Day Trip to Kaga

We trekked all the way up these stairs expecting there to be a beautiful at the top and then there was just a restaurant- no view. Oh well.
Beautiful day for fall colors
At a temple
Lovely little waterfall and shed
Me at the foot onsen

On Saturday, Jess (a fellow JET) and I trekked the whole 50 minutes to a town called Kaga, just south of Kanazawa. We weren't sure what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. It was a gorgeous day so we wandered around, went to a foot onsen (natural hotspring that you stick your feet in), had a wonderful yakisoba lunch at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant, saw some lovely scenery and just enjoyed the day. It was great!

Halloween

Jess, Fiona and Me
Kinda freaky- there must have been a ghost in the party because how else could this picture exist, right?
One of our own JETs, Shaffer, won Best Costume. There were a ton of JETs in attendance and we made a ton of noise to help him win. I mean, how else would a guy in a green shirt and garland saying he was a Christmas tree win a Best Costume contest?
Phil, Tom, Amanda, Me, Jess and Fiona

Halloween isn't big in Japan but the foreigner bar, Apre, in Kanazawa had a big Halloween party.

21st Century Museum

Jon, Alex and Alisha came down from the Noto and we went to the 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa on Saturday afternoon. They had some really cool exhibits including some crazy modern ikebana and a pool that is really just a layer of water suspended in the center of the pool. You can go through a small door and enter the pool and it feels like you are underwater or you can look down from above and it looks like people are sitting or standing on the bottom of the pool. Very cool.

Out in Kanazawa

Blair and the cutest dog ever, named Cha Cha.

Me and Heather
This is the cutest dog ever. We wears a jacket with a hood and we walks on the bar.
Out for one of the JETs birthdays! We went to a place where you cook your own okonomiyaki and yakisoba right on the table- definitely recommend it!!!

From the New York Times

Not related to Japan but certainly related to me.......

"Style is unstudied, capricious. Specifically, it is a rubber ducky placed on a plain wooden table, a loop of twine hanging from a bathroom sink instead of a conventional toilet paper dispenser. It is the good sense not to replace chipped heirloom china with something flawless and new, and the wisdom never to waste countless hours building a trellis when a plant displayed in an old sausage tin, or whimsically in a child’s sand pail, will do."

"The Imperfectionist" New York Times. 19 Oct 06.

Yeah that's right.... I GOT STYLE!

Sitemeter

I wanted to know if people actually look at this blog so I added a sitemeter. It doesn't tell me anything else about you- just how many people visited. So visit often because it makes me happy to see that people are looking at my blog!

:-)

Deer in Nara

This is from when Dad and I were in Nara.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apGtrxkAevU

Ikebana

Action shot: Jane and Honda Sensei
Today's Ikebana arrangement

Canadian Thanksgiving

Jess and Phil from Australia
Jane and Me

Last Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving and Jane and Zach were kind enough to have a bunch of JETs over for a traditional Thanksgiving supper of spaghetti and lots of wine and beer. Even though there was no turkey, we were certainly thankful to have lovely people to spend the evening with and I had a great time. I have only 2 photos of the evening because I spent the whole evening taking pictures on Jane's camera and, while she promised to share the photos with me they have yet to materialize. (Maybe when she reads this, that will change!)

More Ikebana

Thought I'd add another ikebana photo. This was taken a few weeks ago but it is one of my favorites. I take classes every Sunday morning. It is a lot of fun and I get to have nice fresh flowers in my apartment for the rest of the week. Win, win, I'd say.

Fun photos from Dad's trip

Some fun photos from Dad's trip

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Dad and I spent Dad's last day in Kanazawa walking around the Higashiyama area, shopping and exploring the area. It was a little rainy but we had fun avoiding the spiders and seeing the area.

Dad and Alexis in KZ

Dad in front of Kanazawa Castle
Dad and Me in Kenrokuen

Kyoto Part 2 and Nara

Kasuga Shrine in Nara

Deer run all over the place in Nara They are considered deities and you are supposed to feed them crackers. However, really what happens is that they sense that you have food and they ATTACK you biting your butt and chomping on your clothes until you throw all of your crackers in the air and start yelling "No more! I have no more!"
The Golden Pavillion in Kyoto Todaiji Temple in Nara

Nijo Castle in Kyoto

Kyoto

Perfecting the art of one armed picture taking: Dad and Me in front of Toji Temple, the tallest pagoda in Japan.
Dad and Me in front of Nishi Honganji Temple. Too bad the umbrellas got in the way..... such was the theme of Monday's adventures.Toji Temple garden

Tallest Pagoda in Japan: Toji Temple.
Dad and I are in Kyoto right now. Dad arrived on Saturday evening and we will spent a few days in Kyoto and then head to Kanazawa for a few days before he returns to Kansai Airport in Osaka on Saturday. So far the disgusting rain hasn't dampened our spirits too much and we are trying to see all that Kyoto has to offer under our trusty 100 yen umbrellas.

Sightseeing in Kanazawa

Marie, Lauren, Alex, Cyndi and Me in Kenrokuen overlooking Kanazawa
Oyama Shrine
In front of the oldest fountain in Japan. It works without electricity because of the difference in water levels in the two ponds that are near it.

ESS Crepe Party

At the Party
Zach making crepes.
Me and part of the ESS
The English Speaking Society had a Welcome Party for me and we made crepes and then ate them. It was a LOT of fun and they are really really nice girls.

Rain rain go away

Today is really the first day that it has rained in Kanazawa since I arrived. I have heard so much about the rainfall but I didn't believe it until today. It rains over 200 days a year so I suppose I am in for a real treat. It has been pouring all day long! I tried to bike home but ended up walking and was completely drenched by the time I got home.

My first attempt at Ikebana, Japanese flower arranging. I am taking a class every week!

In the Geisha District
Gold Leaf in our Tea. It is supposed to be good for your health.

Photos

Dancing at the Festival. Lots of boys in skirts.
The orchestra played "My Heart will Go On" and had a cut out of Leo and Kate. It was awesome!
The entrance to Nisui Sai Festival. The theme was "All for One. One for all."

Nisui Sai Festival
Students in front of the Tacos Food Booth

Starting to write

So I still don't have my own internet in my apartment but I am 'borrowing' wireless from a neighbor and I have just enough power, bandwidth, internet juice, whatever you call it, to post a few things. So far Japan is amazing. I am pretty sure I am still in the honeymoon period of culture shock but I am having a great time. Obviously I miss home and people from home but Japan has treated me quite well so far.

It has been a very busy weekend! On Friday night I went to my first onsen with some new friends. It was very relaxing and, once you get over the fact that you and everyone around you are nude, it isn't so weird. Overall, it was a good experience and I would go back. On Saturday and Sunday, Nisui High School, where I work, had their school festival which is a HUGE festival with lots of activities. All of the third graders (equivalent to US grade 12) take care of the food boothes and sell tons of food including yakisoba, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and even tacos (although the tacos had rice and broccoli in them!). The second graders (US grade 11) do dance performances all day. Each homeroom performs for about 30 minutes and some of the dances were quite impressive. I was treated to such wonders of American music as "Crazy in Love", "I Got 99 Problems but a B Ain't One" and "Put it in your Mouth". While the dances themselves were quite tame, some of the song choices were a little odd and I can only hope that no one actually listened to the words. No one seemed too bothered by it, not even the English teachers, so I suppose Zach (my Canadian co-worker) and I were the only ones able to pick up on the finer points of the English references. Definitely funny though. The first graders (US grade 10) did activities inside of the classrooms where you could try on costumes, make fans, buy goodies, etc. It was a great weekend and I was SO impressed that all of the students put into the festival. Saturday night, I went for dinner with some JETs, went to a cafe with some other JETs, and then went salsa dancing with some other JETs..... and I will still in bed by 10:30 PM! It was a busy night but lots of fun. Sunday night I went for dinner with the "Spanish Club". Yes, indeed, I have joined the Spanish club! There are a few JETs who get together to practice Spanish and it was a lot of fun! We went to a delicious Spanish restaurant in Katamachi (downtown). There are so many interesting people here.

Today, one of my teachers, Miura Sensei, took me to the Geisha District in Kanazawa. We had lunch and walked about the district. We also stopped into some gold leaf shops. Kanazawa makes over 90% of the gold leaf produced in Japan. We drank some tea with gold leaf in it and it was a pretty cool experience.

Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa is the third most beautiful garden in Japan.

I am here!

I have arrived in Japan safe and sound. I spent the last two days at Tokyo orientation and tomorrow I will travel to Kanazawa where I will be living for the next year of my life. Orientation has been informative (ok, it was a little dry) and overwhelming. Jet lag is definitely setting in and I am looking forward to starting a routine in my new city.

Will post pictures soon....