Hello everyone!
Welcome to my blog about my experience as part of Technos International Week 2013. These blogs often format themselves in reverse chronological order. That might make reading it a bit confusing. However, if you look over to the right you will see a list of entries. Those entry listings are in chronological order. I highly recommend that you start with "An introduction to HWS and Technos" and then work your way to "In Japan" and then continue further down the list.
There are 14 entries on the trip and probably over 100 pictures. The first couple of entries are a bit short but then entries get exciting, and crazy, and are loaded with pictures.
If you have any questions about my trip or about Technos International Week, please feel free to contact me at hatch@hws.edu
Have fun and, if you have the chance to apply for this program, definitely do it!
-Chris Hatch-
20130724
The flight home...
Saturday - June 14, 2013
This morning we were met with another unreal surprise. Some of the Technos students traveled all the way out the airport to say goodbye again and to give gifts. The airport is like 90 - 120 minutes away from Technos. They stayed up all night making CDs of photos for the students. They wanted to include photos from the closing ceremonies so they stayed up all night making the CDs. Amazing. The HWS gang got one last picture with Yuji.
As we reached the airport, Dayana broke off from Alex and me. She had a different flight home than we did. Alex and I grabbed a quick little lunch and, well, flew home. No upgrades this time but that was ok. We landed in D.C. and split to our respective final flights. I was really proud of both of them. I thought Alex and Dayana both represented HWS very well.
So that was the trip. I'm not even going to try and sum it all up in one perfect final paragraph. If you've followed along this far, you know that just isn't possible. I hope this blog was enjoyable and I hope it can serve as a tool for future participants of the Technos 2013 program. All I can say is, if you have the chance to apply, you should. I'd been to 20 countries before this trip and I've had all sorts of travel experiences but it's rare to get a chance to experience a country like this. Of those 20 countries, there are very few that I can say that, because of my travels there, I truly now have friends in that country. I can definitely say that about Japan.
Reluctant shopping
for first pair of house slippers.
Tanaka smiles.
This morning we were met with another unreal surprise. Some of the Technos students traveled all the way out the airport to say goodbye again and to give gifts. The airport is like 90 - 120 minutes away from Technos. They stayed up all night making CDs of photos for the students. They wanted to include photos from the closing ceremonies so they stayed up all night making the CDs. Amazing. The HWS gang got one last picture with Yuji.
 |
| We were supposed to try and look tough in this picture. Alex and Dayana do not look tough with those smiles. hahaha |
So that was the trip. I'm not even going to try and sum it all up in one perfect final paragraph. If you've followed along this far, you know that just isn't possible. I hope this blog was enjoyable and I hope it can serve as a tool for future participants of the Technos 2013 program. All I can say is, if you have the chance to apply, you should. I'd been to 20 countries before this trip and I've had all sorts of travel experiences but it's rare to get a chance to experience a country like this. Of those 20 countries, there are very few that I can say that, because of my travels there, I truly now have friends in that country. I can definitely say that about Japan.
Reluctant shopping
for first pair of house slippers.
Tanaka smiles.
 |
| Technos International Week 2013 |
Last Day at Technos
Friday - June 13, 2013
Check out time was 9:00am. We all made our way down to the lobby of the MaRRoad Inn one last time. Bags were stuffed, pink T-Shirts were in full force, and a tired melancholy lingered over the group. There was no agenda for the morning. We had a few hours before we had to make our way to Technos so Mike, Mike and I recounted our karaoke glory as we headed to Fuchu one last time for some shopping. We walked to the main shopping area. It's only one train stop over but it was a nice day. We really did luck out with the weather. I think we only had three real days of rain the entire trip and the rain was never detrimental to the activities of a given day.
The 100 yen store was full of familiar faces picking up last minute items. Decorative chopsticks, Japanese lunch boxes, sake bowls, and Japanese sweets were all popular purchases but in the 100 yen store and in the department store directly below. Mike, Mike and I wandered to another store when the perfect thing happened... as we were sitting along the sidewalk waiting for a store to open, the guy that bought us sushi that first Monday walked by. We were in such disbelief that we didn't say hello. We probably should have. But it was definitely him. We even confirmed it by looking at the pictures we had taken of him. This trip has been full of little things like that. Things that just seem too perfect.
If there was one thing I wanted to be perfect though, it was this speech. Along with the nerves of having to deliver it, I was also a little embarrassed that I was the one asked. Any one of the faculty members could have and would have delivered an amazing speech... but it was on me. haha I needed to come up with some quality.
I eventually broke off from Mike and Mike and headed to Technos about an hour and a half early. I figured if I was going to find the answers to this speech it would be there. As I arrived I was struck by how I felt like I belonged there as soon as I walked on campus. Twelve days ago I walked on as a stranger and now I felt like I was a small little part of it all... at least temporarily. I thought I might find a place to sit down to write some things out but a funny thing happened... I kept running in to people I knew.... not international students and faculty... but Technos students and faculty. For about an hour I had conversation after conversation with people I had met over the last twelve days. People who had gone all out to make me feel welcome, and special, and like I was a part of their campus.
I don't think I wrote a single useful thing down.
The closing ceremony was wonderful. The Technos team had turned the room into a bit of a carnival atmosphere. There were games to play and prizes to win and there were all sorts of fun snacks and cotton candy and beverages. Dr. Tanaka gave a speech early on that was extremely warm and giving. People were laughing and crying and taking photos. It was really nice.
Later it was time for more of the presentation. There was a great movie/photo montage that the Technos students put together. Certificates of presentation were handed out to each of the international students. And... there were the speeches. Linus, a student from Oxford, gave a really nice speech. I was very impressed. One of the Technos students gave a great speech too.
My speech... well... it's tough to sit here and type it out and have it really mean what it did then. All I can say is that it centered around a pretty common theme in this blog... That this trip isn't about temples, or mountains, or museums. It's not about architecture, or food, or art. What made this trip special, what made this trip truly unforgettable, what made this trip one of the most wonderful experiences of my life were the people. At times they made us feel like royalty. At times they made us feel like family. At times they made us feel like celebrities. They went all out for us. Any request by us was met with 100% commitment from them. And so, among other things, I requested one final thing... I requested that they come visit us... at our various schools throughout the world, so we could have the chance to at least try to make them feel as special as they made us feel.
After the ceremony we all loaded onto the bus and many of the students and faculty followed us out. It was a pretty unreal moment. Some of the students actually ran alongside the bus as we left.
As the bus left we all kind of deflated. Not in a bad way... but the emotions were running so high that it was nice to have a moment to cry, catch our breath, and process. We were off to the hotel but we had one last stop before we headed up there. We were headed to Ueno. Ueno is an interesting area of Tokyo. One the one hand, this district is home to numerous important museums and cultural sites. On the other hand, it's also home to things like street markets, a major transportation hub, and a large percentage of Tokyo's homeless population. We only had about two hours in Ueno before we continued our trip to the hotel and if there was one thing that I learned on this trip about excursions, it was to follow Sho. When we got off the bus, I stuck by Sho's side. The guy is a professional tour guide after all. I figured if anyone could show me a great place to eat and give me a fun, cultural experience, it was him. Plus, Sho is just an joy to be around so logging in a few more hours with him would be a treat in and of itself. Sho took a few of us to what he said was his favorite ramen restaurant in Tokyo. Now this was exciting. I wasn't a fan of the soba but I had heard the ramen was amazing and somehow it had eluded me thus far on the trip. IT WAS AWESOME. Where was this on our trip!?!?! hahaha Between the shabu shabu last night and the ramen today I had two of my favorite meals within my last 24 hours of the trip. Sho then took us to the street markets. I bought a rather bold hat and we also found a claw game that offered plastic pieces of sushi as prizes instead of the more typical stuffed animals.
After our stint in Ueno it was off to the hotel but an unbelievable thing happened as we were getting on to the bus. Some of the Technos students actually traveled from the campus to Ueno to say goodbye again! We also had to say goodbye to Bob who was flying out of a different airport. That was sad. The goodbye thing just keeps happening.
The hotel by the airport is very nice and despite the long day of travel that we all have tomorrow, we all stayed up very late and just enjoyed hanging out with each other one last time. Yuji was with us and it was great to hang out with him a little bit more. I suspect we all just don't want this to end. We know that when we wake up tomorrow, it'll be all about getting to the airport. Yuji probably can't wait for tomorrow. He's been amazing on this trip. I hope he can take a vacation for a few days.
Check out time was 9:00am. We all made our way down to the lobby of the MaRRoad Inn one last time. Bags were stuffed, pink T-Shirts were in full force, and a tired melancholy lingered over the group. There was no agenda for the morning. We had a few hours before we had to make our way to Technos so Mike, Mike and I recounted our karaoke glory as we headed to Fuchu one last time for some shopping. We walked to the main shopping area. It's only one train stop over but it was a nice day. We really did luck out with the weather. I think we only had three real days of rain the entire trip and the rain was never detrimental to the activities of a given day.
The 100 yen store was full of familiar faces picking up last minute items. Decorative chopsticks, Japanese lunch boxes, sake bowls, and Japanese sweets were all popular purchases but in the 100 yen store and in the department store directly below. Mike, Mike and I wandered to another store when the perfect thing happened... as we were sitting along the sidewalk waiting for a store to open, the guy that bought us sushi that first Monday walked by. We were in such disbelief that we didn't say hello. We probably should have. But it was definitely him. We even confirmed it by looking at the pictures we had taken of him. This trip has been full of little things like that. Things that just seem too perfect.
If there was one thing I wanted to be perfect though, it was this speech. Along with the nerves of having to deliver it, I was also a little embarrassed that I was the one asked. Any one of the faculty members could have and would have delivered an amazing speech... but it was on me. haha I needed to come up with some quality.
I eventually broke off from Mike and Mike and headed to Technos about an hour and a half early. I figured if I was going to find the answers to this speech it would be there. As I arrived I was struck by how I felt like I belonged there as soon as I walked on campus. Twelve days ago I walked on as a stranger and now I felt like I was a small little part of it all... at least temporarily. I thought I might find a place to sit down to write some things out but a funny thing happened... I kept running in to people I knew.... not international students and faculty... but Technos students and faculty. For about an hour I had conversation after conversation with people I had met over the last twelve days. People who had gone all out to make me feel welcome, and special, and like I was a part of their campus.
I don't think I wrote a single useful thing down.
The closing ceremony was wonderful. The Technos team had turned the room into a bit of a carnival atmosphere. There were games to play and prizes to win and there were all sorts of fun snacks and cotton candy and beverages. Dr. Tanaka gave a speech early on that was extremely warm and giving. People were laughing and crying and taking photos. It was really nice.
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| Even a dragon shows up to the final party! |
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| Volleyball champions and baseball friends having a last conversation. |
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| Mike gets in a great photobomb. |
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| One last shot with Shinya and Ryo. Loved that Shinya wore a Hobart shirt for the final ceremony. |
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| Gimma, on the other hand, went for the full suit and tie. Looking sharp, brother! |
My speech... well... it's tough to sit here and type it out and have it really mean what it did then. All I can say is that it centered around a pretty common theme in this blog... That this trip isn't about temples, or mountains, or museums. It's not about architecture, or food, or art. What made this trip special, what made this trip truly unforgettable, what made this trip one of the most wonderful experiences of my life were the people. At times they made us feel like royalty. At times they made us feel like family. At times they made us feel like celebrities. They went all out for us. Any request by us was met with 100% commitment from them. And so, among other things, I requested one final thing... I requested that they come visit us... at our various schools throughout the world, so we could have the chance to at least try to make them feel as special as they made us feel.
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| We watch the film put together by the Technos students. |
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| Dayana receives her certificate. |
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| Alex receives his. |
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| Don't screw this speech up, Hatch. |
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| Saying thank you as Dr. Tanaka looks on. |
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| A final bow to Dr. Tanaka |
After the ceremony we all loaded onto the bus and many of the students and faculty followed us out. It was a pretty unreal moment. Some of the students actually ran alongside the bus as we left.
As the bus left we all kind of deflated. Not in a bad way... but the emotions were running so high that it was nice to have a moment to cry, catch our breath, and process. We were off to the hotel but we had one last stop before we headed up there. We were headed to Ueno. Ueno is an interesting area of Tokyo. One the one hand, this district is home to numerous important museums and cultural sites. On the other hand, it's also home to things like street markets, a major transportation hub, and a large percentage of Tokyo's homeless population. We only had about two hours in Ueno before we continued our trip to the hotel and if there was one thing that I learned on this trip about excursions, it was to follow Sho. When we got off the bus, I stuck by Sho's side. The guy is a professional tour guide after all. I figured if anyone could show me a great place to eat and give me a fun, cultural experience, it was him. Plus, Sho is just an joy to be around so logging in a few more hours with him would be a treat in and of itself. Sho took a few of us to what he said was his favorite ramen restaurant in Tokyo. Now this was exciting. I wasn't a fan of the soba but I had heard the ramen was amazing and somehow it had eluded me thus far on the trip. IT WAS AWESOME. Where was this on our trip!?!?! hahaha Between the shabu shabu last night and the ramen today I had two of my favorite meals within my last 24 hours of the trip. Sho then took us to the street markets. I bought a rather bold hat and we also found a claw game that offered plastic pieces of sushi as prizes instead of the more typical stuffed animals.
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| Step right up and win a plastic piece of uni! |
The hotel by the airport is very nice and despite the long day of travel that we all have tomorrow, we all stayed up very late and just enjoyed hanging out with each other one last time. Yuji was with us and it was great to hang out with him a little bit more. I suspect we all just don't want this to end. We know that when we wake up tomorrow, it'll be all about getting to the airport. Yuji probably can't wait for tomorrow. He's been amazing on this trip. I hope he can take a vacation for a few days.
20130723
Teaching Day... and speech???
Thursday - June 13, 2013
I can't believe that this is almost over. On the other hand, I can't believe that it was only one week ago that I was in a dentist's chair! It seems like two weeks worth of "trip" has been packed into the last week. On the other hand it seems like this has all flown by so quickly.
I'm starting to realize that there are two types of experiences on this trip. There are the experiences that I could pretty easily recreate with another trip to Japan. The shrines and temples probably aren't going anywhere. The museums can be visited at a later date... etc. But then there are the experiences that happen as a result of this program, this group, this moment. And I suspect those are the ones I won't forget. The ones that will never be recreated. I'm finding that my favorite moments fall under that category. Last Thursday with the dentist and the campground. The baseball game with that awesome group of people. And now today...
Today was full of those moments.
It was a teaching day so, like Monday, we had a half-day tour in the morning and then half of us taught in the afternoon. I was teaching today so I was a little nervous but mostly excited.
Our morning tour was to this really interesting architecture museum called the Edo Tokyo Open-air Architectural Museum. This place was pretty amazing. It's a park full of real size houses. We walked around the park and walked into different houses viewing the different styles of architecture. Some houses appeared to be 19th century. Others were from various time-periods in the 20th century. Some of these houses were actually moved here while others were recreated for the park.
http://tatemonoen.jp/english/
That's a link for the museum website.
After the architecture trip it was time for me to get ready to teach. Now, for those of you that may go on the trip in the future, a few tips...
1) Make it as visual as possible
2) You may or may not have a translator depending on what type of classroom you get placed in. If you are placed in a class where part of the focus is learning English, you may have no translator. Refer back to tip number one!
3) You might not know until the day of your class if you have a translator or not which severely alters how much content you may want to present. Have options.
4) Having a project or an activity for the class to do has the potential to be very helpful and very engaging.
Alright... so I lucked out with the teaching. I teach theatre, so perhaps I had a bit of an advantage on material that I could use to create a presentation that could transcend any sort of language barrier. Even better, I found out that Technos teaches a theatre class and I'd be teaching in that class for the day. AWESOME. I decided I'd do a class on Commedia dell'arte which is a very movement-based form of physical theatre that developed in Italy back in the 16th Century. It also tends to be very comic. When I learned it in Italy, I learned it from a man who often taught the class in Italian. I learned in a group of 31 people who were speaking 8 different languages. Then we were paired up and, despite our language barriers, we were able to make scenes based on the language of Commedia. You watched him and then you tried it out. It seemed like a perfect format for this class.
On top of that, I was given a translator, and I got an amazing person to be my translator. The gentleman that translated for me was a professional opera singer who studied in Boston. We hit it off immediately. I knew this was going to be fun.
The class went very well and we had so much fun trying out different characters and their movements from the Commedia dell'arte. We were all sweating like crazy and it was so hot but it was a lot of fun. The students really took to the work. As an acting teacher sometimes I teach a class with a new group of students and immediately I see a performer and think "I'd really like to work with that student more." Well, despite the language barrier (which there really wasn't much of because we were all speaking Commedia) there were one or two students who I would have liked to have worked with a lot more.
It was also great just to be back at the school. It's fun interacting with the students and we hadn't done of much of that for a while.
The plan for the night was one final dinner with technos faculty members. We had dinner with the faculty once, early in the trip, and even then it was a little wild. I had a feeling that this could get crazy. I was right. We went to a restaurant that served shabu shabu which is thinly sliced pieces of meat that you dip in hot water. It's kind of like fondue and it's delicious! I also learned an interesting chopstick fact during this meal. When eating, you use the "regular" end of the chopsticks but when doing things like pulling food from a common plate or dipping food in water that everyone will use, you flip your chopsticks around and use the back end. I had no idea! I kept forgetting but it was fascinating to learn that sometimes you use the back end of chopsticks.
It was a wild dinner and many of us didn't want it to end. We fly out Saturday but tomorrow is essentially our last day. We leave our hotel tomorrow and head to the airport hotel. So after dinner we went to another venue and then went to a karaoke bar. This karaoke place was fun. It's kind of like bowling. Instead of renting a lane you rent a room and pay by the hour. The room is equipped with everything you need to have a crazy karaoke night and a waitress comes around and takes orders. All I can say is this... if you are going on this trip, prepare a song or two to have ready for the moments of karaoke. Many people in Japan are prepared for these moments. Come ready to ROCK. Here are a few random pictures from the post dinner activities.
One other thing happened today that is worth mentioning. Tomorrow we have our closing ceremony for the program. Dr. Tanaka will be there along with members of his family. Before dinner, Yuji asked me if I would give a bit of a speech on behalf of the international faculty and international group. Out of everything that has happened on on this trip, this speech is easily what I am most nervous about. How can I possibly say in a few minutes how grateful we all are or what this means to us? How can I possibly sum up this experience or wrap it up on behalf of the group when every group member has had their own journey and made amazing discoveries and taught me things. I'm guessing Yuji picked me because he knows I am used to being in front of an audience. But wow... I am really nervous. Whip up some magic, Hatch.
I can't believe that this is almost over. On the other hand, I can't believe that it was only one week ago that I was in a dentist's chair! It seems like two weeks worth of "trip" has been packed into the last week. On the other hand it seems like this has all flown by so quickly.
I'm starting to realize that there are two types of experiences on this trip. There are the experiences that I could pretty easily recreate with another trip to Japan. The shrines and temples probably aren't going anywhere. The museums can be visited at a later date... etc. But then there are the experiences that happen as a result of this program, this group, this moment. And I suspect those are the ones I won't forget. The ones that will never be recreated. I'm finding that my favorite moments fall under that category. Last Thursday with the dentist and the campground. The baseball game with that awesome group of people. And now today...
Today was full of those moments.
It was a teaching day so, like Monday, we had a half-day tour in the morning and then half of us taught in the afternoon. I was teaching today so I was a little nervous but mostly excited.
Our morning tour was to this really interesting architecture museum called the Edo Tokyo Open-air Architectural Museum. This place was pretty amazing. It's a park full of real size houses. We walked around the park and walked into different houses viewing the different styles of architecture. Some houses appeared to be 19th century. Others were from various time-periods in the 20th century. Some of these houses were actually moved here while others were recreated for the park.
http://tatemonoen.jp/english/
That's a link for the museum website.
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| It's hard to get a good picture of a great looking room when you are standing in the room. |
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| What a great looking house! |
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| This is what a well-off farmer might live in. |
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| We've seen these before but the lack of tourists allowed for a nice photo opportunity. |
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| This is a famous room where a famous high-profile assassination took place. The window and even the view out of the window was carefully recreated. |
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| Alright... this photo is a little corny but I was caught up in the moment. |
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| An old-style bath house. |
1) Make it as visual as possible
2) You may or may not have a translator depending on what type of classroom you get placed in. If you are placed in a class where part of the focus is learning English, you may have no translator. Refer back to tip number one!
3) You might not know until the day of your class if you have a translator or not which severely alters how much content you may want to present. Have options.
4) Having a project or an activity for the class to do has the potential to be very helpful and very engaging.
Alright... so I lucked out with the teaching. I teach theatre, so perhaps I had a bit of an advantage on material that I could use to create a presentation that could transcend any sort of language barrier. Even better, I found out that Technos teaches a theatre class and I'd be teaching in that class for the day. AWESOME. I decided I'd do a class on Commedia dell'arte which is a very movement-based form of physical theatre that developed in Italy back in the 16th Century. It also tends to be very comic. When I learned it in Italy, I learned it from a man who often taught the class in Italian. I learned in a group of 31 people who were speaking 8 different languages. Then we were paired up and, despite our language barriers, we were able to make scenes based on the language of Commedia. You watched him and then you tried it out. It seemed like a perfect format for this class.
On top of that, I was given a translator, and I got an amazing person to be my translator. The gentleman that translated for me was a professional opera singer who studied in Boston. We hit it off immediately. I knew this was going to be fun.
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| The actor and the opera singer working together to teach a class in Tokyo! (This is after the class was over which is why I am so sweaty!) |
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| Japan's newest Commedia troupe! |
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| Back at Technos? Then it's picture time! |
It was a wild dinner and many of us didn't want it to end. We fly out Saturday but tomorrow is essentially our last day. We leave our hotel tomorrow and head to the airport hotel. So after dinner we went to another venue and then went to a karaoke bar. This karaoke place was fun. It's kind of like bowling. Instead of renting a lane you rent a room and pay by the hour. The room is equipped with everything you need to have a crazy karaoke night and a waitress comes around and takes orders. All I can say is this... if you are going on this trip, prepare a song or two to have ready for the moments of karaoke. Many people in Japan are prepared for these moments. Come ready to ROCK. Here are a few random pictures from the post dinner activities.
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| Oxford Mike can rock a karaoke machine. |
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| Mike and Matt together? Look out! Canada and England rock an American song in Japan! I love these kinds of moments. |
20130718
One Big Buddha - Kamakura
Wednesday - June 12, 2013
Today the faculty were off for another full-day tour. The rain was coming down pretty good again today so we got our umbrellas and loaded up on the bus. It is strange how little we've seen of the students over the past few days and today will be no different. But, a day with Yuji and Sho is always a fun adventure.
Today we're headed to Kamakura which is a city in Japan about 30 miles south and slightly west of Tokyo. It's a popular tourist destination because of its beaches and temples. Sounds good to me! WARNING: There are going to be a lot of pictures of this day!
Our first stop was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. This is the most important Shinto shrine in Kamakura and is considered the geographical and cultural center of the city.
As we were getting closer to the temple, Sho realized that a wedding was going on at this lower structure. Sho was really excited about this. He said that he's been here around 25 times and it was only the second time that a wedding had been taking place during his visit. So... naturally we had to take a picture!
So we were off to a good start. Sure there was a little rain, but we got to see a wedding and another great temple. Also, we were all discovering something else... the soft serve ice cream in Japan is awesome. Two flavors were quickly becoming favorites of the group... Green Tea and Sweet Potato. We had a little bit of time before we needed to be back on the bus. I grabbed a Green Tea and Sweet Potato swirl cone and we were off to the Koutoku-in Temple.
The whole experience at the Koutoku-in temple was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. This area is home to a giant bronze Buddha statue that is over 750 years old. Apparently it was once housed in a wooden structure but the structure burned down. The statue remained and it's been outdoors ever since.
There were a lot of schoolkids at the statue and it seems as if many of them had an assignment where they were supposed to try and practice their English with a tourist. Mike and I had a wonderful encounter with a group of students.
So Kamakura was scoring big points in my book so far. Now it was time for lunch. Would lunch live up to the great day we were already having? YES! We went to a restaurant where we were served an absolute feast of food. What made it extra fun was that, by now, we all kind of knew what we liked and didn't like in terms of some of the common food. So we were able to share with each other and trade with each other. I loved the sashimi and tempura... but I traded away my soba noodles. Plus we were served this wonderful piece of fried fish. It was a great meal.
After a quick stop for some more green tea ice cream we walked to the Hase-dare Temple. This temple is famous for its large wooden statue of Kannon, one of the biggest wooded statues in Japan, and also for its hydrangeas. These grounds were gorgeous and we were there in prime hydrangea season. Get ready for some pictures...
At one point yesterday I asked Yuji if he could change one thing about the itinerary, what would he change... Yuji replied that he thought maybe the schedule was a little heavy on older type locations and themes. Edo Wonderland, Matsumoto Castle, Jindai-Ji Temple, Asakura, Edo Museum, and now Kamakura. He thought maybe it'd be nice to add in a modern art museum or something that showcased "newer" Japan. I understand what he means. We've done a lot of shrines and temples over the past three days. However, Kamakura was one of my absolute favorite places to visit so far. I think that, were I to come back to Japan, out of the all the places we have visited outside of Tokyo, Kamakura would be the place I would most want to return to to spend more time. Another great day!
Today the faculty were off for another full-day tour. The rain was coming down pretty good again today so we got our umbrellas and loaded up on the bus. It is strange how little we've seen of the students over the past few days and today will be no different. But, a day with Yuji and Sho is always a fun adventure.
Today we're headed to Kamakura which is a city in Japan about 30 miles south and slightly west of Tokyo. It's a popular tourist destination because of its beaches and temples. Sounds good to me! WARNING: There are going to be a lot of pictures of this day!
Our first stop was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. This is the most important Shinto shrine in Kamakura and is considered the geographical and cultural center of the city.
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| The bridge leading to the temple. |
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| Bob, me, Big Mike, and Oxford Mike. Love these guys! |
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| A wedding procession. |
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| Me, Sho, and Mara with a wedding as our backdrop. |
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| These containers are full of sake... presented as an offering. |
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| The international faculty of Technos International Week 2013. What a great group! |
The whole experience at the Koutoku-in temple was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. This area is home to a giant bronze Buddha statue that is over 750 years old. Apparently it was once housed in a wooden structure but the structure burned down. The statue remained and it's been outdoors ever since.
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| That is one big Buddha! |
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| It's so big, you can go inside it. Here is a shot from the inside looking up into its head. |
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| Side view. Notice the umbrellas on the bottom right of the picture. That is a line of people waiting to go in the statue. |
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| Some info about the statue. |
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| Look at this great crew! i could have hung out with them all day! |
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| Look at this meal! Yes that is almost all for me! Once again we get the royal treatment. Amazing. |
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| Wandering through hydrangeas in the rain with Mara and Mike. |
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| It's tough to see, but the ocean is in the distance. We could see surfers from up here. |
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| Between the flowers and the umbrellas, it was a wonderful display of color. |
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| This was going to be a great picture but this guy wouldn't leave so I had to incorporate him. |
At one point yesterday I asked Yuji if he could change one thing about the itinerary, what would he change... Yuji replied that he thought maybe the schedule was a little heavy on older type locations and themes. Edo Wonderland, Matsumoto Castle, Jindai-Ji Temple, Asakura, Edo Museum, and now Kamakura. He thought maybe it'd be nice to add in a modern art museum or something that showcased "newer" Japan. I understand what he means. We've done a lot of shrines and temples over the past three days. However, Kamakura was one of my absolute favorite places to visit so far. I think that, were I to come back to Japan, out of the all the places we have visited outside of Tokyo, Kamakura would be the place I would most want to return to to spend more time. Another great day!
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