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

My Farewell Party

Last night, the lab members threw me a small going away party. They made food from scratch which was really tasty- the picture shows Casey helping Nose-san and Mizugaki-sensei fan the rice so it would cool.
It was a nice party and I got to speak with quite a few of the students. Nose-san said a little speech, although it was in Japanese so I had to have Casey translate it for me later. Then it was my turn to give a speech, so I thanked them for making me feel welcome even though I wasn't a lab member. I also said for them to call if they are in America, and we will help them since they have helped us so much. Lastly, I said something in Japanese (because I thought after all of this time I kind of owed them that much) so I said "Anatani oaidekite hontoni yokatta desu" which is supposed to mean "I am happy to know you", if my source tells me correctly. They smiled after I said that so hopefully if it wasn't correct, it at least didn't offend anyone. :) I actually made it through the entire evening without crying, which was unexpected even to me. :)
At the end they gave me flowers, and there was a cute little card attached- see the picture. My favorite thing about it is the drawing- Kanai-san drew a little picture of me with my hat on. :)
So after the party, Casey and I decided to go to the Hummingbird Cafe for a bit since I didn't know if I would get to go there again. I intended to get a picture with William, the Jamacian guy who owns the bar, but he's a smooth talker and when I told him I would be going to America next Friday, he said, "So I'll see you later in the week!" So of course we are going to try to make it back there with a few of the lab members.
Anyway, now I am waiting for Casey to call and let me know when we will leave to go with Hara-san to see 'ume no ki', or plum blossoms. Hopefully it'll be a bit warmer than yesterday... but then again, it's not snowing today, so it looks like an improvement already. Tomorrow it's supposed to be almost 60 degrees, which means I won't have to wear this huge coat! I am excited! I feel like I look like the Stay-Puft Marshmellow woman in it sometimes. Not the most flattering coat I own, that's for sure.
So I will leave one more picture, not only to show you how huge the coat is, but also to show you the convenience store by our apartment building. We go in here almost daily, which is kind of sad sometimes. Last night I wanted to go back in there to get the koala bear biscuits just for sentimental sake... so this is me outside looking pretty strange. :) Fun times in Osaka.

-Ashley

Snow... on March 3rd??

Yes indeed, it snowed again today. I was in the bedroom folding laundry when I noticed it got dark outside. It's been raining off and on this week so it didn't really surprise me, but when I went to the window I was reminded of the times I had sat in our bedroom and watched the snow fall. Suddenly, within even 30 seconds after I thought that, the rain turned to snow! I took some (really bad) video of it. Pictures just don't do it justice- and I still haven't figured out the right setting to capture the snow in mid-air. Soo... yeah. To all of those people who said it doesn't snow in Osaka... I guess global warming is out to change that!
Speaking of GW, the proof to me that it's really happening is because it was 82 degrees in Topeka the other day... what the heck is going on? Normally around this time they are still dealing with the cold. Send some of that our way! I only have a week left and I don't want to remember this place as being so cold... and I want to go out and see some plum blossoms! I think we might be doing that tomorrow.
I should go now... I am going to get ready soon for my farewell party tonight... hoping I can avoid the tears. :)
Picture of the day- the tempura I made last night for dinner. :)

-Ash

Random sentimental memories...

This picture was taken near the entrance to our apartment building. Everyday when I come home, this motorcycle with "2759" is sitting right here. It turns out that 2759 is also my address back in Topeka, the address I had from the time I was born until I moved away to Columbia. Everytime I see this bike, it reminds me that I'm 'home'. I have been meaning to take a picture of it, and today I finally did.
I have always been the type of person to look at something and try to find a deeper meaning in it. I am not surprised that during my time in Japan, I have also tried to look at things in that way. Normally I notice these things when I'm about to leave... so naturally in my last few weeks in Japan, I have been trying to take time to sit back and observe the world around me again... it's made me realize quite a few things that will always remind me of Japan.
There have been several 'themes' during my stay in Osaka. In the beginning, I saw E.T. everywhere. I was recently in a department store and they played the theme song, which made me laugh at all of the strange instances I have had here.
Another thing I see all the time are random gloves- I really do see these everywhere. I have just recently seen quite a bit more- maybe 2 or 3 each day- and it always makes me smile.
I have run into two people here that I was kind of hoping I wouldn't see again- the guy that talked about eating my dog, and the guy that Gopal almost punched near Ishibashi station. *See picture from that night...who knows why I took a pic of that?* But seeing them again made me laugh... it's like things are coming full-circle in a way.
Today I saw a guy that we met back in December, who was a visiting student from Korea. He's a really nice guy, and always stops to say hi if I run into him at the school. Today I found out he is flying back to Korea tomorrow after being here for a year. He summed up my feelings exactly- he is happy to go home, but sad to leave. I'm glad I got to see him again to say goodbye.
So I guess it probably sounds like I am just reading into all of this, and that is highly possible. Sometimes I am just observant enough to think that I am noticing these little things for a reason. Anytime I'm in America and I see a random glove or anything E.T. related, I will smile and think of Japan. Anytime I see salted ham, I will probably remember my disasterous attempt at cooking for the first time here. It is possible that sometimes I will look at Charley and remember the kid that talked about eating him. Anytime I knit, I will remember that I learned it here. I will also always remember how much fun it was to hang out with Casey so often- we are closer now than we have ever been. Even though it was hard sometimes to be cooped up in this little apartment, I will always be thankful for it because Casey and I have rediscovered why we are together.
So as midnight closes in, and my official 'one week left' mark gets closer, I am glad to take a moment to reflect on my time here. I am happy that I was able to share it with you, and hopefully entertain you a bit in the process. I think I will be starting another blog when I get back home- which will probably be a lot less exciting and have a lot less entries than this one. However, I am glad I was able to do the blog- both because I want to remember my experiences here, and because it was nice therapy for the boredom that goes with being a housewife sometimes. Thanks to those of you (you know who you are) who cared enough to read this and find out what we were up to. I highly encourage everyone to come to Japan at least once in their lives... you won't regret it!
On that note, I will leave you with another photo. This is one of my 'moments of zen'... petting a baby dear at Miyajima.

-Ash

Kobe Sweets Harbor

...aka Heaven on Earth for Ashley. :) Today I went to Kobe to visit my friend Natsuki-san. After a nice Japanese lunch, we went to the Sweets Harbor, a large department store-like place with just about every type of dessert you could want. Casey and I had visited once before, but by some miracle I didn't buy anything. Today, though, I bought one of the cutest desserts I have ever seen... it was a small cheesecake in the shape of a dog.
*See picture of Natsuki with my dessert... isn't it cute? I love how they pay so much attention to detail here!
I really enjoyed my time with Natsuki-san... as I always do. I think we realized today that it is the last time we can really spend time together before I go back home. She is going to Thailand next week and will not be back until the 10th, so she is going to try and meet me at the airport to see me off. We both got a little sad today when we were talking about how nice it was to know each other. She is one of the people I will miss most from Japan. She is already talking about visiting us in the US, though, so I hope that will really happen. We share a common love of sugar and I want to treat her to an Applebee's Blondie... I talked about it in detail today and we both got hungry. :) (I know what I'll be wanting soon after I get back!)
Even though I am going to miss so many of the people I have gotten to know here, it will be fun to have penpals around the world. I am going to make it a point to write them actual mail and not so many e-mails. Snail mail is a lost art, I think. I get so excited to receive "real" mail these days... although personal e-mail is exciting, too, but it's nothing like a card or letter that someone has taken time to write. I tried to send letters from Japan to people whenever I could, but I still wish I could have sent more. Communication has been such a blessing to me/us here... I have enjoyed the many phone calls to and from my parents, and getting updates now and again from the Hetricks. We have gotten quite a few cards and letters from relatives, which has been nice. And then there are the e-mails and comments on this blog that have let me know that people are really out there reading this stuff! I'm glad to hear it... it wouldn't be near as fun just writing this for myself!
I'm not sure what will happen to this when I get back to the US. I was thinking of starting an additional blog about my time at home, that way the people in Kansas (or heck, Japan even!) can read what we are up to. It seems like it reassures many people back home that everything is okay. I also like knowing that they are sometimes entertained by my rambling. ;)
Well, speaking of rambling, I'm going to stop now. I wanted to post one more picture... it's not the greatest, but there are some of the cutest little puppies at the pet store near our apartment, and the other day when I passed by, two of them were curled up together, sleeping. I am going to try and get a picture of their faces before I leave, because besides Charley, they are some of the cutest puppies I have seen! Hope you enjoy it... sorry it's not the best pic.

-Ash