Happy Belated New Year!!

I just got back from a fantastic little jaunt to Kyoto and Nara for New Years. It was great!! Of course, I walked into an apartment full of unwrapped gifts I had meant to send off before I left. Some of you folks will be getting christmas gifts and cards closer to Valentines Day!! Ah well, that's the way it goes sometimes. It has actually been really hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. It's just another day here in Japan. Though there are decorations up in the department stores and christmas music chiming through the speakers, the energy just isn't the same.

I worked through Christmas eve and Christmas day and then jumped on a train up to Koriyama to spend Christmas dinner with Tracey and some friends. It was *fantastic*!! I think she must've been cooking for three days...truly amazing. We had a little secret santa exchange and played Cranium (A truly American game. Try playing with Canadians, New Zealanders and Japanese and you'll see what I mean!) It was good fun. The next day I walked around my old stomping ground, spent some time with 2 of my old students, Mita-San and Emi. It was really good to see them again. I had a beer with some friends over a *pathetic* game of darts and then it was back home I went.

I went to Kyoto on the 28th on a Seishun Kippu ticket. It's a great deal that the JR Rail system offers a few times a year. It's mainly meant for students, but us foreigners take advantage of it as well. It's about $120.00 and you can use it for up to 5 days. On each day (and they don't have to be consecutive), you can travel on the local trains as far as you can go. The catch? You're on local trains. It took 12 hours to get there and 11 hrs back with about 6 or so transfers. But it's cheap!! The same trip on the shinkansen would be about 3-4 hours and about $350.00 round trip. This way, it's not only cheaper, but I also get 3 more days of travel over the break. Not bad. I hit the main sites in Kyoto, Kiyomizu Temple, Ryozen Kwannon, the castle was closed but I walked around outside. It took me 3 days to get to all the sites because I kept running out of time! The temples close at 4 pm generally and I kept getting distracted on the streets of Kyoto. I liked meandering in that city, walking along the river banks. At one point the iPod gods blessed me with Tom Waits' "Shore Leave" (thanks Susanna!) The lyrics, eventhough about China, seemed rather appropriate at the time. The lyrics are actually a bit lonely but the music was more like good comfort food on a rainly day. It had me in a good mood. In the evenings, I went exploring with other foreigners staying at the Uno Guesthouse. We drank, shot pool, ate Y100 sushi (YUM!) and had a great time. I also hopped a train to Nara to visit the largest Buddah I've ever seen! Again--amazing. Instead of buying a souvenier, I donated to the restoration project and got to decorate a concrete block that they will use--though I have no idea how. It was just fun to paint.

New Years Eve was a treat. I rang in 2005 by watching joyful Buddhist monks man a gigantic bell near the Kiyomizu Temple. First, one of the monks stood directly underneath as the other unleashed the swinging log to strike the bell. I can't imagine what it must have been like under there. Just as he started to strike, a light and soft snow began to dance around us. They then began to escort couples up to strike the bell, this started at 11:30 and continued on well past midnight. There were other monks drumming in front of an altar where people threw coins in donation, clapped twice and briefly prayed. The buildings were beautifully lit and a spotlight shone directly in front of the alter for people to bask in as they made their peace with the closing year. It was really a beautiful way to complete the year. Thousands of people were there as this is *the* thing to do on New Years Eve and Day. We walked through the center of a Zen Garden where people were burning the ends of their piece of rope, drinking hot rice drinks and gathering around the small, eye-level bonfires. Of course, I had the experience of being more on the outskirts of things and as an observer. But, I really did have a sense of completion when I left. It was satisfying in a different way than the big countdown, ball drop--now KISS way of ringing in the new year. What can I say? I'm really glad I went.

New Years Day, there were an equal number of people out and about, visiting shrines and taking walks with their family. I went back up to the temple for more pictures in the sunlight and to spend some time at Ryozen Kwannon, the white stone Buddah against the mountainside. It sits 80 feet high and was unveiled in 1955 in commemoration of soldiers who died in WWII and for the establishment of a peaceful Japan. There are pockets of wild bamboo all around and behind it, a few (probably 8 fold) paths behind it and a large stone with 2 feet drawn into the cement. I think some of the things in Japan are designed so that they are difficult to photograph, especially those of a sacred nature. I suppose that makes sense. Still, doesn't suppress my desire to have a picture or two of my own. Speaking of which, I'll put some new ones up. I ran out of memory space in Kyoto and resorted to buying disposables. I'll have to ask Ingrid if I can use her scanner for those ones.

I made the long trek home on January 2nd and have been relaxing ever since. I'd love to hear about your holidays...or just about your days. Write soon!!

Now...off to wrap those gifts!!