My Sweet Birthday Flowers:

Beautiful! I had to leave them on the table all day while I was at work, just so I could look at them while I was grading papers...

A Nap in Japan #2

I'd just like to take a moment to present the second installment of my series:

"A Nap in Japan: Japanese people can (and do) sleep anywhere."

• Left: At first glance, you might just think he's looking for something under the seat. But by the second, third, fourth and fifth glances, you realize that what's under his seat is actually not anything he's concerned about.
• Right: As you can see, the pose from the shot on the left is not particularly unique. Even though I took that picture almost three years ago, it is a sight I've seen much more often than that, as in this photo taken last week at Shinagawa train station. This guy was totally alone on the platform until my train arrived, yet he didn't even move a muscle when dozens of people got off the train and walked past him. This guy was out.

(Click here to view the first post.)

Japanese wisdom, whatever that means...

So I'm really sad I didn't have my camera with me at the time, but this is what I saw on the back of a guy's pink T-shirt at Shibuya Station last night:

~~~

"HUMILITY"

Imitate
Jesus and
Socrates

~~~

How's that for advice?

Kobe Trip (6.18.09)

In June, I took my first overnight trip in Japan and left the Tokyo area for the first time in all of my three years in this country. So glad I went! My friends Mary, Char and I had lots of fun. In addition, I had a day all to myself to do some touristy stuff (Mary was living there at the time and Char had been there before, so they went off to Osaka that day). Here are a few shots:

• Left: We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) late Wednesday evening, arriving at our hotel in Kobe just before midnight.
• Right: The next morning I woke up early to take a walk around the neighborhood. Pictured here is Kobe's main shrine. Looks nice and peaceful in the morning, right? Well, it was...until just after those monks you can see at the top of the steps had finished their chanting, and then the alarm on my mobile phone had the decency to go off, with the volume on its highest setting. Literally, it was seconds after they had finished and were standing in silent meditation, right after I took this photo. I was mortified! I wonder if monks have a sense of humor about that sort of thing...

• Left: after I had caused as much disruption as possible at the shrine, I knew that was my cue to go hit the rest of the town. One of my first stops was a tiny amusement park with a ferris wheel, which looked like the most promising spot to get a good view of the city. I arrived at 10:50, the park opened at 11. No joke, this is how seriously Japanese people are about punctuality. This kid stood there at the gate, with potential visitors ready and waiting, and just looked at his watch until EXACTLY 11am, not a second sooner.
• Right: Yes, I took this picture on purpose. No, it's not a pile of rubbish. This is the park memorializing the Great Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake of 1995, which measured a 7.2. There is almost nothing left in this city that is older than 15 years, with one notable exception being the next photo:

• Left: Kobe's Port Tower, one of the few structures to survive the quake and the mainstay of the city's skyline--especially at night.
• Right: part of Kobe's Nunobiki Herb Garden. In the background you can see the cable cars that bring visitors up the mountain from the main train station. At the cafe here, every dish is centered on an herbal theme. I tried the Rose Smile (an Italian soda made with rose-flavored syrup) and the Herb Sherbet (wild strawberry, lavender, basil and an unidentifiable orange were the four flavors--basil was my unexpected but absolute favorite).

• Left: a view of the city from the cable-car ride back from the herb garden.
• Right: rice paddies. I took this photo the next morning on the bullet train ride back to Tokyo.

In all, a very enjoyable experience and something I would definitely recommend to anyone in Japan long enough to afford the luxury of a little side-trip to Kobe for a day or two!

Miscellany

The title says it all...

• Left: went to the "Hawaii Festival" in Odaiba and got coconut bubble tea. Not that interesting in and of itself, except for the fact that the straw was more than twice the height of the cup. Weird...
• Right: Children's Day was celebrated on the 5th of May. These windsocks are hung outside of pretty much every house where children live, in addition to daycare centers, schools and this children's activity center in the building next to where I work. Admittedly, the carp windsocks look pretty lifeless in this photo, but when the wind blows through them they are meant to look like fish swimming upstream--a symbol of strength.

• Left: this store gets my (nonexistent) award for "Weird Shop Name of the Week"
• Right: Ran across this fantastic shopping bag while browsing in Loft (pretty much one of the most awesome department stores in Tokyo...) and couldn't resist. No, it's not Japanese English, but it's definitely just as funny. :)

The biggest parfait you'll ever see...

Last weekend was pretty eventful: I took a half-day holiday from work on Saturday because my littlest Japanese friends, Keita and Kanta, invited me to watch their soccer tournament. (They are twin brothers who are 1st-graders on the team that my host family coaches.)

Followed that up the next day with a birthday celebration for my friend Char at one of my fave restaurants--Asian Kitchen. This place serves absolutely enormous parfaits for birthdays; so big, in fact, that they have to be ordered ahead of time. You may have already seen what Char and I managed to get last year, but that pales in comparison to what we got this time. (Check out last year's post here.) I guess I'll have to refer to the latest one as the "Super-uber parfait"?

Check out my weekend:

• Left: the team I came to watch is wearing green. This is the schoolyard where they practice every weekend, which also happens to be the same elementary school where my host mom works as a cook. Note that in addition to the lack of greenery throughout the entirety of Tokyo, they have also apparently decided that children would be better off playing on a gravel/sand mix rather than grass at school, too. This is what pretty much every school and park I have ever seen in Japan looks like.
• Right: Kanta got to be goalie for a little while! We won't talk in detail about how that turned out, though... :)

• Left: at the end of soccer games, instead of doing the high-five-"good game" thing that American children do, the players line up and bow to each other. Here is a shot of my little guys bowing to the coaches of the opposing team, which is also done at the end of every game. Got to give the Japanese credit for the extreme politeness...
• Right: and here they are after their third and final game in the tournament. Unfortunately, the two that I came to watch have their heads turned, otherwise I'd tell you who they are...

• Left: Char (L) and Maki (R) were the birthday girls (Maki's was the Tuesday before). No joke, ladies and gentlemen, the parfait really was as enjoyable as they make it look. The picture doesn't do it justice, either; it was bigger than it looks here. Check out the spoons that came with the parfait, too.
• Right: I, of course, was delighted to be able to join in the consumption of such deliciousness, even though it's nowhere close to my birthday. (No, I didn't get my own parfait, it's the same one from the other picture...)

• Left: This is what it looked like after we'd inflicted as much damage as our stomachs could tolerate. Not bad for just three girls, huh? This moment documents the end of nearly 45 minutes of stuffing our faces with bananas, strawberries, cherries, kiwi, mango, pineapple, whip cream, pudding, cake, ice cream, chou pastries, chocolate syrup, cornflakes, sprinkles...well, you get the idea.
• Right: Nothing to do with the other pictures from the restaurant, but this is the sign near the entrance. It's just saying that you have to go down the hall if you want to buy cigarettes or use the restroom, but that explanation still doesn't make it any less odd.

Ever wonder what little Japanese boys wear at soccer practice?

Basically it's the same as what you'd see in America...only looking a little more like a girl's uniform:
Make no mistake--there's not a single girl on that team. Ahhh, the wonders of living in Japan.
More to come in the near future...