Back to Japan: A Retrospective (^_<)

From soba to sushi, from Gifu to Osaka,it was a month well spent!

A Purikura Addict's Oddessy

Super-cute, soft-serve poop: A puri staple and Japanese pop culture icon.


Junior high kids love to ask about their ALT's love life. The thumbs up means boyfriend, pinky up means girlfriend.

All the way from Osaka, world famous Ashitsubo Sensei and rugby extrodinaire (not to mention actual nihonjin)!


Star of my first puri and my absolute best Japanese friend ever- Yuko-chan! How far we've come! (^_<)
I ♥ Osaka!


Extra points if anyone can catch the "Fo Sho" allusion.

Our last puri- for now, anyways!

Happy Thanksgiving! 感謝祭おめでとう

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new..."

Did you know the pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts, and still decided to set aside a day of thanksgiving for all of their blessings? What a humbling thought. We all have things to be thankful for, even if we forget it from time to time. Sometimes even the things we are quite the opposite of thankful for turn out to be blessings in the end, and that is a comforting thought (^_<)

This is my first Thanksgiving stateside in the past three years, but all of my Kansha-sai (Japanese for Thanksgiving) were spent in the company of good friends and delicious food. Last year we celebrated at Ena's famous Chez Howell over a dinner of lentils, Thai curry and guacamole. The previous Dia de Gracias was spent marveling at Kyoto's famous fall foilage and savoring spicy Indian cuisine in Gion. And who could forget the time we snuggled beneath a warm kotatsu, huddled around a steaming pot of kimchee nabe!

Yet even as I prepared to repatriate myself this past August, I found myself looking forward to the deliciousness that is good old pumpkin pie. Despite a series of unfortunate events that transpired to keep me from eating said pumpkin pie, or even having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in my own home, it turned out to be the absolute best Thanksgiving in (my) recent history. No fighting. No stress. No obscure sea creatures sneaking into the hot pot. Just family, food and fun. Niiiiiiice.

Here's to hoping all of you had a happy Thanksgiving as well. What are you most thankful for this year? Kind of hard to say once you start thinking about it, isin't it? There's just too much to be thankful for!

Halloween: Puri Style

As Cultural Ambassadors, Abbey and I felt it our duty- nay, our privilege- to spread what little Halloween cheer we might by sporting festive 100 yen headbands, not only for our holiday puri session, but to sushi as well, spreading "knowledge and awareness" to all.

As they say in Japan, Happy Haroween! (^_<)/

I Went to Tokyo...

And all I have to show for it are these silly pictures (^-^)/Ye Old Coot and I jumpin' around at Sensoji (Temple) in Asakusa.

Holy backpack, Batman! The Old Coot, The World or Bust and Mboogiedown go to Tokyo!


West Side represent! Chillin' with our homie the Emperor at the Imperial Palace.

Aaaand...
Which promptly inspired this puri classic...

My Cambodian Family : Battambang

Ratha's father, Papa Kim, and I.

Remember Ratha? We've kept in touch since August, and when I told him I was coming back to visit, he was kind enough to invite me to meet his family and stay at his home.

Ratha and his father outside their home.

Like father like son!

My new sister, Srey Mom, and I chatting away over something delicious.

Concentrate! I`m showing off my ability to count in Khmer.

Now we`re laughing at my inability to do anything else in Khmer. Thank God laughter is universal!

Last Day: Battambang

August 28, 2006: My last lunch with the monks.

Sammuth and Cham Reourn helping to prepare the meal. They look so kind and gentle, right?

Wrong!
Sammuth and I.

Post-feast siesta time!

Ratha in his hammock.

Yeay (grandmother) Ping.

Yeay Vouy.
The girls and I. I know they don't look thrilled, but they actually asked to take a picture together so that I wouldn't forget them.

As if I could!

The Book Club's Grand Tour of Kyoto

Paper umbrellas popped on the Japanese scene during the Edo period. Featured in many of the woodblock prints of Hiroshige Ando`s '100 scence of everyday life' these wax coated paper umbrella spared the people from the heat of the harsh, summer sun and sheltered them from rain. Utamaro Kitagawa also depicted these traditional umbrellas in his Ukiyoe (woodblock) masterpieces of beautiful women. These days, Japanese umbrellas play an important role in tea ceremony, dance, and Kabuki as an essential representation of Japanese traditional culture.

The 'book club' kids pause for a moment of meditation at one of Nanzenji`s rock gardens.

The thick wooden clogs of a maiko, or apprentice geisha. In the crowded Hanamikoji street, we heard the sound of many maiko girls' rushing to make their appointments. 'Kobo-kobo-kobo'is the onomonopia used to describe the sound of these shoes on the stone streets. 'Okobo', as they are called, have extremely thick soles, measuring 11cm.

Two nisemono maiko, or imposters (toursits playing dress-up), send pictures of their transformation to friends via keatai, or mobile phone.


A very young maiko steps out with her 'big sister', one of the 17 maiko and geisha we saw walking the streets of Gion.


Another maiko hurrying down the Hanamikoji. Red and green are the 'in' colors this season. Seems even maiko are getting into the holiday spirit.

The tangerine tunnel of torii leading through the green trees and autumn leaves of Fushimi Inari.


The changing leaves above Fushimi Inari`s tunnel of torii.


Our trip was coming to an end, but our happy times were just beginning!

Tono Crew Conquers Mount Ena

At 2190 meters, Mount Ena is listed as one of the top 100 hikes in Japan. (The view from near my apartment last spring).


Following the Nakatsugawa river back to its source...




The narrow trail winds its way through thick, green vegetation.


What trail, you ask?


Just follow the slippery, moss covered rocks uphill for, oh, let's say 2,189 meters!

Along the way, don't forget to stop and smell the fungi!







The view from the summit, after 3 and 1/2 hours of hardcore hiking. Somewhere, tucked beneath the folds of those mountains, is my home.


J looks remarkably excited about the prospect of sliding down Ena on his oshiri as he slips over the edge.

The tough kids who climbed Mount Ena, and lived to tell the tale.