Jeanneabeck’s Weblog

Everyone knows that Japan has a string of national holidays called “Golden Week,” but did you know that we have a “Silver Week” as well?  Actually I didn’t know about Golden Week until I started studying Japanese and just learned about Silver Week this past weekend while experiencing it.  The two national holidays “Respect for the Elderly Day” and Autumn Equinox day fell on a Monday and Wednesday respectively leaving a the government no choice but to give Tuesday off as well creating a long string of holidays equivalent to that of Golden Week in May. 

So what did we do? 

Saturday we took a day trip to Matsumoto City where Ryan got to see Matsumoto Castle for the first time.  One of Japan’s four national treasures that comes in the castle form, Matsumoto Castle is strikingly different from the others; it’s black roof and walls has given it the nickname the “Crow Castle” while it’s close proximity to Iida makes it the perfect day trip.

 It was a bit crowded being the first day of this long weekend; we saw tourist from all over Japan and all over the world.  Ryan had a bit of culture shock seeing so many other foreigners who were speaking American and British English, French, what we think was Polish, etc.  This happens when you’re newer to a foreign country and have gone a long time without seeing many foreigners. 

Inside is a collection of period muskets  that Ryan actually knew a lot about.  He really surprised me with his knowledge.

Afterwards Ryan lead us to a ramen restaurant that advertised that their ramen was featured on a cooking tv show.  Ryan is turning out to be a ramen expert or “ramen-tsu.”  Not only was this ramen the best we’d tasted (he’s ranked it as #1 on his list of good ramen shops) but it was also at a reasonable price. 

We stopped by Frog Street on the way to an from the castle.  The street incorporates all four meanings of the word “kaeru” or frog.  It also means “return” because you’ll want to return again, “to buy” because there are many shops along the street, and “change over time” because of how the street has changed and adapted, keeping the old style but changing to adapt to the new.

We also stopped by Starbucks twice (once upon arriving and once before leaving) so I could get my fill.  It was heavenly.  Ryan had the java chip frap. on the right, and I tried the coffee jelly kind on the right.  Coffee jelly and coffee jelly drinks are popular in Japan – I have no clue why.  It was good but we ended up sharing each other’s drinks a lot. 

The rest of the weekend we pretty much stayed around home.  We downloaded audiobook for “The Lost Symbol” – the new Dan Brown book and listened to all of it while playing video games and whatnot.  Next week we’ll be going to Nagano City for more adventures (and so Ryan can get his visa re-entry permit), and in a few weeks after English camp we’ll be going to Himeji to visit Yuko and her family.