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Hokkaido Historical Museum
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Various ancient objects.
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Ainu carvings and clothing.
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A group of 14 year old schoolgirls that took a liking to all the guys in our group. When we all pulled out our cameras to take pictures of the spectacle, they all automatically posed. (thx to Justin for the last pic)
The next week in class, we had a walking tour of Hokudai's campus. It was hotter that day and the most memorable part about the tour was the fact that I got sunburned and finally broke down about the pain in my feet. Once we got to the En-yuga-kusha [cultural/conference center?], where everyone was to try the Bon dancing, I broke down. I think homesickness and culture shock finally sunk in on me that day and the extra walking on my painful blisters was the breaking point. I had a good cry. Everyone understood the real reason of it and consoled me, knowing they were feeling the same way.
I finally told Kumi-sensei that I thought maybe I should see the doctor because I thought that my blisters had become infected. I sat out half of the Bon Dancing, just to regroup myself and my feet. Once I felt a little better, I decided to join in, adoning the summer kimono [called a "Yu-kata"] and everything.
Bon Dancing was fun. Everyone stood in a big circle, while this little old lady taught us dance steps to these old Japanese songs. In a way, it was sort of like the Hawaiian Hula. They both tell little stories with each gesture and move. But with Bon dancing, you walk either left or right while doing the moves, so the whole circle of participants is rotating. Believe me, there were many heels that got stepped on in our circle. =)
The only dance I remember was about gathering fish from the ground into a basket on our back and once the basket was full, we had to "dump it out" and start again. I remember the steps to another dance, but couldn't tell ya what it was about; I just remember using our fans and clapping, though.
The trip to the clinic the next day was very interesting, just for the sake of seeing what it's like in another country.
Like just about everywhere in Japan [except stores and malls, etc.] one must remove their shoes upon entering and wear provided slippers. My feet, of course, didn't fit into the tiny plastic slippers, so on top of pain, I had to shuffle around in slippers that didn't fit.
Everything in the clinic was white and spotless, and I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb [or toe, in that case]. Once I got in to see the doctor, he was accompanied by a nurse, who seemed to advise the doctor as much as he advised me. They took one look at my yellow, swollen blisters, and seemed to recoil in disgust. LOL
They talked to Kumi-sensei for a few minutes, then I asked if the blisters were infected. Through translation, I was told that "Oh no, they weren't infected, but I would be given antibiotic cream." LOL I'd been told that doctors in Japan didn't like to tell patients exactly what was wrong with them, in order not to add to their worry or stress. I guess maybe that's what was going on... I mean, why would you need antibiotics if something isn't infected? LOL. Anyways...
I wish I had mentioned it to Kumi-sensei eariler; I spent 2 or my 4 weeks in Japan walking around in pain. I had strayed from hanging out with friends after class because I couldn't keep up with them. Once I had the medicine, my feet felt better within a couple of days. Oh well, you live, you learn, right? Well, I learned the hard way.. if you have a problem like that on a trip, get it taken care of. I missed out on going to so many places because I was afraid that I was just being a baby.
Hokkaido Historical Museum
The next day we had a field trip to the Historical Museum and Historical Village. The museum had tons of Ainu artifacts and history of the Japanese presence in Hokkaido.. all of which I couldn't read very well, but I took pictures of just about everything, just for good measure.
As we were all grouping up, waiting to leave the Museum, I noticed a big group of schoolgirls sitting near Ed, whispering to themselves. Poor Ed, with his fiery red hair, he was quite an eye catcher to the Japanese. As more of us grouped together, a few of the girls got brave and started asking the guys questions in English. The guys, of course, loved the attention from all the 14 year olds with hearts in their eyes.
They would ask the guys questions like "You like.. Backstreet boys??" to which the guys would laugh and shake their heads "Noooo!" and they would ask us if we had boyfriends and to the ones who said yes, they would give them thumbs up and say "Cool!"
When we were getting ready to leave, some of us pulled out our cameras to take pictures. Upon seeing the cameras, the girls automatically bunched together and posed - complete with the peace sign and everything.