happy new year!!!! okay, so the new year kind of crept up on me, much like a tiger on her prey. it is indeed the year of the tiger here and i am feeling a renewed sense of wonder with life as new challenges arise. as i am sure that my holiday time was much different than anyones back in the states i will ramble here about my end of year holiday:
i had the lovelist of holidays over my new year break and spent one night in ioujima (a little island just a 20 minute ferry ride from ohato harbor in nagasaki). it was beautiful and calming to spend a night right on the sea. for a quick fix in life nothing beats it.
after one night in ioujima i spent five beautiful, lazy nights with the good folks at the akari hostel near the temple district in nagasaki. there are always lots of travelers coming and going day in and day out there from all over the world and it is always fun to meet them and share a cup of coffee and a little chat. so many people dazzled by the culture and life that is japan. it is great to share common and contrasting experiences with them.
i hadnt really made plans for new years eve when i came and did the whole 'see what life brings' sort of thing. turns out that one of my gaijin friends who lives the next island over was in nagasaki with her friend from the states and so ben and i met them new years eve at the local gaijin bar for some magic. its a local hot spot called the 'crazy horse' and there are plenty of crazy things going on in there on any given night. we had checked it out the night before eve just to make sure that it would be open (many, many things close for new years here and for a few days that follow. when i got home EVERYTHING in naru was closed. EVERTHING.) and we happened upon an all japanese beatles cover band. let me tell you that you have never heard 'hard days night' until you have seen five (yes, five. i know its not right, but they didnt seem to care) 50-odd something's jamming it like it's going out of style. i didnt know whether to laugh or sing along and so i did both. i knew dad would be proud that i knew the lyrics better than the lead singer. it's true and at one point after singing 'nowhere man' he covered the mic and leaned over to ask me 'what is nowhere man meaning?'. i translated as well as i could but told him that it wasnt supposed to make perfect sense anyhow. i asked him 'wakaru?' (do you understand) and he smiled and flashed me a big peace sign. right on man, right on. but, new years night there were more and different rock-n-rollers in the house and we were all singing and playing and just having a real dandy time. midnight came without a countdown or champange toast, but quickly after the bar owner, Yubo, asked us all if we were ready to go. sure!, where are we going? without really understanding i hopped into a cab with my two gaijin girls and my new japanese friend Takeshi and whizzed off to a nearby buddhist temple. turns out once we got there that our cabbie had taken us to the wrong one to meet the rest of the gang from the bar. it is tradition for japanese people to visit a shrine or a temple in the first hours of the new year, or the first few days of the new year and so the place was packed! at the buddhist temples there are huge bells outside with huge wooden ringers that you swing back and make the biggest bang (just one) that you can followed by bowing (duh!) and making a wish. after we realized that indeed we were at the wrong temple and had all had a go at the bell we hopped in another cab and got to the right one where we met the rest of the gang from the bar. the next was the biggest buddhist temple in the city and there were a huge, elaborate, golden shrines set up inside where monks were chanting and praying. we silently entered and took seats to observe the chanting and to light some insense offering prayers of our own for new years blessings. i was not able to take pictures in such a sacred place but let me tell you that what i saw and felt in there i will never forget in my whole life. it was a truly moving and awakening experience for us all. after we exited the sanctuary we were usshered into a room where we were given tea and soup by sweet old women in house aprons. i thought that was were we would end the night, but oh, wrong again. after moments of savoring the delicious (vegetarian!!!!!, buddhists, right!?) soup our leader and his wife got up and told us we had another stop. one more cab ride and we were let out into the biggest crowd of the night. we were at the biggest shinto shrine in nagasaki and it was hoppin! wide staircases up through tori gates were filled with people, so much so that there were policemen on duty to let just the right amount of people up at a time. given our chance we climbed the stairs and worked our way to the open shrine where we threw coins and bowed and clapped offering our thanks and recieving the blessings that the new year may bring. then we were offered small dishes of spiced sake and shown to the reception area. this was all outside mind you and on the other side of the offering and sake lines there were all kinds of vendors set up ready to please a slightly-buzzed and very cheerful new years crowd. you could get everything from chocolate covered bananas to takoyaki to cheese on a stick and beers to boot! what a way to end the night im tellin ya! we enjoyed all the above for many moments and had a good time sitting around heaters sharing with friends new and old, japanese and american. it was a really wonderful way to ring in the new year and i feel so blessed to have been a part of it.
as for resolutions of the new year sort i didnt make any that night. i didnt even really think about it. it is just not what they do and so i kind of forget about it. i have thought about it though now that we are a week into the year and i have decided that i want to be more creative and to be more willing to share my creativity with the world this year. i want to be not so uptight about sharing my writing (see, yes i have already begun right here!) and paint however i chose and sing when people are listening and speak and listen when the time is right. these are my resolutions, i hope you are making some of your own that are challenging and fun.
be well friends and make 2010 great in your own ways. thanks for staying in touch,
beth
ps-pictures later, im at work now and dont have access to them. though i am back at school i dont have lessons for another week and that leaves me a lot of time to catch up with all of you. dont be surprised if i get to a bloggin a few more times this week.
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