On Foliage, Costco, and Christmas

Wow, it's been a while since we've posted! Our apologies.

Some notable events from the last week and a half:

- The Thanksgiving Thankstacular was a grand success (as I'm sure you read), and we received many positive responses from our friends and my fellow teachers afterward. The next day at school, in fact, everyone whom I invited came up to my desk and thanked me personally for inviting them. Apparently this is a very Japanese thing to do, but I think it should more appropriately fall under the category heading of "common courtesy" -- a concept which I fear is altogether lost on the more lamentable members of my generation.

- Last week wasn't particularly memorable; there were classes and more classes, both for myself and Katie. We were really just waiting out the week for Friday, which was a national holiday (Labor Thanksgiving Day). Many of my students conflated their Labor Thanksgiving Day with America's Thanksgiving, and I had to repeatedly remind them that their holiday might more appropriately be compared to our Labor Day, which is in September. Nevertheless, we had Friday off, and to celebrate, Katie and I joined some other JETs living in our prefecture in hiking up Mount Hiei - the highest mountain in Kyoto. It was quite a steep climb up to the top and it took several hours, but the views along the way were well worth the effort. And unlike a lot of other mountains, Hieizan holds a reward at its summit for the more determined hikers among us (and for those of us who have cars and can drive there): Enryaku-ji Temple. It was a beautiful temple, made all the more spectacular by the changing autumn leaves.

- On Sunday, Katie and I went back to Kyoto to see some more kouyou (fall colors). We did a little shopping and went to Kiyomizu-dera, which is one of the more famous temples in Kyoto and, therefore, in all of Japan. Unlike Enryaku-ji, it was difficult to enjoy walking around the complex because it was so crowded. Kyoto in general was crowded: it was impossible to walk at your own pace on the sidewalks as you were being jostled and prodded by throngs of people walking to this temple or that shrine, stopping to examine the plastic food displays prominently featured outside many restaurants in Japan, or doing any one of the myriad of activities one does in a cultural capital. If you ever search the internet for pictures of Kyoto, you'll invariably find scores of photographs of cultural landmarks with nary a soul to be seen. It all looks so calm, so tranquil. This is, as Mom is so fond of saying, "A lie from the Devil." Now, don't let that discourage you from visiting what is the undisputed cultural hotspot for all things Japanese. The sights there are breathtaking and the shopping is unparalleled. Ironically, we ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant called "Falafel Garden", which I think is owned by an Israeli. Sometimes there's only so much Japan you can take in one day.

- Monday featured a trip to Costco with some of our good friends. We were running seriously low on bulk, wholesale items, and we needed to stock up. I can tell you that there is nothing more hilarious in this world than trying to fit boxes of stuff - some of which are nearly as big as your own torso - into whatever backpack, purse, or sack you can find, and then attempting to get it all home using only public transportation.

- Yesterday Katie visited the hyaku en shoppu (100 yen shop) to pick up some Holiday Cheer. Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, we can now usher in the Christmas Season, even though Santa and his reindeer have been prominently displayed in certain places around these parts since Halloween. You see, it's for this reason why I absolutely refuse to get into the Holiday Spirit until after my birthday. There's only so much Burl Ives a person can stand in a year. Even though Japan is, by and large, an irreligious country*, the Japanese passion for gift giving combined with the marketing potential of cute, furry creatures makes Christmas in Japan quite a popular holiday. On my street alone, almost every shop has some sort of display. The foreign food store down the street, Mon Marche, is absolutely decked out in its holiday best - colored lights and the flashing silhouettes of reindeer festoon the windows. On my daily ride home, I pass a barber shop that features an outdoor arrangement of dancing figurines singing Christmas songs; among them is a polar bear dressed like Santa Claus. All in all, it captures the commercial aspect of Christmas as it's celebrated in the States quite nicely. Katie was not immune to the swiftly approaching "most wonderful time of the year", and so she couldn't resist picking up a few things for the house. She bought the tiniest Christmas tree you ever did see, complete with lights, tinsel, and ornaments. Yes, Christmas has come to the Bob and Katie household.

*That is not to say that they don't believe in a higher power or powers, but it's my estimation that the majority of Japanese are more superstitious than religious, at least in the traditional sense of the word.

- The rest of this week is still up in the air. I'm taking paid leave on Friday because my one class was cancelled because, instead of conversation, the students will study grammar so that they don't fail as spectacularly for their upcoming exams as they did the last go around. Instead, I'll be headed to Arashiyama, which is another spot near Kyoto where the fall foliage is said to be particularly beautiful. On Saturday, we're having some friends over and on Sunday, Katie is taking me somewhere for a "birthday surprise". I guess and guess at what it could possibly be, but she assures me that I'm quite far from discovering whatever diabolical scheme she has concocted. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.

-Bob