Firstly, it is getting COLD here in Japan, and it isn't even winter yet! I am already beginning to hibernate/live underneath the best Japanese invention ever - the kotatsu. A kotatsu is a table frame with a heat source underneath, which you place a blanket over, and then the table top, keeping your legs toasty and warm.
This weekend was actually a fairly routine one for my time in Japan. It's quite a nice feeling to have a routine happening in a new country.
On Thursday night I made the long train journey to Osaka for the monthly
FEW Kansai meeting. I love getting together with such an interesting group of women every month and enjoying a swish three course meal at the Osaka Hilton.
On Friday night, we met with our local Japanese friends who speak English. Hiro-san wanted to know how we celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia. Our answer was short; "we don't!" However, if you Google "Thanksgiving in Australia", the first result would suggest that we
do. A group called the Australian Prayer Network has created the
National Day of Thanksgiving. According to the website, "The National Day of Thanksgiving is a unique opportunity for
Australians to celebrate and give thanks for our God given heritage as a
nation and to demonstrate the God given values of honour, respect,
thankfulness and gratitude towards our fellow man that have made us the
great nation we are." It's a clever piece of propaganda. It suggests to anyone wondering if Australia celebrates Thanksgiving that our nation celebrates Thanksgiving as a religious holiday, which we most certainly do not. It's almost as preposterous as the
Urban Dictionary definition for Australian Thanksgiving.
Saturday was definitely a kotatsu-day, cold and rainy. We only ventured outside once for curry rice and to visit my
favourite local bakery.
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| Chestnut tart at Fleurir Boulangerie, Momoyama |
Sunday was a great day. It's culture week (month?) in Kansai, and so lots of museums were free on the weekend, and we checked out two in Osaka.
The
Modern Transportation Museum was... ok. I hadn't realised that shinkansen (bullet trains) had been around since as far back as 1964. If you really like trains, and kids, you will like this museum. Lots of trains; lots and lots of kids. If you only moderately like trains, or children, I wouldn't bother.
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| Shinkansen ticket from 1964, Modern Transportation Museum, Osaka |
The
Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, however, was awesome! I would have paid to go there! The entire eight floor of the building is a model of an 1830s Osaka neighbourhood and it's really very impressive. When we arrived the 'sky' (roof) changed from day to night and the floats of the parade lit up. You can walk through houses and streets and explore everything. One of the volunteer guides spoke English, and gave me a little origami box he'd made, with a paper crane inside. What a kind gesture. I'd definitely recommend the museum if you're visiting Osaka.
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| Andrew at the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living |
If you're visiting Osaka, I'd also recommend the
Hep Five Ferris Wheel, which is perched on top of a big shopping and entertainment building. We went at twilight and the city looks very pretty from the top.
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| Hep Five Ferris Wheel |
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| On the Hep Five Ferris Wheel, Osaka |
We finished the weekend at a swing dance party with lots of food, fun dancing and a performance by international teachers
Patrick and Natasha. Patrick and Natasha are fun dancers - they are very good, but somehow not intimidating. I like the Osaka swing dance scene - it's small, but nice and friendly.
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| The band at A day at the SWING! |
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| Dancers at A day at the SWING! Closing party |
