Lynnette and I were the four that managed to squeeze it out. I also briefly tried the koto, which was actually kind of fun. The lady taught me about 4 notes at a time, but when we got past 12? I was mentally shot.
Our groups finally switched around after a while and I had the chance to try my hand at flower arranging. I remembered from a show that I saw before (I want to say it was Cyberchase) that a triangle was the key. I did my best to get a triangle; I ended up with an odd stepping tower and a looonng outstretching piece for a skewed triangle. The lady who was there to help us helped me shorten things up a bit. I think Dr. Hara took a picture...
After our afternoon of fun we headed out. This isn't noted in my journal, but this must have been the day we went to the "steak house". Pretty much everything on the menu was some form of hamburger, only not served on a bun. I think that I order chicken something, or something that wasn't a fancy hamburger cause it might have had pork mixed in with it :/ Lynnette got a cheeseburger that we dubbed "chee-suvius". It was filled with cheese on the inside that ran out like lava!!
Oh-! Before I forget, we also went to the Mikawa Port and got a fun plastic folder from them! :) There was tons of cars that went through there, and even a small car museum on the first floor. There was a little track that consisted of one deep valley and a pit afterward. The goal was to push the car enough so it lands on the other-top side of the valley, without going too far into the pit. My first car didn't make it very well and it veered off and crashed. Of course, Dr. Hara laughed and said he's never riding with me. But then, with a different car, I made a comeback and executed the land/stop perfectly... when no one was watching.
This day was also the day that we met the Mayor of Toyohashi. 'Met' maybe isn't the right word, since we all just say in the same room with him as he welcomed us and exchanged gifts with Dr. Hara. We did briefly go around the room and introduce ourselves though. At the end, we also took a group picture which would appear in the paper. For some reason, it always seems like group pictures are kind of awkward, especially when you stand there for a while wondering if the dozen or so cameras are going to stop anytime soon.
With another long day over it was time to return to our host family. As I mentioned they have two cats! Yu-chan and Mi-chan, they called them. Yu-chan is a very energetic orange cat, who I tried to befriend but he kept running around. Mi-chan was an Egyptian Mao, tiger-like chat, female and slightly older. She was definitely the calmer one. The Shiba Inu (whose name escapes me!) is super cute... I kinda want one >_<!
For dinner we ate sukiyaki, which. was. DELICIOUS! For those who aren't aware, sukiyaki pretty much mean what you like to eat [/fry]. There was a large wooden pot with a variety of vegetables and beef. In an individual bowl you can crack and egg to dig the aforementioned goodies into, and then eat it over a bowl of rice. So good. So very good.
In this place, there were three sort of lessons going on. I say lessons because they taught us how to perform them, but it was very brief. Our group split into two at first, about six and six at first to start flower arrangement or the tea ceremony. For those of us who went to the tea ceremony first, I hope I can recall some of that awkwardness. Somehow I ended up sitting in the first spot, so I stumbled semi-gracefully through the process. I do appreciate our translator-dude that tagged along, but I was more confused from listening to the ladies instructions with a follow-up dub in English. Basically every move was questionable, and awkward, but hey, it was pretty darn good tea and the sweet that came with it was also delicious. I really should figure out what those are called... *googles* Scratch that, I will ask someone later.
While we were doing the tea ceremony there were a couple of musicians playing traditional instruments: shakuhachi, koto and shamisen. Dr. Hara challenged us all to try; in the past, he said, only a few students were able to create a sound with the shakuhachi, a kind of flute like instrument where you have to blow at the right angle to find the sound. My memory is fuzzy, but I want to say Tim, Matt?, Lynnette and I were the four that managed to squeeze it out. I also briefly tried the koto, which was actually kind of fun. The lady taught me about 4 notes at a time, but when we got past 12? I was mentally shot.
Our groups finally switched around after a while and I had the chance to try my hand at flower arranging. I remembered from a show that I saw before (I want to say it was Cyberchase) that a triangle was the key. I did my best to get a triangle; I ended up with an odd stepping tower and a looonng outstretching piece for a skewed triangle. The lady who was there to help us helped me shorten things up a bit. I think Dr. Hara took a picture...
After our afternoon of fun we headed out. This isn't noted in my journal, but this must have been the day we went to the "steak house". Pretty much everything on the menu was some form of hamburger, only not served on a bun. I think that I order chicken something, or something that wasn't a fancy hamburger cause it might have had pork mixed in with it :/ Lynnette got a cheeseburger that we dubbed "chee-suvius". It was filled with cheese on the inside that ran out like lava!!
Oh-! Before I forget, we also went to the Mikawa Port and got a fun plastic folder from them! :) There was tons of cars that went through there, and even a small car museum on the first floor. There was a little track that consisted of one deep valley and a pit afterward. The goal was to push the car enough so it lands on the other-top side of the valley, without going too far into the pit. My first car didn't make it very well and it veered off and crashed. Of course, Dr. Hara laughed and said he's never riding with me. But then, with a different car, I made a comeback and executed the land/stop perfectly... when no one was watching.
This day was also the day that we met the Mayor of Toyohashi. 'Met' maybe isn't the right word, since we all just say in the same room with him as he welcomed us and exchanged gifts with Dr. Hara. We did briefly go around the room and introduce ourselves though. At the end, we also took a group picture which would appear in the paper. For some reason, it always seems like group pictures are kind of awkward, especially when you stand there for a while wondering if the dozen or so cameras are going to stop anytime soon.
With another long day over it was time to return to our host family. As I mentioned they have two cats! Yu-chan and Mi-chan, they called them. Yu-chan is a very energetic orange cat, who I tried to befriend but he kept running around. Mi-chan was an Egyptian Mao, tiger-like chat, female and slightly older. She was definitely the calmer one. The Shiba Inu (whose name escapes me!) is super cute... I kinda want one >_<!
For dinner we ate sukiyaki, which. was. DELICIOUS! For those who aren't aware, sukiyaki pretty much mean what you like to eat [/fry]. There was a large wooden pot with a variety of vegetables and beef. In an individual bowl you can crack and egg to dig the aforementioned goodies into, and then eat it over a bowl of rice. So good. So very good.
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