My second-to-last weekend in Japan (and my last weekend before the fellowship officially ends) has been absolutely surreal. I got back to the lab on Wednesday and stayed busy finishing up lab work, getting protocols written and looked over by Dr. Ogino, doing laundry and getting organized for my travels post-fellowship, putting together a gift for the lab, etc etc. On Friday after work I took the shinkansen to Yokohama to meet up with my friend Peter for drinks at Sandfish (the bar/restaurant where the barbeque was on Sunday) and karaoke with his lab/Yokosuka friends. I was delayed getting into town by 20 minutes; the train arrived about 5 minutes late and came to a dead stop twice. I knew something was going on, as the signs on the train and platforms had red kanji and had things like “2-46 minutes” flashing for each train, but I had no idea what was going on! Turns out there was actually a sizeable earthquake that afternoon in Northeast Japan; Peter felt it pretty strongly in his office at work and said it was the biggest one he’d felt in the lab the entire trip. Once I made it to Yokosuka I had some drinks, talked with some people I’d met at the barbeque on Sunday and made some new friends, and then around 1 am we headed out for karaoke. It was an absolute blast! We sang until the first train and then I crashed on Peter’s couch at 5:30 am.
The sleep only lasted a short time, however, as I was out the door by 8 am to catch the train back to Toyohashi (near where I live) to meet Murakami-sensei at the train station for a barbeque with the karate senseis, including the grandmaster. We went to Lake Hamana, the giant saltwater lake that I went to with my lab mates when I first got to Okazaki. But this time I got to enjoy the lake by jet ski, which was absolutely amazing. The grandmaster took me on several rides, and we cruised across Hamanako going up to 75 kph (whoa!). A cold front had recently moved in and it was cloudy and cool. You would think that a hot, sunny day would be preferable for the lake but it was actually amazing for me since it had been so hot all summer. I relished the cooler temperature as we sped around this amazing lake surrounded by mountains amidst a soft blanket of gray clouds. It was absolutely breathtaking and I felt like I was in a beautiful dream the whole time. Along with jet skiing, we also went tubing. I did it the baby way at first (when you sit in the tube) but then for my second run I did it the manly way with my feet behind me; everyone was pretty impressed especially when I managed to stay on the tube on the big turns. Hopefully it made up for the fact that I screamed like a little girl when we went over waves on the jet ski!
After we got cleaned up (it started to rain after we got out of the boat, good timing!) we drove back to the dojo for my last karate lesson with the grandmaster. We did some warm-ups while the grandmaster got ready, and then when he came up to the practice area he gave me a uniform. I was absolutely stunned; these uniforms (the heavy weight ones) are really nice and I did NOT expect to get this as a gift! I put it on and then the grandmaster taught me more about budo and we did some sparring practice. I was a bit worn out at this time (see previous paragraphs re: amount of sleep) but I had an amazing time and I am so grateful for the chance to learn from such a nice and experience grandmaster. It’s inspired me to make the effort to get back into martial arts when I get back to America. After the lesson, we went to an Izakaya. I initially compared it to tapas-style restaurants, where you order small dishes to share, but I think you get a lot more food when you eat at Izakaya. It’s really fun to do it with a big group and participate in the shuffling of plates as the food comes and goes. We had lots of sashimi, edamame, salad, chicken…after an epic day and a big meal I was absolutely exhausted. After saying good-bye to everyone (and after grandmaster gave me yet another gift: a digital photo frame with pictures they took that day! Wow!) Murakami-sensei drove me home and I passed out on my bed at 12:30.
Needless to say 6 am came fast, and I grabbed my swimsuit and a change of clothes and met up with the lab at 6:30 to head to a beach that was an hour outside of town. It was cloudy and cool again, but the water was warm and the beach was nice and quiet. Anthony (a visiting student from France) and I swam and hung out on the swim dock while we chatted. I also watched Miyagawa-san, Miyakawa-san, and Toyota-san fish and was able to sit on the rocks and enjoy the beautiful beach scenery. I love these mountain-side beaches because I hardly ever see that kind of scenery, especially in Florida. After a couple of hours at the beach, we went to a nearby onsen. I wasn’t as nervous to be naked this time and really enjoyed the chance to relax in the hot spring, especially with the cooler weather than my last onsen. I talked with Dr. Ogino for a while and then we went back to Okazaki for lunch. There is a new casual restaurant near the lab that has steak and a Salad Viking. What? Yes, Salad Viking. I asked Dr. Ogino why they called it Salad Viking and she told me that in Japan they use that word for a buffet/all you can eat style menu. I thought this was absolutely hilarious and told her what a Viking was and why it produced a funny image in my head. We had a good laugh about it J After lunch I went back to my apartment to start packing. I have a lot of stuff but I managed to get all of it in my bag. I’m sending my large suitcase to the airport tomorrow; there are several companies that will transport and store your luggage at the airport for you. It’s really nice because now I don’t have to haul around a giant bag while sightseeing next week.
Other than drinking a green tea latte from Starbucks (amazing, by the way) and finishing up packing, the evening was pretty chill. I will definitely sleep well tonight after such an amazing weekend!
I’ll post an update while sightseeing next week with some final thoughts on my summer, and of course my impressions of Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto (again!), and Nara. Until then…jaa mata ne!
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