Retreat Version 2.0

Some of you may remember a post I did a few months back about a retreat that my study abroad program took as a chance to reflect on our experience and spend some time together outside of the city. Last weekend, we went for a second retreat, this time to the small mountain village of Minakami (水上).

A stream near the inn where we stayed. And to answer your question:
Of course we climbed to the top.

Minakami is one of many examples of a small town that is tucked away in the mountains of Japan. They are not very difficult to come by: if you aren't on the coast, then you're in the mountains. With
such an ample selection of rural locales to choose from, why did we pick this one you may ask? Well, while I was off working at my cheap-college-student Japanese-style inn (旅館) during February, another student was working at a very lovely inn in Minakami, and because of the connections he made we were able to stay there fairly affordably .

To make a more easily relatable comparison of the quality of this inn: I worked at a Motel 6, and this guy worked at the Waldorf Astoria.

Where we stayed was easily the nicest traditional-style ANYTHING that I have experience since coming to Japan. Upon arrival, we first had about an hour long session of small group reflections about our experiences thus far, and how things are reshaping in light of our approaching return to the US. Afterward, we all picked out individual yukata (浴衣), and were led to our rooms by the astoundingly polite, kimono-clad hotel staff. After getting settled into our simple yet sophisticated tatami rooms, the time for dinner had come.

Prior to this experience, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the veritable gamut of "traditional" Japanese foods. After all, I've been here for 8 months, I got this right?

The original table setting of what eventually became a 4-course hodgepodge of
unidentifiable Japanese cuisine.

Wrong.

Of the roughly 20 plates that passed through my place at the table that evening, I could probably tell you 4 of the things that I ate. Upon first entering the dining hall, all of us sat bewildered at our place settings, trying to figure out any way of describing food beyond "that tofu-y lookin' thing" and "the squishy one with the little yellow doodads". This was indeed a top-quality inn, and that evening we ate traditional Japanese delicacies at their finest (I think, like I said, absolutely no clue what I ate).

After completely stuffing ourselves with who-knows-what, we spent the remainder of the evening relaxing around the inn. It had an absolutely wonderful natural spring bath (温泉), a separate stream of hot water for soaking your feet, and a couple of different lounge areas for general socializing. That evening was a great chance to get to spend time with the other people on my program, as well as take a break from the general chaos of life in Tokyo.

The next day we awoke to an equally...interesting, breakfast. Having filled up on another big meal of what I'm sure was something edible, we then checked out of the inn and headed out for our next
destination: Dole Land Minakami. It was basically a big fruit farm where you can pick whatever kind of fruit you like when it's in season. Right now, however, there was literally not a single fruit in season on the farm, so we spent the day strolling through fruitless-tree orchards and just generally passing some time in a more natural setting. After we got our fill of walking through rows of trees, we rounded out our trip with a Japanese-style BBQ, and a quick stop by a crafts area of Minkami before returning to Tokyo.

Overall I felt that the retreat accomplished most everything it was intended too. I was able to bond with my fellow study abroad students in new ways, heard some interesting opinions about our time in Japan slowly drawing to a close, and got a nice breath of fresh air outside of the bustling atmosphere of Tokyo.

A picture taken at the fruit farm, in which I some other group members flying through the air with my immense strength.

Our entire group (as well as a couple guests who were with us) outside of the inn.

Mountain Juggles

As far as I could tell, I had been juggling a lot since I joined the juggling club at the university here. They are pretty intense about getting a lot of hours of practice in, and even the small fraction of that in which I participate is about 4 times as much as I juggled back in the states. However, a week ago my definition of "juggling a lot" was blown to bits after ascending into the mountains of Japan for a 3-day juggling extravaganza.

This mountainous juggling adventure was the juggling club's spring retreat, known more commonly in Japan as a "gashuku" (合宿). Almost every club in Japan has a gashuku at some point or another, and they can range from anything to completely social trips, to training camps. The one which I attended is probably described best as a healthy combination of both, with an extra dash of training camp.

The trip started off at 7am on a Friday morning, with a 6 hour bus ride out of Tokyo and into the mountains. That may sound like some far off venture, but actually in Japan, if you are not on a coast, then there is probably an 80% chance you are in the mountains. We got the got off the bus, dropped stuff off in the hotel rooms, and then immediately proceeded to a nearby gym for a few hours of practice. Each day was similarly structured: Wake up. Eat. Juggle. Eat. Juggle. Eat. Socialize (Juggle). Sleep. Despite the large portion of time each day taken up by juggling practice, the gashuku gave a lot of opportunities to hang out with people in a different context than usual, and to be social with people outside of the usual juggle-centric practices, and despite being absolutely exhausted upon returning at 10pm three nights later, it was a fantastic trip. For a bit more detail into what happened on the retreat, take a look at the pictures below.

Arrival on the mountainside.

One of the several tables in the dining hall in the inn.

One of the three different gyms that we practiced at while we were there. This probably about a third of the group, most people were still getting ready.

Juggling! Wheeeeeeee!

The tallest game of Jenga that I have ever seen.

One evening I learned how to play Go, an ancient Chinese strategy game that looks deceptively simple, but makes Chess look like tic-tac-toe.

Final group shot in front of the inn, just before returning back to Tokyo.

Golden Week Streets

Yesterday began what is known as Golden Week, a week at the beginning of Spring in which Japan has 4 national holidays in rapid succession, and many organizations just take a break during the days in between each holiday, resulting in a week long vacation for almost the entirety of the country. While many people are going off on adventurous travel plans, I'm staying right here in Tokyo, and started off my Golden Week celebrations in the neighborhood of Koenji.

The best performance of the day. Note the small squadron
of astounded children nearby. They were messing
with him throughout the entire performance,
 and he took it as a chance to make things a bit more fun.

Koenji (高円寺) is a convenient train hop away from where I'm living, and a really interesting area of tiny shops and restaurants. However, what drew me there for the first time Sunday was Bikkuri Daidogei (びっくり大道芸), a huge street performance festival that sprawls throughout the area. There were performance of every variety, from musicians to jugglers to magicians and back again. It was a beautiful day and I could have enjoyed simply strolling through the neighborhood regardless of the various squads of performers there to ensure that I was having a good time. The most notable act of the day was a performer who first seemed to be a mime of sorts, but ended up also being an absolutely incredible juggler. Not only was he incredibly skilled, but he was playing with kids from the audience the entire time (not to mention a few grown-ups), and really knew how to sympathize with the crowd and draw their energy to his performance. As much as I've been able to grow technically as a juggler here, it was a very refreshing reminder that ultimately good performing has little to do with the skills you show on stage, but so much more to do with connecting to the audience, and enabling them to feel the excitement along with you.

Needless to say, the street festival has been the highlight of my Golden Week thus far. Other than that, I've been keeping myself busy staying social around Tokyo, seeing friends, playing in the park, all of the good stuff that one should be doing during a week off in the spring. Tomorrow morning I'm off for a retreat with the juggling club, and so will be rounding off this Golden Week with a nice-and-shiny, 3-day juggling jamboree. Until then, よろしく！

A walking, metallic, bird on stilts....Don't ask questions.

A brass band playing every kind of tune you can imagine. 

A diabolo artist who did all of his routines to the tune of an audience-member-driven street organ.