The Road Less Traveled

Asuke, Part 3: Ochiai-san’s House

Sunday, March 8th, 2009 by Rintaun | Uncategorized

In case you didn’t notice, right before this I posted another entry, Part 2 in this Asuke series. So if you didn’t see it, make sure you check it out before this one. Moving on, the first two parts each covered 3 days each, but from here on out they’ll be covering two days each, because a) my entries got longer as time went on in the trip, and b) each different homestay was 2 nights, and it’s convenient if each part goes along with a different homestay.

—

Saturday, February 21st, 2009: Arrival, Day 1 of Asuke
Well, we got to Asuke today. It was a lot closer than I thought it was — which isn’t to say it was close. We walked around the town, and I bought some maccha [Note: green tea powder] that was really good. Later on we went to the welcoming ceremony. The fish they had was… odd. I didn’t really like it. [Note: It was a small fish called Aya, salted and grilled (whole) on a spit. Most of the people there ate everything but the bones, and some ate those too.] Other than that, everything was pretty good. Our first homestay is with Ochiai-san (at least, I think that’s right) [Note: It is.] We think he really wanted to drink with us, so it’s unfortunate that he goe me… Noticed something interesting: Ochiai-san empties the hot water from the bath between people. Maybe he’s just doing it because we’re here? [Note: In a Japanese-style bath, you wash yourself and then get in the bath; the bath isn't for washing, just relaxing. As such, it is normal for an entire family to use the same bath water, one right after the other, because refilling it takes time and is wasteful.]

—

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009: Day 2 of Asuke
Today was our first full day in Asuke. We got to the Tourism Association around 8:45, but had to wait a while before everyone got there. Oh yeah, and our breakfast was really good. First we made [Note: painted] postcard, which turned out surprisingly well. Then we made Mochibana. [Note: Colored mochi (gummy rice paste) stuck onto little tree branches... maybe I can post pictures later; this is apparently something even most Japanese people don't know of] After that we went to Asuke Castle, which was cool. Even though I passed the 2kyu JLPT, I’m glad Thompson-sensei is around, because I understood very little of what the guy at the castle told us — maybe 20%. After that we had lunch, sukiyaki, which was very good. Then we did a tea ceremony, and finally had free time from 3 to 4:30. Me and Mike ended up following Big Mountain [Note: an employee of the Tourism Assc. named Oyama (which literally means 'Big Mountain') who I'm now friends with. The name 'Big Mountain' was given to him by the head of the Tourism Assc.] around anyway — which turned out to be rather interesting. Finally we went to a cafe hidden away in a back alley and had a good conversation with Thompson-sensei, whom we’d met up with, before returning to the Tourism Association. We met up with Ochiai-san and he took us out to eat sushi in Toyota with his family — his son, his son’s wife, their two kids; his daughter, her husband, and their two kids. The meal was really good, but probably really expensive, maybe over 30,000yen [Note: $300]. I played Go with Ochiai-san. He said he hadn’t played in 23 years, and I beat him pretty easily with a 9 stone handicap, but he made a lot of surprisingly insightful moves.

—

And that’s the end of Part 3. Stay tuned in the near future for Part 4: Fujitani-sensei’s House.

1 Comment to Asuke, Part 3: Ochiai-san’s House

Leave a comment