Kyoto, Japan - part last

Of course when we returned to Kyoto, we returned to same ryokan we'd stayed in before. We were in the same room as before, so it felt that much more like being home.

We visited a school. It was when I saw other kids' schoolwork hanging on a bulletin board that the truth really hit me. In Japan I was completely illiterate! To a kid that's been reading so long that she can't remember learning how, that's a strange feeling, and a bit intimidating.

People kept telling us to go to Yokohama, because there are so many Americans there. They missed the point, we were in Japan to go native. There's no point going there to hang out with mostly military affiliated Americans!

However my mother too was realizing that this was much harder than she had really realized. Being a single working parent is hard enough in the best circumstances, in a foreign country when you don't want to live in an immigrant's neighborhood and finding a job isn't easy either ... well maybe we wouldn't stay in Japan after all.

We talked about where to go next. She thought about India, and contrary to what my father had said about accepting anything offered, she made us promise not to eat or drink anything she didn't okay first.
She also wanted to go visit the temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. While this was still before the Khmer Rouge and even before Nixon's election, it probably wouldn't have been a particularly safe time to go there...

So we decided to go to the Soviet Union instead. At that time you had to make all your arrangements through Intourist before you entered the country. You had to arrange every airplane, train, or intercity bus. You had to reserve every hotel room. You had to buy coupon books for your meals. So we did.

So we were now tourists visiting Japan, and soon to leave, not immigrants. I know I have the order of various events in Japan somewhat jumbled, but they all took place between May 2, 1968 and June 15, 1968. So here's a few more things we did that I haven't mentioned yet.

At one point we were walking down the street and my mother spotted a photo on a newspaper in rack that visibly shocked her. She ran into the nearest business to ask about it. Robert Kennedy had been shot in Los Angeles.

Sometime quite early in our stay: We went to a sumo wrestling match on a tour bus where they provided box lunches (bento boxes). Most of the food was good except JB and I didn't like the bean paste dessert pastry. When we got off the bus I saw what I thought was the ugliest bunch of fat women walking in the street. Turns out they were some of the sumo wrestlers, of course, but I wasn't really used to seeing such long ponytails on men yet. The matches involved lots of peculiar squatting and leg movements before they started trying to push each other out of the ring.

Later in a Kyoto department store, we came across a machine with a long conveyor belt. Fascinated we watched as the machine made and cooked bean paste fish. We had to try one after that. These warm fresh fish-shaped cakes were good. Some bean paste desserts were good after all!

Chewing gum!
Japan had more flavors of chewing gum that I have ever seen before or since. Green Tea, Coffee, Pineapple, Banana and every other fruit you could imagine. Years later when my Grandmother went there for a visit, she asked what we'd like her to bring back. I didn't hesitate - "Weird chewing gum flavors!" I requested and got, though I did have to reassure her that I was serious.

Astro Boy - was my favorite cartoon before we went to Japan. Of course it was a Japanese one, and of course it was on in Japan. What surprised me - is that the theme song tune was different in Japan.

We visited the Palaces in Kyoto and Tokyo, like the Bobbsey twins did before us. There was a huge rock garden all raked so that every rock was in place. I wondered how the person raking it could have managed to do it without leaving footprints. I noticed another western family with a blond boy about our age at the Tokyo palace.

So finally, 35 years ago last night, we did go to Yokohama. We spent the night in the home of some Americans that were friends or relations of my mother's stepmother, and the next day we boarded the Khabarosk!

Khabarosk

The Khabarosk took two days to sail between Yokohama, Japan and Nakhodka, USSR.

Some of the way it was quite calm, and some of the way the boat rocked back and forth quite a bit. When it was rocking, I figured the most fun thing to do is to get as loose as possible to exagerate the effect of being tossed about as I walked down the corridors.

Of course the Khabarosk was a Russian ship, so there was plenty to do. You could play chess on deck, or play chess in the game room, or play chess somewhere else!


I wanted to play on deck. Actually I wanted to pretend to ride the knights, but adults were usually playing a game on that board. As you can see though, I did get a brief chance to play around with it during a weather shift.

Mostly I found an english speaking boy about my age to play chess with in the game room. We got in an argument. He captured my King and insisted that the game was over and he had won. I said that because he hadn't captured my Queen, the game couldn't be over yet. He had to capture her too! We asked an adult and they agreed with him. He only had to take my King. Strangely none of them explained to us about saying "Mate" and "Checkmate" instead of just capturing the King!

That family with the blond boy that we had seen in Tokyo was also on the Khabarosk with us. I think they were Italian.

For dessert, they either had ice cream in a bowl or ice cream in coffee. They gave me mine in coffee. Something I liked the Soviets for!