Eventful Weekend...
This will probably be a fairly long entry, so either go grab some popcorn and relax, or save it for a time when you are bored and have nothing else to do. :)
Saturday, I went on a bus tour with Yanagi-san and a group she is with called Amigos. They coordinate various events with International students. This trip was fun- we went to Osaka Gas Company, and Himeji Castle. Casey worked on Saturday so he was not able to go with us. I know he would have enjoyed Osaka Gas Company a lot because there were a lot of experiments and fun chemistry-related things to do. He wasn't there to explain it all to me, though, so I didn't understand quite as much, or have as much fun as I would have if he were there. I took a bunch of pictures so he could 'experience' it also. Either way, I'm glad we got to go- the experiments were fun, and the bus tour was enjoyable even though it was raining a lot. I also got to meet quite a few new International students so that was a good time.
Himeji Castle was pretty exciting, although I should probably tell you a few things: First, it rained all day, and Casey and I couldn't find our umbrella in the morning before I left, so I was the only fool without one. Also, I don't remember learning anyone's names on this trip, so I will be rude and just label them.
So we get to Himeji Castle, and one of the International students, a really nice guy from Brazil, offered to share his huge umbrella with me all day. I learned that he speaks Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and English- in that order. A few times I was talking to him and inserted a few Spanish words into the conversation just to make it easier for him. To anyone else it probably sounded really strange. It was fun hanging out with him and staying dry. :) I also enjoyed hanging out with two guys I had met at one of the International Student parties- one from Cuba, and another from Fiji. They were both really funny so we laughed quite a bit throughout the day. It made it much easier not to focus on being cold and wet as we explored the castle.
Anyway, the castle was really neat. It's the only one (in Japan, if I understood them correctly) that has not been damaged by war or a natural disaster. It is over 400 years old. It is sort of like a maze- there are tiny hidden rooms where people would hide from the enemy during war. All in all, I am glad I got to see it- it is 5 or 6 stories high, and we walked through the entire thing. Lost of stairs, as you can probably imagine.
I got home around 5:30, and Casey and I went to Okamachi for dinner and ran a few errands. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
Then yesterday morning, we got up and headed to Kyoto for an archery competition. There were about 2,000 or more participants, and they were all dressed up in kimono or other traditional attire, which was neat. I didn't realize there would be so many girls in the competition, but that is almost all we saw. We enjoyed people-watching, and took quite a few pictures of all of this (http://photos.yahoo.com/lilbitfromks, Japan trip 8:Kyoto album). After the competition, we headed toward the area that Casey took me to last year with a ton of temples and shopping streets everywhere. It was fun to see all of the tourist-trap places, and eat various snacks along the way. Then we made our way toward the Geisha district, in hopes of seeing a real one. To our
surprise, there were many out last night! I think we ended up seeing 7 or 8 of them, and got some pretty bad pictures of them in the process. It was dark, and they walked pretty fast, so it wasn't easy. Casey and I both tried to photograph them... the ones that are decent are in the same album above. (I'll post one for good measure.) They were like celebrities! There was a party or something going on in one of the restaurants, and I think 3 or 4 went in there, just during the time we were standing outside. There were also a bunch of people- foreigners and Japanese alike- standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of one. I felt guilty standing there taking pictures of them like that, but they didn't seem to be too bothered by it. I am glad I got to be near the real thing, and I have pictures to prove it now. I think if we would have had the patience to stand there longer, we could have seen more, but standing there for almost an hour was enough for us.
After that, we went to Shakey's for dinner. Again, very good pizza. There were some strange toppings again- I think one was squid and corn, and another had fish eggs and potatoes in it. It even weirded Casey out! :) After that, we came back home, watched some TV, and went to bed.
I think that's about enough for one day. There are quite a few pictures from this weekend, so those will probably be more interesting than the recent albums. Hope you enjoy them!
-Ashley
Saturday, I went on a bus tour with Yanagi-san and a group she is with called Amigos. They coordinate various events with International students. This trip was fun- we went to Osaka Gas Company, and Himeji Castle. Casey worked on Saturday so he was not able to go with us. I know he would have enjoyed Osaka Gas Company a lot because there were a lot of experiments and fun chemistry-related things to do. He wasn't there to explain it all to me, though, so I didn't understand quite as much, or have as much fun as I would have if he were there. I took a bunch of pictures so he could 'experience' it also. Either way, I'm glad we got to go- the experiments were fun, and the bus tour was enjoyable even though it was raining a lot. I also got to meet quite a few new International students so that was a good time.
Himeji Castle was pretty exciting, although I should probably tell you a few things: First, it rained all day, and Casey and I couldn't find our umbrella in the morning before I left, so I was the only fool without one. Also, I don't remember learning anyone's names on this trip, so I will be rude and just label them.
So we get to Himeji Castle, and one of the International students, a really nice guy from Brazil, offered to share his huge umbrella with me all day. I learned that he speaks Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and English- in that order. A few times I was talking to him and inserted a few Spanish words into the conversation just to make it easier for him. To anyone else it probably sounded really strange. It was fun hanging out with him and staying dry. :) I also enjoyed hanging out with two guys I had met at one of the International Student parties- one from Cuba, and another from Fiji. They were both really funny so we laughed quite a bit throughout the day. It made it much easier not to focus on being cold and wet as we explored the castle.
Anyway, the castle was really neat. It's the only one (in Japan, if I understood them correctly) that has not been damaged by war or a natural disaster. It is over 400 years old. It is sort of like a maze- there are tiny hidden rooms where people would hide from the enemy during war. All in all, I am glad I got to see it- it is 5 or 6 stories high, and we walked through the entire thing. Lost of stairs, as you can probably imagine.
I got home around 5:30, and Casey and I went to Okamachi for dinner and ran a few errands. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
Then yesterday morning, we got up and headed to Kyoto for an archery competition. There were about 2,000 or more participants, and they were all dressed up in kimono or other traditional attire, which was neat. I didn't realize there would be so many girls in the competition, but that is almost all we saw. We enjoyed people-watching, and took quite a few pictures of all of this (http://photos.yahoo.com/lilbitfromks, Japan trip 8:Kyoto album). After the competition, we headed toward the area that Casey took me to last year with a ton of temples and shopping streets everywhere. It was fun to see all of the tourist-trap places, and eat various snacks along the way. Then we made our way toward the Geisha district, in hopes of seeing a real one. To our
surprise, there were many out last night! I think we ended up seeing 7 or 8 of them, and got some pretty bad pictures of them in the process. It was dark, and they walked pretty fast, so it wasn't easy. Casey and I both tried to photograph them... the ones that are decent are in the same album above. (I'll post one for good measure.) They were like celebrities! There was a party or something going on in one of the restaurants, and I think 3 or 4 went in there, just during the time we were standing outside. There were also a bunch of people- foreigners and Japanese alike- standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of one. I felt guilty standing there taking pictures of them like that, but they didn't seem to be too bothered by it. I am glad I got to be near the real thing, and I have pictures to prove it now. I think if we would have had the patience to stand there longer, we could have seen more, but standing there for almost an hour was enough for us.After that, we went to Shakey's for dinner. Again, very good pizza. There were some strange toppings again- I think one was squid and corn, and another had fish eggs and potatoes in it. It even weirded Casey out! :) After that, we came back home, watched some TV, and went to bed.
I think that's about enough for one day. There are quite a few pictures from this weekend, so those will probably be more interesting than the recent albums. Hope you enjoy them!
-Ashley
posted by Ashley at 1/16/2006
2 Comments:
Hi,
Interesting blog, have just had a read through. Japan is a great place to live, you are very lucky!
You take some great photos too!
では、また！
SN
Yay a comment from someone I don't know! :) If you read this again, thanks for the compliment about the pictures! :) (Blushing)
I also wanted to add that I found out that the guy who shared his umbrella was Sato... glad to finally know someone's name from the trip. :)
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