Hey all! Been a little behind on the blog and there is a lot to catch up on, but I guess that's what happens when you're too busy doing stuff to write about it. Whoosh!
Alright, so things are going... yeah, alright. Been a lot going on, with Krystal's visit from home, a trip to a beautiful, very old, very large Japanese house in the Japanese countryside (Okayama Prefecture, to be exact) this past weekend and then just dealing with some of the boring old hum-drums and ups-and-downs that come with life. I won't go into all of it in too much detail have talked about it a little bit on here, but I guess I've been a bit stressed out about figuring out where I'm moving next year. I'm definitely coming back to the States and am psyched about grad school, but I have yet to decide 100% where I am going and am getting impatient about waiting on information that I need before that decision is possible.
Work has been really slow, but is now gradually picking up again, and I will admit I have also hit the "Wow, I'm leaving my newest home-away-from home" shock state (slash realization mode) in the last several weeks, which - at least for me - is not always good. Awesome with starting in new places. Hate leaving them. After three years of doing the same job and living in the same little, bamboo-lined apartment, I'm ready for change. I love Japan and will be sad to see it go, however, not to mention saying goodbye to the friends, links, connections and relations that I've made over the years. Yes, some pretty important "connections" have already left, things have changed (they always do) and I don't see everyone I will miss as much as I could, but I will miss knowing I can see them whenever. You know how it is. It's like college - just transition. I'll be back here and will now always have a more intimate connection with Japan, but it'll be sad to have that Ocean between us...
Alright, so yeah, onto the "busy" stuff. I think the last time I wrote, Krystal and I had made it about halfway through the week and I was enkai-bound. As I wrote before, Krystal spent Thursday in Tokyo and Friday in Hiroshima. We were going to go to Mie-ken on Friday night to ease up some of the travel pains, but decided to spend the weekend at Dave' house so we could get Katie an extra ticket we had. It turned out to be a bit of a blessing that we did in some ways, because it granted us the opportunity to check out the "yozakura" (evening blossom viewing) in what I consider one of the best hidden gems in Japan - Nishimukonosokoen ("kotsukoen")! Everyone I know that has done a cherry blossom viewing party there has raved about the location, the atmosphere, everything. Great time! During the weekend, we actually made it to Kyoto, were professionally dressed in Kimonos (the whole shibang - all three layers with ties and towels, purses, penguin socks & tabi shoes!) and had our hair done. We then proceeded to the famous Kyoto Temple featured on the 10 Yen coin before traveling all the way to Mie Prefecture to visit the Ninja Festival in the town where Ninja are from. Yes, in kimono - about 7 hours on trains overall. We did it all, with some kinks along the way (like our train line being shut down and having to take some detours), but it was fun and I don't think I have so thoroughly enjoyed a ramen and beer as I did afterwards. We didn't get a lot of sleep that night, but Krystal made it to the airport safely the next day and - despite the fact I was exhausted - I was convinced to join a hike on a new path on Rokko... and think I discovered a new favorite route. Was also awesome to get in one more day outside with the beautiful blossoms before they were rained out the following day (and are now just pink and brown memories on the sidewalks!).
The next weekend was also pretty busy. We rented a van from Nishi Akashi and a group of nine of us met up at the supermarket next to my house to get groceries for a weekend adventure in Okayama prefecture. We've been to the Okayama International Villas, a series of really amazing houses that are rented out to foreigners at a low cost to promote tourism, before but I definitely think the place we saw this time - Hattoji - tops the list of my favorites. The house was a traditional, thatch-roof farmhouse, over 120 years old with a firepit in the middle and an old, metal bathtub (the kind you light the fire under). The main areas of the place were also essentially one big tatami-covered room with sliding doors dividing them, but I absolutely loved it. They give you yukata, bedding and even bikes, so we did a little exploring, taking the bikes out on the local country roads and trails, then during a short run I went on and via a few small hikes in the woods with Dave. I definitely love cities and think I'm a city girl, but being in nature is so soothing. What I needed and it was fun to BBQ with the group and see some stars for once. On the way home, we also stopped to see the first public school in Japan, try some soy sauce flavored ice cream (not bad) and check out the famous bizenyaki pottery in the nearby city of Bizen.
It's crazy that we'll also be in the Philippines in a week (haven't even thought about packing), but this break made me realize that maybe a break is what I need. I know 3 months isn't a long time to go without a vacation under normal circumstances (and you could consider these weekend trips vacations), but I think it's different with Japan. With all the other stuff going on, getting away and just relaxing (or embarking on some adventure) - in warm weather! - will be nice. I know of one guy who just came to Japan for an engineering job at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and even his supervisor told him he should try to travel, maybe leaving Japan everyone 3-5 months. Not a very Japanese thing to say, yet still...
That's the short version of a long story, but I feel so busy and yet have so much free time at times at work that I'm also so bored. Shouldn't whine... amazing situation and so lucky to be in Japan (just need to get away for a few days to appreciate it..ha).
Alright, so things are going... yeah, alright. Been a lot going on, with Krystal's visit from home, a trip to a beautiful, very old, very large Japanese house in the Japanese countryside (Okayama Prefecture, to be exact) this past weekend and then just dealing with some of the boring old hum-drums and ups-and-downs that come with life. I won't go into all of it in too much detail have talked about it a little bit on here, but I guess I've been a bit stressed out about figuring out where I'm moving next year. I'm definitely coming back to the States and am psyched about grad school, but I have yet to decide 100% where I am going and am getting impatient about waiting on information that I need before that decision is possible.
Work has been really slow, but is now gradually picking up again, and I will admit I have also hit the "Wow, I'm leaving my newest home-away-from home" shock state (slash realization mode) in the last several weeks, which - at least for me - is not always good. Awesome with starting in new places. Hate leaving them. After three years of doing the same job and living in the same little, bamboo-lined apartment, I'm ready for change. I love Japan and will be sad to see it go, however, not to mention saying goodbye to the friends, links, connections and relations that I've made over the years. Yes, some pretty important "connections" have already left, things have changed (they always do) and I don't see everyone I will miss as much as I could, but I will miss knowing I can see them whenever. You know how it is. It's like college - just transition. I'll be back here and will now always have a more intimate connection with Japan, but it'll be sad to have that Ocean between us...
Alright, so yeah, onto the "busy" stuff. I think the last time I wrote, Krystal and I had made it about halfway through the week and I was enkai-bound. As I wrote before, Krystal spent Thursday in Tokyo and Friday in Hiroshima. We were going to go to Mie-ken on Friday night to ease up some of the travel pains, but decided to spend the weekend at Dave' house so we could get Katie an extra ticket we had. It turned out to be a bit of a blessing that we did in some ways, because it granted us the opportunity to check out the "yozakura" (evening blossom viewing) in what I consider one of the best hidden gems in Japan - Nishimukonosokoen ("kotsukoen")! Everyone I know that has done a cherry blossom viewing party there has raved about the location, the atmosphere, everything. Great time! During the weekend, we actually made it to Kyoto, were professionally dressed in Kimonos (the whole shibang - all three layers with ties and towels, purses, penguin socks & tabi shoes!) and had our hair done. We then proceeded to the famous Kyoto Temple featured on the 10 Yen coin before traveling all the way to Mie Prefecture to visit the Ninja Festival in the town where Ninja are from. Yes, in kimono - about 7 hours on trains overall. We did it all, with some kinks along the way (like our train line being shut down and having to take some detours), but it was fun and I don't think I have so thoroughly enjoyed a ramen and beer as I did afterwards. We didn't get a lot of sleep that night, but Krystal made it to the airport safely the next day and - despite the fact I was exhausted - I was convinced to join a hike on a new path on Rokko... and think I discovered a new favorite route. Was also awesome to get in one more day outside with the beautiful blossoms before they were rained out the following day (and are now just pink and brown memories on the sidewalks!).
The next weekend was also pretty busy. We rented a van from Nishi Akashi and a group of nine of us met up at the supermarket next to my house to get groceries for a weekend adventure in Okayama prefecture. We've been to the Okayama International Villas, a series of really amazing houses that are rented out to foreigners at a low cost to promote tourism, before but I definitely think the place we saw this time - Hattoji - tops the list of my favorites. The house was a traditional, thatch-roof farmhouse, over 120 years old with a firepit in the middle and an old, metal bathtub (the kind you light the fire under). The main areas of the place were also essentially one big tatami-covered room with sliding doors dividing them, but I absolutely loved it. They give you yukata, bedding and even bikes, so we did a little exploring, taking the bikes out on the local country roads and trails, then during a short run I went on and via a few small hikes in the woods with Dave. I definitely love cities and think I'm a city girl, but being in nature is so soothing. What I needed and it was fun to BBQ with the group and see some stars for once. On the way home, we also stopped to see the first public school in Japan, try some soy sauce flavored ice cream (not bad) and check out the famous bizenyaki pottery in the nearby city of Bizen.
It's crazy that we'll also be in the Philippines in a week (haven't even thought about packing), but this break made me realize that maybe a break is what I need. I know 3 months isn't a long time to go without a vacation under normal circumstances (and you could consider these weekend trips vacations), but I think it's different with Japan. With all the other stuff going on, getting away and just relaxing (or embarking on some adventure) - in warm weather! - will be nice. I know of one guy who just came to Japan for an engineering job at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and even his supervisor told him he should try to travel, maybe leaving Japan everyone 3-5 months. Not a very Japanese thing to say, yet still...
That's the short version of a long story, but I feel so busy and yet have so much free time at times at work that I'm also so bored. Shouldn't whine... amazing situation and so lucky to be in Japan (just need to get away for a few days to appreciate it..ha).
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 5:05 AM
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