AHHHHHHH I am soooo busy I haven't even any time to check my email. Between a trip to Osaka and Fukui-ken last week and a marathon I ran on Friday, and another orientation this weekend, I'm pooped! I would have liked to have posted last week about Osaka, but I was too busy! Oh well.
So I will have to give a short explanation of my recent adventures. Going back to last Monday, I went on a little business trip with some Japan National Fuel Limited (JNFL) people and Sakamoto-san, a Rotarian. We went south, farther than Tokyo, to Osaka and Fukui. If you know anything about Japan, Osaka was once the capital of Japan; it is also the second biggest city. And was it big! I don't have a particular affinity for cities, as they are much too crowded for me, but this was definitely a sight to see! Definitely a blast! I also got to see a cool o-tera, I think one of the oldest in Japan. Well, not really, because it was partially destroyed during the Meiji Restoration, but then rebuilt exactly how it was before. It was still really cool. I saw turtles too.
I also went to Fukui, a little north, to see some nuclear power plants. I learned a lot, (even if it was all in Japanese) and now I think that Nuclear Power is a very clean and almost entirely renewable source of energy. I also learned a lot about how business goes about in Japan. This was a business trip after all.
And then the marathon.... On Friday, I ran a total of 18.1 kilometers, which is 11 and a quarter miles. I ran it in 2 hours flat. Boy was I tired. However, it was fun, and healthy, and my legs really hurt afterwords. Mr. Kerrigan would be proud than I'm keeping in shape for next year though.
And now the main event! Definitely an amazing weekend I just had. It was my second orientation of the year, this time in Goshogawara and Juniko Lake. When I got there, I had to make a speech in front of a few hundred Rotarians, but it wasn't that bad. Then we shipped off to our cabins and talked until late into the night. As you may know, there are many hot springs in Japan. Well, the place we were staying had one, and each cabin had a hot spring bath right in the back. Although it was freezing and raining, we had to shower outside, but it paid off sitting in the hot bath for ten minutes. It was so nice. It was also nice to sleep in a real bed for once.
The next day we went to the mall, in which we shopped for the food we were going to make for each other that night. Everyone suggested that I make pizza, so I got the ingredients. We also were going to make okunomiyaki (おくのみやき - Japanese pizza) and sushi and shellfish and curried rice.
After that we began a journey across Japan, to the west coast, the sea of Japan (Nihonkai - 日本海) We went to two o-tera and the sea and a museum about Japanese ships. The first o-tera was actually mixed - both an o-tera and a jinja. It was also up a mountain, so we got to climb it to see it. The second was the oldest in Aomori, and it was popular for fishermen to go to to pray for a good catch. Then there was the sea, which was beautiful, and the foliage, which was also beautiful (I could hear constantly "sugoi kirei ne! which is japanese for amazing and pretty).
We reached another destination, Juniko Lake, or Twelve Lakes. I guess it mush have had twelve lakes or something, but we got there and it was dark enough so that I couldn't see. We were in the middle of the mountains, and it was cold. We began to cook our meals, each in our separate cabins. Unfortunately, we lacked adequate cookingware, like measuring cups, and so I had to trust that the glasses they gave me were the amount that they said they were. However, I don't believe they were right, because the dough was somewhat of a disaster, and took too long, and so it was a project unfinished. I was disappointed, but everyone said next time (our Christmas party) I would be able to make it. I'm going to definitely bring some English directions, and maybe even my own utensils. However, the okunomiyaki was amazing, and so were the conversations. I was able to take to some of the student outbounds, tell them what America is like, as them about Japan, and have some good Japanese conversation. And I found out that we might be getting an Australian boy in January. Another late night, and an early morning, trekking into the mountain and seeing the most beautiful, blue ponds I have ever seen.
Finally it was time to go home. However, we took the scenic route, straight through the windy, narrow mountains. The fall mountain were so beautiful and we saw monkeys!!! Except the damn creatures are so fast that I couldn't even get a picture of them. Oh well, it was so cool though.
Well, that's the most recent of my adventures, sorry about being so busy! It's good though, I'm not wasting my time here!
Pictures soon, for now go to my Picasa.
Dakota M. Benjamin, JTD ダコタ ベンジャミン Rotary District 7850 - Vermont, USA Hosted by Rotary Club or Rokkasho, Japan District 2830 - Aomori, Japan dakota.benjamin@gmail.com
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