A Kinki Lap

There is definitely something to say about the spontaneous road trip and the unexpected adventure that they almost always invoke. Me, being a person with little ability to plan despite my efforts, like the planned adventure just as much as the next person, but always seem to end up in a hodge podge sort of trip...and actually have come to prefer it that way (as long as I am not the driver, because driving is scary and makes me grumpy). So, this past weekend was one of those such occasions, where the places you are headed to are reached eventually but never in the manner expected, not until far later than you had planned, and with the various random experiences along the way ending up to being the highlights. My friend Carlton, a real down kind of guy, with a pirate alter ego and a deep passion for terrible Japanese movies that anyone would admire, was given a car for free and has thus been willing to drive everywhere and anywhere in the ken (prefecture) and beyond. Me, being the most genki passenger, jumped at the chance to take a trip with him and our friends Ann and Elisha to a three-story hyaku-en (dollar store essentially) store in Wakayama and then head to Nara (a neighboring prefecture) for a party and some sight seeing, maybe.

Saturday mornng was pick up time, but being that I was at a cultural festival at a nearby high school, the party o' road trippers convened there. Now, I am one for fair food. Honestly. Molly and Lucas can both attest to our shared love for the funnel cake and cotton candy, but I am telling you, the food at this fair was incredible. Tako Yaki, Yaki Soba, gyoza, Okonomiyaki, etc. You name it in Japanese, maybe they had it, though a churro would have been more than welcome. And being at a high school made me wish that I was teaching at one. I am currently the head gaijin/ALT at three elementary schools, one junior high and one nursery. And while the kids are great, it would be nice to throw a high school in to the mix, because as I discovered, this is the spot where much of the character is exposed, despite the uniforms. Dreads and colorful make-up were out in full force (considering the dress code) and the dance performance created and performed by the students at the festival reminded me of my Dance Production days; lip synching, cross-dressing and all. Anyways, moving on...

Turns out my friend Ann was under the weather and thus did not make it to Wakayama, which for that matter did not produce the three-story store of crap that we had hoped. Actually, that is unfair. In reality the hyaku-en stores here are amazing. So much so that the first time I went into one I asked one of the sales people how much things were three times. This was partly due to the fact that I was super juiced to use what little Japanese I know, but mostly because I was astounded that the things sold in a hyaku-en store are truly hyaku-en. But getting back on track, the three-story joy was under renovation until ________, so we instead hit up another one that turned out to be full of fun things such as blow-up, stick on boobs, fake bald heads, depressing pin wheels, third place medals, pointing fingers on a stick and neon glow bracelets. The perfect party favors to bring to a feverish friend, we headed to a town called Misato. Navigating by landmarks, basically the only way you can get anywhere in rural Japan, we arrived at Ann's with dinner and confete (sp?) just in time to wake her from a devilish dream. Up next was the wonderfully bad, awfully good, most terrible must-buy movie I have ever seen. Can't explain, but if you're ever in the subway station and see Battlefield Baseball, don't hesitate to purchase.

Time rolls on and come 10:30, some sense kicks in and we pack into the car for a long ass drive to Nara. Nara is the original capitol of Japan and is home to a deer park and some incredible temples and sacred spaces. I have been to none of these, and this trip did not change that. We went rural. Up from Misato, through Wakayama (again) over into Nara and then south into ___________(insert town, once I remember its name) we headed. These roads are insane, carrying hundreds of tunnels along its untra-curvy stretch. I admit, I had two cat naps along the way, but the swaying side to side didn't warrant much length. When I at last woke up for good, I was pleased to find Carlton driving in the middle of the road (there are no other cars mom, no worries) critiqueing his speed and form in each turn.

We finally arrived at our destination at around 2am, just in time for the second wind of those party go-ers still present. Needless to say, much props were given for our trecking and down-ness.

The next morning, a bit hung over and sleepy, but ready for the day, we hiked about five minutes up a mountain in back of the house that we were staying at and reached a wonderfully intimate waterfall with a pool begging for swimmers beneath. Living rural can be a pain when it comes to the conveniences experienced in city life, but it is treasures like a waterfall a few minutes walk from your house that makes it all balance out. Or perhaps tip the scales. I soaked in my first Japan waterfall experience, literally, swimming in its cold waters and screaming to others above its roar. A frog fell from the fall, or within the fall, as we were swimming and we were happpy to have the company, though it was speculated that he was attempting suicide. One life saved.

Next on to an Undokai, or sports festival at a near by school, where out group of gaijins raced in a relay race against some of the school's teachers. Being unprepared my entire team ran barefoot...and won. Later I was told that it is etiquette to lose gracefully to the locals. I am sorry, but I race to win.

The day getting late, we piled back into the car and headed south out of Nara prefecture, back into Wakayama prefecture and on to Hongu, where we visited the famous Kumano Hongu Shrine, or to better remember, the Shrine of the Three-Legged Crow...specific meaning to follow. Here I purchased a charm for safe travels, for soon I will be joining those who drive on the other side of the road. I too was given a car.

We continued our lap around the Kinki region (hence title) helping a snake out of the middle of the road (two lives saved) and gawking with confusion at the mniature dog breader/store that graced the high way in the middle of nowhere, but was nonetheless "wonderful." Then it was on to Carlton's neck of the woods to bring some treats to his co-workers who were working at the polls this September 11, it being election day for the Lower House (Koizumi dissolved the lower house and called an early election after his efforts to privatize the Postal Service in Japan failed to pass. *refer to blog post: "things I am still trying to figure out..."*). Time to head home, we headed back to Gobo via Tanabe, Minabe and a whole bunch of other small country towns lying on the banks of rivers, through tunnels and looking out onto the ocean. It really is an incredible chunk of land here, this Kinki Penninsula. And this lap really opened my eyes to it.

***Photos (in order but not chronologically, if ya know what I mean): A Wonderful Dog Shop (and just where you need it); Temple of the Three-Legged Crow; Doraemon and Darth out of Cans and Paper, respectively; Dressing up for Ann; Shoes Glorious Shoes (or what happens when Japan runs out of shoe racks).