I know it has been a while, I have been slacking. Life is crazy, always crazy. Shanghai was more fantastic than words can describe. Being around close friends was a nice dose of home. Being bit by a centipede or stung by a wasp (I have a feeling we will never know what is was) was a complete fiasco. Nearly four weeks later and I am still not completely healed. My foot looks almost normal and then after spending a day at school it is swollen enough to receive gasps from my concerned coworkers.
But before the insect incident we had done and seen so much. With Evan in town for ten days we were everywhere. We went to a part of Kyoto we had not seen yet. We walked 20 minutes on a trail in the misty mountains and ventured into a monkey park. Here the monkeys roamed free and it was us humans who went inside of a caged off cabin, trapped inside to feed the pesky beasts. It was really an adventure.
The day after that we went to Nara which is famous for the parks that have wild deer meandering. It is believed that they are messengers from the gods and therefore left alone to do as they like. These spiritual deer even bow their heads in acknowledgement. I was carrying a plastic bag that had a few wrappers of our snacks from a convenient store and of course the deer spotted it and would not stop hassling me, to the point where I was surrounded and one ripped it out of my hand spilling the contents on the sidewalk. The older woman sitting at a stand a few feet away selling deer biscuits only glanced our way and offered a garbage pail.
Another new place we explored with Evan was Koyasan. Koyasan is a little Buddhist mountain town. Though it was a good three hours away by train it was a beautiful ride and being in the mountains sure felt good. We began here with a short pleasant hike up Bentendake Peak to a tiny shrine. It was only recently that women were allowed here, and I am grateful that I could enjoy my time. We toured many a temple and finally at dusk we walked through the famed cemetery. There were thousands of Buddhist statues and burial sites and giant cedars. There was something quite magical about walking through this area at this time of day. It is most common for people to stay the night in a monastery when they come to Koyasan, but we skipped out on this, packed into one full day and enjoyed the quiet trek home, conversing most of the way with a friendly German fellow.
And of course, we had to take Evan to the aquarium.
With all our guests gone we are attempting to get back into whatever regular schedule we can claim here. With my foot not cooperating it has been harder than expected, but we are indeed getting the hang of life here. Rob even has an interview on Monday evening for a company that helps with setting you up with teaching English lessons.
Monday was the 'Respect the Elders' national holiday, Friday is Autumn Equinox and today's lessons were canceled due to a typhoon so this is a short two day week for me and my foot is appreciative of that.
A few links to photos for those of you without facebook. Enjoy!
Osaka
Shanghai
Monkey Park
With Evan
