Japan Life: Month 1 Recap

Nikko, Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Hitachinaka

Peaks:

Christmas in Japan. Getting to Japan turned into a longer, more difficult process than we expected. We planned to leave at the end of September, but we ended up delayed until end of November for Andrew, mid-December for me. Considering I quit my job in September to get this show on the road, I have had a lot of free time to feel anxious about various aspects of this huge life change. When I finally did get here, Andrew already had a Christmas tree set up and decorated so my first moments in our apartment could be special. Gotta love that guy, right? Also, we ate some really good sashimi on Christmas day.
WE SAW A RANDOM MONKEY CHILLING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN NIKKO.

New Year’s Eve (the Japanese way). Our hostel in Osaka hosted a takoyaki party for New Year’s Eve. As midnight drew near, the hostel staff guided our group to a nearby Buddhist temple. At the temple, we lined up with our Japanese neighbors to take turns ringing the temple bell at midnight, welcoming in the new year. Afterwards, we walked to a nearby Shinto shrine. At the shrine, we lined up to toss coins into the offering area and purchased fortunes detailing our prospects for the new year (Andrew got a bad fortune, watch out). The shrine had barrels of sake for all of the participating crowd to enjoy.

I WITNESSED THE SWIMMING OF TWO, THAT’S RIGHT TWO, WHALE SHARKS. The Osaka Aquarium is famous for having the longest-living captive whale sharks. Yes, I do feel conflicted about keeping whale sharks in captivity but it was really, really cool to see them. Just majestic.

Nara Deer Park. Is it a tourist trap? Yeah. Is it still really cool? Also, yeah.

Melon Pan in Kyoto. Japan is covered in scenic, ancient sites of great cultural and historical import. But I pretty much only care about food. So, when I found out about warm, fresh, sweet bread rolls made to look like a melon by the crunchy cookie topping which can be purchased sliced open (still steaming) and stuffed with ice cream… I was super into it. Had at least one of these each day we were in Kyoto. Highly recommend.
Decorating our apartment. We are super lucky to have such a large, comfortable apartment. However, the rented furniture alone left it feeling a bit…like a sad doctor’s office. After spending a month living in temporary housing in Columbus before arriving here, Andrew and I were both ready to make this place feel like home. Plus, browsing home goods and hardware stores has been both a fun adventure and an overwhelming chore that has made us feel like big, dumb golden retrievers. You try organizing a pick up time for bedside tables with barely a toddler’s command of the language. Still counting this as a peak though, our place is pretty tight now.

Exploring Utsunomiya by bicycle. I’m not ashamed to admit I love my bicycle. The color is cool and it does bicycle functions super well. It seems most of the other dependents (of someone on a working visa) I have met opted for cars. I’m here to say travel by bike is the way to go. Within 10 mins ride I have access to at least 4 grocery stores, two large shopping malls, countless restaurants with or without car parks, various parks and green areas, and the community center with English language yoga classes. Who needs a car?

The squid sashimi incident. I could tell you the details of this story, but instead I’ll just say I ripped out a sizeable chunk of dry, tangled hair while sat in very popular sushi chain restaurant. Proceeded to whisper-yell at Andrew across the table for not taking my hair seriously enough. Then, choked on a massive piece of raw squid, spit it half-chewed into a cloth napkin, and hysterically laugh-sobbed big, crazy-person tears for at least a full minute when Andrew accused me of being an absolute nightmare. To be fair, I was being an absolute nightmare.