Yellow Fever

Okay, before you get all up in arms let me say that no, I did not meet, fall in love and runaway with a Japanese boy. Strangely, whenever I say Yellow Fever here, that's the only interpretation people make...

Instead, as a requirement for my post-jet employment, I had to get a Yellow Fever Vaccination. At first I thought, "No problem!" but upon further investigation, this represented a large problem.

Now, I am going to admit to a couple things here that I am not proud of, but they were necessary measures. I just hope they don't get back to the wrong people.

First, there is the difficulty of getting the shot. Apparently, as the Yellow Fever Vaccination (hereafter referred to as YFV) is a live virus, it can only be administered at a quarantine station. It further turns out that there are not many quarantine stations in Japan...actually, there are around a dozen total, and none of them are very close to me. This information alone is difficult to find out because all of it is in Japanese, and somewhat difficult to find, even by doctors. The doctor I tutor in English helped me out a bunch, for which I will be eternally grateful, but he, too, said that it is rare.

So, I found the three nearest locations, Kyoto (4 hours), Nagoya (3 hours), Niigata (2.5 hours), and called each one to check availability. Problem number 2: they only vaccinate once a week, from 1-3 p.m. I thought I could just go on a weekend, or maybe a Friday, and make a long touristy weekend of it, but no, the shots are only given on Tuesday, Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.

This said, I figured I would go to Niigata because it is closest, and since I don't have many classes on Wednesdays I could "sneak out" a little early, hop on a train, and be back before anyone was the wiser. There were two problems with this; 1. There are VERY few trains to Niigata, none of which would get me there on time without missing class, and 2. The roundtrip train would cost a small fortune. The shot itself costs around $75, so the extra $300 for a train ticket sounded ridiculous.

Kyoto was also way too far for a day trip, even though there were many trains, so that left Nagoya. But, still more problems ensued. 1. I have four classes on Thursdays. 2. I have no vacation time. 3. Even if I had vacation time, they would never let me miss class. 4. The train costs a lot, so I would have to go by bus, and thus it would be a full day trip. Sigh...

So, here's the part I am ashamed of. On Wednesday, I started to feign symptoms of an oncoming cold. I know, I am not proud, but it had to be done. On Thursday morning, I called in sick and hopped on a bus. In theory, I was going to a hospital, but I was abusing the sick leave policy a tad...sigh...the guilt...

So, the day went something like this
9:00 a.m. - Hop on a bus
12:00 p.m. - Get lost in Nagoya (most confusing transportation system ever!)
2:00 p.m. - Get to the quarantine site
3:00 p.m. - Get YFV
5:30 p.m. - Get on the bus
9:30 p.m. - Get off the bus
10:00 p.m. - Get home

After all that, all I have to say is this, if you don't need to get the YFV, don't!!! I mean, I am sure the shot isn't nearly as bad as actual Yellow Fever, but man alive it did a number on my system.

First the actual shot really hurt. I could feel the medicine being injected and it burned quite a bit, as though the doctor were injecting fire into my skin.

Then, you have to wait in the quarantine station for 30 minutes because if you are allergic, they will find out in this time. During this time I sat and waited patiently, not really expecting anything to happen when all of a sudden the left side of my face went completely slack. I couldn't smile, I couldn't drink, I couldn' blink. The sensation only lasted about 30 seconds to a minute, but I was terrified something had gone wrong, and that I would be caught in Nagoya instead of home sick in bed.

But the next day was when things really started to go wrong. After all that faking illness, on Friday I was actually ill. I could barely move my body was so stiff. I have never had back ache like that, and I had a pretty good fever. I also had general fatigue, and a complete loss of appetite due to stomach cramps.

By Sunday, the location of the injection had a perfectly circular bright red bruise that was hot to the touch. I had never seen such a perfectly shaped bruise, and it scared me quite a bit. It felt like a sunburn, and even to others the area felt hot and swollen. I could barely lift my arms, and the pain in my back made it so that no position was comfortable for too long.

On Monday I was starting to feel better, but the bruise persisted for well over three weeks. As I said, I have to imagine that actually getting Yellow Fever is worse, but it's hard to imagine how.

Thank god that's over...

Memoirs of a Geisha

As I mentioned before, the big reason I wanted to go to Kyoto was two fold. First I wanted to visit the stunning Fushimi Inari Shrine, and second, I wanted to have a full geisha makeover, and what better place than Gion...Kyoto's most famous geisha district.

Gion, as some of you may now, is not only the setting for the book Memoirs of a Geisha. Gion is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the middle ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. This part of Kyoto has two hanamachi (geisha districts): Gion Kobu and Gion Higashi. Despite the considerable decline in the number of geisha in Gion since the turn of the century, it is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment.

In 1712, the ochaya (tea houses) of Gion were given licenses permitting Geisha entertainment (and sake) by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Today there are just over 100 remaining, and several entire streets (primarily in Shirakawa and Gion) are preserved. In 1976, the Kyoto City government finally began to prevent the destruction of the architectural heritage of the ochaya and issued architectural guidelines for 7 distinct facades. The result is that these are among the few areas of the city where you can still get an idea of what Kyoto used to look like.

That said, I woke up early to find that at some point in the evening my camera had an accident and no longer worked...Sadness. Despite that I went to Gion to get my makeover. I don't have nearly as many pictures as I would like, but I do have the professional ones that I bought there.

The morning started with me stripping down and getting into strange socks with clasps along the sides, and towel-like underclothes. Then I sat down in the makeup chair and faked my way through a Japanese conversation while the lady applied my makeup.

An hour later (it took forever!!) I got to pick out my kimono. I choose this place in particular because of its openness to, shall we say, western body types. Indeed they had plenty of extra long kimonos. Once I picked out my kimono the dressing began. Can I just say, I don't know how the Japanese women do it. I must have had close to 40 lbs. of clothing on. Some more under clothes and belts, a yukata, more belts, the kimono, then several layers of cardboard, towels, obi, and other articles stuffed into my waistline I would have never thought to put in there.

Once dressed it was time to get a hair piece. That, too, weighed quite a bit...Perhaps close to 6 or seven lbs.

With headdress, kimono and makeup on I took my first look in the mirror. Now, I know that I had just spent two hours getting dressed and ready, but I can honestly tell you now that now amount of makeup or fabric will make me look Japanese. Mostly, I looked comical, like a clown, but I did enjoy the experience. Now, onto the photo shoot.

The photo shoot was very professional and a lot of fun except for one part. For a portion of it, I had to wear the dumbest shoes I have ever seen or worn in my entire life. They were wood, and about 5 inches tall. But, that wasn't the silly part. The silly part was that the bottom of the shoe was cut at an angle, so the show was shaped like the front half of a boat, or half a trapezoid. So when I would step forward, the shoe would naturally fall forward. I totally understand now why the geisha shuffle instead of walk. Nevermind that the kimono is incredibly constricting, the shoes were an accident waiting to happen. Indeed I fell over twice. Thanks to the photographer's quick reflexes, no permanent damage was done, but some could have.

All in all, I was really glad that I did it. It was a little pricey, but it was an experience I really wanted to have in Japan. I mean, when else can I paint my face white, my lips red were clothes 3 times to big for me, and stupid shoes and not be called a clown???

The results:

Cinco De Mayo in Kyoto

With my bus an hour late into Kyoto, and me lost trying to find my hotel (I blame a bad map), I was worried that my trip to Kyoto would be plagued with mishap. Indeed, as I finally arrived at my first tourist destination (half the reason I want to come to Kyoto in the first place), I came upon the startlingly stunning, yet EXTREMELY overcrowded Fushimi Inari Taisha.

Consisting of five shrines (you seen one, you seen 'em all), hundreds of torii (my reason for coming, they are orange Japanese arch-like things, but the Japanese call the red), and dozens of fox statues, the Fushimi Inari shrine, while not one of the Japanese favorites, was a top tourist priority for me after seeing its beauty in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha." The rows upon rows of torii cover a path that twist and turns into the hills in the western part of Kyoto.

Although the Japanese do not celebrate Cinco de Mayo (Mexican Independence Day), it coincides with a Japanese holiday, smack in the middle of Golden Week. Golden Week is a collection of holidays in Japan, and it turns out everyone in Japan ventures to Kyoto at this time. The crowds were overwhelming, and it was nearly impossible to enjoy the serenity of the shrine or take a picture without backpackers, tourists, and other clutters of carbon milling about in it.

After visiting the shrine, I checked into my hotel, and changed for the evening. As I was traveling alone I decided to seek out the lone "Mexican" restaurant to get myself in the festive mood. There was perfect weather so I decided to venture the hour long walk, and I was rewarded with charmingly lit streets, people watching, and lovely paths along old buildings or along the river.

The Mexican restaurant was...well...interesting. For starters, the misspellings on the menu were abundant. For example, I could order, "tako sarad" (taCo saLad), "cholizo" (choRizo), "baritoz" (bUrRitos), and on and on it went.

I finally decided to splurge and ordered the chorizo, guacamole and a margarita. All of these items were osusume (recommended), and I was excited! I was the only one in the restaurant, and while my food was being made, I had a chance to talk to the owner. It turns out he lived in Los Angeles for four years and Mexico for 3. He was a very nice man with decent English, and was excited to hear what I thought of his cooking after I disclosed my background.

As the food appeared, my eyebrows were raised, and as I tasted it I realized that Mexican food this was not. The margarita wasn't too shabby. Even though it didn't have tequila in it, it was still delicious. The chorizo, on the other hand, was...hmm...weird. It was soup-like and served in a heavy white bowl. There was a soup made of chili powder and water, and in it were hot dogs and carrots, and there was a layer of melted cheese on the top. The guacamole at least was made of avocado, but it too had its own peculiarities. Watching the chef make it, I saw that he added mayonnaise and fish flakes...hmmm...yummy? I guess...

So much for trying to eat ethnically...