Botanical Gardens and Fish Market

Plum Blossoms

Yesterday, Ben and I made our way up to Ibaraki prefecture. We are staying with some of Ben's friends, and we're having a blast. After arriving at the Tsuchiura station around lunch time, we were treated to conveyer belt sushi at the restaurant where the youngest son works at. It was delicious, we really enjoyed it. 

After lunch, we were taken to the Ibaraki sea side garden. It was beautiful. At the entrance way their was a theme park, with roller coasters and a giant ferris wheel. The fair grounds had little robotic animals you could ride around. 

Spring is nearly here in Japan, and the most eager flowers have already started to bloom. Plum trees are covered in blossoms, johnny jump ups, and daffodils are plentiful. The park was very big, and although very few areas had flowers in bloom, the whole park was amazing. Ben and I found it very refreshing to not be able to see any skyscrapers. The air smelled fresh, and there was a constant breeze from the ocean. Ben and I loved it there.

Daffodils are my favorite flower. I think they look a goofy, energetic, and very beautiful. There was a field of daffodils that absolutely took my breath away, I had never even imagined such a place was possible. The daffodil viewing area was perfect, all around the daffodils were plants that thrived in march, so there were plum trees, and rapeseed all around. The air was impossibly fragrant. The ocean breeze mixed with all the blooming flowers was pure ecstasy. I was almost in shock from finding my own personal slice of heaven.

This is what I think heaven looks like. 

Johnny-jump-ups.

Ocean view.

After the seaside garden we went to a fish market. I personally do not have flattering words to describe a fish market. For most of my life, I had a deep seeded phobia of all things fish related, and that part of me was yelling at me. Five year old me cried and ran as fast as she could, but 24 year old me actually really loved the energy and vibe of the whole situation.
The people were really fun to watch and interact with. They looked at Ben and I, and would throw english words at us, they often had nothing to do with the situation.

I like the leaves over the octopuses, I feel like it makes them look modest.

There were so many types of fishermen, with so many different attitudes. Many were the result of the hard job, they had gravely voices, skin like leather, and let their fish advertise themselves. Others were quite chipper, and very funny. My favorite interaction was with a man who said with much enthusiasm that he could tell that Ben was an American because he had an enormous nose. He did this while miming the honking of a clowns nose. I could not stop laughing, neither could Ben.

Money is made from the bark of this tree.

Ben and I spent the day at Tsukuba botanical gardens. Yesterday and today were beautiful sunny days. It was nice to spend sometime outside, out of the city. It is still very cold, so Ben and I really enjoyed the green houses at the gardens.

Plum Blossoms

In Japan, at sites for tourism there are stamps for you to put in books, or on what ever you want. The gardens placed stamps throughout the grounds, and as an incentive to get all of them, there was a prize, stickers. Although we didn't need an added incentive to see the whole gardens, it was a fun touch.

There was an entire greenhouse devoted to water plants, I had never seen anything like it. There was also an outdoor watergarden with carpe, but it was still too cold for things to be growing.

We saw and heard a lot of birds today.

Itohs and Cherry Blossom Tea

Ben and I went up to visit old friends of his today, the Itohs. They are an incredibly lovely family, and I am so glad we got the chance to visit them. They made us feel so warm and welcome in their home. They took us to a beautiful garden, and fish market, which were fantastic experiences, unfortunately I am incredibly tired, and worried that I will not be able to describe them with the gusto they deserve. 

Today as we were winding down from our amazing day, and after the third bottle of sake was completely empty, Yoshie, the mother of the house made a gesture that was beautiful and very touching. Sakura (cherry blossoms) are a symbol of spring and celebration. There are festivals devoted to the viewing of cherry blossoms, and the whole country seems to be waiting with baited breath for the cherry blossoms to bloom. Yoshie brought out some Sakura tea, which she said is traditionally given to an engaged couple to celebrate their engagement, and wish them good luck. I was very touched. Cherry blossom tea is very beautiful, and it seemed that when she poured the water in the cup spring suddenly came to life before our eyes. The tea smelled like blossoms, and the flavor was very reassuring. I am very grateful for the gesture, and the experience.

Cherry blossom tea.

Training and Train(ing)

Today was the first day of training for Ben and I. We still don't know exactly where we will be placed, but we should find out on monday. Overall, the whole day was very reassuring, we met lots of returning RCS members, learned techniques for being and assistant language teacher (ALT), and learned about what we can expect. The frightening part of the day was how much time was devoted to sexual harassment training. Apparently many male ALTs (not just from RCS) get sent home for sexual miss-conduct. Parents and teachers who are already often dubious of foreign teachers are on the look out, but it seems that this has lead to more scandals, and many instances of teachers being sent home even though they are not yet assumed to have had any type of inappropriate conduct. The male teachers-in-training today were told that the only circumstance in which they should ever touch a student was to break up a fight, but even then to give many verbal warnings, and to only touch the students with the back of their hands. The fact that this has become an issue, is disheartening. The sexual harassment in this country is rampant, there are frequent signs to watch out for up-skirting, and many systems for dealing with groping on trains, both women and men suffer from this situation, as both have become quite wary of each other. Many men who have been accused have had their accuser confess later that it was a lie, and women preyed upon are faced with the choice of either not doing anything, or going to authorities and then themselves becoming a pariah. It is a very unfortunate situation.

Ben and I also learned a few new cultural nuances that I never even would known. Schools in Japan were originally founded on buddhist grounds, so many buddhist practices have carried over and are observed as part of daily school life in Japan. It is essential that you have a pair of shoes for use only inside the school, it is important to participate in the cleaning at the end of the day, and it is very taboo to wear the bathroom slippers anywhere but in the bathrooms. You should avoid showing the bottoms of your feet to someone, and sitting positions such as crossing your legs while sitting are not acceptable because someone might have the bottom of your foot pointed at them. All of these practices are carried over from buddhism, and although religion is a strictly forbidden topic in class, many of the rituals are still observed. 

I was glad to learn that nutrition is very emphasized here in Japan. Foods not considered healthy are not allowed on campuses by teachers or students. Even fruit is considered a sometimes treat, and is not to be brought in as a part of your meal. It is not encouraged that we bring in any outside food or beverages, and coffee should be at home only. 

Overall the day was very informative. We got to meet a lot of exceptional people. I am really excited to get started.

Trains:

Trains are the blood stream of this country. Cultural epicenters are based around stations, directions are based on distances from the stations, and transportation is generally by trains. The culture about the trains is very different than any metro I have been on, the most noticeable thing being that they are very quiet. It is forbidden to talk on your phones on the trains, people talk in quieter voices to each other on the trains, and even the trains themselves are much quieter than anywhere I have ever been. They are also one of the few places with heat control. This creates a perfect place to fall asleep. I would say about one out of four people sitting on a train are asleep. Ben and I have also been very impressed by people standing up, but asleep. It is not a taboo thing here at all, all types of people are asleep on the trains. I'm not sure how Japanese people are ever on time, I have no idea how they don't miss their stops.