this is what my brother and I learned this week: time goes at the speed of life.
a flash and a blur of
Arao
Fukuoka
Osaka
Nara
Wakayama
Kyoto
Tokyo
am I forgetting someplace?
memories
Tokyo
Japanese Beatles impersonators
at that same bar, big women from Kyoto who invited me to stay with them...and I might
Lion, the coffee shop that plays classical music til dawn
my bro, whom I love
Sakurai and Naoko, our gentle hosts and guides
Kenji, the time was too short--we'll host you anytime
(Edo) castle, which is not there any longer
did I do my taxes?
arguing
loving a city for once
airplane
(for a more detailed picture of our time with Sakurai, Naoko and Kenji, check out Kenji's awesome English blog: http://www.hiroken.net/blog/archives/000690.html#more )
Kyoto
running to get to our traditional ryokan 8000yen dinner on time.(we were late and it got cold. oh yeah, and boy, did Jay dislike fish for breakfast!)
the golden pavillion and the Australians we met there, but moreso,
the silver pavillion, where I found some peace amongst the flowers amongst the crowds
blur blur
taking some funny pictures of my brother late at night : )
train
Wakayama
Koyasan--green, beauty, moss, graves, a glimpe of (123) temples, graves, 5-pillared graves, beauty
Yoshimi, our other gentle host and guide
monks and priests
graves
car
Nara
cute deer
5-pillared pagoda
aggressive deer
the Great Big Wooden Buddha(--side note:I see a future blog delving into my relationship with Buddhism, as per my brother's comments that I'm always talking about it. I thought I rarely talked about Buddhism.)
Giant Glorious Temples
mangy deer
Tourists feeding mangy deer
pancake-esque sweets
Yoshimi again
feeling the living collision of old and new
car
Osaka
Umeda Sky Building
the skyline
my brother learning to use his camera...very slowly
the other Naoko, who found us the ryokan in Kyoto
the post office
pizza ball house takoyaki(uhh, 'octopus balls')
talking to Yuji on the phone
yummy crab sushi
Lemon Jelly concert
train
Fukuoka
Fukuoka SoftBankTM Hawks
かった！！they won! yippee!
Jason leaving to use the little gentlemen's room just as the crowd blew up their balloons and let them go
Jason's utter fasination with Jap-English and J-culture
train
Arao
Jay's jeto lago
going to the shrine(the one I placed my previous guests at for a long time. but look at all the beautiful pictures you were able to take..!?)
okonomiyaki(ditto)
dinner with Etsuko, Yuji and Hiro
picking Jay up at the Ooooomuta train station, thinking how handsome he looked
gosh, i was hoping this would turn into some sort of Mimento-type blog. it would go in reverse and then it would all come together at the end here. The blog would make complete sense and be really eery.
oh well, as the Buddha once said, "let it go." Wait, wait, no, it was this band me and Jay saw in, what was is '99? Cowboy Mouth.
I tell of my day-to-day experiences in a funky Japanese town from my American viewpoint. This blog could also be called 'Bizarro World', 'Notes From Kyushu, a Smaller Island', or 'Teaching English in Japan: Smash Your Ego in 10 Easy Lessons."
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
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3 comments:
I'm happy for you and Jay to have spent good time together on your turf, and for him to have had a chance to see how "the other half" lives. He being a more Western grounded sort than you, I suppose the two of you had very different reactions to what you shared there together, and from your listing, it sure looks like a lot! I did just speak with him this evening, and he still is not really here, telling me that "it's still tomorrow morning in my head". I do hope to get a better de-briefing from him shortly, once he wakes up. I do hope to see some pictures from either/both of you soon.
And Julie - our clocks changed here this weekend; our east coast is now 13 hours behind you, not 14. And, in case you missed it, the Pope died, the US Congress is really whacked out lately, and baseball season has started. Plus, Chester High won the state basketball championship. For more on that, ask Uncle Larry. And my concert on the Eb cornet went very well. Otherwise, nothing is happening. Will talk with you soon.
Love, Dad
Thanks, Pops. It'll be interesting to hear what Jay has to say when he comes back to life.
We did so much that I could barely even write about it. I figured I'd just start writing, just to keep a record, but I didn't really get time to go into any of the experiences in depth. Things are full-speed ahead here, back at work. I start teaching again tomorrow at Arao #1 Junior High.
Kenji wrote about our time in Tokyo with him on his blog(in English). I'll see if I can get permission to attach it here.
Hi!
I really enjoyed last Sunday. It was definitely an exciting day. I'm really looking forward to seeing you again.
You can refer to my blog. Feel free to attach it. Although I found a mistake in there. Please forget it.
See you!
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