The country girl in me is smiling

After work this past Saturday I took the train to go stay with my friend, James, who lives a few hours away in a little town called Kuroiso. We actually spent the first night clubbing in a city called Utsunomiya, a city which according to all my students is best known for its amazing gyoza (Chinese dumplings). This seems like a strange claim to fame, but in Japan it's fairly common to define areas by the types of food they serve. Really though, gyoza is a pretty simple food, so I can't quite figure out what it is that would make Utsunomiya's particularly special. I didn't end up trying the gyoza, but I did go to a yakiniku restaurant that served some pretty tasty food. Yakiniku is grilled meat and vegetables served on skewers, you can go to restaurants to eat it, but you can also buy it from little stands on the streets in a lot of places. After Yakiniku we went to this fancy shmancy overpriced bar that James's friend had suggested, we stayed for one drink and then left because there was hardly anyone there and it was ridiculously expensive. We ended up at a fun dance club that played good music and had a big crowd. There was an interesting mix of people at this club. Unlike the last one I went to in Tokyo, this one did not have too many westerners. I think the majority of clubbers were Japanese or half Japanese (James called the mixed race Japanese people "Half Breeds" but I didn't think they'd particularly appreciate being referred to as if they were dogs). There were also a number of Brazilians and this random group of Afghani men who seemed to be the VIP's of the club with their own private table and endless drinks. I had originally thought the "leader" of the Afghan Clan was a bouncer because he looked so scary and menacing with his shaved head and sunglasses. James seemed to have some sort of irrational hatred for this man. I danced with a couple of guys and unknowingly started dancing with one of the Afghani men (I didn't find out their ethnicity until later). He bought me a couple of drinks and then a little while later invited James and I to sit at the "VIP" table. While sitting at the table we ended up talking to the man with the shaved head and shades. He was actually quite friendly despite his initial scariness and he bought both James and I a number of drinks. Apparently, all the Afghanis worked in car sales and exportation, which I am thinking must be a fairly lucrative business! The Afghani guy I danced with seemed to really like me, no, not "seemed to"... he did really like me... then he told me he had a wife. The small detail of marriage did not stop him from proclaiming how beautiful and amazing I was and how he wanted us to be good friends. It was a strange situation, but based on the reactions of his friends (which were similar to his) I got the feeling it was not so much him being drunk and creepy, but more of a really big cultural difference, I think these guys really did want me to be their friend.

After spending all night at the club, James and I emerged from the building into full daylight because it was actually about 8 in the morning. I had not actually wanted to stay that long, but when the Afghani man found out that James is Filipino he introduced him to a Filipino girl and then James ended up spending hours talking to her. After finally leaving we took the train back to James's town and slept for a while, then James cooked us some really good spicy food. The majority of Japanese people seem to have an aversion to spiciness, so it was a nice change for my tired little taste buds. After relaxing a bit more we went out to see Sakura (the cherry blossoms) because they were still in full bloom. The cherry blossoms bloom a few weeks later in Kuroiso than they do in Tokyo because Kuroiso is farther north. We walked through the park which was strung up with thousands of beautiful pink and blue lanterns weaving through all the cherry trees. After reaching the end of the park we decided to climb down a maze of spiraling stairs that led to a little lake. Upon reaching the lake we discovered another gorgeous park with a traditional Japanese garden and beautiful ponds and waterfalls. The whole time James has lived in Kuroiso he's complained about how ugly and boring it is, so he was thrilled to find something that made the town seem worthwhile. Since it was already night time when we found the lovely park we decided to return the next day so that we could see it in day light.

The next day we found our way down to the park with our bikes (James had an extra bike for me to ride) and we also decided to explore the river that runs along side the park. After spending months living in a world of brown and gray concrete I had been yearning to be immersed in nature and beauty, pretty parks just weren't cutting it anymore. When we reached the river I was overjoyed to find what I had been looking for; I never dreamed that Kuroiso would be anywhere near as beautiful as it actually was. The river was just gorgeous, it was scattered with grey stones and lined by cliffs and towering forests. The water was immaculately clean and the current was very strong due to the rain we'd had over the past few days. We biked along the river for a while and discovered yet another pretty garden/park and a very lovely camp ground overlooking another small lake. James and I decided that we definitely have to come back and go camping or have a cook out this summer. We headed back to the park with the cherry blossoms and got lots of food from the many vendors selling all types of deliciousness under the trees.

After forcing myself to leave the serenity of Kuroiso I headed back to Tokyo and at the transfer station for the shinkansen (bullet train) a Japanese guy started talking to me... in Japanese. We sat across from each other on the train and did our very best to converse, but with his extremely limited English and my even more limited Japanese it wasn't easy. Still, we managed to get major points across and I think he asked me if I wanted to get a drink with him. I couldn't since I had already paid for the full trip, but it was still pretty nice (if that's what he actually asked). When I got off the train in Itabashi I got a little lost and another guy helped me find the nearest station. Not only did the man walk me about 5 or 6 minutes out of his way to the station, he actually walked me down into the station to make sure I got onto the correct track. The benevolence of Japanese people never ceases to amaze me.