Chopped

We lost a bunch of hair this weekend. Not much else to report.

(Hope you laughed - or winced - at our combined mugs up there...)

Back to Kyoto

Took a pre-Holiday trip (they have Thanksgiving here too, kind of...) to Kyoto with our the members of our Japanese class and the always-awesome Osaki-sensei who was in rare forming cracking on everyone and keeping us in line. We managed to go to completely different spots this time than last, so the trip was nice. It was a weekend though - and this is prime Maple-viewing time - so there were even more people at all the temples than last time. (The first photo above is the narrow street leading up to one of the shrines>) At some it was almost impossible to move without shoving. Pretty ridiculous. The one time I got free time to myself, I walked in the wrong direction & missed out on the record store I wanted to give all my money to. Oh well. At least this time we actually have some photos to share.




One of the most note-worthy things though, was that we just happened upon a Shinto (i think...) wedding ceremony and that afterwards the wedding party ended up at the same restaurant as us. Here's a pic of the bride:

Hiking in Sasayama

A buddhist temple was close to our trailhead and a group of buddhists were chanting and praying as we headed up the mountain. I could tell our early rise and hour and a half drive would be well worth it.

We dabbled in some bouldering


And took breaks to catch our breath and take in the amazing views of the valley.


At the summit, we commemorated our 725 m hike, and had lunch. We shared kaki (persimmon), edamame, & mikan (mandarin orange). Pictured are; Tsutako-san, Kazuumi-san, Yuka-san, Chikanari-sensei, and that cute American couple.


The trip back down was rough on the knees, and I was sad it was over so soon. But we were rewarded at the bottom with a mini-festival that was going on. We watched some kids perform a dance, and everyone released balloons with a message. The mountain is called "small money mountain" (I forget the Japanese) and apparently is dotted by ruins of old buddhist temples. Hundreds of years ago, this mountain chain was a place to find peace and mental clarity. Still rings true today.

Somen Factory Tour

Somen noodles are an extremely thin, delicious noodle - Colleen's favorite - that is usually served cold as a summer dish (and occassionally hot in winter, but that's not nearly as popular). Our little area is known across the country for it's high quality somen because of the ideal climate and constant supply of fresh water from the river. Quite a few people around here own somen factories - some "factories" even run out of homes - and we are lucky enough to know one of them through English Conversation Class. Last week, Naaruo let Pippa and I swing by and check out his factory. I'd always thought him as a sit-behind-a-desk kind of guy, so I was really surprised to see that not only was he working the floor with his employees, he'd been working for 12 straight hours when we came by at 3pm - after hosting a house-warming party the night before. He's hardcore.

It was really cool to see the noodle-manufacturing process in which the ingredients are mixed together & then stretched into strands about seven feet long before being chopped down to 7" noodles and packaged up. Naaruo told me how much flour they go through in a day, but I forget now. It was a very large number though. Very, very large. For some reason this little factory visit seems like the most unique thing I've done here. I am really glad I got to see behind the scenes.

That's A Lot of Daikon

I don't know why there is a massive rack of giant radishes (some over two feet long) out alongside Route 29, but it definitely got my attention.

Cultural Give & Take Part Two: The Give

We played in an cover band. There I said it. About 2 months ago we were asked by our Japanese instructors to put together a band for the Yamasaki International Festival. At first I wanted nothing to do with it, but Colleen was eager to get behind the drums again, so after eventually compromising my way out of guitar duties, I was handed the bass and joined in. After less than a dozen pracices, a lot of shouting, and debates about the music that lasted right up until Saturday night, we finally slopped and simplified our way through three songs on Sunday afternoon. All said, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

And after we played, this local dance troupe came up and just schooled us. They were amazing, like a Japanese version of "You Got Served" or something.



The festival wasn't all performances, though. There was a kids section, a room to dress up in traditional Japanese kimonos, a raffle/auction, and (the main attraction) about a dozen booths serving various international foods (Indian, Korean, Jamaican, Australian and such). The American booth had two dishes: Colleen's (internet-found) tuna casserole recipe and pumpkin pie made by Wisconsinite Marie and her crew. We spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon in an industrial kitchen cranking out 150 servings of each and sold out of both. But pretty much everything sold out, so that isn't a huge accomplishment or anything.

Tonight: my first lesson as a private English tutor. I tried repeatedly to warn this lady I am no teacher, but she was adamant. We'll see how it turns out.

Cultural Give & Take Part One: The Take

Thursday was the national holiday Culture Day & we received an invitation - we still don't know from whom, JET? one of our Japanese friends? It just showed up at Colleen's school - to attend an open event in Himeji which displayed many of the different types of martial arts & historic sports (Sumo and Aikido are shown above. Kyudo (archery), Kendo, Jukendo, Karate, Judo and more were also displayed) and afterward let the crowd participate in open practices. Colleen opted for Aikido (pic below!) and I stepped into the Jukendo arena. It was fun, but my foot is really sore from stomping so much. Jukendo involves a serious foot-slap motion that I couldn't get down and since my instructors were all Japanese military they weren't going easy on my lanky awkwardness. Colleen fared much better and even though she's downplaying her new "Tough Guy" attitude, you can see how hostile she really is:



Tomorrow the Real "fun": The Give.