Kobe with a Korean
My friend Hee-Young was in Japan for a few days and we decided to meet up in Kobe for two days to see each other (and Kobe). This meant that I finally learned how to look up and understand train schedules on my own. I also got to use the shinkansen (bullet train) for the first time since I first came to this country. The shinkansen is as awesome as I remember. Turns out that 200kmph is pretty fast.
The Board of Education was kind enough to pay for half of my trip out there because I was required to have a meeting out in Gifu on the Friday. Thanks Board! Hee Young and I only met up at 4:00 on Saturday so I spent most of that day wandering around Kobe Hyogo looking at shrines and a giant Daibutsu (Giant Budha).
On the way back from the Daibutsu I saw a little girl staring at me on the train. I did my usual maneuver, which is to send her a smile, which she returned. Then she whispered something to her mother, who whispered something back. A new word is learned and she says to me shyly, “hello”. I say “hello” back. This is all normal so far, but this is where things change. Then her mother turns to me, and in perfect English asks me where I’m from, what I’m doing in Kobe and other small talk. The pair of them are from Hokkaido, and we talk for 2 minutes before the train arrives at the station and we part ways. The girl waves goodbye to me and I wave back. I walk down the stairs… the girl races down a different set of stairs so that she gets to the bottom first and waves goodbye to me again. I wave again. I turn the corner. She runs ahead to the exit. Waves goodbye again. I wave goodbye again. I leave the train station, but then remember that I wanted to go out the other exit. I turn around and there she is. She runs up and hugs my legs. Another day in Japan.
This is the second time I’ve met someone from Hokkaido and they’re two for two for being the most pleasant people to meet. Much later on, when I got back to Takayama I’d meet another while eating a hamburger at Center 4. We chatted for about an hour in Japanese and English and we agreed to shoot some pool on Friday. So, I guess they’re three for three now. I want to go to Hokkaido.
Anyways, Hee Young got a little a little lost on the way to Kobe and ended up at Sannomiya station a bit late. I had reserved her a room at the same hotel I was at, so we checked her in (although I got lost once on the way to hotel) and admitted to each other that we were very very hungry. I also admitted to her that when I was telling Japanese friends that she was coming to Japan I accidentally used the word for “Prison” instead of “Korea” (Prison = Kangoku. Korea = Kankoku). A note to other people learning Japanese out there that this is an important difference.
Kobe is famous for its beef, so we wandered around. Looking for a restaurant but found that the prices for one piece of it were from 50 to 100 dollars. We eventually gave up and asked a group of young people for a restaurant recommendation. They were DELIGHTED to help us. Suddenly taxis are being summoned and they walk us to a busy road where 7 different taxis are called for us until one of the drivers knows the restaurant. Hee Young thought they were drunk, and she might be right, but they were also incredibly good natured. They also were all dressed up like they came from a wedding. The restaurant? When we got there it was completely full and no wait time was available. We ended up at just a regular Japanese restaurant after all. I did get to eat some pretty good udon curry.
After eating we took a train to the popular Kobe Harbor Land. We took a ride on a ferris wheel there to see the sights of the city (pictures will be going up on facebook). It was beautiful. A different beauty than Tokyo at night, but beautiful all the same. After a quick beer (and lots of picture taking) the day was over.
On Sunday we got up early and went to the foreign houses section of Kobe. It’s an area of Kobe that many former ambassadors and consulates used to live in. It features various styles of European housing in a very small area, like a miniature theme park. I got to try some nice strong tasting Austrian ale at the Austrian house while Hee Young drank Austrian strawberry wine. After that, we went to the Dutch house where I was convinced to put on some Dutch clothing with Hee Young to have our pictures taken together. Wooden shoes hurt a lot, especially if they’re too small for you. While posing together like the lovely Dutch couple we looked like we were various passerbys snapped pictures of us too. So now there are more pictures of me in silly outfits out there for the world to view.
After checking out the houses we went back to Harbour Land for lunch and then parted ways. I walked back up to Shin-Kobe, and was only a shinkansen and two bus rides away from home. I wish Canada had public transit as good as Japan!
One final note. I arrived at school today and found out that all the students seemed to know about my Tokyo trip a few weeks ago (through various students spotting me at various times) as well as the fact that I went to a bar on Thursday. I wonder what they all know sometimes….
Thing I love most about Japan today: Kobe, Hokkaidoians(?), and shinkansen.
Thing I miss most about Canada: Everyone not knowing everything about me.
