Adventures from a week ago- Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Ok, so we didn't take planes or automobiles... but just about everything else to get out and into the mountains. My friend Hye-Young and I left for the Tateyama mountains in the early morning of October 13th. We took a train to get to our destination, then we had to hop on a couple of buses, cable cars that went through the mountains and even a gondola to get to our final destination for the night.

Pictured above and below is the cable car that we took on the first day.

This is Hye-Young looking cool and chic. She's probably the most stylish hiker I've ever seen.

Yup. That's me. Ready for an adventure!

Pictured below are shots taken on the train on our way to Tateyama.

KIT Fesitval

The KIT festival is an annual event primarily planned and run by the students. It started in the evening on Friday, October 10th and it lasted until Monday, October 13th. Unfortunately for the students, the festival took place right after mid terms. Between tests and festival planning, everyone was VERY busy and quite tired.

There were decorations all around the campus, as well as food booths, games, activites and of course, studnet projects and work. The picture below depicts the library and some decorations on the right.
Various light projects made by the students.
Yeah! I love bouncy chickens, but I didn't think it'd be good for a "sensei" to give it a go. Maybe at a festival not affiliated with KIT.
There were a few famous people who came to talk/ perform. There was a famous and some famous comedians who performed for the KIT and surrounding community.
These are just a few of the food stands that lined the streets around campus. I ate my way through the festival; pork miso soup, crepes, chocolate bananas, tapioca chocolate milk, octopus fritters, potatoes from Hoikaido... I'm sure there's something else that should be on the list... Anyhow, I'm such a sucker; the stands were run by KIT students, so if my students saw me they'd pull me in to their stands and ask me to buy whatever it was they were selling. And of course, I would. All in all, it was a lot of fun to see them out of the classroom and in action.

Photo catch up time!

I had the good fortune to be invited to a co-workers traditional Shinto wedding. This is a shot of the beautiful bride in her wedding kimono with the traditional make-up and hair-do.

The picture below depicts the kanushi, the man who presided over the wedding.

Here is a shot of the bride during the ceremony.
This is the beautiful place where the wedding was held. Beleive it or not, this is part of a hotel.

The next few shots are from a town festival called "Matsuri." Townfolk decorate the local shrine and celebrate! The children in the town practice the "Lion dance" for weeks. Then during Matsuri, the children play music and perform the dance (which is believed to drive evil spirits away) for the majority of houses in the neighborhood! This meant dancing from sun-up until sun-down for three days.

In the first shot, the children are wearing the town's garb.
In this shot, you can see the lion which has been possessed by evil spirits. The wise man on the left battles the lion and drives the evil spirit away.In the shot below, the older boys from Komatsu are pushing a cart with extra supplies for the dancers; the little wise-men danced with straw slippers and after hours of dancing on the concrete, their shoes would be completely ruined, so the older boys had extra shoes on hand.
After the sun sets and the dancing is done, everyone flocks to the shrine for food, dancing, games and socializing. Below is a picture of a game. Using a nail, people must carve shapes out of a flat, square piece of sugar without breaking it. When people succeed, they win a prize. I tried a few times, but broke all of my pieces!
Lanterns and lights adorn the plaza where taiko drumming took place and where the dancing took place.

A smattering of old pictures

The above is taken at the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. The cute critters I'm sitting with are from Totoro, a Miyazaki film.

This photo was taken in Korea while I was out in the mountains. Korean architecture is beautiful with vibrant colors and ornate details adorning the walls and roofs.
This shot was taken in Korea at my friend's house. This was before fall had come and it was SWELTERING... I mean, oppressively HOT, hot, hot. Mama-kins, you would have been extremely uncomfortable.

Yikes! How did two months slip by?

Last time I wrote I was in the middle of my summer vacation. Two weeks into the new semester and vacation seems like it was ages ago! Tokyo was fantastic. What a cool city and so easy to get around; The metro system is quite impressive!

After Tokyo, I went to Korea for a few days and then I ended up back at "home" for a little R&R before school started. Whew! So here I am, back in the saddle again! Yi-haw!

The picture above is of two co-workers at a "100 yen sushi restaurant. " Little plates of sushi are made in the kitchen and put on a conveyer belt, which transport the sushi past the booths where customers sit. Customers can just grab whatever looks tasty! At 100 yen a plate (about 1 buck a piece) you can have some great sushi at a low price. It may not be the BEST sushi, but my palate is not such that I can distinguish really good sushi from the dollar stuff. Anyhow, I love it! Anyone who makes it out here for a visit will get to visit this place... so Chilly Bean, when are you coming out?

Yokahama

A good friend of mine from Kanazawa has been staying in Yokahama where she's been taking boxing lessons. So naturally my co-workers and I went out for a visit. What a cool port town! When Japan opened its borders to foreigners, many moved to Yokahama so there is a strong European influence in the town's architechture and layout. The above pictures are at the Harbor View park and there were lovely fountains and gardens- not your typical Japanese layout.

Yokahama also boasts having the biggest China town in the country.

There is a very contemporary part of the city too, which makes for a very interesting contrast. You can walk down a street in China town and see dumplings for sale that are bigger than your head and then one street over you can find yourself in Motomachi, a contemporary and high end shopping sector, complete with Louis Vuitton and Tiffany's.

Of course, I need to mention the world's biggest ferris wheel is in Yokahama. You can see it in the cityscape pitured below, it's hidden behind the building on the right.

Ah, there it is. We waited in line for about 1/2 an hour to ride the ferris wheel and the ride was a mere single revolution- that lasted for about 15 minutes.

While walking down the street in a foreign country, one may come across sights that beg for questions, such as "How does a horse bum sticking out of the wall help advertising?"

While giving directions you could say, go straight until you get to the horse bum and then take your next right. It is memorable, right?

Ah, this one was fun. What does an organic restaurant, camel and westie have to do with one another? Any guesses? I'd probably be able to tell you had I gone into the restaurant... sorry guys!

I actually thought of my dear mama when I saw the westie sign hanging off the camel's ear. Yes, I often see things that remind me of my fam!