Kyoto part I

I kept a private (online) journal in Kyoto, using the coin-op computers in our hostel. I'm now going to start porting the entries over here, and adding some photos (I took so many photos!) from the trip.

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24th February

Right now Loren is playing Magic with a couple of Americans he just met in the lounge of the Kiwi-style Backpackers we are staying at. I am therefore entertaining myself by feeding my internet addiction on one of the coin-op computers in said lounge.

So. I will give you the quick run-down because it is hard to type on this keyboard.

Plane ride.
Uneventful. Spotted the first Japanese people wearing surgical masks. I would say on the street I see about one person in twenty wearing one of these. Most of the airport staff at Immigration in Osaka Kansai airport were wearing them. Service on Air New Zealand flights, as usual, was great. They had a Japanese or Western option for meals, and offered a hot moist towel for the cleaning of hands and face before meals, which is common practice in Japanese restaurants.

Yesterday.
It was cold but no longer raining as it had been the night we got in. We visited a lovely garden near our hostel, which our guide book described as not particularly impressive (therefore, can not wait to see the impressive ones). And visited a Buddhist temple also not far away. It is allegedly the largest all-wooden building ever made. I would believe it too, though it would have been better if the main building had not been closed for renovation, and also so covered with scaffolding that you could not see the outside of it. We had ramen at a hole-in-the-wall ramen house for lunch. We had ramen for dinner as well (along with some gyoza), at one of these strange little ramen houses where you order and pay via a coin-op machine outside, then hand them your tickets inside to get served.


Me on one of the bridges of Shosei-en Garden


Cherry tree supported bamboo lattice. We were there just before cherry blossom season.


Dragon fountain at Higashi Hongan-ji temple


Today.
The rain is back, and it is colder. We went into dowtown Kyoto and visited two strange museums. One was a manga museum that also was a sort of manga archive; there were walls full of shelved manga and people sitting at tables reading them. The second was a kaleidoscope museum, which was more fun than it sounds. I have never seen so many kinds of kaleidoscope, nor such fancy ones. The most elaborate was a stained-glass statue of a geisha; you look into a peep hole in the top of her hair and turn one of her elaborate hair ornaments. We also checked out an open-air market in the same area. It is huge, full mostly of food vendors of all kinds. I have never seen so many strange foods, some we could only guess at what they might be. Nearly all of the signs were in Japanese. We sampled a variety of things by way of having lunch. My favorites were fresh mochi with adzuki bean paste inside and a strawberry on top, and just absolutely delicious unagi nigiri.


Nishiki market

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February

February is the best time to visit Wellington. The weather is still warm (It's the antipodes equivalent of August). Airfare and other travel-related prices are starting to go down post-Christmas holidays. But most importantly, my goodness is there a lot going on!

Fringe Festival is almost upon us upon us (6th Feb. to 1st March) This festival prides itself on having an "open access" policy, making it easy for any artist to become a part of the events. It's an idea launching pad for up and coming artists, and the best of all, it's a festival that's easy to enjoy on the cheap. You can even get a discount card for it!

The Cuba Street Carnival (21st Feb.) does alternate years with the New Zealand International Arts Festival (26th Feb to 21st March). Last year was the Arts Festival (big, fancy, expensive showcase of artists of all kinds) and we didn't make it to anything partially due to laziness and partially due to price. This year I am looking foreword to the Cuba Street Carnival - a huge, free, Rio de Janeiro-style street party with costume contests, multiple stages, and a night parade.

New Zealand International Sevens (6th and 7th Feb.) is probably the biggest costume-wearing day of the year, which is saying a lot for a city whose residents are happy to use even a mundane office party as an excuse to wear a costume. Technically a sporting event, the Sevens is more like an annual event. There are parades, costume contests, and countless parties surrounding the games. I don't have much interest in sport, but it's easy to see what's so appealing about the Sevens. It is a simplified, slimmed-down version of Rugby, allowing for action-packed matches that only last fifteen minutes. An entire tournament is played through in just two days. This also means that all of the Rugby Sevens teams come through town all at once. A very big event for Rugby fans. As for me, tickets to the actual game are expensive and not worth it. We'll probably do what we did last year: Walk outside our door, turn the corner, and find ourselves in the midst of the Courtneay Place block party where we'll be able to catch the last couple of games on the big screen they've got set up in the street.

Waitangi Day (6th of February). While walking along the waterfront last night, I overheard a snippet of conversation: "Waitangi Day is our Thanksgiving." I thought, "no it's not, Waitangi Day is obviously more like the 4th of July!" It is, after all, the day to celebrate the founding of the country. It is the day a group of Maori tribes signed a treaty with the British Crown. Of course, now I think about it, that is a tiny bit like Thanksgiving, which does celebrate a day in which the native Americans and the colonists got together and formed a sort of friendship. Of course, we all know how that turned out for the native Americans. The Europeans made a number of treaties with the American natives, but we won't be celebrating those. That's because the Europeans would eventually violate every one of them.

Summer City (31st December to March 29th march). This is a Summer-long series of free events put on by the Wellington City Council. It's everything from outdoor concerts to circus performances, from New Years parties to volleyball games on the beach.

Wow! That's a lot of stuff. I am exhausted just writing about all of it. As you can see, a confluence of events this year places Sevens weekend and Waitangi Day weekend right on top of each other. As I walk the relatively calm streets of Courtenay Place this afternoon, inside I am bracing myself for a particularly crazy weekend in Wellington's pub/club/theatre district.

I leave you with this photo I snapped yesterday on Lambton Quay:



Even Wellington founding father John Plimmer is dressing up for the Rugby Sevens this year

Study in New Zealand

Yes, I am "going back to school." I keep calling this my Mid-life Crisis, which is kind of a joke because it doesn't feel like a crisis, but also kind of fitting because I've had a real shift in my goals and perspective and it's starting to show. In the past month or two I've quit my job, got a tattoo, and enrolled in a Massage Certificate programme - a complete shift of focus for me.

Which brings us to today's topic.

This being my first venture in tertiary education here in my adoptive country, I have learned a little bit about how these things work in New Zealand.

I admit I still don't understand the complex testing system which high school students take and which somehow has specific consequences for what types of university programmes they can get into. But I can now tell you something about finances.

First, there's student loans. I applied for one last week. Just about anyone can get one, and here is how it works: You take out the loan, the special government agency that handles such things then pays your enrolment fees and can also pay you for course-related costs (in my case, that's mainly a massage table). Once you graduate, your loan account gets handed over to the IRD (it's like the IRS). This loan is completely interest free. And you don't have to pay it back 'til you start making over a certain amount of money (about $18,000 a year). THEN you just have to repay 10% of your current income until it's paid off. It doesn't matter how long it takes. Just 10% of your earnings taken right out of your pay check by the IRD. It's that easy.

Oh, but it does not, in fact, end there. Here's a brand new term: Student Allowances. How these work is a little simpler: the government gives you money. And you don't owe them anything ever. Yes, my friends, the government will actually PAY you to go to university! Now, how much you get depends on your income as well as your partner's. I my case I don't qualify for any because of Loren's income, and because of my age (partner's income doesn't count if you're under 23). But the average student just out of high school will get somewhere between $50 and $150 per week, depending on their parent's circumstances. Now that is pretty great.

For an adult student, the whole system is still pretty neat. But for a parent trying to send their kid to university, well, it's pretty damn amazing.

National Identity

America's National Bird: Bald Eagle

(solitary, powerful, predatory)





New Zealand's National Bird: Kiwi

(flightless, rare, and.. uh.. stroppy?*)





* Stroppy: a fighter; easily provoked to anger; fiercely protective.


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Actually, a New Zealand national icon that I think fits a little better is: the Bee

(Industrious, hard-working, civic-minded)



"buzzy bee" a classic Kiwi child's toy

27th July, 2005: Waiting for the Fall

I've had a request to re-post some of the stuff I wrote back when I first started working with animals and had a lot more to say about it. The following is one of my favourites.

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I wish I were a painter. So I could paint a picture for you. A clearing in dappled light, under the canopy of a large twisted old bay tree. In the center of the clearing is a deer, standing very still, its nose just touching the ground. At the edges of the clearing there are several women, all standing very still, all watching the deer. It is very quiet. The woman in the background is crouching, sturdy-looking, middle aged with short graying hair. The woman standing just to the deer's left is wearing the same sensible khaki as the others, but her hair is blonde and curly, she has ear rings, she looks almost glamorous, she is glancing down at her watch. The two women in profile in the foreground look almost peaceful, and a little bit weary, their eyes fixed on the deer, who is looking back at them. If I were a painter, I could paint this with perfect detail. I would call it "Waiting for the fall."

We stood there so still and so quiet for what seemed like a very long time. I saw the vet shoot the dart, and then we closed in, and then we waited. She should have gone down then, but she just wouldn't. Its not her fault - in the wild, you have to hide your weaknesses as long as possible, especially when you are a prey animal. The vet. got two more doses of ketamine in her before it was all over. Then we tried to just drive her into the holding area, but she bolted the other way, and I was the one to cut her off that time. I should have just froze, then, with my arms out, making myself as big as possible. She was too far to drive through the door now, but I didn't think of that, so I just reached out and touched her on the nose, and she took off again. We cornered her again, and then the keeper said "everyone hold!" and we stopped, and we closed in. The vet. inched in painfully slow and got a pillow case over her head, and we helped her to the ground and into the net and that was the end of it.

There's something I just love about this part of it. Whether its cornering a deer or handling a fractious cat or finding that sneaky way to get a shot into a scared dog with the minimum of restraint. It takes a certain kind of skill that's so far removed from the technical side of the job, and it takes a kind of animal sense which can't really be taught. There was something particularly exciting about being part of this group of women working together to take down a deer. Though we weren't out to kill it, of course. We just wanted to trim its hooves, give it some medicine, and clean its teeth.

Election Day/ Guy Fawkes Day

Still trying to catch up on all that's happened in the last few months. Let's go back to November...

The first guests to arrive were my parents. The day they got here happened to be the day of the Presidential election in America. We choose to not get any television reception in our home, but I still wanted to know what was going on with the election. I heard JJ Murphy's - an Irish pub up on Cuba St. - was going to be showing election coverage all day. They probably weren't the only pub doing this, but the were the only pub hosting the American Democrat's election-watching party.



Patrons at JJ Murphy's watching the race

It was a warm cloudy day with misty rain on and off. We walked around the CBD alternately doing last-minute Celebration preparations and popping into JJ Murphy's to catch the tally. We were eating lunch at Offbeat Originals when we heard a cheer go up from JJ Murphy's down the street. When we went in to get an update, the place was packed. Obama had just won the presidency. Americans and Kiwis alike were celebrating. We watched McCain's concession speach, and Mom said how nice that the three of us were all together for this historic moment.



Parents looking hopeful as Obama takes the lead

It also happened to be Guy Fawkes Day, which is celebrated each year with a fireworks display over the harbour. As we walked the couple blocks from our apartment to the waterfront that evening, the fireworks were already going, and we could hear some kids nearby hollering "Obama!" It was an excellent display, with two launch points working in tandem from barges out in the harbour. It was easy to imagine the whole thing was a celebration of Obama's victory.

It is fair to say that mostly Kiwis are happy about Obama's victory. While American is not, in fact, the centre of the universe, most other countries do care about American politics, simply because they have to. American is still a powerful political and military force which likes to get all up in everyone else's business. And I think that if the world's population had voted in America's presidential election, Obama would have won by a landslide. Wellington will be celebrating his inauguration on the 21st with party featuring African and African-American music:

Kyoto

So we're going to Japan. It is official. We bought tickets today. I am excited.

This all started when Loren went to an international Magic (the card game) tournament in Auckland. He got 16th place which won him some money and an invite to a international tournament in Japan. (no, not enough money to cover the trip, but enough to help). That was the end of November and the tournament is at the end of February. Not much time to decide whether to go and how to get there. Last week I finally got a Kyoto guide book (that's the city we will be visiting). And now I can't wait to go, it sounds like a really beautiful city, and completely different than anywhere I've ever been. Neither of us have been anywhere in Asia before.



So. I am just going to pretend this is our non-honeymoon following our non-wedding in December. And remind myself that some people spend more on a wedding dress than we'll be spending on all of our travel expenses combined.