The only way I can prove that I didn't make this up...

I live somewhere else now (Part 1)

I've actually been in the new place a little over a month now. It's GREAT! I really love it a lot and I've made a couple of fun new friends.

Here are some shots from my moving days on June 30/July 1.

The old place: See? Almost as if I was never there. (I'm getting really good at cleaning...)



First afternoon in the new place. Trust me, it's much cleaner than that now. I would show you a picture to prove it, but I just realized that I've got laundry hanging up. You don't need to see my unmentionables.



Next time I'll give you the "tour" of my new place!

Today's present (Get it?)

This is a delivery van that parked outside my school this afternoon...

Now that the water's, um, brown...

OK, so I know that this really doesn't have anything to do with my normal updates about life "on the island," but I just couldn't resist sharing Shell's new ad that keeps getting printed in the magazines I use for my classes. There's irony here. Enjoy it.

"We're boring on Friday night!"

So, this kid's jacket had a bunch of patches on the back each depicting a different, correctly labeled sport (soccer, baseball, basketball, and so on) with one small exception...

広島...パート2

April 9th-10th:

• Left: the A-bomb dome.
• Right: Heiwa-koen ("Peace Park") + Peace Museum. You'll cry if you go, but it's worth the trip. You won't think about war the same way ever again.

• Left: collections of paper cranes near a memorial to...
• Right: Sadako Sasaki

• Left: O-konomi-yaki, Hiroshima's famous local cuisine. Somewhat like a pizza, though basically none of the ingredients are the same. (Unless, of course, your one of those people who puts things on pizza that just aren't supposed to be there...) This tasty looking dish is mine; it's got egg, soba noodles and batter on the bottom, then it's topped with paper-thin sliced beef, cheese, green onions, o-konomi-yaki sauce (yes, there's a sauce specifically for this), and pickled ginger (that's the pink stuff on top). Mayonnaise is the condiment of choice for o-konomi-yaki eaters, but I opted to go without.
• Right: it was D-licious...

• Left: Kin-tai-kyo, a famous bridge and also World Heritage site. This is located in tiny, rural Iwakuni city, Yamaguchi prefecture, about 45 minutes from Hiroshima by train. Thought that if I went this far out into the countryside that I'd be able to escape all the tourists, but alas, Iwakuni is also the location of a US Marines base. There were white people everywhere.
• Right: Not only should you remove your shoes upon entering a Japanese house, but--according to old people--you should also remove them when you step onto a picnic mat...and don't just throw them over there. Line them up properly over here. Thaaat's right.

• Left: more of the Iwakuni local park area
• Right: Hagiyaki, a traditional form of Japanese pottery originating in the Hiroshima/Yamaguchi area.

Hiroshima (finally...but only "part 1")

I suppose two months without posting is long enough...

Here are a few shots of the first day and a half of my trip to Hiroshima (April 7th-8th):

• Left: Shukkeien, a traditional garden about 10 minutes on foot from my hotel.
• Right: Same garden, September 1945. Who would have thought that a scene now so beautiful was the image of destruction only 60 years ago... (The bridge at the center is the very same as the one in my photo.)

• Left and right: Hiroshima Castle

• Left: a view of the city from the top of the castle
• Right: a view of the city from...the city

• Left: Islands in Hiroshima Bay (Inland Sea of Japan). Taken from the ferry on the way to Miyajima Island.
• Right: On the island. Deer. Everywhere. Poop, too.

• Left: an overview, so to speak, of the temple + related edifices
• Right: What can I say...I'm a sucker for roof shapes. (Same pagoda as the previous picture, just much closer, obviously.)

• Left: could not have visited during a better week of the year
• Right: the island's main attraction

Stay tuned...

The Fourth Spring

Spring has finally arrived (even though the temperature hasn't realized it yet...) which means sakura--cherry blossoms--and my annual trip to Shinjuku-gyoen:

The Balls of Dinner

This was my dinner one night a few weeks back. While I can promise that the whole thing was entirely unintentional, I must admit that I did have a strong desire to sing my old Sesame Street favorite "One of These Things is Not Like the Others" right after I noticed the trend.

• Clockwise from top left: fresh pineapple chunks, amazing cherry tomatoes, my favorite Japanese dessert "yukimi-daifuku" (balls of vanilla icecream covered in soft, stretchy rice), and finally some teriyaki meatballs.
  

A Sri Lankan meal and a birthday party

I'm almost out of time for posting in February!  I can't believe how quickly this month has passed.  The photos in this post are even from the beginning of the month...I just never made time to get around to posting them.

These are from a surprise birthday dinner for a friend of mine: 

This is Ruvini, the lovely wife of our birthday boy and also our chef for the evening, putting the final touches on the first course of our meal.  If you ever get a chance to eat any of her authentic Sri Lankan food, take it.  Trust me.

 
Here is our main course: chicken curry, jasmine rice with raisins and green beans, and a broccoli/pineapple/cheese salad.



I had a lesson on how to eat with my hands, in true Sri Lankan style.  That fork next to my plate?  Still clean at the end of the meal, though because I'm unfamiliar with Sri Lankan table manners, I made my hosts giggle when I was "rude" enough to lick my fingers.



Here, is a portion of the meal being prepared by the chef, while the birthday boy washes some dishes.  The real reason they're smiling is actually not simply because I'm taking a photo.  It's because Priyanka said this is probably the only time this year that he's done something in the kitchen.  I've been asked to send him a copy of the photo to document the occasion.




Yukari and I were the two party guests (Japanese apartments aren't big enough for much more than that).  I gave her bonus points for wearing those slippers all evening.  They go well with her shirt, don't they?




And finally...

I wasn't allowed to leave my hosts' apartment until I had undergone the full Sri Lankan experience.  I think this was Ruvini's favorite part of the evening.

Say It, Don't Spray It

This is what graffiti artists in Shibuya have come up with while I've been in America for the Christmas holiday. I give them partial credit for style and enthusiasm but unfortunately, full credit is not an option at this point, for obvious reasons. I also enjoy how they have unwittingly underlined their mistake. Twice.