Home

So I'm finally back in the states, and my trip home was thankfully not delayed by winter weather. I was afraid on both sides of the pacific that snow might be an issue because on my last day in Japan it finally snowed. It was somewhat strange however, because it snowed mostly to the north of where I left from, so I didn't have to walk through it at all. I figured that it might be an issue when the trains pulled into the station with about 6 inches of snow resting on the roofs. I got on my train, and got a chance to see the winter wonderland that Japan had become in a few short hours since I had slept the night before.




My only short delay was pulling into 'Maibara' where I had to connect to the bullet train. Because of the snow the trains were slightly backed up, so I was closely looking at my watch, hoping that I could make my connection in time. I sprinted through the station, and hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train), bound for Tokyo. As I got to the platform the train was about to leave, so I wasn't entirely sure that it was the right train. On the train itself I sat next to a very nice older gentlemen whom I started chatting with. He assured me that it was heading in the right direction, and even gave me his coke as a gift when I got off.


The snow looked awful from the bullet train. It could be just because we were going so fast, but I couldn't see 100 ft out the window on my way down to Nagoya. As I was looking at the snow, all I could help but think was how glad I was that I didn't have to bike through any of it. At the airport, it hadn't snowed at all, and in fact most of the plants around were still quite green. The end result was that I got a fun train-ride through snow, and didn't have to deal with walking, biking, or driving through any of it.


At the airport, it was a pretty standard procedure. I got through without any delays, and because my flight was somewhat earlier in the morning, there weren't many people going through security or checking baggage. I got on board and as it got closer to departure time, I realized that there weren't going to be any people sitting on either side of me, and I could move over to the aisle for free. That made the trip so much better. However the family ahead of me brought their 9-month old girl along. While cute, she ended up screaming for most of the flight.


After 12 hours in the air, 2 meals, and about 5 failed attempts to sleep, we got to Detroit on-time and disembarked  toward customs. The entire customs area of the Detroit airport is a very grim place. There really aren't many open spaces, all the walls are bare, and there are intimidating federal agents waiting to randomly select people for closer questioning. Waiting in line to get my passport checked there were TV screens along the walls with a very 'Patriotic' video playing. All the images were of 'American' images: young boy on the farm, successful businessman in New York, the entrepreneur with their small business, etc. It was very cheesy, and I couldn't really understand why it was there. Were they trying to convince incoming foreigners that everyone is happy and successful in America? or remind the returning citizens that their country is best? I mentally scoffed, and went through customs, hoping I could leave without being questioned by the agents. I was tired and felt like getting through there as fast as possible.


I picked up my baggage, got through the last customs checkpoint ("What were you doing in Japan?" "Studying". "Do you understand any of that stuff?" -- the customs guy actually asked me this), and was on my merry way home. That afternoon I took a trip to the grocery store, in hopes to stay awake until at least 7pm. It was very strange to have gone from Japan that morning to shopping for bread back home. It could've been the exhaustion, but I had a hard time comprehending that. It was also strange to understand everything around me: signs, announcements, other people's conversations. I had been used to not even trying to listen or looks for those things, so it was refreshing to be able to find my way around without looking too lost. 


I also realized that I have to think about what I say when I'm back home now. In Japan I held a general assumption that no one could understand what I would say in English. This was a dangerous assumption, but I felt it held mostly true. My friends and I could talk freely on the train, and we were pretty certain no one around us could understand what we were saying. Now that I'm home, I have to remember that people can definitely understand everything I say. It's not that we would say bad things about the people around us, but there was just a sense of security in Japan. It was kinda nice knowing that no one could eavesdrop on your conversation. 


The first night home, I was aiming to crash around 7:00pm, but I didn't make it to 5:00. I fell asleep at 4:30pm and then woke up 12 hours later. It was a good chance to chat with people back in Japan, but I hope to be back on schedule before Christmas. As I'm writing this I woke up (naturally) around 5:30am. 


It has been good to be home. I'm looking forward to Christmas with the family, seeing friends again, and taking some other classes besides Japanese. I'm going to miss Japan in general, but I'm really glad that I had the chance go while I did. Who knows? I might end up back there someday.

Fire Festival

On Sunday, the city where I live (Yokaichi) had a fire festival at the local Shinto shrine. I can see this shrine every morning on my way to the train station because its built on Taroubogu mountain (I climbed it in one of my earlier posts). I always think of some esoteric Buddhist sect, meditating on the mountaintop even though this is not even close to what the shrine is like.

From Fire Festival

Anyway, on this day a large pyre was erected in the parking lot. Covered with evergreen branches, this pyre is for the incineration (and therefore offering) of wishes written on wooden slats. Throughout the year, visitors to the shrine can pay a small offering and receive a wooden slat to write wishes on, and then once a year (during this festival) the priests of the temple throw the wishes into the pyre. This is meant to symbolize the offering up of the wishes to the god, who will then act on behalf of your wish.

From Fire Festival

The festival was attended by many locals, but also a few tourists who came to see the festivities. The whole ceremony lasted about 3 hours, and was full of archaic Japanese and Shinto imagery. Here you can see them chanting before the start of the ceremony:

From Fire Festival

I had almost no idea what the imagery was supposed to represent, but here's a cool video of some guys with axes:



After about 2 hours, the priests finally lit the pyre, and started tossing the wishes into the flames. Immediatly after the fire was started the smoke became intense:

From Fire Festival

From Fire Festival

From Fire Festival

The smoke lasted for about 20 minutes, and afterwards the priests started tossing bundles of wishes into the flames. After every wish was burnt, the priests took some hot coals from the ashes and laid out a path of flames for the brave to walk across. Old women, children, and everyday adults lined up to walk across hot coals. "If these frail people could walk across fire, why can't I" were my thoughts at the time, so I hopped in line and waited my turn.

From Fire Festival

From Fire Festival

You had to remove your socks and shoes, and then scurry across the logs laid out on the coals. Honestly, the worst part was the thick smoke coming from the very green logs that were set on the coals. The smoke got in my eyes, and I teared up a bit, but my feet didn't even get singed. After you rubbed the stinging sensation out of your eyes, some priests gave you a stick to remember your "walk of fire" by, and you were on your merry way.

Overall it was a very "bright" morning.