Our first trip to downtown Nagoya and the series of events that led us there.
So on our trip to Tokoname, I casually mentioned to Coz that I had heard there was some sort of festival in Nagoya on that day and the next. Of course, in order to communicate, it didn’t come out so gracefully. It was more like this:
*The following “conversation” is to be read very slowly and with as little confidence as is possible*
"Ummm…Coz? *He looks back at me* I *pointing to myself, probably unnecessarily* read in book *making an opening and closing of book gesture with my hands* that there is a fair *Coz gives me a questioning look*….ummm festival??? *he shakes head to signal that he understands* in Nagoya *for some reason I do a little half circle thing with each of my cupped hands which signals the world…who the hell knows what I’m doing, really…Chris is sitting next to me and he probably has no idea what I’m trying to say* today *points to ground* and tomorrow *points from ground to my right…just making shit up as I go*"
What happened next was one of the most amazing things I’d ever had the honor of witnessing. Coz and Hatsumi engaged in a three minute dialogue. The tone was exciting, the pace was voracious. Coz' voice was elated at times, yet mournful at others. Hatsumi, like the greatest of actresses played a pensive role one moment and a renowned general about to lead her troops into battle the next!! I had no idea what they were saying (with the exception of the word "Nagoya" thrown in here or there) but whatever it was, they must have been having quite the debate over whether or not the Nagoya festival was, in fact, this weekend!
*Coz turns to me*
“Yes."
Yes??? Three solid minutes of magical, breathtaking, heart pounding Japanese and all I get was a "Yes."???? UNLESS...Coz wasn't telling me the whole story.
I was too tired to engage in the amount of conversation it would take to communicate that Chris and I were interested in going, so I resentfully took his "Yes."
Fortunately, he got the pois a reader of minds because at breakfast the next morning he told us that Chris and I would be going with his cousin, Yoshi, to Nagoya to see the festival!
You probably laughed at me and my terrible communication skills…BUT MATT HAINES GETS THING DONE!!
That’s the good news. The bad news…Coz informs us that Yoshi does not speak good English. Oh boy…
Hatchan takes us to Nagoya (a 20 minute drive) and drops us off at the major Tenriki (their religion) Aimachi temple in the area (similar to the Ikeo…except it’s obviously in a more urban setting). Yoshi meets us and, lucky for Chris and I, we were able to communicate. This was made largely in part by Yoshi’s cell phone which was armed with a Japanese-English dictionary for just such an emergency. This is how most of our communicating was done…one word at a time.
Up to that point, this was my favorite day in Japan, though! The parade was awesome and I will upload a bunch of pictures for you all to see (I can only upload 5 per entry, so I’ll have to spread them out over the course of a few entries. Yoshi also took us to Nagoya Castle which is…well an old castle in Nagoya. It’s really nice and seems like one of those “must see” places in Nagoya.
Some things worth mentioning about the parade. In America…drinking is a pretty common thing. I’m not one to get drunk often…a beer every other day is about normal for me. I believe a lot of people drink in Japan, also, but just not the people at Ikeo. We were starting to get a little antsy to try some Japanese alcohol (Coz bought us a beer the second day we were here when he took us out to dinner) but we never really knew who to ask. It turns out we didn’t need to ask anyone, the fact that we were Americans watching a parade in Nagoya made it quite clear that we craving some Japanese alcohol.
About a half hour into the parade, one of the floats’ members ran over to us with a bottle of sake and a cup. He pushed the cup into my hand and then starting pouring the sake into my cup. The only other time I had tried sake was in Indianapolis, Indiana at a P.F. Cheng’s and it kind of grossed me out. Thankfully this sake was oishi (again, delicious) because I don’t know if it would have went over well if refused his good-will. He refilled me and gave Chris some as well.
Moving on…about an hour and fifteen minutes into the parade, an elderly man sees the hilarity of Chris, Yoshi, myself, and Yoshi’s phone trying to communicate. He taps Yoshi on the shoulder and says, “Americans?.” Yoshi tells him that we had come from America for a marching band in Handa City (based on a few words I could hear and his musical instrument gestures). The man stays and talks with us for awhile (he knows a little English, but not much…so we all just do the best we can with small talk…”Yes, we love Japan…I play trombone, he plays baritone…I am a student in America…New York…draw map of New York State in the air with my finger….point to new york city…point to long island…12 hour drive north to south…his amazed reaction…this is the small talk conversation that is becoming a leading part of my repertoire.
So anyway, we are all checking out the parade when we notice that said old man has disappeared. Weird…I figured he would say goodbye, but no big deal. A few minutes later he returns…with a plastic bag. Interesting. He reaches into his bag and pulls out four Japanese beers for each of us! Chris and I exclaim, “Arigato gozaimasu, Domo arigato, arigato gozaimasu, domo arigato!!” and even a “Domo arigato gozaimasu” for good measure! (various versions of the phrase "Thank You" for those of you completely oblivious to Styx, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, famed for giving many thanks to Mr. Roboto)
Next question…can we open a can of beer on the streets without getting arrested in Japan. What an embarrassing way to get deported this would be. We make some gestures…say that it’s not allowed in America (much to his chagrin, I might add) but he assures us that here in Japan (the most wonderful place in the world) public drunkenness is legal (though not necessarily encouraged).
Next we headed over to Nagoya Castle (which I described earlier) and then it was back to Handa City for a rehearsal.
More adventures to come as I continue to catch you up and keep you posted on my more current experiences in Japan. I've posted two more pictures below, but I'll add more in a separate entry.
One of the many groups performing at the parade was this talented army of female unicyclists.
Chris and I posing with, what looked to us like a big red gumby with hair. Yuko later informed us that this actually the Japanese depiction of Satan, himself. Whoooooooopsie.
*The following “conversation” is to be read very slowly and with as little confidence as is possible*
"Ummm…Coz? *He looks back at me* I *pointing to myself, probably unnecessarily* read in book *making an opening and closing of book gesture with my hands* that there is a fair *Coz gives me a questioning look*….ummm festival??? *he shakes head to signal that he understands* in Nagoya *for some reason I do a little half circle thing with each of my cupped hands which signals the world…who the hell knows what I’m doing, really…Chris is sitting next to me and he probably has no idea what I’m trying to say* today *points to ground* and tomorrow *points from ground to my right…just making shit up as I go*"
What happened next was one of the most amazing things I’d ever had the honor of witnessing. Coz and Hatsumi engaged in a three minute dialogue. The tone was exciting, the pace was voracious. Coz' voice was elated at times, yet mournful at others. Hatsumi, like the greatest of actresses played a pensive role one moment and a renowned general about to lead her troops into battle the next!! I had no idea what they were saying (with the exception of the word "Nagoya" thrown in here or there) but whatever it was, they must have been having quite the debate over whether or not the Nagoya festival was, in fact, this weekend!
*Coz turns to me*
“Yes."
Yes??? Three solid minutes of magical, breathtaking, heart pounding Japanese and all I get was a "Yes."???? UNLESS...Coz wasn't telling me the whole story.
I was too tired to engage in the amount of conversation it would take to communicate that Chris and I were interested in going, so I resentfully took his "Yes."
Fortunately, he got the pois a reader of minds because at breakfast the next morning he told us that Chris and I would be going with his cousin, Yoshi, to Nagoya to see the festival!
You probably laughed at me and my terrible communication skills…BUT MATT HAINES GETS THING DONE!!
That’s the good news. The bad news…Coz informs us that Yoshi does not speak good English. Oh boy…
Hatchan takes us to Nagoya (a 20 minute drive) and drops us off at the major Tenriki (their religion) Aimachi temple in the area (similar to the Ikeo…except it’s obviously in a more urban setting). Yoshi meets us and, lucky for Chris and I, we were able to communicate. This was made largely in part by Yoshi’s cell phone which was armed with a Japanese-English dictionary for just such an emergency. This is how most of our communicating was done…one word at a time.
Up to that point, this was my favorite day in Japan, though! The parade was awesome and I will upload a bunch of pictures for you all to see (I can only upload 5 per entry, so I’ll have to spread them out over the course of a few entries. Yoshi also took us to Nagoya Castle which is…well an old castle in Nagoya. It’s really nice and seems like one of those “must see” places in Nagoya.
Some things worth mentioning about the parade. In America…drinking is a pretty common thing. I’m not one to get drunk often…a beer every other day is about normal for me. I believe a lot of people drink in Japan, also, but just not the people at Ikeo. We were starting to get a little antsy to try some Japanese alcohol (Coz bought us a beer the second day we were here when he took us out to dinner) but we never really knew who to ask. It turns out we didn’t need to ask anyone, the fact that we were Americans watching a parade in Nagoya made it quite clear that we craving some Japanese alcohol.
About a half hour into the parade, one of the floats’ members ran over to us with a bottle of sake and a cup. He pushed the cup into my hand and then starting pouring the sake into my cup. The only other time I had tried sake was in Indianapolis, Indiana at a P.F. Cheng’s and it kind of grossed me out. Thankfully this sake was oishi (again, delicious) because I don’t know if it would have went over well if refused his good-will. He refilled me and gave Chris some as well.
Moving on…about an hour and fifteen minutes into the parade, an elderly man sees the hilarity of Chris, Yoshi, myself, and Yoshi’s phone trying to communicate. He taps Yoshi on the shoulder and says, “Americans?.” Yoshi tells him that we had come from America for a marching band in Handa City (based on a few words I could hear and his musical instrument gestures). The man stays and talks with us for awhile (he knows a little English, but not much…so we all just do the best we can with small talk…”Yes, we love Japan…I play trombone, he plays baritone…I am a student in America…New York…draw map of New York State in the air with my finger….point to new york city…point to long island…12 hour drive north to south…his amazed reaction…this is the small talk conversation that is becoming a leading part of my repertoire.
So anyway, we are all checking out the parade when we notice that said old man has disappeared. Weird…I figured he would say goodbye, but no big deal. A few minutes later he returns…with a plastic bag. Interesting. He reaches into his bag and pulls out four Japanese beers for each of us! Chris and I exclaim, “Arigato gozaimasu, Domo arigato, arigato gozaimasu, domo arigato!!” and even a “Domo arigato gozaimasu” for good measure! (various versions of the phrase "Thank You" for those of you completely oblivious to Styx, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, famed for giving many thanks to Mr. Roboto)
Next question…can we open a can of beer on the streets without getting arrested in Japan. What an embarrassing way to get deported this would be. We make some gestures…say that it’s not allowed in America (much to his chagrin, I might add) but he assures us that here in Japan (the most wonderful place in the world) public drunkenness is legal (though not necessarily encouraged).
Next we headed over to Nagoya Castle (which I described earlier) and then it was back to Handa City for a rehearsal.
More adventures to come as I continue to catch you up and keep you posted on my more current experiences in Japan. I've posted two more pictures below, but I'll add more in a separate entry.
One of the many groups performing at the parade was this talented army of female unicyclists.
Chris and I posing with, what looked to us like a big red gumby with hair. Yuko later informed us that this actually the Japanese depiction of Satan, himself. Whoooooooopsie.
posted by Matt at 1:27 AM
2 Comments:
Heyyyyyyy Mom!
Well...there is the whole email thing if you remember how to check your aol account. :)
If not, I'll call home in a day or so to say hello! Things are great! I eat vegetables now. :) Say hello to everyone for me, I love you, bye bye!
We didn't know he was Satan at the time!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home