Mom's visit, part One
Well I'm going to do my best to catch you up. My mom and aunt Jacque were here for a week. The day they left, Randy arrived and was here for over a week. Three days later, I went to South Korea to get my visa renewed as I came back to Japan. I'm back now and will show you the highlights of these events...
{As usual, you can click on the links for names of places, and it will take you to the photos for that place. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them, and you can save them by right-clicking on them...}
DAY ONE: After I taught a few lessons, we headed out for the first day. One of my students, Sadao, is learning English so that he can hopefully become a tour guide. He was so excited by my visitors and insisted on guiding us around a little bit. He was actually very demanding, and even scolded me for letting my mom pay for anything! In Japan, that would be disrespectful and unheard of.
Our first stop was Kinkakuji, also known as the "Golden Pavilion." It was there that they got their first taste of Japanese sweets. Many of them are derived from mochi, which is rice gluten, sweetened with various flavors. It is sometimes gooey or mushy, and according to my mother, has the consistency of Elmer's Glue! Mochi would be known as "Elmer's" for the rest of the trip.
After the Golden Pavilion, we headed to Hirano Shrine, known for its cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, we were a little too early to get the full bloom there, but it was their first glimpse of them and to see people lined up to pray at a shrine. In April, everything changes in Japan. It's when people get promoted or change jobs, the tax year ends March 31st, menus change at restaurants, and everything seems to get overhauled at once. So the new employees at a company are expected to go to the shrines and stake out territory for the company outing to sit under the cherry blossoms and have sake or wine or beer. At this shrine, we could see some employees setting up their tarps and guarding their space.
We took the back road to one of my favorite shrines next: Kitano Tenmangu. It was built to honor one of Japan's great educators who lived over a thousand years ago! Students travel from all over to rub one of the many ox statues, thought to bring good luck in exams or education. Sadao also helped my mom get her fortune, a piece of paper that tells you about your future. If it's no good, you tie the paper to one of the nearby plants or trees (so that's what she did).
{As usual, you can click on the links for names of places, and it will take you to the photos for that place. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them, and you can save them by right-clicking on them...}
DAY ONE: After I taught a few lessons, we headed out for the first day. One of my students, Sadao, is learning English so that he can hopefully become a tour guide. He was so excited by my visitors and insisted on guiding us around a little bit. He was actually very demanding, and even scolded me for letting my mom pay for anything! In Japan, that would be disrespectful and unheard of.
Our first stop was Kinkakuji, also known as the "Golden Pavilion." It was there that they got their first taste of Japanese sweets. Many of them are derived from mochi, which is rice gluten, sweetened with various flavors. It is sometimes gooey or mushy, and according to my mother, has the consistency of Elmer's Glue! Mochi would be known as "Elmer's" for the rest of the trip.
After the Golden Pavilion, we headed to Hirano Shrine, known for its cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, we were a little too early to get the full bloom there, but it was their first glimpse of them and to see people lined up to pray at a shrine. In April, everything changes in Japan. It's when people get promoted or change jobs, the tax year ends March 31st, menus change at restaurants, and everything seems to get overhauled at once. So the new employees at a company are expected to go to the shrines and stake out territory for the company outing to sit under the cherry blossoms and have sake or wine or beer. At this shrine, we could see some employees setting up their tarps and guarding their space.
We took the back road to one of my favorite shrines next: Kitano Tenmangu. It was built to honor one of Japan's great educators who lived over a thousand years ago! Students travel from all over to rub one of the many ox statues, thought to bring good luck in exams or education. Sadao also helped my mom get her fortune, a piece of paper that tells you about your future. If it's no good, you tie the paper to one of the nearby plants or trees (so that's what she did).
posted by Spencer Douglas at
6:43 PM
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