choza

this morning i was on my bed writing a letter when i heard this low drumming sound. i was about to say..."buster! you can't do that on the balcony, buddy??"...when i got up to look out the window. i saw the following:


the red and gold thing all those dudes are carrying is called a choza. the two guys on top are beating on a drum. i don't know all the details yet, but someone told me that the choza houses a god and that the people carry it to the temple. well, i think these guys are just practicing because the festival is next weekend and everyone says there will be lots of choza in the streets. i am glad i got a sneak peak...and now you have, too.

annyong!

early in september i took a trip to seoul, korea. the purpose was to get my working visa. i arrived in the early afternoon on a wednesday and immediately set out to find the japanese consulate to get the paperwork started. i honestly was lost! i didn't know where i was going and i stopped at a few of the tourist information booths but no one spoke enough english to help me. i was worried. but only a little bit. i started to wander in the direction that someone had suggested when i stopped on a corner to just look at and ponder each direction. then, for the first time since i had arrived in korea, a stranger approached and offered to help me. she said she didn't speak much english but that she would try. i told her i was trying to find the japanese consulate. she said, "i work there!" she was on her way there at that moment and so i walked with her. as we walked she asked me why i was going to the consulate and i told her. she quickly, and almost unintelligibly told me what i needed to do and where to go to get a photo. (no one told me before i left that i was supposed to have a photo!) after some more wandering, i got the pictures and made my way back to the consulate. she was sweet and expedited the paperwork while i waited so i would not have to come back the next day. so, by about 4pm on my first day in korea, i was through with my business and could relax.

i found a hotel...the president hotel. it was a pretty nice and i actually haggled with them to get almost 50% off, without even knowing it. i wish i had known ahead of time that i could do that, i would have started lower! i honestly thought when he asked me "how much are you looking to spend?" that he was wanting to have an idea of which direction to send me for a cheaper hotel. i guess with all my world travels, i still have some things to learn. haha.

this is what my room looked like. i am surprised that for such a fancy place, my bed was about as hard as a rock! but the room was nice over all.


while i was in korea, i had the chance to meet up with my big brother, josh. he is in the air force and is stationed there for a year. he arrived about a month after i came to japan. i was still in that homesick stage so it was great to see my brother and just be with family for a while. we spent the evening together and went out to eat at outback. then we went to the old palace that was across the square from my hotel. (i took only 1 picture of josh...i don't know what's wrong with me!!... and i don't include it here yet because i am having a problem formatting it for some reason. i will post it later.)

unfortunately, when we went to the palace, it was getting dark so the pictures didn't show up very well at all. this is one of the many buildings there...i guess its a pretty picture.


i wondered around the city the next day looking for cool places to see and to do some shopping. i was amazed by how big seoul is! i felt like the little country bumpkin finally seeing the big city. it was funny. there was a lot of traffic and for the most part there are not cross walks. if you want to cross the street, you have to go underground. that's cool, i guess. but i always got turned around while under the streets and inevitably came up at the wrong corner!


this is the view of the plaza from my hotel window. on the grass down below they had a rock concert my first night there. and when josh and i were out the next night we saw that they were showing a movie on this huge blow-up screen. it was, "some like it hot". the next night they were going to show "the wizard of oz" but i was going to be gone already. bummer.


i enjoyed my trip to korea because it was nice to see my brother and to finally get my visa paperwork taken care of. also, it was great just to see another country and culture. i think most of all, i am glad i went because it helped me to see that i can handle many things on my own. i think i always felt that i could never take a trip to a foreign country or even just an unknown part of my own country alone. now i know that i am perfectly able. that's a good feeling.

funny kids!

one of my favorite classes is in marugame. there are 5 students ages 4-6 who are very smart and keep me laughing. i took my camera to school one day so i could take a picture of these guys. it was harder than i expected to get 5 little bodies who don't speak much english to pose for a photo, and it went a little like this...

take 1: click...."oops, kenny! you had your eyes closed. lets try again." (i love his t-shirt, by the way. nacho libre, anyone??)


take 2: click..."d'oh! kenny!! why did you put your hands over your face? c'mon!"


take 3: click...."kenny!! what's with the weird face? what are you trying to do to me? and pearl, why are your fingers in your mouth? guys, this isn't that difficult!"


take 4: click...."kenny, really? what the...? one more time and that's it!"


take 5: click...."finally, a shot we can all live with, i guess."
(left to right: william, james, pearl, lily and, of course, kenny)
i love these little guys! they are too funny!

JAPANimation

i went out on my bike these past few mornings looking for pictures of animation. here, they don't just have signs posted, they have cute little animation to inform people of things. when i see it, i always think "that is so japanese!"....but i am glad sometimes because i am able to get by easier, without knowing how to read this crazy language, thanks to all the drawings. sometimes, the animation isn't enough and i am left wondering. but other times, it is quite clear what they mean. here are some examples from around kanonji:


not quite sure, but something this sign is warning us not to do will make the cans in the city very angry with us!

this little dog is giving the classic japanese "v" in his poster...and holding a bag of his own deposits. these signs are common, something to the effect of..."don't let your dog poop here and then leave it".

i bought a bottle of shower cleaner and i was grateful for the pictures to show me the safety instructions. if they had just left them off, like we do in english usually, i would not have known to use in a ventilated area, keep it out of my eyes, and wash it off of my skin. hahaha


apparently, its ok to park scooters or motor bikes in this garage. this looks like something off the page of manga.


another dog sign right near our apartment. it cracks me up. the dog only has 3 legs! and he looks a little guilty if you ask me!


at this bakery, a samurai monkey makes the donuts.


i think this one is to say "no dumping trash in the river" but apparently, the people here don't understand their own animation as well as i do, because i see lots of garbage in the river all the time.

your guess is as good as mine on this one....that is all kanji at the top and i can't read it. if it were katakana or hiragana i would stand a chance....


again, i don't have a clue. but whatever it is, if you don't abide by the sign, you will really make this little leaf guy angry!


i think if you recycle, a happy can will give you a big bag of money and there will be a big rainbow in the sky.

this is the bus station sign. my roommate always laughs that the mom with her babies in the back has a top knot. i think they all look funny and a bit scary. it doesn't entice me to want to ride the bus.


the "kodomo s.o.s." means, child s.o.s....meaning, this is a safe place for kids to run to if they think they are in danger. pretty cool. some places have cute little signs posted for them.


i am not sure. i need my japanese tutor to tell me what all this means!


i don't think i want to know what this one is for!


this one says "park cleaning" at the bottom. i can only assume its yet another requesting people to clean up after their dogs.


fun times!

a spiritual journey

the island of shikoku, where i live, is famous in japan for having 88 temples on it. every year many people make a religious pilgrimage to see all 88 temples. some walk, others drive, and i have even seen a few on the train. some of my adult students have done it and said they did it for the exercise, the blessings, and to set a good example to their children. i think it would be an interesting experience. a few weeks ago i went to zentsuji with some friends from the branch. zentsuji is a temple not too far from where i live. its beautiful and very old. there is a tall tower and a few smaller buildings that are actually temples. its a beautiful place and was very peaceful. we even burned some candles which are to bless your family, i think. and we also burned incense which is supposed to give you good health.



under one of the temples, there is a dark tunnel. you go down the stairs and walk on the left side of the tunnel, using your left hand to feel along the wall. it is pitch black. you honestly cannot see a thing! while you walk, you are supposed to chant the name of a buddhist priest who was born at the site. halfway through the tunnel there is a small room where people kneel before an alter-like thingy...that's the actual name.... and pray or meditate. then you continue through the dark tunnel until you come out at the other end. it is symbolic of the darkness that sin brings to your life and that with repentance and purification, you can find the light again.


we found these little tourist things so we took a pic. this is what the pilgrims wear, the pointy hat with the white jacket. they all carry a walking stick, too.


at the temple they have a place for a special hand-washing. i am not sure what it means. i saw this at the osaka castle, as well. and now that i think of it, even at the small shrines all over the city, they have something like this. but i especially like this one because it looks just like mushu from mulan. too cute!

one final note. i forgot to mention this above. every winter in the courtyard beneath the tower, they have a ceremony where a bunch of men wearing nothing but loin cloths stand in a crowd and a priest climbs to the top of the tower. he carries a small tree or a branch or something and he throws it into the crowd. the men basically beat the snot out of each other trying to get the branch. the branch is supposed to bring the bearer happiness. hahahaha....well, the story brings me happiness anyway!

obon continues

a few more highlights from osaka:

this is the mote around the osaka castle.


and here is the castle....its actually been destroyed and rebuilt. it was beautiful, but it just wasn't as exciting to know it was not the original castle.


this is the view of the city from the top of the castle. something i love about japan is that it is a modern and advanced country but it still holds fast to it's traditions. right in the middle of a huge metropolis you can find this very traditional castle. and its very common to find shinto shrines and temples nestled in between the modern buildings.


ok, so i wouldn't call this a highlight, it was more of an inconvenience. my apologies to anyone who finds it offensive that i would post this picture. but i wanted to show something that has been a real pain in the neck for me. some of the toilets here are just porcelain bowls that are actually set down into the floor. uh, hello! what the heck!? most public toilets we came across were similar to this one. but this toilet at least was on a raised platform so it was a bit easier for me to handle. (though i found out later that i actually did it all wrong.) this was the toilet in a restaurant we ate at. not all public toilets are like this. in fact, some are way nice! but, i was unfortunate most of the time.


we spent a day in kyoto, which is about an hour away from osaka by train. we went to this artesan museum and shop and they had these cool samurai suits of armor there.

i really enjoyed osaka. i loved being in the big city and the subway and train system there is very efficient and easy. i hope that i will have the chance to go again and see more. the people there were very friendly. many times my roommate and i were standing with looks on our faces that showed we were not quite sure where we were or where we were going. someone always approached and asked if they could help. lucky for us, more people in osaka speak english than in kanonji. i was happy to experience that part of the world and see more of this beautiful country i am living in.

obon, anyone?

there is a holiday in august that lasts for about 3 or 4 days called obon (pronounced like "oh bone"). what i was told is that its a time when the spirits of departed ancestors return home. people spend time with their family and visit cemetaries. and, some people travel. many of the teachers at my school were planning a trip to tokyo for obon, but since i had recently arrived, i didn't feel that i could spend the money on such a trip. my roommate and i decided to take a trip to osaka instead. osaka is closer and we figured it would be a cheaper trip. we took a train to takamatsu, which took about and hour and a half. then we caught a bus that took us on a 3 hour trip to osaka.

we went through many tunnels on our trip. this was a short one...you can actually see the end before you go in. many of them were long and curved so it was a little scary. (the yellow sign under the tv says something about seat belts...hooray for japanese classes!!)


at one of the rest stops, we saw some funny engrish. the vending area sold "drinks and foods" and you cold get some "casual frozen foods" from a machine as well. i didn't see any formal frozen foods....hmm



we saw some beautiful scenery on the trip. it was a gorgeous day, albeit a very warm day.



we crossed many architecturally interesting bridges on our journey, as well. some of them were quite strange looking. i wasn't able to get good shots of all of them, but i have included a couple.


a shot of osaka (i think) as we were crossing one of the bridges.

one of my favorite things in osaka was the aquarium....kaiyukan, as it is called. we were smart and got our tickets at the subway station. as a result, we didn't have to wait outside in the line for hours. because it was obon, and summer, it was very crowded. i hate being crammed into crowds of sweaty people, and if i didn't love marine life so much, i probably would have skipped it altogether. i am glad we went. i recommend it to anyone who visits osaka.

the mascots of kaiyukan are the 2 whale sharks there. they are beautiful and enormous! i got this sweet shot by pure luck as it was very difficult to fight through the crowd to even get up to the glass.

this is a cool diagram that was on the wall to give you an idea of the size of the whale shark. it makes the great white (the 2nd largest on the chart) look quite small and makes man(swimming near the bottom) look tiny!

i hate being photographed, so this is one of the few times i will appear on the blog. i stopped to pose with this blue eyed fish i found who was not nearly as popular as the whale shark who stole the show.
this is a video of some cute little jellies we saw. i kept thinking of finding nemo!


more to come from obon....