tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70797726803840716592024-03-06T12:55:38.778+09:00From the Eastern EdgeI teach English in Japan.
Among other things.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.comBlogger311125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-21365090969605709022017-03-13T23:43:00.001+09:002017-03-13T23:43:28.951+09:00Even More Changes!Hello everyone!<br />
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While the "Recalculating" blog is remaining private (I just now clicked it to "public" and couldn't quite bring myself to save changes -- I like to be open, but there's so much I don't know about the 'CYA' stuff, about which it seems other people are so serious, so I am continuing to err on the side of caution there), I'd like to add a link to another one, same title concept "Rerouting."<br />
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Rerouting is not very focused, but then, discursive is something you might expect from a blog of that name (and from me!).<br />
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Rerouting is on a different server and is public. It is the home of my latest scribblin' attempts.<br />
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I have also long since realized that I never wrote about my trip to Tohoku. Since 3/11 came and went a couple of days ago, I am feeling like I ought to write that, better late than never. So, that should get posted here at some point.<br />
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Carry on!Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-62069033446769132632013-07-30T07:04:00.000+09:002013-07-30T07:04:20.362+09:00Changes in RecalculatingHey blog readers.<br />
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Just a note on my other blog, Recalculating, linked in the righthand panel: I've turned it private because I work at a public institution and I'd like to continue being my candid self in my blog. This means you have to sign in using your email address in order to read new entries.<br />
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I know, it's lame, but go with it, because it'll help my sense of paranoia.<br />
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If you aren't on the readers list, that is easily remedied. I added a few people from my contacts list, but I know there are more I don't have. Please leave a note on this entry, or send me an email if you want to be given access! I would love to have you continue reading.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
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EmLem<br />
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<br />Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-68823257358625529822013-02-25T06:21:00.001+09:002013-02-25T06:21:55.234+09:00Down the Coast to Wakayama: Temples 2 and 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To make the timeline clear: I left the area of Kyoto on August 22nd and made my way down the peninsula toward Wakayama. I stopped in to Soji-ji and Fujii-dera along the way, because they are kind of south of Osaka anyway. I spent the night with my wonderful host family, who saw me off at the train station the next morning (August 23rd) so I could go to two nearby temples, Kokawa-dera and Kimii-dera, numbers 3 and 2 respectively.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sfkCTNl2Hn8/UDlgqJYT-bI/AAAAAAABAh4/CWGZxXf4s74/s1600/P8230706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sfkCTNl2Hn8/UDlgqJYT-bI/AAAAAAABAh4/CWGZxXf4s74/s640/P8230706.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The impressive front gate is made entirely of zelkova!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NS1quY7RyIk/UDlgxcW_geI/AAAAAAABAiA/CiWrR1tAwNY/s1600/P8230710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NS1quY7RyIk/UDlgxcW_geI/AAAAAAABAiA/CiWrR1tAwNY/s400/P8230710.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kawa in the name of the place, a nice place to stroll if it's not August and the sun is not blazing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0oGVu7DNhE4/UDlg4N4KQEI/AAAAAAABAiE/rrhJjBfLgzE/s1600/P8230714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0oGVu7DNhE4/UDlg4N4KQEI/AAAAAAABAiE/rrhJjBfLgzE/s640/P8230714.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw 16 Arhats at one of the temples inside Kyoto city, so I liked this set too.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mAo-YWn9TwA/UDlg5NQHf8I/AAAAAAABAiI/fJcrbqocYeo/s1600/P8230715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mAo-YWn9TwA/UDlg5NQHf8I/AAAAAAABAiI/fJcrbqocYeo/s400/P8230715.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This tiger is famous. You can definitely read about it <a href="http://sacredjapan.com/Temple%2003/Places03.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Jx2O9ZpFqc/UDlg7bLftII/AAAAAAABAiM/oM6TJAuV7I0/s1600/P8230716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Jx2O9ZpFqc/UDlg7bLftII/AAAAAAABAiM/oM6TJAuV7I0/s640/P8230716.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love trees, and this camphor is thought to be over a thousand years old.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most cluttered rock garden in Japan. Unique, definitely. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9DZdxxWYHDY/UDlhdYE3egI/AAAAAAAA__c/camG16aWNRU/s1600/P8230733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9DZdxxWYHDY/UDlhdYE3egI/AAAAAAAA__c/camG16aWNRU/s640/P8230733.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really liked the lotus-blossom purifying fountain. I didn't see one quite like this anywhere else.</td></tr>
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Kokawa-dera was really nice, and it was a gorgeous, sunny day. There was holy-sounding music drifting around, and I sat for a little while in the hondo. But since my second temple of the day was to be Kimii-dera, I was also eager to get on my way and see that temple.<br />
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Kimii-dera is named for three wells or springs that are found on the grounds. But it was going to be meaningful for me because of the Maigo no Tegami monument and letterbox. I'm a pretty avid writer of letters most days, and while a statue of a letter was definitely going to be on my visit list anyway, this one as "maigo" or lost-children letters monument had special significance.<br />
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In June of the previous year, we lost <a href="http://eminihonde.blogspot.com/2011/06/she-didnt-ask-me-do-you-remember.html" target="_blank">Shannon Lawrence</a>. A bit later on I was advised by a friend/counselor to write her a letter. He added that I should then actually do something with the letter, either burn it or bury it or put it in the mail and 'the post has a system for dealing with things like this.' But right after that, I was looking at the particulars of this pilgrimage and stumbled upon the fact that Kimii-dera actually has a ceremony periodically wherein they are (I think) charged with burning the lost-child letters given to them by Japan Post in a special Buddhist ceremony. It all sounded really nice and I knew as soon as I read it that my pilgrimage would require my putting that letter into the letterbox at the temple.<br />
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So the night before I went to this temple, while at the host-family house, I sat upstairs and write a second letter to go with the first one, which remained unsealed but unopened since I had penned it the year before. I wanted to put both letters in the keeping of this particular temple.<br />
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I knew the thing was on the grounds, though, so I took my sweet time exploring the rest of the area, as it was really beautiful. First came the stairs, for which there is a story (<a href="http://sacredjapan.com/Temple%2002/Legends02.htm" target="_blank">here</a>) about how they are the stairs of fate or good fortune or something [edit: The Slope of Karmic Bonding!]. I took it to mean, remember that we are all traveling together.<br />
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I checked out a couple of the springs, and they seemed to flow cool air and a kindly cosmic energy along with providing a good excuse to stop climbing stairs for a bit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9Pz4xRs4rA/UDlhvZLyyqI/AAAAAAABAis/qRHrifKC1oo/s1600/P8230741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9Pz4xRs4rA/UDlhvZLyyqI/AAAAAAABAis/qRHrifKC1oo/s640/P8230741.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And just look at that green.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGybhFGkvLc/UDlh5IVHOLI/AAAAAAABAiw/CfidVtvGhc4/s1600/P8230747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGybhFGkvLc/UDlh5IVHOLI/AAAAAAABAiw/CfidVtvGhc4/s640/P8230747.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty sure that is a small statue of the goddess of good fortune there too.</td></tr>
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From the upper stories of the mausoleum (a sort of surreally modern and ginormous Kannon statue found inside) there was a nice view of the Bay of Poetry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KBlM87Yh6M/UDliBhIpuiI/AAAAAAABAE4/pKHOGNkk5A8/s1600/P8230753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KBlM87Yh6M/UDliBhIpuiI/AAAAAAABAE4/pKHOGNkk5A8/s400/P8230753.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also some nice folks took my picture!</td></tr>
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I saw this little trail and asked a guy walking nearby where it went. He said he didn't know and wasn't sure it was worth the climb. I decided to climb it anyway.<br />
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It led to a deserted and fairly uninteresting little shrine building where I sat on the steps and read over my two letters and cried for a while before resolving myself to go down and find that letterbox.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Iv6Au5UlvKs/UDliKSyscyI/AAAAAAABACc/nCj-UdTb3QY/s1600/P8230757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Iv6Au5UlvKs/UDliKSyscyI/AAAAAAABACc/nCj-UdTb3QY/s640/P8230757.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instead I found this cool tree that looks to have been struck by lightning or something and half burned.</td></tr>
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I wandered around and around and could not for the life of me find a letterbox, so I went back to the counter where the guy who did my calligraphy and stamp was so nice, and asked him in broken Japanese about it, and he and the other priests held out their hands and took my letters.<br />
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After that, I was pretty much done. I walked slowly back through the temple, taking pictures, and stopped at the third spring, which I had avoided on the way up so as to keep from the appearance of following around this guy who stopped to sit by it.<br />
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And then I walked down the steps, marveling at the beauty, at life, and everything, walked sweatily back through town, and got on a train bound for Kyoto. In retrospect, I probably kind of knew this was the end of my pilgrimage line, at least for the time being. I definitely was bent on getting to Kimii-dera before I left Japan, but by the time I did it, I was pretty burned out on my two temples a day travel style. I was exhausted from travel and emotionally drained from my day at Kimii-dera, and I knew the best thing to do was probably just to go home. I would crash with Miriam again, which was close as I could come to home at that point in my itinerant life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L-kKS2hoqWY/UDligVAGSiI/AAAAAAABADs/A34H5LeR22U/s1600/P8230767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L-kKS2hoqWY/UDligVAGSiI/AAAAAAABADs/A34H5LeR22U/s400/P8230767.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way, there was a rainbow.</td></tr>
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That evening, because I hadn't walked enough that day (good God, Lemmon), I took a walk along the river down in Kyoto, while waiting for Miriam and dinner time.<br />
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I was well aware that this was coming close to the end of my time, and might be my last, or at least close to my last visit to Kyoto for some time, so I tried to soak it all in.<br />
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The next day, August 24th, Miriam had responsibilities of her own, so I walked down to Shimogamo Shrine, not all that far from her apartment. It was overcast and actually rather chilly for August, but I walked around again trying to soak up and bask in the energy of the place. For all that I had been on a pilgrimage of temples, I'm not sure I don't still love shrines a little more. Shimogamo is also a shrine that reminds me of Nami, my Kyoto big-sister. I wrote her a letter from a bench in the long wooded approach to the shrine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-6A9KjyYCnuH9ZtnlYT0LIMGyD3WamWFQP-9NrUr9JfkU7Mixb0WHLq-_TawFN6HAeW6-Ou0cJHO4eSiSUNXUpLVn_qgyS9hCgfoiq7VUpnU0Uf36tVJxzJlN7Sjlmrj3ecPvyS_q4Dq/s1600/P8240777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-6A9KjyYCnuH9ZtnlYT0LIMGyD3WamWFQP-9NrUr9JfkU7Mixb0WHLq-_TawFN6HAeW6-Ou0cJHO4eSiSUNXUpLVn_qgyS9hCgfoiq7VUpnU0Uf36tVJxzJlN7Sjlmrj3ecPvyS_q4Dq/s400/P8240777.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The love-tree at Shimogamo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where Nami took us to soak our feet last year.</td></tr>
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<br />Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-48160052908392940342013-01-30T05:49:00.000+09:002016-07-29T04:11:20.929+09:00SurfingIn case you’ve never heard of <a href="https://www.couchsurfing.org/" target="_blank">CouchSurfing</a>, I’ll give a
quick summary.<br />
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<br /></div>
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You use the website to connect with potential hosts (if you
are traveling) or guests (if you are hosting), offer them a place to sleep at
night, and ideally you both gain something from the encounter such as a fresh
perspective or perhaps a new friend. If the idea of contacting someone you’ve
never met with an aim to crash at their place sounds like a positively terrible
idea, then you’re probably from the net generation that was raised to recall
the possibility that whoever you are talking to <i>may in fact </i>be an overweight balding 40-year-old in his parents’
basement rather than the hip 24-year-old musician he says he is. You probably
also think hitchhiking/picking up hitchhikers is a terrible idea.<br />
<br /></div>
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I tend to agree with you. As a young lone-traveling female, couchsurfing
seems on the surface to be the opposite of something I should try.<br />
<br /></div>
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However, there is appeal. My favorite type of tourism, if
you recall, was what I termed “tomodachi tourism,” or the kind where you go
somewhere that you know someone, because then not only do you have a free place
to stay, you also have someone to hang out with, and even better, someone who
knows something about the area, even if it’s not a great deal. At the very
least, someone to explore with (and if they don’t have time to explore with
you, then hopefully they can leave you a copy of the bus schedule and tell you
which corners to avoid after dark).<br />
<br /></div>
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And as sketchy as the idea itself may sound, the website for
CouchSurfing does a lot to make sure the people you are talking to are what
they say they are (or at least to provide you with information regarding how
much they check out). People get vetted and approved in various ways through
their system, which sets some people on a level of being much more trustworthy,
in theory.<br />
<br /></div>
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Now, as a cheapskate, and a traveler, and at times a pilgrim
on the trail, I liked the idea of finding a cool Japanese lady (or girl, some
of them were college aged) to crash with. Bangarang ryokan like the one I
stayed in for Hasedera are really nice, but especially post-contract I was
living on savings. I signed myself up as a host just as an afterthought, and so
as not to appear to be a total deadbeat. (Actually, when I think about it, some
people don’t have the time to travel like I did then, so although at the time I
thought surfing was ‘where it’s at’ and hosting was just the chore you did to
pay it forward, many hosts really enjoy getting to know their worldly visitors
and learning about their experiences!) I figured no one would ever want to stay
in my middle of nowhere living room in no-trainsville, Japan.<br />
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Welp, wrong there too.</div>
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<br />
I actually got a request just in the short time I was signed
up before leaving, and proceeded to host a Japanese guy for two nights. Hosting,
I realized on the precipice of doing it, is safer than surfing because you are
where you are, with your community around you, which is not the same as
venturing forth and disappearing into the wild blue. I notified all the JETs in
town that I had a surfer coming because I wanted us to all have dinner
together, and because I wanted everyone to know I was about to have a stranger
in my house. Again, this was all fine. He was pretty cool, and we got lost
together going up the mountain on our way to Chikusa for dinner on day two.
Since this was during July, I was already pretty busy all the time, but taking
a moment out to just spend a moment with this guy was a nice reminder of how to
enjoy Shiso. He spoke enthusiastically about how great of a town it was, and it
was nice for me to see it, right there at the end, through the eyes of a
first-time comer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fJV4fG0lPhI/UASff4vqkfI/AAAAAAAA_NY/_Lox39aAU-I/s1600/P7050235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fJV4fG0lPhI/UASff4vqkfI/AAAAAAAA_NY/_Lox39aAU-I/s400/P7050235.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This.. this is the end of the road, right here.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on the right track; I brake for misty mountains.</td></tr>
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He showed me a little drum circle and I showed him the
mountains, and brought him to my adult English class (which confused them to no
end because—he’s not your boyfriend? But he’s..staying.. in your house..?!),
and I also felt like I was not at all a deadbeat in the world of CouchSurfing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So anyway, fast forward to my own travel period, in August.
I sent out a lot of requests to various people in areas near temples on my
route, trying to get together a sort of schedule or setup to build travel
around. I only ended up staying with one family, down in Wakayama. They appealed
to me partly because of location, just a few stops from one of the temples I’d
been looking forward to visiting since I began, and also because it was a
family, not one person as a host. They had two kids, one in middle school and
one in late elementary, and were very foreigner friendly. The 4th grader, their daughter, seemed to think my proper duty at their home was to play Doraemon games with her. She was not fully wrong in this.</div>
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<br />
They also had the coolest house, and were delighted that I
could speak some Japanese (this made it possible for me to talk with the lady
of the house, not just her husband all the time). They cooked for me; we talked
about all kinds of things. I tried to show them pictures of my house, but we
had to settle for google earth. They invited me to go with them to Shirahama,
one of the best beaches in Wakayama later in the summer and I had to decline
because my schedule by that late in August was getting pretty tight. In the
morning, after father (school teacher and soccer coach) and big brother (JHS
students have to report all the time, even in summer, for club activities, just
like dad) had gone, mom and daughter walked me to the train station to send me
off on my temple visits for the day. I was just delighted that these people I
didn’t know at all and who had no need to take me in and be so good to me had
done so, and all I could pay them with was conversation (which was all they
wanted, I suppose).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbs-hevNAQk/UDlgnH6tQhI/AAAAAAABAh0/6OTDjO0T2dQ/s1600/P8230704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbs-hevNAQk/UDlgnH6tQhI/AAAAAAABAh0/6OTDjO0T2dQ/s400/P8230704.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forgot to take this photo before brother was gone to basketball practice.</td></tr>
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I only have limited experience with CouchSurfing, but they’ve
always been positive. It isn’t something I’m sure I’m comfy with in the US (nor
is it perhaps something I need here, as I tend to only go where I have people,
these days), but it is something I recommend looking into, if you’re into that. </div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-9066858674778873952013-01-09T07:45:00.001+09:002016-05-04T10:53:18.007+09:00Osaka Temples: Soji-ji and Fujii-deraAugust 22nd and undaunted by the previous day's trials, I rolled out to make my way from Kyoto down south to Wakayama, stopping at two Osaka-area temples along the way. There were two in particular that were reported to be very convenient to get to by public transportation (and from non-JR stations, thus I could use the heck out of my Kansai Thru-Pass), so I planned my route around them.<br />
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First stop, Soji-ji, Temple 22 of the Pilgrimage and the one from which the walking trail still leads to Katsuo-ji (visited the day before). Soji-ji is the size of an unassuming city temple.<br />
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There were some old ladies chatting in the shade of the garden near the pond, and I could feel them watching me.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQzNy_aIkjQ/UDjgYMhozDI/AAAAAAABAhQ/Xire5TJdKxQ/s1600/P8220682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQzNy_aIkjQ/UDjgYMhozDI/AAAAAAABAhQ/Xire5TJdKxQ/s1600/P8220682.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">I was proud that I was able to read the sign. It said you were permitted to ring the bell, but to please do so gently, as it's really freakin' old. I did.</td></tr>
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Not all temples offer prayers, services, or amulets for pets, but Soji-ji does. It's principal image is a thousand-armed eleven-faced Kannon riding on the back of a turtle. The legend about this is that a nobleman was going about his daily business and saw some kids tormenting a turtle. He made them stop, and released the turtle into the sea. Later on, Kannon sent the same turtle saved this nobleman's son from drowning.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">So I took a photo of a poster.</td></tr>
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This turtle tale, combined with the story of the sandalwood of which the Kannon image is carved (said to have been dedicated to Kannon, ordered for the carving of the statue, then lost into the water along the way, but it washed up again in Japan), gave me the impression that this temple has something to do with being in the right place at the right time. The message is that things go where they are supposed to be.<br />
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Since it also had to do with pets, I had been looking forward to getting a couple of charms for the family's dogs along the way.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Buddhist Pet Cemetery.</td></tr>
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Soji-ji is also famous for a dedication of knives that takes place on April 18th of each year. There is a fish-slicing ceremony related perhaps to a tradition that . There's also a statue of the Bokefuji Kannon we saw at <a href="http://eminihonde.blogspot.com/2011/10/imakumano-kannon-ji.html" target="_blank">temple fifteen</a>. I said a prayer but didn't take a photo of her.<br />
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<a href="http://kappanda.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-10-28" target="_blank"><img alt="Image from: http://kappanda.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-10-28" border="0" src="http://kappanda.c.blog.so-net.ne.jp/_images/blog/_77a/kappanda/_D7S5003-59fc6.jpg?c=a2" height="640" title="" width="425" /></a></div>
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<br />
Stop two was Fujii-dera, in the town of the same name, another city temple (as opposed to sprawling mountain complex) filled with the wisteria (fuji) plants that would make it absolutely gorgeous (and crowded, I'm sure) come early May. Fujii-dera is temple number 5 of the 33, and was the first for me of that opening sequence of temples that wraps around the peninsula of Wakayama Prefecture.<br />
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It was a nice little oasis of space, mostly empty when I was there at the end of the afternoon, with gates on all sides leading into the city's streets.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vCS6CggrB3E/UDjg_DZ-bmI/AAAAAAABAhk/sIb4ORH0tos/s1600/P8220703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vCS6CggrB3E/UDjg_DZ-bmI/AAAAAAABAhk/sIb4ORH0tos/s1600/P8220703.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Can you imagine this fuji in May?</td></tr>
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The Kannon image at Fujii-dera (I didn't happen to pass a poster with the image printed) is another thousand-armed Kannon, but this one actually has a <i>thousand </i>arms. Most of the representations of senju-Kannon have a good many arms, but most of them don't actually bear the full thousand.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A few blossoms persist through the August heat!</td></tr>
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The image is put on display on the 18th of each month, and on August 9th for sen-nichi mairi, which conveys the benefits in one day of prayer that you would expect of a thousand (normal) days of prayer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">I love the fabric in this portrayal of the wind.</td></tr>
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Fujii-dera was beautiful, but I didn't have a lot of time there, as it was getting on toward closing time. What made it peaceful also made it kind of lonely. Plus I'd seen a lot of temples in a few days, two per day for as long as I could walk it.<br />
I was headed for Wakayama City and the end of my Pilgrim Trail....Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-11912171705280149332012-12-12T05:40:00.001+09:002012-12-12T05:41:31.697+09:00(for babies and winning)<i>Temples 24 and 23, Nakayama-dera and Katsuo-ji</i><br />
<br />
When we last left our pilgrim, she was driving away the good people of Kyoto with her odoriferous funk.<br />
<br />
Let us briefly consider the temples visited on this glorious, if funkfied, day.<br />
<br />
It was August 21st when I rolled out, armed with knowledge grated to me by the good grace of the folks at Rocky House, who looked up the Takarazuka local bus schedule for me (where on the internet is this stuff. <i>Where</i>?). I hopped the highway bus to Takarazuka, then managed to get a bus headed right for the Nakayamadera temple area.<br />
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Nakayamadera, it turns out, is really nice and pretty fancy. Their main deal is prayers for pregnancy and babies, so the main stairways are equipped with escalators. There is also a kofun on site, and not off on some other side of the mountain - this ancient tomb is tucked right up under part of the main front area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PM2JoCKjmKE/UDjiJZrf5xI/AAAAAAABAfc/Q3r9f8tRhC8/s1600/P8210611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PM2JoCKjmKE/UDjiJZrf5xI/AAAAAAABAfc/Q3r9f8tRhC8/s640/P8210611.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh ancient tombs, I do love thee.</td></tr>
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I found the sunny garden while I was looking for my real quest, which was the path to the okunoin. There was supposed to be a sacred spring up there, coming from a rock that cracked open when a sacred bird landed on it after flying out from a tomb lower down the mountain... or something like that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UkmusQbUE5I/UDlfDuGcagI/AAAAAAAA_1I/P98w8kiES5I/s1600/P8210626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UkmusQbUE5I/UDlfDuGcagI/AAAAAAAA_1I/P98w8kiES5I/s400/P8210626.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things like this along the path.</td></tr>
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I was really thirsty by the time I got there. I was under a time limit and had booked it up the mountain in pretty good time. I was also totally disgusting, but I didn't meet too many other people on the path so it didn't seem like a problem. I was counting on refilling my water at the sacred spring, and was a little worried when I saw it all caged up and flanked with signs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EdKRBesyaHE/UDlfIkDW2uI/AAAAAAABAfw/AqqDGoZb_0M/s1600/P8210628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EdKRBesyaHE/UDlfIkDW2uI/AAAAAAABAfw/AqqDGoZb_0M/s400/P8210628.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okunoin!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But then this lady started filling up bottle after bottle and I figured the signs just said "don't stick your face on the spring" and "don't use our buckets and cups to drink the water." Actually drinking of the water was a-OK. Mountain water tastes good anytime, but especially when you're that thirsty.<br />
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Back down the mountain, a brief rest, and on to Katsuo-ji, the temple of winner's luck. The bus schedule for this place was so limited that their website just says "take a cab." As our bus wound its way up the mountain, I was extremely grateful again to be on it, instead of trekking up the mountainside.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4X25Kei054/UDlfeSilIkI/AAAAAAABAgQ/8x4meJZksXw/s1600/P8210639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4X25Kei054/UDlfeSilIkI/AAAAAAABAgQ/8x4meJZksXw/s400/P8210639.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We want the blue column furthest to the right. Three buses a day? YES.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--x58jgdmap4/UDlff5jE1PI/AAAAAAABAhE/VowyS4KpZlQ/s1600/P8210640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--x58jgdmap4/UDlff5jE1PI/AAAAAAABAhE/VowyS4KpZlQ/s400/P8210640.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you were walking the temples in order, this is the way you would have come in.</td></tr>
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Despite its more remote location compared to Nakayama-dera, Katsuo-ji seemed like a well-funded temple in its own right. Seems like winners want to keep winning, so they make sure to give a little back. The temple is famously connected to Daruma dolls, those little wooden guys who always return to standing position no matter how many times you knock them over and onto which you paint one eye when you set a goal and the other eye when you achieve it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPmOiwplvDU/UDlfv2FSYFI/AAAAAAABAgo/hRq5mQDxro8/s1600/P8210648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPmOiwplvDU/UDlfv2FSYFI/AAAAAAABAgo/hRq5mQDxro8/s400/P8210648.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winner darumae</td></tr>
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"Achievement" darumae are often dedicated at this temple. They also quite naturally sell the dolls in various sizes, to serve your various-sized goals.<br />
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The landscaping was immaculately kept, with the added oddity of there being little darumae in every nook in cranny, on every ledge, inside tree hollows, just everywhere! Many of them, I noticed, were just the ones that housed the omikuji, or fortune slips, you could buy, but their presence too made the place seem full of winning.<br />
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I did the 'wisdom stone walk' after seeing a father take his kid through it. It was a nice place on a nice day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w0SnuLGE6h8/UDlgXy0QD2I/AAAAAAABAg4/xfBXaaR_XNc/s1600/P8210669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w0SnuLGE6h8/UDlgXy0QD2I/AAAAAAABAg4/xfBXaaR_XNc/s400/P8210669.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Follow the instructions to gain wisdom. Step one, walk in toward the center, following the spiral. Step two, spiral out. Step three, sit on that rock bench off to one side (I kid you not). </td></tr>
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As you may have already heard, I ended the day in Kyoto, catching one of the last city buses to Miriam's apartment. By then, in addition to smelling like gym socks, my phone had died.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kyYtYSw6nak/UDlgfy-ggeI/AAAAAAAA_64/bg8tAs63ShU/s1600/P8210674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kyYtYSw6nak/UDlgfy-ggeI/AAAAAAAA_64/bg8tAs63ShU/s320/P8210674.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I actually took this photo so I could then check and see the time stamp on it to know what time it was.</td></tr>
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Still, the day was a win.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-58627200597171291102012-12-04T03:14:00.003+09:002012-12-04T03:16:11.413+09:00How to Maintain Personal Space(even on a crowded bus)<br />
<br />
Well.<br />
<br />
In Japan, personal space is often at a premium. People are pretty polite about it, but they do spend a lot of time in your bubble, so here is one way I discovered, somewhat inadvertently, for dealing with it.<br />
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It starts with your clothes. Since you live in Japan, you know about the rainy season. You also know about the way that drying your clothes is done by hanging them outside. While clothes dry quickly in hot dry August and take a freezing forever in the depth of January, the combination of heat and humidity you experience throughout June creates the perfect condition for the production of a 'lying shirt.'<br />
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A lying shirt is one which, when dry, looks and smells just fine. It also smells just fine when it is still wet but fresh out of the washing machine, laden as it is at that time with the smells of detergent and softener. But get it wet under any other conditions, and it will give off a muted but pervasive funk that will make you wrinkle your nose and look around, wondering if it could possibly be you.<br />
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It takes a while to figure out if what you have on your hands is a lying shirt, but once you have one (and by June's end, you should, and after two Junes you definitely should), it will hold true for you even when dried under the August sun. Since August is the hottest, it is also the time when it's nicest to have personal space.<br />
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Now, make sure you have all day clear, and get your stuff together for a weekend or overnight trip. Carry all this stuff preferably in a backpack, so you get nice and sweaty. You can leave the backpack in a train locker for this next step.<br />
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Find a mountain. I used the hike from Nakayama-dera to its Okunoin, which was described as being a one-hour walk. If you use a one-hour walk, give yourself exactly two hours to complete the round trip and you should be good. This will impel you to book it up the mountain and also back down again. Do this at midday for maximum levels of disgusting; if there aren't white traces of salt on your shirt as it dries, you aren't really trying. Make sure, of course, to stay hydrated -- keep buying those water bottles and Pocari Sweats (I prefer Aquarius, but whatever).<br />
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After you return from this endeavor, you should be pretty soaked. Allow yourself to dry off as you move on to your next destination - I used Katsuo-ji in northern Osaka. You get extra points if you work up another sweat, but at this point it isn't really necessary, because your lying shirt should be doing the work for you.<br />
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By the time the temples all close at five and you are on your way to stay at a friend's house, you will actually have people moving out of the seat next to you on the bus into seats some distance away. Congratulations!<br />
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"Miriam, for the first time since I became homeless, I actually smell like I am." - not the most PC thing I ever said. (She laughed at me because I had thrown my clothes outside onto the balcony and leaped into the shower almost as soon as she opened the door.)<br />
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As a side note, I was really tempted to see if a run in a good old American household dryer would cure my shirt of its lyin' ways, but in the end I just couldn't take it anymore and stuffed it in a trashcan in a bathroom somewhere in Miyagi prefecture. True story. Sometimes I still miss it. But not its lies.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-60672328998777260572012-11-26T13:05:00.003+09:002012-12-04T03:16:37.994+09:00start recalculatingHi there Eastern Edge-rs.<br />
<br />
Welp, I've gone and started a new blog. You knew I had to. I live nowhere near the eastern edge of anything anymore, and all that fraudulence was making me feel a bit uneasy.<br />
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I do intend to post stories about my last few adventures here, once the JLPT is over. Look forward to my how-to on maintaining personal space even in a crowded bus!<br />
<br />
But until then, check out the next best thing (or two):<br />
<br />
<a href="http://apostcardproblem.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">A Postcard Problem</a> is the tumblr I started when I began having blog withdrawals. I'll be posting... post cards, until I run out of them anyway. That will take me a while, as I had a tendency to buy more than I sent, and I tried to buy them everywhere. It's a habit!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://emlemrecalculating.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Recalculating</a> is the new blog. Not much there yet, but you know how these things go. See you all over the place!Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-12171628425448439362012-10-31T12:06:00.001+09:002012-10-31T12:06:15.557+09:00directionsI know I've been away! I've been busy. If you believe that. There's all kinds of sorting still happening, and of course, albeit in parts and phases, the Repatriation Roadtrip is also at hand.<br />
<br />
I'm also at a bit of a loss as to whether to continue with this blog beyond the Japan adventures I naturally need to get around to writing about. I mean, should I go on into the Reptatriation Roadtrip saga, and beyond that into the Next Adventure that is Life in This, The Wide Country? Or should I start another blog for that (my interest is partly archival, in preserving the look of this blog despite wanting to keep its image current, as it has been changing little by little to reflect my surroundings there in Japan)? I mean, I don't really live on the eastern edge anymore.. I kind of never did..! Though that's neither here nor there. And I no longer teach English in Japan... I fight the urge to correct the inaccuracies of this blog in my current situation, but as you can see, I already removed the time/date thingy because that isn't what the time/date<i> is</i> for me anymore..!<br />
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But in the meantime, studying for the JLPT is attempting to consume me and sapping most of my mental energy. There's a limit to how much Japanese you can cram into your head in a given day, and this week, I intend to find out what mine is.<br />
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Maybe after I'm caught up (lies. we are never caught up), I will be free again to... to..<br />
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Don't worry. I can't not write for long.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-28945026557832350392012-10-05T12:36:00.001+09:002012-10-05T12:36:09.271+09:00Kagoshima and IbusukiIt seems like every town in Japan worth a dot on the map has its own special thing. Ibusuki, down at the bottom of Kagoshima prefecture, has a couple.<br />
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Ibusuki is about an hour south of Kagoshima city, so when we went in August, we decided to make it a daytrip. I have a driver's license, so we decided to rent a car to go tooling around. I appreciate my fellow American's perspective, that roads and driving are not, in fact, scarier or in some way worse than doing battle with a small town bus schedule.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVsYmiezSuE/UDjddRgO5OI/AAAAAAAA_bc/0nq18mXKrzI/s1600/P8160500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVsYmiezSuE/UDjddRgO5OI/AAAAAAAA_bc/0nq18mXKrzI/s400/P8160500.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was pretty much the nicest car I had driven in years.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I had looked up the tides the night before, and it turned out we were there during a spring tide (those are full or new moon tides, stronger than other times) and that low tide was to be at 11:45 or so. This meant we could walk out along this sandbar to Chiringa-jima, an island described as one of the most fragrant islands in Japan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJ4a48lb8uE/UDjcc-nUvXI/AAAAAAABAb8/vwz866FatA8/s1600/P8160464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJ4a48lb8uE/UDjcc-nUvXI/AAAAAAABAb8/vwz866FatA8/s400/P8160464.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's the island! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xAkag0b_6e0/UDjceTG1_yI/AAAAAAABAcA/2SPPtVz3wQA/s1600/P8160465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xAkag0b_6e0/UDjceTG1_yI/AAAAAAABAcA/2SPPtVz3wQA/s400/P8160465.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All we have to do is walk across this little isthmus.</td></tr>
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It was a beautiful day to be at the beach, if you had like a swimsuit or that kind of stuff. Unfortunately, the sunny heat of a beach day makes for a pretty sad sand-hike if you only have 'real shoes' and clothes on. I seriously considered going for a dip clothes and all because I figured I was going to be approximately as soaked with my own sweat. The fact that the little fish looked like puffer fish and no one else was touching the water (not even the kids) is all that kept me out.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2fv8lv7j_TM/UDjcgcwFGcI/AAAAAAAA_XM/KOWjscjVNrs/s1600/P8160466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2fv8lv7j_TM/UDjcgcwFGcI/AAAAAAAA_XM/KOWjscjVNrs/s400/P8160466.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a beautiful scorching near-noon here on the hot sands.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We never made it to Chiringa-jima. It was too hot and we had plans to be bathed in sweat later. We moved on toward another of Ibusuki's wonders, the swirling somen restaurant.<br />
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Naturally, being around lunchtime, we were not the only people with this idea. There was a long line to get in to the restaurant which kept us waiting about 15 or 20 minutes despite the massive number of tables the restaurant seemed to contain.<br />
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The place is called Tosenkyo, and it's built in a valley blessed with a cold spring. Using the flow of cool water, every table has a water flow where the noodles swirl around so you can snag them and eat them. It also keeps the air down there relatively cool under the shade of the trees.<br />
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There are also lots of fish in the water. These fish are on the menu; always fresh!<br />
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After lunch, we headed toward Mt. Kaimon and Ikeda Lake. Ikeda is a caldera lake, and is home to giant eels. Mt. Kaimon is a volcanic peak.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvh7emhVmds/UDjdxjJBo7I/AAAAAAABAdA/zRWCYAeqdtM/s1600/P8160511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvh7emhVmds/UDjdxjJBo7I/AAAAAAABAdA/zRWCYAeqdtM/s400/P8160511.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The giant eels on display were just sad. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dwj8z5ZPapk/UDjdy_ALLeI/AAAAAAAA_c8/6RfVecaz_K8/s1600/P8160512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dwj8z5ZPapk/UDjdy_ALLeI/AAAAAAAA_c8/6RfVecaz_K8/s400/P8160512.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake and Kaimon!</td></tr>
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From there we drove down to Nagasakibana, where there is a shrine and a lighthouse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UI7NUMtPorc/UDjd8LCYpCI/AAAAAAAA_dk/wQIWzXjBq2E/s1600/P8160517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UI7NUMtPorc/UDjd8LCYpCI/AAAAAAAA_dk/wQIWzXjBq2E/s400/P8160517.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ryugu shrine is connected to the legend of Urashima Taro. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pYy8UBjBVZk/UDjeGnNipvI/AAAAAAABAdM/ofi9if_49ts/s1600/P8160523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pYy8UBjBVZk/UDjeGnNipvI/AAAAAAABAdM/ofi9if_49ts/s640/P8160523.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Urashima Taro is the turtle dude who opened the gift box containing "the span of a life." If that doesn't sound familiar, check it out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urashima_Tar%C5%8D" target="_blank">here</a>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7cixNrchdE/UDjd_ueGXrI/AAAAAAABAdI/_QVJXdiqRpo/s1600/P8160519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7cixNrchdE/UDjd_ueGXrI/AAAAAAABAdI/_QVJXdiqRpo/s400/P8160519.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaaand there's the lighthouse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The lighthouse area was really beautiful, and is the southernmost point of... this part.. of this prefecture. Or something.<br />
<br />
This is the <a href="http://www.city.ibusuki.lg.jp/lang/english/tour_guide_book.pdf" target="_blank">pamphlet </a>we were using to figure out where to go; there's no way we could have gone to as many things without driving. But the main draw of Ibusuki is its hot sand baths, which are famous as a beauty treatment and for cleaning the blood. It's also supposed to help with circulation and various other maladies, basically whatever is helped by being buried in hot sand (and the subsequent sweating you tend to do). Also it's just really fun -- who doesn't like being buried in sand?<br />
<br />
The sand is hot because it's heated from below by the volcanic powers of the island which in this particular area tend to come up just under the beach.<br />
<br />
I don't have any photos from our actual burial because you strip down as for any public bath/hot springs experience and emerge clad only in the provided cotton cloth yukata. Then you lie down in a shallow pit with your minitowel wrapped around your head so the staff can throw sand over you with their shovels. They were very no-nonsense about it; I felt like a giddy little kid.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_5qXMndhmYBWgg5VaI1muB4Q3V3xssHJ__KRXVSGDNy4koQF3YLnHCAHfkMbh6SiD1MhAE1N4kRZ_udhK2sZAjwcsjQmnVj1zX_WT1k2REebrlHlfJfMKqXKKNu2gb4xR456qg_olclZ/s1600/d8jk7l000002rrst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_5qXMndhmYBWgg5VaI1muB4Q3V3xssHJ__KRXVSGDNy4koQF3YLnHCAHfkMbh6SiD1MhAE1N4kRZ_udhK2sZAjwcsjQmnVj1zX_WT1k2REebrlHlfJfMKqXKKNu2gb4xR456qg_olclZ/s400/d8jk7l000002rrst.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were up underneath that wooden thing in the background. (<a href="http://www.japan-i.jp/explorejapan/kyushu/kagoshima/ibusuki/d8jk7l000002rrsa.html" target="_blank">photo cred</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As soon as you are buried, you can feel your heartbeat in you whole body. You're just throbbing from head to foot under the weight of hot sand. It's awesome. The other thing I tried was digging down just a little bit with my hands. Like a centimeter. The sand felt way hotter underneath.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzYuseYDoG8aBcxCCODOs4mQchBNwNk-6GH46uOYO9lnwjkmIDZSj8R5yRgauFLsco-ryc60xlWH_teFDjNnqYrME5jaD5P0zLeTnt4RmBw4hV5PL97E5mn34VXJb4xnm0eGYSsOtuqFE/s1600/sand-bath-sunamushi-onsen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzYuseYDoG8aBcxCCODOs4mQchBNwNk-6GH46uOYO9lnwjkmIDZSj8R5yRgauFLsco-ryc60xlWH_teFDjNnqYrME5jaD5P0zLeTnt4RmBw4hV5PL97E5mn34VXJb4xnm0eGYSsOtuqFE/s400/sand-bath-sunamushi-onsen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afterward you feel totally refreshed and look totally beautiful. (<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Hotel_Review-g298210-d321232-Reviews-Ibusuki_Hakusuikan-Ibusuki_Kagoshima_Prefecture_Kyushu_Okinawa.html" target="_blank">photo</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just kidding. After ten minutes, maybe fifteen if you want extra baking, your yukata is sticking to you with sweat and you emerge, dust off, and go back up to the building for a regular water-type onsen bathing experience.<br />
<br />
The hot sand is pretty much the main reason we went to Ibusuki, so once we were done there, we pretty much returned the car and took the train home to Mandi's house.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3w3TC3BykDc/UDjcMfHndSI/AAAAAAABAdg/0XloeLSaIVY/s1600/P8150460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3w3TC3BykDc/UDjcMfHndSI/AAAAAAABAdg/0XloeLSaIVY/s400/P8150460.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the view from her apartment of Sakurajima. And there it goes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next day, we were joined by Laureno just before I had to leave, so we used that time to visit a cat cafe (for my first time) and eat pastries for dinner (which was one of the worst decisions of that month).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uUNGLk1i7-U/UDjhPSvqIuI/AAAAAAAA_sM/X2PAV69sD_g/s1600/P8170546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uUNGLk1i7-U/UDjhPSvqIuI/AAAAAAAA_sM/X2PAV69sD_g/s400/P8170546.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I still maintain I would prefer a dog cafe. It would be way more relaxing (for me)!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uZY1pzgztNI/UDjh-ycum9I/AAAAAAAA_xc/3tzHTCBFO-Q/s1600/P8170587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uZY1pzgztNI/UDjh-ycum9I/AAAAAAAA_xc/3tzHTCBFO-Q/s400/P8170587.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUZyPiNWcVQ/UDjh4yBsVII/AAAAAAABAd4/Fstf2unCOQM/s1600/P8170582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUZyPiNWcVQ/UDjh4yBsVII/AAAAAAABAd4/Fstf2unCOQM/s400/P8170582.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How I felt on the train and for the next couple days. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-48245311706861189852012-09-30T09:50:00.000+09:002012-09-30T09:51:28.212+09:00RepatriationIt's been almost two weeks since I got back to the U.S., and although I have more Japan stories to tell, I really wanted to tell about Miyagi next, because I went directly (<i>directly</i>) from meditation retreat (on the eleventh day, you still get up at 4, but after the morning stuff and some cleaning, you may go along) to the northeast region to reach the Habitat for Humanity base by 6 pm. The distance between Kyoto and Sendai is pretty big, and had me driving (30 min or so) to a train station, where it was another 45 minute local train ride into Kyoto city, and from there a 2.5 hour shinkansen ride to Tokyo where I switched Shink lines (and bought a handy-dandy tourist pass called "East Pass") and then took another two or so hours to Sendai.<br />
<br />
But because of a stupid move on my part, I don't have the photos yet for Miyagi in my camera. I do have the photos I managed to take with my phone (and upload before surrendering that phone's use) on the first day, which are pretty intense on their own, so I'm going to probably do what I can with those while I (or, my friends) work on getting my camera back to me here in the U.S.<br />
<br />
So that should be the next entry, maybe.<br />
<br />
Suffice to say that I was traveling a lot, and made it back to Shiso just in time to pack up, hit sports day (and its attached drinking party), and have a pretty good last weekend in town, capping off six weeks of living at friends' houses and traveling all the time.<br />
<br />
I suppose if I want an explanation for my almost total lack of drive to do much other than unpack, study, read, sleep, sort things, watch TV, and attend Welcome Home soirees thrown in classic style by my parents, I need look no further than the calendar. Hitting the road for six weeks will take it out of you. Seriously. I just wanna hang out. I don't even really want to be entertained, and so if compared to my usual "two weeks to see everyone in Georgia" summer trips, my repatriation looks really dull and hermitlike.<br />
<br />
But I assure you, so far, it's pretty awesome. I have a lot to do, and even though I feel like I now have nothing but time, I also still don't see enough hours in the day to do all the things.<br />
<br />
I don't have any answers yet, my old room is a complex assortment of stuff I brought or shipped back, stuff I left for myself, and stuff that just sort of got left behind. I've got gifts that people gave me, and gifts I got for others, along with a bunch of other stuff that ended up in here after they moved it from the other rooms that underwent new occupations or major flooring changes in the last year. It's a process, and I'm taking my sweet time.<br />
<br />
The Repatriation Roadtrip is about to be underway, in parts. I'm going to the Northwest first, via Denver, catching a ride with the (in)famous Kyle up in a zig-zag pattern through Utah and Yellowstone to Pullman, WA, where I will borrow his car and proceed west and north to meet more folks. I'm looking forward to my travels but it's hard to believe they're already upon me.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhgTRmrfMNADzeUZk1ysTSFcOdX3NMc_q417GbZH_WUuY9GD4jA7dXra1mpX6WK_z53EDgEhWJkOcGiEIWZRFjaW8XFXx5BwvUW8DoCRmAWRqapChWZJ4LHdtjTzbrjZB7tePS-618gQq/s1600/8thgradedance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhgTRmrfMNADzeUZk1ysTSFcOdX3NMc_q417GbZH_WUuY9GD4jA7dXra1mpX6WK_z53EDgEhWJkOcGiEIWZRFjaW8XFXx5BwvUW8DoCRmAWRqapChWZJ4LHdtjTzbrjZB7tePS-618gQq/s320/8thgradedance.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyle, circa 1999.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigY0jrmzEw3Vpc0b8Ep5btK6IfSNwkT0BUr5HcRYoWi1HzKXs1M34jjlvXtlhn0hv05XCBQPfmDrVcX1N6-3izysiz_VlHCMbroJzMlDJGLQ1BnCJRLmvs2Vp8prsV-Dw9R7lpmSjP8sTI/s1600/circa2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigY0jrmzEw3Vpc0b8Ep5btK6IfSNwkT0BUr5HcRYoWi1HzKXs1M34jjlvXtlhn0hv05XCBQPfmDrVcX1N6-3izysiz_VlHCMbroJzMlDJGLQ1BnCJRLmvs2Vp8prsV-Dw9R7lpmSjP8sTI/s320/circa2009.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaaand circa 2009.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'll be back October 22nd for a break, then hopefully it's off to do the Eastern Loop, Roadtrip Phase II which I <i>am </i>putting together.. But not very quickly. Cause you know, other stuff too. Like walking dogs and clothes shopping for the first time in over a year (yes really; I received so much last summer from departing JET Caito that I saw no reason to spend the money or dedicate the packing/shipping space to clothing I clearly didn't need), and excavating the closet, and stuff.<br />
<br />
Oh, and my parents found me a car. (If I had a camera, I'd show you) ... I think I'm going to keep it. I think it might be named the Brave Little Toaster, if I do.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had to convince my mother that this is a thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt9uRyxk55z2rj7oD0x8g7bBBLzzPxzo29XdL9oLhmhjMRA5A8lJ6Q4RPibztuZyecrDrTbsmR4ftvHi4GxSPDkuqyU5J0Adck_Ek9CKU5F0Aks6lK2b7x1YvLwxzGHNfr-MWxjYmoCxA/s1600/toaster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt9uRyxk55z2rj7oD0x8g7bBBLzzPxzo29XdL9oLhmhjMRA5A8lJ6Q4RPibztuZyecrDrTbsmR4ftvHi4GxSPDkuqyU5J0Adck_Ek9CKU5F0Aks6lK2b7x1YvLwxzGHNfr-MWxjYmoCxA/s320/toaster2.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently this is also a thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Culture shock hasn't been too hard, because it's been well expected. I kind of like freaking out at the grocery store and the feeling of wearing tank tops in public (scandalous!). Other aspects of things are weird, but they aren't quite getting the best of me. The best of me is like.. sleeping, or playing SimCity, or meditating, or vacuuming the floor.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-41361180538873293142012-09-14T18:21:00.000+09:002012-09-14T18:21:24.821+09:00no itch is eternal<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I disappeared for ten days to attend a meditation retreat in the upper reaches of Kyoto prefecture. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>So how was it? What was it like? What did you do?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Even as I was perpetually writing this blog post in my
head for ten days, I’m not sure how to begin to answer those questions. Was it
mind-boggling? Was it hard? Did you find enlightenment or answers or inner
peace?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Well, yeah. Kind of!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Basic ground rules were things like total segregation of
the sexes – so I lived, ate, and meditated only with the women in the women’s
half of the center, walked in the women’s garden, and saw the men only in their
side of the meditation hall and from across the driveway that separated our
garden from theirs. Noble silence – that is, not talking, nor communicating
with gestures – with the other mediators (you can talk to the staff if you need anything or to the teachers if you have a question, naturally). No lying, stealing, or killing (this
includes eating meat, incidentally, so all the food provided was vegetarian). </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For me, this was no big deal, and was actually kind of a
plus. I rather like simple, healthy food – rich and/or highly processed stuff
sort of overwhelms me anyway. The eating situation is kind of like being a kid
again; there is what there is, and if you don’t like it, that’s just too bad. I
think in itself this is a humbling technique. Also, we had fruit for dinner
(not dinner.. teatime.. but it was at 5pm and was the last ‘meal’ of the day)
which was sort of delightful. I’ve heard that it’s healthier for you not to eat
after 6pm; I think I might’ve lost a little bit of weight!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Our days started at an hour I still consider pretty
nuts.. but there and then it seems just like part of the lifestyle of the
center, however temporary, you kind of get used to it. </div>
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Every morning, we’d be woken by the bell at 4am, chiming
and chiming again to rouse us from sleep. From 4:30 to 6:30, we were to
meditate either in the meditation hall upstairs or in our own rooms. 6:30 was
breakfast, and a break until 8, when we would have an hour long group sitting
session, meaning everyone would meditate together for an hour. At 9, we would
get our morning instructions, and then meditate until 11 which was lunchtime. </div>
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At 1, we would begin to meditate on our own again, and
then at 2:30 we’d start the afternoon group sitting. At 3:30, we would receive afternoon
instructions and meditate until 5, which was tea time. During tea time, new
students (me!) could have fruit, while old students (who had undertaken not to
eat after noon) could have only tea or coffee or water. </div>
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At 6, we’d gather for the third and final group sitting
of the day, followed at 7 by the discourse, for English speakers a video (for
non-English, audio only) in which the teacher (S.N. Goenka, in India) would
explain particulars, answer questions I was considering asking at question
time, and in general provide a context for what we were practicing. After this,
we’d return to the hall, meditate for a little while (the Japanese discourse
usually took a bit longer than the English one, so I would have a break to
brush teeth and otherwise prepare for bed) until 9, and then that was question
time, or else bedtime if you had no questions. Lights out was 9:30, which seems
early but ISN’T if you get up at FOUR.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If you’ve been counting, that’s about ten hours of
meditation each day. You’re doing it constantly, like it’s your job, and for these
ten days it basically is. During breaks, I was mostly walking in the garden,
stretching, or napping. I started showering at 4 in an effort to be more awake
for the 4:30 - 6:30 time slot.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And while it seems like being unplugged and not speaking
would be difficult, I actually did not have so much trouble with that,
personally. Occasionally I would wish to tell someone something, and more often
I would think of some question I wanted to ask someone regarding my future
travels or plans. In my usual life, when thoughts like that come up, I either
make a note or address it immediately (send an email, etc.), but during the
course I had no pen, I had no notepad, I had no email. So things had to wait.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
How I felt about the meditation changed from day to day.
Some days I felt great, I was feeling it, everything was going just as I wanted
it to – I was alert, engaged, attentive, focused. Other days I sucked at
meditation. I couldn’t stay awake, I couldn’t stop daydreaming or narrating or
spinning my wheels, I couldn’t feel anything on my body. Sometimes I couldn’t
have removed the serene smile from my face with a prybar, other times tears
would be streaming down my face for no pinpoint-able reason.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And when I went to the assistant teacher at afternoon
question time about day seven to say “Why can’t I get it to work today if I
could do it yesterday?” The answer was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">isn’t about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">getting it to work</b>, this is about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">facing reality</b></i>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This isn’t about getting it to work. Contrary to my
previous ideas on what meditation must be, what it must be for (sharper vision,
clarity, quieting the mental noise, becoming more centered), this course is
different. All those things are ancillary benefits and almost prerequisites to
the real core of what Vipassana is supposed to be about, and what it’s really
supposed to do for you.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Although it’s not religious or sectarian, the philosophy
behind the technique is deeply grounded in Buddhist thinking. As we learned in
high school lit and history classes, the basic tenets of Buddhism hold that
life is suffering because of human desire – specifically in craving and
aversion – which stands between humans and their freedom.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But how not to feel and act with craving for the
wonderful things in life? How not to feel and act with aversion for life’s
pains? “You have to go to the root level of these things,” they said. I pictured
each person carrying varying sizes of mountains of personal baggage, I imagined
the kind of time it would take to peel all those layers back (some much longer
than others) to get to the ‘root level’ underneath it all. How could any person
uncover or even hope to glimpse this so-called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">root</i> simply and within the span of ten days?</div>
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<br /></div>
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The simplicity of the answer to that still makes me laugh
a little – I am seeing this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">root</i> as
buried beneath the issues of a person (therefore inaccessible without removal
of said issues), but it becomes clearer to me that it can be accessed fairly
simply because it is the first level of understanding, the most basic level of
reaction in a person’s experience – the sensations of the body.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what the technique teaches is, to become aware of
sensations on the body, both pleasant and unpleasant, and to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> react to them. To feel an itch, to
observe it, to not seek its immediate undoing but rather “Let me see how long
it lasts.. well, because no itch is eternal.” </div>
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<br /></div>
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And by so doing, to understand at the level of physical
experience that which everyone already knows intellectually, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing lasts forever</i>. That every
feeling which arises also passes away, that every thing which lives also dies,
that every object crafted or built must eventually, eventually decay and fall
away. And if nothing is permanent, then why get so upset, why get so attached?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It makes sense; we all know that this is naturally so.
Build something out of stone and it will last longer, but even that is not
forever. Everything good needs replacing. Change is all there is. We know it,
we know it. So why do we still get all bent out of shape?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The message behind the meditation is there is this huge
gap between knowing something intellectually and understanding it in a way that
really sinks in and applies to your life. This gap is the difference between
hearing about something, reading about it, knowing about it, thinking about it ..
and experiencing it for yourself.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The endgame being something like, being able to enjoy
good things without reacting to them with clinging and craving, and to endure
the unpleasant things without panic and aversion, to maintain equanimity at all
times with the understanding that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this
too shall pass</i>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I can say that personally in my own life, I recognize a
heck of a lot of examples of particularly clinging-reaction behavior. I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i> been loath to let a good thing go
(and my life has been above-averagely full of good things, so while it’s ironic
to think that these <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good things</i> could
cause me suffering, well there you are). But as I look ahead to the changes
that are coming (goodness, is it four days left in Japan now?), the unknowns
that characterize the road ahead, I feel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>
okay about it. People ask how I am doing and I say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good</i>, and I really mean that. Maybe this was supremely well-timed. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During the course, various people would pop into mind,
people I thought should look into it, people I thought should try it. I wanted
to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this is for everyone</i>, and it
is! But it’s also not for everyone. I don’t know. It’s hard. It’s a little out
there compared to the normal everyday life of myself and most of the people I
am close to. I loved it, but I also hated it; I wanted to run away, I wanted it
to be over. I hesitate to recommend something that was painful to do.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And when I say painful, I kind of mean physically. Sam
has been trying to work with me on the muscles of my core, how to properly
distribute the work of holding the body up. My back pretty much hated me most
of the time I was there; I fell asleep lying on a golf ball (self-massage,
trigger point style) more than once during lunch breaks. During the sittings of
‘strong determination’ (about the second half of the course, the one-hour group
sittings become attempts to sit for the entire hour without changing your
position) I understood the poetic description ‘singing with pain.’ Hips, knees,
feet, legs all in rebellion, back and shoulders going on strike. Parts of you
falling asleep, or worse yet, coming awake. I want to tell people, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it’s so great</i>, but I also don’t want
them to think that’s all it is. It <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i>
great, but at times it also sucks. It’s like medicine, it’s like exercise: you
don’t always do it because it’s enjoyable in the moment. You do it because it
does something for you.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Basically, to really understand it, you have to do it yourself!
That was another message that was emphasized there… no one can give you this
understanding, you have to find out for yourself. And you shouldn’t just take
someone’s word for it, you should pass your own judgment based on your own
experience!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Look at <a href="http://www.dhamma.org/" target="_blank">this website</a>, see where the centers are, read all
the things, and decide for yourself!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">If my sojourns to temples is something like Buddhism
light, this stuff is Buddhism pure – kind of at that depth of level where
religion isn’t really religion because you’ve stripped it of all the rituals
and rules and what’s left is just help for self, help for others, and love.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-37853419492207517342012-08-28T00:35:00.000+09:002012-09-13T16:08:50.890+09:00I've been blogging my best in the down time I've had to try and get the temples (are you tired of them yet?) and other adventures covered before I "run out of time" and then somehow never get around to writing them, which knowing me is a likely scenario.<br />
<br />
Those in the know may be aware that I'm back to the US in mid-September, which if you're counting, is still like three weeks away, so I should therefore have plenty of time to 1, finish all 33 temples, 2, blog about them, and 3, see and spend time with all the friends I've yet to properly do farewell activities with.<br />
<br />
And that would be true, but for the way this is all booked up. In a good way, and in important ways, of course.<br />
<br />
I think I've been trying to blog the temples now because I think my perspective on them will be different on the 'other side' of the next excursion, is all. I mean, I did keep a little notebook of impressions from each temple visit, and the website where I got all my info will still be accessible (seriously, are you not tired of them yet?).. the only thing that could possibly change is my point of view.<br />
<br />
There's just too many temples and other adventures to write about before tomorrow evening, though, so I doubt I'll make it, and we'll have to be content with whatever I manage either tomorrow morning amongst the other duties, or whatever I can come up with once I've finished my next adventure.<br />
<br />
I guess also it's possible that the next adventure will take up a pretty significant chunk of attention.<br />
<br />
Starting tomorrow evening, I'll be joining a <a href="http://www.dhamma.org/" target="_blank">Vipassana</a> course for the first time. I almost don't know what to expect, except I've read <a href="http://www.ajet.net/psg/index.php?title=Meditation_Course_-_Vipassana" target="_blank">JET accounts</a>, and heard from and about those who have done it..<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sQz1lx6z3ew/TxPp3E9o4TI/AAAAAAAArDg/6br3ByDO3l0/s1600/PC290223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sQz1lx6z3ew/TxPp3E9o4TI/AAAAAAAArDg/6br3ByDO3l0/s400/PC290223.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I first heard about the course from <a href="http://www.angkorwalkers.com/" target="_blank">Yut</a> while we were in Cambodia, having out wonderful sunset talk (which I refer to mentally as the 'sermon on the mount' .. yeah I know I'm out of hand) which led to our incredible nighttime bike ride (and my plowing straight into a mountain of gravel, woo!), and it was immediately a thing that sounded like it lay in the direction of my alley.<br />
<br />
Since then, I looked it up online and realized that in order to have ten straight days of free time, I would have to wait til after my contract, or else once I was back in the US. I preferred to do it in Japan, though, because it just felt like a more.. Buddhist place, I guess, than say, south Georgia. I wanted to try this for the first time in the setting of the place I was preparing to leave. Later, it will maybe be fitting to do it in the place I am going back to.<br />
<br />
So what I'm trying to say is, I'm going to go tomorrow to a meditation center in Kyoto (when I say Kyoto, it sounds like a fancy Japanese temple in the old capital.. but what I mean is Kyoto prefecture, an area just over the border with north Hyogo, and probably in a mountainous countryside inaka hideaway just as remote as any inaka I've been to), where I'll hand in my cell phone and books and notebooks (what?! No note-taking?! How <i>will </i>I manage?) and try sitting still and listening inward and not speaking to anyone for <i>ten full days</i>.<br />
<br />
When it's over, I'll tell you all about it, or as much as I can, because I get the feeling that it's something you can't explain so well as do (not that I think the doing is <i>easy</i>, mind you).<br />
<br />
Once that's over I will head directly to Tohoku to commence a short volunteer project with Habitat for Humanity. This might be a terrible idea just after mediation, or might be really perfect; I've yet to figure it out and probably won't know til I'm there. After spending a few days in Miyagi and then Akita (Akita not disaster zone, just a friend visit), I'll head back to Shiso just in time for my final weekend.<br />
<br />
So in many real ways, heading into meditation is the beginning of the end for me.<br />
<br />
I still have a list of things I want to blog (performing arts in Kyoto, Daigo-ji and Sanjusangen-do [temples], the wervs visit to Kagoshima and Ibusuki, Nakayama-dera and Katsuo-ji, Soji-ji and Fujii-dera [temples], Wakayama and couchsurfing, Kokawa-dera and Kimiidera [temples again... no but really I bet you're sick of it]) but they will have to wait.<br />
<br />
Because for all that I run around and want to do everything, for all that there's never a dull moment, I think it will be really good to slow down, really important to be quiet.<br />
<br />
So when you can't get ahold of me for the next two weeks, now you know why.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-85150939731350859472012-08-27T09:57:00.000+09:002012-08-27T09:58:15.728+09:00Crossroads, Centerpoints, and Sixes: Temples 17 and 18<div class="MsoNormal">
Friday morning, I essayed out to return to north Kyoto, drop
off my stuff with and gather Miriam, and we headed for temple number 17,
<a href="http://sacredjapan.com/Temple%2017/Temple%2017.htm" target="_blank">Rokuharamitsuji</a>. ‘Roku’ means six, so that might serve you for the rest of this
post.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZ75SaC-mRI/UCkhLyLLLJI/AAAAAAAA-hY/R8Z5E_wM6Ps/s1600/P8100314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZ75SaC-mRI/UCkhLyLLLJI/AAAAAAAA-hY/R8Z5E_wM6Ps/s400/P8100314.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Roku-hara-mitsu-ji is named because it is built at an old
crossroads where people too poor to afford proper burial were dumped. But the
six of the name refers also to the idea that it’s a crossroads of six realms
through which souls wander, that of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, titans,
humans, and gods. It’s in the middle of a slightly more run-down sector of the
city (compared to the bustling tourist centers easily spotted all over). The
temple itself is bright, and on our visit was filled with lanterns (not lit,
since it was late morning) and fairly bustling for a weekday morning.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_h6BjSZGhaM/UCkhItYJG7I/AAAAAAAA-hI/12_gYEhu8aw/s1600/P8100312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_h6BjSZGhaM/UCkhItYJG7I/AAAAAAAA-hI/12_gYEhu8aw/s400/P8100312.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Some of the most interesting things were in the museum,
including the statue of Kuya, who is portrayed with a line of six tiny Buddhas
marching out of his mouth to symbolize the chanting he was famous for.<br />
<br />
Another part I really liked was what I thought of as the
‘water section,’ off to the right of the main hall. Photos were not allowed,
but in this area there were statues (I specifically remember a Jizo with babies
and a Benten, and also a guardian kind of deity) over which people would fling
or pour water from ladles at the base of each as an offering, and maybe
purification for the self, and also (I think at least in the case of the water
babies) a sort of sending-along to speed them on their path to incarnation.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qyqbss_3Xk/UCkhG0aMglI/AAAAAAAA-hA/crKUeDl15Jw/s1600/P8100311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qyqbss_3Xk/UCkhG0aMglI/AAAAAAAA-hA/crKUeDl15Jw/s400/P8100311.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After I’d had my turn at watering them, we moved on; Miriam
again had to go meet a student, so I went on to <a href="http://sacredjapan.com/Temple%2018/Temple%2018.htm" target="_blank">Rokkaku-do</a> alone. As you may
have surmised, there’s a six in this one too. Rokkaku-do means
“six-sided-hall.” Six-sided styles of temples are apparently a very old type
for Japanese Buddhism.<br />
<br />
Rokkaku-do is in the center of Kyoto, surrounded by classy
looking glass buildings (indeed, I will confess I had a drink at the adjacent
Starbucks after visiting the temple), one of which is the Ikenobo building, as
Rokkaku-do is the place where ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) was
developed. The temple complex (like Rokuharamitsuji) was pretty compact
compared especially to the mountainside temples which cover a lot of ground,
but it was a very peaceful place. They also had the best incense lighting
system I’ve seen (though it confused the heck out of me at first).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gREsBBVVCpA/UCkhQwqrhWI/AAAAAAAA-hw/jcX2iLBtZfw/s1600/P8100317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gREsBBVVCpA/UCkhQwqrhWI/AAAAAAAA-hw/jcX2iLBtZfw/s400/P8100317.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incense holder</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ftb1ZJzxMds/UCkhX1nuP-I/AAAAAAAA-iQ/zJ4iMvfivIM/s1600/P8100321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ftb1ZJzxMds/UCkhX1nuP-I/AAAAAAAA-iQ/zJ4iMvfivIM/s640/P8100321.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ikebana HQ</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kXRgZ5G_bms/UCkhSN8rvCI/AAAAAAAA-h4/53DgjNSq0Dg/s1600/P8100318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kXRgZ5G_bms/UCkhSN8rvCI/AAAAAAAA-h4/53DgjNSq0Dg/s640/P8100318.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Door to Starbucks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of my favorite things here was the presence of water.
There were little flowing pools all around, one of which was inhabited by white
swans, another surrounded by sixteen <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">Arhats</span>, which represent the idea that no matter which of the
sixteen compass point directions you go in, there will always be one of them to
bring you back (to the center? ..to enlightenment!).</div>
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</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qNeRaww8woM/UCkhxjPiNMI/AAAAAAAA-kQ/YT6NaeFK_Oo/s1600/P8100337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qNeRaww8woM/UCkhxjPiNMI/AAAAAAAA-kQ/YT6NaeFK_Oo/s400/P8100337.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arhats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G4oJ6ZuKkbM/UCkhvM7yVAI/AAAAAAAA-kI/Zj-6qfqCD30/s1600/P8100336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G4oJ6ZuKkbM/UCkhvM7yVAI/AAAAAAAA-kI/Zj-6qfqCD30/s400/P8100336.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LkjuN-hPdw0/UCkh5MypcAI/AAAAAAAA-kw/AlrcCxHYb_g/s1600/P8100341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LkjuN-hPdw0/UCkh5MypcAI/AAAAAAAA-kw/AlrcCxHYb_g/s400/P8100341.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One-word Jizo, meaning if you make a prayer in one word, he will be able to help you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ItyXTczxbY/UCkiC-YjyVI/AAAAAAAA-lk/j0ioa3sdSXc/s1600/P8100346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ItyXTczxbY/UCkiC-YjyVI/AAAAAAAA-lk/j0ioa3sdSXc/s400/P8100346.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Rokkaku-do is about the center because it has the Kyoto
center ‘bellybutton’ stone, showing just how in the middle of Kyoto it is. To
me it was about taking a second to get centered, even in the middle of a
bustling city. On this day, Rokkaku-do was less crowded than Rokuharamitsuji,
though I now think that might have been because of a festival going on in the
Rokuharamitsuji area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9kFePhkHFw/UCkh85utK7I/AAAAAAAA-lE/n_b5iU8TFio/s1600/P8100343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9kFePhkHFw/UCkh85utK7I/AAAAAAAA-lE/n_b5iU8TFio/s400/P8100343.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bellybutton stone!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After my chai tea in a plush chair looking out into the
temple yard, I headed back to Miriam’s, my two temples of the day confirmed.<o:p></o:p></div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-56756212968909488562012-08-26T09:09:00.002+09:002012-08-26T09:12:20.098+09:00Hasedera (number eight) and the bonus temple<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Having passed out early, I had no trouble getting up
extra early the next morning. I dressed and slipped out about 6 to make my way
up the steps. I went around the side entrance because I thought the blocked
main gate still applied to me, and heard chanting coming from one of the
buildings off to the left. I found my way to the main hall where I looked
stupid until someone was kind enough to take me in hand and tell me where to go
to get my ticket.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMvz43YBkwA/UCkfjTWzJFI/AAAAAAAA-Z4/vxKG5uHCy1w/s1600/P8090261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMvz43YBkwA/UCkfjTWzJFI/AAAAAAAA-Z4/vxKG5uHCy1w/s640/P8090261.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The street to Hasedera at six am.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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It was a Thursday at 6:30, so I was the only guest at
this morning event. Every monk that passed me bowed and said good morning in a
way the reminded me of being at school, and how the kids are always told to
give a really energetic greeting (in fact, one of the monks struck me as really
young.. like maybe middle school age, and I thought, what the hell, why isn’t
that kid in school?! until I remembered it is summer vacation right now ^_^). I
couldn’t tell if the guy sitting just next to me explaining stuff was high
ranking or just exempt from some of the niceties in order to take care of me,
but he was never the first to say good morning. He handed me a book in which
was written the text of the prayers and chanting, including in some parts these
little notations for how the syllable was held and whether the note went upward
or downward or squiggled. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-78Rq9Iv2CEM/UCkf8oSWbYI/AAAAAAAA-b4/4iTkMzJObPo/s1600/P8090277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-78Rq9Iv2CEM/UCkf8oSWbYI/AAAAAAAA-b4/4iTkMzJObPo/s400/P8090277.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the area where we were assembled. I was sitting in front of that thingy at far right, with my back to it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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He showed me where the leader would speak and where the
assembled monks on the area where I was sitting (and theoretically I too) would
respond or be chanting. He explained how the second part would be chanting
along to a drum beat from within the temple. Then we had a little extra time so
he told me about the temple building itself, how old the statue was (third
temple in a row where the main image was just right there in front of you), and
some other features of the place. I nodded a lot, said ‘hai,’ a lot, and was
glad I already knew gassho-rei from kempo practice (that’s the kind of bow that
isn’t so much a bow as a hand position).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
My Japanese isn’t good enough to chant along, especially
once that fast paced drum got going, but I did like listening to all the monks
chanting together around me, and I followed along in the cool book he had given
me (which was folded kind of accordion-style, so turning the pages was also an
act of stretching and I could look at as few as two, as many as maybe six pages
at a time! Useful when I lost my place). After this, we did a sort of morning
salutation prayer (I think?) standing and facing the mountains in a few
different directions visible from the main platform.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3SAYljuPRc/UCkg2jM_JYI/AAAAAAAA-fc/41yLwW22aGs/s1600/P8090304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3SAYljuPRc/UCkg2jM_JYI/AAAAAAAA-fc/41yLwW22aGs/s400/P8090304.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a photo of a sun-worn poster, but it shows what that part looked like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vCC0zQk3Z08/UCkfuzqsgII/AAAAAAAA-aw/Ea0bgkzot9g/s1600/P8090268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vCC0zQk3Z08/UCkfuzqsgII/AAAAAAAA-aw/Ea0bgkzot9g/s400/P8090268.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stairs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Afterward, I walked down the main path with its 399
stairs, falling into step beside an older guy who talked with me pleasantly a
little bit about where I lived and what I did before bidding me good morning
and disappearing off a side path. I took the rest of the steps and returned to
the ryokan for breakfast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jhej-aRe4Eo/UCkfsMLSB3I/AAAAAAAA-ag/M0ePwx769r8/s1600/P8090266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jhej-aRe4Eo/UCkfsMLSB3I/AAAAAAAA-ag/M0ePwx769r8/s400/P8090266.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I always take the photos sans soup.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After breakfast, I went back up to the temple to explore
some more, seeing as how I had no further buses to catch. Hasedera is called
the Flower Temple, and I could see where lots of things could be blooming at
different times of the year. Naturally in August only the cicadas were in full
bloom beneath the swelter of the sun. The mountain trees, though, gave a nice shade
to my wanderings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The whole place is beautiful, though, and has a calm,
sweet feel. I like the way the main image of Kannon is holding Jizo’s staff
(according to my sources, <a href="http://sacredjapan.com/Temple%2008/Honzon08.htm" target="_blank">this is rare</a>) symbolizing her ability to travel to
any place at any time. (Click that link to see a photo)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While I was getting my stamp and seal, I was asked if I
knew about the “ban-gai.” These are three temples listed in the back of the
seal book, not counted amongst the 33, but which are still part of the
pilgrimage for other reasons. That ‘gai’ is the same as the gai in gaijin, and
it just means ‘outside’ .. so the ban-gai are the temples outside the ‘ban’ or
order/numbering. I know almost nothing about the ban-gai even now, and knew
utterly nothing then other than that there were some.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He explained that one of the ban-gai temples was located
just down the road (and in fact, basically <i>right
next</i> to my ryokan), so I shrugged and thought, I’ve been to two temples
every time so far, why not keep that tradition going? I do feel a little weird
about going to temples I have absolutely no information about. I always look to
the <a href="http://sacredjapan.com/" target="_blank">Sacred Japan</a> website in order to sort of ground my travels; it’s almost a
ritual now. On the bus or train to a place, I peer into my smartphone and read
(or in most cases review) what is said there about whatever temple I’m on my
way to. It makes the whole experience a bit more meaningful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After all this, I made the same mini trek to the train
station, which was no more fun in reverse being as it was late morning and this
time uphill. I returned to Nami-san’s house with the intention of going
farther, but I never made it and ended up just hanging out with her and
Hiroshi-san all evening and staying another night. It didn’t occur to me til
then that I might not see them again for a while, and I just couldn’t get
myself out the door with that in mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-70008972284368216002012-08-20T14:57:00.002+09:002012-08-26T08:59:09.683+09:00Temples number Six and Seven: Okadera and Tsubosakadera<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">I returned to Kyoto on Tuesday evening, arriving at
Nami’s at just the time I had planned to on the first calendar (that is, the
one that had me in Tokyo from Saturday until Tuesday early morning), and so
things resumed as planned from there.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WB0IQi5fezg/UCkegefs91I/AAAAAAAA-UM/AL-PebsDXXE/s1600/P8070159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WB0IQi5fezg/UCkegefs91I/AAAAAAAA-UM/AL-PebsDXXE/s400/P8070159.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I love visiting Nami’s household, but it can be sort of
like a time warp. Time slips away at a faster pace than other places, and
before we knew it, we had chatted later into the night than one would
necessarily want, having spent the whole weekend traveling and preparing to get
up at 6 the next morning.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Yeah, 6 am. It turns out (and I wouldn’t have known this
without their help) that it takes a very careful schedule to make the buses and
trains necessary to get to both Okadera (7) and Tsubosaka-dera (6) in the same
day, although they are relatively close together on the map. I was due to take
the same train in the morning as Hiroshi-san was taking to work, so we ate
breakfast like a sort of cobbled-together family… the married couple and their
adopted foreigner little sister, and then he and I hustled to the train
station. I thought we must look funny together, he in his working clothes like
any other Japanese working guy, me with my pack and walking shoes like any
other tourist… neither is a particularly rare sight in Kyoto-Nara area, but to
walk and talk and sit together on the train is something else. Nami-san waved
to us from the balcony of their apartment as it flashed by, and we were off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
My first destination was Okadera, one of the oldest
temples on the route snugged up in the mountains of Asuka, which is the most
ancient first capital of Japan (and you thought it was Nara..! Well, I did
anyway). Asuka, it turns out, is an area full of ancient things, archaeological
stuff. Other than that, it’s as countryside as countryside can be, which is why
the public bus runs only a handful of times a day on such narrow roads and was
so sparsely filled.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3J-2G07A14/UCmSrPjYQdI/AAAAAAAA-zA/taNpUhlWVR4/s1600/P8080195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3J-2G07A14/UCmSrPjYQdI/AAAAAAAA-zA/taNpUhlWVR4/s400/P8080195.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempt to capture the field of lotus blooms... fail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Okadera was perhaps the first temple I was earnestly able
to make it to in the morning. The feel of the place as I walked up (sweaty as
ever, despite the morning hour, having gotten a little lost <i>already </i>thanks to some construction work)
was relatively empty; I paid my entrance fee as though I had managed to catch a
tourist spot unpopulated for the first time in Japan.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5zqVVHuLcs/UCkk5qSWLXI/AAAAAAAA-xc/j85n60hmRhk/s1600/P8080185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5zqVVHuLcs/UCkk5qSWLXI/AAAAAAAA-xc/j85n60hmRhk/s400/P8080185.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main hall from above on the mountainside.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What set in my mind first was the mountain-garden feel of
the pathways I followed through the woods there, and the insects.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Okadera is famous for protection against disasters, and I
saw part of what I think was a ceremony or prayer for a woman at one of the
vulnerable ages. There is a list of the vulnerable ages for women and men on
the bell tower; I’ve seen these lists before, and Okadera is pretty big for
trying to make sure those bad years go well. I was pretty sure I heard the
priest say “thirty-three” during his chanting, so I sat still and listened for
a bit because I find the chanting and bell ringing that goes on pretty
soothing.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XarcSiAgdl8/UCkkN3HYMiI/AAAAAAAA-u4/e_TX206wRvg/s1600/P8080165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XarcSiAgdl8/UCkkN3HYMiI/AAAAAAAA-u4/e_TX206wRvg/s400/P8080165.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Asuka from near the pagoda.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Okadera is also perhaps the first temple where I was able
to see the main image of Kannon. At many of these temples, the image is not
seen except every 33 years or so (some places, not at all, ever), but at
Okadera, she is in full view all the time. The statue is a large clay image,
the largest clay statue in Japan, and it has a really earthy look and energy
about it. It has been restored often, but has essentially survived since the 700s,
which is what gives it the reputation for protection against disaster.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I took my time exploring around a bit, eventually coming
to the Okunoin further up the hill. That’s the inner sanctuary, which is often
tucked away somewhere further up the mountain. This one was a little cave which
went back into the earth rather farther than I expected from looking at the
front of it. There’s a small statue inside of the Buddha of the future, and an
older couple who was praying in there ahead of me (I waited til they finished
because there was actually not enough room for more than two people side by
side in front of it, plus I always feel awkward when those I regard to be the
‘legit Buddhists on legit business’ are doing their thing and I’m just
wandering around spectating) gave me a piece of tarp to sit on because the cave
was damp and puddle-y. After sitting inside a little while, I stood up and
noted how the cave at that point was just barely tall enough to accommodate my
height, though I couldn’t walk upright through the cave. Then I noticed just <i>just</i> above my head a pair of the biggest
effing camelback crickets I have ever seen, and I crouched right the hell back
down, packed up my piece of tarp, and with one more bow, hurried back out into
the light.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MclU_gBGFjQ/UCkkt3BWCHI/AAAAAAAA-wo/CNVuS2bwW68/s1600/P8080180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MclU_gBGFjQ/UCkkt3BWCHI/AAAAAAAA-wo/CNVuS2bwW68/s400/P8080180.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to the cave...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, yep, bugs and mountain-garden foresty earthiness. It
was a beautiful place and I’m glad I got to go in the morning when it was so
quiet and peaceful.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I next caught another bus to a tiny train station
(Asuka), from which I was to proceed by train to another train station
(Tsubosaka-yama) and wait for a more different bus, which would not come until
1:15, although I had to get on the first of these buses at 11:06. This meant I
would have time for lunch in the train station area, and here is where I made a
Saiou’s Horse kind of mistake.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Asuka station was flanked by your usual handful of little
restaurant places, none of which looked particularly good, so I decided to eat
in the area of the second station. Getting off the train in that area, I looked
around, noted it to be a touristy-looking street ahead of me, and decided to
wander til I found something, since I had nearly two hours to kill. The sign
above the road said that the town was one of “sightseeing and medicine,” which
I thought odd, but shrugged off and began to walk with my little parasol
overhead. I wandered in a sort of loop for twenty minutes or more, finding that
every single likely looking place I came upon was not a restaurant, but instead
a hair salon, dentist, or other treatment facility, and half were closed. There
had been one well-marked restaurant just by the station, but the sign on the
door said “closed today.” Ah the perils of traveling on quiet weekday
afternoons.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9gmChzEqgHU/UCmUhHr5snI/AAAAAAAA-64/7dHzcBcSDPY/s1600/P8080258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9gmChzEqgHU/UCmUhHr5snI/AAAAAAAA-64/7dHzcBcSDPY/s400/P8080258.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh why are you closed...?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I returned to the station along a sweaty, perilous
highway with a tiny sidewalk and asked the station guy about food. He pointed
to the tiny closed place and I protested its closedness. He shrugged sadly
saying, that was it. I sat down on a bench to reconsider. This was crazy. Not
eating was unacceptable; I would have to find a combini or something.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It was then I remembered that I do have a smartphone and
it is good for more than just email and mapping exactly where I am. It also has
a ‘find restaurants in my area’ function, of course. I put it to the test. The
first listing was for a place half a kilometer away, not so bad, and a ten
minute walk according to the review written in Japanese. The place was just
past where I’d come upon the perilous, sweaty highway, and I did not relish
taking that walk only to find the place ALSO CLOSED, so I did the thing I
always dread doing, prepared myself for Japanese and phoned the place. I was
about to give up hope when an animated voice answered pretty late in the
ringing cycle, confirmed that they were open, and that it was a ten minute walk
from the station. I needed no more than that, and set off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The place was across from a combini, and I briefly
considered grabbing some quick food there instead, because now I was beginning
to worry I wouldn’t be back at the station in time to catch the bus at 1:15 if
I had heard right and the restaurant I was headed for would take some time in
food preparation. But I thought I saw a bus stop sign just a little further
ahead and felt sure it must be on the route I wanted, right? And if it all went
to hell I’d just call a taxi and catch up with my schedule later.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I then stepped into the restaurant and had the best damn
udon I’ve ever eaten, and I’ve been to Shikoku AND I don’t even like udon, but
I was supremely glad I hadn’t given up and gone to Lawson’s. The lone guy
running the place was apparently making the stuff from scratch, and it was a
beautiful thing. If you are ever in the western end of I-think-I’m-lost Nara
prefecture, I give it a thumbs up.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezwW2AjlX3E/UCmSwDHECoI/AAAAAAAA-zg/1keWdC6DKfU/s1600/P8080199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezwW2AjlX3E/UCmSwDHECoI/AAAAAAAA-zg/1keWdC6DKfU/s400/P8080199.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j96kBxmMdIU/UCmSvOshiGI/AAAAAAAA-zY/gSiYmR6dP8k/s1600/P8080198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j96kBxmMdIU/UCmSvOshiGI/AAAAAAAA-zY/gSiYmR6dP8k/s400/P8080198.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
My food was ready in about perfect time for me to eat it,
pay, and get to the bus stop which was in fact the bus I wanted, which took my
up the winding paths to Tsubosaka-dera. Tsubosaka-dera was, once again, totally
different from the other temples I had been to so far, especially in its
palpable connection to India and Indian Buddhism. Without really solidifying in
my head what that image is, I have formed an idea of what a Japanese Buddhist
temple looks like, but Tsubosaka-dera does not look like that. The imagery was
different, the atmosphere followed suit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IX1ylj1ceCc/UCmS6E1EYzI/AAAAAAAA-0Q/LeDI5NH5M0M/s1600/P8080205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IX1ylj1ceCc/UCmS6E1EYzI/AAAAAAAA-0Q/LeDI5NH5M0M/s400/P8080205.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This temple is connected especially with sight and eyes,
not only in the prayer sense, but also in the very real sense that there is a
home for the blind on the premises. The connection to India is in their ongoing
support of programs in India. This temple therefore felt like a museum in some
ways (I mean, there was a wall, a relief carved wall with stories from Buddha’s
life!), but also like a functioning thing, not a relic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZPNgFqW9kU/UCmTYGWPwKI/AAAAAAAA-2Q/9Hf-WtAtuwQ/s1600/P8080221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iZPNgFqW9kU/UCmTYGWPwKI/AAAAAAAA-2Q/9Hf-WtAtuwQ/s640/P8080221.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This statue is related to a legend associated with the temple about a man healed of his blindness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Maybe because it was a weekday afternoon and tucked far
away up on this mountain, but there were hardly any other visitors that I could
see. I walked around a little and made my way to the main hall, where I slipped
in quietly and looked around. The main statue here is also visible to those in
the hall at all times, this one because it is meant to be <i>seen</i>, in connection with its healing for sight issues. Just as I
was about to head out and explore the grounds some more, a large group of
older-ish Japanese folks had massed at the entrance, looked like they had come
by big tour bus, and were being given a short lively speech by the guy I’d
nodded to solemnly on my way in. I passed the merry crowd and walked again
through an area that made me think someone was burning lavender incense until I
realized I was surrounded by lavender plants being baked in the sun.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OaXrqQoyDo8/UCmTwx9rgHI/AAAAAAAA-3w/x_oCDZBJm24/s1600/P8080233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OaXrqQoyDo8/UCmTwx9rgHI/AAAAAAAA-3w/x_oCDZBJm24/s400/P8080233.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJSl8999fAE/UCmT0CWgWlI/AAAAAAAA-4A/Fq2BJ2gJiEI/s1600/P8080235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nJSl8999fAE/UCmT0CWgWlI/AAAAAAAA-4A/Fq2BJ2gJiEI/s640/P8080235.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made in India, actually, then shipped over and reassembled in Japan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I checked out the great Kannon, and reclining Buddha, and
inspected the building that is covered with tiles made to imitate the ancient
tile found in the area, and tried some of the eye-healing tea. I knelt on the
power stone, and asked for clearer sight, to which I swear I heard Kannon-sama
chuckle and say, get lasik, you.</div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B1ynBYKKuWQ/UCmTdW6eOhI/AAAAAAAA-2o/iAdmVjCJv0g/s1600/P8080224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B1ynBYKKuWQ/UCmTdW6eOhI/AAAAAAAA-2o/iAdmVjCJv0g/s640/P8080224.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The last bus out was at 3pm, which I at the time thought
a bit strict, but found to be perfectly timed for me that day. I bought a
bottle of Tsubosaka spring water and beat it toward Hasedera. The final walk to
my ryokan for the night was pretty sweaty, given that I was wearing a backpack
and walking for over a kilometer even if it was through cute streets (the kind
that lead the way to important temples or shrines that get a lot of visitors…
these kinds of streets develop with gift shops and inns and restaurants to
serve the travelers, even from really old times). It was just after the heat of
the day and I was beat.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5qSsRMMxutCy-DWNRNr-XaPECxNxHU_fAaFiBXzkRLtv8G3Yg-pTJGsdL2EipK992RlP3yYJyZwWtWD1iVvWP5g88mcsD5EogMRlTIli_U36jecTPJkjeZM0-W9McSaPpSGZFBT6YkVb/s1600/P8080260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5qSsRMMxutCy-DWNRNr-XaPECxNxHU_fAaFiBXzkRLtv8G3Yg-pTJGsdL2EipK992RlP3yYJyZwWtWD1iVvWP5g88mcsD5EogMRlTIli_U36jecTPJkjeZM0-W9McSaPpSGZFBT6YkVb/s400/P8080260.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this before she brought the soup out even.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was the only guest that night at Yoshinokan, so I had a
little tatami room all to myself. I bathed, put on the provided yukata, and ate
my fancy Japanese dinner while watching the Olympics with the proprietess. Then
I took a little walk up to Hasedera’s steps and back along the small river. I
thought maybe it was kind of neat to have walked up to temple number eight on
August 8<sup>th</sup>, even if I wouldn’t really go in til the following day.
Nami-san had set me up to stay the night basically at the temple doorstep
so I could attend the morning prayer
service which is open to the public.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Once darkness had fallen, I retired to my room and
happily conked out at about 8pm (perfect for a 5:45 wakeup, if you ask me!).<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-37550816524458177922012-08-20T14:39:00.000+09:002012-08-20T14:39:16.326+09:00 Tokyo: Tables and the Open Future I wrote a bunch of posts while I was on the trains going hither and thither, and I still need to format and photo-ify most of them.<br />
I was recently hesitant to post this one and I don't know why.<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p> </o:p>Tokyo: Tables and the Open Future<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tokyo, like many things, is both hated and loved by me. I
always used to say I like to visit and wouldn’t want to live there, but now I
wonder if it’s not just the reverse of that. The thing I hate in Tokyo is the combined
weight of lost-ly carrying a bunch of luggage in stations so incredibly full of
people I don’t know how to maneuver. The truth is, stations would always be
full of people, but if I were staying for a lengthier time, I might not have a
suitcase under my arm at all times, and I might know exactly where I was going,
which would mean I would spend a heck of a lot less time wandering sweaty and
forlorn through a station that begins to resemble a clusterfuck the longer I
spend there searching. This was in fact the case on Tuesday, but I get ahead of
myself.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
(Tuesday, just for the record, I visited the Mori museum in Roppongi Hills and had a wonderful time with a fellow PEPY JET friend and generally felt like one of the luckiest people in the world.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w4O7K92IKO8/UCkd1IkLjnI/AAAAAAAA-Po/ve121WUJC6w/s1600/P8070123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w4O7K92IKO8/UCkd1IkLjnI/AAAAAAAA-Po/ve121WUJC6w/s400/P8070123.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a pleasant spot on such a pleasant day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9BYIPh8LWY/UCkd9jKye8I/AAAAAAAA_Ks/C9Ds9EpyDMM/s1600/P8070133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9BYIPh8LWY/UCkd9jKye8I/AAAAAAAA_Ks/C9Ds9EpyDMM/s400/P8070133.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark shows how to interact with this map display.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AhibUBZD1vQ/UCkeN0mSvAI/AAAAAAAA-SY/3AAnGQbcDN4/s1600/P8070146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AhibUBZD1vQ/UCkeN0mSvAI/AAAAAAAA-SY/3AAnGQbcDN4/s400/P8070146.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my lunch spot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PG62Hqe7eIU/UCkeQae41QI/AAAAAAAA-So/DX1AbFTjm7E/s1600/P8070148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PG62Hqe7eIU/UCkeQae41QI/AAAAAAAA-So/DX1AbFTjm7E/s400/P8070148.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My lunch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Monday, I had the delightful opportunity to stop in Yokohama
and have lunch with Baye McNeil, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hi-Name-Loco-Racist-ebook/dp/B006Y11TXG" target="_blank">Hi! My Name is Loco and I Am a Racist</a> and of course, <a href="http://www.locoinyokohama.com/" target="_blank">Loco in Yokohama</a>.
Alessandro and I had the chance to interview him for <a href="http://www.impetuouswindmills.com/2012/06/25/podcast-episode-60/" target="_blank">Impetuous Windmills</a>. We
waded through a Yohokama downpour to enjoy some seriously good ramen and
seriously better conversation. I’m really pleased to have met this genuine and
down-to-earth guy, and I hope to again some future day.</div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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Talking with him made me think about writing in a more
serious way again, and brought to the fore of my mind the story which I know
I’ve mentioned and which everyone must think I have since abandoned, but I
promise I have not, and in fact its development, to this point long and slow,
has become something more like a boil after years and years (like, ten) of
ridiculously slow cooking. For that story, ideas keep popping, and all the
while I grow less and less satisfied with the level of the writing work previously
done on it.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway! Once I hit Tokyo and made my way up to the
Orientation Info Fair, I was promptly installed as a PEPY representative. I met
my fellow table-mate and we meshed well, as we were able to share different
experiences from PEPY adventures. She having been on the ‘real bike ride’ (The
PEPY Ride, across Cambodia), and me having been on a modified one-week
adventure. I was also able to provide some photos from our Himeji rides, which
I ended up thinking was and easier thing for new JETs to get into, idea wise.
It’s difficult, the moment you land in Japan, to immediately start your
planning to go on international trips! Much more accessible, I thought, is the
idea of exploring your own prefecture by bike while donating to a good cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve been back and forth from the PEPY website, especially
before and after our winter break adventure, and I do want to mention that I
respect what they’re doing out there a lot. Their whole teach a man to fish (or
teach a village to educate itself) thing is something that I really get behind.
More on this momentarily..<o:p></o:p></div>
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The table next to PEPY was the PeaceBoat table. I think I
had looked over some PeaceBoat info before, I know I donated some money through
them in March of 2011.. I did not really understand their voyages, though, or
maybe I looked at them and thought the participation fee was pretty high for me
and my life, or maybe IF I realized they were looking NOT for <i>participants</i> among JETs, but people to
work on the boat as English teachers, I noted at that time that I did not have
the time to spare, as the boat voyages are around three months in length.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But for a recently… retired? JET… you must understand that
the moment I understood that I could apply to be an English teacher for mostly
Japanese participants on a boat voyage around the world, the moment I looked at
a map of the next planned voyage and understood that one could be part of that,
doing what I already have the skills to do, and sail around the world with free
time at <i>various ports of call all over
the world</i>, I could have swooned, the prospect seemed so intoxicating (and
to be honest, still kind of does).<o:p></o:p></div>
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(You’ll be pleased to know I was decidedly against applying
for the voyage leaving in mid-December because I intend to spend the holidays at
home this year, no matter how tempting the boat route map was for that voyage.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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It would be a little presumptuous of me to just assume that
out of what must be a relatively large pool of applicants for a relatively
small number of spots on a voyage I would be selected, but in this I am a
little bit presumptuous. In the same way that I knew – see, I didn’t <i>want</i> to be a JET, I just knew I was one,
or that it was a perfect fit.. that I could be good at this, that this could be
good for me—in that same kind of way, I suddenly felt like being an English
teacher on a PeaceBoat voyage was for me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I guess this is what I mean when I title this “The Open
Future.” I don’t really know what I’m doing after JET, and even if I were to go
on a voyage, from what I understand most teachers are limited to one voyage (in
some special cases, they do take on repeaters), that wouldn’t be a ‘real job,’
that wouldn’t be ‘my future’ or the rest of my life, it would just be the next
adventure, a three-month chance of a lifetime the way JET was a three-year one;
it also wouldn’t have to be next, or now. It just seems like ‘now’ is when I
‘don’t have any plans,’ or at least not a job.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But that’s what I realized in the same moment, the open
future. I had all but forgotten the ties I left behind, which I am sure it
would take time to restart, but the jobs I did have, in Kansas, the beginning
of a background in a few different things. I’m not worried about what to do
when I get home because I believed I had options, even if I had forgotten what
they were. I remember them now, Kaplan if I want to work in private education
for GRE prep or maybe even ESL. I’ve been a substitute teacher and I <i>know</i> I would be better at it now than I
was then (though I maintain that being a sub is <i>hard</i>, and I don’t know that I wanna… the fact remains that I
probably <i>could</i>). And if, at the end
of a year, I had gone from nothing at all to having started these things, I
believe that given proper time, there are lots of options.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
People tend to ask me in line with finishing JET, ‘where to
next.’ I have always believed, even if they don’t quite, that the path forward
lies for me back toward where I began it. Not absolutely necessarily in my
hometown or even state, but I have always just assumed I would ‘end up’ in America
sooner or later. Those who know me more recently, without having seen my roots,
tend to think I’m an international, a wanderer in some ways, and maybe I am.
But that isn’t what I want to be forever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, I can’t deny that I still feel that, at least after I
get the chance to be back for a while, to reconnect, to readjust, to move past
this particular life I’ve had for the past few years and dust off the clean
slate, there is an appeal, a draw in the world-wide-view, in believing there is
more out there to do and be done than I can do or could have seen from within
the previous parameters of vision I once had.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
I talk about PEPY a lot, but I’ve hesitated to mention that
I still feel drawn, as often as I do research on it, to go there and do that
thing, not forever, of course (ideally, the real hope of PEPY and the folks
there is to become phased out as unnecessary), but for a little while.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So what does that mean? Three months on a boat? A year in
Cambodia? Will I be back in Japan for any length of time in the future? I shrug
and say I don’t know, that I have ‘no plans.’ It’s not a lie; I <i>don’t</i>.
I can’t hope for any of those things until I’ve spent three months in
America. Or maybe a year. Doing what? I feel a little silly sometimes, to say
“I don’t know.” Only because I think maybe the listener will assume me
careless, listless. But once, having to say that would have panicked me. Now,
I’ve been me long enough to see that I am never idle for long. And so long as
opportunities exist (as they quite obviously do), I hope that I will continue
to be the me that at least seriously considers taking them on.<o:p></o:p></div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-5910057200942014272012-08-15T20:55:00.001+09:002012-08-15T20:55:09.562+09:00Back On the Pilgrim Trail: Temples Ishiyamadera and Miidera<br />
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Lately back on the ‘pilgrim trail,’ I’ve been going to
temples largely in pairs. The first pair was the two situated near the bottom
of Lake Biwa, numbers 13 and 14 (in my head, I think of them as Matchmaker
temple and Everything-OK temple). My weekend plans changed, so instead of going
to Tokyo on Saturday, I went to Kyoto, and spent Sunday (August 5<sup>th</sup>)
exploring these temples.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ishiyamadera, temple 13, is built on and around some
wollastonite rock formations, and is fairly famous for being the location where
Murasaki Shukibu began the Tale of Genji. Before we set out, I read that the
Nyoirin Kannon (or wish-granting Kannon) at this temple was seen as a ‘marriage
Kannon,’ to which people prayed for finding a partner, and also to be released
from addictions. Those somehow fit together, I don't know why.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With this is mind, I explored the temple with my friend
Miriam. I crawled through the little cave that is said to bring good luck, if
you traverse it, and marveled at the various water features which are all fed
by an underground river/spring that flows beneath the whole complex (I think). The
area is supposed to be at its best, of course, in spring with cherry blossoms
or in fall with the autumn leaves; in summer a lot of these places are just hot
and green. I liked the rocks, which looked like they were caught in time while
flowing, and there are some really nice views of the edge of the lake.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought of it as “Matchmaker temple” in my head, and
having never read the Tale of Genji, probably should have been more moved to be
in the very place its author began her great work. Honestly, I was more
interested in the rocks, the water, the trees and shade.<o:p></o:p></div>
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From there, we triangle-traveled to Miidera, the next
pilgrim stop at number 14. Miidera’s mark on the map is a large bell, and the
temple is famous for more than one of the deep bells that often characterize
Japanese Buddhist temples. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Miidera had an even more pleasant view of the lake, and by
that time of the afternoon, the sky had turned into pure sweetness. On the
train over, I read the legend associated with Miidera.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benkei's bell</td></tr>
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Not the one about the stolen bell (in which Benkei stole the
Miidera bell during a raid [warrior monks back then, go figure], and as he
carried it away toward Mt. Hiei it began to toll mournfully as if it wished to
go home. It wouldn’t stop, so Benkei brought it back to Miidera where it
belonged), but one about the great serpent of Lake Biwa. In that story, a man
stops some kids from tormenting a snake, then stops at an inn where he sees a
beautiful attendant, hangs around for a few weeks and falls in love with her,
they get married, etc. When they get ready tohave a kid, she is like “don’t go
into this room until I come out, or say it’s okay,” so he agrees, but after a
while the silence is really scaring him, so he peeks in and sees the newborn
baby being cuddled by a big snake. She of course is his wife/the great serpent
spirit and since he broke contract, she now has to go back in the lake, but she
leaves a note saying the baby is holding a jewel that keeps it from being
unhappy, so the baby doesn’t ever really cry. Then the emperor hears about this
jewel, demands it, has it seized, and the baby starts crying. The serpent had
said if the baby ever gets cranky, just bring it to this spot near the lake and
it’ll be okay, so when the guy does this, the serpent reappears and explains
that the jewel was actually <i>one of her
eyes</i>, and while she’s at it, she doesn’t really mind giving up the other
one if it will make the kid happy. So she produces a second jewel and is
therefore blind, but she says, in the evening go to Miidera and ring the bell,
and I’ll hear it and know everything is okay.</div>
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So I really liked the idea of the Great Serpent of Lake Biwa
swimming around down there, blind, but whenever pilgrims ring the bell (said to
be the best-sounding bell in Japan), she is reassured that everything is a-OK.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since it was a gorgeous day, and the temple complex looked
pretty big from the map, I somehow managed to let go of my usual “must see all
important monuments on site” mentality and just wander happily through the
grounds, which helped contribute to my image of Miidera as the “Everything OK”
temple. Miriam had to go meet someone, so I did half of the wandering with her,
and half alone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the walk up to the temple, we followed the canal, which
is pretty cool in its own right, an historical example of some engineering, I
think the first use of dynamite in Japan (don’t quote me on that). We entered
from the left side, the Kannon-do (or Kannon Hall), because the entire temple
complex is not necessarily centered there. In fact, the hall was moved back in
the 1400s to accommodate women pilgrims who wanted to worship there, but who
were not allowed into the main temple precincts (!) at that time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was a small bell next to the Kannon-do that we rang,
although I’m not sure it’s the famous Miidera bell. There was also a small hall
that had 100 pilgrimage sites symbolically held in it (the Saigoku 33, which is
the one I’m doing, a different 33 more in the outer Tokyo area, and a set of 34
that is a different pilgrimage. This was a delight, especially as there was
nowhere at Ishiyamadera open for me to burn the special incense I’d brought
along (I bought it last year in Kyoto, it smells awesome, and I still have a
lot left), and I wanted to set something on fire.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Kannon-do area was especially pretty, with a
moon-viewing pavilion and friendly feel. The path away under the dappling shade
of the maple trees was also exceptionally nice that afternoon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I eventually found the spring that is the meaning of the
temple name (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">三井寺</span>means three-wells-temple, apparently three different
royal folks bathed in the sacred spring!), which still makes gurgling noises as
the water bubbles up around the rocks. Also walked through the treasure
hall/museum type thing in the main area, where I was most struck by a statue of
a firey looking guy whose glinting eyes were just catching the late afternoon
light through the slats in the building, so his eyes looked like they were full
of fire.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I found my way back to the train (with a brief stop at a
rabbit shrine, and a little jaunt toward the edge of the lake), and made my way
back to Kyoto, prepared to head to Tokyo the next morning!<o:p></o:p></div>
Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-85188282380849984302012-08-14T11:43:00.000+09:002012-08-14T11:53:10.917+09:00FurusatoThe furusato, 古里、the Japanese hometown. I wrote <a href="http://eminihonde.blogspot.jp/2010/08/obon-reconnection.html" target="_blank">a post</a> a few years ago about Obon, and it struck me recently to consider again how Obon feels to us, to me.<br />
<br />
As mentioned before, Obon is the festival of visiting ancestors, the time when they come back to visit from their homes on the other side. It's a Thanksgiving-Halloween combo package, right in the dead heat of August. You go see your relatives, you go clean gravestones, you do the bon-odori and you eat stall food while watching fireworks. There's the homebody component (family focus), and the festival atmosphere. There's the traffic and the heat and the way every single place of leisure will be crowded because Obon is one of the few times of year that everyone is off work, and everyone is off work only a few times a year.<br />
<br />
As a new JET, the sense of Obon as a reconnecting, a joining to family and return to one's 'old home' was almost like a cruel joke. Only a week after landing and you get to watch a bunch of people you don't know enjoy returning to their roots, their <i>furusato</i>.<br />
<br />
But this is my fourth Obon season (kind of.. last year I missed it by being in the US a bit longer than before, so I was, I suppose, in my own furusato then), and I finally feel like coming to Shiso is a kind of coming home. I spent the last week running around, visiting Japan sites, mixed in with good old fashioned hanging-out with friends in both Kyoto and Tokyo. I've been expending my energy in the city and then finally, like a sigh of mountain and river air, getting off the bus in my own countryside home.<br />
<br />
It wasn't so much a desire to be back in Shiso for the 13th, as a natural assumption that this is where I will spend that time, even if its just to be there and do nothing interesting. I've been in the cities doing so much interesting for so many days.. one almost needs a break. Where else would I be when everyone is traveling and everyone is going home? Where else would I want to be?<br />
<br />
I walk through the festival with friends old and new, hoping to catch a glimpse of some of 'my kids,' who are graduated or grown or not mine anymore anyway.<br />
<br />
I am rewarded.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zm6-xRsjIdI/UCkerpWbINI/AAAAAAAA-U8/YahMf4A3LkU/s1600/P8130419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zm6-xRsjIdI/UCkerpWbINI/AAAAAAAA-U8/YahMf4A3LkU/s400/P8130419.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Earlier in the day, I met up with Rio, my speech girl and last year's winner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPKOyuKtVfk/UCke8AsctqI/AAAAAAAA-WU/6Mtq6RjUo4M/s1600/P8130431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gPKOyuKtVfk/UCke8AsctqI/AAAAAAAA-WU/6Mtq6RjUo4M/s400/P8130431.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minato, speech boy from two years ago, to my right in dark blue; glad to see he hasn't changed a bit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ui350BwHXyM/UCkfZHBv9dI/AAAAAAAA_Mk/ga6DS_fNDR0/s1600/P8130454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ui350BwHXyM/UCkfZHBv9dI/AAAAAAAA_Mk/ga6DS_fNDR0/s400/P8130454.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some current third years, the sweet gangsters? </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZjLuSTRKR3JGA7pemtQjDrInuPO8S-3gOOtIhUKswT993aLUHduGzTMK7z1vbe1ZgwgxijjUTHYhqtk7Yduszfo_YDXmWGPABvUmE9uUOXnLX0XswHQqBKB7R7ZXzQC7upLCj9SjuQOU/s1600/P8130456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZjLuSTRKR3JGA7pemtQjDrInuPO8S-3gOOtIhUKswT993aLUHduGzTMK7z1vbe1ZgwgxijjUTHYhqtk7Yduszfo_YDXmWGPABvUmE9uUOXnLX0XswHQqBKB7R7ZXzQC7upLCj9SjuQOU/s400/P8130456.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assortment of ages and locations. But all kids I like, from the first-year smartass to the class leader to the sharp-as-hell goof off to the judo star.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E95vWzU51PE/UCkfd66RV0I/AAAAAAAA-Zw/9SfGH90SdFw/s1600/P8130458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E95vWzU51PE/UCkfd66RV0I/AAAAAAAA-Zw/9SfGH90SdFw/s400/P8130458.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She was a first year when I arrived and is still cute enough to tempt me to steal her.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SkpKOBxhM2w/UCkfVwEesWI/AAAAAAAA-Y0/YJITOym_BBI/s1600/P8130451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SkpKOBxhM2w/UCkfVwEesWI/AAAAAAAA-Y0/YJITOym_BBI/s400/P8130451.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recent graduate, looking classy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLScrzeZgjM/UCkfKCCZd-I/AAAAAAAA_Mc/9SBndHckOZM/s1600/P8130443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLScrzeZgjM/UCkfKCCZd-I/AAAAAAAA_Mc/9SBndHckOZM/s400/P8130443.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second year girls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xcLFZQFB86U/UCkfI4ZNnjI/AAAAAAAA_MY/wDMaBBdKtjg/s1600/P8130442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xcLFZQFB86U/UCkfI4ZNnjI/AAAAAAAA_MY/wDMaBBdKtjg/s400/P8130442.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graduates of two years ago; far left is Kumi, who went to America for a short exchange (and who I hope can come back sometime!)<br />
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<br /></td></tr>
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Old friends and new:<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jg0rc0zn0N8/UCke3mhQJDI/AAAAAAAA_MM/VbG9IsWBNUs/s1600/P8130427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jg0rc0zn0N8/UCke3mhQJDI/AAAAAAAA_MM/VbG9IsWBNUs/s640/P8130427.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yukata with Lorr</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9vuQZ7DNwXQ/UCkfBp3f6wI/AAAAAAAA-W8/k9pghbwcAy8/s1600/P8130436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9vuQZ7DNwXQ/UCkfBp3f6wI/AAAAAAAA-W8/k9pghbwcAy8/s640/P8130436.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna and Miho!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau3bnWgFAjNGXSqVCaFm4HEsyoeHZNNzpj1gGNOsvqVniw6PS7mC67f73qy-k257HGqWIZYJbUjDO80LdwguF17JMzBtwLpuzgDrjfT5WS7Ldm0i4Yin9YavXZzcIIO4tGoMDzJJ0gine/s1600/P8130438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau3bnWgFAjNGXSqVCaFm4HEsyoeHZNNzpj1gGNOsvqVniw6PS7mC67f73qy-k257HGqWIZYJbUjDO80LdwguF17JMzBtwLpuzgDrjfT5WS7Ldm0i4Yin9YavXZzcIIO4tGoMDzJJ0gine/s640/P8130438.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allison and ELove!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UHmuS5I1ex8/UCkfC-YQ1LI/AAAAAAAA-XE/znIjh7a-Mg0/s1600/P8130437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UHmuS5I1ex8/UCkfC-YQ1LI/AAAAAAAA-XE/znIjh7a-Mg0/s640/P8130437.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFOzhu8qQpQ/UCkfAjqUEkI/AAAAAAAA-W0/0g3_4J54gQE/s1600/P8130435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFOzhu8qQpQ/UCkfAjqUEkI/AAAAAAAA-W0/0g3_4J54gQE/s400/P8130435.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miriam, Marcus, Miho!</td></tr>
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Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-65878996998646874722012-08-11T10:38:00.001+09:002012-08-11T10:38:27.968+09:00the first post-trip and the pilgrim trailEver since my packing adventure ended, I've been running all about on what I consider to be one big trip. I left my computer in Shiso, though, so I don't have the capacity to process my photos yet! I want to write posts about all my adventures, including the two-temples-a-day I've been visiting every day I've been in Kyoto and Nara. Those posts alone will take a while.<br />
<br />
Basically I've been from Shiso to Kyoto to Tokyo and back to Kyoto (and Nara) again. After leaving my apartment I discovered that, far from 'homeless' as I joked I'd be, I actually have lots of wonderful friends who have lots of wonderful futons and floorspaces for me. It's been like an extra-extra long weekend of all kinds of awesome (more prevalent kind being, the sweaty kind).<br />
<br />
So I'm taking in culture, and lots of temples (each of which has its own 'meaningful nickname' .. oh yes), and while I don't know if my 33 will be complete by the time I leave, at least the map is taking on a more obvious shape. The temples that are easy to get to are being visited, the remaining are being saved for.. later. Tokyo was better than I remember (maybe it's always better than I remember, because I remember it so negatively). I just feel like I'm seeing and getting to do so much, and almost always with people I genuinely like, which can make all the difference in the world.<br />
<br />
So until I can download (and upload) the photos, I won't be going into super detail, but just as an outline!<br />
<br />
F 8/3 clean house like a crazy person, 'move' to Lorr's.<br />
S 8/4 Finish sorting things (without access to house), hang out with Lorr, go to Rocky's, head to Kyoto.<br />
S 8/5 Two temples (Ishiyama dera and Mii dera), the first with Miriam. Dinner by the canal in Kyoto.<br />
M 8/6 Go to Tokyo, lunch with Loco, help out at orientation.<br />
T 8/7 Museum with Mark, head back to Nami's in Kyoto.<br />
W 8/8 Complicated transportation schedule to get to two temples (Okadera, Tsubosaka dera), finish at a ryokan outside Hasedera.<br />
R 8/9 Morning prayer service at Hasedera, exploration of Hasedera, with bonus tiny "bangai" temple thrown in. Back to Nami's.<br />
F 8/10 Back to Miriam, to Rokuharamitsu-ji and Rokkaku-do (the first with Miriam).<br />
S 8/11 - That's today! The plan is to visit Daigo-ji, and possibly pop off the train line for a visit to another bangai temple. And a totally unrelated temple Miriam said is cool!<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is back to Lorr and Shiso to hopefully unwind.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-42138184231130432132012-07-30T08:56:00.000+09:002012-07-30T08:59:42.374+09:00moving sucksI don't suppose I have to tell anyone in the world that packing and cleaning a place in preparation to move out is not a fun task. When I was a kid (since I NEVER moved) I saw moving as a sort of cleansing, a time when you were forced to clean and sort carefully (because if not forced to do these things I could always find a better use for my time) all your possessions. When I heard people say "That got lost in the move," I could never understand it. In my mind, you FOUND stuff when you were moving, stuff hidden in places you would not have seen had you not emptied your house.<br />
<br />
I think some of these notions still hold on because I was hoping to find treasures as I took apart my place. Mostly I just found dust, lots and lots of hidden dust.<br />
<br />
I also found that my previous conviction that I would make it out of Japan with no more than my two allowed suitcases was pure folly. I've been here for three years; I've amassed a good ton of junk. I knew this, but I assumed that this would all be 'junk' that I would just leave behind, whether as give-away stuff or as trash.<br />
<br />
Right.<br />
<br />
So I bought three boxes for shippin' stuff back, and given three boxes, I've now filled three boxes. Since my sorting/cleaning choices expanded from pack, give, or throw away to pack, give, throw, or ship, several odds and ends have been literally chucked into the box area of the living room (I lined them up side by side in a corner and then would just fling things into that direction if I wanted to ship it).<br />
<br />
I'm still throwing out and giving away a good deal of stuff, of course; I got rid of 31 kilos of used clothing, not all of it mine, a bit over a week ago. To the stayers go the spoils, and I've been dividing up my stuff amongst the staying ALTs and my successor, mostly 'useful' things and 'pretty' things. I can't believe I have to be out of there by the end of the week, although the walls are finally bare (and that does help it look more like progress).<br />
<br />
I traded the tall couch for a short one, better suited for sitting at the kotatsu come winter, and I traded back my kotatsu for the one Sam and Carl had (I gave them the giant one that hardly fit in the room and took their tiny one that couldn't fit Carl's legs under it). I'm leaving the vanity, the green chair, the denki carpet, the kitchen unit, the bike, the heater.<br />
<br />
But moving stuff around in this heat is anything but a fun pastime. I have interrupted the process frequently for social and other excursions, like visa-getting trips to Himeji, parties with leavers and stayers (as a leaver myself)... the weekend of the 21st was a sort of "party all the time" wherein we spent basically the whole weekend kicking it with Shiso all over town. I'll do posts about all that (as well as.. I suppose... my bye-bye work events). But there's no putting it off forever, and the process has been slow and painful and hot and painful and slow.<br />
<br />
So it goes!<br />
<br />
I did find some things I had squirreled away, forgotten, or thought lost.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6W28GUPsmg/UBW2Fcv2PtI/AAAAAAAA-HE/lmtVtoCUkBM/s1600/P7290367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6W28GUPsmg/UBW2Fcv2PtI/AAAAAAAA-HE/lmtVtoCUkBM/s640/P7290367.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is something I mentioned in my farewell speech, unaware that I did still have it in my house. It's a talisman-like gift from a school excursion from back when the current 3rd-years were in the 6th grade. It says something like "<i>Emily-sensei, please make fun memories with us</i>." In writing my speech (writing, not even saying, just pre-work), the thought of including a reference to this object followed by the question, <i>well, did we?</i> would cause me to leak tears on my desk.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbqXKEGFcBM/UBW2IXrT1DI/AAAAAAAA9g0/-wvcrOBXJNk/s1600/P7290369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbqXKEGFcBM/UBW2IXrT1DI/AAAAAAAA9g0/-wvcrOBXJNk/s400/P7290369.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is just a man-en with a different version of birds on the back of it than usual. I'm gonna have to spend this, though, cause that is a hundy right there.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XnoMcwcJQ7o/UBW2Kr68NeI/AAAAAAAA-HA/uIiYhnVMGKQ/s1600/P7290371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XnoMcwcJQ7o/UBW2Kr68NeI/AAAAAAAA-HA/uIiYhnVMGKQ/s400/P7290371.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a twenty, and though they are rare, I've somehow been in possession of several of them over the course of my time. I am gonna spend this too, cause I think I have one back home. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fKIoYJ81IJw/UBW2L2jqqZI/AAAAAAAA-G4/mKuwQDCMn5M/s1600/P7290372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fKIoYJ81IJw/UBW2L2jqqZI/AAAAAAAA-G4/mKuwQDCMn5M/s400/P7290372.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of the 20.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xmUuXwZM2UE/UBW2EfyjzYI/AAAAAAAA9gc/Bnzedab-ifg/s1600/P7290366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xmUuXwZM2UE/UBW2EfyjzYI/AAAAAAAA9gc/Bnzedab-ifg/s640/P7290366.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This isn't something I lost, it's just something I thought was kind of funny and wanted to share.. try to ignore the total chaos and... Above my kitchen table I had placed a picture of Siena, Italy, because there was a larger version of a very similar picture above the table where I often at at the Centro in Rome. I created my own version of that place here, right after I moved in. </td></tr>
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Anyway, all these various treasures don't really make up for the fact that moving sucks, it really really sucks, even more so when it's hot and your house doesn't have 'real' AC, and topping that off, you don't really WANT to leave, you just kind of have to.Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-64661966099259561502012-07-17T14:05:00.000+09:002012-07-17T14:07:18.355+09:00A Real VacationThis past weekend was the July three-day. It happens every year and I can't for the life of me remember what we did last year or even the year before... Probably some kind of endtimes bender to prepare for the fact that early leavers leave like... well too soon to think about.<br />
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But for this July three-day, I was on the ball months in advance. I figured it would be a big weekend for the folks at <a href="http://www.happyraft.com/en/" target="_blank">HappyRaft </a>and really wanted to get in that river in July, not September, because <a href="http://eminihonde.blogspot.jp/2010/10/silver-lined-week-shikoku-roads-and.html" target="_blank">my only other experience</a> there was awesome saving the one factor of the (relative) cold.<br />
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That part of Shikoku, down by the Oboke and Koboke, near the Yoshino River, right about the smack dab middle of the island, is unlike any place I've ever seen before. I went white water rafting for the first time in Tennessee, and the second time in Shikoku, and I liked Shikoku way better. It may be because I was more comfortable then (with the idea of rafting), or ready to see the landscape around me with more awe-infused eyes... Or it may have been that the whole atmosphere was different, the cliffs and the guides from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, the fellow boat-mates from Japan. Rafting is a team effort and it helps to have a good team. Japanese folks are pretty good at teamwork, you know?<br />
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Everyone in that valley that we encountered seemed relaxed and laid back. The homes and businesses were almost all built clinging to the sides of the mountains, as there was no real flat valley area to speak of. Going to the grocery store requires you to just take what is available (which may not be enough meat for your group for that night) because it's a little mom n' pop place. Everything down there feels older, most lost somehow, like if you went down there without a cell phone, no one would ever find you again.<br />
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It's perfect for a vacation. Back home, there's an apartment to sort, sift, pack, and clean. There are Last Lessons to conduct and all kinds of paperwork to begin or continue or finish. There are speeches to think about and write, there are books to read and just.. a lot of stuff to do. Even more (haha, yeah) than normal. But when you're in the middle of Shikoku, where it takes twenty minutes to zig-zag your way up to whatever small cabin you happen to inhabit, when you're under the sun on the turquoise water, when you're neck deep in the ice cold canyon creek.. it's like all that stuff doesn't exist. When we're cooking dinner in our cabin, drinking our beers, it's like.. you forget that this is the last weekend we're going to do this kind of thing together, maybe ever. It's like you're so far away that nothing matters.<br />
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So you get back, and yeah it's all still there. It's all still waiting for you. The endtimes are still upon us. And now you're three days closer to the deadline, and no closer to done. And all you may have to show for it is a sunburn, a digicard full of photos, and the memory of mountains vastly different from these, a valley much steeper and deeper and wilder than this one full of mundane Shire-like idyll.<br />
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But that's kind of what vacation is.<br />
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Tales from the road, Day 1:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LnaROkBlgLI/UASzqv7ToBI/AAAAAAAA80U/xinzvJGjpgE/s1600/P7140010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LnaROkBlgLI/UASzqv7ToBI/AAAAAAAA80U/xinzvJGjpgE/s400/P7140010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All five of us in our massive van.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carl expresses his feelings about our first stop: the Sapporo Winery Okayama</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam has the driver sticker despite his position in the backseat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The long bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last minute decision to stop at Kompirasan, home of one of the biggest ships/seafaring shrines </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_CGA2uOofPs/UAS05V_v_tI/AAAAAAAA85E/ug7TOHLQBC4/s1600/P7140047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_CGA2uOofPs/UAS05V_v_tI/AAAAAAAA85E/ug7TOHLQBC4/s400/P7140047.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The approach to Kompirasan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P5T3NKdWy8Y/UAS1Y3JC_gI/AAAAAAAA86E/FXyfoawboas/s1600/P7140055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P5T3NKdWy8Y/UAS1Y3JC_gI/AAAAAAAA86E/FXyfoawboas/s400/P7140055.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We note that everyone coming down from this shrine looks like they have been on a log flume. We hope there is a log flume but expectations are low.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very cute dog.</td></tr>
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Tales from the River, Day 2:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I5bwakX5vEk/UASSS8ekeuI/AAAAAAAA7SE/Hp9N_IbeJ_Q/s1600/P7150145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I5bwakX5vEk/UASSS8ekeuI/AAAAAAAA7SE/Hp9N_IbeJ_Q/s400/P7150145.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning view from our Wada Hideaway</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhAfbyrx4IYrxIBWN4ce4VKbnTXl7rxJc_9X-J0S6esMpIdX897EwZkr3Gwi4NKssSNL_7hm5iwW3DvWt7P47Nz7fnyhgxu3HDXCySZJppslL9WI3w1kVmPVShL-7YVoGmejkSmwmQF3P/s1600/IMG_4433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhAfbyrx4IYrxIBWN4ce4VKbnTXl7rxJc_9X-J0S6esMpIdX897EwZkr3Gwi4NKssSNL_7hm5iwW3DvWt7P47Nz7fnyhgxu3HDXCySZJppslL9WI3w1kVmPVShL-7YVoGmejkSmwmQF3P/s400/IMG_4433.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Way better than a log flume.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HPrhMukYHU/UASUt68CCAI/AAAAAAAA7Yo/7bW2c5dhJcs/s1600/IMGP0510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HPrhMukYHU/UASUt68CCAI/AAAAAAAA7Yo/7bW2c5dhJcs/s400/IMGP0510.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is not the highest rock jump</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GlcthZq625U/UASbHmAs8sI/AAAAAAAA7t0/xh4TvktFOZg/s1600/P1060367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GlcthZq625U/UASbHmAs8sI/AAAAAAAA7t0/xh4TvktFOZg/s400/P1060367.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS is the highest rock jump.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qPRQYKU7Rk/UASbxAIMZNI/AAAAAAAA7xE/yZqhG2R8Bas/s1600/P1060397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qPRQYKU7Rk/UASbxAIMZNI/AAAAAAAA7xE/yZqhG2R8Bas/s400/P1060397.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what we look like after</td></tr>
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Tales from the canyon, Day 3:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The way home</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete with little origami on the dash that we picked up at some tollbooth or other</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this is how we all feel at the end.</td></tr>
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<br />Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-77905423101358447582012-07-13T14:03:00.000+09:002012-07-13T14:03:43.046+09:00Helpful Shit: Getting to the City (and beyond)<span style="background-color: white;">I'm amazed at the amount of stuff I now treat as common enough knowledge in my life that I simply did not know upon arrival.</span><br />
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Like that the main station of Kobe is Sannomiya station, not Kobe station, although there IS a Kobe station, it probably isn't where you want to get off the train (unless you're going to Motomachi I guess)...<br />
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And I've gotten to a place in my life where I just kind of know how to get to the helpful information I want to use by either google searching key words in Japanese or linking through a series of steps that are natural to me. But it's high time I gathered these transportation links into one place for easier access (both for my own benefit, and anyone preparing to or continuing to live in Shiso).<br />
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Searching up directions to Shiso on a google map will give you some alarming results, based mostly on our lack of trains. It'll say something like, train as far as Shingu, then walk forever to get to Shiso.<br />
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But around here, the word to know is <a href="http://www.shinkibus.co.jp/" target="_blank">Shinki Bus</a>, and that sucker will get you most places that you need to go. Unfortunately, their website is still Japanese only, but if you can operate in Japanese (or make your way though a google translate version), you are good to go.<br />
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Most especially the <a href="http://navi.shinkibus.jp/snk/" target="_blank">navi </a><a href="http://navi.shinkibus.jp/snk/" target="_blank">feature</a>, which like <a href="http://www.hyperdia.com/" target="_blank">hyperdia</a> does for trains, allows you to put in your departure and arrival locations to search bus times. It'll give you several of the upcoming buses as well as the cost of travel. I have used this basically just to figure out bus times from Himeji to Yamasaki and back, but I'm sure it can be even more useful than that so long as you know the name of the bus stops you want to use. This is a local bus so it doesn't have luggage space underneath like the highway buses do.<br />
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Then, there are the highway buses, most often used by me being the Osaka and Kyoto buses. The line goes from Tsuyama to Osaka and Kyoto but their uses are different.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.shinkibus.co.jp/hw/tsuyama_osaka.html" target="_blank">Osaka bus</a> is way more frequent any way easier to use. It goes by almost every half hour or so, and to get on you just.. get on. Take a little ticket showing that you got on at stop like 9 or so, and keep it til you get to the end. The bus terminates at Osaka station, but pro tip if you are going down to Namba or Shinsaibashi areas, it's easier and a tiny bit cheaper (not enough to really matter.. the best thing about doing it this way is more the avoiding of the massive entity that is Osaka Station City) to get off at Shin-Osaka rather than Osaka Station and take the red line subway downtown. On this bus it usually takes about two hours to get to Osaka.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.shinkibus.co.jp/hw/tsuyama_kyoto.html" target="_blank">Kyoto bus</a> only runs four times a day in each direction, and you have to buy the tickets in advance (I've gotten away without doing so, but it always seemed like a big deal to the driver). The easiest way I've found to do this is to roll up to Lawson and use the machine, because reserving online and then paying for them seemed to be a bitch. If you do this, though, you have to select the bus line first, so make sure you say you are going from Tsuyama (which is in the Chugoku region, not Kansai!) to Kyoto first, then later you can specify that you are getting on the bus in Yamasaki. The machines can be a little confusing and I mostly navigate it as I go each time on sight.<br />
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There is also a <a href="http://www.shinkibus.co.jp/hw/himeji_tottori.html" target="_blank">Tottori bus</a>, which runs from Himeji to Tottori with a stop at Yamasaki inter. I don't know anything about this other than that it exists and some people I know have taken it before.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">After that, there is the fairly new but apparently popular direct bus from Yamasaki to Kobe's Sannomiya Station, affectionately known to us as just "</span><a href="http://www.shinkibus.co.jp/hw/kobe_yamasaki.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">the Kobe bus</a><span style="background-color: white;">." Unlike the other highway buses, this one leaves directly from the in town bus station, so you don't have to meet it at the highway gate unless you want to.</span><br />
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If you are driving, and planning to take the highway, and want to know how much that will cost you, check out <a href="http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/tolls/index.html" target="_blank">this page</a>, which can help you figure out your toll cost based on where you are going and what type of car you drive.<br />
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Flying? There are a bunch of small airports in the area, but I've only ever used Kobe, Itami, and of course KIX (kankuu) myself. I've heard good things about Okayama, and I know Tajima has an airport, but I don't know what it's used for. There is no longer a direct bus along the Tsuyama-KIX line, sadly, but from Himeji station you can get buses to both Itami and KIX. Kobe airport is accesses by the Port Liner, which runs from Sannomiya, which you can get to by direct bus.<br />
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Domestic flying in Japan is a breeze compared to doing it in the US, especially out of one of the smaller airports. There is security and paperwork, but it's nothing like the clusterfuck I'd learned to expect from flying. You can even bring your water bottle so long as you let them open it and check the contents (by machine but sometimes by smelling!). Skymark (Kobe) has some cheap fares, but the new carrier Peach (KIX) is even lower. There's always ANA and JAL, which you can sometimes get deals on too (I think we used someone's "birthday fare" once?). Sometimes it is cheaper and faster to fly to a place than to take a shinkansen (king of trains), sometimes not. If comfort and flexibility are a priority, shink is the way to go. If you need to save money, check out flights but also remember the cost of getting to and from the airport in your figuring!<br />
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International flights are predictably a bit more painful, and depending on where you are going, will cost a pretty penny more. Going international from Japan is almost always a flight, though there are some boats. To <a href="http://www.jrbeetle.co.jp/internet/index.html" target="_blank">Korea</a>, boat is a good option, but that's the only one I know. For Southeast Asia, I've had good experiences with the bare-bones low-cost style of <a href="http://www.airasia.com/jp/ja/home.page" target="_blank">AirAsia</a>, though you may have to fly through Malaysia or something to get where you want to go. It's super cheap, but just know that the fare you are browsing does not include your baggage, food, or any other perks: those you have to add on as you go. Once you do, it's still pretty dern cheap.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">My final confession on this topic will be that I've spent way too much of my life checking out the different options for how much it costs to get where by what different forms of transportation. </span>Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-5394977741194967952012-07-13T12:26:00.005+09:002012-07-13T12:27:55.127+09:00Both WaysIt's Friday the 13th, and we return to cookie baking. I told myself, we're gonna do this again, and we're gonna do it right this time.<br />
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Planning well in advance, I got my wonderful parental units to supply me with a shit-tonne of the instant pudding necessary to make the cookies. The also brought along some chocolate chips to make my ordering load lighter.</div>
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I can't believe we're making them <i>today</i>. Not because it's Friday the 13th, but because this week has been so incredibly intense and it's only been like four days long.</div>
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I want to do a 'real' post about this.. complete with pictures and all that, but for now I'll just fill in the outline.</div>
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Last weekend was a sort of mess. Friday, I didn't go to work, but instead to Kobe where I was made an official Goodwill Envoy of Hyogo Prefecture. This just means that wherever I go I should spread the good word. This is easy; I'm liable to pimp out anything I think is truly any good (someone once told me I would be a good saleswoman when I vehemently extolled the virtues of some thing or other.. but the truth is I can only sell something I really know and love).</div>
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So that just meant no school that day. Saturday was supposed to be a school day, sort of.. we were to go to work and then after an hour of hanging out at school, go and watch kids compete all over town in various taikai things against the other schools (then get Monday off as a trade in day). But Saturday got rained out so hard they called in an O-ame (too much damn rain) warning, which cancels school in the city. (This happens way more than o-yuki, or too much snow warnings, actually... seriously, imagine a place where rain cancels school more often than snow does!)</div>
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So Saturday got pushed to Sunday, and we still had Monday off... I had a visitor in town to hang out and see the taikai, and we thought go to the beach Sunday, but no cigar.</div>
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Long story short, it was planned to be a sort of schedually challenged weekend and became EVEN MORE SO because of the rain.</div>
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This thrust me into Tuesday's 'last lessons day' at Small Elementary with little mental preparation (since I had Monday off and work on Sunday? I don't know). And then suddenly everything was happening at once. Tuesday was an exhausting run of six class periods conducted for all grade levels, including kindergarten, made heavy with the knowledge that it was the last one for each and all of them. By the end of the day I was a ragged mess. Wednesday was first-year classes back at the middle school (Mario Kart game ftw), and Thursday was the actual last day at the bigger elementary school, which left me less wrecked by still glad I wore waterproof mascara.</div>
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I felt better at the bigger school because they made a bigger deal of things.. I felt okay about crying because I could tell they <i>wanted </i>me to cry. They were doing things <i>with the express purpose</i> of making me cry. Then the entire school "hana-michi" style harassed me all the way to the front door. It was exhilarating, and exhausting. More about all that later when I get the photos ready.</div>
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In an oddly fitting gesture from the universe, the little girl who walked into the office on perhaps my first day (she was a second grader then) was in the office again during the end of my last day. She was the first student I have memory of speaking directly to; as a second grader she came up to me and told me that I was cute (which was a shocking thing to hear from an adorable second grade girl willing to walk right up to you), and gave a sort of botched self-intro in English. She's one of the special needs kids and is absolutely precious still. She's a fifth grader now and she thanked me for the time I've spent there before I slipped out to put all the presents I'd gotten near my desk at the middle school.</div>
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And since I realized (that afternoon) that I was going to be making cookies the very next day, I decided to just get all that stuff when I had my car, which I would on Friday, because I would need to transport said shit tonne of pudding mix (not heavy) and 5.5 kg of chocolate chips (kinda heavy) along with a few other odds, ends, and things.</div>
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So yeah. It's been a short week (too short... I almost wish I'd had Monday) and now I'm facing this weekend when I will rent that giant effing van I once drove, roadtrip to Shikoku with some of Shiso-plus-Alessandro, and go rafting and canyoning again. </div>
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All that because it's a three-day weekend, which leads into another too-short (blasphemy, I know) week, which is the last week of this semester, the last week of my job in any actuality. Ending ceremony is the 20th, the day after our Salamander farewell dinner which is the same day as the BOE last 'greeting' for which I'll get out of school early (I am never sure these days whether skipping school time is a good thing anymore)... </div>
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There is no time to think, little to plan, and I feel like I should have seen this coming, but I didn't realize it would come on so fast! I know there will be another quieter period once the school year ends (after my 'word' at the closing ceremony, etc.) for me to pack and clean and sort, but the way all this descended in a rush makes me feel like I should be packed and ready to go, like, tomorrow. Which just adds to the sense that there was probably a time to think and feel and plan, and that time has come and gone while I was marveling at June and how for the first time it wasn't a shit show. Whatever was missing from June has about hit the fan and here we are up on the final countdown.</div>
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So some moments I'm really happy, and some moments I'm hearing a song I just discovered on a CD I unearthed in the packing process and it's making me cry. And some moments I'm feeling relieved that I don't have to plan for/worry about/English educate this or that group anymore -- that their enthusiasm for or knowledge of English is no longer my responsibility. Other moments a particular face will come to mind.. a kid or a teacher, and I'll have to forget for the moment how much it sucks to leave a place.. how much I <i>always did hate graduations</i>.</div>
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One of the third graders summed it up pretty well at my send-off ceremony. "She's crying! Look! Now she's smiling. [confusion]" There's that saying, don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. But I was always one to have it both ways.</div>Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7079772680384071659.post-32762187152943751172012-06-29T16:11:00.000+09:002012-07-04T12:10:24.144+09:00Rabbits, Frogs, and Horses, and there's something in my eye<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RABBITSU feeding time at elementary.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">As you teach multiple levels of joined schools for long enough, two excellent perks arise naturally. One is finding siblings scattered amongst the year levels. It's always fun to find older and younger brothers or sisters of that student you love (or love to hate), and watch the ways they are different, and alike (some kids share facial features but not personality traits. Others show persistent strains of behavior...).The other excellent perk is class personality.</span><br />
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I know that in this blog I have on occasion bombastically decried one class group or another as 'awful' or perhaps worse. And maybe it's just the end-of-term blue tint that's coming over the whole thing, but I'd like to set the record straight: none of the classes are awful. Some of them are extra good. Some of them work really hard and listen to you, and you actually do teach them things. Other groups are too energetic to have time for learning, and so just spend their classtime not-learning and having a good time of that (and they'll take you along into that if you let them). So in my head I've started to categorize them loosely into "studious" classes, and "fun" classes. I love them for different reasons, in different ways, and sometimes on different days.<br />
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But anyway, it's the "frogs" and the "horses" killing me lately. The frogs (zodiac animal being oxen, same as me) were in 6th grade when I arrived. I've talked about them a lot because I've loved them for a long time now. They are the 3nens now, the eldest class in the middle school, goofier and sharper than ever before. Having seen them be leaders in their elementary schools (kinda) as 6th graders, and now seeing them grow into leaders in their JHS, I am more familiar with them than almost any class. They're maybe more on the 'fun' side of the spectrum when it comes to class behavior, but their spirit makes me happy to the point that I don't care. They also tend to channel that energy into not being afraid to talk to me. It's just cause I been around so long, I know, but it's nice.<br />
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The horses are now in the 4th grade, but they were 1st graders when I arrived. Those tiny cute minipeople have turned into kids with actual personalities and a great presence I think is uncommon for kids their age. The funny thing is, this is so at both separate elementary schools. At the bigger elementary, the 4th grade horses are sandwiched between the sheep below them (who I casually tend to think of as joyfully 'having rabies,' because they are perhaps the most '<i>fun</i>' class I have) and the 5th grade snakes above them, some of whom border on being belligerent. But this sandwich effect always made for a sigh of relief when I saw their grade on my schedule amidst what promised to be a chaotic storm of the other grades. Every class is kind of hit or miss, but with the horses everything is a big hit.<br />
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Watching these 'horses' at recess reminds me of how long I really have been here. Kids grow, things change, and there was a time to come here, and there is a time to leave. That time is approaching.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember this kid? See <a href="http://eminihonde.blogspot.jp/2010/02/talk-about-weather.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTQ__CB3Yb1jBz4KsNS51iN_RTFo0oGmbZtflYvuVF2EDkdmnZXwNMqVDOfz7c-meMp6ykvCa2IqaaInXnZgVbWStpVsGlg13halaxYBA038oM2VrrPdpl6PZUMQ8oms-zfI5ylxJT-5v/s1600/P6280264-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTQ__CB3Yb1jBz4KsNS51iN_RTFo0oGmbZtflYvuVF2EDkdmnZXwNMqVDOfz7c-meMp6ykvCa2IqaaInXnZgVbWStpVsGlg13halaxYBA038oM2VrrPdpl6PZUMQ8oms-zfI5ylxJT-5v/s640/P6280264-001.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now she gives piggy-back rides to the smaller ones.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28iV7buz0P2hkb9A-TsfSDpCagcmbjfWoCemZW3G60TZTFFcKPTFZvHlPZ9FT9QkqTZf1SOSgp3HHweSAZF1E2aykd4rlJGl9DT7ckoqNNW7H67k93HuUErGDlxoCY6YovhStkRDTTcgQ/s1600/P6280263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28iV7buz0P2hkb9A-TsfSDpCagcmbjfWoCemZW3G60TZTFFcKPTFZvHlPZ9FT9QkqTZf1SOSgp3HHweSAZF1E2aykd4rlJGl9DT7ckoqNNW7H67k93HuUErGDlxoCY6YovhStkRDTTcgQ/s400/P6280263.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I keep thinking about my farewell speech and putting off the writing of it. It's just going to turn into a love letter to the whole school, and I know it, and it embarrasses me a little bit, to think of having someone check it over for me and stuff, make sure the grammar is right before I stand and attempt to deliver. I guess it shouldn't, I guess really it's okay that at the end of these three years, even though I </span><i style="background-color: white;">want </i><span style="background-color: white;">to want to leave them with some bit of wisdom about cultural identity and international exchange, all I'm going to be able to get up there and say is </span><i style="background-color: white;">I love you</i><span style="background-color: white;">. Cause that's just kind of how I roll; sentimental n' shit. ^_^</span>Emhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15035283934411352786noreply@blogger.com2