Over the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to enjoy some very cool experiences in Japan.
There is an organization here called "CHIC" which stands for Community House & Information Centre. This group offers a number of opportunities to help folks settle in and enjoy Japan - coffees, trips, furniture sales, cooking classes, Japanese language classes, and even a grocery store tour! I enjoyed our recent trip to Kitano Tenmangu. To what, you might ask? Geisha and maiko (the apprentices) host "Nodate" (an outdoor tea ceremony) beneath the plum blossoms during the Baika-sai, which takes place at Kitano-tenmangu Shrine each year on February 25. Basically, we get to go to a temple, see beautiful plum blossoms, and wait in a very long line to have Geisha and maiko serve us tea during this once per year event! We took the train to Kyoto and a taxi to the temple. I could smell the plum blossoms from the street before we got to the temple. We entered the gate and got in line with about 700 of our closest friends. I enjoyed taking pictures of the pink and white plum blossoms and looking at the various people who were there. Alas, it was our turn. We sat on our knees to enjoy the traditional tea ceremony. I was intrigued just looking at the Geisha and wondering about their decision to follow this career. Then, we walked around the temple sale searching for treasures.
On Saturday, February 26, our family headed out on the train for Arashiyama (western part of Kyoto) to visit Monkey Park. Located in the Arashiyama mountains, the entrance to the monkey park is just south of the Togetuskyo Bridge. We hiked uphill for about ten minutes, and then we found an open area with over a hundred monkeys roaming freely. The views of the city were spectacular, but the monkeys kept our attention. There were very specific rules for visitors that we read on the internet and that we got with our tickets: 1) Do not stare the monkeys in the eyes, 2) Do not touch the monkeys. 3) Do not feed the monkeys outside. Ok. Got it. However, outside, there was a board posted with a 4th rule: 4) Do not make load outside. Excuse me? Not sure about that one! We walked around and took pictures. Then, we went inside a building where we could feed the monkeys through a cage. Most were gentle, but a few of them were pretty anxious to grab that apple! I was fascinated looking at their hands, which looked so much like human hands. We went up to a different area where the monkeys looked younger and were running around and playing. This was very fun to watch. They wrestled like normal human siblings. :) As were getting ready to leave, a strange thing happened. The kids headed down to a playground. Phillip and I leisurely walked behind them. All of a sudden, a monkey stared at me and started following me. I made Phillip walk between us, but little monkey dude kept following and staring. I must have reminded him of an old girlfriend! Phillip and I stepped up onto the slide platform. Then, he stepped right up there with us. So, I went down the slide to escape! Thank goodness my bottom fit. The slides in Japan are very skinny! The monkey then walked down the hill to get closer to me. Where is a monkey ranger?!?! Phillip stayed right by my side. Finally, after a very long 7-8 minutes, the monkey walked away. Yikes!
This past weekend (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), we had the opportunity to watch Jacob's middle school soccer team play in the end of season tournament. Jacob has played goal keeper on the A team all season and did so during the tourney. The team was undefeated for the season, but had a couple close games against Osaka. On Friday, the two teams tied. On Saturday morning, our overly confident team lost to Nagoya. This turned out to be the best loss ever. It fired the boys up to win the next game 9-0 and then win the final game (against Osaka again) 5-0. It was awesome to see those guys come together as a team. Go Falcons!
Until next time... Peace and Love,
Tina
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