亜朱利 aka....Little Red Pear = A New Name and Adventures!~

Konbanwa Minna~san,

So I finally have a new name in Kanji:  亜朱利 .  The last character you see is actually different from the one given to me (the character given to me was this: 利 on top of this: 木 )  The name reads Ashuri or アシュリ　which is how the Japanese pronounce my name Ashlee.  The meaning however is quite interesting and actually fits pretty well:  Little Red Pear.  I am a red person, that's for sure.  If any of you have seen me sweat, you understand. I asked my Japanese friends how these particular Kanji fit the meanings (because really, in Japanese these Kanji make NOOO sense on how you read them...)  Apparently, the first character 亜 read "Ah" means small but when consulting an electronic dictionary it has more of a philosophical meaning which I like.  It supposedly means "a fork in the road" or more specifically "the spot where the road splits".  If this isn't me, I don't know what is.  I can usually see many sides to conflicts and heck, I have a hard time deciding on buying something!  You get my drift....

So yeah.  It's finally happened.  I have a name in Kanji.  This is great.  I was assigned these Kanji at tonight's poster drawing get together for the International Festival Dance Booth that I joined.  I will be doing Soranbushi which makes me feel awesome and sometimes like I am doing a Japanese rendition of Tae Bo.  It's great.  SHOUT OUT TO TAMANA! Nothing will top my friend Tamana's dance from last year at DePauw.....Toradabashi/Soranbushi and Yosakoi mixed....  it was the best!  This year's should be awesome as well.

Oh, and before I go off on another tangent, Arashiyama was beautiful.  I went there with my friend and former roommate Nikki and we set out on a day trip to this town near Kyoto.  We went there really with no plans and it ended up being a blast.  On the way there I saw some deaf women signing on the train and when one of them looked my way I quickly signed "konnichiwa" to her.  Her face was priceless:  she motioned me over right away and then I began conversing with them in Nihongo Shuwa (日本語手話) or Japanese Sign Language.  It was such a good experience...a lot of times I feel that speaking to deaf people is so much easier because I have come to realize that my face is so expressive compared to a hearing Japanese face.  In Shuwa Study Group we all have seen that Japanese deaf people are very expressive with their faces and bodies.  I have found a warm welcoming from Japanese deaf people.  ^_^

We arrived in Arashiyama and found that the deaf women were going to the same place we were:  the Romantic Train ride through the mountains which was SUPERB.  What views..... Nikki and I indulged in eating cheap and delicious tempura soba and walked around Arashiyama going to the Moon viewing bridge and actually seeing a maiko (an apprentice geisha) we believe maybe making her debut....but it was still a bit weird since she was on a side street and all....

Also, if the deer in Nara weren't enough for one long weekend, I decided to go with Nikki to the top of Monkey Park Mountain.  The monkeys roam freely there.  I was on edge but I wanted to go....I mean it's not every day that you have monkeys around you....  The view was spectacular.  We could see the whole city of Kyoto surrounded by magnificent yama.  Fantastic...

Heading out of Arashiyama I decided to buy a gift for my host family.  I bought some Arashiyama mochi which is delicious and brought it home the next day to Okaasan.  And this is where I make one of my first mistakes:  giving too many gifts.

So recently I have been feeling very grateful towards my host family just because they are so nice and all that good stuff.  In order to show this I have been bringing home a couple of pies from the great RaPoppo which Mara and I have come to call our usual meeting spot at Hirakatashi Eki... I should have known to not do this frequently, but I felt like it.  So when I gave Okaasan the mochi she told me that she really appreciated it, but international students shouldn't spend their money on getting gifts for their family and that all she would like from me is my heart.  I about almost died it was so sweet.  I won't be bringing home anything any time soon if that is what makes her happy~

Sorry that this is so short but I have to go study now.  I am also going to Hiroshima this weekend.  I am preparing myself for the blow- I will be seeing an atomic bomb survivor speak and visiting the city of Hiroshima and the Peace Park there.... It should be quite an emotional ride.  Heck, in my Japanese Popular Media and Culture class yesterday we watched Barefoot Gen which was the first anime that was spread globally in order to get the message out about how horrific nuclear war is.  I was pretty much holding myself in so I wouldn't burst into tears while watching this film.  This weekend should be very interesting.

Peace,

Ashlee