Hiroshima

As you know, I went to Hiroshima last weekend, and it was a lot of emotions mixed into one: happiness, sadness, awe, excitement, and annoyance. I will give a detailed breakdown of what I did in Hiroshima.

Friday: I worked on Friday so I didn't get in to Hiroshima until about 9:00 pm. I took the bullet train, and on the bullet train, a guy sat down next to me and opened up an unlabeled can of what looked like wet cat food and began to eat it with a toothpick. He also had a half-drunken bottle of red wine that he was swigging from. I just thought it was interesting. So anyway, I checked into my youth hostel. It was my first time ever staying in a hostel. I went the cheapest route (about $25 a night) and stayed in a 6 person, mixed-gender, dormitory. It really wasn't that bad. Also, the place itself was really nice (it’s called K’s House Hiroshima, by the way). There was a really comfortable common room (I took two naps in it), a big kitchen, and a computer area. Although I shared a room, the bathrooms and showers were private. My first impression of Hiroshima was, “Wow! It’s so open and wide! It’s like America!” The kanji for Hiroshima is 広島 and the kanji for wide/spacious is広い (hiroi) so I wonder if it is a coincidence lol. One thing I like about Japan is that as a young woman alone in a city I've never been to, at night, I feel pretty safe. Sure, sometimes guys will approach you and try to hit on you, but only in a very rare case will a man actually attack a woman. Plus, I’m pretty confident that if a Japanese man attacked me, I could take him! It’s the other foreigners you have to look out for. I knew I wanted to go dancing in Hiroshima so I looked into some places in advance and found a place called Bar Edge. The website said it was very small but that it had a good sound system. So I decided to give it a try. It was my first time going to a dance club by myself, but I was excited. I can’t dance unless I have a drink first so I stopped at a konbini (convenience store) and bought a mini bottle of white wine and drank it on the street (something that is legal in Japan, but not in the US!). The bar didn't even open until 10:00 pm! So I went there at 10:30. I was the only foreigner in there the entire night! I stayed until about 3:00 am, I think…I didn't even realize how long that is until just now haha. The place was small, but had a great atmosphere. The bartenders were cool. It turns out that that Friday night was a J-pop night which I don’t really like, but when in Rome (or Japan), right? I think I knew like three songs haha. In any case, I drank, danced (in a silly, bubbly manner to J-pop), and talked in broken Japanese to many people. However, I mostly talked to a 20 year old guy named Shinya. He only spoke like 5 words of English, but we had fun talking nonetheless. He found it entertaining to try to force me to dance to the J-pop with a bunch of random Japanese girls…it was embarrassing! I was pretty drunk (but fine) so Shinya felt like he should walk me back to my hostel which was nice of him even though neither of us really knew the way (I got to the club staring at my iPhone map…it was like a 15 min walk). I kept telling him that he didn't need to walk me home, but he just said in English, “JAPANESE POLITE!” hahaha! We had to stop in two konbini and ask a taxi driver for directions :P So that was a very fun night!

Bar Edge. He was one of the bartenders I chatted with.

Saturday: I got up at about 9:30 and got ready. That day I planned on going to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meeting my Japanese friend, Kazu, in the evening who studied at the University of Minnesota. That’s how we met. I took the tram to the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and contemplated for a while before I realized I was really hungry. I decided to get something to eat real quick and then head back to the Dome. I ate at Subway…now, you may be thinking, “Why the heck would you eat at Subway? That’s so boring,” but it means something more to me. Well, first of all, I’m kind of sick of Japanese food and I wanted something more American (even though sandwiches at Subway in Japan are kind of different). Mainly, however, I went to Subway in Japan when I traveled in Japan a little over a year ago. It was actually the first place I ate in Japan. This is how it went:

I walked in thinking, “Oh, Subway. This will be easy.” I was nervous about ordering food for the first time ever in Japan. I go up to the counter and look at the menu. I decide to order the first thing I can decipher that doesn't have beef or pork. It was the shrimp avocado sandwich. So, in Japanese, I ask for the shrimp avocado sandwich. Then I hear him say something about bread. After a second, I realized he must be asking what kind of bread I want…same process as America. So I mutter out the word “sesame.” Then he quickly asks me something else that I don’t understand. Looking back, he probably asked me if I wanted it toasted. However, I started panicking in my head and just started pointing at vegetables I wanted on my sandwich. Last, he asked me what kind of sauce I wanted (I only understood because after starring at him blankly for 10 seconds, he pointed at the types of sauces). After the sandwich was made, he must have asked me if I wanted any sides or drinks. I didn't understand, but I knew I wanted a drink so I said Coca-cola (which is pronounced the same in Japanese). Then he went off quickly in Japanese about something else to which I stared blankly again. Then he points to my left at the pop machine, and I go, “Oh” and nod my head. Then he says something else, and by then I’m sweating from being so nervous. He hands me a point card. I smile, pay, and then get the f*** out of there! Not before being confused about how to work the pop machine of course.

So, ever since that experience, I have been too afraid to go back. This time, however, I was hungry, in a hurry to get my day started, and it sounded good. When C.J. came to visit me from America, I had told him this story, and he told me I should conquer my fear of Subway. That was the push I needed, I think. Plus, if I can go into a post office and send various packages to America and whatnot, this shouldn't be too bad, right? Plus, my Japanese has most likely gotten better. So, I went in and ordered the same shrimp avocado sandwich (it was good last time), and she asked me what kind of bread I wanted, if I wanted it toasted, what vegetables I wanted, what sauce, and if I wanted any sides, and I understood it all!! Whee!! The only part I had trouble with was the names of all the vegetables so when she saw that I was struggling to name all the veggies I wanted, she rephrased her question and asked what vegetable I didn't want, which was easier because there were only two things I didn't want, and I knew how to say them. SUCCESS! Haha! On a somewhat related note, I saw a Pizza Hut from the window of the shinkansen on my way to Hiroshima. I didn't realize that they were in Japan, and now I really want to go! In any case, I ate my soup and sandwich and walked back to the Atomic Bomb Dome. It was an incredible sight…it didn't even look real! I thought about how close the dome was to the exact spot the bomb hit, and it chilled me to the bone. On a brighter note, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was a very beautiful place by the river, and the leaves are beginning to change. There were cute stray cats living in the bushes, too. I then proceeded to walk around the park to the various monuments. The one that struck me the most was the one that was based off of Sadako. Perhaps it’s because I knew the back story of the monument because one of my teachers cruelly made me read a passage about it to my 3rd grade class. Basically, the memorial is based off of a girl named Sadako; a girl who survived the bomb, but later died of radiation. She believed that if she made 1000 paper cranes, she would not die from her sickness. Some of her cranes were displayed in the museum. It was very touching. Now, students and people from all over bring paper cranes to this memorial. There are glass booth things behind the statue filled with tons of paper cranes. I wanted to break down and cry when I saw this. The Peace Memorial Museum was just as bad. There were many artifacts that survived the blast, many personal stories from survivors, and info about the history and radiation sickness. Some things that struck a chord were 1) the model of what the city looked like right before the blast and right after 2) a watch found frozen in time, displaying the exact time the bomb hit 3) videos and written stories from survivors describing the blast and watching their family members die 4) actual human hair, skin, and nails on display 5) the pictures and descriptions of people with horrible burns and radiation sickness and 6) a three-dimensional display of what people who survived the actual blast looked like right after the bomb hit: their skin literally hanging in melted shreds from their body, clothes burned off, covered with blood and puss, walking aimlessly in shock possibly hoping to find their family, deformed. I felt so sick and terrified. I imagined when I burn my finger on the pan while I’m cooking and how much it stings and hurts from that little spot, and I can’t even begin to fathom the agony of being burned so bad that your skin is melting off your body. Ugghhhhhhhhhh. So, as you can imagine, going to the museum wasn't what I would call fun, but I think it was very important to see. I think everyone should see it. It really changes how you view nuclear weapons, war, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It all seems like some scary story until you go to this museum and it becomes real. Actually seeing real things and hearing real accounts. It’s not just a story anymore. I can’t believe this really happened.

The Atomic Bomb Dome

I was very happy to see the changing leaves!

Sadako-san.

The watch that struck a chord with me.

After this experience, I was pretty mentally drained. It was about 2:30, and I was meeting Kazu at 5:00. I decided to go back to the hostel and grade some papers (I had a lot of papers to grade that weekend) which turned into a nap of the couch (by the way, you aren't supposed to bring students homework out of the school, but no one knows if you do or not so whatever lol). By the way, at the hostel, I got to talk a little bit to people from Germany, England, and New York which was fun. I met Kazu at 5, and we went to dinner. Hiroshima is famous for its own style of okonomiyaki: “A Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked.” Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. Tokyo okonomiyaki is usually smaller than a Hiroshima or Kansai okonomiyaki (from Wikipedia).” In Hiroshima, they put soba noodles in it, which is awesome, and it’s layered rather than mixed. We went to a place where you make it yourself on a grill built into the table in front of you…it was so good! Afterwards, we walked around downtown and then went to a bar. It was very American-Pub style. It was fun until a random guy started talking to us. He was our age and was nice, but he started out his conversation by saying that he doesn't have any friends and so he comes to bars every night to try to make friends…it was a little off-putting. He had lived in California for five years so he could speak some English, but Kazu was still better lol. It was about 10:30 and the guy suggested we go to another bar that he knew. We reluctantly agreed. There was a techno event going on at Bar Edge that I had learned about the previous night that started at 11 pm so I used that as an excuse to rush things since I wanted to go back there for the techno event. The bar he took us too was very different. It looked more like a cafe and there were two groups of people there doing what are like blind group date things where some guys and girls get together and chat and drink and see if there is any potential for a relationship. The weird thing is that the number of guys and girls doesn't matter. So there can be, for example, one girl and like five guys! In one group there were two girls and like seven guys haha! Weird! Anyway, it was a very quiet place. The only redeeming factors were that they gave you free popcorn and some of the drinks were cheaper than most places. ANYWAY!! We headed over to Bar Edge knowing that Kazu would have to leave after walking me there to catch his last train home. He wanted to accompany me so the weird guy wouldn't be alone with me. When we got to the entrance of Bar Edge, we were very persistent about how the guy should go somewhere else because Kazu had to leave, and I was just going there to dance and there was a cover charge. We convinced him to go to another bar he knew instead. HOWEVER, after I entered the bar and was there for like 30 mins, he showed up saying that the bar he went to was closed…YA RIGHT! I tried to do the whole benign neglect thing. Instead I socialized with the bartenders who had remembered me from the night before and with another foreign girl who was there that night. She is from Ohio, but had lived in Finland for awhile before coming to Japan. I danced a bit and enjoyed the music, but that guy just wouldn't leave me alone! He got into an argument with someone in the bar too which was weird. Hoping that he would leave the later it got, I eventually gave up at like 4:00 am! I wasn't afraid of him, but he was just so damn annoying. He suggested that we go do karaoke or go get ice cream or some s***, and I was like NO! I want to go to bed! I’m going to Miyajima in the morning!! Then he’s like, “What?! You are going to Miyajima alone tomorrow?! I should come with so you aren't alone.” I was like, “NOOOO, I came to Japan for three weeks by myself last year and I was fine. Stop trying to nanpa me (hit on/pick up), I have a boyfriend!” By the way, this all happened as he was walking me back to my hostel after I insisted that I didn't need or want him to. Once I told him I had a boyfriend he was shocked and said that I wasn't wearing a ring to which I replied that I’m not married. He said that if I was taken by a boyfriend, I would be wearing a ring on my right hand or some crap….whatever. He was all depressed. I finally got back to my hostel and will never have to see him again lol.

Hiroshima okonomiyaki.

Sunday: I had to check out by 11 am which was terrible seeing as I got home so late and was feeling icky in the morning from drinking. Just because I had to check out didn't mean that I couldn't go sleep on the couch in the common room for another hour, though haha. I planned on getting up in the morning so I could spend more time at Miyajima, but it just didn't happen. I probably got to Miyajima around 2 pm. I had to take an hour long tram ride and then take a ferry out to the island which was fun because I don’t think I've ever ridden on a ferry. It was a really misty, kind of rainy day, but the temperature was decent and it was barely sprinkling. Before you actually get to the shrine with the big, famous, tori (gate) floating out on the water (one of the top three sights in Japan), you walk through all these small streets of food stands and shops. It reminded me of Kyoto but had more of an ocean-y feel. I tried some of the local street food. There were these giant oyster things that seemed popular, but I have never tried oysters so I was afraid. Instead I tried something that looked good, but I ended up not liking. They looked like long deep-fried sticks of batter, and there were many different kinds like bacon, cheese, asparagus, corn, and many more. I got a cheese one and bit into it. It was all flimsy and rubbery. I had tasted the flavor before. It was a flavor I didn't like. I looked up the kanji on the sign. It turns out it was a long tube of fish paste with different things put in it like cheese and so on. I couldn't finish it. Instead I got one of the famous desserts, momiji manjuu, which is like a small waffle-y type thing shaped like a maple leaf with different kinds of sweet filling inside. I chose custard. I also got a corn on the cob on a stick. I was low on money, so I didn't buy any souvenirs, unfortunately. I eventually made it to the shrine, and it was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen! The tide was coming in, the mountains were shrouded in wisps of clouds, there were deer walking around that you could pet, and the leaves were starting to change colors. I stared for a while and took some pictures. A deer attacked my bag that had my partially eaten fish paste in it. I tossed the fish paste to it and ran away before it bit me. At another point, a deer came up to me and tried to eat my shirt! Yikes! I spent a while walking around the shrine. I followed these mysterious looking stairs up into the mountain and was greeted with a wonderful view! The sun began to come out which made a large rainbow appear! I was alone on the mountain, and it was so quiet. I watched the rainbow and the sun illuminate the tori floating out on the water from up above. It was great! I leisurely made my way back to the ferry port feeling very satisfied seeing as Miyajima was somewhere I had wanted to go ever since I started learning about Japan. I couldn't afford the time or money when I came two summers ago to travel. I made the long trip back home to Osaka. One guy approached me when I was walking back to the ferry port and asked me if I was Batman lol because I was wearing a Batman shirt…I told him I was Bat-girl. On the shinkansen, I ate this really yummy fall bento that had all sort of interesting things in it such as shrimp, salmon eggs, mushrooms, octopus, chestnuts, soy beans, egg, rice, and eel.

Fun streets in Miyajima

There it is! The famous tori!

Beautiful.

What an amazing sight?!

My bento on the shinkansen ride home.

As I said, this trip was filled with all sorts of emotions, but I would call it a very good trip. It was nice to feel like I am actually doing some traveling. I think that is the key to experiencing the “Japanese feeling” I mentioned in my last post. It’s the new things that make me feel that way. If you stay in one place for a while, you become familiar with it, and it becomes routine. However, that is also the key to learning about a different side of Japan. I am still very happy to be in Japan. Sure, I miss a lot of things about home, but I feel like I am where I should be right now in my life. The JET Programme can take its culture shock timeline and put it where the sun doesn't shine because I am completely unaffected. :)