Tuxedo Sam!
He's my favorite Sanrio character and I was so happy to find socks of him at the Sanrio store!
Yum and on sale. Mango liquor!
I've been eating a little healthier lately. Salted and oiled up asparagus . . .
Omelets! One of the few unhealthy American foods that can be easily made in Japan.
My new closet, mold-free! My boss had a guy come over and completely replace all the wood in my closet that was covered in a wonderful green, purple, black, and foamy white mold. . .
Ms. Maeda, the manager, posing!
One of my students in a flower arrangement teacher so every week, she brings us beautiful flowers! That week, she was teaching how to make wedding bouquets!
Another visit to Dazaifu! I really love this place
I went to the Kyushu Museum in which I couldn't take pictures, but I definitely took a lot of pictures along the way. This was some sort of shrine.
The roof tiles had a design in it, I heard it was usually some type of family symbol.
I have no idea what this says . . .apparently it's this temple: http://www.gojapango.com/travel/fukuoka_komyozenji_temple.htm
This was inside of the temple area but no one was there so I wasn't sure if I was allowed to enter. I took a quick snap and left just in case.
This moss-covered tree also was in that same area.
I was hoping someone could tell me what this is?
Beautiful smokey mountains on my way up to the museum.
Reminds me of Totoro...
Hydrangeas! They are very prevalent this time of year. They are called "ajisai" in Japanese.
Look at the beautiful wild bamboo!
They look like giant feathers to me.
I got a kick out of this sign. Roughly translated: "Prohibition of dog poop!! Cleanup is the responsibility of the owner."
A beautiful man-made river thing next to the dog poop sign.
The long path up to the museum
On the way back from the museum, this was that same shrine from another angle.
I should know what these are . . . anyone? This was upon approaching Dazaifu (which is near the museum). I took a detour since the red bridge was overcrowded. There were tests the following week, so bands of high school students were marching up to the shrine. That shrine is for good luck in studying.
Someone was feeding the Koi fish so they were going crazy. I didn't get a good shot of them though because there were too many people.
This is the place I wanted to go to before, Totoro land! It's behind the shrine and up a steep hill.
There was a calm little river there.
This was inside of that forested area. No idea what this is but it was near a bunch of tiny shrine houses.
More moss-covered trees! This was approaching summer, so it was still cool and beautiful
What kind of moss is this?
A small statue/shrine?
These steps were much bigger than they look. A foot or more high each step.
The sunlight in the forest was so magical, wish I could recreate it adequately with my crappy camera.
I found out the water source for the river was just a tube.
Now you can kind of see how high up I was.
I went up a path that apparently wasn't really a path, it was a water runoff area, but I kept trekking on. What could have made these giant dents in these rocks? There were a lot of circular dents like this.
this doesn't do it justice. I climbed up a super steep hilly area before realizing that it wasn't actually a path! I reach the real path at the top, which took a lot of effort especially since it had rained earlier so it was muddy.
This monk was asking for money, but his song was worth it so I have him 100 yen or so.
I had to buy him! They have a Ghibli store near Dazaifu. He's currently watching people from my sliding glass door.
Look at his giant bushy tail!
His feet are so cute! ^_^
I also bought this bowl. I watched the guy making them, it was really impressive, but he stopped before I could take a video.
I was told it's a tea bowl. Below is his signature
More somewhat healthy food. I tried to make breaded eggplant and tomato. The tomatoes were good but not so much the eggplant.
I think this is ajisai? Hydrangea in English. Am I right? My student/coworker/ friend gave me this. I went over to her house to help her study English for her test and her mother gave me these! They were so beautiful but unfortunately didn't last long.
OK, you can't be healthy all the time . . . American food on the giant Japanese bread.
Eggplant pizza! I thought they were delicious!
Going to the zoo! I took my Russian friend there, but I'd never been there myself, so it was an experience. Unfortunately, it was really really hot! In order to even get down to the zoo, there was this escalator thing. We found out later that you could walk down from a path nearby . . . I was sick that day so I was wearing the customary SARS mask, so you won't see pictures of me. I tried to get a shot of my Russian friend, though. You'll see her for a second, she didn't like me to take pictures of her or anything, as you can see:
The little monkey was hilarious.
I think he was angry . . .
Poor guy, I dunno what was wrong with him. Obviously, birds don't normally sit.
My camera died but I got to snap this before it did. It said something like a catbear? Or some kind of bear. It was definitely weird though.
I quickly was able to snap this before my camera died again. Poor pengi! I think he was trying to get out of that dirty water. It was really sad :(
Again, I got a quick shot of this by snapping it before my camera shut off again. This was in the botanical area of the zoo.
Getting ready for Yamakasa! That's a festival in Fukoka. the Hakata area is very famous here, it's the historical site very nearby to where I live. Every year, they have this festival where the men will wear sumo-like underwear and vests, and at precisely 5:59 am, will begin a timed race from Kushida shrine through part of the town. The origins of this story began when a monk or priest sat on a similar, but not so large, platform and was carried through the streets, dumping water so as to clear away the "demons" causing a disease that had spread through the town. Now, of course, most people aren't aware of the story, it's just become a tradition. The man has become a mannequin or doll along with a multitude of decorations that 20 or so men must carry through the streets. Apparently they don't even win anything for the race.
My friend Maiko! We were celebrating her birthday a little late because she and I had been busy. We went to a Chinese restaurant! Chinese-Japanese, really, but it was so much better than Chinese-American food!
In America, I really wanted to try one of these. It's called Ramune, I believe. It was a lot like bubble gum. I guess they only sell it in the summer because this was the first time I'd seen it in Japan. Inside, there is a marble, and you have to make the marble go down into the bottle by pushing it really hard. Once you do this, though, the bottle is no longer sealed and there's no cap, so drink up!
The marble keeps it really fizzy and from having the beverage come out too fast.
Sunset after waking up from my nap. Since I got sick, and because it's so hot, I've kind of been sleeping a lot . . .
No I'm not an angel, the room was just super bright for some reason. I think my camera got smudged. My friend, Masayo, helped teach me how to wear Yukata! It wasn't easy at all . . . everyone keeps telling me it isn't hard but I don't think I could wear it on my own, at least not for a while!
This is my friend, Masayo. The lighting was terrible, sorry. My walls all have some weird mold stuff on them that I can't get rid of, so this was the only clean one.
Party at work! We had a get-together that was both a welcome home and a goodbye party for one of my students (the only man). He just came back from spending a month in Boston, and in September, he'll be going to Belize! I was so glad that they spoke mostly English the whole time, and the few times that they spoke Japanese, 2 students gladly translated for me.
The two on the left aren't my students but the rest of them are.
The one on the far right is the flower arranger!
She brought these flowers for my student! The one on the left is another of my students who is a higher level. I don't think that the flower lady understood a lot of the English that was spoken, but it was good practice for her! I kind of felt bad because I'm not sure she understood what was going on.
Haha I got a picture of her again! She really doesn't like to have her picture taken.
It's a mango pie! It was beautiful and delicious!
All together, except my boss who refused to let me take the shot.
Phew, I hope you guys enjoyed! I know that was an extremely long update, but that was pretty much everything! Oh, also I got "promoted" in the tea ceremony class! Instead of just making usucha (weak tea) I will make koicha (strong tea) today! The process is very elaborate so I hope I can at least remember all of the steps . . .
Until next time!
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