Time Warp

We left Kyoto at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and landed in San Francisco on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.! Sort of a Thursday that never ends.

We did the entire trip on public transportation. Walked to the bus in Kyoto (I love bus #9) then took the train to Osaka airport. Plane to San Francisco, plane to Seattle, light rail to downtown, the Sounder train to Mukilteo, Ferry to the Island, bus to the stop near our street, walked to our house!

I wish I could figure out a way to go without any luggage but we've gotten it down to two carry-on rolling bags and two back packs and a small duffel. Not bad for a month away.

Re-entry feels like we've walked through some time warp door into another world. Comfortable on both sides - but they are two very very different places.

Back to Langley Life!

On the Way

Children in the City

We see children, sometimes quite young making their way around the city on their own and in small groups. I've seen individual boys and girls (7 or eight years old) get on a city bus alone on their way home from school. They ride for perhaps a half mile, show their bus pass, and go on their way. All this without any apparent care in the world.

This city (and Japan in general) is a safe place for children.

...Click to read more.

Walking on Water

I was in a different part of the city today and found myself next to the river in an area where I have not been before. In most of the length of the river through town, there are the normal traffic bridges you would expect. But in this area there were also large stepping stones creating foot crossings.

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Doshisha High School and Middle School

Doshisha High School and Middle School are on the edge of town and are on the same property. All new buildings have been constructed in the past few years and now it is all finished. We have had the opportunity to watch the progression over the 3 years we have come to Kyoto. This week the Principal showed us all around. It includes a new chapel. The students will share facilities for Science, athletics, shop, arts (including practical arts like home-ec), but are separated into H.S. and Middle School for Homeroom and other classes. The Elementary School is nearby. The whole campus is on about 20 acres of land.
The Science building has an observatory. Because the school is on the edge of town the night sky is more visible that in Kyoto proper.
The students begin the school year April 1 and get August off and March off and some days around the New Year plus a few other short holidays.

Most students attend school 6 days a week.

Mr. Kimura is now the Principal for both the Middle School and High School and it was fun to watch him interact with both staff and students. He writes a special birthday postcard to each student on their birthday and delivers it himself while the student is in class. Click on photos for larger view.

Karen and Asahi visit too

While David's sister Ruth and cousin Patricia visited we had an opportunity to have a short visit with Ruth and Zen's daughter's Karen and Asahi. They are both college students in Tokyo. We walked to 2 Shrines and then had dinner together before they all left to go back to their respective towns. (Double click on photos for larger view)

Visit from Family

David's sister Ruth and his cousin Patricia are staying with us for a couple of days. They live in Matsuyama so are tourists in Kyoto. We had fun walking through the neighborhood and visiting Kamigamo shrine. David, Ruth and Patricia.

It is common to see wedding parties at the shrine. Today was no exception.

After we walked around the Shrine grounds we went down the street to the old pickle store. It is in a 200year old Kyoto Machiya (house) and under the hanging tea kettle there are bowls full of pickles for tasting.

I bought my favorite pumpkin rind pickles.

On our walk we passed a bicycle outfitted with an illegal but very popular umbrella holder.

Ohara countryside

A small village named Ohara is actually in the Kyoto city limits but is a 40 minute bus ride from downtown Koyto. We had learned about it from a T.V. show we watch in the U.S. on the Japanese cable channel that we subscribe to.We decided to see for ourselves and found it to be a lovely area.
We walked along a stream and many small shops to a Temple.

We decided to save the Temple for another day and went to a restaurant / gift shop for lunch .

The lunch was beautiful and delicious. It came in lacquered boxes and included fish, soup, pickles, tofu, rice, tempera and more. What a fun feast.

Gion and Kiyomizudera Temple

There are thousands of temples and shrines in Kyoto. Some very close to where we live, others a long bus ride away. Some are fairly plain, others park-like, some have amazing and very old sand gardens, one is covered in gold, some small others huge.

On Tuesday we went to one that we have been to before. Two bus rides and quite a climb up steps. Yet worth it for the view. It is called Kiyomizudera.
We thought there would be fewer people on a weekday - but it seems several schools had field trips on the day we visited.





I am always amazed at the size of the floor boards in these ancient buildings.

It is fun for some to rent Geisha outfits - including face paint in the area called Gion near the temple. Click on the photo to see the geisha costumed youth.











On the way down from the temple we ate soba noodles at low tables in a little place that is built to hang over a small valley.

Pictures from Doshisha Class

It turns out that one of the students in the Practical Theology class last Wednesday took a few pictures. Mary says I have to post them.

If you missed that post, you can read it by clicking here.

There are a couple more pictures after the jump.

...Click to read more.

Living Abroad in the Web 2.0 Age

Three years ago when we were here, we had only a vague notion of current events from watching Japanese news broadcasts and guessing what the news footage was about.

That has all changed.

Now we watch the U.S. network evening news or listen to NPR each day via the internet. It's a very different experience. In 2007 we felt rather disconnected from the rest of the world while we were here. This time we are really here and also connected to the larger world.

About Our Web Page Design

This is just a quick note about the background images for these web pages.

We are living on tatami mats, Japanese style. No chairs. Our dining table is just one foot high.

The image you see here in the background was created from actual photographs of the floor I am sitting on. The straw matting and the brocade cloth edging were captured as separate images, modified into seamless tiles, and then put back together as they appear here. The result on my laptop screen is very close to life-size.

Welcome to our floor.

P.S. Just for fun, if you are on a Windows PC and you would like to see the tiles themselves, right-click on the straw matting or the brocade and select "View Background Image." (Sorry, Mac users, you are on your own.)

Wander Our Streets

You can walk down our street on the web. At the bottom of this post there will  be a place to click that will allow you to see "our" house from street level and then wander up and down the street as you wish.

The directions that follow here may seem long, but it's actually pretty intuitive once you jump in and give it a try.

But first a few words of explanation for those of you who have not done this before. This view is offered by Google Street View. After you click on the link, you should see a screen with various things on it. Wait until you see a view of the front of a house seen from street level (and from off to the side just a bit). It's the house shown in the picture at the right. You will notice that  it is not a view looking down from above showing house tops which you may see first.) It may appear quickly or it may take 60 seconds or more for the house front to appear. Be patient.

...Click to read more.

Pentecost and a Children's Choir

Today (Sunday) is Pentecost. It received a little special treatment in the worship service this morning. Not as much as at Langley UMC. The sermon focused on the story of Pentecost and the hymns mentioned the Holy Spirit in one way or another. The choir (which sings only rarely) sang two anthems. Pastor Ozawa wore a red tie but I don't think anyone knew why. (I asked if it was in honor of the day and he confirmed that it was.) One tradition at this church is that Pentecost is always one of the four or five communion Sundays each year.

Over-all, it felt much like I remember Pentecost Sundays in the States when I was young. They took note of the day, but it was all fairly low-key. My impression is that United Church of Japan congregations generally have a fairly low-key liturgy.

...Click to read more.

Philippine Lunch with Church Women

We gathered at the Bazaar Cafe. It is a church-run cafe housed in an old missionary house near the Doshisha University campus.

Today the cook was a Philippine woman so the menu choices were specialties from her country. Very tasty! This has become an annual gathering for the church women to get to practice English, for David and I to ask questions and to just have fun together.

...Click to read more.

A New Restaurant

One of the enjoyable things about being in Japan is discovering restaurants. The fun part is the variety. We have: an "Italian" restaurant we like. It's part of a chain: quite modern where we can order a crisp chef's salad, a nice little one-person pizza, paella, au gratin, and/or of course, spaghetti. 

We have a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall noodle and rice bowl ma-and-pa restaurant we eat at where the cook and his wife know us and serve us our favorite things along with whatever meal we order. Mary and I can both order the tempura meal and the cook will put an extra bit of pumpkin tempura on Mary's tray and a special pickle on mine. (more story and pictures after the jump)

...Click to read more.

Teaching

Doshisha University is a large Christian University in Kyoto founded in 1864 (twenty years before the Methodist University of Puget Sound began in Tacoma). I've been building relationships with a couple members of the graduate theological faculty there.

After arriving here, I proposed an informal seminar for students to practice their English discussing topics from their studies and their research. It's a need. These graduate students have been studying English since the first year of junior high school (3 years Jr. Hi. + 3 years Sr. Hi. + 4 years college + grad. school = 10+ years). But they get no opportunity to practice oral English.

...Click to read more.

Kyoto Black Butterfly

A large black butterfly with red stripped under body is making its usual spring appearance all over Kyoto. On our walk in the mountain one appeared on a rhododendron right in front of us so I took a couple of quick photos.

Very long walk -uphill and down

After we viewed the Iris garden we saw a path and decided to follow it. It soon turned into a trail up a mountain. When we got to the top we could see a golf course down below on one side and the city on the other side. Along the way there were signs warning us to watch out for monkeys. We saw none.

The forest had quite a variety of trees - cedar, pine, maple and also bamboo. Pink rhododendron in bloom everywhere.

When we came off the mountain we walked along a lovely bamboo lined quiet road.

Iris garden

The lovely spring iris garden is in bloom. It is not easy to find but is within walking distance of Kamigamo shrine and about 2 miles from our house. I learned that many years ago the first iris plants were brought to Japan from China and planted in this very garden.