The Lighthearted Wanderer

Kobe Chinatown's Chinese New Year (okay this was actually from Wed) Shitennoji Temple in Shitennoji Isshinji Temple Gate Oe Jinja Shrine Aizendo Temple wooden pagoda - the oldest wooden structure in Osaka a wedding? at Ikutajima Shrine

It's been a while since I've had a free day were I could pretty much do whatever I wanted on the fly. And today I feel like taking you along :) 1021: Fumbled around for some change to buy a ¥120 can of hot milk tea, and right after I ran into a sempai (older alt/been in Japan longer). We chatted for the train ride and split up at Sannomiya station where she was headed to lunch with a friend, and I to church. 1112: I hastily searched for the lector schedule on the bulletin board, knowing that I was signed up for today's 2nd reading but not receiving usual confirmation email. Thankfully I ran into the coordinator, who kind of reminds me of one of my Titas (probably because they also have the same name lol) and assured me that yes I was reading today. :relieved sigh: 1229: Go to Osaka for the ski/snowboarding gear sale? Or eat yummy ramen? My stomach won in the end ;) 106: race to the Hankyu platform only to realize that the train I was trying to make was a Hanshin one...

Is this going to be another year of sporadic blogging? I sure hope not... Currently in typing into my phone on a train to Sasayama, a "city" where some of my friends live. The train is super packed but I was lucky enough to get a seat eventually, and I can't help but "take a moment" as my friend Brucie says, and think, "did I ever think I would be right here?" Now obviously not precisely at this spot, as I didn't know the city Sasayama excited until well into my stay in Japan. Come to think of it, I didn't even know the name of my Kobe suburb until I met someone that actually lived there and pronounced it for me. (All through orientation I was saying "Gak-something") A girl standing near me and is wearing one of those intense fur coats that you would really hope isn't real or else like 7 foxes died for it... A man next to me is wearing a surgical mask and sleeping, and I'm hoping he hasn't been exposed to the inten...

It's been a pretty good, pretty typical week. Some classes, some chilling, some planning, lots of thinking. This weekend I went to the movies in Kobe, a festival and party in Osaka, and had home-cooked food back in Gak. It was a nice balance, and hopefully it'll keep being that way ;) At the Doyadoya Festival at Shittennoji Temple in Osaka After the festivities, the monks processed out of the shrine...we kind of accidentally ended up right where they were standing, so anyone taking pictures of the monks from the front angle most definitely would have 5 or 6 gaijin foreigners mucking up the picture lol... So yes, this is an actual event. hundreds of young boys in loincloths and headbands marching around, yelling and cheering, fighting to catch "banknotes" (it just looked like paper envelopes with money inside lol), and being sprayed with water...cold water I'm pretty sure... Add a huge crowd watching with cameras to capture every embarrassment, and y...

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I absolutely love the Mediterranean pizza at the Lazy Dog Cafe. Julienned zucchini, carrots, and squash, tomatoes, mushrooms, opinions, and goat cheese :) with a balsamic vinegarette sauce :) I sure which I could figure out a way to bring this to Japan...

  I finally pushed myself out of bed before noon today to drive down to Cypress to visit my buddy Lulu, and we went out for Taco Tuesday -- tacos for only about $1.50 each! Afterwards we took a drive down the 405 to the Huntington Library...such a beautiful library! Waterfalls and an open atmosphere with multiple levels of study spaces, it makes me wish that I can find a nice study/reading space to pass the time during the school day ;)  So California, do you have me hooked? Well...we'll have to see about that, but it is sure enjoyable to be here in the meantime.

Day 3 Question: How would your parents describe you? (You can call them up and ask.)  I'm rather embarrassed to ask them, even though they're here, but here's what I would guess: Mom: "A baby. My baby." Dad: "My hunny hun hun." Yeah...the parentals are a tad possessive ;)

Kobe. The city that I've left behind for now, but will be back in less than a week. I've gotta admit, it's got its own charm and I'm glad I get to live in a place that has quite a bit of life and culture.  So one of the things I want to do more of while I'm in Japan is travel. I've got a mental list of places I want to visit, but I may as well share my thought process :)  List of places I want to go to in Japan (in no particular order):  - Kyoto (Arashiyama) - back to the onsens in Tarumi and Ao, and other good onsens - DisneySea - Awaji Island's Botanical Gardens  - Nikko/Romantic Road - Hokkaido (and anywhere else I can see fabulous snow)  - Bike around those seven bridges/islands near Shikoku  Sure hope I can make it to these, and hopefully add some more too :) 

Day 2 Question : I wish I could stop ________________ from happening. Hm..."bad things" is too general. How about "miscommunications"?

Okay so here's one of those random challenges I found on the internet-- "365 Questions to Spark Reflection". It's a website the posts a question each day, and some of them seemed pretty interesting so I figure it can't hurt to try to spark some reflection in 2012 :). Day 1 Question: What do you want to say when someone asks, "What do you do?"  First thought: "Exactly what I want to be doing" More thought: "Making discoveries about how children learn and how the world impacts the way they learn." or "Helping students make the most of their college experiences." or "Something different and amazing everyday."

So, clearly I skipped out on a couple of days on the photo-a-day challenge, especially in the last weeks, but I think I did a pretty good job for the most part :) And now it's 2012! What's coming next? Who knows! I was looking at other challenges and those kinds of things to do...but nothing seemed exactly right. For now, I'll keep posting the random photos as close to daily as possible, and sharing silly photos. Red Velvet cake made by my mommy, with frosting made by me :) The cake turned out way denser than when I made red velvet cake last Valentine's Day (I can't believe that was almost a year ago?!?), but it tastes delightful and my frosting was a great accompaniment. In retrospect,  it would have been a good idea to make a layer of frosting inside the cake. But even after it's cooled off, it still tastes awesome and moist, which doesn't always happen with my other cakes. To be repeated, for sure!