Last Sunday.... July 3rd (I know right!! So long ago), my host mom and I went to a calligraphy lesson. I don't know why but my host mom takes tea ceremony and calligraphy lessons so she has been bringing me along to those. They are super fun, although it does get a bit boring being forced to watch the tea ceremony process over and over (but I like the tea snacks we eat). Calligraphy was a bit more fun because I was actually doing stuff every minute, whether I was trying to do calligraphy or just randomly painting on some paper. Last Sunday was my first lesson so the calligraphy teacher wrote out a couple words: Hana (which means flower in Japanese and is also my name except spelled differently), Peace, Moon, and Happiness. Then I used her models to write my own calligraphy. It wasn't that bad because we did the easy kind where we hold the brush like a pencil instead of holding it like a violin bow. And no I don't play violin but I do know how to hold the bow lol. Anyway, after practicing two or three times for each kanji, the sensei brought out the heavy framed calligraphy paper. I was super nervous about writing on those but I managed not to mess up on any of my finals.
One of my finals. It's the kanji for "hana"
Calligraphy was super fun and almost kinda easy... it was definitely easier than people say it is. And the calligraphy teacher kept asking me if I had done calligraphy before and I was like "no I haven't. Why do you keep asking?"
The calligraphy sensei is really talented but she is kinda weird. She has some... really abnormal habits and it seriously freaked me out at first. She looks at everything sideways through the corner of her eye and her fingers have a tendency to end up at the edge of her nostrils. She also wears wayyyyy too much makeup and has no sense of personal space. Then again... artists are supposed to be eccentric right??? But I think I am an artist too and I really am not that eccentric (at least I hope not).
This is calligraphy sensei did for some presentation or something. As you can see, it's the crazy kind of calligraphy when the paint just ends up everywhere and the words are almost unrecognizable...
Anyway, calligraphy was awesome and two hours flew away really fast. I also ate some yummy jelly there too. Then as we were leaving, sensei gave us a box of pink Japanese cherries!!!! Those are some of the most expensive fruits in Japan and if you don't know already, I will tell you now: Fruits are unbelievably expensive in Japan... it's so crazy! Pink cherries are one of the most expensive fruits, alongside mangos, peaches, oranges and watermelon. A box of maybe 30 cherries is about about $35... that's a dollar for a two centimeter diameter cherry. The mangos are probably the most outrageous. Two fist size mangos were about $110. That is so crazy!!! And at the store, the mangos come with gift boxes when you buy them because no one expects you to be buying them for eating. People only buy them to use them as gifts.
Anyway, my point is, it was really awesome to get a large box of Japanese cherries :) They were super delicious too.
After calligraphy lessons, the day got even better because we had a super special dinner: Yakiniku. It's usually eaten on New Years and on birthdays. Yakiniku is basically meat and vegetables baked in a pan on the table and you pick up whatever you want from the pan. It's really confusing because it's somewhat similar to okonomiyaki and a bunch of other barbecue style foods... But whatever it's called, they are all really good!!! Though some I like better than others :P
Oishii ne?
***Upcoming
I am in the process of making a video up of my house and the town, and a video of my host family making okonomiyaki. I am also going to a karaoke place with a bunch of friends tomorrow night so I will be making a video of that as well. Everything's so freaking exciting!!!! :D
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