Nothing says good luck like hot embers
So I want to write this down before too much time passes. I still have a lot more I need to write but for right now I will just stick with what happened yesterday. (Once again please note that I will probably be ignoring a few English Grammar rules. I'd like to think that this writing is similar to what you would hear me actually say.)
Yesterday, I set out from the dorm at around 10 o'clock and made it to the local train station where I met two of my fellow exchange students. Thus, two Chinese students and an American caught the 10:34AM train on which, our host mother was already waiting for us. We then hopped another train going to Nara, Japan. Which, is quite an awesome place if I do say so. Oh before I go on I would like to note that I had no idea what was going to happen that day. I was simply told by my friends that we would be going to some sort of important Japanese event. They didnt seem to know what exactly was going to happen on that day either.
Anyway, we arrived at Nara Japan a famous part of Japan and extremely well known for their deer. What makes these deer so special?
Well, as you can see by the photo, the deer in Nara are not afraid of humans. Its really quite an interesting site seeing thousands of deer that are living and walking among amazingly populated areas. If seeing so many deer hanging around so many humans without being afraid wasn't enough, something else happened that added to it. While at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green so that we could cross the street, I noticed that on the other side of the street there were a few people waiting to cross as well. Among them was a deer and I found it really quite interesting that the deer did not move at all until the light turned green. The deer then proceeded to cross the street at the same time as the rest of the Japanese people. I couldn't help but think...hey...thats something you don't see everyday.
We eventually made our way through the town of Nara, and ate at a wonderful Japanese restaurant. It was one of those places that was down a hidden alley away from all the attractions and flashy things that draw in tourists. The only possible way for someone to know about this place would be if they had been told about it or if they had been there before. If anyone reading this is hoping to study abroad. Look into a host family program or at least a program with which you can get involved with locals. In doing so, it gives you a opportunities to learn about the target culture in a very rich environment and its absolutely wonderful. Yesterday was an example of something that I really enjoy about travel. I am a foreigner of course but I was able to experience Japanese culture in a way that was different from that of a tourist. Which is something I absolutely love. I feel like the tourist experience is not always the "authentic" experience. Often times it is not always the best...but you know...I guess that just one guys opinion.
After lunch we made our way around the deer park and eventually came to our destination, which turned out to be a Shinto Temple. My friends and I were then given special ribbons by my host mothers friends. The ribbons allowed us to get into a very special area right in front of the temple. We then waited for two and a half hours for the sun to go down. As we waited more and more Japanese just kept coming and coming.
Here is a picture of my Chinese friend with my host mothers friend. We are standing right in front of the temple where the festival will take place.
After the sun went down the festival began. A few Japanese set fire to what looked like giant touches. They then ran up and down a set of stairs that led up to the temple and eventually took the touches out onto the balcony that you see in the picture.
Im not too sure if you can see exactly what is going on but basically the participants are shaking hot ashes down on the spectators (thats us) in order to give them good luck. It was really quite neat. Plus, I managed to receive a lot of good luck! It was really quite amazing being able to participate in a festival that many foreigners probably did not know about. Other than myself, I only saw three other Westerners in a crowd of thousands.
I am really quite grateful for being given the opportunity to participate in such a cool cultural event.
After the embers fell down on us all we ended up climbing the stairs to the temple itself. It was at this point I was allowed to enter the temple and get a view of what was going on inside. I thought that it was interesting that in our group of five, I was the only one allowed to enter the temple. The sole reason being, the fact that I'm a guy and apparently, only guys were allowed to enter inside.
I then left my host family at the door of the temple and entered in not knowing exactly what I was doing or exactly what was expected of me. What I found were Shinto monks chanting Sutras, reading scrolls and blowing on horns or ringing bells. I must say, I have experienced nothing quite like it. The room inside was dimly lit with nothing but Candles. Within the room you had Japanese men from all ages siting in meditation or prayer. I then took my place next to an elderly Japanese man and sat for 10 minutes soaking in everything that was occurring around me.
After a little while I left the temple and the day ended with our tired and freezing group making our way back home.I must say that it was a day filled with unique experiences that I will not forget and I look forward to even more wonderful, fun, adventure packed days in the future!
お母さん
本当にありがとうございます！昨日は凄く楽しかった！私は今度も楽しみです! -マット
Yesterday, I set out from the dorm at around 10 o'clock and made it to the local train station where I met two of my fellow exchange students. Thus, two Chinese students and an American caught the 10:34AM train on which, our host mother was already waiting for us. We then hopped another train going to Nara, Japan. Which, is quite an awesome place if I do say so. Oh before I go on I would like to note that I had no idea what was going to happen that day. I was simply told by my friends that we would be going to some sort of important Japanese event. They didnt seem to know what exactly was going to happen on that day either.
Anyway, we arrived at Nara Japan a famous part of Japan and extremely well known for their deer. What makes these deer so special?
Well, as you can see by the photo, the deer in Nara are not afraid of humans. Its really quite an interesting site seeing thousands of deer that are living and walking among amazingly populated areas. If seeing so many deer hanging around so many humans without being afraid wasn't enough, something else happened that added to it. While at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green so that we could cross the street, I noticed that on the other side of the street there were a few people waiting to cross as well. Among them was a deer and I found it really quite interesting that the deer did not move at all until the light turned green. The deer then proceeded to cross the street at the same time as the rest of the Japanese people. I couldn't help but think...hey...thats something you don't see everyday.
We eventually made our way through the town of Nara, and ate at a wonderful Japanese restaurant. It was one of those places that was down a hidden alley away from all the attractions and flashy things that draw in tourists. The only possible way for someone to know about this place would be if they had been told about it or if they had been there before. If anyone reading this is hoping to study abroad. Look into a host family program or at least a program with which you can get involved with locals. In doing so, it gives you a opportunities to learn about the target culture in a very rich environment and its absolutely wonderful. Yesterday was an example of something that I really enjoy about travel. I am a foreigner of course but I was able to experience Japanese culture in a way that was different from that of a tourist. Which is something I absolutely love. I feel like the tourist experience is not always the "authentic" experience. Often times it is not always the best...but you know...I guess that just one guys opinion.
After lunch we made our way around the deer park and eventually came to our destination, which turned out to be a Shinto Temple. My friends and I were then given special ribbons by my host mothers friends. The ribbons allowed us to get into a very special area right in front of the temple. We then waited for two and a half hours for the sun to go down. As we waited more and more Japanese just kept coming and coming.Here is a picture of my Chinese friend with my host mothers friend. We are standing right in front of the temple where the festival will take place.
After the sun went down the festival began. A few Japanese set fire to what looked like giant touches. They then ran up and down a set of stairs that led up to the temple and eventually took the touches out onto the balcony that you see in the picture.
Im not too sure if you can see exactly what is going on but basically the participants are shaking hot ashes down on the spectators (thats us) in order to give them good luck. It was really quite neat. Plus, I managed to receive a lot of good luck! It was really quite amazing being able to participate in a festival that many foreigners probably did not know about. Other than myself, I only saw three other Westerners in a crowd of thousands.
I am really quite grateful for being given the opportunity to participate in such a cool cultural event.
After the embers fell down on us all we ended up climbing the stairs to the temple itself. It was at this point I was allowed to enter the temple and get a view of what was going on inside. I thought that it was interesting that in our group of five, I was the only one allowed to enter the temple. The sole reason being, the fact that I'm a guy and apparently, only guys were allowed to enter inside.
I then left my host family at the door of the temple and entered in not knowing exactly what I was doing or exactly what was expected of me. What I found were Shinto monks chanting Sutras, reading scrolls and blowing on horns or ringing bells. I must say, I have experienced nothing quite like it. The room inside was dimly lit with nothing but Candles. Within the room you had Japanese men from all ages siting in meditation or prayer. I then took my place next to an elderly Japanese man and sat for 10 minutes soaking in everything that was occurring around me.
After a little while I left the temple and the day ended with our tired and freezing group making our way back home.I must say that it was a day filled with unique experiences that I will not forget and I look forward to even more wonderful, fun, adventure packed days in the future!
お母さん
本当にありがとうございます！昨日は凄く楽しかった！私は今度も楽しみです! -マット
As one might imagine, it was an interesting flight that lasted all of 15 hrs...so yeah...that was interesting. I will say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be thanks to the wide selection of movies, tv, and music. I was also pleasantly surprised by the airline food. I also would like to point out that the reason I call this the longest day of my life is because in fact it was the longest day. If you notice the plane route was actually such that it was chasing the sun. This means that on top of seeing 2 oceans in one day (which is pretty cool) I was under the sun for about 24 hrs and 30 min. The sun finally went down a little after I landed at around 6 PM on the 27th of September. 
I was finally picked up at the airport the next day at 12PM along with 5 Taiwanese exchange students and thus we made our way to our home for the next year...