Wishes II

I've been to quite a few temples and shrines already and seen lots of different wishing posts. However, this one takes the cake:
This one wishing place was just for people hoping for love. We're only a few months away from Valentine's Day and it seems to me that people are really starting to think about their February 14th plans.

Wishes

At nearly every shrine in Japan are places for people to put their personal wishes. I think this tradition is really cool versus silent prayer. I think when you have to write something down and display it, it kind of makes wish making more real. It's like when you write down your new year's resolution every year instead of just saying it in your head. Maybe that is just me but I've always failed on my resolutions that I think to myself versus the ones I've posted above my desk.

While we were at Nikko, Masumi and Kensuke pointed out a wish that was hanging up. This wish, if you can't tell from the picture, was done by a little boy who wants to be a major league baseball player:

Nikko

(PICTURE: Temples located in the forests at Nikko.)

A couple of weekends ago I wanted to get out of Koryama and see a little more of Japan. I emailed Masumi (1/2 of my new Japanese best friends) and asked her how to get to Nikko. Masumi emailed me back that she and Kensuke (the other 1/2 of my new Japanese best friends) wanted to go to Nikko too and would drive. Can you say road trip!

Nikko is one of the most famous tourist sites in Japan. It is a bunch of temples and shrines scattered among beautiful forrests. One of the most recognizable images in the world is located in Nikko -- the "Hear No Evil, See No Evil" monkeys.

Tons of Japanese tourists visit Nikko on the weekend, including this adorable little girl wearing a kimono.

Everywhere around Nikko you will see three-leaf clover symbols. The symbol is for the Tokugawa Dynasty that ruled Japan for over 250 years.

Happy Birthday Hannah!!!!

(PICTURE: Even as a little kid, Hannah was able to fill big shoes.)

Minus a couple years in my teens, I have always been immensely proud of my sister. She is without a doubt the smartest, kindest, funniest person I have ever known. One of the things I hold to be unshakable in this world is that if my sister puts her mind to something, it will get done.*

Today is Hannah's birthday and I'm trying to pinpoint the exact moment when she went from being the most adorable little kid ever, to a beautiful, hard working, HOME OWNING woman. I made a video to help me wrap my head around it.

Love you, Hannah!

* The rare exception was when Hannah took kickboxing lessons to try and fight me (hence the line about a few years in my teens) and only proceeded to embarrass herself every time I would catch her leg and then give her a taste of her own medicine (if her medicine was stronger and swifter and actually hurt).

My Japanese Best Friends

(PICTURE: Masumi and Kensuke.)

I consider myself to be really really really lucky. I've made some good friends out here in a short period of time who have made my Japanese experience countless times better than it would be without them. A few weeks ago I went out to a bar with Paula, her friend Lydia and some friends of Lydia and some friends of friends of Lydia. While out that night I befriended Masumi, the one Japanese person there.

Since that night I have become very good friends with Masumi and her husband Kensuke who happen to live about a five minute walk from my house. To say that Masumi and Kensuke are awesome would be a huge understatement. I feel like I have gotten to see another side of Japan since hanging out with them. In the upcoming days I'll talk about a few of the things I've done with them but first I thought I would point something funny out:

The first time I met Kensuke AND the first time I met Yuya (Paula's amazing husband) I saw them naked rougly within the first hour of shaking their hands. Hold on, hold on, Japan isn't some bizzare swinging culture. No, we went to an onsen together.

I've mentioned in a prior blog, at the Japanese baths the sexes are seperated and everyone is in the buff minus a tiny little wash-cloth-esque towel. Upon meeting both Kensuke and Yuya we headed straight to an onsen to take a bath. To me, this is truly a unique Japanese experience. Could you imagine meeting your friend's significant other in America and then immediately getting naked with them to have your first chat? Both times this has happened to me, I've felt like I was on a very strange first date where my friend's husbands got to size me up.

Okonomiyaki

(PICTURE: Okonomiyaki.)

As everyone knows, I'm a pretty big eater. One of my favorite things about living abroad is that I get to eat so much good food. As I've said to Paula a few times, "When I'm living in Japan I don't want to eat anything except Japanese food."

One Japanese food that I never ate prior to coming here is okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a savoury "pancake" with a variety of ingredients. To be honest, taste wise, this is probably my least favorite dish I've had in Japan so far. That's not to say I think it is bad, I just think it is okay. The experience of going to an okonomiyaki place is worth trying it at least once though. As you can see from the picture, you get to cook your own pancake at your table. Generally I'm not a fan of cooking for myself because a) if I wanted to cook for myself I would have stayed home and cooked b) I'm scared that I'll mess up what I'm cooking.

My one okonomiyaki experience was perfect because the owner stood at our table and cooked for us. This meant a) someone was cooking besides me b) I'm assuming it was not messed up.

I should also mention that this is the closest thing I've seen to a "Japanese Hibachi" like the Benihana chain in the states. From what I've gathered there are no hibachis in Japan where a chef flips shrimp into his hat. Yes, I'm as sad at this as you are.

Someone is watching you...

I was at my university on a weekend and decided to check out the view from the tallest building on my campus. The view was really gorgeous because Koryama is surrounded by mountains on all sides with rice fields at the base of the mountains. However, this post isn't about that view. While I was up top I looked down and saw two girls practicing some kind of dance moves. Clearly they thought nobody was watching...