:: Thursday, August 18, 2005 ::
A brief note about culture in Japan:: Monday, August 15, 2005 ::
What an experience to be among the people and attempt to speak the language here! For the past few days I have been travelling myself, getting VERY lost at times and sometimes admist a whole crowd of people and not one of them speak any english. I regularly need to refer to my Japan guide and the list of terms at the back that are commonly used.
The first thing that hit me when I got here was how incredibly polite and serving the Japanese are. No matter where you are, you will never see a person hoarking on the street. Store salespeople are just as polite as janitors and train custodians. It's almost as if Japan adapted it's business culture from the 50's of america and maintained it somehow.
The second thing that hit me was how incredibly well behaved the children are here in Japan. Many of them ride the trains without making a peep the whole 2 hour ride, most of them don't cry out and be all spoiled and such, as they always are in north america. I understand that alot of it has to do with upbringing. More to come on that.
Now I'm at a youth hostel, my first one in a rural village called takayama. Will post pics soon!
:: Jesse 7:09 AM
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HELLO JAPAN! My wondrous trip started on Thursday August 11th, and will go till Thursday August 25th. Already I have been to many places, and I will try to post as much as I can of what '
:: Jesse 8:31 PM
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Steps from the garden at Himeji Jo
:: Jesse 8:30 PM
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We are we?
:: Jesse 8:27 PM
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This is what we had for our traditional tea ceremony in the Himeji Jo Castle garden. It is a frothy green tea and a yummy moji ball with some blue stuff inside that was just pure yummyness.
:: Jesse 8:26 PM
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This was one of the main attractions I was looking forward to (and why I lugged a tripod upon the whole trip) was the Nara festival. Every year, they light up the whole place with tons and tons of candles. Even the buildings are lit up too (in the distance the temple roof is lit). It's quite the sight. Indescribable.
:: Jesse 8:24 PM
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Lanterns.
:: Jesse 8:22 PM
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The festival was so beautiful. There were SO many candles and lanterns lit up. Quite worth the trip to Japan!
:: Jesse 8:21 PM
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More views of the Nara festival
:: Jesse 8:20 PM
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In Nara, there are deer roaming everywhere! You can pet them and feed them. They are really tame.
:: Jesse 8:20 PM
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Here is Steph trying on a Yukata.
:: Jesse 8:19 PM
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McD's in Japan is SOO cheap. A McChicken (That has a big of a bite of wasabi) and McDippers (fish) are 100 yen each ~ roughly $1.30 Canadian. SO GOOD.
:: Jesse 8:19 PM
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One of the paths from a shrine in Kyoto.
:: Jesse 8:17 PM
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A mercedes coupe! So cool!
:: Jesse 8:16 PM
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This is a very famous store in Kyoto, where there are samples upon samples of desserts available for the public. Steph and I went in and out 3 times. I ended up buying a few things. :P
:: Jesse 8:16 PM
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Lanterns.
:: Jesse 8:15 PM
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Many beautiful lanterns that line the streets of Kyoto.
:: Jesse 8:14 PM
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This is a shot on one of the streets in Kyoto. I love the picturesque sloping cobblestone walkways, and the beautiful yukata
:: Jesse 8:13 PM
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If you're lucky, you may see a Geisha walking the streets. This was in Kyoto.
:: Jesse 8:12 PM
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Japan is such a lively place at night.. there are so many beautiful shops like this that specialize in all sorts of things, this one being a paper shop.
:: Jesse 8:11 PM
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