A Whole Bunch of Stuff: Part 2

Part 2: Oneechan's Birthday

On Friday, my host mom and Masami picked me up from school. Inside the car was luggage for our one night stay at a Japanese ryokan next to Lake Biwa. (ps- I was supposed to have school Saturday, so don't tell anyone ;) We drove to a mall nearby and walked in so I could change out of my school uniform, and then started to browse. I was confused, because I thought we were supposed to be heading straight for the ryokan. But no, it turned out that the reason for the entire trip was because it was Oneechan's birthday the next day, and we were taking a short expidenture (that's for you, Mom) to the mall to get her a present. I am ALWAYS happy to browse through Japanese malls- not only is the fashion great, but the Engrish is hilarious XD- so we walked through a bit, found a gift, and left. And then I slept most of the way to the ryokan. That's something about being an exchange student; you learn to sleep when and wherever you can. Before coming here, I absolutely could not fall asleep in anything but a bed or other, normal sleeping... thing. Since being here I've slept on/in: planes (through take-off, can you believe that?), cars, and my school desk. I've come very close to sleep on the train, but I'm terrified of missing my stop, so I do my best to not sleep there. This first month has just been so tiring! It's a bit better now, but there are definitely times when my brain is screaming at me to "STOP THE ONSLAUGHT OF NEW INFORMATION AND TAKE A NAP!!!" Fun times, fun times.

So we got to the ryokan and met up with Oneesan, her son (so cute ^^) , and her husband (whom you should be thanking that my computer is working). Turns out me and Masami got a room to ourselves, which was nice. Very relaxing. Ryokans are the traditional Japanese hotels, and everything in them is, well, very Japanese. Sliding paper doors, tatami mats, futons, those really low tables that have a hole underneath for your feet to hang in, totally awesome baths- it was fabulous. There was tea waiting for us in the room, complete with delicious anko okashi (red bean sweets :), and a spectacular view from the window. The ryokan is partway up a mountain next to Lake Biwa, and you could see a strip of Otsu city running between the mountain and the lake. And of course, the lake is stunning. It's the largest in Japan, and has mountains on pretty much every side. You know those Japanese paintings of misty mountains and the sun rising that look too paper-cut-out perfect to be real? Well, on a misty morning like last Saturday's, it's easy to see where the artists got their inspiration from. It's gorgeous.

After settling in, we went to dinner. I have no idea what I ate, but it was delicious! Often, you will have a small plate of raw meat and vegetables served with everything else, along with a clay pot with a candle (or something close). Later in the meal, a waiter comes along and lights the candles, and you put the plate on top and let everything cook. That way, you decide how rare you want your meat, and it's hot off the grill when you eat it. Excellent :) And I discovered an American mistake while eating dessert! In the US, we ofter call "mochi" the Japanese dessert of ice cream wrapped in dough. WRONG. Mochi actually refers to the dough itself, and here, is most often served in small balls that sit in a sweet syrupy liquid, usually with red beans. It's good when done right, and very terrible when done wrong. So you have to be careful with your mochi! But the ryokan's was good, so yeah :D

Anywho, after dinner I managed to scald my foot in the bath (what is up with me and burns here?), but it wasn't too bad. And Oneesan came to our room and spoke in rapid Japanese with Masami for, like, a half hour, and I tried my best to understand everything. I understood a fair amount, I'm proud to say, but my brain was dog-tired afterwards. So we went to bed. In the morning, we had another delicious meal, and then left for a trip around the lake. Lake Biwa is just so pretty. I know I've said it like, 50 times, but it really is just gorgeous.

Later in the day we went to Omihachiman, a city that has both invited a lot of tourism and tried to preserve its Japanese-ness. It has traditional streets lined with traditional shops and restaurants, and a canal running through. It's a really pretty town, and the past exchangers here in 2650 liked to go there a lot, I've heard. We had tea at a lovely little shop, and then went home.

But we were only at home for about 10 minutes, and then it was time for Oneechan's birthday dinner! We went to a yakiniku restaurant (well, they called it yakiniku, but it was actually Korean kimchee, as I later found out). There, every table has a hot plate in the middle, and you order meat and vegetables and sauce to cook on the hot plate. It was DEFINITELY one of my favorite foods so far, right up there with sushi, okonomiyaki, sukiyaki, and udon. At one point, the waiter brought in 2 bowls filled with nothing but strands of raw beef dipped in egg. I was totally ready to try that on the hot plate, but Oneesan laughed and said, "No, you eat it raw!" At which point I pretty much cried with joy. It was AMAZINGLY GOOD. It's pretty funny- all of their past exchange students have been rather hesitant about eating Japanese food. Yes, they tried yakitori, okonomiyaki, stuff like that, but when it came to raw meat or things that looked questionable, they shied away. So my family is completely and utterly shocked when I don't hesitate about eating sushi or other various "questionables", and finds it hilarious that my favorite food is salmon roe. I'm just happy that I get to eat wonderful food :D

And that was Oneechan's birthday. Hope you enjoyed my dying English (it took forever to write this)!

On to part 3! Mata ne!