Memories of Japan

It's been awhile since we've posted. We started our new school year on Monday, and when we arrived on Monday morning neither Meg nor I (or any of the other 3 public school teachers we know) had a schedule for the term. None of us had any idea what was happening or if we were even teaching that day. Luckily, neither Meg nor I had to teach until Tuesday (our friend Kevin wasn't so lucky. He had 5 classes he had to teach on the spot).

As of next week we'll have been here for 6 months. For the most part I think the six months have gone rather quickly (I'm sure our trips into Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan have helped a great deal). I think this next term will be easier for both of us as Meg finally has her own office and I gotten comfortable enough in mine to skype people from work.

In other news, Meg and I bought a humidifier that is shaped like a dog. It's name is "Puppy". we're both very happy to have something to combat the dry season we're in now. For those of you who don't know, it's Yellow Dust (Asian Dust) season here. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but a bunch of sand blows over Korea (and parts of Japan sometimes) from the Chinese desert. This has occurred for thousands of years, but has only recently caused trouble as it now picks up the air pollution as it passes into Korea. Needless to say, Meg's had difficulties with her asthma this week. We're hoping "puppy" will help solve the problem. For more information on the Asian Dust visit wikipedia, it's more interesting than it sounds.

I figured I'd put up a few more photos from our time in Japan. Meg and I both miss it greatly and talk about it more than is healthy, I'd imagine.

Meg admires a figure of Japan's most famous Haiku poet (Matsuo Basho). Basho even visited my town of Ishinomaki while he was traveling around Japan crafting his Haiku. Although, my students told me that he actually got lost and hadn't intended to visit the city. That didn't stop the city from putting up a statue of him in the town park on the top of the hill (near where I'm standing with the torii a few posts down). This photo is in Matsushima, one of the three most beautiful places in Japan (and more importantly, only 25 minutes from where I lived).

Meg and I in front of the Phoenix Hall in Uji. This was probably one of Meg's favourite places in Japan. For those of you who know the Tale of Genji (believed by some to be the World's first novel - written in Japan in the 11th century), some of the scenes took place here.

We were lucky to see a couple of Geisha visiting the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) in Kyoto. This one even posed for my photo. We also visited the Gion district of Kyoto to see the Geisha wandering the streets between performances, but it was too dark to take photos of them.

Himeji Castle is easily Japan's most famous castle. It frequently appears in Japanese television, movies and in serves as the back drop for many video games as well. Although the area around Himeji was bombed by the Americans a couple of times in WWII the castle escaped any major damage.

A Noh performer in Miyajima. Noh is a form of Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century.

A pagoda in Miyajima. I really like pagodas. For some reason there are a lot more in southern Japan than up north where I lived.

The deer of Miyajima are considered sacred. The pretty much wander the island like the own the place. Of course they aren't nearly as bad as the deer of Nara (I'll have to post some photos of Meg getting bitten by them while trying to feed them. I don't think she overly enjoyed the experience). Anyways, Meg made noises to draw the attention of this deer so I could take some photos of it. At this moment I was pretty sure it was getting ready to jump on Meg. Thankfully, it did not.