Blogs from Japan, Asia - page 8

Friday 20/04/12 Assisted in the Panda classroom today, and put the front and back covers on the memory books. The children loved them! They were each looking through at their work, and then put them in their lockers to take home to their mums. The kids had spaghetti for lunch which was as messy as you would expect with their white tops. The students are just starting to get used to me, and ask me questions. Usually they scream out ‘Rebecca Sensai!’, but now and again they will come and ask me for help instead. It’s a slow process. Just a short day at the kindergarten for me, and I spent the afternoon punching the washing machine till it would work. I think it is more of a lint depositor rather than washer. I made a ... read more

Not much to say, spent the morning getting ready to leave walked through the wholesale fish market, sat in the park near my hotel and ate breakfast. Now I am waiting in Naritawaiting to hear if they have a seatavailable for me. My flight leaves at 5:50. I am to go to the information desk at 4:40 to see if they have a seat for me that givas me an hour to get through security and to my gate. Wish me luck! Otherwise it is another night in Japan... read more

Day 5 in Japan What a day, an early morning tuna auction to subway hopping through out Tokyo. With a 3 am wake up to wait in line at the visitor entrance by 4. Then be escorted to the the tuna auction bay at 5:30, I am finding that I am a little tired as I write this blog at 4 in the afternoon. Sorry for my mistakes. The auction was fascinating! The fish were laid out on the warehouse floor based on weight and source. They had there gills ripped off, were gutted and lay frozen on the ground as the buyers inspected the fish with metal picks. Not really sure of what they were looking for, but they moved meticulously from fish to fish poking and prodding. The fish were kept on ice as ... read more

I put my alarm clock (AKA phone) out of reach of the bed last night to make sure I got up in the morning. All that resulted was a slow crawl this morning to grab it and turn it off before returning to bed. I made it to work on time though, as always. Bought a new brand of bread, and it is so dry and stale! I have put it in the freezer to wait till I have a toaster (with my close encounter with starvation, I couldn’t bring myself to chuck it out). So I just had a banana for lunch. The children think this is hilarious, and they chant ‘banana, banana’. Wish I had Banana Man on video! Two days a week, their mothers make them little bento boxes, and the other three ... read more

On a perfect Spring day I made the trek to hike Mt. Futago in the Zushi area. I followed directions for walk #4 in "Day Walks Near Tokyo" by Gary Walters. Beginning from the Shin-Zushi train station I walked along a small stream bordered by peaceful neighborhoods abounding with spring vegetable gardens and their diligent, elderly, retired Japanese tenders. The birds were chirping and the snap peas in full bloom. The first half of the trail was easy with some muddy areas, but nothing crazy. I continued to follow the gorgeous stream as it babbled its way through the woods, providing moisture for the propagation of many green ferns along the way. At one point I stopped to record the melody of the birds and stream because I couldn't imagine leaving there without some kind of ... read more

Day 4 Japan Travel day. I grabbed the Shinkansen Nozumi 2 to Tokyo at 9am and arrived at Tokyo station at 11 am. Not to bad for 513 km. At first it made me a little dizzy to stare out the window at the quickly receding landscape, I busied my self typing up a blog entry. Sorry for the late entries, but wifi is not so readily available in Japan. Once my eyes adjusted I was able to look out the window and take photos. Very hilly with towns and cities built in the plains between mountains, vegetable fields everywhere there wasn't a building. Announcement were in Japanese, English and Chinese, so,I knew when to get off the train. Very important step 1. Check. Step 2 navigate Tokyo train station, get to the subway station, and ... read more

Day 3. Japan Another day of marathon walking, more temples and the Kyoto modern art museum. Today I spent most of the day in wandering through the small streets on the eastern side of Kyoto. Several Buddhist temples nestled into the mountainside. Mountains which surround the city. These tramples had a different character, different from day 2temples. They were simple and quiet, but the gardens were integrated into forest. In the zen rock gardens of yesterday, everything was represented by sand, rock and vegetation in a very prescribed way, through the placement of the rocks, the striations in the sand, the type of vegetation, quite beautiful in its simplicity. Everything in the universe reduced to the fundamentals. But todays gardens merged with the surrounding environ, where the line between control and chaos is blurred. Everything item, ... read more