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November 13th 2008
The dorm, turning into autumn, and me in a wedding kimono. Fantastic experience, that not many people get- three hours of make-up and being dressed in about 6 different layers by an absolutely beautiful lady who does this as her job, yet has been volunteering her time for the last 9 years to dress us exchange students at Kandai...This year there's more than thirty girls who have put their hands up. Over 90 hours!!!!!!!! Increadible. Doesn't quite suit me, so feel free to have a giggle!... read more
November 13th 2008
After celebrating an early (very) 21st in Adelaide with familiy in friends in mid March, I finally had my real birthday last Tuesday, here in Japan... And I was still getting surprises up until 2 days ago! Absolutely awesome birthday! Very lucky girl. Thanks everyone, back home and here...... read more
November 10th 2008
Ikeda City Aki (autumn) Matsuri (festival), a couple of weeks ago, was one of the best experiences of this whole trip. Simply seeing it would have been enough, but we were lucky enough to be involved in all of the rituals, and treated like special guests in being welcomed into the shrine and given a private performance from the temple girls. Just increadible. Jidai Matsuri in Kyoto with Mari and Misa (girls from the English class Amelia and I are teaching...). Hundreds of people dressed up in clothes of the different periods of Japanese history for a parade through the streets of Kyoto. Kansai Uni School Festival: Oct 31st-Jan 3rd... A festival run by students for students and the public... 300 food stalls, 5 outdoor stages, numerous classrooms housing lives of different bands, fashion parade, comedians ... read more
November 10th 2008
Feeling more and more at home here in Osaka. Here are some snippets of my life over the last couple of months, which have just FLOWN by... ... read more
October 12th 2008
Mum and Dad came over to Japan to spend 16 days with me, and together we went to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Koya San. A HUGE trip, with so many new sights and experiences, and of course a chance to show them some of what I love about Japan, including many of my friends who they got to meet. Check out the pics.... read more
September 21st 2008
So late that evening of the day spent at Chuzenji lake and around, we made our way to Tokyo, arriving in time to see Senso Temple in Asakusa lit up at night. We then took a train back to our Hotel- a 40 minute trip, that took us just 3 minutes the next morning on the express, using a different company! Tokyo's transport system is INCREADIBLY good! The next five days we spent exploring Tokyo. Sensoji for a service, Shinjuku (shopping area, full of lights and excitement), Ueno (market), Tsukiji Fish Markets (woke up at 4:30 to get to the tuna auctions by 5:15. I was surprised by how crazily fast the men all drive around on their little fork-lift cars, not caring at all if we were in the way... Great to see such a ... read more
September 20th 2008
After Shikoku came Nikko, after one day of sleep and washing followed by a bon odori (summer style traditional dancing festival) at night, which we ended up getting to by Shinkansen. We stayed here for two days and two nights at a beautiful little place called Nikko Park Lodge, with the most accomodating man running it, Zairyo, a buddhist monk who had practised in the US for 20 years, who ran a private Yoga session in the mornings that Amelia and I took. Such an amazing experience to wake up in this beautifully quiet place and do yoga and meditiation to the sound of his chanting. Really magical. We spent one of our days in Nikko taking our time to appreciate the many shrines and temples, statues and beautiful old forests in Nikko Park, and the ... read more
August 31st 2008
The first trip away for the summer break was to Shikoku, an island kind of south west from where I'm living, and 6 hours away by bus... Yuko (my room mate) and I headed off 3 hours after my last exam, on July 12, to stay in Kochi, where her parents are living at the moment, and near where she grew up in Ehime, for 4 nights. Yuko's mum and dad are absolutely gorgeous people. Arriving at their house I instantly felt a part of the family- welcome to help myself to the fridge and lounge around the house in my PJs, and chatting to them like we already knew each other well. The next day the four of us travelled around the most part of the Eastern side of Shikoku. SO handy to have a ... read more
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