The Sister

So, my little sis came to Japan to visit over the break. We went EVERYWHERE... Yokohama, Mt. Fuji, Saw Kabuki, Visited Nikko, all kinds of things... and I got some pictures! So... here's a slide show for you poor souls... (This is like having everyone over for the slide show that you can't escape from! :D)

Let's start with more pictures to add to my "Who Watches the Watcher" collection of pictures of people taking pictures: G at Lake Sai taking a picture of Mt. Fuji:

I really don't think my Sis knows how to NOT look cool...

Maia at Lake Sai (WWtW Picture number 4,400 or whatever... I like this shot, though!)



Fuji at Lake Sai... (note the reflection! :D)

There was this incredible field where some very interesting sculptures were being made by people who would turn the sprinklers on at night and spray the trees and wood constructs. By morning the entire place was a ice wonderland... Icicles everywhere! I love Ice and Sun.

Afer Yokohama (Where I didn't bring my camera) and Fuji we went to Nikko in the mountains.

There was this interesting shot of money placed in a lantern at a temple in Nikko... I notice a lot of 1 yen coins... can't blame them... they are a scourge...My sis at the gardens in Nikko... I don't know why this picture didn't turn out like I wanted it to... I guess I'm just better at candids than posed...We went to Laku Chuuzenji in Nikko and the view from the hotel was spectacular... I was so inspired, I picked up the Slate and using ArtRage2, painted the scene from the window: welcome to the 21st century artist...Yeah... we didn't go to the Psycho bat cave... It seemed like it would be a little creepy... :)

I figured people would want to see some pictures... since my Japan journey is almost at an end... Anyway, enjoy! :D

The PLAGUE!!!!

So, Maia and I are talking, nothing serious, and I notice she is pulling blankets across the room and bundling up and looking paler and paler and paler...

"I'm really cold" she says... so I haul out the thermometer, 38.0 degrees...

Great...

"On Friday, one of my kids came to school and collapsed at his desk because he has influenza." She tells me... "Later I went to that class and ate lunch with them... about halfway through, one of my kids says, "Miss Maia, have you had your flu shots? Your sitting at Sick-Kun's desk... the one he collapsed on."

So... we pack up quickly (She spent the weekend up here) and we get her home, medicated and in bed...

Now... She's been all over my apartment all weekend... in my bed (Especially when she started to feel bad, I put her in the bed and covered her with every blanket I could find), in my kitchen, everywhere...

Nothing sucks worse than knowing you are in for it.

I went to the store and stocked up on instant foods (Knowing, when you have the flu even the simplist tasks are out of your reach)...

I am, in essence, bracing for impact... I know I'm in for it...

I'm doooooooooooooomed...

Worse than that, I just started INTENSE interactive forum training with my kids... We only have a month to ready ourselves for the big forum... and I'm going to be hit with the flu...

Well... here's to hopeful thinking! :D

---NotSickYet.

Happy 2009 everyone! :)

Gia came to Japan (Hence why I haven't blogged in a while).

We tried to stay (All three of us) in my apartment, but that became laughable very fast, So we stayed at Maia's apartment.

What did we do in those ten days? Everything... or at least it FEELS that way...

We started out going to Yokohama, where we rode the fastest elevator to the top of Landmark Tower, and visited Yokohama Chinatown. Of course, it is Gia, so we also visited the Foreigners' Cemetary.

Then New Years rolled around and we tried to go to a temple to ring the bell... but we went to a shrine first and spent some time eating squid with a whole bunch of drunk Japanese fellows who weren't sure where the temple was, but have some more squid! :D Ultimately we found a temple and rang the bell.

Then we went to Mt. Fuji.... I'm not kidding. By car (It's a national holiday and we were stuck in traffic at 11 in the morning passing through Tokyo on C2).. which was interesting. On the way home it took us 2 hours to go 10 kilometers when we got stuck in the rush to return to Tokyo.

Then we went to see Kabuki at the Ginza Kabuki-za (The Emperor's Kabuki theater). But that took two days since it sold out while we were waiting in line on Saturday. Instead we went to Asakusa on Saturday only to find that there were literally millions of people waiting to get in to Sensoji temple... which was astonishing! We had to wade through a sea of humanity just to get across the main thuroughfare. That night we went to Karaoke, Japanese style.

Then Sunday we actually went and saw the Kabuki play, which was pretty cool (They had a ship on stage! :D)

Monday and Tuesday we went to Nikko, which is in the mountains. We had a room at this little hotel on lake Chuzenji. I actually used the slate and painted a picture of the lake and the mountains from the window, but I didn't finish it.

Finally, it was time for Gia to go home, which was sad. I love my little sister and she was a lot of fun to be with. It's interesting how amazing this country is and how much I have forgotten that fact since I have been here for three years. I knew I would... but only intellectually... I guess in my heart I am starting to think of Japan as commonplace.

Which means that it's probably time for me to come home.

Thank you, G. You helped me remember just how awesome this country is!

-Me.