Lots of catchup

Hey there, long time no write. Anywho, I have a lot of time to make up for so here goes. For starters, my eye is in fine condition, full-recovery bound. I have one final checkup at the big hospital, and from there on out I will be going to the smaller clinic for any further follow-up.





These first pictures are from an Edo-period museum that we went to, where they had many building models and artifact displays. The ones I have posted are the ones I thought were pictureworthy, at least at the time. The first picture is on the side of a bubble-dome escalator, and this picture is some period clothing.




Old bicycle. Not much more to say.











The first (but not last) samurai armor I was able to see so far on my trip.








Swords. Swords.










Engrish?










This was a poster in the station we got off at for the museum. I laughed.









This is an emakimono(picture-scroll)esque clothes changing privacy divider (or whatever they are officially called).








One of many models










In addition to this indoor Edo-period museum we also took a long train ride out to see an outdoor museum where they have disassembled, transported, and reassembled actual period buildings. I found this to be much more interesting than the previous evening, given that we had an English speaking guide this time when before we had to deal with barely being able to read anything on the exhibits, sans guide.













I basically took this picture because I love how overused this phrase is, even if it is meant literally here.






























This is an example of one of the Japanese's roofing techniques. In order to put pressure on the roofing, to hold it together and make it more waterproof, they lay beams across the top and set rocks on top of the beams. Surprisingly effective.






A different sort of area of Tokyo, where we went for the outdoor museum.









By far, one of the best things we have done so far on this trip is the homestay experience, which was last weekend. Due to limited numbers of Japanese participants, Michael and I stayed at the same house, where we stayed with our friend Yasunori and his mother.

This picture is from the shrine at Mt. Fuji. The family's house is in Shizuoka, which is essentially the Mt. Fuji town.

This is Yasunori and I about to finish up getting groceries. Our homestay kept us incredibly well fed. Like, every meal having food left over that we simply couldn't finish. We are talking like maybe $100 meals, every meal. Insane, but we weren't complaining.








Our first dinner was Japanese style barbecue. You pick up whatever meats or veggies you want, individually, and fry them on the pan placed in the center of the table. Once it is ready, you take it off and put it into one of many dipping sauces. Delicious, and fun. Did I mention filling?








The next few pictures are just some car-shots I took of the mountains and general landscape in the Shizuoka area. It is a beautiful city, and gave me my much-needed nature fix (I've been living in Tokyo, what do you expect?).




























On the very rainy Saturday we drove up Mt Fuji to the fifth station, where people usually depart from. This is a view up the slopes at the fifth station.







This is Michael and I posing at the fifth station departure even though we didn't actually climb it...








The Fuji area is rich in spring water, and so at the Fuji shrine there are areas where anyone can come to collect the water. T'was pristene and delicious.







This is the pond where the spring water fed into at the shrine.









There are many good photo spots in Shizuoka, and we were able to get the Shinkansen (bullet train) in the picture along with Fuji-San and a rice field. Japanese symbols much?







Another of many Fuji pictures










We didn't actually go swimming or anything here, but there is a nice bay/beach here in Shizuoka as well.








We also went up onto Mt. Hakone, a neighbor of Fuji. Besides being able to eat eggs cooked in sulfuric hot springs, we got good views of Fuji and a great sunset.








































The last destination on our list was another Edo-period museum, this one being high in the mountains. I was a bit startled to see this lake at that altitude, since the area reminded me of the cloud rain forest that we visited in Costa Rica.

















This was probably the least extensive of the Edo museums, but they did have a lot of relics (sadly in a no-photo area) which were interesting to see. Lots of military relics, unsurprisingly since the location used to be a checkpoint fortress.






Since the homestay, We had a mostly uninteresting week of classes, but this weekend was/is the school's cultural festival. We were able to see live music, buy food from vendors, listen to a speech from a Bulgarian ambassador, and attend a English speech contest. Last night, we held a party and invited all of our Japanese friends who we thought would be interested, and it turned out well. All in all, things are going well. We are approaching the mid-semester mark, and the acknowledgment of this fact seems to have redoubled our attempts to get what we can out of the experience. I'll try to post a bit more frequently, but until next time, this is whats been going on in Japan.