大阪 (Ōsaka) and Settling

I'm not sure at all why こたつ (kotatsu = awesome) have not caught on in absolutely every country. I mean, circling with your friends around a warm toasty comfortableness... Who doesn't want that? It's like camping, but in your living room. Though, in all fairness, in a central heated home, the appeal isn't quite as striking as being in 50 degrees of Fahrenheit brrr. But that's part of the beauty, central heating is 高い (expensive) in not just the financial sense of the word, and as such is rare in Japan where it's めっちゃ高い (that's Ōsaka slangy for really expensive). Anyway, so much happiness has happened around these kotatsu for me this past week which picks up from the last post with landing at 伊丹空港 (an airport in Ōsaka).



Chii-san and her family I fell in love with. But we'll get to that after customs. Luckily, in Narita airport I had a three hour layover. First off the plane, it actually feels pretty darn similar to U.S. airports, the main highlight is getting to move your legs more than three inches in either direction. So I headed on over to immigration where the three month provisional visa magically became a one year "Specialist in Humanities" visa, whatever that means. Exciting! Though the whole "okay, now what to do next?" feeling was more the focus than the "wow! yay! Japan!" one. From immigration it's on to customs then on to the airport exit (the only option) then to the airport entrance then to check-in then to security and on to the boarding lobby. Straightforward. Yeah. Those three hours were put to good use figuring said straightforwardness. An adventure! Actually, it was pretty relaxed and kind of fun.

Walking out of Itami Airport baggage claim to warm excited Chii-san, her mom, her dad and a cousin Kazuma-san along with their hugs and bows and hajimemashite's (that's はじめまして, it looks better). Oh, and my first sign. Chii had made a "Brandon" sign welcoming me too. もう、はじめましてだった. Another first. So, in a flurry of broken English and even more broken Japanese (actually, they weren't so broken. I mean, they worked pretty darn well), we ended up talking about favorite places, food, ages, Ōsaka and deciding to go "aiplane watching." Now, in Japanese culture, "(blank) watching" is a favourite pastime. There are even special words. 花見 means literally "flower watching" and is an activity discussed, looked forward to and enjoyed by millions in the country. So "airplane watching" is similar, just a bit quirkier. So, standing just meters away from the landing strip, planes flew overhead, grazing our hair and producing many spectacular SCHOOOOOM!

From there, we yay-it's-an-exciting-new-guest-host-arriving giddily conversed on the way home. They asked me to sit in the front, and I confusedly stared at the right side where there was sitting おとん (that's really coloquial for "Dad." I smile from head to toe thinking that Chii's mom and dad asked me to call them just that: Mom, Dad. おとん、おかあさん). Right side = passenger side, right? ちがうんだ。Nope. Oh! That's right! Japan drives on the left. This heralded many a similar waaah-what's-going-on-oh-right-okay feelings with door handles, food, showers, et cetera. Actually, let's segway on to the showers. :)

Being exceptional hosts, after a delicious dinner of "I don't remember what in the flurry of all this new food, I think miso soup was there," a hot prepared お風呂 (o-furo) was awaiting.

A typical (though older style) o-furo

The thing is, "where's the showerhead? where's the shower?" Oh, yeah, right, it's different. But how? Well, see those white bucket things, it's typical to sit on the larger one and used the second to fill with water and pour over yourself. So you wash up before getting in the tub (the o-furo), using the water in that way. It's actually pretty cool. Water conservation, horray! I wonder how the sangha at Pālolo Zen Center would like these guys? Anyway, it's sort of funny when someone half your age is explaining to you how to used the shower and toilet and all that. Kazuma-san, Chii's cousin, did this with much excitement. He's cool; I like him. He took care of me when we went to a sentō (one of those public bath houses) which is a story coming up probably in some later post.

Well, so, the washing part is efficient and cleansing, and the o-furo part is very aaah!-yeah. Remember, Japan right now, where I'm staying, is about low forties at night (that's about 5-10 C. Celsius for the win!). Okay, so skipping over lots of conversations, laughs and smiles and goofiness, the bed I was honored with (the biggest in the house by far) was very firm. Super comfortable. It resembles very well sleeping on a 布団 on 畳.

布団 on 畳 (futon on tatami)

Anyway, so that put's us at Saturday in Japan, which the plan was sightseeing in Ōsaka. Here's all I got to say about that:

Walking around in a beautiful park, not remembering the name.

My wonderful guide around Ōsaka, Chii-san.

The market that's part of the aforementioned park

:P

Then on to the packed Cherry Blossom Lane.

桜 or Cherry Blossoms are loved for their ephemeral beauty, blossoms dying within days

The majority by far of most comedians in Japan come from Ōsaka.

The 電車駅 (train stations) promptly and politely got us all around the city (so clean!)

Ōsaka castle, 大阪城, has a rich history and beauty 

自転車, bicycles, are very popular means of transport and the city is very bicycle friendly. The ride can be refreshing and japanese neighborhoods are beautiful and quaint.

なんば, namba, it's like the Times Square of Ōsaka

It'd difficult to taste via a picture, otherwise food would be posted on here. But ちいさん introduced me to たこ焼き (takoyaki is octopus dumplings, yum!), お好み焼き (okonomiyaki is like an über-omelet/pancake, yum-osaur!), 揚げ物 (agemono, think fried food Japan style, mmm again!), along with many types of 刺身 (sashimi, raw fish. nom nom!) and other dishes whose names flew past in the hurricane barrage of new names, words and language. I decided to suspend the five years of vegetarianism for now, enjoying Japanese gastronomy in all its forms. Actually, in the course of eating chicken, pork, raw fish, beef, raw horse (yeah, that's right, 馬刺し or basashi is raw horse meat) and all that jazz, I have discovered a strong preference to the raw. Sashimi is yumm-ilicous and basashi is chewy but sumptuously tasty. Speaking of meat, as an aside, but pointing to the next post, my housemate, 細野さん (Hosono-san) treated me to all out Nagoya cuisine at an 居酒屋 (izakaya, a sake pub with lots of delicious food) last night. Chicken, pork, shrimp, squid, fishes almost all fried in various spice-ilicous ways, though some sashimi was going on too.

Now that you're taste buds are watering, go get something to eat! Thanks for reading, laughing at, laughing with, ignoring and whatever you may be doing with 日本 and Brandon's Nonsense!

Thank you again. Hugs all around.