Happy Thanksgiving!

Even though it was Sunday, five days from the official holiday, it was Thanksgiving for a bunch of us Fulbrighters in Japan. Friends from Sendai, Nagoya, Kanazawa, and Kobe all came to Kyoto and we celebrated in a very American fashion. Dave managed to find a turkey at Takashimaya, a large department store, for about $80. Luckily, they cooked it, since no one has an oven. Dave's mother had also brought pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce, Stove Top stuffing, and gravy when she came a few weeks ago, so we were set. We cooked all day and spent the entire evening eating. We invited a few Japanese students, and there were suprised by the massive amounts of food, espeically the half of a turkey sitting on the table. In Japan, the only lunch meat you ever get is ham, and since there are no ovens, you never cook an entire bird. So turkey is a rarity. Afterwards we had enough food leftover for all twelve of us to make bento (packed lunches), which we took with us on our hike today.

After all that eating, we decided we needed to do something nice for our bodies. So Monday morning we went on a nice little hike in northern Kyoto in the small town of Kurama. We climbed the mountain to Kurama temple, and then went back down and had a nice soak in the hot springs. I've been in hot springs before, but this was my first time in the rotemburo (outdoor hot springs). It was nice to be able to sit in extremely warm water while admiring the leaves on the mountain. It was also nice that your head was cold, since your body was so warm. There is a system to going to a public hot springs: you get naked, shower, and get in the hot pool. Then for about an hour you alternate sitting in the pool until you can't stand the heat anymore, and sitting on the edge until you can't stand the cold anymore. Then you shower again and get dressed. It's really a very relaxing experience.

Tuesday was a national holiday, Labor Day. I went shopping, and spent the evening having dinner with a woman I tutor in English and her family. She cooked dinner, Japanese steak and potatoes, because she didn't know if I liked Japanese food. I find this particularly amusing, since I will eat basically any Japanese food. She was so worried about whether or not I would like what she made. I had a really good time talking with her family. They were so extremely nice. They emphasized time and time again that anytime I needed anything - a place to stay, help getting something, problems with anything - that I should come to them. And, they invited me to go skiing with them sometime this winter. Yay! I've never been skiing before! I am very happy to have a "host family" again.

And that was my Thanksgiving holiday. I skipped a class for it, but I found out later that no one else showed up either...so I don't feel bad about it at all.