The Road Less Traveled

Asuke, Part 4: The Fujitanis

Friday, March 13th, 2009 by Rintaun | Uncategorized

Finally, the continuation of the Asuke story. I plan on posting the rest of it up tonight, so stay tuned.

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February 23rd, 2009: Day 3 of Asuke
Today we went to two elementary schools. Okura and Mikura if I remember correctly. They were very small. At the first one there were only 23 students. We split up into groups and did different things. My group played fruits basket [Note: a Japanese childrens game] and then jumped rope. [Note: Amazingly exciting isn't it?] My team got 2nd place. At the second school there were about 60-something students. Me and Leneskie were with the 7 4th graders, and participated in class with them. They were having Japanese class, and discussing a story called Gon-gitsune [Note: Gon the Fox]. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. After the schools, we went to Heishouji Temple and learned about, then practiced, Zazen. It was very interesting. The bell they use and the beginning and end [Note: of meditation] probably causes brainwave entrainment. After that we finally returned to the Tourism Assc. and were picked up by our 2nd host, Fujitani-sensei. His house in in the mountains completely separate from everything. We practiced gold and table tennis, then had temaki-zushi for dinner [Note: self-rolled sushi]. It was all very nice. After dinner, he gave us shodo [Note: calligraphy] lessons. It was frustrating because I suck (a lot) at it.

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February 24th, 2009: Day 4 of Asuke
Today me and Mark woke to a traditional Japanese breakfast — much better than the ones we get at the dorm. From there, we went to the Tourism Assc. We had a meeting about Japan’s forest and stuff that I 70% understood, but even understanding, it was pretty boring. But I was able to hold out and managed to stay awake — so did everybody else except one person. After that ordeal, we went into the forest to cut down trees. I was okay — it’s not like I haven’t cut trees down before. It was pretty fun, though. Being able to see your accomplishments like that is nice. We then went back to the place where the meeting earlier had been held. (Before this, I managed to procure two lengths of bamboo for walking stiks while my mom is here). We talked for a while until we went back to the Tourism Assc. We went home with Fujitani-sensei, and he informed us that we’d be going to an onsen [Note: hot spring] after a brief stop at the house. We did that, and I had my first experience with a Japanese public bath. It went surprisingly well. The place we went was called Sasayuri no Yu [Note: Literally "Hot water of the Lily"]. It was pretty nice, and very relaxing. After that, we went home and ate dinner. Fujitani-sensei let us know that he wouldn’t be at the farewell party, so we offered to sing the song we’d be singing at the party. We did so, and it turned out relatively well. Now we’re going to bed. Good night!

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Another post to follow shortly.

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