Stephen's Travels in Asia: May 2018

May 9, 2018

Well, here we are again. I’d like to preface this with a few things. First, this is mostly my vacation for Golden Week. Second, we will get into some philosophy, so if that’s not your thing, sorry. Anyway, life up till now has been good. Not outstandingly spectacular, mostly due to the fact that I’m sick, more on that later, but very pleasant. Work is hard but rewarding as we try some new teaching methods and I can count on everyone on the team, which is nice.

Vacation for me started with a simple day off. I wanted to recover because for the last few weeks, I’ve had issues with waking up with a dry throat and in pain. I took medicine, but the changes have been minor, at best. I also started having sleeping issues, where getting a full night’s rest was close to impossible, all before holiday. My rest gave me a chance to recover, but still, I had to pack and my sickness issues were just beginning.

Day two, we headed out to Hiraizumi. The trains were a bit frustrating to navigate, as you’d have one train for a destination, per hour, which seemed dumb to me. Anyway, I love riding trains. When I have a place to sit, especially on the 2-4 car trains, it’s really pleasant. I started reading William Samurai, the book telling the life of who Nioh was based off of. My hotel wouldn’t let me in when I arrived, because I got there too early, so I explored Hiraizumi and saw Motsuji temple. It’s very quaint. That’s a good word for most of the town. Quaint. The atmosphere of the area was tranquil and it helped me to relax, despite the sweating, coughing, and feelings of exhaustion. More on that later. I made plans for the future and stopped at a lovely little soba place. It had some of the best music I’ve heard in ages, which was a mix of traditional Japanese melody and synthesizers, so it was like listening to the best video game Asian themed music never made. I may have to track it down since I have the name of it. The old lady was sweet.

So, here’s the skinny. I have a case of asthma, a dry cough/cold, and a wart/pain on my left foot. It also means that I have trouble sleeping due to the dry cough and needing water. I battled sickness and dehydration every step of the way with this journey. And on day two, it really was a battle. I rented a bike, which was nice, but the climb up to Chusonji was a hard one. I stopped at the Hiraizumi heritage center and learned a bit more about the Fujiwara clan who ran the area before the Sengoku Jidai. It was interesting. After that, I headed to the temple proper. It was beautiful and the climb up, while exhausting, had a mystique due to the forest surrounding everything. The Buddhas on display were large and very cool and the final golden pavilion to house them was a sight to behold. No photos of those because some experiences are ephemeral and are not meant to be recorded. Go see them for yourself. Anyway, on the way down, I was feeling exhausted and down on myself due to just loneliness. Chased it away with a bike ride, some ice cream, and a bit more planning. I wanted to go to a special temple, Takkoku, but I didn’t. More on that later. I want to end by saying my lunch was one of the local specialties. Soba and noodles are the bread and butter of Hiraizumi, so I got a special one which is six small bowls of soba with added condiments on the side so you can customize your experience. An odd but satisfying meal. The noodles themselves were great.

After my trip to Hiraizumi, I got food at an Indian restaurant run by Nepalese people who were very nice and interested in me. We communicated mostly using my poor Japanese, but the food was spectacular. I didn’t sleep much on the night before my return. I’d brought my book and my switch to keep me company, but it was my damn throat pain which kept me up. And then, in the morning, the big insult. The trains, I love, but the schedule around them is stupid. I missed the train to Hiraizumi, and by extension to Takkoku, but 3 minutes. So, here were my options. I’d tried to go to Takkoku before, but they kept moving around the bus stop and it was a really irregular bus. The next train to Hiraizumi was an hour and thirty minutes away. The next train to Sendai was an hour and forty minutes away. So, I could try and extend this trip by another 3-5 hours because of wait times or I could just go home. I decided to go home. The train ride was pleasant going home, but the reason why I went home? Well, after I got home, I headed right out to the doctor to get some medicine to solve this damned sickness. I got my medicine and then headed home to rest. Good lord, was I tired and sweaty. I was glad for the chance to rest, but sleep continued to be an issue. On the next day, Thursday, I headed out to Ionia and got some great pizza. My plan was to head out and see Infinity Wars in theaters, but guess what? Another miss. By 10 minutes. And the next showing was over two hours away. So, I could wait, in the hot, crowded, noisy, claustrophobic mall…or I could say screw it.

Here’s where we get to philosophy. I’ve always had issues with guilt. The old lady in Hiraizumi, for example, served great food, but her shop was empty. I wanted to do something for her, like go again or give money, but they don’t like charity. And Takkoku. I kept telling myself, you owe it to _________ to go see it. And the same with Infinity wars. It’s an obligation. I had a small epiphany, where I took stock and said…this isn’t my problem. If others say I have to play the new Dark Souls or Overwatch because they’re doing it or I have to see Infinity wars or any movie for that matter because they say I do…screw them. Why? Why does it matter? Why should I do something that will make me unhappy for some nebulous opaque idea of obligation borne out of guilt? And so, I decided to take care of myself instead. Get rest and water, deal with my sickness, and shocker, watch the movies on my own time. Amazon lets me rent Marvel movies. I wait like three months and I can watch Infinity Wars in my own home for cheaper. And so, I watched the marvel movies I’d previously missed out on to catch up for a fraction of the cost, with none of the frustration of the malls and theaters. It was great.

The moral of the story here, children, is to do what is best for you when no one else is involved. When people you love are involved, you can make an argument for compromise, but this was my holiday and I should enjoy it my way.

I was going to go to Yamagata, but I was tired of train travel by now, so I said forget it. Instead, I rode my bike to the beach. I felt truly content. The light rain, the cool sea breeze, the not so hot, not so cold atmosphere. On the way home, however, I got lost. Sigh. I just have the worst luck. I was halfway to Iwanuma before I got my bearings and headed back in the right direction. Added on another hour to my trip. Good for exercise, but bad for my patience. Still, I guess it was fine. This country really is beautiful.

Saturday, I was going to go to the bath house, but…eh…I was just too tired. I only wanted to run one or two errands, then rest. So, I went to a new steak house which pushed the boundaries of my patience. The lines, the ordering, it was insane. And this was 10 minutes after opening. The food was good, but I won’t go back, it’s just too much trouble. Instead, I did my laundry. Some laundromat style cleaning to help get them extra clean. It was an easy thing to do, since I had my switch to kill time until the laundry was finished. I chose to wind down my vacation at this point. Just rested, gamed, and wrote because I have big plans for afterwards. Sunday, bath house. Beyond that, resting.

The rest of my holiday was spent more or less as I said. I wanted to do more just resting and doing crap all, but I did go to the bath house and my ramen shop. For now, it’s back to school. It’s nice going back and it still being a good environment, but it is also hard after a long vacation. I probably mentioned before, but I got pretty badly burned, so I’m getting a few comments from students about my red skin, but it should be okay in a week or so. And that’s the end of this Holiday. Pictures? Pictures.