Anyone who knows me well knows that I adore fruit. Sadly, though, I haven't tried very many Japanese fruits at all! After looking at the prices of fruits at any market and being advised against the grapes, I've pretty much stuck to my (relatively inexpensive) apples and bananas. But after Sean Greenwell (thanks!) commented on my blog in response to my strange green fruits (which are apparently unripe rambutans), I couldn't help but do some research. Here is a website with a list of fruits I will now make it my mission to try while in Asia:
Crazy Asian Fruits (that is is no way, shape, or form a pun :P)
On a different note, I had my first day of school today. I've never felt more like a freshman in my life! After going to my first class, though, it seemed like I wouldn't be too in over my head. The teacher spoke a little quickly, but I understood most of what was said, and I seemed more confident when I spoke than some of the other students in the class. I'm also very lucky in that this is potentially my only 5 unit class and my 2 closest friends here are in it with me (Ashleigh and Clare). It's a class with the really tacky title: All About Me, All About You. It's thematic interaction; we'll come up with a theme to discuss in class and write up in a report. It seems pretty informative!
My second class was Communication at the Workplace; seemed pretty straight forward. We memorize dialogues in order to cope in a business environment. I also have the pleasure of sharing this class with Ashleigh.
My third class was going to be pronunciation, but fortunately, O-Week (Orientation Week) gave me a chance to decide between that and another class. Each of the elective classes is half as long as it would normally be during O-Week to give students the chance to attend another class orientation about which they are curious. So, after 45 minutes of "shadowing" a recording by awkwardly repeating everything he said and working out the small differences between sake (salmon) and sake (alcohol), Ashleigh and I left for Reading J-Society and J-Culture for Vocabulary Acquisition. We were the only two students in the second half of that class; it was actually pretty fun! It may be an easy review class, but I really think that it will help build my vocabulary (something I definitely need). I will definitely switch to that class.
Not only is that 3/3 classes so far with a friend, it's 3/3 classes so far with no exams whatsoever. I may have a lot of projects, but it'll be nice to not have to worry about lessons culminating into exams! Also, aside from my aforementioned 5 unit class, all of my classes are worth 1 unit (stressful until my advisor said he'd count anything toward what I needed). So, it seems like I'll be getting a little information in a lot of much-needed areas. I hope I don't regret saying it, but I'm starting to look forward to the semester!
More pictures will come in the next blog :)
<3!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Our Adventures on Mt. Fuji
With school coming up, time was running out to do the various adventures we wanted to do. So, since the off-season for Mt. Fuji had only begun 3 weeks ago (meaning the mountain was still safe to climb, weather permitting), Ashleigh and I decided to give it a go. The journey to the mountain involved a train to Shinjuku, a 2 hour bus ride to Kawaguchiko Station, and a 50 minute bus ride to the Kawaguchiko 5th Station. On Mt. Fuji, there are multiple hiking trails to the summit, each of which has 10 stations with rest stops (called huts) and shops. The 5th Stations are generally where hikers begin, and Kawaguchiko 5th Station is the most popular of these stations (also the most easily accessible).
The bus ride to Kawaguchiko Station was filled with beautiful scenery. The glare off the windows is a little annoying, but the mountains were too beautiful not to share.
Our first view of Mt. Fuji from the bus!
A before picture from the second bus--from Kawaguchiko Station to Kawaguchiko 5th Station.
The little bus that goes up the mountain. The seats in front are priority (for elderly, handicapped, people with small children, etc.), and the seats in the back were tiered.
At the fifth station--a before picture in front of the mountain! The woman who took this picture was an English-speaking representative of the 5th Station, and she was quite relieved to know we'd brought food and rain gear. She also informed us that the only open hut was at the 8th Station--since it was the off-season, everything else was closed!
We had several hours to kill before going up the mountain. The traditional way to hike Fuji is to do it at night so you can reach the summit to watch the sun rise. This picture is of a shrine that was at the 5th Station.
The clouds that were rolling in. These actually stayed low and went around the mountain. The storms that hit the mountain came from the other side.
Information about the 5th Station. 6.3 kilometers is actually inaccurate: it's more like 7 or so. The summit is at 3,776 meters.
This is the map of the trail we took: The Yoshida trail. The giant split is for the ascending trail (on the right--lots of stairs) and the descending trail (on the left--lots of switchbacks). The ascending trail was closed due to construction, so we took the descending trail up the mountain.
That's pretty much the 5th Station. There's a waiting room (for buses) and some free bathrooms down some stairs, and a shrine up some steps, but that's really about it. Lots of shops and food!
After all the shops closed, Ashleigh and I waited for the sun to set to begin our hike. The sunset was pretty beautiful (but nothing even compares to a Tucson summer sunset)!
Sunset on the mountain.
I couldn't help but take pictures of the mountain at different times of the day. It just looked so majestic the whole time!
It got chilly, so we put on some of our layers and rain gear. In this picture, I'm in 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, shorts, a pair of tights, and sweatpants. I have a small pair of socks and a thick pair of socks. There are 3 plastic bags in each shoe (1 outside the small socks, 2 outside the thick socks) to water-proof the shoes as best as possible (this method actually worked really well, although it did cramp the feet a little). The red things are gaiters--they keep water and small rocks from falling into your shoes (they are also my new love in life).
One more of Mt. Fuji--this time at night! We still had a few hours to wait....
Eventually, though, Ashleigh and I noticed some clouds that looked like the might be heading for us. There was a lot of lightning in these clouds, and we decided that it would be best to start our hike in order to figure out what we would do in case the storm reached us (there is an emergency hut on the mountain--it seemed like a safe move to get there before the storm). Since we couldn't hear any thunder, we decided we would most likely be alright. Our thoughts were confirmed by some hikers heading down the mountain--a couple of Norwegians who had lost the rest of their party when they turned around early. They agreed that the storm probably wouldn't reach us. These hikers had been talking to a German man (probably around 40-45 years old) who was also setting up the mountain. We decided to form a little team--Ashleigh, myself, and our new German friend (for the life of me, I can't spell his name).
This view is from partway up the mountain--you can see the city lights. I decided that some of them looked like an A (debatably for Arizona or Ashleigh).
These clouds eventually surrounded the mountain, though they never actually affected us. They were definitely cool to watch!
Hiking Mt. Fuji is certainly not "mountaineering." The hike is not particularly demanding in a mental sense (as proven by the fact that many inexperienced hikers go up the mountain each year in the on-season). Physically, however, it's a different story. The switchbacks up the descending trail were steep and with lots of small rocks. Since it's the same motion all the way up the mountain, the thighs don't get much of a break. Combine that with the altitude, a heavy backpack, and unchanging scenery once you pass the 6th Station (especially at night, where the thin layer of green toward the base is invisible), and you have a rather tiring hike up. It's important to remember to take it slow--everyone we talked to who had little experience in high altitudes but went quickly told us they regretted it. We went slowly and had very few problems with the altitude. We took some pretty long breaks at the closed 7th Station and at the Emergency Hut to eat and relax. We were eventually advised by someone who had summited already to go until we warmed up, then stop until we got cold. We did that until the two trails (ascending and descending) connected.
Ashleigh and our hiking buddy--probably at the 7th Station.
At the juncture of the ascending and descending Yoshida trails, a heavy fog rolled in. We'd been seeing clouds coming from the other side of the mountain, but up until that point they had just dissipated. We could no longer see very far, and our headlamps did a lovely job of illuminating the fog. We knew that a hut was open just a small ways away from us, and so we headed down the ascending trail toward a light. We were correct; the hut was open, so we went inside and sat right in front of the sleeping innkeeper in the area where the toilet shoes were housed. No more than 1 minute after we were inside, the rain started pouring down. We sat there for a solid 45 minutes (with various hut guests noticing us and agreeing that we could stay out of the rain as long as we sat where the shoes went) until the innkeeper's alarm started going off. Fortunately for us, he would wake up, snooze his alarm, and fall back asleep without looking up. This continued for another 15-20 minutes before an inn guest went too close to the innkeeper. He shot up and yelled at us to get out or pay. We decided to wait outside until the storm ebbed and we could continue toward the summit. The innkeeper was not nice about it, though; he wouldn't even allow us the time to put on our clothes before stepping out into the rain.
After about a half an hour of being outside, we came to the realization that the storm was not going to back off any time soon. We decided the best decision was to spend the night in the hut, despite the rude innkeeper and the steep price of ~$70 per person (to stay from 2am until 8am)! We spent the night on tiered-bunk-like beds that were really just padding with a sleeping bag and an extra blanket.
The innkeeper's job is to wake everyone up at 3 or so in the morning so they can hike and summit in time for the sunrise. Unfortunately, the weather made this hike impossible, so he woke us at 5 so we could watch the sunrise from the hut. I watched a little of it from the window, but the clouds made it a little less fantastic, and it was quite cold. It was still beautiful; above is one of the pictures of the sun rising.
In the morning, we knew that there was virtually no chance of us making it up to the summit. The weather was rainy at best and unpredictable at worst, so we teamed up with a larger group of people coming down the mountain. We again took the descending Yoshida trail, and we hiked through hail, lightning, wind, and rain. The hike down, however, was surprisingly more beautiful and certainly a lot easier. It takes 6-8 hours to summit Mt. Fuji...and 2-4 to descend.
The view of the clouds as we headed down the mountain. You can see a little of a large lake if you look in the middle of the photo toward the right.
There was definitely green at the bottom of the mountain! The hike down was pretty despite the weather. We did find that the signs can be a little confusing, but as long as you know where you going, you'll be able to get there. Sometimes you just end up taking a different route to the same place.
Ashleigh and me on our way back down. I'm wearing 5 shirts, a sweater, a windbreaker/coat, a pair of shorts, a pair of tights, sweatpants, the same sock/plastic bag setup as earlier, two beanies, and and my poncho/rain suit. I was definitely warm enough!
Our traveling party. We learned about halfway down that two of these folks were the Norwegians we'd been searching for the whole time! (We'd asked everyone we saw on the way up if they were the Norwegians.) So, our "team" consisted of 3 Japanese (who were also going to Waseda!), 2 Norwegians, 1 Korean, 1 German, 1 New Zealander, and 1 American (me!). Some of the people aren't pictured here...cause someone had to take the picture! It was a lot of fun; I really love that such a varied group of people can come together.
So, overall, the trip was fantastic, even without having made it to the top. I wouldn't change a thing about it (except maybe getting stuck in traffic on the way back :P).
Well, then! Until next time!
<3
The bus ride to Kawaguchiko Station was filled with beautiful scenery. The glare off the windows is a little annoying, but the mountains were too beautiful not to share.
Our first view of Mt. Fuji from the bus!
A before picture from the second bus--from Kawaguchiko Station to Kawaguchiko 5th Station.
The little bus that goes up the mountain. The seats in front are priority (for elderly, handicapped, people with small children, etc.), and the seats in the back were tiered.
At the fifth station--a before picture in front of the mountain! The woman who took this picture was an English-speaking representative of the 5th Station, and she was quite relieved to know we'd brought food and rain gear. She also informed us that the only open hut was at the 8th Station--since it was the off-season, everything else was closed!
We had several hours to kill before going up the mountain. The traditional way to hike Fuji is to do it at night so you can reach the summit to watch the sun rise. This picture is of a shrine that was at the 5th Station.
The clouds that were rolling in. These actually stayed low and went around the mountain. The storms that hit the mountain came from the other side.
Information about the 5th Station. 6.3 kilometers is actually inaccurate: it's more like 7 or so. The summit is at 3,776 meters.
This is the map of the trail we took: The Yoshida trail. The giant split is for the ascending trail (on the right--lots of stairs) and the descending trail (on the left--lots of switchbacks). The ascending trail was closed due to construction, so we took the descending trail up the mountain.
That's pretty much the 5th Station. There's a waiting room (for buses) and some free bathrooms down some stairs, and a shrine up some steps, but that's really about it. Lots of shops and food!
After all the shops closed, Ashleigh and I waited for the sun to set to begin our hike. The sunset was pretty beautiful (but nothing even compares to a Tucson summer sunset)!
Sunset on the mountain.
I couldn't help but take pictures of the mountain at different times of the day. It just looked so majestic the whole time!
It got chilly, so we put on some of our layers and rain gear. In this picture, I'm in 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, shorts, a pair of tights, and sweatpants. I have a small pair of socks and a thick pair of socks. There are 3 plastic bags in each shoe (1 outside the small socks, 2 outside the thick socks) to water-proof the shoes as best as possible (this method actually worked really well, although it did cramp the feet a little). The red things are gaiters--they keep water and small rocks from falling into your shoes (they are also my new love in life).
One more of Mt. Fuji--this time at night! We still had a few hours to wait....Eventually, though, Ashleigh and I noticed some clouds that looked like the might be heading for us. There was a lot of lightning in these clouds, and we decided that it would be best to start our hike in order to figure out what we would do in case the storm reached us (there is an emergency hut on the mountain--it seemed like a safe move to get there before the storm). Since we couldn't hear any thunder, we decided we would most likely be alright. Our thoughts were confirmed by some hikers heading down the mountain--a couple of Norwegians who had lost the rest of their party when they turned around early. They agreed that the storm probably wouldn't reach us. These hikers had been talking to a German man (probably around 40-45 years old) who was also setting up the mountain. We decided to form a little team--Ashleigh, myself, and our new German friend (for the life of me, I can't spell his name).
This view is from partway up the mountain--you can see the city lights. I decided that some of them looked like an A (debatably for Arizona or Ashleigh).
These clouds eventually surrounded the mountain, though they never actually affected us. They were definitely cool to watch!Hiking Mt. Fuji is certainly not "mountaineering." The hike is not particularly demanding in a mental sense (as proven by the fact that many inexperienced hikers go up the mountain each year in the on-season). Physically, however, it's a different story. The switchbacks up the descending trail were steep and with lots of small rocks. Since it's the same motion all the way up the mountain, the thighs don't get much of a break. Combine that with the altitude, a heavy backpack, and unchanging scenery once you pass the 6th Station (especially at night, where the thin layer of green toward the base is invisible), and you have a rather tiring hike up. It's important to remember to take it slow--everyone we talked to who had little experience in high altitudes but went quickly told us they regretted it. We went slowly and had very few problems with the altitude. We took some pretty long breaks at the closed 7th Station and at the Emergency Hut to eat and relax. We were eventually advised by someone who had summited already to go until we warmed up, then stop until we got cold. We did that until the two trails (ascending and descending) connected.
Ashleigh and our hiking buddy--probably at the 7th Station.At the juncture of the ascending and descending Yoshida trails, a heavy fog rolled in. We'd been seeing clouds coming from the other side of the mountain, but up until that point they had just dissipated. We could no longer see very far, and our headlamps did a lovely job of illuminating the fog. We knew that a hut was open just a small ways away from us, and so we headed down the ascending trail toward a light. We were correct; the hut was open, so we went inside and sat right in front of the sleeping innkeeper in the area where the toilet shoes were housed. No more than 1 minute after we were inside, the rain started pouring down. We sat there for a solid 45 minutes (with various hut guests noticing us and agreeing that we could stay out of the rain as long as we sat where the shoes went) until the innkeeper's alarm started going off. Fortunately for us, he would wake up, snooze his alarm, and fall back asleep without looking up. This continued for another 15-20 minutes before an inn guest went too close to the innkeeper. He shot up and yelled at us to get out or pay. We decided to wait outside until the storm ebbed and we could continue toward the summit. The innkeeper was not nice about it, though; he wouldn't even allow us the time to put on our clothes before stepping out into the rain.
After about a half an hour of being outside, we came to the realization that the storm was not going to back off any time soon. We decided the best decision was to spend the night in the hut, despite the rude innkeeper and the steep price of ~$70 per person (to stay from 2am until 8am)! We spent the night on tiered-bunk-like beds that were really just padding with a sleeping bag and an extra blanket.
The innkeeper's job is to wake everyone up at 3 or so in the morning so they can hike and summit in time for the sunrise. Unfortunately, the weather made this hike impossible, so he woke us at 5 so we could watch the sunrise from the hut. I watched a little of it from the window, but the clouds made it a little less fantastic, and it was quite cold. It was still beautiful; above is one of the pictures of the sun rising.In the morning, we knew that there was virtually no chance of us making it up to the summit. The weather was rainy at best and unpredictable at worst, so we teamed up with a larger group of people coming down the mountain. We again took the descending Yoshida trail, and we hiked through hail, lightning, wind, and rain. The hike down, however, was surprisingly more beautiful and certainly a lot easier. It takes 6-8 hours to summit Mt. Fuji...and 2-4 to descend.
The view of the clouds as we headed down the mountain. You can see a little of a large lake if you look in the middle of the photo toward the right.
There was definitely green at the bottom of the mountain! The hike down was pretty despite the weather. We did find that the signs can be a little confusing, but as long as you know where you going, you'll be able to get there. Sometimes you just end up taking a different route to the same place.
Ashleigh and me on our way back down. I'm wearing 5 shirts, a sweater, a windbreaker/coat, a pair of shorts, a pair of tights, sweatpants, the same sock/plastic bag setup as earlier, two beanies, and and my poncho/rain suit. I was definitely warm enough!
Our traveling party. We learned about halfway down that two of these folks were the Norwegians we'd been searching for the whole time! (We'd asked everyone we saw on the way up if they were the Norwegians.) So, our "team" consisted of 3 Japanese (who were also going to Waseda!), 2 Norwegians, 1 Korean, 1 German, 1 New Zealander, and 1 American (me!). Some of the people aren't pictured here...cause someone had to take the picture! It was a lot of fun; I really love that such a varied group of people can come together.So, overall, the trip was fantastic, even without having made it to the top. I wouldn't change a thing about it (except maybe getting stuck in traffic on the way back :P).
Well, then! Until next time!
<3
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Last Week
Well, once again, a lot has gone on just over the weekend! There were so many pictures, it was hard to pick less than 60...so, once again, I apologize about the massive amount of them.
Ashleigh and I went to Shinjuku and then around Waseda to try to find a bank and open an account. For the record, never try this method. Wait until the banks come to your school and then decide. And also, for the record, Resona appears more student-friendly than Citi, especially considering the lack of Citi ATMs...everywhere.
These couple of pictures are from Sweets Paradise--an all you can eat Sweets Buffet! Delicious, but a little painful to the stomach...
and a little bit painful to English speakers, as well. The heeltaps in America are better. :P
The yummy, yummy sweets :)
Next, a few of us went to a little traditional art gallery/museum/shop that was in the same area (Ikebukuro). These are a few of the things we saw:
Beautiful set up of utensils.
Aww
This style of art originated from Koreans living in Japan centuries ago. It is known for the blue paint on the white background.
Even the adorable little guys were so intricate!
The next day, Marija, Clare, Alex, and I went to Kamakura to look at the shrines and temples.
This one is from a shelter for women who's husbands wouldn't allow them to divorce. It is a Buddhist Temple and graveyard, as well.
Probably a protector for wanderers or the deceased...but, I'm not sure.
The graveyard at the shelter. Some of the graves were gorgeous, and a lot of them had fresh flowers as offerings to ancestors. One of them even had a beer; I guess beer and sake are pretty common "gifts" to the dead.
Next on our journey was the hike to the Daibutsu (big Buddha temple). The way was sort but quite slippery from the rain the night before and a little trecherous!
Footholds. They were only in one part, but I found them very convenient.
A beautiful view from partway down the trail.
These spiky, green fruits were growing in a little field by the trail. I later saw them sold in a shop--no clue what they are!
Me in front of the Daibutsu. Amazing! He was giant--and the artwork was so intricate. We got to go inside him for another 2 bucks or so--displays inside showed how he was built using a layering technique. Very interesting.
Compare this picture to the next. Adorable!
Compare this picture to the last. Adorable!
Our next visit was to a Shinto shrine dedicated to samurai called Tsurugaoka Hachiman-Guu. A cherry-tree lined path lead the way. In front of that gate stood two lions (a special, more legendary type whose name eludes me), each with a different expression. The asymmetry surprised me, but I liked it.
At the shrine itself. Every shrine has a wash station with a hand-washing ritual (described in an earlier post), and some of the bigger ones have several small shrines before the big one. There are shops where you can buy prayers and souvenir-like things. Then, there is the big shrine (the one up the stairs in this case).
Our little group of travelers (Clare, Alex, me, Marija), by the water and huge lily pads (or, at least we think that's what those may be)! Everyone here is happy to take a picture for you if asked; it's very easy and pleasant.
After our journeys in Kamakura, we went with Waseda International Club to a night viewing at a government building (described earlier in my blog) to see the city. It was really beautiful....
The city at night.
The next day, Ashleigh, Marija, Clare, and I went to Ueno Park to go to the zoo.
This prince started the red cross and blood donation society of Japan. Good for him!
There were canadian geese at the zoo.... Funny that they could be a novelty here! There were also gila monsters; it made my day!
There were several shrines at the zoo; this is Ashleigh in front of one of them! There was also a tea house; apparently, the zoo was built around that house. It was where leaders of an older Japan would go for tea ceremonies.
Marija, me, Ashleigh, and Clare in front of the closest thing to a giant panda the zoo had. It did have real red pandas, though! Adorable!
Baby monkey. SO cute.
This is a soft-shelled Chinese turtle. There's one in the turtle pond at school; it always looked so awkward and different, so I was very glad to find out what it was. He was in the giant reptile house, along with lots of lizards, several gators, snakes, and other, more primordial creatures.
This guy was some sort of aquatic lizard with a vestigial leg and foot. Look toward the right hand side and the back to see it!
The rest of the creature with the vestigial leg.
I think this was some sort of toad!
A hippopotamus! Among the other creatures in the zoo were bears, lions, tigers, gorillas, condors, hawks (there were a lot of various birds), bison, rodents, bats, and many more! It was a really cool trip.
The next day, I went on the Tokyo Tour hosted by the two International Groups: Nijinokai and W.I.C. (Waseda International Club). I had to pick one of four places, so I chose Tokyo Tower and Tsukishima. In Tsukishima, we tried a type of food called monja...or at least, everyone else did. It had shellfish bits in it, and I didn't want to let my table down (since it's a group type of eating), so I had to go somewhere else. Still, my pork and rice was delicious!
After eating, we went to a beautiful lookout point over a famous river (the name eludes me).
The river leads to the sea and has a great view of the city! The people with me are some fellow exchange students and some people from the international clubs.
We arrived at Tokyo Tower! Interestingly, some Japanese nationalists were circling the tower in big vans, blasting and old World War II army song and honking loudly at the gaijin (foreingers) they saw. It was a little tacky, and it was probably the first time I've been more than a bystander in a racist display.
Tokyo Tower was meant in some part as a way to one-up France. It's a whole 9.5 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, but it is nowhere near as magnificent. It actually looked a bit silly to me with its bright colors and satellite-things sticking out of the side. Still, it was fun getting to see it and go inside.
Some of us took the elevator, but the cool kids took the stairs up to the first and second observation levels (I would have gone to the special observatory had time permitted, but our group was on a schedule). We got a little "you did it!" card for taking the stairs all the way to the top. This was my favorite picture of the view of Tokyo from the tower.
After taking the stairs back down, my friends and I found the rather phallic mascot of Tokyo Tower (he's supposed to be shaped like the tower, but it looked a little different to us).
These dogs are the ones who ventured bravely to the South Pole. Not sure why they're next to Tokyo Tower, but I liked the display.
These little clothed statues are for departed children...usually from miscarriages and the like. It was kind of sad to see so many lining the side of this shrine.
These scary dark birds are everywhere. They sound like crows, but they have very strange beaks....
There was a Matsuri (festival) going on in the next prefecture! So lucky to be able to see these types of things. Really, the very old next to the very new is quite the fascinating thing to be able to witness. Starbucks right next to old temple gates, Matsuri in the big city...everything is truly amazing.
Anyway, until next time!
Ashleigh and I went to Shinjuku and then around Waseda to try to find a bank and open an account. For the record, never try this method. Wait until the banks come to your school and then decide. And also, for the record, Resona appears more student-friendly than Citi, especially considering the lack of Citi ATMs...everywhere.
These couple of pictures are from Sweets Paradise--an all you can eat Sweets Buffet! Delicious, but a little painful to the stomach...
and a little bit painful to English speakers, as well. The heeltaps in America are better. :P
The yummy, yummy sweets :)Next, a few of us went to a little traditional art gallery/museum/shop that was in the same area (Ikebukuro). These are a few of the things we saw:
Beautiful set up of utensils.
Aww
This style of art originated from Koreans living in Japan centuries ago. It is known for the blue paint on the white background.
Even the adorable little guys were so intricate!The next day, Marija, Clare, Alex, and I went to Kamakura to look at the shrines and temples.
This one is from a shelter for women who's husbands wouldn't allow them to divorce. It is a Buddhist Temple and graveyard, as well.
Probably a protector for wanderers or the deceased...but, I'm not sure.
The graveyard at the shelter. Some of the graves were gorgeous, and a lot of them had fresh flowers as offerings to ancestors. One of them even had a beer; I guess beer and sake are pretty common "gifts" to the dead.
Next on our journey was the hike to the Daibutsu (big Buddha temple). The way was sort but quite slippery from the rain the night before and a little trecherous!
Footholds. They were only in one part, but I found them very convenient.
A beautiful view from partway down the trail.
These spiky, green fruits were growing in a little field by the trail. I later saw them sold in a shop--no clue what they are!
Me in front of the Daibutsu. Amazing! He was giant--and the artwork was so intricate. We got to go inside him for another 2 bucks or so--displays inside showed how he was built using a layering technique. Very interesting.
Compare this picture to the next. Adorable!
Compare this picture to the last. Adorable!
Our next visit was to a Shinto shrine dedicated to samurai called Tsurugaoka Hachiman-Guu. A cherry-tree lined path lead the way. In front of that gate stood two lions (a special, more legendary type whose name eludes me), each with a different expression. The asymmetry surprised me, but I liked it.
At the shrine itself. Every shrine has a wash station with a hand-washing ritual (described in an earlier post), and some of the bigger ones have several small shrines before the big one. There are shops where you can buy prayers and souvenir-like things. Then, there is the big shrine (the one up the stairs in this case).
Our little group of travelers (Clare, Alex, me, Marija), by the water and huge lily pads (or, at least we think that's what those may be)! Everyone here is happy to take a picture for you if asked; it's very easy and pleasant.After our journeys in Kamakura, we went with Waseda International Club to a night viewing at a government building (described earlier in my blog) to see the city. It was really beautiful....
The city at night.The next day, Ashleigh, Marija, Clare, and I went to Ueno Park to go to the zoo.
This prince started the red cross and blood donation society of Japan. Good for him!
There were canadian geese at the zoo.... Funny that they could be a novelty here! There were also gila monsters; it made my day!
There were several shrines at the zoo; this is Ashleigh in front of one of them! There was also a tea house; apparently, the zoo was built around that house. It was where leaders of an older Japan would go for tea ceremonies.
Marija, me, Ashleigh, and Clare in front of the closest thing to a giant panda the zoo had. It did have real red pandas, though! Adorable!
Baby monkey. SO cute.
This is a soft-shelled Chinese turtle. There's one in the turtle pond at school; it always looked so awkward and different, so I was very glad to find out what it was. He was in the giant reptile house, along with lots of lizards, several gators, snakes, and other, more primordial creatures.
This guy was some sort of aquatic lizard with a vestigial leg and foot. Look toward the right hand side and the back to see it!
The rest of the creature with the vestigial leg.
I think this was some sort of toad!
A hippopotamus! Among the other creatures in the zoo were bears, lions, tigers, gorillas, condors, hawks (there were a lot of various birds), bison, rodents, bats, and many more! It was a really cool trip.The next day, I went on the Tokyo Tour hosted by the two International Groups: Nijinokai and W.I.C. (Waseda International Club). I had to pick one of four places, so I chose Tokyo Tower and Tsukishima. In Tsukishima, we tried a type of food called monja...or at least, everyone else did. It had shellfish bits in it, and I didn't want to let my table down (since it's a group type of eating), so I had to go somewhere else. Still, my pork and rice was delicious!
After eating, we went to a beautiful lookout point over a famous river (the name eludes me).
The river leads to the sea and has a great view of the city! The people with me are some fellow exchange students and some people from the international clubs.
We arrived at Tokyo Tower! Interestingly, some Japanese nationalists were circling the tower in big vans, blasting and old World War II army song and honking loudly at the gaijin (foreingers) they saw. It was a little tacky, and it was probably the first time I've been more than a bystander in a racist display.
Tokyo Tower was meant in some part as a way to one-up France. It's a whole 9.5 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, but it is nowhere near as magnificent. It actually looked a bit silly to me with its bright colors and satellite-things sticking out of the side. Still, it was fun getting to see it and go inside.
Some of us took the elevator, but the cool kids took the stairs up to the first and second observation levels (I would have gone to the special observatory had time permitted, but our group was on a schedule). We got a little "you did it!" card for taking the stairs all the way to the top. This was my favorite picture of the view of Tokyo from the tower.
After taking the stairs back down, my friends and I found the rather phallic mascot of Tokyo Tower (he's supposed to be shaped like the tower, but it looked a little different to us).
These dogs are the ones who ventured bravely to the South Pole. Not sure why they're next to Tokyo Tower, but I liked the display.
These little clothed statues are for departed children...usually from miscarriages and the like. It was kind of sad to see so many lining the side of this shrine.
These scary dark birds are everywhere. They sound like crows, but they have very strange beaks....
There was a Matsuri (festival) going on in the next prefecture! So lucky to be able to see these types of things. Really, the very old next to the very new is quite the fascinating thing to be able to witness. Starbucks right next to old temple gates, Matsuri in the big city...everything is truly amazing.Anyway, until next time!
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