Kiyomizu Temple in fall

Sorry I haven't put anything up in a while. I have a Japenese test next Sunday and am busy applying to grad school. Here's a some picture from the fall leaves at Kiyomizu-dera:

Rurikei

On the other side of my town is Rurikei, roughly translated as 'azure cliffs'. Located up in the mountains through narrow, windy roads, Rurikei is locally famous for its onsen, or hot spring. There's also trails and temples along the way. Last Sunday the Kyoto International Society held an event at Rurikei. We went for a hike before stopping at a pavillion to cook lunch. Here's a farm at the start or the trail:


We followed a path along a creek for a mile or two. Along the way were waterfalls and signs describing the plants placed by elementary students from one of my schools. Here's one waterfall:


Towards the end was a retaining wall holding back a reservoir. There was a thin but steady stream of water flowing down the side. At a couple points there were tunnels that led back further through the wall:


At the other end of the wall (and quite a bit further up) was the reservoir. A lot of people were fishing from piers or boats. The area around the dam was roped off to make sure no one strayed too close to the edge:

Early signs of Autumn

Some leaves are starting to change color higher up in the mountains of my town:

Food

A little while ago I went to one of the other teacher's apartment for 'temaki-zushi' or hand made sushi. You basically need seaweed, rice, and whatever else you want to put in sushi (including various fish, cheese, ham, cucumbers, pork, eggs, among other things). She brought me over early to help prepare and most of what's pictured here was cut and arranged by me:


Another great dish from Japan is 'okonomiyaki', a pancake-like dish that could be roughly translated as 'whatever you like grilled'. There's generally a bunch of cabbage or green onions, sometimes soba noodles, and anything else you like. I usually get squid and/or pork, but this giant okonomiyaki was ordered by someone else and includes cheese, potatoes, mochi (rice-cake) and lots of stuff I generally don't like in okonomiyaki. It tasted okay anyway:


One advantage of the apartment I moved to last April is my landlady. She's a sweet old woman who sometimes brings me stuff, like this fruit I got earlier this month. Fruit is comparatively expensive in Japan, with these three things probably costing more than $10. The thing on the right is a 'nashi' or 'snow pear'. Really it tastes like a mix between a pear and an apple with a crispy texture:

Umeda Sky Building

One of the taller buildings in Osaka and located near Osaka Station, the Umeda Sky Building offers a great view of the city with a 'sky garden' and cafe where you can most of the city. It's actually two towers connected at the top by several floors that look at each other from circular windows:


To actually get to the top you have to ride an escalator that spans the gap between both buildings. It's surrounded by glass and you can almost feel the wind blow past as you look some 30 stories below:


The roof is open to the public for a small fee and features a maze of security fences to stop anyone from going where they shouldn't. There's also a great deal of weather measuring equipment visible throughout the tower:


Like I said, the building offers a great view of Osaka:

A View of Osaka

From the Umeda Sky Building near Osaka Station:

Two things that bother me about Japan

First of all, sorry I haven't updated more often. I've been busy with school and haven't thought to put up stuff here. There are a number of things that bother me about Japan, but I'll only write about two tonight that are rather mundane.

1. In Japan, no one says 'Bless you' when you sneeze. I'm not superstitious, I don't think you're soul is leaving you through your nose when you sneeze, but this is something so ingrained in my head during my upbringing that it was really hard to not say it during my first few months here. I still look at teachers who sneeze, but hesitate to say anything. In Japan, sneezing is public is a little taboo. People today understand that you can't control and those in your close friend group don't care, but it is considered rude to sneeze around other people. It's part of a feudal ethic code that goes back several hundred years. I think it's also part of the reason Japanese people cover their mouths when laughing.

Earlier tonight I was hanging out with some teachers and the one who teaches English had a cold. While we were talking she sneezed and I started telling her about 'bless you' and how awkward it was not to say it. The rest of the night she got a kick out of every time I responded to her sneezes.

2. Juice/milk. You can find good juice in Japan, but it costs a lot. At one grocery store in my town they have the Japanese brand juice and Tropicana. Tropicana is, in my opinion, much better tasting, but it's about 220 yen, or more than $2.50 per liter/quart. I could get two quarts of orange juice for $3.30 in the US (I think). At another grocery store Dole juice is for sale at 108 yen per 500 mL, or about a pint. That's actually slightly cheaper than the Tropicana (which is nice because I can get two kinds of juice for less than the price of one).

I have not found anything like skim milk in Japan. There are low fat milks, and some milk that taste significantly better than others. However, being raised on skim milk I require some low fat alternative. I found a low cost brand that I really liked, but it either went out of business or changed labels two or three months after I started drinking it. I now use a secondary brand that I is rather famous and will be around for the foreseeable future, but it's still more fatty than I would like.

Anyway, those are two small complaints I have, but they come up often. I don't expect to change them anytime soon, but I would appreciate some good American juice/milk.