March 13-26, 2006
Hey there everyone
Been 2 weeks since I wrote a group email and contacted you all. I have had a very busy 2 weeks as usual, so will fill you in ons some of it.
As I am still on holidays, I spent most of mid March catching up with friends, and studying a bit too.
My friend Kanae came to visit me for a day and we had dinner together. It was nice to see her again. She is coming to Australia for one year - she'll study at ANU in Canberra. A few days later my friend Takuya came to Tokyo and we spent the day catching up and then he stayed here at my apartment overnight. That was 2 weekends ago. I was meant to travel to an island next to Tokyo on the weekend of 18th/19th March for a volunteer project, but as the weather was really bad, decided not to go.
Instead, travelled to Maebashi (2 hours North of Tokyo) to stay at Takuya's place. Stayed there for 10 days and did a lot of fun things with him and his family. We went bowling, played snooker and table tennis, scared myself silly at the movies by watching "Emily Rose" and I attended Takuya's sister's school graduation ceremony. That was an interesting experience, especially having 35 high school girls screaming at you cause you're a foreigner!!
Last weekend (19th March), his family took me away to a beautiful temple town called Zencouji. We visited the temply there, which features an underground passageway beneath the altar. It is pitch black and 150 metres long. You have to walk through it, feeling the wall to try and find the "golden key" It is said that if you find it, you receive eternal salvation - unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to find it!! We also sampled some yummy Japanese treats while there.
And this past few days I spent away in a mountainous village called Takayama with Takuya's family. We drove north to the hot springs village for a 2 days break. Stayed in a traditional Japanese inn - also known as a Ryokan - and sat in the hot springs at night, gazing at the stars - incredible!! Also jumped in to the spings the next morning at 6am!!! Warmer in Japan now that Winter is over, but in Takayama there is still 1-2 metres of snow left over! Amazing.
At the Ryokan we savoured a traditional Japanese meal - sushi, and buttered meat, rice galore and lots of small vegetable side dishes - very nice. Very healthy.
I arrived back in Tokyo late last night - Kazuya has been working very hard, and will have to work for the next 9 days straight!
I had planned to go to Kouchi and Okayama this week, but as I spent 10 days away with Takuya, I have decided to postpone that trip until May.
I still have holidays for the next 2 weeks.
Hope everyone is going well. Take care and speak soon.
Tim
xxxx
Been 2 weeks since I wrote a group email and contacted you all. I have had a very busy 2 weeks as usual, so will fill you in ons some of it.
As I am still on holidays, I spent most of mid March catching up with friends, and studying a bit too.
My friend Kanae came to visit me for a day and we had dinner together. It was nice to see her again. She is coming to Australia for one year - she'll study at ANU in Canberra. A few days later my friend Takuya came to Tokyo and we spent the day catching up and then he stayed here at my apartment overnight. That was 2 weekends ago. I was meant to travel to an island next to Tokyo on the weekend of 18th/19th March for a volunteer project, but as the weather was really bad, decided not to go.
Instead, travelled to Maebashi (2 hours North of Tokyo) to stay at Takuya's place. Stayed there for 10 days and did a lot of fun things with him and his family. We went bowling, played snooker and table tennis, scared myself silly at the movies by watching "Emily Rose" and I attended Takuya's sister's school graduation ceremony. That was an interesting experience, especially having 35 high school girls screaming at you cause you're a foreigner!!
Last weekend (19th March), his family took me away to a beautiful temple town called Zencouji. We visited the temply there, which features an underground passageway beneath the altar. It is pitch black and 150 metres long. You have to walk through it, feeling the wall to try and find the "golden key" It is said that if you find it, you receive eternal salvation - unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to find it!! We also sampled some yummy Japanese treats while there.
And this past few days I spent away in a mountainous village called Takayama with Takuya's family. We drove north to the hot springs village for a 2 days break. Stayed in a traditional Japanese inn - also known as a Ryokan - and sat in the hot springs at night, gazing at the stars - incredible!! Also jumped in to the spings the next morning at 6am!!! Warmer in Japan now that Winter is over, but in Takayama there is still 1-2 metres of snow left over! Amazing.
At the Ryokan we savoured a traditional Japanese meal - sushi, and buttered meat, rice galore and lots of small vegetable side dishes - very nice. Very healthy.
I arrived back in Tokyo late last night - Kazuya has been working very hard, and will have to work for the next 9 days straight!
I had planned to go to Kouchi and Okayama this week, but as I spent 10 days away with Takuya, I have decided to postpone that trip until May.
I still have holidays for the next 2 weeks.
Hope everyone is going well. Take care and speak soon.
Tim
xxxx
posted by Tim at 7:33 PM
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