Saying goodbye...

(Picture of me on the train today, next to a really tiny woman. I almost look big compared to her!!)
In a few short hours, the alarm will go off and my last day in Japan will be underway. Who knows what my first thoughts of the day will be. I really like that part of the morning where you just wake up, and for a split second you aren't thinking about anything. That moment before reality hits you and you realize that you have a ton of things to do, that motivates you to get out of bed...or at least it motivates some people... guess not me quite as much during my stay here... darn that snooze button! But I guess I blame the snooze button on the fact that I'm not ready to face reality yet. Well, by the time I board the plane tomorrow, I think reality will have become my travel companion as I make the journey back to America.

For once in my life, I haven't really cried when I have said goodbye to people here. My favorite line so far is, "I think I'll be seeing you again." Even if it's not true, it at least puts a postive spin on things. However, one thing I do know for sure is that Casey is going to be really hard to say goodbye to. I have talked about how much closer we are now, but I guess all of that doesn't do it justice. I am really thankful for Japan and how it has brought us together- I can't say that enough. I think it made us realize how we had started to have two different lives before- he would be at school, I would go out with my friends, etc., but now I think that's going to change. I think we have both become bigger priorities in each others lives, and while I hate to admit that we had lost sight of that, Japan has made us have 20/20 on the matter.

So although I might regret it, I'm not going to update on my final week in Japan in detail, but I'll at least summarize it: On Tuesday I went with Tomoko and her son Haru to a park and took pictures of them... which was fun. Then, when I got home that night, I got a fever and had bad stomach cramps. (Story of my life here... can't wait to go to the doctor and see what the heck's going on with me.) Wednesday I had my last Japanese class and was pretty out of it, but I managed to get through it, make sushi with some of the people in the International Student office, and then came home and slept. Thursday, I was feeling better so I got packing done, went out to lunch with Mihiro, and then Casey and I went to America-mura during the afternoon. That night, I went to the lab and said goodbye to people. Then Casey and I came home and finished packing. Now I am wanting to just relax next to him (he's asleep while I write this) in our tiny little tic-tac sized bed.

In summary, I didn't go 'out' like I had wanted to here since I was sick yet again, but I have done enough here that I think I will be okay with leaving without many regrets. I have met some wonderful people, had some experiences that I will be able to tell my grandchildren about someday, and best of all, I've gotten to know the man I married better than I ever have. The last four months have been a blessing to me, and I will always cherish them.

On that note, I think it's time to say goodbye. Good chance I'll have a blog in America... so as always, there's more to come. :)

-Ashley

Kyoto with Yanagi-san

Yesterday, my Japanese teacher Yanagi-san took me to Kyoto to do some sightseeing and to see a Japanese Art performance in Gion. I had a really nice day with her... we did a ton of walking and enjoyed trying to speak each others languages. (Sidenote: The scarf she is wearing was my gift to her for being so wonderful... one of my first successful knitting projects!)
So we arrived in Kyoto and needed to find a bus station to take us to Nijo-jo (Nijo Castle)... by that point she had been speaking English so much that when she went to ask another Japanese person where the bus station was, she started to ask in English and then she said, "Oh! I forgot that I was Japanese!" LOL... she's so cute!
We found the station and went to the castle. It was raining a little bit so I didn't get to take many pictures, but by the time we got outside to the garden it had stopped. She actually took more pictures than I did, if you can believe it! Anyway, we spent a few hours walking around the castle and garden, then we went into town to find a place to eat. We ended up going to the street in Gion where many of the Maiko and Geisha (they call them 'Geiko') live. It is the same street that Casey and I had been on in January when we saw a bunch of them and took pictures last time. This time was no exception! While we were searching for a restaurant, I saw maybe 3 Maiko/Geiko walking around, and managed to get a few pictures. Most of the pictures were difficult because of the traffic on the street and all of the people (mostly foreigners) walking around trying to get a good shot. I guess I was one of them. Anyway, that street always proves to be exciting... I highly recommend seeing it to anyone who might go to Kyoto!
After dinner, Yanagi-san and I went to a theater on the same street in Gion, to see performances in Japanese art. We saw a tea ceremony, koto music, flower arrangement designing, a Noh theater dance, comic theater, a dance by a real Maiko, and a bunraku performance (puppet theater). The bunraku was really neat... it takes 3 men (dressed in black) to move the puppet to make it look life-like- two men move the hands, and one is in charge of the puppet's legs and must squat behind it for the entire performance. They must get pretty tired by the end of a full show! We were only able to see short pieces of each type of art, but I am glad I got to see so many different types at one time. Not bad for ~$27!
Yanagi-san and I had a really nice time chatting yesterday. I enjoyed getting to know her and spend time with her outside of the International Student office. Anytime I said anything in Japanese, she got this cute look on her face like she was proud that I have learned bits and pieces of it... hell, I'm glad too, because frankly, I didn't really have to learn Japanese here. I am just lucky that I did, and I'm really glad to have gotten to know her so well over the last 4 months. Tomorrow is going to be hard to say goodbye to her, but then I guess I knew this time would come eventually... it just always comes too quickly. Sure I'll write about that later...
In a few hours, I am meeting Tomoko and we are going to go to a park so I can take pictures of Haru-chan. The weather should be really nice today so hopefully the pictures will turn out okay! I'll write again later when I get the chance... dang I need to start packing. Woo hoo I'm excited about that! Not so much. :)

-Ashley

Final week in a nutshell...

I am going to keep this short because I have a lot to do (as you will see)... here's what my final week in Japan looks like, first starting with the past weekend:

Saturday: Went to see Ume no ki (plum blossoms) with Hara-san... very pretty! I think it may have been a few days too early to see them, but the ones we saw were still beautiful. (See picture)

Sunday: Went to breakfast with Casey at this cute little place that serves waffles... yuuummm! Then we went to Shinsaibashi and did some gift shopping. We also managed to find a Shakey's for lunch so we ate there (Gopal and Jeff, if you are reading this... we can't figure out how you missed that place! Guess you'll just have to come back and see it!!) :) We then ended up near America-mura, which is basically like a shopping area that is set up kind of like America, in a way... the funny thing is that it is the dirtiest place I think I have seen in Japan so far, so it did feel a little more like home. :P There was graffiti on the walls, and Casey and I accidently stepped in someone's vomit. Yep, just like home! That was gross... sorry. Back to the 'nutshell'... we met one of the guys from the lab in Nara last night and saw a fire festival which was really neat. Casey and I bought a tripod on Saturday, thinking that we'd be able to use it last night, but it didn't work out. There were too many people and the tripod wasn't tall enough. So instead, I volunteered to let Casey put the camera on my head for stability and that seemed to work out. I'll post one of the pictures from last night.. he did an awesome job at taking them, I think! Basically, a monk with a huge torch walks around the balcony of this temple and if you hold the shutter open long enough, the place looks like it's on fire. Toward the end of the month, there will be more torches to the whole place should look orange. :) Anyway, I'm not sure of the reason behind this, but it was still pretty cool to watch.

On with my plans of the week. Today, I am meeting Yanagi-san around 1 and traveling with her to Kyoto. We are going to sightsee and watch a bunraku performance this evening. It should be a good time! I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.
Tuesday I am going to go to a park with Tomoko and her son Haru, so I can take pictures of him. I wanted to do that for her and give her the pictures as a "thank you" gift for all of her help. She told me a long time ago that she doesn't have many pictures of him, so I thought this might be a good opportunity.
Wednesday, I am going to my Japanese class and then making sushi rolls with Yanagi-san and Tanaka-san. I am excited to learn that so I can go home and make them on my own! It should be fun... but that's also the day I have to say goodbye to everyone in the International student office, so I think it could be sad. I didn't cry on Friday so hopefully I won't cry then either.
Thursday, Casey *might* take off work. We are going to meet Mihiro for lunch at the Nepali Kitchen at noon, and after that we don't have many plans. Except packing... can't forget to work that in there somewhere. :)
Friday, my flight leaves at 1:15. This week's going to fly by...

I'll be sure to write more later... I don't want to have to update everything when I get back to the US because I probably will forget quite a bit of it. :)

-Ashley