Wow, is it hot today. It's 29 (84) and the wind is really strong. Sometime during the past week, I started having an allergic reaction to something here and my nose and eyes are driving me nuts. At home, I don't have allergies, but apparently here, something is reacting rather violently with me. It really sucks.
Now, about my day yesterday. We were barely home long enough for me to write yesterday's entry and program my vcr when she asked if I was ready to go to Goryokaku. I didn't know we were leaving so early, but it didn't really matter, so I said yes.
We got to the park around 5:30 and she bought tickets for the tower. The deal with Goryokaku Park is that it is the remains of the first Western-style fort in Japan. Its name comes from its shape, which is that of a star. Apparently, a star shaped fort is virtually impenetrable because the fort has no blind spots. All along, I was under the impression that it would be like the forts I'd visited back in the states, ie actual ruins of buildings and other interesting stuff. But this is nothing but the moat and lots and lots of trees [the earthworks which defined the shape of the fort are still there, but they'd just be a low hill from ground level]. It really is nothing more than a park. It has a perimeter walking and bicycle track and many other walking trails but that's it. So when you pay 630 yen to go to the top of the tower, you see trees, buildings, people, cars, but no fort.
Because the valley is so flat, from most any high point, like my bedroom window, you can see for miles in any direction. It's really amazing on a clear day. Yesterday was just such a day. From the tower, I could literally see everything that there is here. I had no idea where the ocean stopped and the land started before yesterday becasue the weather has been so shitty for most of my stay. This morning, I discovered that I can see the bay from my bedroom window. Up to now, all I'd seen was haze or clouds. The weather today is really beautiful. Like a spring or autumn day back home.
Anyway, the tower and its little building were full of expensive tacky shit and we didn't stay long. There wasn't much to do in the tower except buy shit, have your palm read, or pay to use a telescope. They make you get out of the elevator on the second floor so you have more opportunities to spend money.
From the tower building, we went to a nearby ramen restaurant (actually, they're ALL nearby; they are literally everywhere) over an antiques store which was across from the Catholic Lucky Pierrot. It was delicious. From our table, I could watch the guy prepare our bowls. There weren't many customers and the staff was amused by my enthusiasm for watching ramen being made.
After that, we went back to the park and gave our tickets to some women who gave us round woven straw ass pads. We walked past more people trying to make us buy stuff to some metal bleachers and then I knew why they gave us ass pads. They were all corroded aluminum and kind of dirty.
The sun was still quite high when we sat down at 6:30 and a soothing female voice over the loudspeaker as saying "Please wait a little longer". For over an hour she said that. There weren't many people when we got there, but as it got darker, it began to get really crowded. While we were waiting, host mom told me that Jakobina was going to be in the show on Aug. 9th. I still had no idea what it was going to be so I was really confused. A little later, another pale, orange-haired classmate showed up with her host family, so we flagged them down and they sat with us. She was also going to be in the show and was there last night for observation.
They keep asking me if I want to do stuff without actually telling me what it is or what is involved, so of course, I say no. After last night, I finally got to see what a lot of the stuff was. They asked me did I want to be in the show. At first, I said no, but afterwards, I said I did.
It turned out to be a Hakodate history show reminiscent of 'Unto these Hills' in Cherokee, NC, only it was good. There was lots of dancing and music and traditional costume and war reenactment. The stage consisted of a platform over the water, the area in front of the bleachers, the water, and two tiers of fort land, so the audience was separated from the main stage by water. They had real horses and when they acted out their early battle scenes, the atmosphere was fantastic. The natural scenery and artificial lighting made it look just like a samurai movie. Periodically, people in boats were part of the show.
They acted out significant events in Hakodate's history, like assasinations of daimyo (?) [daimyo were regional military governors subordinate to the shogun], arrivial of Christians, and the arrival of Commodore Perry. Apparently he came here first [he actually landed twice in what is now Tokyo Bay before being allowed access to the port at Hakodate, which had previously been open only to Dutch traders]. I thought it was really sad when they switched from katana to guns. There was one officer in one of the gun battles who refused to carry a gun and killed 4 or 5 people with his katana. Then the enemy ranks shot him down from afar.
They put little replicas of the steeples of the Hakodate skyline above the trees which were very realistic. When they got to WWII time, the stage went dark and you heard an air-raid siren and airplanes. The spotlights began waving about over the trees and steeples. At first, it was really scary, becasue it felt like I was really there in 1942. It became less realistic as more lights came on, but for a moment, it was really powerful.
There were several dance numbers, including ballet, jazz, and traditional stuff. They reenacted the fire that wiped out most of Motomachi (the old part) in 1908 or so. Also, portions of the port festival parade. That's where I learned what the hell 'odoru' is. They've been pestering me about that for weeks. All it is is some arm-waving dance that women do while wearing yukata. I can do that. And as far as being in the show, I think all you do is be one of the people dressed in 1850's European clothing and hold the flag of England, France, Portuagal, or Spain (?). I can do that, too. I've come to the conclusion that what I don't like about Japan is modern stuff. I still love old Japan. It was getting me kind of down to think I might not like Japan after all.
The finale consisted of a handful of fireworks and all the participants and audience waving small flashlights in the air. Not terribly interesting, but it was ok, because the show was good.
When we got home, Hiroshi was finishing a cup noodle and host dad wasn't even here. Hiroshi told me a funny story about a children's song about goats. A white goat sent a black goat a letter. The black goat ate the letter instead of reading it, and sent the white goat a letter. White goat ate the letter without reading it and sent black goat a letter. And it goes on from there. I didn't know what animal he was trying to describe so he drew me a funny picture of a goat.
This morning, I watched the stuff I'd taped but didn't watch. Around 11, I ate some FROSTIES and host mom said she was taking me to the post office to mail my package. She said we had less than an hour to get there and that we had to hurry. I didn't know she was going to take me all the way accross town to go to the post office that's open briefly on Saturday. I did as I was told, and when I got the address/customs form, I nearly couldn't remember my own address and phone number. The postage was really expensive, but I knew it would be. Only I nearly didn't have enough cash to cover it. I had exactly enough bills and had to use coins to cover the rest.
From there, we stopped at a grocery store that also sold clothes and used cd's. Once again, people tried to force me to eat stuff. I had to eat fish jerky (eww) and I drew the line there. I wasn't about to eat red fish eggs.
We left there and stopped at their factory, which is also where her garden is. She picked a bunch of vegetables and we came home and ate somen [somen are noodles made of very finely milled wheat. they're silky smooth and usually served with a dipping sauce.]. Again. Every time we eat alone, we eat somen. I figure it's because a) there's nothing to preparing it, and b) they got a big-assed box of it as a gift. Somen is a popular gift and there are tons of occasions where you have to give gifts here. They even have set aside 2 special times of year for giving each other crap they don't want. One is Mid-year gift season, and the other is Year-end giving season. This is not Christmas or New Year's but something else. I'm thinking that has a lot to do with why my host house is so full of crap. And why they have so goddamed many calendars and clocks. She uses the calendars to clean out greasy pots because they're cheaper than buying paper towels.
After lunch, I walked to 7-11 and bought a camera and the new Smap! Drink! All this time, I was thinking Drink! was the name of a new cd or single or something. I had no idea that they were serious. There really is a new soft drink called Smap! and it tastes terrible. It's like drinking carbonated children's Tylenol. It's supposed to be cherry cola. There's a quotation on the can that says: "Everyone, let's be nice, be happy, smile, and give it our best. Let's listen! Let's drink! Smap!".
Well, I finally got a taste of this 'night view' that they're always boasting about here. Didn't actually go up the mountain, though. The ropeway station was swamped with people and there was absolutely nowhere to park. We drove around Motomachi looking for a space, so I saw many of the historic buildings in all their night glory. We gave up on the mountain for the evening and tried to go to Cape Tachimachi, whatever that is. It was also closed. Since the mountain was out, we drove around in high spots and I looked at the city from many different angles. You don't need to be on that mountain to appreciate the spectacular view. As I was saying earlier about being able to see the *whole* valley on a clear day, it is just as breathtaking at night. Pachinko parlours tend to have huge flashing neon signs reminiscent of the old Holiday Inn signs in the states. From any high point outside the city, you can easily distinguish the signs from their shape and pattern. Also, there are a couple of Times Square style signs around Hakodate station which I didn't know were brightly lit at night. You can see those, too. It's just amazing to me, because where I live, you can only see a few feet because the land is hilly and everything is spread out. It was just so cool to look down on a huge pachinko sign and watch it blink in miniscule. You can make out the pattern of the lights. We are going to try for the mountain again tomorrow.
In our wanderings, we came upon another festival. They happen all the time here. This one consisted of some food and junk booths, and some old women playing traditional music on casiotone keyboards, complete with rhythm. They can find an excuse to make a festival out of anything. It was also a very small festival. There were only a few booths and people and the whole thing took up a very small area of land. Before finding the festival, host dad stopped at a Coke machine and bought 2 Cokes. I'd said I didn't want one, as they only came in cans, but I got one anyway. Since driving in Japan requires more reflexes and hands than you actually have, host mom had to hold his Coke. When we stopped at the little festival, he left his Coke on the dashboard and forgot about it. When we got back in the car, he started making a (typically Japanese) dangerous traffic maneuver which included a good hard stomp on the gas. The Coke went sliding off the dash and all over host mom and she was already cold. She let out an exclamation of "cold!" as the Coke went everywhere. I was noticing earlier today, that for all their (Asian people's) silly protective crap they put in their cars (seat covers, seat cusions, floor protectors, ad nauseum), host mom's car was awfully dirty inside, including spilled liquid stains. I don't put any of that crap in my cars and mine seemed cleaner to me.
I've also noticed that Japanese drivers know of only 2 positions for the accelerator pedal: on and off. They don't do anything gradually. They race each other to the next red light. They wait until the absolute last second before putting on brakes. They follow inches behind the car in front of them. And they drive 2 cars wide on two-laned city streets. They have several large streets here with 4 lanes, but there's usually some asswipe parked in the right-hand lanes. The turning lanes, when they actually have one, are just a few feet wide and the thru traffic just drives around the turners. They also don't wait for anyone to complete a turn before racing around them, whether there's room or not. Safety does not appear to be a major concern. Everyone's always in such a hurry. I thought American drivers were impatient. I *thought*. They're nothing compared to Japanese drivers.