Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Badaud Dispatch 8-- Et in Arcadia Wanderlust

One of my (admittedly flippant) reasons to go abroad was that this would be one year I wouldn't be whacked over the head with wanderlust when the fall came. I would already be wandering! The sense of smothered longing would not appear at inconvenient times (5 AM, history class) and make me unable to concentrate! I was wrong, of course. 

Last weekend I went to a ginkgo festival at the foot of Mt Takau. The gingko trees there do not mess around: 

The yellow goes on for miles

There were food stands and musicians and vendors along the yellow avenue, like a very long Smorgasburg. It one one of those brilliantly gilded fall days where your eyes hurt from the intensity of the colors. There were samurai:

Note the guns and the swords

And amazingly synchronized dance troupes with absolutely unflagging energy:

That flag guy was at it for nearly half an hour without a rest

It was strange to be at a festival with no idea what each dance represented, what the songs were about, or really what the occasion was. We bought gingko nuts, only to discover they had not been roasted and tasted exactly the way gingko fruits smell (the streets, unsurprisingly, were entirely gingko fruit free. I think the armies of elderly guys with brooms and buckets that appear to be everywhere were responsible). I felt increasingly ill at ease and restless, standing in a crowd with the mountains so close, and finally ran off in their general direction. 

Follow the river!

Hachioji is tucked up against the foothills, in the inimitably confusing Japanese style that makes a town look completely flat until you suddenly find yourself up against a wall of hill that your bike is probably not up to, or, worse, at the top of a cliff that your brakes are definitely not equipped to descend. On foot the hills creep up more slowly, which in this case was distressing- I wanted to be in the forest, alone, and the hazy woods kept receding or having fences around them. I gave up on the Official Heritage Trail which was crowded and paved and walled, and hurried through the town. How lovely it must be, I thought, to live here in the shadow of the blazingly bright mountains and know where the damn paths are. 

This way is trespassing.

This way too.

Finally I was about to give up and go meet my companions at the station and maybe go for a really long bike ride upon returning to Hiyoshi, when I saw exactly what I was looking for:

A PATH!

So I ran straight up the mountain as fast as I could, and the cars and music faded away at last and the air was sweet and clear. There was a little shrine with a fox god at the top and I bowed most respectfully. I may be a cold and logical atheist, but I was filled with such a sense of gratitude and peaceful delight to be there, dusty and out-of-breath, looking down over the coral-stained town. 

I didn't photograph the shrine because I read somewhere it was disrespectful.

I ran back down and miraculously made the train, and fell asleep at once. I was wearing khaki pants (laundry day) and noticed that they were not even slightly dirty. I think Japan simply hasn't got any dirt. 

School has become a bit stressful lately, as there is a presentation day coming up. I don't know if it is a communication issue, a language issue, or a cultural one, but the way the academic schedule and expectations are laid out is...not what we're used to. It's a tribute to my colleagues that we are all navigating the murkiness of university bureaucracy without too much grief or drama. I think everyone is trying very hard, but it does sometimes feel like a great deal of information is being lost somewhere in a miasma and everyone is confused. It's been two times I've left a frustrating meeting to gallop around the athletic track in my entirely non-athletic boots just to blow off steam. 

But hey! I made a robot! 


I WILL BE GONE SOME TIME!


He is based on Titus Oates if anyone is wondering. And if anyone is wondering why Titus Oates needs to be a robot I could not tell you, but he cracks me up every time. I broke the one above from making him fall over too much; I had to make a replacement. 

Maybe next post I'll write about school and design more. I worked on a movie about a ghostly karate man, thought up a transmedia project for homesick luddites, and am up to my ears in a collapsable, disposable, unfortunately still kinda goofy looking bike helmet. 

And it's really hard to concentrate on any of these when I can see the mountains from the elevator. 

--Isis




Sunday, November 2, 2014

Badaud Dispatch 7-- New Gods (And More Old Ones)

I have noticed a definite prevalence of fish in Japanese everything. I bit into what looked exactly like an apple pastry the other day, only to discover it was full of fish. Today I saw that even shoes are fish.

I didn't buy a pair. Then I jumped in the ocean and stepped barefoot on a fish. Serves me right. 

I have settled into a routine, more or less. There is school, slightly more time consuming but still nowhere near Pratt stressful, and relentless adventuring in all directions all the time. By the time I get home to New York I will want to sleep for weeks. I spent one day fully indoors and was immediately restless and grumpy, so I suppose this is just how I am wired. That and my dorm room is small and grey and hasn't got a cat in it.

Tokyo Designers Week was last week, and it was cool. 


Light up cell phone suits

Double hilted safety sword


Holographic fashion frog!

Again, it was distressing to have almost no Japanese. I really wanted to chat with designers, and while everyone tried their best and was patient I just haven't the vocabulary. So I smiled a lot and said 'Sugoi desu ne!' and was handed informational packets with beautiful graphics that I cannot read.* 

I did find someone who spoke perfect English:

She has better hair than I do.

It was only the nonspecific lip movement that made it obvious that she's silicon and wires and breadboards and batteries. It is really unsettling to speak to a robot:

Me: Konnichiwa! O genki desu ka?
Her: (In the squeaky voice of an affected teenager) Konnichiwa. Genki desu. Yoroshiku onagaishimaaaaaasu. 
Me: Um, do you speak English?
Her: Yes of course. How are you? Good day. What's your name? Where are you from? Hehe. 
Me: I'm Isis. I'm from New York. 
Her: (Eyes getting big and slightly misaligned) New York! Cooooool! Hehe. 
Awkward silence
Me: Um. Er. What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you have spare time?
Her: (Vibrating) I like to learn things! It is cool to learn new things. Don't you think?
Me: Oh yes. You bet. (Awkward silence). Um, I'm off. Nice to meet you. 
Her: I am very glad to meet you, Eesees. I'm sure we will meet again. 
Me: (quietly) In my damn nightmares....

There were also some comfortingly robotic looking robots:

They did the electric slide.

The other day in class I was trying to explain why I personally would not like a humanoid robot, even if it did the dishes and the laundry and picked my socks off the floor. It's just too close to a person, and if I'm able to feel embarrassed and tongue tied from just talking to a robot, I don't think I could bring myself to order one to do my menial tasks. I'd feel guilty and want to pay it. However, if the robot in question looked entirely inhuman, not even like a beast, I could be ok with it. An unsympathetic box can collect my socks any day. 

Speaking of beasts, here is a confession: I saw a squirrel and immediately seized my camera to take a picture. It was a normal grey squirrel but I haven't seen one in two months. Fortunately for my dignity it scooted up a tree and I didn't get a picture and I did not join the legions of doofuses who photograph squirrels. But I came really close. 

Today I went to Kamakura, which is a shrine-heavy area a bit past Yokohama. We started by visiting this giant peace goddess who is visible from the train:

See her up there? It must be nice to have a giant peace goddess watching over your town.

She was built in the 50s and has a nice sympathetic look to her. You can enter a hatch in the back and there's a little shrine. 

It's hard to make a giant head without being all looming, but the sculptor managed. 

Then we went to Kamakura proper, which was packed. There was some kind of children's festival, and dozens of unbearably cute kids in tiny kimonos. They were also without exception behaving themselves. I wanted to take pictures of them, but that seemed creepy so I didn't. 

Going to shrines involves a lot of running up stairs:

Grand stairs

Old stairs

Creepy stairs

It was lovely. My nonbeliever's soul is perfectly happy in a Shinto or Buddhist shrine, much more than in a church or synagogue. I appreciate that they are largely outdoors, on hilltops, and very welcoming. It's nice to just go and be somewhere quiet and peaceful for a bit. Even the little prayer gongs have a sweet, soothing ring. And there are bamboo forests! 


The best rustling ever

We visited the giant 12th century Buddha, who is in exceptionally good shape considering his age. 

You could buy little kawaii Buddha charms in the giftshop

And then ran to the beach with the windsurfers and the beautiful bluegrey waves and the still warm water. 

Move over, Atlantic. 

I could go on forever about this slightly enchanted endless summer and the beautiful trains and lovely prayer flags and all the books I am reading and the strange short nights. But there is homework to do and possibly a robot bit acquisition mission, so off I go. 

-I

*I am studying! But I am just not good at languages and it's taking forever and there are SO many Kanji... I hate being bad at stuff.