< design : ecology : community >

Looking Back

2010-02-16T00:31:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if people are still checking in to this blog, but I thought I would add short and sweet post.

First, I miss traveling.

Since we came back from our trip I worked in Colorado at a woodshop, then off to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver where I design and taught education programs. Finally I came to my senses, applied to grad school and moved to NYC. I am currently attending Goddard College and just completed my 1st year toward a degree is Socially Responsible business and Sustainable Communities. As part of my graduate work, I have designed a gardening education program for 7th graders, which started 3 weeks ago! I also freelance at Situ Studio sanding and painting sculptures.

SO life is good and busy. NYC is not my permanent home, but it is home for now. Matthew and I keep in touch, but not as much as we should. Time is flying by . . . as of 4 minutes ago I just turned 27.

I find myself coming back to this blog every month, mainly when I want to cook something from our trip. Perhaps I will start to visit more often. It will at least help my graduate work.

-Alison

in The Boston Globe

2009-09-04T23:33:00.003-05:00

I just found out that The Boston Globe published a link to our WWOOFing post on Sunday, 23 August 2009! They did an article on WWOOFing and included a post regarding our experiences with it. Unfortunately my link didn’t make it into the online globe (odd), just the print version, but still awesome!

Heifer International

2007-07-14T18:28:00.000-05:00

Went over to Heifer International's Outlook farm in Western Massachusetts today. It was interesting, very focused on using livestock to eradicate hunger and poverty. While I am partial to vegetables, there were some other benefits to farm animals like work power, wool, and space conservation. The best part of their program is re-giving; after H.I. donates an animal to a family in need, that family must give the animals first offspring to another family in need. They also have all these mock houses from different parts of the world their program benefits, such as Thailand, Peru, Guatemala, Tibet, Kenya, Poland, and Appalachia. Sustainable development, but in a different way than I'm used to - living creatures rather than materials.

Anderson Ranch and a great field trip

2007-06-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

I'm currently assisting a Willow twig Furniture class. Clifton Monteith, (http://homepage.mac.com/cliftonmonteith/PhotoAlbum4.html) the same Instructor that inspired us to plan out trip, teaches the class. We are building chairs out of Willow and Aspen. I have really enjoyed myself this past week, mainly because the class consists of working artist and wood workers. The age group of the class is 21-45. It is definitely rare that there are so many young people in the class. It makes for sun evenings and weekends. The class is a 2-week class- so this past weekend has been a blast hanging out with people. On Friday we all headed out for a field trip. We visited the Rocky Mountain Institute.

This is the chair that Clifton is working on during the class.

This is Clifton and his wife Nancy- they are on my "Favorite People's List"!

Rocky Mountain Institute (http://www.rmi.org/)
Mission Statement:

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit organization. We foster the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life sustaining.

Our staff shows businesses, communities, individuals, and governments how to create more wealth and employment, protect and enhance natural and human capital, increase profit and competitive advantage, and enjoy many other benefits — largely by doing what they do far more efficiently.

Our work is independent, nonadversarial, and transideological, with a strong emphasis on market-based solutions. For detailed descriptions of our Research & Consulting within the Natural Capitalism Framework as well as our activities and areas of impact, please follow the links at left.

We visited the Snowmass location and took a guided tour. The building itself was under a lot of construction, which made it a little difficult to get an idea of how the building looks normally. The building is almost completely solar powered. The water is heated by the sun. The interior is designed to keep in heat and also has a green house that is able to grow even banana trees in the winter. It was great to see a building that is a successful example of efficient and sustainable designs. I recommend taking a look through the website to get more of an in depth idea. I found it very interesting to see how they have updated the building. The Snowmass building was built in 1984 and I am sure you can imagine all of the improvements that have been made in the past 23 years in the technology. The solar panels have become so much smaller and also way more efficient. The one thing that I found frustrating but also difficult to avoid- the fact that living in such a sustainable way is nearly impossible unless you have the funds to do so. Within the first year the building paid for it self with all the savings, however, the money still must be paid up front to take on a project like that. The question that I will continue to ask is: How can we make these living improvements possible for those that don't have the access to the funds?

These are my thought for now.

Mexico

2007-06-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

While not originally in our travel plans, I will be heading down to Mexico tomorrow for a little R&R on a cruise ship. Quite different from how Alison and I traveled, but I will still be looking for sustainable developments and spicy recipes.

I also published our first blook today! Woo Hoo! It's not the full blog book, that's still being edited, but a photography book I put together. With a hard cover and 72 full bleed 11" x 14" pages it should be pretty nice.

And as a final note, I've completely re-done my own website www.matthewmosher.us to be more international friendly, so check it out! I'm still working on my blog format though.

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< design : eco...

photography

By matthew mosher

Being back

2007-05-27T16:07:00.000-05:00

I am here at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and feel like I have been thrown into it all. I have not really had time to process my trip and the new me that has developed from my experiences. Maybe in some ways the processing will occur over time no matter if I am trying to process or not. I am trying to step back into the American culture without getting caught up in it. I am trying to take small steps. Trying to keep a balance. I need personal space- me time. But it is so hard not to get caught up. For example- I have gotten used to not having a cell phone but now that I have one again I feel this desire to communicate with people. But Things don't always need to be talked about. Life was so simple when I was traveling. I had to think about where I ate food and where I slept. Now I don't have to think about those things, but instead I think about the bills I need to pay. Or I think about the little things that don't really matter. I have to remind myself of what I think is really important.

So Life does continue but I think I am looking though a different set of eyes. Eyes that have changed become more aware.

A Fabulous Lecture for Traveling Design Students

2007-04-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

A transcript with notes of our RISD lecture on May 02, 2007 at 6:00PM in the Mason Building. Download our Power Point presentation.

Prep - Goal
-To research international sustainable design, different ways of living, and different ways of making.
-Motivation before and during
A goal keeps you going through the whole trip. It takes a lot of planing to do this, and your goal will keep you focused on getting throught the nitty gritty. Also while you're away you may feel lost or aimless at somepoint, this is a great time to review your goal and clear out any doubts or depresssion you may be facing.

Prep - Contacts
-Talk to people who have been there
-Make connections with people who are there
-Talk to professors
-Contact people in advance
When you first arrive in a new country it's great to know where you're going to be staying, especially if you know people in the area, so if you have any contacts try to plan around them if you can.

Prep - Support
-Plan in advance
-Get a grant writer
-Study part time, work part time
-Go either way
Ask organizations for support
If you decide to write a grant proposal your self, utilize the writing center during the entire process, not just for the final draft. There are people there that are more expereinced with grant proposals and will help you develope the porposal appropratly.
http://intranet.risd.edu/departments/default.asp?department=Writing_Center

Prep - Tickets
-Shop around
-Round the World
-We do not recommend STA
-Leave wiggle room
-Get travel insurance
-Get an international student discount card
While we never needed out insurance, some countries like India won't officially let you in without it. Our student discount card paid for itself in transportation costs alone, the admissions discounts were like a bonus. But remember if you;re going to a country like India you're not going to get a discount on anything. Try to get tickets that our refundable, when you're planing flights so far in advance it is probable that you'll change your mind or the world will intervene somehow before your travels are over.

Prep - Health
-Bring prescriptions and over the counter medicine with you
-Antibiotics, Nausea, Diarrhea, Fever, Malaria
-Get all vaccinations before
Medicines that we recommend: Antibiotics(more than 3 days supply), Imodium, Nausea, Fever, and Electrolyte mixture (the home brew is a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice, a pinch of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar to a liter of water. The mixture should taste slightly salty, sweet and sour. Only sip the mixture.)
Make sure the doctor explains when to take what.
ASK QUESTIONS!!
For Example: How long do I take the Anibiotics for? What should I do if I get sick again? In what situation do I take each medicine? When do I call the doctor or go to the hospital?
http://www.passporthealthusa.com/

Prep - Moral Support
-Bring a friend
-Ignore those who doubt you
-Get a guide book
-Watch some local films
-Make it a big deal
While it is quite possible to travel alone having a friend makes all the logistics easier. It also saves a lot of money to travel with someone; double rooms are only marginally more than singles. Having a friend can make you less likely to talk to locals though and rely on strangers less, so know your style. And seriously ignore people who say you can't do this, what they are really saying is they cant do it.

During - Keeping in touch
-Keep a blog
-Keep a journal
-Email
-Post Restaunte
-No cell phone
Keeping a blog is a great way for people to keep up with what your doing, and if you're emailing you'll need to find computers anyway. Be warned, however, writing a good entry can take an hour, and putting photos can be challenging in some places. Many big cities have Post Restaunte facilities at their GPO, so if you need anything mailed to you, check it out.

During - Make friends
-Work exchange
-Culture exchange
-Volunteering
-Take breaks
http://www.helpx.net/index.asp
http://www.wwoof.com.au/
If you're traveling at all you've got to get to know the locals, so it really helps to spend some time in each place you visit, at least a week. Volunteering or doing a work exchange / homestay is a great way to get to know people and give you some insights to the local culture, but don't string all these experiences back to back. Give yourself a weekend here or there to relax.

During - Transportation
-Book in advance
-Ask locals
-Don’t stress out
-Expensive
-Consider getting a vehicle
Tickets, be it plane, bus, or subway, were by far our greatest expense. Buying early certainly saves money and peace of mind, but is not always possible. If you're going to be in one place for a long time consider getting a car, motorbike or bicycle, in the long run these can save you heaps on public transit. Having a vehicle is also nice if you're doing work exchange so you can get away during your off time.

After
-Have something lined up
-Summer job
-Residency
-A place to think
It's quite overwhelming to come back from a trip like this, so having something lined up when you return is very calming, and searching for work / whatever right away is the last thing you want to do.

Reasons for Traveling
-You’re not tied down
-Experience other cultures
-Experience other ways of life
-See variations on what you do
-Don’t get stuck
Getting stuck is tricky. You don't want to get stuck permanently in one of the countries you visit, we almost got stuck in Japan. But you also don't want to get stuck your home country either. Keep traveling!

Traveling Resources

2007-04-29T10:26:00.000-05:00

Visa
http://projectvisa.com/

Australia
Art/Design
http://www.windgrove.com/ee/index.php
http://www.marcustatton.com/

Environment/sustainability
http://www.wildmountains.org/
http://www.tasmaniatogether.tas.gov.au

Japan
Art/Design
http://www.kohseki.com/
http://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/eng/index.html (RISD has an exchange program with this Art school)
http://www.takumijuku.com/english/index.htm (Traditional Japanese woodworking school)
http://w3.kcua.ac.jp/ (Art/design school)

Cultural Exchange/volunteering
http://www.kcif.or.jp/en/benri/01_01.html (Kyoto, Japan)

Language exchange/volunteering
http://www.klexon.net/

Japanese Language study
AJALT Japanese for busy People
Pimsleur Language Tapes
Rosetta Stone Language Software

India
Volunteering
http://sambhali-trust.org/ (Jodhpur, India)

Art/Design
http://www.shunya.net/Text/Blog/LeCorbusierChandigarh.htm (Chandigarh, India)

Meditation Retreat
http://www.tushita.info/
http://www.dhamma.org/

Sites related to Bhuddism
http://www.buddhanet.net/
http://www.dalailama.com/
http://www.fpmt.org/

To print, click the "Traveling Resources" title, which will open this post by itself, and then select print from your file menu.

Being Back

2007-04-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

We arrived yesterday. We managed to stay awake all day (except for a 2 hour nap that I took). Matthew's parents greeted us at the airport with tears, welcome home signs and flashing lights. We spent the rest of the day settling down and answering many questions about our trip. It was intense, but I really enjoyed it. The day made me feel like there are people that really care about us and what we have been doing.

Although I am not coming back to a specific home (I will be traveling from Boston to Providence to NYC to Aspen Colorado) I really feel like I have arrived home. I can feel spring in the air of the USA. Everything looks different but so familiar. The bathroom is one of the nicest rooms in the house instead of the grossest! There are no cows on the streets and no stray dogs. But on the other hand, when I walk around here I am not easily reminded that there are a lot of people that are starving in the world, or that what we consider a hard life is nothing compared to others. The reminders are helpful so that we are motivated to change and to encourage change around us.

Back in the USA

2007-04-26T13:20:00.000-05:00

We're on the plane. I really don't feel like I am returning to the United States, but that the US is the fifth country we will visit. My perception of America and my life there has changed so much since we left, there's no way I could return to the same country, the same life. My journey does not end, but continues anew.

We made it back safely. Breath.

Chandigarh

2007-04-24T05:51:00.000-05:00

While most Indian cities look like populated ruins, Chandigarh looks like a city on its way to ruin. The three capital buildings, or Temples of Democracy, designed by Le Corbusier after India got it's independence are amazing, massive concreted structures of abstract diplomacy. They were built around the same time as Ronchamp Cathedral in France for reference, so the builds are far from Corbusier's earlier strict simplistic designs. Here we have flowing concrete painted pink yellow and green dotted with imprints of fish and wheat. The Assembly Hall (V.S. Parliament hall) was my favorite, described as a Boat of Freedom in the Sea, looked more like a slitted volcano rising out of a 3d concrete planer grid, which keeps the building cool and light with no AC. Three cheers for Corb. Sadly, the numerous offices and security heck points needed to see these buildings were tiresome, and showed how the insides of the buildings were deteriorating. I think we spent more time getting our passports checked than looking at the architecture, but that's ok, it was well worth it.

And no, it does not make me want to be an architect again.

I'm afraid this will be my last post before we get back to the states, it has been quite a trip. We will continue to post through our lectures, which I will post specific dates for when we know them. One will be May 2nd at RISD. I hope to add photos from India when I get back, and stay tuned for the book we will be publishing.
Carpe Diem.

The God of Small Things

2007-04-24T05:39:00.000-05:00

I didn't think I'd finish "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy before we left India, but I did. This is another look at life in India, but this time written by an Indian, and set in the current day. It is principally the story of two twins and their mother. The time line of the story jumps around a central event - a visit from their English cousin - showing the twins as children before, after, and latter as adults. The style of writing is superb, unlike anything I have ever read before, a bit like e.e. cummings had he written prose. Through combining somewhat random words into delicate phrases she brings out the minds of the children without seeming childish. She also uses repetition to set the memories of the children, which also helps the reader follow the time line. While there is much tragedy in the book, it ends on a good time. I highly recommend this book.

the last of India

2007-04-24T05:34:00.000-05:00

We are comign to the end! WE exchanges money back into US dollars. and i think it is setting in that we are leaving. I can not explain how excited I am. This trip has made me think about how fast time flys and that it really does not stop for anyone or anything. The only thing I can do is make that best of my time here.

We saw an amazing rock garden that used found object/junk. the garden was amazing, nothing like i have seen before. The one thing about Chandighar is that there people that live here are not extremely poor, In fact they are some of then more wealthy people oof India. It is really nice to see Children and adults playing on swings, picnicing at the rose garden and in genreal enjoying their lives, instead of begging for food or money. It has been a little bit of a mental break from the rest of India. It's not just the people. There are also no cows on the street here, which means there is no cow shit to aviod walking on! I am thrilled about that.

It is a little strangethat the wealthy in India can live their lives knowing that just miles a ways there are people starving to death. But I guess that is what we all do. But we can mentally try to have compassion for others and at least want to alliviate their suffering (a little Buddhism mentallity).

Wait Staff

2007-04-24T05:24:00.000-05:00

After walking half way to the waterfall and back this morning we decided to pass the time drinking milk teas in a tiny Tibetan cafe, which turned out to be most fortunate as we saw Regina passing by and pulled her in to join us. We hatted for a while before she invited us to join her on her evening circuit of the Dalai Lama's residence, the Bodhichitta path, so we went. And a good thing to, it was fantastic! We had somehow missed the pathway the previous two times we visited His Holyness's residence. The whole path was strung with prayer flags and dotted with stone stupas painted white. One section in the middle sported an elaborate large stupa and rows of prayer wheels.
There was even a gap in the trees to see the sun set, usually hidden by mountains. It was a good walk and I christened my rosary with a couple hundred "Om muni padme hum"s. As we wound past the Court yard on our way to Nick's Italian Kitchen for dinner we caught a slew of monks debating in Tibetan; they really do stomp and clap to conclude their point. Very interesting and amusing to watch. At Nick's I talked a lot about how great Japan was and Regina told us about wait-staff slavery. WE had heard rumors of this in town, but it was better to hear it from the friend of someone who wrote their dissertation on it. So here's what happens: To get waiters the restaurants go out and get 8-9 year old street orphans, give them food, a room, and maybe Rs 1000 ($25) a month. Now Westerners call this slavery, but I'm inclined to call it better than sleeping on the streets with a begging bowl. The problems arise when you find out that legally you have to be 15 to work in India, so the 9 year olds have no rights, and thus can't complain if they are mistreated. What perpetuates this problem is that no one will hire Tibetans, even other Tibetans, because they won't work for pitiful Indian wages. This leaves vast unemployment among the Tibetan youth. We had noticed some disparity between the Tibetan and Indian lifestyles, but didn't realize it went to deep.

Bhagsu

2007-04-20T01:31:00.000-05:00

We went to see the Bhagsu waterfall the other day when the rain stopped. (Rain what? in India? Crazy...) It was closer and more beautiful than I thought. We enjoyed a Kit-Kat and Limca by its spray. It is still hard for me to comprehend the synergy between the grandeur of India's landscape and the chaos Indians subject it to. I've had a strange fear of writing and taken photographs that has only now, a week before we leave, begun to fade. Odd. But with its passing comes a feverish anxiety about all the stuff I want and need to do back in the States.

Post-Tushita Musings

2007-04-20T00:53:00.000-05:00

While Australia has venomous snakes and deadly spiders, Dharamasala has scorpions. I've only seen two so far, one small, the size of a dime on a window sill, the other larger, the size of a fifty cent piece squished on the road. There's also a lot of monkeys. Alison was nearly attacked by one of the fearless red ones the day we moved down the mountain. They're so cheeky, they'll take food your eating right out of your hand if you're not careful. WE saw a couple of the more peaceful black lemurs at Tushita as well. The nearly human sized lemurs are even bigger than the red dog sized monkeys. I liked to eat my meals at Tushita out on the patio watching the monkeys and gazing at the distant snow capped mountains.
The other day we wandered down to the Dalai Lama's residence. We couldn't find him, but the temples were neat. Such intricate paintings and so many food offerings, you'd think the Tibetans were Idolaters. It really is strange the emphasis they put on images of the Buddha, but that may well be our Western minds having difficulty seeing that the material Buddha can not be separated from the ideals of Buddhism, if that makes any sense. We had a great walnut tomato pizza at the cafe there and got down to the museum, too, which was informative about the Chinese occupation and thus depressing. If there is anything we can do as free people for the world its to not but products made in China.
The little old married Tibetan women here are so cute. They wear these dresses that are a bit kimono like, but with colorful striped aprons. They have a very American Indian presence.

Our Tibetan friend

2007-04-20T00:49:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I was walking back to our guest house (Matthew was in town going some shopping), a young Tibetan guy(Tsering) started talking to me in very poor English. He asked me all the typical questions. What's your name? Where are you from? how long are you staying? And then he explained that he is taking 3 English classes a day. And asked if I could meet with him everyday and talk English. I was a little surprised because of the way he said it. It wasn't much of a question, more like he was telling me. "you will meet me everyday to practice conversational English, ok" I know it was because he didn't speak much English, so I wasn't to worried, plus he didn't look very threatening. He gave me his phone number so that we could meet the following day. I told Matthew of my encounter and asked if he would come with me. Although he was very skeptical, he agreed.

The first meeting didn't work out because our phone conversation was very difficult. He understood that we were going to meet at a restaurant, but he went to the wrong restaurant.

The next day Matthew and I were walking along the street and we happened to see Tsering. He was with one of his friends that happen to be a Monk. This is even less threatening. We both had free time, so agreed to go to his place and talk.

He lives in a one room apartment. It was very simple and cozy. We sat around and tried to think of questions to ask and he tried to answer them. the monk spoke a little more English, so we were able to have a decent conversation. We talked for over an hour and then agreed to meet the next day.

The next day we met at his place and then walked to cafe to get some tea. We talked about the US an he talked about Tibet. We found out that he has had a very interesting and difficult life:

He is 20 years old. In Tibet he wrote for the Tibetan newspaper. He wrote an article that protested the Chinese occupation of Tibet and wanted freedom for Tibet. The Chinese government came for him. He was sent to prison for 3 years. He was put into a tiny room with many other people. There was no toilet and only a very small window. After 4 months his parents and brother got enough money to pay for him to get out of prison. But he is no longer allowed to be in Tibet. He walked for 25 days from Tibet to Nepal, through snow and mountains. From Nepal he drove to New Delhi. After working at a magazine as a poet he moved up to Dharmasala. He hoped to learn English and get a job in England- where one of his brothers is, or the USA. He also has a brother in South India that is a Lama. So his life has been quite interesting. And he is only 20!

We are not sure if we will be able to meet him again, but I hope so.

KIM

2007-04-17T05:23:00.000-05:00

It's taken a while but I've finished up with "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling. The only reason I picked it up was because I remember that Kipling wrote the "Just So Stories" I loved so much as a child and that "Kim" is set in India. It was interesting because the book takes place in Northern India and Kim visits many of the places we have been, there's even a Lama involved. What was most amazing to me were the similarities between current India and the India described in the book, which was written over a hundred years ago in 1901. It really hasn't changed that much. So if you like Kipling and India check it out, but it's not on my favorites list.

india, oh india

2007-04-17T05:22:00.000-05:00

so, i haven't posted much about India.

her we go. . .

My time here is almost finished. I am excited to go home, but I am also very sad to leave. The Buddhist retreat was a very contemplative experience. I had a lot of time to think and learn. And for 10 days I didn't talk much( we were supposed to be silent except for in discussions) The silence was a little bit of a challenge, but it was very helpful for think about all the information from the lectures. The Buddhist religion is very interesting, but there are aspects of the Tibetan Buddhism that I am not sure about. Anyway- I met some really nice people even through we didn't talk to each other much.

So now that the retreat is over, I am taken it easy. We found a really cheap monastery guest house. The manager is so friendly and speck hardly any English. Today, he pointed out that the bucket I was using to wash cloths was broken. He said this over and over again while laughing. Then he came down and sat on our door step and washed me wash cloths. He gave me some pointers and then he started to ask me where I am from, again. I told him - America, but her really doesn't believe me. He thinks i am from South Africa. Most people here think I am from south Africa. and they drill holes in my forehead. but I feel more relaxed here than most places. I am not sure if this is because I am finally really getting accustom to India, or maybe this city is particularly nice. I think it is a combination.

we are in Dharamasala/McLeod Gang. It is a city on the side of a mountain. the view is beautiful. the weather is pretty nice here. I am waking up and doing yoga in the mornings. Really I have no complaints.

but Matthew might complain about the fact that I haven't taken a shower in 3 days. I find it hard to convince myself to clean off dirt that will jump right back on minutes after I get out of the shower. Or even while i am still in the shower! and we have to pay extra for hot showers. so I don't know if it is worth it. but don't worry I will take at least 3 more showers before I leave India. Maybe even more!!!!

Matthew and I have been together on this trip for a long time. People keep asking if we are married. No we are not, but I am not sure how we will function in the states when we are not 5 feet apart at all times.

I would also recommend people to read up on the Tibetan exile. It is a very moving story and it would motivate people to discourage the purchase of Chinese products. I don't have time to explain, but please read up on it. www.tibet.net/tgie/eng

OK, that's all for now

Tushita Retreat Group Photo

2007-04-14T00:52:00.000-05:00

Here's the photo of our retreat group. Remember to click on the picture to open it as a full size image and the right click it and save or just drag it to your desktop.

Also, to clear up any confusion about getting in touch with us, our email addresses are in our blogger profiles now. So click our names at the top of the page and our email addresses will be in the category "Contact".

Dharamasala

2007-04-14T00:33:00.000-05:00

We're now staying at a funny little monastery on the outskirts of McLeod Gange. It's nice because the city noise is barely audible, but a family of dogs lives just outside our door charged with the task of warding off other dogs by barking all night long. I managed to sleep though, after spending a few hours listening to music. It's funny, I've only listened to music a few times in India, but after the retreat I just wanted to cut loose, so I had a dance party in my sleeping bag. I can't believe there's only twelve days left to our trip. I'm glad in a way that it ended with India because it's bittersweet. Had we ended with Japan it would have been just bitter.

The retreat itself was wonderful. I went hoping to learn more about Buddhism, which I did, but I learned even more about myself. It was much less silent than I thought it would be, with daily discussions and teachings, but they really helped me understand more of the philosophy. The meditations, which were three times a day for forty-five minutes, we're good but hard. We westerners are not used to sitting cross legged for so long, which is unfortunate because the posture is really much better for you than chairs. Everyone should eat on the floor! What I'm trying to say is that meditation is painful, and it's hard to stay focused for forty-five minutes. I kept losing it in the last five to ten minutes. It was well worth it though; nice to get a good foundation for my own practice. It was also nice to get to know some people from all over the world. After being so removed from people who speak English it was nice to chat a bit. So if you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism and find yourself in India check out The Tushita Meditation Center in McLeod Gange.

The Universe in a Single Atom

2007-04-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading "The Universe in a Single Atom" by H.H. the Dalai Lama and I really liked it. While the book opens with a discussion of current cosmology and quantum physics theory, as the title suggests, it quickly moves into the study of consciousness. With consciousness as the focus, more time is spent on topics like evolution, biology, and neuroscience. The final chapter, Ethics and the new genetics, is by far the most moving and demands out immediate attention. I like this book because it addresses the biggest questions facing since and humanity today without answering them. Buddhism, seemingly unique among world religions, is very accepting of scientific discovery, even encourages it, so that the religion can adapt to fit our modern view of the world. The problems Buddhism sees facing science are closed minds, jumping to conclusions, and not considering all the options. Fortunately science can change too, as the world turned from Newton to Einstein.

Starting a conversation about community engagement

2007-04-01T04:32:00.000-05:00

I am emailing Kim Libby back and forth. Matthew and I plan to have a couple of lectures when we get back. One will be focused on Community engagement.

[Re]viewing city.

this is a quick email that I sent to kim. i thought I would share.

Matthew and I have talked about this topic of the changing city and public and private space. Traveling seems like both a public and private experience. We seems trapped in our private world peering out onto the public and the public is peering in on us. But in some areas you are able to cross these barriers. In Japan you will always look like a foreigner, but you can blend in more by learning the language and picking up on the small things. Australia you can definitely blend in. In India I am not sure you can ever blend in. Everything seems public. but it seems like they don't take care of the shared space. The space is shared with people, animals, everything, but no one takes responsibility for it. Everything is falling apart. In India there are spaces for everyone.- the street, the palaces, the forts. but they are all tourist places and you are always a tourist, attacked but sales pitches everywhere you turn. And I guess no one thinks that tourist will really move to India.

From Australia:
What are you thoughts about communal living?

Is there a way to look at our community in more of a communal way? How can you make a students life more integrated with it's surroundings?
As Cities change , it seems very important to think about - how do you make people feel welcome? Are you able to create spaces that ar comfortable for the stranger and the old comer? A good example- the river in Kyoto. Every one can feel welcome there.

How do you create spaces that both RISD students and the locals feel comfortable? Is it possible? Or so all the locals think- why?, it's not like they are going to move to providence anyway.

Community engagement
Are we talking literally? How do you get people involved with the community?

Everyone must be committed. Or a few must be obsessed and everyone must be aware. In Japan, the community is always thought of, b/c that is just the way it is. there are no questions about it. The question is how do you get people to do? to believe?

Peter Adams at windgrove is committed. but he is only one man that has control of his community. He is luck in that sense. All the small communal places in Australia only had to deal with a small number of people. It becomes more difficult when the numbers and the space gets larger.
the bigger it gets the more commitment.

know your place in what you are trying to do.

How The Universe Got Its Spots

2007-04-01T04:23:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading (we're plowing through books here) "How The Universe Got Its Spots" by Janna Levin and of course it makes me want to be a cosmologist. It's an interesting mix of complicated physics and personal life in one book, sadly the asks many more questions than she answers and ends with us waiting for two future satellite missions to tell us the fate of the universe. But the book was written in 2002, so maybe by now those satellites have been launched. While "A Brief History of Time" by Hawkings may be a tougher read, you might learn more from it, though Janna talks more specifically about background radiation from the big bang than Hawkings does.

I think ten or thirty years from now when I look back at my journals what would I tell myself now if I could? You should start making jewelry immediately, you'll love it! Apply to film school ASAP! You know you always wanted to go to MIT, do it! Or will I just laugh at my own folly?

Mosquito

2007-04-01T04:17:00.000-05:00

I'm so hot and I'm always tired. I don't know why, maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the yoga. At least our room is blessed with a consistent lack of direct sun and remains cool all day. Maybe it's the mosquitoes. Our mozi net is hing in such a way that when I'm sleeping a fold in the net rests just inches from my face. The mozis can smell us inside and cling to the net hoping we will emerge. Because the net is so close to me I can hear their buzz as they try to penetrate the net and find myself half asleep slapping at my ears while the bugs remain outside. I am beginning to understand what it must be like to be mad. At least I can see the insects beyond the net.

Our Bathroom, In Detail

2007-04-01T03:56:00.000-05:00

Our bathroom is small. I hold the patinaed upright pipe that connects the pit to the cistern while squatting so that I may lean back a little and improve my flow. All the yoga in the world can't help me balance and shit straight at the same time. Only the cistern doesn't work, so I flush the toilet manually using the small bucket meant for washing your left hand in after using it to wipe your ass. I have yet to familiarize myself with this custom and continue my American practice of using toilet paper. However, there are many signs indicating that toilet paper is not to be put down the drains, and since I'm using my only bucket for flushing I put the used toilet paper in a grocery bag. I'm not sure what to do with the bag once it's full, and have have a lingering suspicion that my toilet and sink drain to the open gutter around my building anyway. It certainly smells that way. I guess wiping your ass with your hand is more sustainable than using the old TP.

Tuesdays With Morrie

2007-03-29T02:17:00.000-05:00

I am finally beginning to feel at ease in India. I like it here. We found a good cheap restaurant right by our ashram, there's yoga, food shops for peanut butter breakfast sandwiches, and fixed price clothing stores, plus an amazing lack of hassling rickshaw drivers. Did I mention I am reading "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom? Well, I finished reading it now. It's a great read, particularly because it is set in Newton. In reading the book I wonder if I will be able to do it - lead a good simple life - or will I get caught in the traps. I've read so much about going slow, focusing on emotions, relationships, and forgetting the material things. But everyone who is to be writing about this stuff seems to have already sought their fortune, realized the error of there ways, and are now financially secure enough to live a simple life. But what's a fresh start like me to do? Maybe positive doesn't have to mean poor, and I'm sure it is hard to be positive when your flat broke anyway. I don't think getting a shit job to support myself while spending my free time on good works is the right answer either, that goes against the whole idea, that's what society wants me to do so it can lock me in. Something to think about.

I remember a party I went to last summer when I was in San Francisco. I didn't know anyone and was sitting on the couch with a few other people watching a movie. Then this guy arrived, big guy, looked around the room, saw me, came right over extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm David." It was one of the nicest things someone had ever done for me, and so simple. I wish I could be like that, so open, so unconcerned with rejection. I want to be a good listener, collector of voices, and story teller, too. A good person. I can try.

I told Alison that she's turning into a real hippy since she decided not to shower anymore on the logic that India is dirty and no matter how often she bathes she will only immediately get dirty again, especially when doing two classes of yoga a day (we hurt all over). But then she pointed out that in fact neither of us have shaved in weeks, I was the one wearing natural fiber clothes and had my hair up in an awful shaggy pig tail. We're having a great time, and after all the yoga, we are showering for sure.

Oh India, India

2007-03-26T02:51:00.000-05:00

I have this urge to clean. I want to clean the gutters. the streets. I want to clean the cloths of the people and the children of the streets. I want to tell the builders to use more mortar when building so that the brick buildings don't look like they are falling down right after they are put up. I want to pick up all the plastic and put then is grabage cans that I will have to place EVERWHERE!!! I want to wash all the walls and and paint everything.

I say this not just because it will make me feel better, but I think it will also raise the spirits of the Indian People. It is so cluttered that I don't think it is possible to think clearly.

Sometimes we bargain, sometimes we trade...

2007-03-26T02:29:00.000-05:00

A funny thing happened the otherday in Udaiper. A merchant Alison and I bought some clothes from tried to get me to trade hime my watch for a pair of pants under the guise that it was an Indian tradition to exchange items from your native lands. I said no and refrained from telling him it was a swiss watch worth much more than the pants, I think he knew... The thing is I really like the watch, and think of my dad whenever I check the time, which makes it special. After six months of being away it's nice to have things that remind you of home and the people who love you.

We made it safely to Rishikesh, where we are now studying yoga, via Agra and two overnight busses. It was quite a ride. The Taj was great, and it was hard to pee on the busses.

Shilpgram

2007-03-22T01:11:00.000-05:00

We went to the Shilpgram Craft Village yesterday. It was a little similar to the place we went to in Jaipur, but we were practically the only ones there. We were hoping to learn more about Indian art, but were greeted only by people selling the same stuff they try to sell tourists in the cities. It made us kind of sad, like there was no way for us to break into Indian culture, to be anything more than tourists, walking money bags. I was hoping that it would be something like an Indian Hida No Sato, and when I saw that it was I realized that I really wanted it to be a Hida No Sato in India, a place away from the hagglers but close to the crafts. It was far enough out of the city that the air smelt fresh and the streets weren't filthy. There were great views of the hilly scrub desert, too. It was hot, but it was a good kind of heat. Dry. It reminded me of Arizona and I suddenly wanted to go back to Arcosanti, but the feeling only lasted a minute.

The Kite Runner

2007-03-22T01:04:00.000-05:00

I just finished "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It was alright, but nothing special, filled with cliches, uninspired prose, and staged foreshadowing. Perhaps my problem is the struggle in the book, while great, seems small compared to the struggle in "Water Touching Stone". While set in Afghanistan, being in India helped me visualize the scenery better than I would have otherwise.
I should note that the edition I read, the Bloomsbury 21 version, had a huge misprint replacing pages 82-137 with a repeat of the first four chapters of the book.

Traveling with a cellphone

2007-03-22T00:41:00.000-05:00

Overall I am not sure having an international cellphone is worth it. It is very expensive, and can create more headaches than it fixes, but that could be related to the places I've traveled to. The big up front cost is the unlocked quadband GSM phone, and no matter how tricked out it is, it still won't work in Japan. Then to use the phone you need a sim card. I got a mix of international and local sim cards. The first two I got were Mobal International and Australia Telecom Revolution Prepaid, and later purchased an Indian Airtel Prepaid one in coutry as they are not sold overseas due to the lengthily forms involved.

The Mobal card, which is based in Britain, worked fine in New Zealand, but is very expensive, usually $4/min for international calls and $2/min for local calls. It's redeeming quality is that it works in over 140 countries, so this was my emergency back up card. Unfortunately my service cut out somewhere between Australia and Japan, so when I got to India and tried to call home to say I arrived safely I got no dice. So much for emergencies - I do not recommend Mobal in anyway.

Our Ausi card worked great in the cities but was also expensive. Though not nearly as much as Mobal, we still managed to blow over $100 on minutes. The biggest problem was that we were only in cities for two weeks of the three months we spent in Australia, place a day here and there between wwoof hosts. Most of the time we were so far out in the bush you needed some other kind of non-gsm phone to get reception - to bad for us. So I'd only recommend this if you were planning on staying in town.

The Airtel card is very complicated, but the rates are ok and receiving international calls is free. You need copies of your passport, visa, proof of address, local address, and passport photo just to buy the thing. Then you have to pray the person you bought the sim card from gets all the papers to Airtel's HQ. I'm afraid I wasn't praying enough and after a week of use my service cut out and I got a sms saying I needed to send in my visa form. I couldn't even use the phone to call customer support, and when I called from a payphone they didn't speak English. I went to an Airtel office and they gave me all the forms to fill out again, which I did, only I didn't have another passport photo. I tried to explain that I already filled out the forms in Jaipur but again a lack of English interfered. I couldn't even get them to tell me where I could get a passport photo taken, so I left. If you need an Indian Sim card try Reliance or Hutch, but god help you if you try Airtel.

I remind the traveler now that payphones still exist for local calls everywhere, and it is much less expensive to email home and friends than call. If you getting the phone just for emergencies don't be surprised if when the emergency comes your phone doesn't work. The best options maybe to ask you current cellphone provider if they have international options so you don't need to get a new phone and sim card, or go for a satellite phone.

Sickness in Udaipur

2007-03-22T00:23:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Udaipur late on the 17th. The bus took two hours longer than expected, but we got some great views of the desert. One guy on the bus tried to convince us to stay at his hotel - very irritating, the Minerwa, I believe. He even tried to get the two of us and an Israeli we met plus our bags into a rickshaw with him and his wife. We took a pass, but did share a ride with the Israeli to our hotel. It does help to say you have a reservation, but man that was a crazy hectic night. It was after ten by the time we got settled.

The following day I got sick. Real sick. Vomiting. Seven times till my whole body shook, snot and tears mixing with puke on my face and the floor. Alison called the doctor, but by the time he got here the worst was over. He was very nice, checked my pulse and blood pressure and prescribed a slew of medicines for fever, acid-reflex, diarrhoea, nausea, and stomach pain. The nausea one works great and I haven't up-chucked since. He also told us how to mix our own electrolyte drink: 2t sugar, a pinch of salt, and the juice of a quarter lemon per liter of water. Goodstuff. I felt much better the next day,but still only around 70%. The beds here are so hard I didn't sleep much. We wandered around town that afternoon, even made it to the city palace, but only toured the outside. All I could eat was rice and toast, which was hard because out hotel serves up such lovelies as pizza, mac + cheese, pancakes, and peanut butter. I am a little worried about getting enough protein. After dinner we watched Octopussy, a James Bond flick played every night in just about every restaurant in Udaipur because it was filmed here. It was alright. Only a few more weeks till we're back in the States. I can't wait, Johnny's, Giovanni's, and Jamjuli here I come!

Two weeks have past

2007-03-18T02:32:00.000-05:00

We have spent 2 weeks in India already. I am getting used to the change. Satying at the Durag Niwas Guest house was a good expereince. We were able to relax a bit. I thought I could avoid the travelers sickness, but I was wrong. I didn't understand how bad it could be. But let me tell you - it is bad. I am taking my anibiotics now, but I am not sure how long i should take them. I feel a lot better, but still feel sumbling in my tummy! If anyone has any advice, let me know.

The days that I spent volunteering were really nice. I felt like I was getting to know the girls/women that I worked with even thought we didn't speak the same language. I am not sure if I will be able to visit them again, so I was a little sad when i left. I don't think they really understod that I was not coming back the next day. They would really like to gert sponors to put the girls in School, especially the younger ones. There is one girl that is so dilligant and smart. She is very young. I want to send her to school. I cost $200 a year for 5 years. SO that is $1000. IF anyone would like to donate money to this cause, please let me know. Email me and I will collect money and send it to them for her schooling. At first I questions whether the money would go toward their school. But after spending more time there and asking lots of questions, I think it is deffinatley a good organization that is really trying to help the girls. So is you want to help out- even if it $50 or $100. Just email me and We will work something out. If not, I will just work extra hard when i get back and save up the money. but wither way, that girl is going to school!

ok, enough of that

We are in Udiapur. we arrived late last night and after husseling the rickshaw drivers we are settled into our hotel.

The streets are like mazes. WE will try to take a cooking class and a painting class while we are here. Then we are off to Agra in about 4 days. Agra will be crazy, so we will live it up here- in the relative peace of the city.

Babel

2007-03-13T03:26:00.000-05:00

So India... Wow, Intense. I still can't believe we're here and it's been nearly two weeks. I watched "Babel" On the flight over. Bad idea. Don't watch "Babel" on the way to a developing country. Good movie though. I've improved significantly since being bed ridden for two days and today we ventured out into the city. It's much calmer than Jaipur, but still hectic. Indian life is so chaotic it seems like they use symmetry in architecture and patterns to bring some order to their lives, whereas in Japan life is very structured already so they prefer asymmetrical designs. Despite having just arrived I am already very excited about returning to the States. There's just so much to do! I came on this trip hoping to clarify my purpose in life somewhat, but I have only found more interests and directions. Something may be emerging from the mists, though, I have discovered much about myself.

While I was sick I read "The Motorcycle Diaries" by Ernesto Guevara. It was great to read about Che's adventure that very much resembles ours, at least in terms of age and duration. The book is very different from the movie, too, shorter I think, but more comes out about Che in the writing. I recommend it whether or not you've seen the film.

It will be amazing to hear a majority of English after four months of babel.

Jodhpur

2007-03-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

We are here in Jodhpur. I am having difficulties getting pictures on the blog. so you will have to bear with us. we will put some up as soon as we can.

WE are staying at the Durag Guest House. Here is the website of their non profit: http://sambhali-trust.org/ This place is very nice. They have Indian women that work doing handicrafts in exchange for pay, health education and sometimes even sponsorship for school. I Started helping them out with their bead work yesterday and today. Unfortunately Matthew has been very sick for the past two days so we haven't been able to explore the city. The city is small so we will get to it eventually. While i have been staying indoors I have been able to help the girls with their bead work. It is a very interesting experience since only one girl really speaks enough English to communicate. But it works out. I'm kinda glad that they don't speak that much English, because, although most of them are a lot younger than I am, I am quiet shy around them. They hum, sing and make lots of jokes while work. I am able to learn a lot by just watching.

It turns out that Govind, the owner of the guest house, Took over when he was only 15. His father passed away and he took charge. He has succeeded in making it a lovely guest house and starting this non profit. He encourages people to visit, volunteer or sponsor. I am not sure how I feel about it over all, but I do know that I like working in the environment with all the women. It is very positive and there are many good intentions.

so for now this is all. I hope everyone is doing well. We feel very disconnected from everyone, but at times maybe that is best. Matthew is feeling a lot better this afternoon and I am making sure that he stays hydrated. We miss everyone very much. Even through Matthew's nausea, He reminded me that we must end the trip how we started- At Johnny Rockets in Providence eating greasy burgers with lots of bacon, sharing fries and drinking milk shakes. That is such a happy thought.

I'm sure you can understand. We are enjoying our experience, but we are looking forward to being back.

Jaipur then to Jodhpur

2007-03-09T01:33:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone. We are not only in India, but we have spent 5 days in Jaipur and are now in Jodhpur. When ever i have mentioned to people that I am traveling to India, they always warn me about the cultural difference. However, no matter what people say, you are not prepared for the change. The first city we went to was Jaipur. It is very crowded, dirty, smelly and poor. This was our first impressions. I think is was a difficult place to spend our first days. It seems like a very touristy place and therefore we felt very targeted when walking on the streets. People seemed very aggressive. I don't think that is how everyone is, it was just a dramatic change from the peaceful streets of Kyoto.

Now we are in Jodhpur. We arrived last night. Our Guest house seems more lively. There are women walking around in beautiful saris and a little girl and her pet dog. The rooms aren't as nice, but there are painted bright colors and there are beautiful curtains everywhere. So far the people seem friendly. We will venture out today to get a feel for the city.

All in all, I think we are getting adjusted to India. We are planning our trip using the lonely planet book and by taking advice from tourist and locals.

Hopefully we will check by soon!

India

2007-03-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

After three planes and two buses we've made it to Jaipur. I am beyond words, and exhausted.

Nara

2007-02-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

So back on February 4th I went to Nara for the day and completely forgot to blog about it! I remembered just now after pointing people to Nara for lanterns and wood buildings in my sight seeing guide.

Nara has a lot of deer.
They are everywhere and are free to go where they please. Very tame and kind of mangy. I went for the lantern festival at Kasuga Shrine, but got there early so I could explore a bit. I went by Kofuku Temple to see the pagoda and Todai-ji in the park for the giant Buddha. They're not lying, it's big, and it's housed in the largest wooden structure on earth. The temple is now only one third of its original size due to fire damage in the 12th and 16th centuries. Deeper into the park I followed a crowd of people to a shrine where a priest was giving a sermon from a second story balcony. With the strike of a bell the priest started throwing colored balls at the crowd below. Odd. I got to Kasuga early so I wandered back towards towards town. there were so many lanterns, it was nice to see them all before it got dark. At dusk I headed back to the shrine.

It was majestic to see all the lanterns glowing, over 3000, but it was crowded. There was an amazing lack of street vendors at this festival, so I was hungry. On the way back to the station I went by Kofuku again and caught a surprise demon show. Neat.

Matthew's Sight Seeing Guide to Kyoto

2007-02-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

Miyaka Messe ☆☆☆☆☆
Kyoto Folk Craft Museum
This place is a must see if you are at all interested in traditional Japanese crafts. Exhibits include: textiles, furniture, sake, kimonos, dolls, fans, and ceramics. The work is all top quality and each different craft has a TV playing a looped video that shows a craftsman at work. There is also a nice shop where you can buy things similar to those on display. They even have a library with books on crafts, unfortunately all the books are in Japanese.
No Photography Allowed.

Path of Philosophy ☆☆☆☆☆
A great way to get lost in your thoughts. A couple temples, shrines, shops, and cafes along the way too. Following the gentle brook also serves as a great way to avoid traffic when traveling North or South along Eastern Kyoto.

Nijo Castle ☆☆☆☆
¥600
Nijo castle has some great architecture and gardens. The nightingale floors are interesting, too.

Imperial Palace ☆☆☆
Reservation Required
The imperial palace is nice, but you can only see it as part of a tour. As such, you can not enter any of the buildings, a bit disappointing since none of them are in use anymore. You can see some nice screen painting from the outside, though.

Steam locomotive Museum ☆☆☆
¥400
The museum itself is rather small and has some mediocre model tables set up. But just outside they have a significant collection of real antique steam engines. So if you like trains, go for, but don't expect a whole lot.

Kyoto City Botanical Garden ☆☆
¥200
A nice park, but not so nice in winter. Good collection of Bonsai tree, though, if you're interested in that.

Kyoto Handicraft Center ☆☆
A place to buy really expensive Japanese crafts. you can see a few artisans at work, too.

Maruyama Koen ☆☆
We only stopped into the park briefly, but I would have liked to spent longer here. It is also probably nicer when the weather gets warmer and the leaves come out.

Nishjin Textile Center ☆
Kimono Fashion Show
Similar to the Kyoto Handicraft center, but the textile center has daily Kimono runway shows. Neat!

Notes: WH = UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prices may fluctuate with time.

Matthew's Sight Seeing Guide to Kyoto Shrines

2007-02-28T08:24:00.000-05:00

All shinto shrines have the great benefit of being free and open 24 hours a day.

Fushimi-Inari ☆☆☆☆☆
伏見稲荷大社
WH Festival
This place is magnificent, my favorite shrine by far, and I would guess Christo and Jean-Claude's as well. The gated paths twist up a mountainside offering great views of the surrounding area. One path is lined not with gates but hundreds of smaller shrines where people leave candles and incense burning. Very peaceful and a good place for a walk.

Kitano ☆☆☆☆☆
Market
Kitano shrine holds many stone lanterns, but again, if you really want to see lanterns, go to Nara. The market here held on every 25th is great. It is not as crowded as Toji's, but there are many of the same venders. A bit smaller though. The shrine grounds are nice, too. There are many plum trees, and you may even see a maiko.

Heian Shrine ☆☆☆
平安
This colorful shrine is worth a look if you're in the museum district. Great roofs.

Kamigamo ☆☆☆
上賀茂神社
WH
another peaceful mountain side shrine. The shrines are nice because it seems like they get more use by local people than the temples. Everyone is welcome here.

Nyakuoji ☆☆☆
I found this little shrine while wandering down the Path of philosophy. Cute statues. It's nice to go to the smaller shrines and temples because they are not so crowded and you can often get the whole place to yourself.

Yasaka ☆☆☆
八坂神社
Festival
We visited Yasaka Jinja for hatsumode as our first shrine of the year. It was a nice introduction to the culture, but we didn't understand a bit of it.

Yoshida ☆☆☆
吉田神社
Festival
We only saw this place at night for a Setsuban Festival, it was packed! We couldn't really see what was going on, but there were demons.

Shimogamo ☆☆☆
下鴨神社
We often bicycled by this place to and from down town. Peaceful and a nice detour, but nothing spectacular.

Notes: WH = UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prices may fluctuate with time.

Matthew's Sight Seeing Guide to Kyoto Temples

2007-02-28T02:09:00.000-05:00

Ginkaku-ji Temple ☆☆☆☆☆
銀閣寺
¥500 WH
Ginkakuji, the silver pavilion, was by far my favorite temple. It has a nice mix of rock gardens, moss gardens, and architecture. I particularly liked one building that has a mixed Chinese and Japanese style.

Ninna-ji Temple ☆☆☆☆☆
仁和寺
¥500 WH
I really liked Ninna-ji. The main attraction is an old palace that was relocated here. The palace has some great screen paintings and an elevated walkway through a beautiful garden. But the palace is just one of several buildings in the temple complex. There are meditational halls, giant gates, a pagoda, and many other smaller buildings, a great survey or Japanese temple architecture.

Chion-in Temple ☆☆☆☆
知恩院
Chion-in is nice to visit because it still has active monks, or monks that are active even while tourists are there anyway! We caught them spinning a big prayer wheel. The fountains and incense burners are particularly nice.

Kiyomizudera ☆☆☆☆
清水寺
¥300 WH
A lot of buildings here, many of which are painted in bright vermillion and can be seen for free. As you hike up the hill there are some great panoramic views of the city. There are so many tourists, though, this place is very crowded, and has many stairs and hills. I got off the beaten track a bit and found this beautiful run down pagoda. There is also a bigger freshly painted pagoda on the premise. If you don't have a lot of time in Kyoto it may be worth going here as there are so many different types of buildings and many bronze statues, too.

Sanjusangen-do ☆☆☆☆
さんじゅさんげんど
¥600
While there is sonly one building here it holds over 1000 human sized wooden Buddha and guardian statues. There are also detailed descriptions of each guardian in English and Japanese. It is a spectacular sight; 1000 is a big number.
No Photography Allowed.

Tanukidaniyama Fudo-in ☆☆☆☆
Festival
Aside from having a great osake festival, this place is quietly pulled back from Kyoto's busy streets and high in the mountains. Nice for walking, thinking... and drinking.

Honen-in Temple ☆☆☆
This little temple resides along the Path of Philosophy. It has a quaint peaceful atmosphere, and you can see a few locals coming to pray.

Kinkaku-ji Temple ☆☆☆
金閣寺
¥400 WH
Kinkaku-ji, the golden pavilion, is similar to Ginkakuji in layout, only there are no rock gardens and less moss gardens. What it does have is a gold plated building, but it's not as impressive as it sounds.

Ryoanji Temple ☆☆☆
¥400 WH
In terms of zen rock gardens, this temple has THE rock garden. Built in the 1500's, the small zen garden here is the basis for all other rock gardens world-wide. Besides the garden, there is not much else to see.

Nishi Hongan-ji ☆☆
西本願寺
WH
This temple is very near Kyoto station making it a tourist hotspot. Unfortunately it's main building will be under construction through 2010. It boasts a very large wooden building, but if you want to see a truly colossal wooden structure go to Nara.

To-ji Temple ☆☆
¥500 WH Market (☆☆☆☆)
We went for the market on the 21st of each month, and if you like markets this one is great. You can get anything at any price, from antiques, to wood tools, to lacquer ware, to kimonos, to food - you name it, but it is very crowded. The temple itself did not seem that impressive. There is a tall pagoda, but due to the temples downtown location it is hard to get a good view of it.
Too crowded to get my camera out!

Higashi Hongan-ji ☆
東本願寺
This temple is very near Kyoto station making it a tourist hotspot. The temple was built to compete with Nishi Hogan-ji. It doesn't.

Tofuku-ji Temple ☆
¥400
I wandered around here for a while trying to find the entrance to the temple but am not sure I ever did. Looked good from the outside, but similar to many other Kyoto temples.

Notes: WH = UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prices may fluctuate with time.

Tempura is best when hot, The Amazing Day Part 3

2007-02-27T10:43:00.000-05:00

For dinner Monday night we went to a tempura restaurant called Oozawa (おおざわ) in Gion with Oya-san courtesy of my parents. I was great because we got to have a real good Japanese meal, and otherwise we would not have had the opportunity. To start, we had tea and beer and a small daikon and carrot salad. The tempura came next served three pieces at a time including: shrimp cake*, quail egg*, ginkgo nut*, squid in a parrilla leaf*, butterbur scape*, shitake mushroom with shrimp, lightning bug squid*, lotus root*, shrimp*, fish, corn, and asparagus. All of the *ed items were firsts for me, I felt very adventuresome. It was all delicious. The lightning bug squid were the hardest to swallow, though, since they were whole two inch squid and Oya-san told me they were called lightning bug because they are phosphorescent. At least they were battered and fried so I couldn't really see what was going on! The best one was the butterbur scape; it had a nice spring fresh flavor. The tempura was followed by tendon, a mixed tempura over rice in a small bowl. After that came a bowl of miso soup and a dish of Japanese pickles. It took a very long time to eat as they would bring out one dish every 7 - 10 minute, so while we arrived at 7:00PM we did not leave until they closed at 10:00PM. For dessert we got tempura green tea ice cream, not quite as crispy as Mexican fried ice cream, but still delicious. It was all so nice.

Oya-san showed us his urushi brushes, told us how to take care of them, and gave us more information about getting into the Kyoto City University of Art's urushi program as research students. Unfortunately they will not be accepting foreign students for at least two years since one of their four urushi professors was promoted to school minister.

We talked about the Kami, spirit, in everything, even a tea cup. Kami are the basis of Shinto, the old religion of Japan, something I still want to learn more about. Oya-san said Buddhism was still very new in Japan, only 1000 years old! And how Buddha, even Jesus, were considered just more Kami.

We also talked about individuality and cleanliness. Oya-san said Japanese people like things to be clean. They sweep the streets in front of their shops and homes because it makes them happy, and maybe it will make passers-by happy, too. We said in America we pay taxes so someone else should sweep the streets, it is city property after all, not private property. This is also why in America some people can have immaculate lawns, but still throw trash on the side walks; it is not their space, they don't care. It also has to do with the communal vs. individual ideology.
As an example, in chess, a Western game, the king is the most important piece. If you lose the king you lose the game, so I'd always rather have a king than any other piece. After the king all the pieces have a rank making some more valuable than others. This puts a lot of emphasis on the individual pieces, as does the fact that they are all unique and move in different ways. In igo, an Eastern game, no piece is better than any other. They are all the same, I wouldn't rather have one over another. Alone, each piece is weak, but in groups they become powerful and can claim territory. This puts a focus on community and shared labor.

Saying goodbye to Oya-san was very hard, and our experiences with him and Saori-san made us want to return to Japan even sooner. I don't even want to leave, you can get stuck here. I have so many ideas now, I wish I had a residency lined up for when I got back so I could spend time working on them with out focusing too much on staying alive.

Tonight was our last Klexon meeting and again we had to say goodbye to many of our new friends. It was so sad. Hopefully we will be able to keep in touch via email and skype until we return again for some urushi goodness.

The Amazing day part 2

2007-02-26T19:01:00.000-05:00

After she showed us the kimonos Saori offered to dress me in one of hers. My response was, Yes, I would be honored! I was not expecting to be offered such an opportunity such as this.

The process of trying on the out fit was very long. I put on th undergarment over my cloths- kind of funny because Matthew was not allowed to see me, although I had cloths on underneath. Plus I walked out into the room and realized that me wallet was in my back pocket of my jeans and would cause a bulge through the kimono. So I reached under and took it out of my back pocket- an action that seemed so normal because I still had pants on. But i heard the gasps from Saori and Sayaka. I think they wanted me to have the full experience.

After many sashed were tied around me and many things tucked in the obi I was fully dressed in the Traditional Japanese Kimono. It was a casual wool kimono. I even had the Japanese shoes on an had to walk in a straight line. We took lots od picture. Saori even had me walk out to the park and take pictures. A few of the people that walked by took a double or triple take! I'm sure I was a sight to see- or maybe I blended in more. I don't know. but I thought it was very funny!

I enjoyed it so much. It makes me so sad that we are leaving in a few days. Our experiences are getting better and better. We drank tea and coffee and chatted for a while. Then Saori was off to tutor a student and we were off to meet Oya for dinner. The ride to downtown was very nice. I was able to chatt with Sayaka about her work. She is a ceramicist. She Studied ceramics at the Kyoto City University of Arts ( the same school as Oya). She recently moved to Kyoto and works at a museum and shows her work in galleries and museums. Actually, tomorrow we will go to her show at a gallery.

They day was amazing. And it only gets better! But I have to leave something for Matthew to write about and it is almost 1:30 in the morning and we have to wake up early to go to our last Japanese class in Japan.

So goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite!

An Amazing Day!

2007-02-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

Today was one of the most amazing days! Matthew made plans for us to visit Saori's home to see where and how she works. Her mother has her own business painting floral patterns on silk Kimono fabric for handbags. Saori said that after graduating from school, she left home to try out acting in Tokyo. After four years she missed her home, Kyoto, very much. She gained a new appreciation for the tradition and culture of Japan. So she desided to move back home and learn the craft of painting kimono fabrics (Yuzen). This Process is very difficult and time consuming, but very beautiful and special.

When we visited Saori's home, we were amazing by what we saw. There is an elborate set up for the fabric to hang on that allows easy access and movement. On one piece of fabric there are 16 bag patterns. The outline has been applied by a different worker by using a glue that acts as a resist. Saori and her mother paints the color on the fabric. But I make it sound like regular painting, but it's not. Imagine painting very small flowers with watercolor. Trying to have each leaf fade colors (from dark to light and from one hue to another) All before it dries, but keep in mind that you are working over a heater because the paint must dry with heat in order for it to become permanent. So you have to paint these tiny complicated flowers in under a minute.

Her mother also mixes all the paints from seven basic colors to make many Japanese traditional colors.

Musukashi- very difficult!

We were very impressed and took lots of pictures.

After the fabrics a finished being painted, they are sent to a worker that washed the fabrics, then to a worker that steams the fabrics and then to a person that sews the fabric, and I am sure I am missing some workers and some steps. It is a very long process in which every worker gives the most care and attention to each piece. Finally when the piece is done the bags are very expensive but each worker doesn't get paid very much. I began to understand that they continue to do the work because they believe in the purity and importance of the Japanese traditional crafts. These bags can be made in China for a lot cheaper and probably the close to the same quality. You can also buy bags that have been printed from a computer, but a Yuzen painter would be able to identify it as a computer copy. Where does this leave the Japanese Craft workers?

After this discussion Saori showed us the Kimonos that her mother designed and painted. They were so beautiful. The effort that attention that went into the fabric is very amazing. Her mother's prized Kimono is elegantly designed and painted. It is such a formal kimono, that to acquaire the appropriate obi (sash or belt) is very difficult.

Uji - Tale of Genji

2007-02-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I woke up at 7:30 (very early for me) and biked for about 45mins along the river to Kyoto Station. The bike ride was very enjoyable and peaceful. I listen to music and the river and watched old men fishing in the River. I arrived at Kyoto Station and after asking many people where the JR Hachijo-hiashiguchi Entrance was, I finally found the meeting place for the Tale of Genji Tour!

By the way,

The Tale of Genji

is a Japanese book that I am ready that was written 1000 years ago.

I was a little unsure of what to expect form the tour. It was a free tour for foreign residents who want to learn more about Japanese Literature and tourism. We got on a tour bus and headed to Uji. The bus ride was about 30mins long and we were able to watch a documentary movie on the bus about Japanese culture and tradition. So far the tour was pretty good.

We arrive a little behind schedule and had to hurry along. We were handed headsets for us to hear the tour guide and started the walking tour. The main part of the book takes place in Kyoto, while the last chapters take place in the City of Uji. In comparison, Kyoto was busy and a social place, while Uji was a quiet spiritual place.

The Tour included many monuments that were in the book. Here are some pictures of the places.

The Byodoin Temple. This Temple is very beautiful. The design is intended for it to look like a bird in flight. The building included a large gold Buddha, delicately craved wooden statues and statues of birds that are on the money. We also got to go into the Temple's museum and see a lot of the work that had been restored. It was amazing to see all the detail and craftsmanships that went into each peace, especially when you would normally not see it because it is located so faraway from your view.

The Hashihime Shrine and the Uji Shrine

Uji Bridge
The view of the bridge and from the bridge was so beautiful and peaceful. I understand why that came there as a retreat.

Uji-jujo Monument. I believe it is a statue of two characters in the book. I believe it is a mistress of Genji and her mother.

I believe this is the Statue of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the book.

We also got to have a traditional Tea experience at a tea house, Taiho-an. Uji is is well know for Japanese Tea because of the perfect climate. The Tea experience was amazing and I was able to learn a lot about the process.

Finally we ate at a Japanese restaurant and had a set lunch of Tempura shrimp, soba noodles, a little tiny fish on a stick, very colorful eatable decorations and tea.

All of this for free! I have never been on a real tour before, but I think this tour was probably one of the best.

Afterwards, I stayed for a forum/panel discussion of tourism through the Tale of Genji. It seems like a very strange topic, but I have to say that it was more interesting than I thought. From listening to all the things that relate to the book and Japan, I have appreciated my trip even more. It made me stop and notice cultural differences.

This is a picture of our tour guide. A very funny lady!

I rode back home very happy.

Dororo

2007-02-25T06:17:00.000-05:00

On Friday night we met up with friends and went to see a Japanese movie. DORORO is a Japanese flim based on a Manga story. Although we didn't understand what was said, the acting was very exaggerated and visual and therefore decipherable. Chikako (our friend) also gave a brief and simple discription of the story line before the movie started and also described certain things during the movie, which I then parcipitated in the telephone game and transfered the information to Matthew. So I'm not sure if our interpretation is accurate, but here goes.

The main character, Shibasaki, is a female warrior(although she doesn't seem to play the main role. Her parents were killed during a war and she is forced to grow up as a man (although she doesn't try to look or sound like a man, she just has a kind of a boyish, annoying way about her). She meets Hyakkimaru, a young warrior that was born without 48 body parts because of a pact that his biological father made with 48 demons. His father promised his son's life to the demons for the power to rule the country and bring peace to the land. He, indeed ruled the country, not by peace, but by violence and self-indulgence. Hyakkimaru never knew his real father, because he was abandoned at birth and raised by a witch doctor that gave him the body parts that he lacked but with special features. His forearms could detach and underneath there were swords! He had the ability to see other people's memories and sense much more than other people could see.

So the story is about Hyakkimaru fighting demon after demon to gain back the parts that he is missing. Shibasaki tags along and occasionally helps him to fight the demons, when she is not causing him more trouble. By the end of the movie, Hyakkimaru finds out that his father is the ruler of the land and that he has a brother. His brother tries to kill him because Hyakkimaru threatens his birth right as ruler of the country. But we all know that our hero must prevail! So he unwillingly kills his brother. Next, his father comes into the scene with the intentions of killing him as well because of the promise of the demons to give him more power. And of course the father dies instead. But gives him the options to get his son back if he gives his body to the demons and therefore giving them the power to directly rule the land. He father agrees, but his soul manages to fight the demon and tries to kill the demon and his self. He is unsuccessful and begged his sons to kill him and therefore kill the demon that dwells inside of him. The one son is a wimp and a coward and doesn't do anything. But Hyakkimaru understand what is at stake and kills the demon and his father.

So I think Hyakkimaru is now the ruler of the land, but I'm not really sure.

Oh i forgot to say that each time he kills a demon a body part painfully falls off and a new one grows back on. It was very strange. The demons low budget latex monsters. And if I were the warrior I would want to keep my sword arms instead of real ones. Also he had the ability to heal himself, which came in handy many times. What will he do when he because entirely mortal?

So he only fought 24 of the demons and I am assuming that there will be a sequel for the next 28.

And the girl tagged a long playing her drum and screaming a lot.

Kind of a confusing movie to explain, but understandable even without knowing Japanese

Spicy Pork Noodles

2007-02-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

Also Chinese, this is our second favorite. We tried it once with tofu, but it just wasn't the same.

Ingredients:

1T oil
1 clove garlic
1t ginger, minced
0.5lb pork, ground
0.25C onion, chopped
1T soy sauce
0.5C dashi
0.5C green peas
2T hot bean paste
2T hoisin sauce (or sweet bean paste)
1T sugar
1T sesame oil
soba noodles
flour

Directions:

Cook noodles (any noodles will do, but soba are healthy and tasty, just be sure to rinse them in cold water several times after they are cooked.) Heat wok and add oil. Fry garlic and ginger for 30 seconds and add pork, cook until gray. Add all seasonings, dashi, and peas. Boil and thicken with flour. Stir in sesame oil and serve over noodles.

Note: Dashi is a kind of vegetable fish broth. You can get it pre-made, in a tea bag, or as a powder you add to water.

Peanut Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry

2007-02-24T20:28:00.000-05:00

This is our absolute favorite recipe so far, we've cooked it up many times, nearly once a week, while in Kyoto, but it is a Chinese recipe! They don't actually do stir fries, or even have woks here in Japan. It is spicy though, so be warned!

Ingredients:

2T oil
0.5C peanuts
1t chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2t ginger, minced
0.5C green and / or red peppers
0.5 bunch broccoli, chopped
1T soy sauce
1T sake
1T hot bean paste
1T rice vinegar
0.5t sugar
1T sesame oil

Marinade:

1lb chicken, cubed
2t sake
2t sesame oil
1t flour

Directions:

Make marinade and let chicken sit for at least 30 minutes. Heat oil in a wok and fry peanuts stirring constantly for about a minute, set aside. Combine chicken and chili powder in wok and cook until chicken is white. Add garlic, ginger, peppers, and broccoli and fry for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, mix well, and reduce sauce. Add peanuts and serve over rice. Enjoy!

One Brush, One Ink

2007-02-24T04:19:00.000-05:00

Before we leave I've been packing in as much Shodo and Sumi-e as I can, and when no class is available I read books about about painting techniques in the library! A book I was reading yesterday described basic Sumi-e as "One brush, One ink." Meaning, with one brush you can make all the different marks you need to, and with just black ink you can make a complete gray scale to describe any scene. While many sumi-e paintings tend to look realistic, this is not the goal. The goal is to reduce what you're seeing to it's essence, to express the soul of something. So while not Abstract in the Modern Art sense, the images are abstracted. They are after all, done with one brush and just black ink. The conceptual purity involved in this kind of painting really appeals to me, as it did the Zen monks that started Sumi-e.

But now, let me show you some images.

Last week was my last Shodo class with Cosmos, so sad! I wrote elegant flower, and for the first time used all ten of my practice sheets. I think unstamped one is better, but my sensei took the best one and put it up downstairs as an add for her class! I was honored!

But then yesterday I discovered a different free shodo class on Fridays! It was actually a shodo and sumi-e class, but I opted for shodo. This class was more of a culture exchange class, so there were many more Japanese women there, most of whom were doing sumi-e. But they were all nice and tried to help me with my shodo. I chose something particularly difficult, Autumn Wind in One Stroke style, kind of like Japanese cursive. How much more pure could you get than one brush, one ink, one stroke? I was in heaven. I never quite nailed all the parts of the Kanji on one page, but here's my best effort along with my sensei's illustration of regular style verses one stroke style in orange and black. I was having trouble with going slow and fast in the same stroke.

So with all that talk of Sumi-e here's what I've done in the past month. The mountains post card, I think, is getting there.

And finally, on my last sumi-e class today I got a photo with all my senseis. They are wonderful people, so helpful and friendly. Even though it was hard for us to communicate sometimes because of the language difference they really made me feel like a million bucks. I am sad I won't have them helping in person anymore, but we all exchanged business cards at the end of class and they want me to email them photos of the sumi-e I do back in the states, distance learning I guess!

Invisible Man

2007-02-22T23:15:00.000-05:00

Running around today trying to back up our photos with no luck, but I found myself at an internet cafe with a coffee somehow, so I thought I'd review "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.

Back in high-school I remember reading "The Battle Royale" short story, which at the time, I had no idea was from this book, so I was quite surprised to find its words included in the first pages. The Battle has a special meaning to me due to its inclusion into the graduating class of 2000's senior show "Bust Wide Open." The book is a tale of self discovery for a young Southern African American man in the early 1900's and his role in the education and civil rights movements. Through out the book people at home, school, and later the Brotherhood in NYC control the way the narrator thinks, and he easily bends to their wishes, not really knowing for himself what he feels is the right way to move into the future. The writing is exceptional, especially for someone's first novel, and the book is hard to put down. Something is always happening, there is action and danger around every corner, but it is all despite of the author, not because of him. He begins to realize he is only a prop, and not a person with his own motives. The beginning and end of the book come full circle with the narrator isolated in a bright white or dark black room acknowledging his own invisibility.

While at the beginning of the book the narrator, and even I, wanted to follow the dying grandfather's advice, "Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open," by the end neither of us are sure. The message is still unclear; who is 'em? Was the old man's profound wisdom no more than senile babble? While a lot happens in the book, almost all the questions raised are left unanswered, perhaps they are unaswerable, but we get the story of one man's trial.

I've begun to notice a trend in the books I find exceptional, They are are struggles with the self. Each person fights to find out who they are - and when they do, they are trapped or die and the book ends, the story is over. Is that our purpose in life? To discover ourselves and die?

Kyoto City University of Art Graduating Show

2007-02-22T05:40:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we met up with Oya again to visit the Kyoto Municipal Art Museum for the Kyoto City University of Art's graduating class' exhibition. It was fantastic! The University has design, nihonga (Japanese watercolor), urushi, textile, sculpture, and painting departments, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. The work was all top notch, and it was great to have Oya there to tell us about the work and classes. We liked the urushi work so much that Alison and I both started thinking about coming back to enroll in the program! I also really liked the nihonga painting; I had never seen anything like it before, so ethereal.

Afterwards we had a great lunch and went to see the solo exhibition of one of Oya's friends. An urushi student, but a strange, strange urushi student. All of his work is more like kinetic found object sculpture, right up my alley!

At the Museum there was a whole room of these cut out animals, all from a single sheet of material. Seemed very risd-esque to me, nice 3d foundation project.

Books that I have read

2007-02-22T05:05:00.000-05:00

So Matthew is rapidly publishing post after post before we leave for India, so I feel that I should do my part to add to you everyday reading material. While traveling around I have amazed my self at how much I have read. In the past it has been very difficult for me to read books just for the sake of reading. But that has all changed now! SO here are some of my thoughts on the books that I have read, but I will try not to give too much away.

Australia reading:

Legacy of Luna

During out time at Windgrove I thumbed through many different books, but didn't start reading any until Matthew handed me the Legacy of Luna. He highly recommended it and since I listened to her speck at RISD, I thought it only made sense. The book was a quick read (I read it in 2 days) and it was extremely motivational. She writes in such a way that you are able to feel her ups and downs and her determination. I would say that if you every want to be motivated to change the world by tree sitting in a large Red Wood then you should definitely read the book!

Bend in the road

by Nicholas Sparks

This book a type of romance, detective novel. If you are in the middle of the bush with nothing much to do besides build some furniture and listen to the koalas, then it is a great read. Otherwise I wouldn't go out of my way to read it. The plot is very predictable for the first half, then it takes unpredictable and somewhat unrealistic turns. I have to say that the book did hold my attention- not that it had anything else to compete with.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight

I have not really been an avid fantasy book reader. However I really do like reading books that require little effort to read and are very entertaining. I enjoy escaping into a complex different world. I have never read a dungeons and dragon book before, so I thought I would see what all the fuss is about. I was very entertained! The story was very complex and moving. The characters' personalities seems realistic and compelling. I was surprised at how many times there was a climax in the story that included fighting dragons and armies, but none of the good guys would die and a few pages later there would be another fight that seemed just as important if not more. Needless to say my emotions and adrenaline were constantly on a superman roller coaster. In the end the book was very enjoyable. It served it's purpose while I was at Wild Mountains and I was very sad when I turned the last page.

Lord of the Rings

As our time at Wild Mountains came to an end, I started reading the first of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I have watched the movies, but never saw the need to read the books. Since I was on a reading kick, Why not? So I started and at first it was a little difficult for me to get into, maybe because it seemed so daunting. But I quickly found myself obsessed and wanted to read as much as possible before i left. I regret that I was only able to finish part of the book and will have to pick it up again during another trip of sorts.

Water Touching Stone

by Elliot Pattison

I started this book at the beginning of our stay in Brisbane. I would say that so far this book has been one of the best reads. It is a fictional story based on the Tibetan struggle. The novel is made up of many different layers and I really liked the writing style. I mainly like the writing when I don't notice it, when the descriptions and the story pulls me into the books reality and I no long notice the words but am experiencing the tale. I encountered many feelings of happiness and extreme sadness. It is also a detective type of story- a former Beijing investigator tries to bring to light the mystery about dieing children, missing lamas, secret Americans and the secrets of the Muslim clans. the book encourages the reader to be very self-reflective. If you have the time, please do read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

This book was quite long. It was entertaining, but didn't raise many questions. It mainly told the strange story of a family that started and ended the town of Macondo. If you like magical story telling then it is a good book.

The Tale of Geniji

I am currently reading The Tale od Genji. . .

Sons and Lovers

2007-02-22T02:54:00.000-05:00

The last hostel we stayed at in Brisbane had a book exchange, so I left Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" for "Sons and Lovers" by D. H. Lawrence. In brief the book is about a son's relationship to his neglected and overly affectionate mother and how it controls his relationship to his two lovers, one spiritual, one passionate. Lawrence considered the book somewhat autobiographical, and this flavor comes out in the rich detail of emotions felt by the characters. The relations and emotions are so deep and unfamiliar to my modern eyes. The quality or the writing is exceptional; often I could not tell if I was reading the next page because I wanted to find out what happened in the story or because I wanted to see the vibrant combination of words used by Lawrence. My favorite chapter was "Strife in Love." I liked the book so much that I have added it to my list of five books you must read to understand me as a person. The others include: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, The Runner by Cynthia Voigt, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin.

I also found many similarities between my current state of affairs and the sons in the book. One feels as though he has no purpose in life even though he is successful, and with no passion in life he grows ill and dies. The other, the artist, thinks to much, is left alone in the end, and can not decide whether he'd rather be beaten by life or beaten by death. That's the depressing part, but before their ends these characters really lived. They experienced everything available to them, and lived and loved deeply, with flames in their eyes and hearts. Who could really want anything more than a burning existence?

I particularly like the title of the last chapter, Derelict. There are many excellent quotations I could share, about sleeping, recklessness, and carelessness, but I will give only this one about loss.
"Everything seemed so different, so unreal. There seemed no reason why people should go along the street and houses pile up in the daylight. There seemed no reason why these things should occupy the space, instead of leaving it empty. His friends talked to him: he heard the sounds, and he answered. But why there should be the noise of speech he could not understand." (p.357)

I leave acknowledging this, everyday I can be great or wait to die. It is my decision.

KICC Japanese Language Class

2007-02-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

Of course the best way to learn a language is to take a class, and the Kyoto International Community Center offers 1.5 hour Y50 classes everyday of the week except Mondays, often offering both morning and evening classes. Each class is divided into three groups based on skill level, so there is usually a 4:1 student to teacher ratio or less. Often you can even get individual attention. The classes are taught based on the text book Minna No Nihongo, but you do not need the book to take the classes as they generally photocopy everything for you. That said it seems like a pretty good book, comparable, if not better than the AJALT books. It is also available in Kana and Romanji, but may be difficult to find outside Japan. While we were here we would go to class three times a week, with Tuesday mornings and Wednesday nights being our favorites. The beginner's group focuses mostly on need to know and basic grammar stuff, like where you are from, telling time, and calendar stuff. The mid-level is more conversational, and perhaps the most helpful. We never made it to the advanced class. The only problem we ran into with the beginner's classes was to much review of old material, I guess we were afraid to make the jump to the next level! The whole program is run by volunteers.

AJALT Japanese for busy people, Kana version

2007-02-21T22:05:00.000-05:00

When we got into Brisbane we had this sinking feeling that the Japanese we knew from Pimsleur wouldn't be enough to get us by in Japan, so we headed out to a Barnes & Noble and picked up this book. It's pretty good. It's divided into Units, which are further divided into lessons. Each Unit deals with a grammatical element, and the lessons illustrate different sentence structures using said grammar. Each lesson begins and ends with a short dialog that you can read and / or listen to on the included CD. Then there is a brief section of vocabulary that will be used through out the lesson, which is also on the CD so you can nail the pronunciation. Finally there are many repetitive exercises to drill home what you are learning. We got the Kana version so that we could start to learn to read and write basic Japanese as well as speak it. This was a blessing and a curse. While it helped to know some Kana for reading a few signs and menu items, it really slowed down our process in getting through the lessons. You have to learn it sometime, but trying to learn to write, read, and speak all at the same time is too much, and it would be better just to get the Romanji version so all you're focusing on is the speaking. We also picked up AJALT's Kana work book, which really would have been enough to get the basics of reading and writing. Aside from the Kana hang up, this system works pretty well, and there are two more books in the series to grow on.

Pimsleur Language Tapes

2007-02-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

When we ditched Rosetta Stone we picked up the Pimsleur Language Tapes. These tapes are available for many languages, come in tape, cd, and even mp3 format, and are carried by most public libraries. Pimsleur works by listening to a 30 minute lesson everyday. The lessons involve you listening to and repeating sentences that get more and more complex as you go along, repetition of earlier material is built into each lesson to help you remember, and the last few minutes are spent in a mock conversation. To make sure your pronunciation is correct, the first time you hear a new word it is repeated broken down into syllables and assembled again. The first ten lessons are very helpful for getting a grounding in the pronunciation and learning key phrases like: I don't understand, where is this street, I'd like some water, etc. As the tapes progress they start to lose their initial charm, however. The sentences grow very complex, as they should, but they are no longer key phrases, and without seeing them written out the breaks between words and particles become confusing. This makes it difficult to substitute in other words you know to try to say a different sentence with the same structure. In addition, the vocab is only explained in English the first time you hear it, which is great, but it means that sometimes five lessons from now a word you don't quite remember will come up and you have no real way of back tracking to figure it out. For me, a grammar book, even something explaining Kana (Japanese phonetic alphabet,) would be extremely helpful when used with the Pimsleur tapes to heighten your ability to identify sounds and particles in sentences. Unfortunately, Pimsleur loves its audio learning technique, and has no print material of its own, so it would be difficult to find a book that covers the same ground as the tapes.

Rosetta Stone Language Software

2007-02-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

While I'm thinking about language learning I thought I'd right about Rosetta Stone, the American Governments language education software. Rosetta Stone was the first method we tried to learn Japanese with back at RISD, and the first we abandoned. I can't say for sure because we only tried the demo, which is free. The problem we ran into was the complete lack of English, one of their selling points. It all sounds good in theory, looking at pictures, listening to simple descriptions of the pictures in Japanese and seeing the Kanji, or Romanji, transcription. But when we got to lesson five or so they pictures started showing a ball resting on a table, or a boy standing under an airplane wing, and we realized we didn't know if they were say the ball is on the table or the table is under the ball, or the boy is under the airplane or the airplane is above the boy. With no english to set us straight we were lost and it only got more confusing. So if you do try Rosetta stone you will at least need a good to way dictionary, but a grammar book would probably be more helpful.

Klexon Language Exchange

2007-02-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

When we first got to Kyoto we we looked into many different volunteering and language exchange programs in an attempt to improve out Japanese as fast as possible. One of the organizations we discovered is Klexon. They meet almost every Tuesday night downtown for two hours. You have to apply to join and go early the first time for an interview, but they are very welcoming of native English speakers. It's free to attend if you are a foreigner, but the Japanese members pay a fee to cover the cost of renting the space. The first hour is spent in a series of ten minute one on one interviews with other members on a predefined topic, like "where do you like to go shopping?" or "where did you go this week?" The next hour is spent playing a kind of Japanese pictionary and free conversation. The program is very helpful as foreigners speak in Japanese and the natives speak in English and we correct each other. The best part is afterwards we all go out for a beer down the street, so it's a good way to socialize and meet Japanese people and other ex-pats.

This weeks pictionary topic was "draw your ideal life," rather ironic I thought given recent events in my life, but this is what I got:

If you can't tell, it's me writing poetry with a cat in a small cabin in a pine forest near a train station within bike distance so I could get into the city if I wanted to. Sounds nice to me.

Changes to our Blog

2007-02-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

So, in the process of updating our blog out of beta testing I've made a few changes to the format. There are Categories now, so that all our posts are sorted by city and country, so if you're interested in what we did in Lune River, you can just click the Lune River category and see all our posts relating to Lune River. Kind of nice. Also there are some topic categories mixed in there, like recipes, reviews, art + design, and wwoofing. I hope this makes navigating our blog easier than it was before when the posts were just in chronological order. We even got comments back on the main page, but it makes the load time really slow, so we'll have to see how that works out. Also, all posts now have their own page, so if you click the title of a post (and we have not set it to take you to a company or school etc) you'll see just that post on it's own page with comments. Good if you want to email a certain post to someone. Hope this helps, more reviews coming soon.

P.S. My sister sent me this from Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac about grandpa, but I really liked it in general.

"The pine's new year begins in May, when the terminal bud becomes 'the
candle.' But he who lives with pines knows that the candle has a
deeper meaning, for at its tip burns the eternal flame that lights a
path into the future. May after May my pines follow their candles
skyward, each headed straight for the zenith, and each meaning to get
there if only there be years enough before the last trumpet blows. It
is a very old pine who at last forgets which of his many candles is
the most important, and thus flattens his crown against the sky. You
may forget, but no pine of your own planting will do so in your
lifetime."

Edit: After trying out the new blog for a few days we've cut the comments of the main page, but put them in the side bar under "Recent Comments" which loads a lot faster and takes you to the post the comment refers to. Also, we cut out all the city categories and replaced them with states as it was looking a little too cluttered. Hope it works out now.

Cabbage Dumplings

2007-02-19T01:25:00.000-05:00

If you get sick of those other dumplings or you don't like pork, mix it up with these!

Ingredients:

large cabbage leaves
0.25L tofu
0.25L ground chicken
1 carrot, minced
1 shitake mushroom, minced
1 egg
1T onion, chopped
1T soy
1T mirin (japanese cooking wine)

Cooking liquid:

1.5C chicken or vegetable broth
3T mirin
3T sake
1t soy sauce

Directions:

Mix ingredients. Divide and roll in cabbage leaves. Mix cooking liquid. Arrange rolls in a flat bottomed pan, add cooking liquid and bring to boil. remove scum and lower heat to medium. Cover until liquid is reduced by half. Remove rolls. Add flour to remaining liquid and use as sauce. Enjoy!

Japanese Dumplings

2007-02-19T01:13:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder how to make pot-stickers or dim-sum? We sure did, so here's one version we've tried and liked.

Ingredients:

0.5L ground pork
1C cabbage, finely chopped
0.5C button mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 spring onion, chopped
2T soy sauce
1T brown sugar
1t sesame oil
1 pack dumpling doughs

Directions:

Combine cabbage, mushrooms, onions, pork, and garlic. Add soy, sesame, sugar, and salt + pepper to taste. Mix. Add 1t of mix to center of dough, wipe edge with water (or egg) and close. Repeat until all ingredients are used up. Heat a pan and add 2T oil. Carefully add dumplings. Fry till brown, I like to fry them on each side, but this is not necessary. Remove pan from heat and add water until it comes halfway up the sides of the dumplings, return to heat and boil until water is gone. Enjoy!

What is that great garlicy, oniony, soy sauce that usually comes with pot-stickers or scallion pancake? Well, its about a half cup of soy sauce mixed with one glove of minced garlic and one chopped green onion...

Spinach with Mustard Sauce

2007-02-19T01:04:00.000-05:00

A nice side, doesn't taste particularly Japanese to me, but hey, what to I know.

Ingredients:

0.5 bunch spinach
1 abura-age
2t mustard
1.5T soy sauce
1t sugar

Directions:

Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt. Add a hand-full of spinach, when the water begins to boil again remove spinach and plunge it into a bowl of cold water. Repeat until all uncooked spinach is cooked. I find it helpful to hold a bunch of leaves by the stems and dip them in the boiling hot water and continuing holding them while the water heats up again, this way I don't have to fish the cooked leaves out of turbulent water. Gather all the spinach leaves, squeeze out excess water, and cut into 1.5" long pieces. Toast the abura-age, yes it can go in a toaster or toaster oven, and cut into thin strips. Mix the mustard, sugar, and soy to make a sauce. Combine spinach, tofu and sauce, mix well, serve, and enjoy!

Scambled Tofu

2007-02-19T00:49:00.000-05:00

This is a great quick meal. Good with noodles, rice, or toast. Serves two people well, breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Ingredients:

2T oil
1 carrot, strips
1 green pepper, strips
1 hand-full snow peas
2 mushrooms, chopped
1 sheet abura-age (thin fried tofu), strips
0.5 cake tofu
3T soy sauce
0.5t salt
2T sake
1 egg, beat

Directions:

Heat oil in pan and saute carrot, pepper, peas, mushrooms, and abura-age for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add tofu, crushing with spatula and saute a further 3-4 minutes until tofu is crumbly and moist. Add remaining ingredients and cook 2-3 more minutes, tofu should remain moist. Egg is optional, but I find it helps hold everything together in a nice way.

A note about cooking with tofu: It is a great help to properly drain the tofu before cooking it. To do this open the tofu package, discard the liquid and place tofu on a cutting board that slopes slightly into the sink, perhaps by sticking a spoon under the non sink side of the board. Place another light cutting board or small plate on top of the tofu and let sit for at least 30 minutes. The weight squeezes out excess juice in the tofu and it drains into the sink. Otherwise all that extra juice will end up in the pan while cooking the tofu, diluting the sauce, and making a watery, rather than dry, dish.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

2007-02-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday, in case you didn't know. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the day passed all of my expectations. I think it has been the best birthday ever! I will give an account of my day so that you can attempt to have the best birthday ever as well. I have to apologize for the blurriness of the pictures. We were trying to take them with out a flash.

So, I woke up pretty early- around 8:30am. I chatted on line with Malcolm for a while and checked my email- Thank you to all those who sent me emails and messages. I really enjoyed receiving them. Then I went to the kitchen and started making pancakes. Since we have arrived in Japan we have been making lots of Pancakes. They are easy to make and pretty cheap. I think they have made it to my favorite food list. Matthew woke up and joined me in the kitchen. He made hash browns and Bacon. Ummmm umm, delicious! We ate a wonderful breakfast finally around noon! Then I got ready to make my way out the door, singing 'happy birthday to me!'

We rode to the imperial palace to inquire about getting an English tour. This was a very interesting experience. The palace grounds are extremely big and are completely covered with fine gravel. This made for a very exciting biking experience. Matthew had warned earlier not to make sharp turns on the bike. As he was thinking of shouting out and extra 'be careful' he heard me tumble off my bike. I was very confused . . . I made a gradual turn on my bike and my tires couldn't take it. Lucky I wasn't hurt and was on my merry way. We booked a tour reservation for this coming week and ventured to fine an internet cafe that has Macs and DVD burners. We were unsuccessful. It is very difficult to find that combination available to us. We are desperately trying to back up all of our photos that are on Matthew's Ipod to DVDs, but so far, not success.

On the way to the cafe I got my hopes up thinking about sitting at a cafe and having a reason the splurge on a hot chocolate and a piece of birthday cake. So needless to say I was disappointed. Matthew came up with a brilliant idea! Lets hit up the Sunkist convenient store on the way back home.

So our afternoon consisted of hanging out in our room eating a delicious cheap dessert, drinking cheap hot chocolate and some sake that we got when we were in Takayama. Before we know it- It was time to leave to meet friends for drinks.

Earlier this week I sent out an email to people that I have met at our language exchange class. I invited then to come out for drinks, but didn't have high expectations so that I wouldn't be disappointed if no one showed up. I gave them a name of a bar/restaurant that I had never been to, but read that is was really cheap and had an English menu. This place is one of the hardest places to find! Everyone found it eventually even if they had to ask the police officer.

We sat at a table that was shared with other people. At first our group was made up of 4, then 5, then 7, then 8, then 10 and I think the final count was 11. That was way more people than I expected. We all ordered drinks and appetizers and talked. Some of the girls even brought me presents! They were all too nice. The hospitality was amazing.

Soari wore her Kimono to show me what they traditionally would wear on birthdays. I can't believe she wore it just for me.

The presents included Japanese socks, purses, earrings made by Sayaka (she is an artist), Japanese candy and even a children’s storybook that everyone reads in the first grade! I am still in disbelief. We drank, ate and talked and I didn’t want the night to end. I laughed so much!

But all good things must come to an end. We said goodbye and started riding our bikes back home. Matthew and I biked along the river and talked about how much fun we had. Eventually we need to take a bathroom break so we started our search for a restroom. Instead we found a glowing shrine! Our quick stop, although unsuccessful, was well worth it. We eventually found a Lawson Station Convenient store, which had a bathroom, and little tiny cakes that Matthew bought for about a dollar.

So my night ended with me trying on my socks, looking at the other gifts, the pictures and eating tiny triangles of cakes.

The best birthday ever!

Kohseki

2007-02-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

So as I was writing the previous post I thought you might be wondering: Who is Ohya? He's a cool guy. We met him a few days ago via our correspondence with Clifton. They both attended the Urushi program at Kyoto City University of Art a few years ago. Ohya showed us his work from school and from the Kohseki company he now works for, and we gave him our Takayama presentation. We also got to meet his English Teacher, a funny elderly Japanese man who looks like a westerner with a painful life story.

Yesterday we got an exclusive tour of Kohseki courtesy of Ohya. What a great company! They specialize in building Tea House interiors, but also make high end washi paper lanterns and import Scandinavian tables and chairs. The company employs thirty carpenters, 3 lamp makers including Ohya, and one repair guy. The work Kohseki does is top of the line; they've built for the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and the Rockafellers in America. We noticed interesting similarities between a few of the traditional Scandinavian designs and the traditional Japanese lamps. And Both places make woven grass floor matting. The lamps were so nice, mostly cedar wood - so light, washi rice paper, some urushi, and some metal. The bent forms were the best, and the tiny tiny joinery used to put them together. The compositions the Japanese come up with are so foreign to me, but I like them. It's like they do the second to worst thing I could think of, but somehow it looks amazing. Ohya showed us his "training" piece, an almost soccer ball motif lamp, about which he said, "No saw is good design," meaning ever piece was planed to its shape. Intense.

Waiting

2007-02-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Since we got back from Takayama a strange sense of waiting has overcome us. Waiting to go to India, waiting to go home. There has been a lot of sitting around, even though we still have lots to do since meeting up with Oya. It strange because even the short waits, like waiting for a subway, feel like we're really just waiting to move on. It may have to do with the International Center being closed on Tuesdays now, and because of that our almost complete withdrawal from going to Japanese language classes. We may also be overwhelmed with the quality of woodworking we've seen in the past few days. I feel in a way that my life is on hold; I want to work, to make things, but can't. It's hard to remember I am alive and this journey is part of my living life. Nothing is on hold, and waiting is sort of a throw away word for living in stasis, without purpose, but at the same time all the design we've been seeing makes me feel even more connected to our purpose. It's strange and I'm babbling now, so I'll go think about it some more.

Vegetarian Gravy

2007-02-15T03:08:00.000-05:00

Why eat mashed potatoes plain when you could have onion gravy?

Ingredients:

2T butter / oil
2T whole wheat flour
1C veggie stock (or water from boiling potatoes)
1 onion, diced
1T soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
salt + pepper

Directions:

Cook flour in butter / oil until brown, boil stock at the same time. Remove both from heat and add stock to flour, stir briskly and return to low heat. Fry onion. Add to gravy with garlic and soy. Before serving add a drop of sesame oil. Enjoy!

Matthew's Wild Mountain Apple Muffins

2007-02-15T02:54:00.000-05:00

Those of you whom I have been fortunate enough to talk to while I've been away know how much this experience is affecting my outlook on food and cooking. I'm obsessed! It has been so great learning new recipes and trying local food; I've really been trying to broaden my horizon. So before I leave Japan I thought I'd try to post up a few recipes that Alison and I particularly like and have modified slightly to our own tastes.

Our shed in Wild Mountains had many cookbooks, and after the builder's party we had literally dozens of eggs and apples, so I tried my hand at these apple muffins. They were so good! And everyone liked them, so it became a tradition that I'd make a new batch as soon as the last one was gone.

Ingredients:

1C honey
1C oil
4 eggs

2.5C whole wheat flour
3t baking powder
0.5t salt
1t allspice
1t cinnamon
1t nutmeg
0.5C powdered milk

3 apples, shredded
1t vanilla
1C chopped nuts and / or raisins

Directions:

Mix wet stuff, mix dry stuff, combine lightly. Fold in fruit, nuts, and vanilla. Put in oiled and floured muffin tins and bake at 400 for 12 -15 minutes. Enjoy!

WWOOF, in review

2007-02-15T02:08:00.000-05:00

Before I get to far removed from it, I thought I'd put up a review of my wwoofing experiences to assist anyone who is considering the program.

I think wwoofing is a great way to get to know local people. The ideal length of time to stay with a host, in my opinion, is two weeks. It takes one week to get to know the people and work you will be doing, and one week to enjoy it. By the third week I was sick of it. Farm work is hard, physically and monotonous at times, so certain muscles would get very sore, but by switching it up and doing different work on different farms I was able to let parts of my body recover. Pick macadamias is hard on your neck and back, while weeding garlic is hard on your knees, for example. For this reason, if you have any trade skills that you enjoy, such as carpentry, painting, networking, or web design, look for hosts who need this kind of work done. Not that there's anything wrong with farming, just that if you will be wwoofing for a long time it is nice to mix in work you enjoy. Maybe you enjoy farm work.

Also, I would recommend taking a break between wwoof experiences, say a weekend every two weeks. While woofing you won't generally get days off, and even if you do you're likely to be stuck out in the bush unless you have your own vehicle. So take some time off to see the sights, get into the city, and interact with other people who are not your hosts. I don't know about you, but being around the same four people for over a month without seeing much of anyone else makes me a little antsy. I'd recommend places that are withing walking distance to some kind of public transportation to get into town in case you want to get away. Many wwoof hosts are very rural, which is great if you like country landscapes and woods, but part off wwoofing is getting to see the area, and unless your hosts are willing to drive you place, not that likely, or you have your own transportation it will be tough to get around. Many hosts will pick you up from the nearest train or bus station however, so getting to and from your host is usually not a problem.

Pay special attention to your housing, too, as this plays a significant role in your comfort, both physical and mental. Generally accommodation in the same house as your host is preferable. This makes you feel very welcome, gives you more opportunities to interact with the family, and the rooms are usually in good condition. While the privacy of self contained or caravan housing my sound nice, it's never worth it. The hosts rarely inspect the facilities to make sure the roof doesn't like, the holes in the walls are plugged to keep out animals, or the mold is cleaned away. Or they do check, but don't care, since they're not living there. There is also a sense of isolation when you live apart from the hosts, which negates the getting to know the locals benefit of wwoofing. I often found myself wondering when I was allowed to enter the house, and when I should leave after meals. This is particularly tricky at night since your caravan or mud hut won't have it's own bathroom and you need to use the one in the house.

While wwoofing can make traveling less expensive, it may not be as dramatic as you think. In Australia I wwoofed at a bunch of different places in Tasmania over three months and took three weeks off for sight seeing. In Japan I've done no wwoofing for two months and have my own place and cook my own meals, but I've spent the same amount of money in Japan as I did in Australia! The transportation between hosts can add up very quickly, and all that work makes you want to play hard when you have the time off. Just something to think about.

If your planning to wwoof in Tasmania, please feel free to drop me an email or comment and I would be happy to go into more detail about the different hosts I worked for. Another program worth looking into is the HelpX network. HelpX is very similar to wwoof, except that it is not necessarily organic, it is free, you can read reviews of hosts (a big plus), and is limited to the English speaking world, while you can wwoof in almost any country.

Reflections on my place

2007-02-13T00:41:00.000-05:00

Literally, I am sitting at the computer. It's about 2:45 in the afternoon on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007. Although I've been desiring to be back in the States and working I have grown to appreciate the flexibility and mental productiveness that our time in Japan has offered us. I am recently spending days reading, chatting on line and thinking. I am getting out and about but am limited financially; therefore I am trying to spend my days with as little temptation to spend money as possible. Today I spent some time reading one of my friend's (Kim Libby's) blog about her graduate studies. She wrote some very interesting thoughts, which I thought I would share because of their resonance with my current state. She is researching quilting as a way to tell stories and remember.

"The stories are still washing over me, like waves perhaps. Each was short, with only a small window into the lives of each character, but they felt vivid and appropriate. It felt like what I often experience with people I meet for a short period of time before we are separate again - this feeling is most strong with my adult EFL students. I know them for a few weeks, a semester, or maybe a year, but so far, not any longer than that. I have a glimpse into their lives, their hardships and joys, and then it is only memory that remains."

I have a strong connection with this description, especially the last sentence. It seems most of the places that I work and play I have experienced this occurrence. Most recently when I worked this past summer at Anderson Ranch Art Center. In the right situation people connect and share parts of themselves with you. You really get to know someone for a short amount of time but then it is over. I believe those bits of people that you have gathered over time are what makes you who you are. Because, in those unpredictable moments of sharing you gave something of yourself that you didn't know was there before. You begin to define who you are by those interactions.

On this trip I miss those revelations. I experience a different type of self-discovery, however I find that I am interacting with people from a distance. Maybe because of the constant moving in Australia or the cultural and language difference in Japan that has pushed me into an isolated place of constant self-evaluation and prioritizing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I quiet like this place that I am at. I feel that I have endless time to focus on improving.

But when you stop to think about it, Although I am experiencing so many things, I am experiencing them with a few degrees of separation that is only tangible when noticing the lack of physical contact, sharing of personal stories, and comradery.

uummmmm, interesting.

In response to a comment plus a little extra

2007-02-12T02:12:00.000-05:00

On average- anytime I go out on my bike I see someone sweeping the ground. I even see people washing the drainage/gutter systems. It seems so strange, but then you notice that it is clean everywhere. I talked about this with people we've met at the language exchange program and they have experienced the same thing. It turns out that if you leave you bike for a while you will often find pieces of trash in the basket! I guess people want to put the trash somewhere but can't find a trashcan.

It seems that the feeling of community responsibility is a traditional part of the culture. Much like the co-op gardens/farms. We had a conversation with Shoji-san about the gardens that we see everywhere. In our minds there must be an owner and what stops people from taking the food. Well, everyone in the community owns it. There is often one person that takes more care of it for a small fee, but in general everyone maintains it. People don't steal the food because you are stealing from your community. The gardens are everywhere! It now makes sense why the vegetables are so expensive in the store- because most Japanese people don't buy them from a store.

The upsetting part of our trip is understanding that tradition is dying. Although modernization is inevitable and often desired, it seems sad to think about what the repercussions. The younger generations probably won't sweep the streets and wash the gutters because they won't want to spend the time. They are losing interest in maintaining the gardens because they won't get paid enough. And now you can buy Japanese furniture made in China with just about the same quality as the traditional Japanese furniture but sold for dirt cheap because people are getting paid pennies. So where does this leave the future generations?

This leave them buying expensive imported vegetables, dirty streets and gutters, with Japanese woodwork that wasn't made in Japan since there will no longer be Japanese woodworkers because they can't afford to support them selves with their business.

Hida No Sato

2007-02-10T07:22:00.000-05:00

Before we left Takayama we walked over to Hida No Sato, a faux traditional Japanese village made up of old farm houses moved there from around the Hida area.

While it is very cold here near the Japanese Alps, they still opt for paper walls...

What distinguishes these buildings is their steep roofs built to easily shed the two meters of snow that accumulates over winter each year.

Inside the roofs were usually thatched or shingled and lashed together.

The homes had a few rooms each, with a central open fireplace and cooking hook suspended above it. A fire, or embers, were always burning to maintain the moisture content inside and keep insects and rot outside. Many of the homes included a small Buddhist temple, as seen in the back here.

The Japanese love to mash stuff, mostly rice and usually in a big mortar with a hammer shaped pestle. This, however, is the complete seesaw version. Very nice, even has a textured seat.

If the seesaw isn't big enough for your mashing needs, try to hydraulic one! Water is split along a beautiful tree-gutter and pours into two buckets, when the weight of the waters is great enough, the bucket ends swing down, raising a mallet inside, which thumps when the water is empty and the buckets rise again.

Of course you'd need some vessels for all your mashed goods...

This bell was a lot of fun because they let you ring it! Bong!

On the way back to town we saw this interesting stature of a sad boy. Notice the dripping snot.

Inspiring, but inspired to do what exactly?

2007-02-10T07:13:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning we got dressed, ate a microwaved ramen/potato breakfast and suddenly found ourselves on the curb in the cold with time to spare until Osamu Shoji was scheduled to pick us up. We rocked back and forth to keep warm and I found myself smiling at any Japanese man driving by, because he might stop to pick us up. The strange thing is that most of them smiled back (I have experienced that the Japanese don't smile a lot to strangers, they nod or bow) we were relieved when Shoji-san slowed his car down and offered us handshakes. We climbed in and were off to visit Shinrin Takumi Juku.

The drive there took us through the city, through the countryside and up into the hills. The ride through the countryside was beautiful and it allowed us to ask questions about the school. From what we understand the school did not start out as a school at all. It was a furniture business that used tradition Japanese woodworking methods. Shoji-san and a couple of his friends were going through a back to the earth movement or as Shoji-san called it "a hippie transformation" They moved to Takayama and started the business. After a while they realized that they would like to share their woodworking knowledge with students and help to carry on the tradition. So they started a 2-year school that consists of about 20 students. Combining the furniture business with the school allows the education to be available to the students for free.

An Average day consists of the students arriving to the woodshop in the mornings and working all day on commission work for the company. From what we understand- Shoji-san is the main instructor and there are about 4 or 5 assistant instructors. The students are split into groups that work on different projects in a production style. We walked through the studio and you felt the intensity of the work (glue ups, routing, sharpening). However, because of the small number of students and the spacious facilities everything seemed smoother and less stressful than I was used to. They work until 5pm on the commission work. The evenings are filled with lectures from visiting furniture makers and from their own faculty. Then they can work in the studio on their own work. It seems like longs days, but a very useful approach

The environmental awareness of the school is impressive. They are not just aware, but are actively contributing to sustainable processes. As of 5 years ago they using only natural oil finishes in the studio. The entire school is involved with rice planting and replanting hard woods and soft woods. They are really considering the next generation- the hard woods take at least 100 years of growth before they can be cut down and used. Imagine planting trees to be cut but you won't see the end products. I wonder how many places replant hard woods?

Shoji-san also showed us some of his furniture and some of the students'. They make things because of the need, not because they want to design. The design it developed from what the object purpose is. It makes more and more sense that the word 'design' is a western word that is adapted into the Japanese language

We ate lunch with Shoji-san at a small organic cafe that was owned and operated by one of his friends. It was nice to have a Japanese style meal. And the food was actually made right there. We wondered around the city a bit and felt very inspired by the school. Our minds were racing and contemplating. We barely had time to gather our thoughts before Shoji-san picked us back up to go to the school and give our presentation.

The presentation consisted of us telling about our work and our trip and Shoji-san giving his best efforts to translate. I think they understood most of the information, and I only saw one-person fall asleep. So I think they were interested. After we finished we were approached by one of the assisting teachers. He was very excited about our presentation. He was verbally supportive and showed us images of his own work. I think he might have felt a connection with our work because his work also looked more sculpturally centered rather than functionally centered.

We left the school feeling inspired but overwhelmed. I believe that both Matthew and I have a tendency to look ahead and think about the future a great deal. We have high expectations for our lives. We are being exposed to so many positive opportunities that would be great experiences but it is very difficult to know which ones you really want to do. While walking through the woodshop, I kept thinking - This would be a great school to go to if I wanted to focus on woodworking in my career, but do I want to focus on wood working in my career. I would like to continue creating objects, some in wood. Who knows what the future holds. All I know is that the program seems truly unique and the students will benefit greatly from being part of it.

Hida Takayama Tensho-ji Youth Hostel

2007-02-10T06:20:00.000-05:00

After the long awaited trip to Takayama, we made it! Matthew and I arrived in the small city at about 9:30 pm and began walking in the direction of our hostel. The streets were empty but there was a peacefulness about it. With snow/ice on the ground and street lamps lining our walk, I was reminded of walking along Benefit Street in Providence, RI. We hustled down the narrow streets, knowing that the Hostel had a curfew, but unaware of when the curfew started. We finally made it up the walkway to the hostel a few minutes after the curfew (9:45). We were received with foreign friendliness. The Hostel is part of a temple, which seems very strange to me. Well, to be honest, many things about this accommodation seemed very strange. Not only was there a curfew, but also the lights were turned off at 10pm and light came on at 7am. The hallways and common areas were not heated; in fact, the walls consisted mainly of screens instead of solid walls. Very surprising since they get over 2 meters of snow during the winter! We were required to leave by 9:45 in the morning and could not come back until 3pm. There was no kitchen, only a hot water maker and a microwave. It was a very interesting experience. There was a bathhouse (which we did not take part in) The toilets were extremely high-tech- they warm you, clean you, and dry you off! Plus there is free Internet. So the only downfall was the cold common areas and the kicking us out during the day. But if you are ever in Takayama during the spring or summer, I am sure it would be a wonderful experience.

Speaking of Takayama, The city it's self is very small and quiet. I think i saw more tourist there than actual people that life there. The sake breweries were giving tours so I think people came from all around to experience that. The Architecture was very traditional. and there were lots of craft places to visit- Takayama is a very old craft city. Before we left we even made it by the Hida Folk Village- Hopefully Matthew will explain about that.

Yes, I shed a tear

2007-02-09T06:50:00.000-05:00

So i haven't looked at the blog post until now. I would like to elaborate a little. I was very frustrated, sweaty and worried that I would waste my money on a bus that left with out us. So I shed a tear, but it was one tear of frustration. Not that there is anything wrong with crying but I would like you to imagine it how it was. Me Very sad and and the bus left and we had to walk away I shed a well deserved tear.

The Road to Takayama

2007-02-07T19:20:00.000-05:00

We had a rough start last morning. We got to the highway bus stop right on time, but on the wrong side. Alison noticed a bus on the other side of the street and ran for it, but you had to go downstairs, under the highway and upstairs again, and by the time we got there the bus was gone. A very nice lady and the driver of a different bus helped us call the bus company but said there was no way for us to exchange our tickets after the time printed on them and it would be another ￥４６００　to get the five oclock bus. A far cry from the good any time any day for year tickets we were used to. Alison started crying. We made our way back to the train station and decided to call the Tourist Information Center. An hour later and Alison had convinced the lady there to convince the lady at the bus company to let us use our tickets on the latter bus, thank god. We spent the day explore Takeda. Not much to it really, but we found a playground with internet access and emailed the people necessary to let them know we would be late. It does not look like we will get to give our presentation, but at least we will get to see the school. The bus was four hours, but it was not packed and made frequent pit stops. We found our hostel ok but it is so cold here, there is snow on the ground, old snow, and the buildings are not heated.

Kyoto Seika University

2007-02-05T10:21:00.000-05:00

We had a great time going to Kyoto Seika University today. We took the long way around, trying to follow the railroad tracks, rather than go over the hills. (Last time we went over the hills and never found the school.) This was a bit difficult, though, as there was no road that followed the tracks, so we did a lot of back tracking. It was wonderful, though. It was so warm today, around 57 degrees, that it was enjoyable to be riding outdoors, despite my late start (2PM). We rode through all these little side streets, neighborhoods, and gardens. So lovely. It made me really love Kyoto. Like all the expats we meet say, you could get stuck here. Everyone is nice and polite. It made me feel really good just biking around, not really caring if we found the school.

The school was very nice, too, when we got there. Great facilities for their four departments of Manga, Design, Humanities, and Fine Art. Very new as well, built in the sixties and they're still adding to it. We got a great tour from Ken in the International Office, an Ausi himself. It was good to hear that the buildings were designed by their architecture faculty, and a lot of the equipment was designed by their product (ID) faculty. And it was nice to see the study spaces where a lot of the work from the grad show we saw the other day was made. It made me want to go back to school, or teach. I'd love to teach 3d Foundation somewhere and set up a Japanese Honors Program. If I wanted another design degree I'd consider Kyoto Seika, alas, I don't.

Life is Suffering

2007-02-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

It's late, real late, and I can't sleep. I haven't been able to sleep for a few days now, coupled with buying a knife I don't really want, and the loss of my grandfather have made for a pretty shitty week. It's hard to believe that I left L.A. in September with two grandparents and will return, god willing, in April with no grandparents. My fair-weather traveling ship has sprung more leaks than I have fingers to stuff them with, and my body and mind are left numb. I walked around today with a thick layer of gauze between my brain and skull. My ears heard voices standing next to me as though they were on some opposite shore. My eyes roamed the quaint Kyoto streets but saw only grey tones. Why do we have children at all? Buddha was right, life is suffering, and no amount or quality of good times makes the hard times worth the struggle. I'm sorry to sound so depressing but my oars have broken 5000 miles from anywhere familiar.

My grandfather was a great man, and a great collector. I think now about his basement in Cape Cod and wonder for the first time, "Was there any logic to it? Was it only fishing lures of a certain diameter and stripe, or any fishing lure the ocean cast off? How rusty did a tool have to be for him to pass it up? And why bring home the abandoned strands of last years Mardi Gras? Were they precious to him, or were they just objects that sparkled in the sand?"

STA Travel, in review

2007-01-31T02:18:00.000-05:00

It is hard for me to review STA as it is the only travel agency we have used for this whole trip, and I is difficult for me to find good things to say about them. While they claim to be an international company, this is only partially true. There are STA's all over the world, but the offices do not cross international borders, so STA Japan has little to do with STA USA other than sharing a name and catering to students. This creates problems when you're trying to check flight prices and make bookings, as the STA Japan will have very different results from the STA USA for the same search. Also, if you have credit from, say refunding a ticket, at a STA USA, you can not use said credit for purchases made through STA Australia. Speaking of refunds, they really fall short here. As part of their insurance policy you can refund tickets for a $100 fee and they will either credit your account or write you a check. When we refunded our Thailand ticket we opted for checks (since we were leaving the states and couldn't use our USA credit in Australia.) They say it takes 4 weeks to process, numerous emails and 12 weeks later there was still nothing. Now, when we first bought our tickets in providence they gave us an 800 number, an international number, and said if we were in trouble we could call them collect anytime. That, we discovered, was a flat out lie. You can't call them collect at all and you can expect to be on hold for 30 minutes if you make a pay call. This can be quite costly when you're overseas, so we had to have some one in the states make calls for us to finally get out checks. For the most part the staff we have talked to in person try to be as helpful as they can, however, I can not recommend the STA LA branch at all. The woman there was rude, unhelpful, and refused to sell us a ticket to Japan, so we had to go to STA UCLA where they would sell us the same ticket. I still don't really understand what happened. A problem we've recently encountered is changing the dates of our flights. As a rule, STA will change dates given at least two weeks before scheduled flight for $25.00 plus and difference in airfare. Fine. We've recently tried to bump up our return tickets and they told us continental has their own flight change fee in Rupees, which makes the total cost of changing the tickets more expensive than living in India for the ten days we were trying to miss. It is upsetting they never mentioned the airline's fees from the beginning and makes me wonder why go through the travel agency at all when it may be less expensive to speak directly with the airline? The one useful thing we've gotten out of STA so far has been the international student discount card, and while it is not accepted everywhere that offers student discounts, it has more than paid for itself on savings in transportation alone, not to mention admission fees. However, I think you can these cards at many travel agencies, and not just STAs.

I hope this information is helpful to anyone who may be trying to plan a trip of their own for the first time. Like I said, I don't have anything to compare STA with, but I would not recomend them, and do not plan to go through them again in the future.

Osake

2007-01-29T00:48:00.000-05:00

Four months. We went to a festival at Tenukidaniyama Fudo-in today. They call it a temple, but the architecture was much more like a Shinto shrine. The festival had a contradictory theme: drink blessed sake to heal your body. I whole-heartedly took part, Alison was more reserved. The sake was poured out of green bamboo shoots at the end of a long line of believers that wrapped around the temple's main hall. Plums of incense flowed from inside, accompanied by the thumping of an upright drum and some feverous chanting. I was completely absorbed in the sounds.

From the end of the line it looked like people had brought small jars and bottles form home to have filled with sake. The only bottle I had on me was my one liter Nalgene, it would have to do. Closer to the pouring table I noticed a pillar hung with hundreds of small wooden plaques bearing a rough painting of the human figure with parts in need of fixing circled in black by the devote. Again, I had no such plaque, but thought of my ears that are crusting up once again in the cold.

At the table now I realized most people were just getting a shot of sake from small white ceramic dishes provided by the temple. But I had my water bottle in hand and a monk with a fresh shoot of sake was motioning me forward. I held out my Nalgene and he started to pour. I figured he would give me about the same as they were giving out in the dishes, but he just kept pouring. My bottle was nearly half full and I was shaking my head in an attempt to get him to stop, but he was to focused on the pour! Finally with a wave of my hand he stopped, I bowed, and backed away.

The sake was warm and delicious, and the temple grounds were beautiful. I only had a few sips as I did not want to risk the steep stairs on the way down, but am enjoying what remains presently.

Noh Theater

2007-01-27T07:56:00.000-05:00

Today we went to a Noh play. At first it was odd, then boring, and then it evolved into one of, if not the, strangest things I have every seen in my life. The show started at 11:00AM and ended at 5:00PM. It was divided into three main sets with a twenty minute introduction, two groups of soloists, two intermissions, and a short comic relief skit in the middle to break it up.

Now, I was under the impression that Noh theater excluded speaking of any kind and involved dramatic, albeit slow, acting. The show we saw was just the opposite. The acting was quite minimal, though still slow, and consisted mostly of entering the stage, exiting the stage, sitting, standing, turning, opening a fan, and closing a fan. The dialog, or singing I should say, was very low and deep, and performed by the masked Noh players, their unmasked compatriots, and a seated choir. All were men. Of course, we couldn't understand a word of it, which made it rather difficult to get through at times (remember we were there for six hours.)

The costumes were fabulous! The choir, musicians, and stage hands wore formal black kimonos with their family seals marked five times in white on the front, back and sleeves. With this, they wore simple grey hued Japanese pants. The Noh compatriots (for lack of a better word) had brightly colored brocade kimonos emblazoned with gold patterns, and very stiff, large, cream colored, triangular pants. Neat. The masked Noh players had masks, obviously, bearing a tortured expression, and a wig. Their kimonos were generally more subdued in color, but with complex asymmetrical designs. Rather than pants, most wore a closer fitting skirt. Each had a hand prop as well, usually some kind of stick, be it cane, rake, broom, or branch. The amount of fabric used in each costume was astounding. Each main set had 2-3 compatriots and 1-2 masked players.

And I haven't got to the strange part yet: the percussion group. There were two main drummers for each set, sometimes joined by a third. The first played his drum with one hand while holding in his lap with the other; it made a short loud "pop" noise. The second also played his drum with one hand, but held it against his shoulder. It made a slightly longer and lower "bop" noise. The occasional third played his drum on the floor with two short thick wooden sticks., making a low "bom" tone. Now, the precursor to any striking of the drums was a series of yells. These yells, from what I could tell, meant nothing in Japanese, and were more like a "la la la" in Western music. But it was nothing like "la la la." I can not even try to replicate the sounds they made. The third drummer would make a high "Yaaah - ha"call, raising his stick high in the air before letting out a "bom" on the drum. The second did a "Yoh - ho, ho" deal before striking. And the first, my favorite, made sounds that I imagine a dying fox would make, lain out in the snow. A sort of wavering low "Yoh" followed by a much higher, broken "Oo-oh-o," intentionally cracking his voice, and with a dramatic sideways arm gesture "popping" his drum. (For two hours without losing his voice!) The rhythm of this was something of a space-time anomaly, possibly related to syncopation, but with random stops and breaks leaving you expecting a third beat when none was given. It was all quite amazing, and I can see how one could go mad by seeing too many of these performances.

Our Green Diet in Review

2007-01-26T05:07:00.000-05:00

For the past week or two we've stopped our green diet and have been eating Japanese food we cook and a lot of cheap junk food. We still drink our wheat grass twice a day to maintain some alkalines in our bodies, though. I amazed to say there is a noticeable difference. It was hard to tell if we had more energy, better sleep, etc. when we started the diet because we had been eating pretty well at Wild Mountains anyway, and certainly no junk food. But now, with significantly less green vegis it is all coming back to us. We're more tired in the mornings, run out of energy in the evenings, are breaking out, and I'm having trouble sleeping. Could it be something else I'm not thinking of? Sure, but our diet seems to be the biggest thing to change in the past two weeks. Back to eating one dollar Fuji apples...

We went to another market the other day at a shrine; it was a lot of fun. It was about half the size of the first market we went to and much less crowded, which was nice, and many of the vendors appeared at both. The shrine was interesting too, there were so many of these little stone shinto kami houses! This one happened to be behind a flowering tree that smelled like sugar! We got to the market rather late, around four, and I decided to get some jeweled rice balls steamed in lotus leaves. They were Y100 each, but since it was late, or maybe because we're foreign, she gave us each two, so nice.

The days are flying by

2007-01-24T09:07:00.000-05:00

So . . . the days are flying by. We haven't posted anything since Saturday and that was 4 days ago! Apologized to our faithful blog readers. When I look at the blog I feel so tired. I am not sure whether it's because:
a) to post a good post on the blog takes at least an hour
b) Recounting all that has happened seems exhausting
c) or trying to word it so that everyone stays interested also seems difficult.

or maybe all of the above.

anyway.

So we have spent to past 4 days busy and not so busy. On Sunday we hiked up Mt. Nyoigatake to the Daimonji and ate a Japanese breakfast with the COSMOS cultural volunteer class. It was great! The Japanese breakfast consisted of rice balls full of fish wrapped with sea weed and miso soup. We prefer American breakfast! It was beautiful and great views.

picture of me climbing up the mountain

This is a picture of Matthew eating Japanese breakfast. So we know he eats some meat, but in general he doesn't like to test the waters when it come to eating seafood type things. So I think he found himself eating a ball of rice full of headless, pink, squishy baby fish. Um, I don't think he was happy.

picture of the Japanese Character in the hill. It is made of a line of these fire pits so that when they are all lit from far away it looks like the character. There is a place that everyone gathers on Aug 18th ( I think) to watch all of the characters lit on six different hills.

picture of the view

We rode our bikes back and then took the subway to the to-ji market. This was at the Toji- temple. It was crazy! So many people. So much stuff. I bought a couple of Japanese lacquer bowls that were really cheap! There was so much stuff. I got overwhelmed and left. But it was amazing. All the people, food, and stuff.

picture of the busy market- right when we walked in the gate. Crazy right!

Monday we took it easy. Stayed in most of the day. I made pancakes! I think I went running for an hour. A great accomplishment. My heart is going to be in such great shape. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in India- I don't think I'll be able to casually run on the streets and in the neighborhoods. I spent time working on my resume and chatting on line.

Tuesday we went to two Japanese classes. I think Matthew got his package from him mom. Thanks Bonnie-san (a.k.a. Momma-B) you must be reading our minds!

Which brings us to today: Wednesday. Today we went to made pancakes again full of granola and a little chocolate! That was also my lunch ( if you can't tell we kinda miss American food) we then went to our Japanese classes and studied.

I think that is about it. Oh i lost one glove! where did it go? How did it get away? oh well. I will have to get another one.

Well, thats all for now.

That wasn't even a great post but it took over and hour. I thought computer where supposed to make things fast?

Crafts!

2007-01-20T05:12:00.000-05:00

More praise for the Kyoto International Community Center! I made it to all three courses today, and it was fantastic!

First at 10:00 in the morning was the Shogi club. Shogi is a traditional Japanese board game that is very similar to our chess. The board has an extra column and row (9x9) and most of the pieces are the same with a few exceptions. You can read the complete rules here. The two biggest differences I noticed were the ability to promote all pieces when they move into the enemy's territory (back three rows) and to "drop" pieces you have captured from your opponent back into play as part of your team anywhere on the board! It adds a whole new dimension to chess, having to think about what's on the board, what your opponent has off the board and what you have off the board. It was so much fun. The Sensei even served out coffee and biscuits while we played and gave me this board and pieces to take home and practice!

Next up was Origami. So what if I did origami as kid? We first made pigs, or boars, since it's now the year of the pig. Then we made "demons" (the rose pink guy) for Setsuban on February Third. You're supposed to throw dried beans at the demons to ward of evil, since most demons are allergic to beans...
Next up was the hardest one, that little green pinwheely type thing. It called for a very tiny piece of paper to begin with and it's folded so many times, but it's also the coolest one. If you put it on a smooth surface and blow on it from above, it spins like a top! A Wind Top! I love it. Time for a tea and cookie break. Lastly we made the also cool star baskets. Origami can be so pretty, and even almost functional sometimes. I'd love to find a way to use lacquer or resin to preserve it.

The day ended with Calligraphy. I did much better this week, partially due to choosing an easier Kanji than the 京都 (Kyoto) I did last time. The one I did today means "era," I forget how to say it in Japanese. It was a bit easier, and since I was there on time I got more practice in. The instructors are very helpful even though they don't speak much English. The one on the left is the better of the two. More snacks and social time! I talked with some students from Germany, Sweden, and Canada. It was good to meet some new people, particularly English speaking ones.

And now for some more Textures of Kyoto, or Gion specifically:

A couple days ago we went grocery shopping, and since the seafood is so affordable here we I had to try some salmon. Alison did a great job cooking it up with grilled asparagus and soba noodles. I made a little tofu with miso glaze in case I didn't like the fish, but I have to say it was delicious.

The Sea Dragon and Koi are tattoos I recently had done on my fore arms. Hope you like them.
Just kidding, images courtesy of Needle Addicted.

P.S. With our highspeed internet connection and computer you can now click on the photos we put on the blog to see them full size.

Jo gi n gu 2

2007-01-20T04:30:00.000-05:00

So Today I felt like I was being kind of lazy. I didn't go to the cultural classes this morning. I just wanted to continue sleeping. SO I did. Matthew was out the do and I was under blankets dreaming of resumes, residences and Japanese talk. I spent all day on the computer, catching up with my sister, studying Japanese flash cards with this new program that I down loaded and that's about it. I never realized how long it took to remember vocabulary. But It takes a while. I even got dressed to catch the calligraphy class. I was looking in the mirror and I thought. I don't really want to go. I had this mental battle.

Alison1 : You should go! You need to take advantage of what they offer here in Japan. Get help from people instead of calligraphy books. Go and experience everything!

Alison 2: But I don't really feel like it. I'm enjoying myself and I'm learning vocab- which I desperately need to spend the time to do. I should feel like I'm being lazy or not taking advantage. Why so I feel these expectations. I feel like someone it telling me that I'm wasting my time.

Alison 1: Yeah someone is telling you that- IT'S ME!

Alison 2: Well, shut up then cause I'm enjoying my self and experience Japan in my own way at my own pace. SO HA!

OK. That was the argument in my head. I know I'm sounding crazy. But I was completely ready to go and I took off my jacket and started studying. I did get out side. I went for another Jog. And this time I brought my camera.

Leaving the apartment you are almost immediately in front of a play ground. Today for the first time I saw some children playing in the play ground!!

My jogging takes me down a couple of streets and I find my self on the street with the canal. The simple beauty of this place really get to me, so I took a lot of photos but will show only a few.

I saw this guy up in a tree pruning the leaves. I am continuously suprised by the culture here. People are always taking so much care to do the little things. - or the things that the average person might over look. I keep thing that the yards looked so well groomed, but never stop to think that they had a man climb up there and trim the leaves. While running I also saw people sweeping up dirt and little bits of trash. The take great pride in the appearance of their place.

So that was My run today. And Yes I am being safe- thank you for being concerned. I really enjoyed the people watching that occurred. And on the block back to the apartment I saw this little girl riding around on her unicycle. So funny looking- arms flailing around trying to keep her balance.

jo gi n gu

2007-01-19T03:04:00.000-05:00

Regular exercise has always seemed like such a chore. I have had to push myself and convince myself that it is good for me. During our time in Australia I often felt restless and wanting some regularity from week to week. I tried to get into a rhythm of going for a jog. At no point was this extremely successful. I would going for a run everyday for a week and then not at all for three weeks. It was like a physical and emotional roller coaster. When you start the routine you feel great and more motivated then your motivation is taken for granted and over looked (by yourself) so you slow the routine down then the motivation nose dives! You are back where you started but you feel even worse because you know how good you felt. Once your tired of wallowing in you own misery you get fed up with yourself and start the cycle all over again.

Well, at least this is how I feel at times. When we were in Brisbane I felt refreshed and was regularly running. Once coming to Japan I got discouraged because of the cold and the uneasiness of knowing where what is acceptable. Starting the beginning of this week I pushed myself to bare the cold. It's actually not that bad!!! I just came back from a run that made be feel great. Even better than if it was warm out. I think I am really enjoying it rather than counting the minutes until I can stop. Maybe it is the fact that I never really get over heated (because its cold out), or maybe it's that I am visually exploring me surrounding, or maybe it is because I can people watch will speeding by. I'm not exactly sure.

One of the this that I like most is the fact that I am able to really get to know the neighbor hood that we are staying. There are a few schools for children, At least two college type schools. Around multiple corners are hidden play grounds, although I have only seen one really being enjoyed by many kids. The houses are so different and seem very fitting. While running today I found a beautiful canal that had a street on either side. The vibrant greenery caught my eye. I can only imagine what this place looks like in the spring. So many trees and plant and moss. The houses that lines the streets were a combination of old and new Japanese architecture. The older ones seem extremely space conscious and packed with usefulness in every corner. The new architecture seemed very clean and more spacious. The usefulness must have been hidden from the public's eye.

Well, these are my descriptions of a very significant jog through Japan. Next time I will bring my camera to take lots of photos.

Fishtail

2007-01-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

So what could possibly be more fun than riding bikes on busy kyoto sidewalks with out a helmet? How about doing that at night in the rain! I plowed over a restaurant sign to avoid hitting a lady and fishtailed out on a storm drain. Exhilarating!

Textures of Kyoto:

Ink Painting

2007-01-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we took an sumi ink painting course, it was so much fun! You start with Bamboo, as it is relatively easy, then I painted a fish, and Alison a Buddha. I liked painting more than calligraphy, Alison prefers calligraphy. When it came time to sign my paintings I said my name was Matthew, or マシュー (Mashu), but you can't sign your name in Katakana (used for Western words) you have to sign in Kanji (Chinese words). In Kanji, many characters can make the same sounds so you generally try to pair two together that have a good meaning. I don't know any Kanji so the two Senseis and and an older Japanese student huddled together and came up with Mashu in Kanji meaning "Real Excellence," a little egotistical for my preference, but I couldn't say no! (They really liked my paintings.)

At the park to day I was fortunate to see a Japanese Dragon! Now, you may look at the photo and think, "that's just a flock of black and white birds," but I am sure it was the glittering scales of a dragon... Even though it was cold, it was nice to walk around in the quiet and have a little think outdoors.

Alison san to Matthew san wa desu.

2007-01-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

Another day in the productive lives of Alison san and Matthew san. . .

Well . . . Today opens with Alison san and Matthew san waking up around 7:30 to try and make it in and out of the single shower of the house with enough time to get out of the door by 9:30. Success! They are practically skipping to the Subways station excited about their Japanese classes. But Wait! The two adventurous youngsters need to get a day pass of the subway and the ticket machine is all in Japanese. Since they were on their way to the Japanese class for beginners, you could imagine they had some difficulty. Despite their best efforts they retrieve money, not tickets from the machine. Almost losing hope they turn to their trusty pocket phrase book and the ticket counter. Thank goodness Most people in Kyoto know more English than the two know Japanese! With tickets in their hand and saving more money than they thought, they are off to conquer the world, or at lease a couple sentences in Japanese.

After Learning how to say "I want this please", "How much is the udon and Beer" and "Here is 28,000 yen". They feel brilliant and are ready for another challenge. - Taking the subway then the train to the Fushimiinaritaisha Shrine. This actually proves to be simpler than they thought.

The next stage in their day opens with Alison san and Matthew san standing at the entrance of the shrine looking up at a huge red Torii with an angry looking fox on either side. Once they entered they saw that the shrine was beautiful and large. Both Matthew san and Alison san were impressed and amazed. They took a look walk under the Toriis. There where hundreds maybe even thousands! As they walked they felt a vague memory. Wait. . . Wait oh yes they realize what it is. The Gates by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The inspiration for The Gates now seems clear to these two, however, the impression that the Gates leave in your mind didn't seem to compare to what they experience this day.

As they wondered around the Toriis seemed endless. They eventually arrived at their destinations- the Archory Ceremony. This Ceremonry was particulary interesting because of all the formalities. -The multiple bows, the shooting of the bows in 4 different directions and also up and down. After the final shots, three women preformed thier tasks which were to serve sake and rice to all of the Archors and ceremonial helpers.

After leaving the ceremony, Alison san decided to be a little more adventurous and try the what the food vendor was selling. This was a pretty big mistake and the details will be spared from this story.

You would think this day was packed and the two youngsters must be tired and ready to head back home. Oh no. they are not done yet. There is still one more 50 yen Japanese Class offered at 7:30 pm. They hop back on the train and subway to learn more. During the time they waited for the class to start they sat in the International Community center's Library and studied more Japanese, looked over Japanes cook books for ideas and began reading more about India, their next stop on this world travel.

The two finished their class and made it back home by 9:30 pm and are preparing for another day at the communtiy center- takign part in culture activies such as ink painting, tea ceremonies, or maybe playing some Go ( a board game)

Thank you for taking the time to tune in. Please come again to see what these crazy kids are up to!

The Path of Philosophy

2007-01-11T03:12:00.000-05:00

Today I biked down to the Path of Philosophy, a nice little walking path along a brook in North East Kyoto. Great for easy strolling and as an escape from the busy city streets. The path runs at the foot of the mountains so there are lots of trees and temples tucked back in the hills. What I'm trying to say is I liked it a lot and took a lot of photos.

The star attraction in this area is the Silver Pavilion World Heritage site Zen Temple.

It has great rock gardens, and even a rock mountain/cone. So Zen.

There was a walk way the curled up the mountain through the temples moss gardens. They had displays of over 64 different kinds off moss, these are the "VIP" mosses, I guess different mosses have different meanings and significance.

I just really liked this building.

This is a small Shinto Kami shrine. I'd love to build one of these when I get back.

Another local Shinto Shrine on the Path of Philosophy. The local ones are nice because there are no tourists and you can really poke around the buildings without feeling awkward. This place had a lot of animal shrines, here's the mouse protector shrine. I just love the statues on the sides, it's not everyday someone carves a stone statue of a mouse with an acorn.

And just for kicks, here's a shot of the urban farms I mentioned.

And the largest Shinto Gate ever. Notice the bus. In the museum district.

In other news, Apple released their iPhone Yesterday. Looks pretty hot, not shipping until June, though.

Our first meal out - Udon

2007-01-10T10:08:00.000-05:00

And we got what we ordered in Japanese! Amazing! I ordered かつかれうどん　(cutlet curry udon) and Alsion got shrip tempura udon. Delicious. We were down town after a day window shopping at the markets and went to a language exchange meeting. It was so intense, trying to talk to people, it ended up being more english. Today, however, we got back to the ICC for some Y50 japanese classes and learned a lot, so much more to go! Everyday is so exciting. The learning experience train will make no stops between Kyoto and Boston.

(Saw these guys chanting up a storm outside every little booth while at the market. Horns and bells, too. Monks' day out I guess.)

Today is under construction

2007-01-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of us with our bikes in the snow yesterday, we didn't actually go anywhere. And today at Nijojo castle, very cool "nightingale" floors that whistle when you walk on them, so you'd always be aware of intruders. Accidental caught a kimono runway performance at the textile center on the way back, too. Good times. Title from a sign at the castle garden. Isn't everyday under construction? Or does the construction end around noon when you begin drafting floor plans for tomorrow?

Calligraphy

2007-01-06T05:32:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful experience at the International Community Center this afternoon. For Y50 we got an hour of Japanese calligraphy lessons and a half hour of snacks a conversation. If we had our act together we could have done paper folding and Shoji (board games) earlier in the morning. It was great, they have language classes every day of the week, for 1 to 4 hours. Has anyone heard of something like this in the States? It's completely volunteer run. We were amazed.

As a side note, you can get the greatest stuff from vending machines that are one every street corner here: Juice, Soda, Coffee, Tea, Soup, Smokes, and Beer.

This is from the Shinto dance we saw last night. Strange music, I love the mask, it moved in all kinds of ways.

Bikes in Kyoto

2007-01-05T01:21:00.000-05:00

Today we bought used bikes! It was exciting trying to communicate using our phrase book. They new some english so, with our forces combined we were able to buy 2 used bikes. And you wouldn't believe how excited we are to ride around with our bike. How excited we are to put stuff in our bike baskets!!!!!!!! we even found a huge department/grocery store. Almosst like the ones in the states! We were warned that we would be able to get mostly single servings of everything, even in the grocery store. And it's so true! They utilize all of their space really well. There is no wasted space. I can't really explain fully, but i will try to take photos to show.

やさかーじんじゃ

2007-01-02T06:56:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our new diet we've been trying to get healthy fresh produce. Now, you wouldn't normally think this would be a problem when there's a city vegetable farm every three blocks or so, but apparently every grocery store in 京都 (Kyoto) is closed from Jan.1 to Jan. 3. So we've had to really on 7/11 cup-o-noodle miso soups. Sad. Since everything's closed we decided to go to the one place that would surely be open, やさかーじんじゃ　(yaska-jinja) shrine. Everyone goes here for はつーもうど　(hatsu-mode), the first shrine visit of the year. You're supposed to buy a little piece of paper with your horoscope on it and tie it to a tree to bring good luck. Or at least that's what I gathered from what we saw happening. You could also buy a wooden plaque and write things on it, resolutions or wishes lets say, and hang that up too. It's very strange being in a crowded place where everyone has an extreme sense of purpose for being there, but you are really unsure about what that reason is, and can't communicate to find out either.

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T23:57:00.000-05:00

As our joint resolution we've decided to go on a Green Diet, beginning with ten days of cleansing. The idea is that by eating foods that are alkaline (instead of acidic) you lower your bodies ph, which should be around 7.3. The problem is that most western food is very acidic and your body has to struggle to keep your internal ph down, but by eating these alki foods your body gets more energy, less sleep, less sickness, and overall goodness. Here's a ph food chart if you're interested. An excess of acid can lead to all range of problems like fatigue, cancer, osteoporosis, cancer, obesity, and possibly viruses. Worth checking out.

Here's a shot from Amerika-mura (America Town) in Osaka. We were surprised by the relative lack of English writing and American people.

OSAKA

2006-12-30T00:35:00.000-05:00

We Made it, and thank god for apple stores! Its, umm, well, overwhelming. Extremely overwhelming. Busy. Minimal English, very minimal. And we only have minimal Japanses.

いてきます！
エゴが　わかてますか

Christmas Time

2006-12-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

This is an Update of our holidays. In Brisdane there are a lot of free museums and gallerys which is great!. Christmas eve was spent wondering around southbank and venturing into the GOMA. This first picture is taken from there. I is an installation in a small room. All the walls and ceiling is reflective. The floor is a walk was that you stand on that is surrounded by water. Suspended in the air are different colored neon lit balls. I felt lost in a neon ball universe.

The next image is of the walkway through South bank- very beautiful. When that evening we walked "Elf" out side by the water. They played the movie on a big screen for the Christmas festival. Afterwards Fireworks went off!!!!!!

Thats a picture of our 60mm gold tensil christmas tree. I decorated it myself!!!!!

Christmas day was walked back to South Bank. Matthew swam in the man made beach while I read a book. Then we ate a Chinese Restaurant in the Village. How exciting.

I think the weather sucks out the Christmas spirit here. Is around 80-85 degrees here. No one dresses in christmas colors and the city wasn't really decorated. You occasionally see a tree or some light, but nothing like I am used to.

Oh well - - Japan here we come!!!!

Brisbane

2006-12-22T23:08:00.000-05:00

Well we made it to the big city, and it is sure great to be around people again. We just went to the Queensland Museum, Art Gallery, and GoMA today. Great stuff, they're doing a 5th annual Contemporary Pacific Show. My favorite was Ai Weiwei dropping a hung dynasty urn. Good stuff.