Although their are decorations everywhere, it doesn't really feel like Christmas. It has made me realise what a big deal it is in Australia. Christmas Day feels like no other because of the people we're with and the things we do - visit family, have lunch etc. Today just didn't feel right.
We had a special dinner and cake covered in Christmas decorations. It was so odd. They were chocolate cakes and Hodaka's mum put candles on one of them. Once they were lit we didn't know what to do. It was like a birthday but everyone knew Happy Birthday wasn't appropriate. We sang it anyway. Hodaka mentioned it was my birthday a few weeks ago and I ended up blowing out the candles. I wonder if Jesus had candles?
:::In case you didn't get my email (I don't have all your addresses with me) here is some of what I included, with a couple of additions.:::
Hodaka's family home is pretty western. In fact, it was imported from Canada. It is entirely prefabricated and took three months to assemble. The walls seem to be made of a plastic and everything is "built in". It is like living inside a giant, three storey caravan.
There are display villages for similar homes throughout Japan, but unlike their Australian equivalent, the "sample homes" stand only temporarily. No one will ever live in them. As they become outdated, or newer model homes come out, they are torn down and replaced. It seems like an enormous waste but space is limited and it would be expensive for companies to keep buying new land. I saw one of these display villages in Kobe built under a freeway - I`m guessing this is bargain basement location in a city famous for earthquakes.
Everything in the house seems to be automated. The water heater makes an announcement over a PA system when the water is hot enough for a shower. The light in the hall works on a sensor - so does the tap in the bathroom. The light in my room has a remote control and several levels of illumination. Even the computer I'm using right now has a remote...for what I still haven`t quite figured out.
There is no tatami - no need to sit (or sleep) on the floor. No shoes, either. I'm still getting used to that. It takes seconds for most people here to slip in and out of their shoes. You barely even see it happen. No so for me. I clumsily hop around on one foot as I try to pull a shoe on to the other. If it wasn't so cold out I`d seriously consider thongs.
I've been at Ducka`s place for two nights now. His parent`s are lovely. His dad`s English is great. My Japanese isn't. I'm surviving in just a few key phrases. I said totemoomoshiroikattadesu (It was very interesting) today and received a round of a applause and a very generous yokodekimashita (Well done). Slowly improving.
The journey here has been incredible. We landed at Kansai International (near Osaka) last Saturday night. The airport is built on the ocean. An island built from garbage.
Nara was a great place to start the trip. It is half way between Osaka and Kyoto and not even half as busy and congested. Narrow streets lined with tiny shops and houses. Space is at a premium and not a centimetre is wasted. Cars are parked so close together I'm sure the driver was forced to escape through the sunroof. There are streets here as narrow as a typical Melbourne driveway that are apparently intended for two way traffic.
Kyoto and Osaka were also cool, but the biggest surprise of the trip came in Kobe, probably because I had such low expectations. Kobe is a bit like your house after the last guest has left a really big party. All the evidence of the preparations to make the place nice are still visible but everything is a bit worn out and dirty. That is during the day.
At night, this place is amazing. It will be the tenth anniversary of the Kobe earthquake on January 17 and to mark the occasion they have this thing called Luminarie (illumination). It is an amazing sight - an entire street decorated with colourful lights. We were there on the second night of the display...along with hundreds of thousands of other people. All the streets around the display are closed off and a queue about 60 people wide stretches for well over a kilometre. This was 9pm on a Wednesday night. There are just so many people here.
Just before going to Luminarie we caught up with some friend's of Hodaka's family. He is the head of Hitachi's train division. That makes him number two or three in the company - a huge job. Earns millions. He and his wife took us out for dinner at the Kobe Steak House. We dined on Kobe beef cooked in front of us by a master chef. It cost $350 a head. I didn't know how much it cost until Hodaka told me afterwards. Glad I didn't have to pay.
He made a call the next day and organised for Hodaka and I and Hodaka's mum to go on a tour of the shinkansen factory near Hodaka's house. We weren't allowed to take photos because the manufactoring process is all secret but the guide said we were seeing things that were usually off limits. It was cool.
One thing every city and town (and the space in between) has in common here is vending machines. There are more than 20 million vending machines in Japan and I think I've seen about half of them. They are on almost every street corner and never far away from tourist spots. You trek for deep into the forest to see some ancient temple only to find Coca-Cola beat you there.
Anyway - it is time for dinner so I better run. I will email again soon. We're going to put some photos online. I'll let you know the link.
Let me know how you're going...and Merry Christmas!
