Junichi's Tour of Hiratsuka & Kamakura

Junichi's House

Junichi's room is filled with books & Faye Wong videos.

Upon arrival, Junichi called his dad to pick us up. His house was a 10 minute drive away. I learned from keigo from his dad, "osewa ni narimasu!" It was raining and quite dark so I decided not to go out tonight. In addition, I should rest. Junichi's mom made some delicious sukiyaki that night. Dinner was accompanied by the televised Yomuiri Giants baseball game. It is quite funny because Junichi is a fan and his dad is an anti-fan, and this all leads to conflict under the roof. The moment the Yomuiri Giants scored, Junichi's dad changed channels. Junichi's sister, Yuko, showed me some of Junichi's baby photos. OH MY GOD!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. He looked like he could be a future yokozuna.

Yoko's Room

Epic Battle Between Phantom of the Opera & Terminator

DAY 2 - It was really difficult waking up in Junichi's room because all the windows are covered, meaning that the natural light cannot wake me up. I'm used to naturally waking up with birds chirping outside with a ray of light coming into my bedroom. Junichi's mom cooked breakfast for me. It included egg, miso, and some bread.

Junichi's mom prepares me a large delicious breakfast.
She also drove us to the JR station where we waited from Junichi's college friend, Masami. We went to Kamakura, getting off at Kita-Kamakura station. This was a small station, yet it was packed with weekend travellers. We went to Engaku-Ji first, then to Meigetsu-in Temple. There were many people because of the ajisai flowers blooming here at this time of the year. They were a beatiful light blue or pink! There was so many people with excellent cameras, putting me to shame with my point & shoot.

Squirrel

If only Micchan saw this photo...rabu, rabu

We took the JR train to Kamakura to eat lunch. I had kamoseiro. For desert, it was anmitsu, made of anko (azuki beans) and mitsu, a sweet syrup. Jun had macchashiratama. Of course, I swiped some of his desert too. On the walk to Hachiman-go Shrine, we saw a traditional wedding taking place. The couple were riding a ricksaw to the temple for some last rites. There were many pigeons walking around. I found out that you can make a pigeons jump into your arm by pretending that you have food in your arms. They would just flock to you! Besides the pigeon, there was also a squirrel that many people were aweing at. I paid 100 yen for my fortune. It was medium luck, just a little bit better than normal.

Newlyweds Riding a Rickshaw

Mayumi & I

Birds on My Hands

Hachiman-go Shrine
Masami had to leave, and so Junichi and I went to Totsuka. The reason was because Junichi teaches Japanese at a informal school here. The students are non-native Japanese - many have immigrated from Asian countries such as China and Vietnam. They are the decendents of Japanese soldiers from World War 2. Some are full blood Japanese and some are mixed. When coming to Japan, they also bring their families. The government lets them come and then they must find their relatives and have them claim them. It can be troublesome because they have may have trouble fitting into Japanese society, or the relatives may refuse to claim them. Well, these days, more people hear about this school and them more people come. Now, there are even Sri Lanka people. Also, there are kids who come here to study not only Japanese but math. Junichi, along with other volunteers, teaches for free every Wendesday and Sunday from 7:30-9:00pm. Junichi has done this for 2 years already, even when studying at Keio. This whole school is nonprofit and renting the place also costs money so in fact, each of the "teachers' have to put in 1000 yen each every year to continue doing this. There used to be fewer students but now there aren't enough senseis. I met some of the other "teachers" here, like Hirohito and Chie. Many are from the local Meiji University. I also met Junichi's good friend, Daito, who have visited China 5 times already. I had quite a lot of fun here, just talking to other people. Of course, I can't really teach Japanese because I'm also learning. Some of the Chinese teenagers were absolutely bewildered about where I came from, as my Mandarin and Japanese both weren't fluent. Their tutor, Kaori, didn't believe that I was from America until I said that I was from Sacramento. We took the bus back home, and then the JR to Hiratsuka. On the walk back, we had a very late dinner at Yoshinoya.

Junichi with 2 Students

Everyone hard at work.

Junichi Eating at Yoshinoya