Update Time

Hi Everybody!

It is most definitely time for an update from me! After we got back from our quick U.S. trip in August, we had quite a few more weeks of "mushi atsui," miserably hot and humid weather to deal with. I think there were still some pretty toasty days even in October, but between baseball games and Andrew's birthday, we kept ourselves distracted. These days it's just downright COLD. But I'm generally okay with that. :)

A lil' bit of baseball fever!

Andrew's awesome birthday cake

On October 13th my school had their Halloween Party. It was fun, and the kids looked adorable, but all in all it was far too much work for too little result. Then again, I've come to realize that's how things tend to work at Mebae. The way the company is run is very different from the typical "American way." Of course this is all part of getting the non-American experience, but it can definitely be frustrating at times. There's a mentality in Japanese culture that is so focused on giving 120% to one's company and not necessarily getting compensated for it. I do my best to go with the flow and use my frustration as a learning tool, to let go of negativity whenever possible because it's almost never helping the situation.

Here are a few photos from the Halloween party...





For our two-year anniversary in November, Andrew and I got all spruced up and had dinner at an elaborate and expensive (but delicious!) crab restaurant in Hirakata. The meal consisted of about twelve different courses and was served in a very traditional Japanese style, with so much care and attention given to every detail, including the way the dishes were placed upon the table. It was an interesting experience, but I have to admit, after a while I kind of wanted them to stop bringing food so we could be left alone to enjoy ourselves without wondering if we were consuming something improperly before the watchful gaze of curious, brown eyes.

In November, we also had a couple weekends with two days off in a row together, so we decided to explore a few other cities we'd never been to. The first weekend we went to Kanazawa, near the Sea of Japan, and, just for kicks, Obama city. It was particularly cold and rainy both days, but it managed to clear up just in time for us to stroll around the beach and watch the sunset. Obama city was interesting. They have deemed themselves, "The Obama For Obama," and plenty of Barack Obama paraphenalia can be found around town. (Andrew covered more of this in his last blog.)

Hehe

A good deal of the trip was spent riding on trains, which tends to make me very sleepy, but we were also able to see so much beautiful country. October through November is "kouyou" season here, literally meaning "red leaves," but also understood as "changing colors." In my opinion, it has to be the best time of year to visit Japan (except for maybe the cherry blossom season in spring). The mountainsides are blanketed with thick, bright fireworks of color. Maybe someone from the New England area of the U.S. wouldn't be quite as impressed, but being from Colorado, I've never seen changes in the leaves like I have here. The biggest thing we've got going for a Rocky Mountain autumn is the change in the aspen trees (from green to bright yellow) which, don't get me wrong, is a sight to see in its own way.

Near Nagoya Castle

Some of the architecture in the cities of Japan is impressive or at least interesting,




but it's really when you get away from it all that you see the true beauty of this land:
Traditional Japanese homes, temples or shrines nestled on smokey mountains covered with maple, gingko, pine, cherry trees and bamboo. There's nothing else quite like it, and even seeing it from a train makes my heart skip a beat.

Kyoto

The second weekend we went to Nagoya. What a cool town! Most places in the Kansai area (Osaka) seem to close down pretty early, but Nagoya was still hoppin' well into the night and everyone we came across was incredibly friendly. We ate some amazing sushi, found a comfortable, clean hotel, and spent the next day wandering around the city and exploring Nagoya Castle and its grounds. We were also really excited to see the Robot Museum that was supposed to be there, but after searching for almost an hour, we finally found out that it had closed down almost a year ago. Darn you 2008 Lonely Planet Japan! You promised us robots!

Nagoya Castle

A really cool restaurant where we had dinner when we arrived back in Namba

On a train. This seems to be our signature pose.

A pretty sunset from the back of our apartment

Peace & Love,
Amber

Kanazawa and Obama

FYI: For some reason we now have to post blog photos a different way than we did before so they are not cut off. Since it'll take way too long to redo all the photos below, simply click on a photo to view its full size. Thanks! A&A

On November 23rd Amber and I decided to take a trip to the Sea of Japan, to Kanazawa to visit my host brother, Taichi, his wife, Mitsuho, and their new son, Takuto, as well as go to Obama city. We left here pretty early to make our way to western Japan. Upon arriving at Hirakata station, Amber got to experience what it's like being shoved into a train that is already stuffed full of people, and then having a station master shove more people onto the train, basically packing bodies in like you would sardines. When the doors finally close people are pressed up against the glass and no matter what, you can't move. Your body is stuck in that position until people get off. We were trapped like this for quite a long time. I myself had experienced this in Tokyo, but never in Osaka. I asked a lady and her daughter who were crammed next to me why there were so many people. She said it was the last weekend to see the leaves change color in Kyoto, so people were racing to get there. After chatting with Amber and I for a long time, the daughter decided she wanted a picture with Amber. I am not sure why, but maybe she has a blog too. Ironically, they were from Tokyo and were coming to Osaka to sightsee and to get away from the crowds.

We finally made it to Kyoto station, but we just barely missed the train to Obama city so we headed to Kanazawa first to see the ocean, Taichi and crew. It is a good thing we decided to do that first because we found out that Taichi had to work the next day, so we would not have been able to meet up with them if we had gone to Kanazawa on Monday like we had originally planned.

We arrived in Kanazawa in the early afternoon and decided to catch a train to go to one of the popular beach areas. Everyone was telling us it was raining and it wasn't going to be pretty. This is something I'm used to being from the Northwest. As luck would have it, it stopped raining and the sun came out just in time for us to see the sunset on the Sea of Japan. The sand is really difficult to describe. It's almost like walking in snow, it was so soft. The beach on the Sea of Japan I had previously been to consisted of small pebbles, so I prepared Amber for that and we were both surprised to see sand. It was amazing on the beach and not cold like we expected it to be.

Entrance to the beach. I can't read the Kanji.




Amber and I touching the sea.





To remember the day.




Big waves.




Us.




Fishing boat and shacks.





Sunset




After we finished up at the beach, we made our way back to Kanazawa to meet up with Taichi and family. We had a little bit of time to kill while we waited so we walked around downtown Kanazawa and took a few pictures. Kanazawa had to have the nicest people I have ever run into in Japan. They were so helpful and didn't treat us as if we were outsiders. They just seemed to accept us.

Here are some of the pictures out and about Kanazawa.

The Station.




A monkey with a lady advertising something.




Random pictures around the city.





We went out to sushi with them and had a great time. I was really happy to see them again since it is so very rare that I actually get to see them. Taku, who Amber accidentally called "Taco," had gotten very big and was starting to crawl. After we had dinner, they took us back to the station and we headed to Tsuruga to stay the night to get a jump start on Obama.

The Happy family - Mitsuho, Taichi, and the baby, Takuto (Taco).




Takuto.




Amber and I each taking our turns holding Takuto. I look deranged for some reason.





Us with Takuto.






A Christmas tree in Tsuruga.



On our way to Obama we had a layover in Fukui. We had an hour to kill so we had coffee. I ended up getting a coffee with very very tiny pitcher of cream. *Note: I have been having weird luck in Japan when ordering coffee. Prior to this, I had ordered a coffee and I believe received the world's tiniest cup of coffee.

Here is us with our coffees. Amber got the normal one.





That blue thing in the middle is a taxi. This was a very small park in the middle of the road.




Finally we caught our train to Obama and made our way. The train took about 1 hour to get there. The city itself was really quiet and quite nice. It was surrounded by hills covered in trees on one side, and the sea was on the other (which we didn't see). It reminded me of a coastal town in America. There weren't very many people walking around at all. It might have been due to the rainy weather. We had arrived before lunch and decided to walk around the town and see what we could find before we settled on a place to buy lunch. We saw a cake shop that sold Obama rolls which were really no different than roll cakes here in Osaka. We found a souvenir shop while we were walking around and decided to go ahead and buy some Obama manju and various other things because they were pretty amusing. The city itself wasn't all that spectacular other than the fact that it shares its name with the president elect and is famous for fishing.

Us on the train going to Obama.





We have no idea what this is. Any ideas?




This sign is in shop windows all over the city. Unfortunately I can't read all of it.




Me in a yukata top sold in a store.




These banners are all around Obama. Look closely at the motto at the bottom of the banner.




This is an entrance to a temple near the station. We didn't go in because I wasn't sure if you were allowed.




Here are some the trees with the leaves changing colors. It was nice to be in a city that had trees all around.




Here is a picture of part of the mountains surrounding the city. The water tower in the picture says "Obama" in Japanese.




Map of Obama city and its surroundings.




Obama info center. Find out about Obama here.