Kyoto

This is the first picture I took in Kyoto. Seriously, that's not a joke. First picture:


This no-tit-squeezing sign is actually quite symbolic of my thoughts on Kyoto. In my head I had always thought of Kyoto as this ancient city chuck-full of temples and castles. Well, there are tons of temples -- and one castle -- but they are all mixed in and around a metropolis. Being in the middle of a huge city isn't really my thing. Sure I live in Hanoi and love it, but there is something vastly different about the architecture, back alleys and neighborhoods, and overall feel of Hanoi versus Kyoto.

This isn't Kyoto's fault. This is obviously my own fault for having a preconceived notion of what Kyoto was like. The fact that there are gropers in a city that I had assumed was overflowing with monks is kind of how I'll remember Kyoto -- although perhaps the monks are the gropers. All that said, I had a great day in Kyoto.

I arrived at about 6:30 AM on the night bus from Koryama. I immediately went to my hostel, dropped off my stuff, showered, rented a bike, got a map and took off to explore the city. The man at the hostel circled all the places in Kyoto that I should see. He explained to me that they were really far from each other and outlined a two day strategy for bike riding everywhere. Well, Ben August doesn't need two days to bike ride a city. I made good time to the farthest temple on the map to start the day and after that I was a man possessed. At the end of the day I had visited every temple the guy suggested except for one. I ended up riding 10 hours on the bike, literally from almost sunrise to sunset. I also took lots of pictures of myself with the arm extension method:


(PICTURE: The famous bridge in Kyoto.)




(PICTURE: The Golden Pavilion, AKA Rokuon-Ji Temple.)


(PICTURE: Kiyomizu Temple; Masumi and Kensuke's favorite.)

The last temple I went to was probably one of the coolest ones I have ever visited...although it ended up being one of the most miserable. Watch the video:

Goodbye Koryama!

(PICTURE: Kensuke, Masumi and I waiting for my bus to go to Kyoto.)

When I first learned that I'd be teaching in Koryama, I was a little bit skeptical. I had asked to be placed in a small city in the countryside yet when I googled Koryama I only saw pictures of industry. Whenever I asked someone who had lived -- or was living -- in Japan they all had the same response, "Koryama?" Nobody had ever heard of it. Lonely Planet Japan is over 600 pages long and it doesn't mention Koryama once. In fact, there are only two and a half pages dedicated to all of Fukushima. That's two pages for the equivalent of a US state! I bet even South Dakota or Idaho get more of a mention than that in Lonely Planet America. Well, despite my fears, Koryama turned out to be a pretty amazing place. Sure it isn't totally countryside and sure it is a relatively new city but it still has so much to offer. Frankly, I couldn't have asked to be placed somewhere better the last three months.

Now be warned readers of Ahoy Hanoi or random people who happen to stumble on my blog while researching Japan: I have no illusion if you come to Koryama you will NOT feel the way I feel. My amazing three months in this "core city" really boils down to two things: Masumi and Kensuke. I often feel really lucky and meeting Masumi and Kensuke is now up on the list of the luckiest things in my life. These two people are without a doubt two of the nicest, most genuine, most friendly people I have ever met. I have a hard time imagining that anyone I know would welcome a complete stranger into their lives as openly as Masumi and Kensuke invited me into their.

When I walked Masumi home the first night I met her, little did I know that just two and a half months later I would spend my last 24 hours in Koryama as her house guest and unabashedly call her and Kensuke my two newest best friends. As excited as I am to get back to Hanoi to be with Huyen, I am really going to miss having such amazing friends in my life.

Thanks for amazing memories, Masumi and Kensuke!

Find Your Buddha

(PICTURE: Masumi and Kensuke making tracks on the snow.)

Masumi, Kensuke and I have had so many memories together in such a short period. On my last day in Koryama we had time for one more. I had heard about a place with "800 Buddhas" and asked Masumi and Kensuke about it. Despite being Koryama natives, neither had ever heard of it. I peaked their curiosity though and we ended up getting the location information from Yuya. On Sunday afternoon we headed out to the "800 Buddha" temple.

The place was in the middle of nowhere. It was on some back-road highway that Kensuke said he had never traveled on before. We found the spot and it ended up being pretty magical. First off, we were the only people there. Secondly, it had been snowing so everything was covered with a beautiful layer of white. Thirdly, it turns out that there were only a couple of Buddhas. However, there were a ton of other little statues each with different expressions, poses and looks. I told Masume and Kensuke that we had to look at all the statues and then each choose the one we liked best.

Here's a little montage of some of the statues. Feel free to comment which you like best...



(PICTURE: Kensuke chose the man with the biggest smile.)


(PICTURE: Masumi chose the good parent.)

(PICTURE: I chose the guy with the chubby cheeks.)

Last Meals

(PICTURE: Enjoying my mom's banana bread.)

Relax Jeff Aidekman, this isn't totally a food post. Sheesh.

Perhaps my long time reader and recent critic has a point, I've written a lot about food recently. However, I love the food in Japan! I promise though, the second part of this post has a funny story (so, Jeff, you can scroll down and only will offend my mother).

Part 1: My Mother's Cooking

If you recall, Masumi has taught me a lot about Japanese cooking. She is my sensei. The first recipe she taught me was her mother's nikajaga. Well, it was my turn to return the favor. I had to be out of my apartment on the 19th but decided to stay until the 20th so I could spend a little more time with Masumi and Kensuke. Masumi asked me to teach her some American dishes so I immediately emailed my mother for recipes. As you can imagine, the average Japanese household doesn't have many of the ingredients we use in the states. Luckily there is a foreign food store in the Koryama station that had almost everything we would need. We gathered together the ingredients and with my mom's detailed instructions churned out three delicious August/Zucker originals:

1. Pumpkin Bread













2. Grandma Cele's Crouton Stuff Baked Chicken












3. Banana Bread


Part Two: The Best Ramen in Japan

(PICTURES: Masumi, Kensuke and I eating by far the best ramen I have ever had.)

Masumi told me that I could not leave Koryama without having had the best ramen in all of Japan. Masumi, Kensuke and I went to the ramen shop for lunch on my last day in Koryama. Needless to say, the ramen was amazing. However, what makes this restaurant truly special is the owner.

As soon as we walked into the restaurant (of course there was a wait at nearly 2PM because it is that good) I could tell right away who the owner was because he was manning the kitchen like a general. You know, if a general smiled and looked really happy all the time. At one point while we were waiting the owner ran out of the shop to chase to little girls and give them lollipops. Yeah, he's that kind of nice person.

When we sat down the owner wanted to know about the foreigner at his counter. He started to ask questions and Masumi and Kensuke answered him. He started to tell them that one of his ramen bowls was hanging in a restaurant in New York City. Hey, New Yorkers go to Ippudo NY at 65 Fourth Avenue and and look for a bowl with red lettering.

(PICTURES: That sign on the wall is for the ramen restaurant in NYC that has his bowl. The second picture I found on google images. I imagine one of those bowls behind the bartender is the same one I now have. I wonder if I bring it into the restaurant if the owner will hook me up when I say I am friends with the owner.)

The owner then told Masmui and Kensuke that I had a very kindly face and before I knew it he was giving me one of his famous bowls to take home with me. This was an amazing gesture and something that I will always remember. However, if you have ever eaten ramen you'll know that the bowls are slightly larger than your average cereal bowl. By slightly I mean they are at least two or three times bigger. In case you're keeping track from my last few posts, in my final 48 hours before leaving for a ten day backpacking trip, I was handed a GIANT calendar, traded for a large framed sumo wrestling hand print/signature and now was given a huge ceramic bowl. Yeah, there's not much room left to get anyone any presents. Sorry about that.

(PICTURE: The ramen master and me outside of the ramen shop with my new bowl in hand.)

My Bicycle

(PICTURE: The end of the line for my bike.)

Buying a bicycle the first week in Koryama was the greatest purchase I have made in a long time. The whole time I was here I only rode the local bus two times because I rode everywhere. Katie and I guesstimated that I rode at least 400 miles in three months between commuting to work, going to the gym every night, exploring Koryama and taking the river bike path a few times. I've tried to think of a way to bring my bike back to Vietnam with me but it just isn't economically feasible especially when I can buy the same exact bike in Vietnam for the same price I bought this one for. However, that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye.

During the second to last week of school one of my students told me that he had broken his bike. I had devised a great plan to surprise him with my bicycle the last day of school when two days prior to the end, he told me he got a new bike. I now had two options for my bicycle:

Option 1: Sell it to a second-hand store. There is one a few minutes from me that will probably give me $20 for it.

Option 2: Find a small street and leave it there until the next time I come back to Japan.

Yes, option #2 sounds ridiculous but let me recant a story that my friend Mikka told me: Mikka said that she works with a girl who taught in Japan last year. At the end of her contract she left her bike, with the key in the lock, in an alley in Tokyo. The teacher left Japan for three months and when she came back, BAM, the bicycle was still in the same spot. How amazing is that?

Gosh, I'm gonna miss my bike and Japanese honesty.

Anyway, in the end I went with Option #1. Turns out it was a GREAT move. Masumi, Kensuke and I went to a local second hand shop to get an offer on my bike. The owner told us to wait a minute and instead of just twiddling our thumbs, we perused the store. I gotta tell you, I've been to many a second hand store before but this one took the cake. This place was awesome. They had all this old authentic Japanese stuff and I was enthralled that I almost immediately said to Masumi, "Maybe I can swap my bike for one of these [old giant Japanese banners that I was looking at."

First things first, the owner went outside with us and gave my bike the once over and offered me 1500 Yen. Frankly I was offended since I assumed the lowest he would offer was 2,000 Yen. However I played it cool and offered my swap idea. The owner was game and we went back into the shop. I pointed at the banners and asked which he recommended. He ended up choosing an old one that had a price tag on it for 3,150 Yen! That's more than double what he was offering for my bike. I immediately agreed to the deal. The owner went to get his ladder when something caught my eye high on the wall. There was a hand print with Japanese writing over it.

(PICTURE: The hand print with Japanese writing.)

I asked Masumi what it was and she told me it was a sumo wrestler's hand print and his signature. BOOM! I asked the owner if I could switch and he said no problem. Masumi then asked him a question in Japanese and got excited when he told her that he had her favorite sumo's hand print/signature.

(PICTURE: The owner taking down the hand print/signature.)

This particular collectible had a 4,000 Yen price tag on it. I asked the guy if he would swap it with me and I would give him another 1,000 Yen (Yup, I thought I was getting money when I went into the store). The guy agreed and then hooked me up again by only charging me 500 Yen. I asked Masumi if she wanted the item but she told me to keep it. Besides the giant calendar I was given the day before, I now have a huge framed sumo hand print/signature to carry for ten days. Sure it is a pain in the ass to carry but it is by far the best souvenir from Japan ever!!!!

(PICTURE: Almost an even swap.)

Oh, if you're into sumo, the hand print/signature is for the retired sumo heartthrob Terao.

A Real Samurai

(PICTURE: The eel chef and his wife.)










I had one solo dinner left in Koryama and had a tough decision to make -- which restaurant to go to? Okay, it wasn't actually tough at all because by far my favorite restaurant has been the local eel place. Besides the amazing food, the chef and his wife have been extremely friendly to me. I've written about how every time I go in they give me extra food that they're preparing for their family. Well, on top of that, whenever I have seen the chef around the neighborhood he flashes me a peace sign and smiles from ear to ear. I saw him one time at the local supermarket and he literally almost jumped with joy when he saw me. The guy can't speak English and I obviously can't speak Japanese but I still consider him to be one of the best friends I've made in Japan.

Going to the eel restaurant for my last meal turned out to be one of my greatest experiences in the land of the rising sun. As soon as I walked in, the husband and wife lit up. In my best gesturing possible, I told them that this was going to be my last meal in Koryama. Immediately the man told me he had a present for me and proceeded to climb up on to a high shelf and pulled down a gigantic Mt. Fuji 2010 calendar. The chef showed off the pictures in the calendar to me and then proudly handed it over. I'm not really a calendar guy but this is a beautiful calendar. The one down side to it is that I now have to travel ten days with a huge rolled up calendar.

After graciously receiving the present, I sat down and the chef and his wife started to make me a bunch of extra food. The chef then took out a big bottle of beer and poured us all a glass to celebrate the night. The three of us tried to communicate as best as possible and we got a lot across to one another. I took out my camera and showed them pictures of my family and pictures of Huyen. I think they were really excited that I was sharing personal things with them.

(PICTURE: Sharing a beer together.)

At some point it came up that I go to the local gym and it turned out that both the husband and wife go there too. I was actually planning on going there after dinner and had my gym bag with me. The chef asked if he could come along and work out with me. I of course said yes and he got really excited. He got so excited he CLOSED THE RESTAURANT TWO HOURS EARLY!!!

While I finished my meal, the chef ran upstairs and changed into his workout clothes. He then came back to the restaurant and started to show me some of his exercising moves and then began to point at himself and say "Master." Soon after he said, "Karate" and I put the two together. Before I knew it the chef darted upstairs again and came down with a slew of weapons. Turns out the chef is a SAMURAI!!! A real life SAMURAI!!!!

The chef proceeded to put on a show for me with each weapon. It was freaking amazing...until he cut himself on his samurai sword. His wife patched him up with a band-aid and then the two of us hit the gym together. As we walked into the gym, the chef pointed at me and told all the workers at the front desk, "MY FRIEND." Honestly, this almost made me choke up. I'm friends with a samurai.

Check out this video. It is AWESOME!

Last Day of Class

(PICTURE: Group shot of the A, B and C classes)

This past Wednesday was the last day of class. It was sad to say goodbye to my students but at the same time I was pretty elated to finish my tour of teaching duty in Japan. I had some really wonderful students and made some good bonds. Three students bought me a box of chocolate, one student bought me a detailed book of maps for my travels in Japan and another two students invited me to their hometowns (I might be able to swing by one's town near Tokyo. The other lives on an island near Okinawa).

Teaching Japanese students was much different then how I thought it would be compared to teaching Vietnamese students. Truly they are completely different worlds of teaching. The one major difference outside of pronunciation, spelling and writing that I can point out is this: the Vietnamese students I've had really saw English as a way to better their lives. In Japan I often felt like students looked at English as just another subject. At the end of the day in Vietnam I always felt a sense of doing something good. I've always felt that I was making a difference. At the end of the day in Japan, I usually felt like I was just finishing a job. That said, I'm really going to miss my Japanese students but at the same time I can't wait to get back to Hanoi to start teaching!

(PICTURE: A couple of my favorite students -- Ryoto, George Lucas, Yukki and Souichiro.)