Grass, Concrete, and Glass

The time since Christmas has flown by for me. I lose track of the time since my last posts, which is why my blog has seemed neglected, especially compared to Carly's (http://carlyinthehomeland.blogspot.com/). Shout out!

Really, I can't believe it's already the end of January. In fact, today marks the 6 month point of my sojourn in Japan, as I will only be staying one year. So, surprisingly, we are half way! I have mixed feelings about being at this point. In retrospect, six months here seems like a long time, and thinking about six months to go seems a long time to go as well, considering I miss everything about being back in the United States of Awesomeness. I think about Virginia and Chicago - and the sliced turkey I'd be eating, the centrally-heated apartment I'd be living in, and the cashiers I'd be speaking to IN ENGLISH - at least ten times a day. But six months is something to be proud of, and I have a lot more good to do, things to accomplish, and young scholars to teach in the next six.

Even after six months of seeing this river near by house almost every week, I'm still fascinated by the way it fits uniquely into the urban landscape here in Kyoto. In America, I think, this river - judging by the way it looks and feels and the flora and grasses that line the banks - would only be found in a small, rural town. The yellow grass reminds me of the country side (which is why, in the picture, I chose to highlight those colors and mute everything else). Yet Kyoto's historical significance and propensity for traditional, untouched natural beauty almost dictate that, over time, the aesthetics of the river be allowed to develop organically and away from the guiding hands of city planners. I just think it's beautiful to see the grassy riverbank juxtaposed against the concrete and telephone wires.








My school is one of those concrete buildings that are so typical in Kyoto. Traditional Japanese house of wood are really not in the majority here, at least in the northern section of the city where I live. The current layout and buildings of Rakuhoku High School are only 10 years old. So every concrete corner is as sharp as the day it was formed and every window remains intact and crystal clear. I'm reminded of the gym at Washington-Lee High School, where I attended, the gym of which had some crusty old windows made opaque by time and lack of cleaning. There are no remnants of duct tape that mark the hallway walls due to the actions of ill-advised students posting event flyers of years past. Although nowhere near as dramatic, these buildings sometimes remind me of the designs I pictured Howard Roark making, from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. It was written that he was partial to designing homes whose facades were fabricated entirely out of concrete and glass. Well, anyway, I was struck to take these by the blue and gray of the sky and the concrete against the glass.


The leafless tree only adds to the starkness of the buildings.

Rakuhoku High School was founded in 1870, so it is in its 141st year. There is a small exhibit in part of the school that holds three models of the school from its present state to its original buildings. This one below is a very accurate model of the school's buildings as they are now.

This is what it looked like before it was rebuilt about 10 years ago (I think that's when it was rebuilt).

And this is it (I am assuming...) from the early 20th century and perhaps back into the 1870s. Pretty cool, huh?!

And finally, a view from my school of Mt. Hiei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hiei), a very famous mountain in the history of Buddhism and just a nice mountain to look at as the seasons change here in Japan.

What I Eat

I thought I'd take some photos and put them on the blog to document my typical evening meals here in Japan. No, I'm not always eating sushi and drinking sake, as some friends have asked. I'm a big fan of stir-fry and different noodles. It's fast, easy, and you can add about anything you have in your fridge. I'm always partial to chicken, though beef sometimes makes its way into the fry, and I always have carrots and potatoes on hand. Green beans, onions, cabbage, and broccoli are other featured items. For a while, I was mixing everything together with okonomiyaki sauce and some other spices, which is - the sauce - a thick, brown, sweet sauce that goes well with noodles, meat, veggies - you name it.

Well, that got boring after 2 months, and Carly thought it was gross (which then convinced me that it was beginning to nauseate me, too). So I then got hooked on curry rice and curry noodles (udon, soba, ramen, everything!). You just throw the hard, dissolvable curry blocks into the stir-fried mixture near the end with some water remaining, and after a few minutes of stirring, you have a thick Japanese curry delight. I like to make the taste a little bolder by adding turmeric powder and cayenne pepper. Behold, curry soba with green beans and chicken.


The other night I was at the store and saw this half filet of fish for 88 yen (about a dollar). It was chilled, so I think it had been frozen, and it was smothered in a sticky, golden-brown sweet sauce with sesame seeds (right?) on top. Remaining skeptical, I realized it was the best choice with the 400 yen in my pocket. But, with a little time in the fish grill, it turned out to be quite nice. One of the teachers said it was cod most likely. I don't know, but it was a fine addition to the meal.


Continuing on with my love of soba, here is some yaki soba that I made the other night with soy sauce and okonomiyaki sauce. There is some lettuce in there (in place of cabbage) and carrots for texture. And so that's a frequent night's meal for me, though there is far more variety than what I show here and I make sure to get my veggies to keep me strong. Just wanted to share what I've been eating lately.