Kyoto

KYOTO

On November 3rd was a national holiday and I got a day off from school! I desperately have been wanting to see more of Japan, so my friends Aiko and Kaoru kindly offered to show me Kyoto :o)

Kamo River.

This river is famous for spot for tourists and local to visit. You can go walking on either side, and if you're hungry stop for a bite to eat at one of the many cafes stand along the bank.

We skipped down a side street to find a place for lunch.

We found a cozy traditional Japanese restaurant for lunch.

This was my first course: some fish, potato, tofu, and ginco beans.

Main course: salad, beef, mushrooms, miso soup, and of course RICE!

Yasaka Shrine

Yasaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine which was built in 656 AD.

It was absolutely beautiful!

Entrance to the shrine.

Upon entering the shrine there is a "holy water house" as my friends and I established. There is a fountain holding bamboo cups with long handles. You dip your cup into the fountain and pour water over one hand, and then the other. Next you pour some water into your hand and drink it. Now you are cleansed and ready to enter the shrine. But before entering you pour the remaining water over the handle of your cup to make it "clean" for the next visiter.

The first thing I noticed was the stage. This is where many religious dances and ceremonies are performed.

Because this day was a holiday (Culture Day), there was a special religious ceremony being performed. My friends who have been to Kyoto hundreds of times throughout their lives said they had NEVER seen this particular performance before. It is very sacred and only performed at very select times. I was very lucky to see it!

Here's a clip of it for you to see too! I wish I knew what it was called, but because it is not performed often no one really knows the name of it. Enjoy!

The shrine itself.

The tradition when passing by the shrine is to throw a 5 cent piece onto the platform, ring the bell, clap twice, bow, clap again, then pray. On this day no one allowed to ring any bells because of the performance. So their ropes were tied to the pillars (can you see them?).

Something you could do upon entering the shrine was to buy a fortune for yourself. First you pick a wooden box depending on what kind of fortune you would like (romantic, health, money, etc.). I picked a rather general box. You shake it until a stick slides out of a tiny hole. The stick has a number on it, and you take your number to a "cashier" and they give you your fortune, which is a piece of paper. Mine said my life was horrible and that is I wasn't careful I would lose my way and find myself in even more trouble... I can't believe I paid 200 yen to hear that! If you want your fortune to come true you tie it to a string (showed above). I told my friends I DID NOT want mine coming true, so I kept it (I also wanted a souvenir!).

Heading towards Kiyomizu Temple

Pulled carriages!

These guys have to be incredibly strong! This area was entirely uphill the whole way!

The walk towards the temple is all uphill, but there are stairs to "ease your way". As well as a bunch of shops to distract you from the pan you feel in your knees ;o)

Kiyomizu Temple

Kiyomizu Temple (Pure Water Temple) is a Buddhist temple built in 798 AD and renovated in 1633. Can you believe there is not one nail in the whole place? And it's still standing strong!

We finally made it!

Kaoru, myself, and Aiko.

It was SO COLD! But so worth it!

Entrance to the temple.

One of the statues guarding the gate of the temple. He looks scary in order to ward off evil spirits or malicious invaders. This guy must have been thirty feet tall!

When I was there is was too dark to see the statues inside their protective crates (I pulled the first picture off the internet). This was all I saw of them. Can you see that one yellow eye starring at you? It gave me the chills!

Another building next to the entrance, still part of the temple.

A quiet rest area. I thought it was so "kawaii" (pretty)!

Inside the temple facing the entrance.

I'm not sure what these are or the significance of them. Students and visitors were trying to lift them, and a tour guide was explaining what to do. Of course he was speaking Japanese, so I only knew when he was saying "Yes, that's right", or "No, that's wrong" ;o).

Looking down from the famous platform, you can see the water house. This water is said to have healing powers; that's why it's called Kiyomizu (pure water) Temple. The line to just a sip curled all around the path. It was quite a site!

View from the platform. I will never be able to take a good enough picture to do it justice!

Purification.

You light and burn incense, waving the smoke over your head to make you smart. It was funny to see all the young students waving smoke over their heads like their lives depended on it!

A view from the opposite platform.

Making our way down the hill.

Markers for donated cherry trees.

Exiting the temple.

Heading Home

Our final destination was this street. Many years ago is was famous for being a "geisha" street. Now there are many shops and restaurants, as well as a renowned denim dye shop.

Thus, ended my first trip to Kyoto.

We were cold, tired, but extremely happy about our day in Kyoto!

Trick or Treat!

It's the Great Pumpkin OCC!

Halloween is not celebrated in Japan the way it is in the USA. There's no trick or treating and not very many costume parties. It's a very "American" concept, which is why it is appealing. But Japanese people like the decor and wearing cute little halloween hats.

I felt it my duty to introduce my students to an American Halloween!

Class Party

On Thursday before Halloween I hosted a Halloween party for my second year English students.

We started with a burping contest... that's right a burping contest. A few weeks before they girls asked me what my sisters and I did for fun that our parents didn't like. The only think I could think of was the four of us chugging Coke and having burping contests. As soon as I told them this they demanded I host one for the class. So I did, and they had fun... and I still have my job ;o)

I made them a "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game, which they LOVED. They thought my donkey was cute ;o)

From left to right: Maho, Mihuyu, Marika, Marni, and Erika. Marika won the burping contest!

Erika was the brave and went first, and ultimately won the game!

Mao, Erika, and Marni had fun spinning Marika around and around and pointing her in the wrong directions. They REALLY enjoyed tricking each other!

Poor donkey... ;o)

We ended it with Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin (thanks to my sister Katie!). They had never see it before, and they LOVE Snoopy, so it was perfect! I also showed it to all my tutoring classes. I watched it ten times this week and I'm still not tired of it! It also came equipped with Japanese subtitles!

Thanks Katie! :o)

The Student Festival

Every year on Halloween the school has a Student Festival. Sort of like homecoming.

On Friday there were no classes and students got to participate in a talent show. All the teachers and second year students voted for the best act, and that act would be able to perform at the festival for the community the next day. The acts were so cute. There was a lot of dancing and singing. There were groups that performed songs from "The Sister Act", "Aladdin", and "High School Musical" (of course!). When they announced the winner the girls screamed and cried with joy! Even though the acts were cute and somewhat simple, the students worked SO HARD to make them perfect. And they have so much school spirit they considered it such an honor to perform for the community the next day. Looking at them you would have thought they had won American Idol... they were so happy!

Saturday was Halloween and the open campus portion of the festival. Each club had a tent and their own fundraiser. There was food, candy, flea markets, pottery, painting, you name it! The atmosphere was full of bustling excitement!

The ESS club booth.

My girls made a balloon dart game (which is new to them). They had candy prizes as well as big prizes for those who hit all the balloons. It was VERY successful.

I offered to do face painting for the group; something else Japanese people are not familiar with. And oh boy! I had NO IDEA what I had gotten myself into! Everyone LOVED the face painting! We had to set up a "waiting area" for people who wanted to get their faces painted. Half way through one of my students stepped in to help me, and she DEFINITELY was a help! I couldn't have done it without her! It was fun to see kids (and adults) come back for seconds, and even thirds! For some reason they absolutely LOVED it!

The booth next to ours.

I made this template for my face painting booth. Of course Mickey Mouse was the most popular AND the most difficult to do! Now I am a master at Mickey Mouse face painting! The Jack-o-lantern and cat were also very popular.

Japanese chicken barbeque.. it smelled SO good!

Annie's Halloween Party!

After our busy day Saturday, I hosted a Halloween party for the ESS girls. I had so much fun making the decorations!

I had some games and activities planned, but we were all SO TIRED! So we all decided to sit around and eat! They wanted to know more about Annie the girl (not Annie the teacher ;o) ). So I talked about myself, answered some questions they had been DYING to ask me (such as "What is your love story?", that was an interesting one!). Some told ghost stories, but a few girls got scared and we had to turn the lights on! Haha, just like when we were little!

Bad picture:

Maho wore a Buddha mask and stuck her fingers through the nostril holes. It was SO FUNNY! ;oP

Namba

NAMBA!

Namba is THE place for shopping in the Kansai area.

There are stores every where you look and any street you walk on.

The lights, people, food entertainment, and music make it a super happenin' place to be!

This is a famous billboard. It's not a particular person, but for some reason

it's very famous. ALL the tourists want to get pictures with it...

...so of course I did too!

From left to right: Namba Man, Hosana, me, and Hanae.

I guess this is another seafood restaurant, but I just thought this guy was awesome!

Hanae and me with little Namba Man!

We had dinner at the "Donkey Kong". I know that sounds like the gorilla in the Mario games, but the character is an actual donkey. The restaurant was VERY cool, it looked like a jungle. I ate Japanese steak with chopsticks.... oh ya!

From left to right: Hanae, me, Donkey Kong, Kaoru, and Hosana.

This is a famous seafood restaurant in Namba. It may be hard to see, but this giant crab's arms are moving. It scared me half to death the first time I saw it... it's HUGE!