Rain and more rain

No, I'm not complaining. I rather like the rain, if it's raining, then it's not humid. I rather have cool rains verses hot and humid any time.

This does however put a kink in my plans. Not really sure if I want to go to the zoo and walk around a park if it's raining outside. Then again, it is a very light rain.

The overhead lights in my hallway went out about 3:30 pm yesterday and we still do not have any overhead lights. Which is just a minor inconvenience as the air conditioning still works and all the other electrical applications, just no overhead lights. Made studying a little bit hard. (Woke up with the Korean alphabet flashing in my head, and a strange dream involving me (but not me) and a little boy trying to escape from someone bad by jumping off a waterfall.)

A couple people have asked me to take a picture of my little room and of my bed. I will after my clothes dry from the laundry. There are no dryers, so you pretty much have to hang every article of clothing around the room. So after they dry out, I'll be more than happy to take a picture of my room and my inch thick mattress. I think my body is getting use to sleeping on the floor, my lower back did not hurt as badly this morning when I woke up.  Just another reminder of how hedonistic American society is in comparison to other societies with our extra comfortable mattresses. ;o)

I think though, I should be able to do a weekend Buddhist Temple stay now since I'm use to sleeping on a very hard surface. We'll see! Wow, what a thought. I'll have to check out prices but I totally could do a weekend temple stay though. :o)

I ran into Tea from Finland this morning as I was getting my cup of coffee and she told me that she was robbed last night. I was totally shocked and so was she! We both had preconceived notion that thieves didn't really exist in Korea. Yeah, stupid, right? I mean in a city with a population of 2.5 million people, there has to be a few bad apples. (I will have people know that regardless what what I thought about thieves, I have ALWAYS been cautious in my travels especially when traveling alone.)

To put your mind at ease, she was with a large group of international students at a local bar, The Hard Rock (not the brand company) and this friendly Korean guy started hanging out with them. Well, while they were having fun, the guy went and stole 60,000 won ($60) from her bag when she wasn't paying attention. Tea noticed that her bag was open and so was her billfold and he was the only person around. So she checked her billfold out and she was missing 60,000 won and so because he was acting so suspicious (wouldn't look her in the eye and was distancing himself from the group all of a sudden) she accused him of stealing her money and none of the guys (International students) believed her in the group. So Tea was having some doubts about whether he was the one who stole her money.

Then the guy tried to steal Hanna's (Finland) purse too. Hanna felt a slight tug on her purse and turned around the guy was there tugging at her purse and that's when they realized it really was him and then they started yelling at him and stuff and then the guy ran off. Tea is going to be able to get the 60,000 won back from the insurance company. So no worries, everything is ok.

Oh hey, it's 11:08 am and I just finally got my lights back! Yippie! Ok time to get dressed and start exploring!

My First Korean Language Class

To quote a Korean girl in my hall, "I am feeling gloomy."

My Korean Language class was so HARD for me. We were learning a couple of the letters and sounds of the Korean alphabet and I was just doing so horrible! I told myself I wouldn't compare myself to other students but holy smokes, I was really the one having the most difficult time in that class. :o(

So needless to say, I'm am going to have to study really hard. N! I need my Korean language mp3's off my music hard drive! The files are rather large, so I'm going to need to set up a time to be online at the same time so I can get them from you via Yahoo Messenger.

Last night, I went to bed at 10:30 pm only to have really loud banging on my door at around 11 pm. The lady at the door told me that I'm not allowed to go to bed before 11 pm! I was like, "Why not?" She said it was because they have a 11 pm bed check and so they had to make sure that we were in our rooms at 11 pm. I was rather annoyed by this, but sucked it up since this was the Korean way. This is going to really suck for Su-Hyun as likes to go to bed by 10 pm. So now she's in trouble anyway, as she went home (she lives in Daegu) to make some money teaching English and they had bed check and she wasn't there.

I don't understand what the big deal is, but I figure it has something to do with Korean society that I will learn about later.

I need to do some laundry, which is rather daunting right now. Just texted my roommate and asked her if she can help me when she gets back to the room.

Keimyung University

So on Sunday, my Imo's family drove me to Keimyung University. Apparently, there are two campuses and we went to the wrong one. hahahaha

So we ended up at the correct one and we had dinner with my Korean buddy, Ji-Hye, at Pizza Hut. They did not have any options like we have at the US. Very interesting. So we had a sweet potato pizza, which was quite yummy.

Then my Imo took me to E-mart, the Korean equivalent of Wal-mart, and bought me so many things for school. I was just really overwhelmed by their generosity that I started tearing up. Boy that was rather embarrassing but I was just so incredibly grateful that I just cried. Which really caused everyone else to be alarmed but finally got it expressed that it was due to my being very grateful for their generosity and not because I didn't want to be alone. ha! Me, not wanting to be alone, is an oxymoron after all.

A picture of KELI (Keimyung English Language Institute) house. They are only allowed to speak English in this dorm (but they don't-ha!). KELI house is considered the ghetto of all the dorms, they did some renovations to it, they installed AC, but the rest of the dorm is pretty small and old. With this humidity, I would much rather have the AC!

 So on Monday, we were given a tour of the campus and finished up all the other paperwork. OK, walking up and down the steep terrain in high humidity and heat, not exactly fun. However, we got to see the really beautiful campus and the pipe organs. Had lunch with a lot of our professors over traditional Korean food (Imo's food is better) and watched a lot of propaganda movies for the city, the university and then about a couple of programs.

Then they took our passports to get the alien registration paperwork completed and set up our checking accounts in Korea. Apparently, the student identification cards are linked with your bank account and also a public transportation passes. Wild!

Then later that night we met with the KELI house students, which was a bit awkward as we had to have conversations with everyone across from us and then move to the next slot. I was trying to get the kids to relax but they were all so uptight. "Hello, what is your name?" "What is your hobby?" And I don't like talking to people anyway and I ended up talking with at least 20 students.

Tuesday, classes began for us and I did some shifting in my class schedule. I wanted to take the traveling class but it seemed to defeat the purpose of traveling if the class was at 5 and 6 pm on a Friday. So I dropped that class and they told me that I needed another class, so I added Marketing: an East Asian perspective.

This is my class schedule:

Korean Language, Korean History, Korean Culture, Human Thinking & Problem Solving, and Marketing.

This is about 16 credits, I was thinking about adding Korean Dance class but I really don't want to stress myself and am taking other fun courses as they pop up.

Later that night, we went to an International Student lounge party. My roommate, Su-Hyun, and my buddy, Ji-Hye, attended the dinner party with me. :o) So we had food and talked for a bit. It was really a lot of fun. (Sun-Hyun and Ji-Hye)

Wednesday, more classes and it rained and rained and rained. Which was nice because, it sure beats the humidity and heat. Nice cool rains, ahhhh. The highlight of Wednesday was going to the Korean Traditional Crafts class at the old traditional building. We learned how to do traditional Korean painting and got our very own brush. :o)

The instructor is a very well-known painter and his drawings usually start at $3,000. So he taught us how to do the first flower out of the set of 4 flowers. At the end, he had a contest to see who drew the best flower and I am thrilled to say mine won! Thank you, thank you! :o) He said mine was the most balanced out of all the drawings and then went on to give little mini-psychological readings based on how the drawing was done. Thought that it was pretty interesting.

Thursday, pretty much just had Korean History and Korean Culture and had the rest of the day off. So I took care of some more business, buying textbooks and going to the bank and what not, then had some lunch.

Got to talking with Daniel at lunch and he was going to start ordering things that he could just sound out just to figure out what it was. He figures if the Koreans can eat it, there should be no reason why he can't either. And here, you all thought that I was brave. ha!

If you all want my phone number and mailing address, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. My e-mail is still the same address, so just e-mail me there. Remember there is a 13 hour time difference with folks on the East Coast!

For all those people who have e-mailed me personally, I will try to respond back to them by the end of this weekend!

MORE PICTURES HERE!

Busan, South Korea

As you all might or might not know, I have family in Busan. My Imo (Aunt) and her family picked me up from the airport and loaded up ALL my heavy bags into their cars. Yes, I have a lot of luggage.

While I was in Busan, my lovely Imo made me stay at home for one day and just relax. So I basically just handed out presents and had a wonderful time talking with Ji-Eun, my cousin. My Imo was so concerned that I did not eat enough in Japan and also, she wanted to show off her cooking skills that she made very elaborate meals for me. Here is a picture of one of them, a Chinese lunch. The rolls on the left are used instead of rice with the pork stir-fry. Oooh it was so yummy!

The next day, Ji-Eun took me out to Karoke. I sang horribly but it was still a lot of fun. Ji-Eun is a much better singer than I am! After that, we went to McDonald's and had a Bulgogi Burger, which is pretty good and definitely a Korean menu choice.

The next day, Ji-Eun took me to the famous Busan Fish Market, called "Jagalchi Market." While on the way there was so many pet stores. The puppies were so very cute! This particular breed of dog is native to Korea. So very cute. I told Ji-Eun, we had to go or we'll have to buy one.

Inside Jagalchi Market, there was so many people selling so many different kinds of exotic fish to eat. It really was just amazing all the different varieties of seafood life that they ate. I thought the shark was the most interesting. Not sure how you go about getting it home, I suppose that the vendors killed it for you or you could just eat it there onsite. You take the seafood you buy and then send bring it to a kitchen where they prepare it for you.

Oh and just for you, Kim, we found a Mini Cooper and so I took a picture of it. haha

  The following day, we visited my Imo-boo (Aunt's husband)'s office and made our way to have King Crab. Oh it was so very yummy and so very fresh too. Amazing! Here is a picture of my Imo-boo haggling with the Crab Vendor over the price. She and he found this rather fun, but I think everyone else was just hungry.  ;o)

The very next day, they brought me to Keimyung University.

That will be for the next post. I'm going to dinner now!

More pictures found here!

Backlog...Japan Trip

While my Korea pictures are uploading, I figured I would take this time to write about my last two days in Japan.

Let me see, I checked out of the hotel around 8 am and took a leisurely stroll down some side roads as I headed toward the train station. I stumbled on two temples and unknown temple-like building and like a garden (which didn't open until 9 am, so needless to say, I did not get a chance to actually see it-bummer).

On my walk I decided to take pictures of some typical Japanese things, such as Coffee Shops (EVERYWHERE) and Coffee Drink Machines.

Finally got to the station and then hopped the next train to Tokyo. Train ride was pretty uneventful and then I hopped the next train to Ueno, where I picked up a Hard Rock Cafe Shirt. Once I got to the Hostel they let me check in around 2 pm, where I took care of some business and then I took a nap. Then, I got up and walked to Akaska, which is known for their red lanterns from Senso-ji Temple.

I really wasn't all that impressed, but if you wanted to buy some cheap souvenirs this was the place to get them, because between the Torii gates there were a long line of little shops. Nothing really stood out so I just bought some post cards, took some more pictures and headed to McDonalds.

At McD's I bought ordered the Shrimp Burger, which was most definitely Asian, and a drink called Qoo. I ordered it because 1)I never heard of it before and 2) the cartoon character selling it was cute. Now if a drink could actually TASTE cute, this was the drink. I mean honestly, I was searching Convenience stores for this drink but alas, only found at McD's. The Shrimp Burger was ok, pretty much was just a fried patty that had Shrimp in it with a sauce that kinda tasted like thousand island.

I then headed back to the Hostel taking pictures of the Japanese kitchenware street and headed back to sleep.

The next day, headed to Tokyo Station, where I walked around and finally found some coin lockers. Popped my HEAVY bags into the lockers and then headed toward the Imperial Palace.

I met a nice American father and son, who were looking for the Pokemon Center. So I happily gave them directions, only 4 blocks from their hotel as it turns out and then they were nice enough to take my picture at one of the corner gates. As I walked to the other gate with the bridge, I offered to take pictures of two Japanese girls who were sightseeing and in return, they took my picture. :o)

I then made my way to where a crowd of Chinese tourists were heading and found the famous Samurai looking warrior statue. At this point, I got myself an ice cream and a Lemon water to drink before I passed out from the heat. Then, made my way back to Tokyo Station, where I hopped the next train to the airport.

I won't bore you with the 4 hours I spent in the airport. You can just look at the pictures instead. ;o)

Click here for the Japan Pictures:

ONE

TWO

Burning Questions...

I suppose during the short amount of time that I have left, I can go ahead and answer the questions that everyone wants to know.

Yes, the campus is very beautiful. I will post pictures of what I have taken so far, which is not very many. I need to buy a SMALLER camera case so I can more easily take photos and not look like a bag lady.

First day of class-International Student Orientation.

Basically, the day was a campus tour and then like walking all UP and DOWN the campus. Let me tell you people, I am going to have legs of steel when I return back to the US. The humidity was really high and so was the temperature. I think that the exchange students from Finland are having a tougher time than the rest of us but we all are pretty much suffering. Thank goodness they put air conditioning in the dorm where we are staying. From what I understand KELI (Keimyung English Language Institute) House is like the ghetto dorm but they did some upgrades to the dorm during the summer and now we have AC. The rest of building still sucks, but hey, at least we have AC. :o)

So after walking and walking. We took some pictures and then had a traditional Korean lunch with some of our teachers. It was pretty good but not as good as my aunt's cooking. Then we walked some more and went back to the conference room where we watched TONS of videos about "Color Daegu" and "Keimyung University" and then had a huge talk about the Cross-Cultural Awareness Programme. Which at first I was not going to do, but then I decided it wasn't going to take that much of my time so I'm going to do it.

The CCAP is a program where you go to local Korean elementary schools and tell the kids about your country through a translator and then the kids teach you something about Korea. Sounded like fun.

Well, ok, I have to go now to dinner so I will write more later.

For Kim: I'm doing fine, just really busy. Is that short enough for you?

Yea!! I have Internet!!!

Wow, it's amazing just how hard it is to communicate if you don't have Internet access and also have problems getting to a phone! :oP

Unfortunately, I have to make this post very short. I am going to lunch in about 30 minutes and then I am attending a cultural class on Korean Drawing until 8:30 tonight. So I have a pretty full night already.

I'm not really sure how to proceed at the moment. Do I go back and write about Japan or do I write about what is happening now?

I am currently uploading the last of my Japan pictures and will start the upload process for the Korea pictures right afterward.

hmm...I guess I will write about Japan, just incase the pictures finish uploading and I can insert pictures in.

Let me see, I really liked Kyoto, the ancient capital city of Japan, mostly because of all the historical things. I'm not at all impressed by city life, so Tokyo didn't do much for me. With that said, I did go some historical places in Tokyo.

Right after I checked into my hotel and rested a bit. I walked down the street and made my way to Akasaka to visit Senso-ji Temple. Which is known for their red lanterns.

Oh man! I uploaded the wrong pictures. Doh! What to do? Well, I guess I will go ahead and post this one and write up another one to post. More posts coming soon!

Silly Photos

So my cousin, Ji-Eun, and I were out and about yesterday in Busan. She said we had to do this popular Korean photo thing. So here are the results of the photo shoot.

Yeah, don't we look cute? :o) Yeah, I'm having loads of fun!

The bottom left picture is so funny because she's so very gentle and to see her look so tough was really funny. I think most of my pictures I look rather confused. haha

I'm headed off to Keimyung tomorrow and classes start on Monday! Yikes! Time sure is flying!

Answers to more questions...

Well, I'm in Korea, but alas can't really hook my laptop to my Aunt's Internet without messing with their wires and stuff and I just don't think they would be very happy with that. So you all are going to have to wait yet another couple days for pictures and detailed blog posts.

Today, we are going to head off to the Busan Fish Market once my cousin returns from her English school. Which her english is amazing for the short amount of time she's been studying. Good on you, Ji-Eun!

So thought I would answer some questions while I'm without detailed access.

Both questions coming from Fushimi Inari Shrine.

1. How did I know where to go and visit in Japan?

Mostly from Itiah from the Wake Forest Business Program, It's All About Business, and from the enhanced Kyoto Podcast by Australian Tim Burgess (http://odeo.com/channel/5121/view). I would get the descriptions from them and whichever one seemed to really strike me, then I would decide to go there.

2. Why are the statues wearing Pink aprons?

After doing a little bit of research, turns out the aprons are normally red in color, red being a color of Power and Protection. This is something that is done to show respect and is considered a gift to these symbols, so that the gift bearer will recieve protection or whatever they need in return.

Seeing how my Korean relatives asked me what the aprons were for as well, I take it this is a Japanese custom and not necessarily an Asian one.

Another tidbit that I found interesting was about the Torii.

Torii are considered gateways to the otherside and are part of the Shinto religion. So if you see a Torii, you are at a Shinto religious area. Torii are considered gateways to the otherside, so when you pass through one, it is said that you end up in the "other" realm, the land of the spirits. If you are able to toss a coin so that it sits on top of a torii beam, you are considered very lucky and will have a wish granted. So a lot of people do that with litte stones and also coins.

Ok, time for me to go. Later!

Last day in Japan!

I'm about to check out of my hotel. I will post pictures of my last two days here in Tokyo once I get to Korea!

My flight it as 6 pm and I will be making my way to the airport by Noon. In the meantime, I plan on getting breakfast and then heading to the Imperial Palace Gardens.

Sayanora!

Nijo Castle

So after walking all up and down the mountain side, I was determined to get to Nijo Castle. I figured, if I'm not going to see the Imperial Palace tomorrow, that I would at least see the Shogun's Palace.

This is how lucky I am. I got to the Castle with the very last batch of people allowed in before closing. They close at like 5 pm and I got there at 4 pm. The last tour of the inside of the castle (NO PHOTOS ALLOWED!!) was at 4 pm and so they were kind enough to let us stragglers in for a very rushed tour.

One really cool thing that they pointed out was that the floors of the rooms squeaked and they actually sounded like nightingales. This was to let people know if there was an intruder in the building. Good luck to the ninjas trying to sneak in here!

Also, they had figurines of visiting feudal lords visiting the Shogun and they all had FANS. See, it's not just a chick thing. It's NECESSARY in this heat!

In the actual Shogun residence, only women were allowed and for some reason he had 5 female attendants. And they were like, Head Attendant, 2nd attendant, the 2nd attendant's attendant, etc. Not really sure what that was all about. I'd say it was to cover whoever passed out from the heat from wearing all those layers in their Kimonos. ;o)

So I had a very rushed quick tour around the garden. Not as impressive like the secret garden but I did like the pond area. :o)

So that was pretty much it. I then went back to the hotel and had some food and spent most of my time typing all this stuff up! Don't you all feel loved now?

I did this 'cuz I don't think I'll have any luck uploading anything while I'm in Tokyo. The next time I'll probably be able to post anything will be in Korea!

Sayonara!

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF NIJO CASTLE.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that with 30 minutes left, they started playing "Auld Lang Syne" to let you know that it was time to get yourself to the exit gate. It was rather funny. Had to share before I forgot!

Fushimi Inari Shrine

I've been looking forward to going here A LOT. It was very high on my priority list, next to Kurama Mountain. Just something about the pictures I saw just made me want to get here.

So after walking around (I got off the wrong bus stop), I ended up at a side entrance of the Sekihoji Temple. The one thing I noticed about this temple was all the GRAVES everywhere. It was a bit wild, but then again, I did say that I wanted to take some Japanese graveyard pictures. Ask and you shall receive right?

I figured, since Fushimi Inari was up in the mountains, I would head north, well, that lead me to some unnamed park. So I saw a path and started walking it. I kept seeing these signs with a hand with an X through it, I couldn't tell if it was don't go any further or don't get off the trail. Couldn't tell, so I figured since the path wasn't blocked it was probably don't get off the trail. See, this is where actually knowing how to READ Japanese would come in handy. I was a bit concerned that I might have read it wrong, but I just continued looking for any other sign to turn around, and saw none. Glad I didn't turn around for I saw the most awesome bamboo forest and some more stone carvings. This path basically lead to the back of the Sekihoji Temple, so I just turned back around and headed west.

So passing some cute homes and some more graves, I end up at the side entrance to Fushimi Inari. So it took me a bit to get to the start of the Tori pathway.

As requested, I got someone to take a picture of me. Don't know WHY anyone would want to see a picture of me all sweaty and disgusting but ok. At least it was the start and not the end, 'cuz that was just NASTY. Did I mention that it's hot here? Fans are not a fashion accessory here, they are just a fact of life!

Now a certain person will find this particularly interesting. Fushimi Inari is a Shinto Shrine to Inari, the God of Rice, and his messengers are FOXES (a.k.a. Kitsune). So all up and down this mountain side are fox statues and they are just soo cute with their little bibs on. I have no idea why they have bibs, they're cute though.

So up and up and up and up, I went. I stopped taking pictures at every landing I got to 'cuz it was just getting really monotonous, and I figured you guys already felt sorry for me after all that uphill walking I did yesterday. Looking back on the pictures now, I wish I would have taken some pictures of the gaps, so you could see the lush green forest. I mean it was really so nice and green, after you've had your little kittens from climbing ALL those dang steps and get your heart rate down, it's really quiet peaceful. I would totally see myself hanging out here a lot if I lived in Kyoto, well, if the heat and my feet were able to handle all that walking. My right knee was starting to hurt a lot from turning my foot to the right as I was going down the stairs, and it really was a lot better when I reminded myself "knee straight." Amazing what a difference that made!

I just read a guide that says it takes about 2 hours to do the entire trail. I'm curious to see how long it took me. According to my pictures, I was at the first Torii at 12:42 pm and got back to the bottom at 3:03 pm. Well, pretty close about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES OF FUSHIMI INARI.

Just random stuff

For some reason Blogger isn't letting me know when I get posts, and seeing how Blogger is deciding to speak Japanese right now, there's no way I can see if there is a setting of some sort that I just didn't activate. So some of the people who posted to some of my old posts, sorry didn't even know you posted to it.

Oh and I've decided to skip the Imperial Palace tour tomorrow. I looked at the times and honestly, I would have to get up around 5 am and rush to the train station and then rush around Tokyo Station trying to find the coin lockers and then rush to the castle entrance. You see the common word used there..."RUSH" and you know what, I'm NOT going to do it. So tomorrow, at my leisure, I will make my way to Tokyo. I figure, I'll get up and leave when I want to and then walk past two temples on the way to Kyoto Train Station, grab something to eat and then hop the next available train Train to Tokyo.

So today, I thought I'd try to break up the posts a bit. This one is going to be one on random Japanese things.

So the one thing people ask me about are the bathrooms. Yes, they are different. They normally use squatter toilets, pictured below.

 

I thought it was a bit odd that the toilet in my room actually as directions on how to use it. Forgot to take a picture of that, but hopefully, I will remember when I head back upstairs to my room. Western Toilets are usually a lot more technical. In fact, I spent I don't know how much time just trying to figure out what button to push to actually FLUSH the darn thing. I got a flushing noise sound, bidet, and all sorts of other things going on but the actual water...then I found the regular flusher knob to the side of the toilet, not actually ON the console bar. as pictured below.

 

Now some of you might question why they would use such odd looking toilets but think about it, it's a lot more hygienic, your body isn't actually touching anything. Sure, it takes a bit of balance and coordination but still, not touching the same thing that a couple hundred other people have touched. Um...yeah, I didn't like thinking about that either. :oP

Shirt maker sews in fan to beat summer heat | Reuters

 

N sent me this link. If you were in Japan, you would know WHY this is such a big deal. HOLY COW is it HOT and HUMID. I told myself I wasn't going to complain about the heat AGAIN, but too bad. The bright side though, I was in the woods today and it actually was a little bit cooler. THANK GOD!

Shirt maker sews in fan to beat summer heat | Reuters

A more detailed blog to follow. Making changes to the picture titles now.

Answers to a couple questions

Figured I'd do this as I have to kill some more time before heading to post office. This stuff being opened at 9 am is starting to be a pain in the ...butt. Well, maybe if I'd stop waking up at 6 am, this would help matters out too. ah well.

1. Did I meet any Reiki folks?
Nope. I did see a total of 5 non-Asian looking people. 3 of them were business men. 2 of them were college looking boys, who I think might have been German.

2. Are the streets as clean as they look?
Yes, they sure are. The only down side is occassionally when walking down the street you will be hit with the strong scent of sewage. I think this is typical of most cities though. For the most part, everyone cleans their own bit of sidewalk around their building opening. I'm talking about getting on your hands and knees scrubbing. I honestly don't know how often they do this but man, I know in the US, forget that stuff! Especially with all these random people walking on it everyday. Also, while waiting for the Pokemon Store to open. The folks in the store were cleaning it before it opened. Again, we are talking about people on their hands and knees wiping down the floors. I honestly have not seen a mop anywhere.

Did anyone notice in the pictures that the Japanese drive on the LEFT side of the road? If not, check again. It's pretty wild.

I want to thank everyone for leaving posts. It's nice to get feedback and know that my sitting here in the hot waiting area is for a good reason. We're talking about 3 to 4 hours of my time sitting here downloading pictures from my camera, naming the pictures, and then uploading and writing the posts. Not that I would be doing much if I wasn't posting at night anyway. I don't like going out when the sun goes down, not that I don't feel unsafe in Japan, quiet the opposite. Just not something I like to do as a single woman ANYWHERE.

Ok so I have two 1/2 more days here in Japan, if there is any questions or photos you guys would like me to track down just let me know. Can't wait to get to the destrination for today and if I finish early, I think I might go to the Shogun's Fortress.

Kurama Mountain - Reiki's Birthplace

Turns out Flickr has a 100 image limit unless you want to spend some money for their Pro account. Seeing how I'm on limited funds, I don't think so. So I'm having to improvise and am now using Sony Image Station. Hopefully, this will work out for everyone.

Kurama Pictures Here <-CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES

Today was a fun filled day spent just traveling to Kurama Mountain and back. Kim, I just gotta say, those green plaid pants you gave me, well, I hate you. LOL OK, we all know that was a lie, I could never hate my lovely sister, but geez, I spent like the ENTIRE day pulling my pants up. Which is so not good when you are walking up a mountain sweating to death! Well, on the plus side, I knew whenever I kept getting a cool breeze on my back, that my pants had fallen down and the wonderful people behind me were getting a great shot of my butt! LOVELY!!

So today, I actually slept in a little bit. I woke up around 6:30 am, instead of my usual 5:00 am. This helped kill some time for me. I got up and went to the local 24 hour convenience store and bought some snacks for the trip. Which after I bought it, I realized that they were salted so this was actually kinda a good thing, kinda a bad thing. I decided it was a good thing considering just how much I was sweating, I probably needed all that salt back into my system. This is when I started noticing that the pants were starting to ride down, but nope, I just figured it was a fluke or something. Riiiight....

I checked e-mail and then started finishing up packing for my outing. Trying really hard to lighten the load up a bit. Yeah, that didn't work. Especially when you've got a couple pounds of crystals with you. Thankfully, I will be mailing those off tomorrow so that should REALLY lighten my load up a bit.

So I made my way to the subway system and turns out, that it doesn't take my Japan Rail Pass as it's a private company and not the state transportation company. So that meant I needed to buy a ticket. So I went over to the ticket machine and just wanted to cry. There was absolutely NOTHING in English. So I said a little prayer and do you know that a Caucasian woman and a Philippine looking woman came into the train station. So I asked them if they spoke English and the woman said in a British Accent, "Yes, I do." To which I responded with, "Oh thank GOD!" So she tried to help me out, there was some confusion due to the need to switch trains at Demachiyanagi Station. She got the Ticket guy to come help and she was speaking in Japanese the entire time. I was definitely impressed and thankful. She then pointed out which train I was suppose to take and then she ran off to catch her train.

I tried asking this woman if she knew if my ticket was a roundtrip ticket or not, which she nodded Yes, but then said other stuff I had no idea. It must not have been 'cuz the ticket thing kept my ticket once I got to Kurama. Ah well, no biggie. The train ride was rather uneventful, I wish I was in a position to take pictures on the train, there was some very large cemeteries along the side of the mountain that I would have loved to gotten a picture of, but I wasn't really wanting to give up my seat as I knew I would be doing a lot of walking soon. If you have a seat on a train in Japan, consider yourself lucky!

I get to Kurama and I'm trying to find the train stamp but I couldn't find it. So I figure I'll find it later after I get back down from the mountain. I started heading up and my pants were heading down. Ut oh. I just knew this wasn't going to be good. Darn you Sarah Jessica Parker and your shorts!! See, fashion is some times really not functional. Of course, I'm not complaining after I saw these women in Kimonos and those wooden sandals walking up the mountain. There was NO way that they walked up the entire mountain in those things, I'm sure they took the Cable Car, but still there is still a long ways to go after the Cable Car drops you off!! Super women!!

So I start my climb and I chose from the beginning to walk up the entire mountain and back. Holy smokes, I had no idea what I was doing to myself! So I just kept going slow and steady and stopping for decent breaks along the way. I eventually made it up there. That's the nice thing about not wearing a watch, you don't end up timing yourself!

There were TONS of shrines all up the mountain and a couple of "waterfalls" they were a bit weak, I guess it must have been the time of year. Being the HOT season! The book :

Amazon.com: Reiki's Birthplace, A Guide to Kurama Mountain: Books: Jessica A. Miller,Barbara Mayer,Ian Shimkoviak/Alan Hebal ISBN: 0967872146 ISBN-13: 9780967872148

says that one of these waterfalls, Usui-sensi, received the knowledge of Reiki. I don't know if that's true or not, but I think it was farther up the mountain. Up near the cedar trees. It just feels better up there.

What I thought was pretty interesting was the number of Dragons. I am just guessing but I think that the Shinto Shrines are marked with them. The Shinto religion differs from the Buddhist religion, as the Shinto religion is a nature based religion. Oh and look here, their shrines are marked with animal-like guardians called "Komainu" or Korean Dog. Ha!

Being one who is interested in Dragons anyway, I want you all to notice that the Dragons except for the one at the very top do not have a ball in its hand. The Dragon with the ball in its hand is the Master Dragon, all others are just lower level dragons. Also, Japanese Dragons have 3 claws, Korean Dragons have 4 and Chinese Dragons have 5. The story goes that as the dragon started heading toward the US, it couldn't make it because its toes kept falling off. Then when it tried going to the West, it kept growing toes until it couldn't walk anymore. Cute explanation, huh?

Oh and N, those two salamander pictures are for you!! I tried to get a spider but couldn't figure out how to get that close up thing figured out.

So up I went, not really interested in the Main Temple, I just kinda puttered around the common area. Mostly sitting in the shade drinking as much water as I could stand and just RESTING. Holy smokes was it a tough climb! And little did I know was that it wasn't even close to being over and I didn't even go all the way on the trail!

I just really wanted to go where the cedar trees were located. I knew from when I looked at the pictures that was where I wanted to go and charge my crystals. So grudgingly, I got up and made my way to the trees. After, a very slow and hard hike up the mountain. I made my way to the Cedar trees. Oh man it was great, just sitting there, smelling that cedar smell and just taking in the site.

What I think is probably the coolest thing is that, I was walking around the place trying to figure out where the best place would be to leave my crystal gift and do you know that I happen to be standing and looked down and there was an unusual looking rock. So I looked at the rock and realized it wasn't natural to the area. So trying to figure out what the rock was, I realized it was a large Rose Quartz. I was really tempted to take it back with me but I knew that it was a gift left by someone else, so I placed it back and left it with the Quartz Point that I brought with me. Hopefully, they will be safe. I was a bit nervous as there was a huge group of Japanese people who seemed to be hovering around me, I hope that they don't find it or at least if they did, will leave the two rocks alone.

On my way down the mountain, I could not find any place that sold incense. Talk about bummed. All I could find were wooden prayer signs that were like $10 each and all I could think about was some extra weight I would be carrying, so I just didn't get anything. Honestly, there was just nothing there that caught my eye, so I left Kurama without any tokens. Japanese aren't really big into postcards, they really should reconsider. Then again, they are the camera country, I guess they figure everyone would take their own pictures. I dunno.

So I hop back on the train after asking this man to buy my train ticket for me. I finally figured out how to buy a train ticket, so now I'm set, should I need to buy one again!

By this time, it's around 4:30 pm and I just realized that I haven't eaten anything since breakfast and what nuts I ate from the packet. I really wasn't that hungry but I figured I must need to eat something as my hands were starting to get all shaky. So I'm trying to figure out what I could go and get to eat, and I see a Lotteria! Which had something called a Straight Burger, so I order that and it turned out to be something similar to a Big Mac without all the extra bread. It wasn't too bad.

So back on the train, buying my own train ticket, thank you very much! And back to the hotel. So I've been sitting here fixing picture names and uploading and writing all this up. The hotel manager wanted to know if I was some sort of professional travel person since I was constantly in there typing up stuff in my blog and uploading pictures. LOL! She's not too far off!

Well, I hear the rain behind me. I think I will take this opportunity to take a well deserved shower and hit the sack.

Tomorrow is another hike through the mountains. ;o)

Aloe anyone?

Yes, that's right, I somehow managed to get sunburned today. Of course, it's not really all that surprising considering the HEAT. I spent pretty much all day walking. I was pretty much DONE for the day around 3 pm so I went back to the hotel room. My feet couldn't take it anymore and I think I must have sweated all the water that I managed to get into me today.

Funny thing about Japan is that pretty much everything is closed until like 9 or 10 am. So a lot of these pictures I have of empty streets are due to only old people being up that early, everyone else is sleeping, I guess.

Seeing how I'm waking up with the dawn, I'm not really sure what to do tomorrow. The temple at Kumara isn't opened until 9 am and the train apparently only takes 20 minutes to get there. So that leaves a couple hours to kill. I don't know. I know one thing, I'm not WALKING to the train station and then walking up a mountain. No, I think my feet have had enough of that today. I'll be soaking them in a few minutes.

As I promised, I have pictures!! I'm waiting for my laptop to finish charging so I can bring it downstairs to connect to the Internet. Here is the link for those who want to see ALL the pictures I took, otherwise, I will sprinkle a couple of pictures here in the blog.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/11140184@N02/yDb71R

Today, I ended up doing a lot of things that I was surprised I was able to do in such a short amount of time, and yet, for those who know me, that isn't really all that surprising is it?

So this morning, I started off walking along the pedestrian walkway along the Kamogawa River, that was nice as I was there with a nice cool breeze, watching people walk their dogs (mostly long haired Weiner dogs) and all those cranes in the water. My goal was to walk though Gion, which is the old part of Kyoto that is where all the Geishas are located. So to make my trip eventful, I picked a route where I would be passing several temples. I saw several temples along the way, the biggest temple area being Kenninji Temple. Which, I think it's a bit odd that there is this huge Buddist temple right next to the Geisha district. If I remember correctly, this temple it known for giving help with divorces and traffic accidents. Yeah, I thought it was an odd combination myself.

Then it was off to Gion, which I should have known better. Gion is party central, of course there is going to be next to NO activity on this street at like 9 am. hahaha So I just took pictures of Geishas  on the doorways. ;o) So off I went to the next batch of temples: Yasaka Shrine, Chion-in, and Shoren-in. I didn't walk all the way though their property 'cuz I just knew I wouldn't make it if I had to climb several mountains just to get to some pagota at the top. So I just went to the main temple and just stopped.

I then made my way to Heian-jingu Shrine, which had that beautiful hidden garden that my fellow IAAB student told me to go check out, well, along with everything else. Thanks Itiah! Got some really awesome pictures there. Also took a picture of a turtle that was in the pond, it was so unusual looking I had to take a picture of it. It was green with like yellow spots, had really long claws and a pointed nose, looked almost like a snapping turtle. Very odd creature.

They had some beautiful bridges and of course plant life. Very beautiful, it was so nice just to sit a spell and just take in the scenery.

After that, I made my way to the Imperial Palace. I knew I  wouldn't be let inside but I figured at the very least I could walk around the garden. The garden was so very beautiful. One thing that got me was that the bathrooms very minute would make a ringing noise, I at first thought it was just letting people knew you were in the bathroom, which I thought was odd seeing how there were at least 4 other stalls in there, but no, it just rang irregardless of whether there was a person there or not. My guess is that it's to let blind people know where the bathrooms were located. You had to go pretty far in order not to hear any outside noises in the park as well. If it wasn't the ringing of the bathrooms or for the pedestrian crosswalks, you might be able to hear nature.

I grabbed some lunch, which I made the assumption that all these foreigners were Americans when honestly, I think I've heard more German spoken that any other language, well besides Japanese. Some other couple was from a country that spelled Japan like Gippon. Dunno what country that would be, oh wait, not Spanish would be the language I heard the most here, besides Japanese. I forgot about the family of 7 that were at the Secret Garden with me. Anyway, it was ok. I thought I was hungry but I really wasn't due to the heat, but I made myself eat something anyway. I had the Ginger Rice, which was ok, wasn't too thrilled with whatever fish they threw in there as well, but it was manageable.

Headed back into the "real" world and headed off to the Manga Museum. Which, I think should be more the Manage Library. The museum was filled with over 20 years worth of manga anime    comic books, and there were people and kids just sitting everywhere reading comic books. I guess if I were into a series of comics then I would have probably been sitting there along with the rest of them but not really the case.  The one thing, I have really started to notice was the lack of gifts you can purchase in various places gift shops. I had been on the look out for post cards and things like that but no such luck at these places. I tried to find something at the anime store but they had NOTHING I could justify in buying. They had t-shirts for like $30!

So a bit disappointed, I headed off to the next item on my to-do list. Which was to go see Pontocho-dori, the Edo period street. Somehow as I'm walking to my next destination, I see a sign that says "Teramachi" which I knew I had heard but just couldn't place. Then I recalled it was where Itah had told me about the huge covered shopping center in Kyoto. So I went in there and did some shopping. I got several things at the 100 Yen store, which is the equivalent of the Dollar Store. :o)

Then as I was walking toward the river again, I realized I needed to check the map. I was at the exit to Pontocho-dori, I sort of detested having to go back up the street. My feet were killing me by this point and benches are very hard to find. So I sucked it up and went down the street and honestly, didn't look all that old to me, just a very neat little street though with all these little places to eat. I just knew it was the happening street when darkness hit, but otherwise, everyone was starting to set up for the late night crowd. I walked about halfway, and decided to turn around. As I did, I noticed a Geisha walking and took a picture of her from behind before she disappeared into the crowd.

So I walked back and walked along the pedestrian walkway by the river back to the hotel. I've spent the last few hours downloading the pictures off my camera, naming them and resizing them for Flickr. I really have got to find a less time consuming way to post these pictures.

I tried to give people a shout, but the phone booth near my hotel doesn't take international phone cards. Yeah, go figure. :oP

So that was my day and  hopefully. I'll be able to go downstairs and upload these pictures with little problems. :o)

Plan on doing Touristy things today...

Woke up and decided that I would just do the tourist thing today. I really want to pick up some post cards to mail off at Mount Kurama tomorrow. So figured I'd do that. I'm gonna see if I can't pick up some of those summer yukas (robes) at a decent price at the big shopping center. If not, well, I'm sure you guys will understand. I'm on a very limited budget after all and it's not like street vendors take credit cards.

So I've decided I'm going to go to the Geisha District, 'cuz it's not far from here and there is a lot of historical stuff around it. Then I'm going to go on this old street and try to get some really awesome pictures of the old wooden structures. Then heading over towards the secret garden with the infinity pool, if I have time, then head over toward the Imperial Palace.

I'm going to try to post pictures tonight. :o) So stay tuned!

I'm now in Kyoto

That last post was obviously from when I was on the plane. For some reason my Internet interface is all in Japanese on my computer so I'm not able to change a lot of the settings. Really no clue as to how I can change it back to English. Ah well, just doing what I can.

I am so incredibly tired. My poor little feet. I got to Kyoto around 3:30 and took about a 2 hour nap. My head really hurts, going to take a hot bath and soak for a little while and then head to bed. I really tried to stay awake and go out and to things but my feet are really sore. So I'm trying to take it easy.

Tomorrow, I think I will be heading to Karuma mountain so I'll be doing TONS of walk then. Best to be easy on myself now. I might choose to do something else, we'll see.

I have a couple of pictures from the train but I will have to do that later. While waiting for the train, I spoke with a couple and their son who were doing a two week trip in Japan. They are from Fairfax, Virginia. What a small world huh?

Today, I went to the Pokemon Center. They didn't open until like 10 am, so I was there waiting for over an hour. It was rather humorous, as we had to wait in line as if we were going to enter like we would for a rock concert. I was a bit disappointed with the store, I was expecting a lot more than what they had. Doesn't mean that I didn't buy anything though. ;o) I got a couple of little treats.

Then caught a train to Kyoto. I had an aisle seat and wasn't able to take any pictures, expect when I got up and went out to the end cart and could take some pictures from the portal door, so got a couple of shots from the train. I rode their express train, which doesn't got as fast as their bullet train, however, boy you sure could feel them pass! They would shake the train a bit they were going so fast!

OK head is really starting to hurt now, I'm going to go shower and sleep. Later!

It's 3:18 am and I'm STILL on the plane!

Ok so I'm sitting here on the plane, getting a bit cranky. I swear I asked for an aisle seat so I could get up as much as I wanted but somehow I got a window seat, which means I have to climb over people. Yes, can you believe that I'm complaining about a window seat?! Ah well. I can feel my legs getting fat from sitting for so long and not really looking forward to all the other stuff that I'm going to have to do at the airport in Tokyo.

Going to need to get through customs and then take my huge suitcases to the luggage place so they can hold it for me while I'm in Kyoto. No way I'm traveling around Japan with those huge bags, the ones that I have right now aren't the the most comfortable either.

I'm really tired right now but I can't seem to sleep. I've tried several times to sleep but I just can't get comfortable. I'm dehydrated, not drinking as much as I normally would 'cuz I'm already having to use the bathroom a lot. Hate to see what I'd look like if I was drinking as much as I want!

It is really cold on the plane. I've been bundling up in my little blanket trying to keep warm, but then I'll get a spell where the blanket has been on my legs and then I get way too hot. It's a vicious cycle.

There was some interesting discussions with the people a couple of seats ahead of me. The one guy seemed to notice a crack on the plane and was really upset about it that he called the stewardess and also had her to get the pilots out here to look at it too. They said that it was a superficial crack or something like that. Whatever that means, I'm just praying for a safe landing and everything else. All I want to do right now is get off this plane and get to my hotel room to SLEEP!

It will probably be around 8 pm by the time I actually get to the hotel, which might mean that it will be about 7 am or so. Should be early enough to give the parents a ring and let them know I'm here safe.

Should be able to post this blog while at the hotel room. Yea! we're starting to descent!! Let me off this plane!!

Heading to Kyoto!

The place I am staying just has computers in the lobby, so I couldn't upload the blogs I already wrote on my computer. It's interesting trying to figure out what these menus mean when they're all in Japanese. As you can tell, I figured it out. ;o) Having some issues with their keyboard, they have a lot more characters and smaller keys.

Not sure when I went to bed, I would think it was around 10 pm last night. HOLY COW is it HUMID in Japan. I am sweating so profusely. I will need to pick up a small towel or something! I figured I would sleep until 8:30 am this morning but I was awake way before then. It's about 6:15 am now. I'm going to go see if I can't find a more convient suitcase bag, this one is about to kill me, or see how much it costs to keep things stored at this hotel. Unfortunately, a lot of odds and ends ended up in this bag, which is a rather large gym bag and is very HEAVY to carry around. I kept wishing that it had wheels, I'm sure my shoulder is out of alignment.

The Station that I am near Ueno Station actually has one of the Hard Rock Cafe's in it, so that means YEA! No traveling far to get a Hard Rock T-shirt for my collection! I plan on making a quilt out of all the Hard Rock T-shirts that I collect. I've got about 28 or so now.

Well, I'm gonna go out and grab me some breakfast at McDonald's. I'll see if I can't get a picture of it. ;o)

My next hotel is suppose to have Wi-Fi in all the rooms so hopefully, I can start uploading posts I wrote on the plane and what not. I honestly haven't been taking much pictures, it's hard enough just trying to keep all your bags together and catch the right train, etc. without having to have another bag that I need to carry around and worry about. Check out in this hotel is at 10 am, I should be able to get some pictures before I have to start lugging bags. :o)

Siyanora!

Sitting here in Richmond

So we're about to board any minute now. Of course, I didn't figure out that Richmond had Internet until like maybe 30 minutes ago and I've been here since about 10:30 am. It's ok, I spent most of the time organizing some of my pictures.

We're about ready to board the plane so I'm going put sign off until the next go round, which might be in Detroit, but more than likely in Tokyo!

Oh! We're boarding now! Later!!

Eve before take off

 Well, this will be posted a couple days after my departure, I'm sure or if I'm lucky and somehow get a connection while I'm in the Detroit airport. We'll see, more than likely it will be once I arrive in Tokyo.

It's been a very hectic past couple of days. DO NOT DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!!

Let's give you a run down of what I've been going through the past couple of days. On Friday, this was my last day of work with Thompson & Litton, so I was trying to get the last few details finished up on a project I was working on. On top of that, my last summer class, "Social Psychology" had a test that you had to take between 10 am and 2 pm, that was 70 minutes long (70 questions total). For those who are curious, I got a 95% on the final exam. I was also trying to finalize all of my paperwork for all the financial aid stuff for school. I had still not even THOUGHT about packing for my trip.

Saturday, I woke up and headed over to Harmony Crossing for a crystal class, which went really well. Then ran around town trying to track down the girls in my girl scout troop. I had found their addresses at the very least and manage to write thank you letters to  them. Then rushed to C's home to put my lovely bike, Chul-gon  (Korean for Joy) to bed for the winter. THANK YOU Christy for keeping my baby safe for me! Then rushed back home for my Birthday/Bon Voyage party, which you all saw pictures of from the earlier post. That went on for a while, I posted my blog and thought about what I needed to pack for my trip and made out a packing list. Went to bed, I was really exhausted.

Sunday, woke up really early and PACKED EVERYTHING. Almost packed the cat a couple of times. Just this huge whirlwind just going through. Let me tell you, it was hard trying to figure out just what you are wanting to bring for 4 months in another country. Especially for a country that gets really COLD. I hate being cold. Really, I do. So I had probably 5 to 6 bags worth of clothes. I had to get the bags down to at least 2 check-in suitcases and 1 carry-on bag. This was going to be a challenge, and I knew that Kim and Patty would be able to help me with this challenge so I didn't stress too much. Got on the road about Noon and drove the 6 hours to my parents place.

Monday, drove to Williamsburg to pick up some last minute gifts for my relatives in Korea. I would tell you what I got them but they might be reading so I think I better not tell you. ;o) I took the Ferry over to Williamsburg, which was very neat. Got some pretty good shots of seagulls that were following the boat. Tried to get some  pictures of the boats at Jamestown too. After shopping, headed over to Uncle John's place. He was great driving me around town looking for pecans and walnuts for my aunt in Korea. Apparently they are very difficult to find in Korea and very expensive, so we figured we'd check out a couple of places. We found some at CostCo but I wasn't too keen about carrying 8 pounds worth of nuts in my suitcase when I could barely pack CLOTHES in the darn thing. So we just held off. Then we were joined by Kim & Patty for dinner. It was most yummy. If you are even in Hampton, Virginia, check out Surf Rider's, they have a most excellent crab cake. After dinner, we drove to Virginia Beach were Kim and Patty used their mad skills and packed my most essential stuff. They are miracle workers I tell you!!! Even Cheeky was impressed!

Tuesday morning drove back to Petersburg and finished up last minute shopping. More stuff to stick in my already bursting at the seams suitcases. Thankfully, mom bought me another large suitcase so I could actually fit some winter clothes in there!! Yippie!! And the rest of her presents that I was to give to my relatives. I tell you what, if they lose my new suitcases, there are going to be NO presents to give anyone!! Spend the rest of the evening trying to make sure that I had everything in easy reach and packed and had everything accounted for, that was no easy feat let me tell you!! BUT IT IS DONE!!

Now, I'm just kinda sitting here typing this up, going through all the mental checklists in my head. Should be ok. I'm pretty sure I have everything.

Need to head off to bed. We're leaving at 9:30 am to get to the airport at 10:30 am for my 12:30 pm flight. Hey, once I get on the plane, I might actually relax a spell.

(YEA! Richmond has Internet!!)

Jenn's Party

Jenn's Party 035, originally uploaded by jemoore4.

Well, I just have the coolest roommate and friend EVER! Christy and Nik spent a heck of a lot of time organizing a birthday/bon voyage party for me. I was just absolutely thrilled by all the hard work they both did in putting this together for me. I'm so absolutely touched.

I also want to say that Barb and Tom are SO very awesome for bringing the Cowboy hats for me. Oh and I *will* get you back for the PINK Tierra Nikki, Oh yes, yes I will.

Here's the link to the rest of the photo fun! (I'm trying really hard to figure this photo stuff out, so any hints is appreciated!)
http://www.flickr.com/gp/11140184@N02/076EjZ

I want to thank: Kim, Teresa, Sandi, Frank, Barb, Tom, Christy and Nikki for coming to the party and wishing me luck.

What a FUN way to be sent off!

Study Abroad Theme Music

Theme Song for my decision to study abroad:

"What you waiting for?" by Gwen Stefani

Pretty much I chose this song because of the following lines really just resonated with me:

Naturally, I'm worried if I do it alone
Who really cares, cause it's your life
You never know, it could be great
Take a chance cause you might grow

Life is short, you're capable

Take a chance you stupid hoe (what you waiting for?)
----

So this is pretty much my outlook. I was given a chance and I've chosen to take the chance. And honestly, if it wasn't for the support of my parents, friends, and a series of synchronicities, this journey would not have been possible.

I am truly grateful for this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Itinerary

Just thought I would give you all an idea as to what I've got currently on my schedule.

Wednesday, August 15 - Fly out of Richmond, Virginia to Detroit, Michigan, to Tokyo, Japan.

Thursday, August 16 - Arrive in Tokyo, Japan, around 6 pm Tokyo time.

Friday, August 17 - Hop on a train and head to Kyoto, Japan.

Saturday, August 18 - Monday, August 20 - Kyoto, Japan. Will be making a pilgrimage, if you will, to Karama Mountain, the birth place of Reiki.

Tuesday, August 21 - Take train back to Tokyo. Have a 10:00 am tour of the Imperial Palace. Hoping to find the Pokemon Center in Tokyo. ;o)

Wednesday, August 22 - Fly out of Tokyo at 6 pm and arrive in Busan, South Korea around 8:30 pm, to meet up with my relatives! (Staying with my Mother's youngest sister and her family)

Thursday, August 23-Saturday August 25 - Busan, South Korea, hanging out with the relatives! My cousin, Ji-Eun (이지은) has promised to show me around Busan. :o)

Sunday, August 26 - Arrive at Keimyung University to check into my new room and meet my Korean buddy, Ji-hye (지혜).

Monday, August 27 - Classes begin. International student orientation.

-----------

So now you all know what to expect in the next couple of days. I'm trying to get a hold of a software program to help me edit my pictures so they aren't so HUGE and take up a lot of disk space. If I can get a hold of one soon, then I will post pictures from my last long motorcycle trip that I took on my Birthday before I head off to Japan. We'll see.