THANK GOD, THEY'RE DONE

...the tests at least. I still have one more paper to finish and a graduation to attend, but that's it.

And I gloried in it after my last test.

First I went and explored a shrine nearby to my house that I've been dying to see, but haven't had the time for.

 

It was pretty excellent.

I found a path next to it that led to a bunch of local gardens. How nostalgic!

Then I headed home. I took some pictures of flowers on the way there.

Okaasan and Hina were out, but I could hear Hina's voice and followed them over to the nearby park.

I should have done this to begin with, but I was so busy with classes and just tiredness in general, but I introduced myself to the moms and kids at the playground (I was lucky because since I was with Okaasan, I had an in and wasn't being a creepy stranger).

For the kids, it was love at first sight. I was bombarded by practiced English (with pretty good pronunciation as well!) questions and answered all as best I could. Then we took a picture.

After that, we played tag and boy, oh boy, are little kids fast. Man. Whew.

Day in Danjiri-ville

So, remember how I mentioned danjiri, waaaay long ago in September?

Well today I went to the town famous for danjiri--Kishiwara!

It also happens to be Ikue's hometown! With only 10 days left, I'm determined to seek out adventure plus get good test scores!

First we went to Kishiwara Castle. Isn't it pretty?

In the walls of Kishiwara Castle there are holes for shooting arrows. Ikue generously shows how.

3 different types of holes: triangle, circle, and rectangle

There was also a pretty lotus garden in the moat surrounding the castle

Then we went to the Danjiri Museum which had some pretty epic interactive features such as a special exhibit on the current televised drama happening on the NHK network and a studio where you could bang the taiko and bells of the danjiri. It was pretty fun.

After that, we headed to the ocean and had a picnic lunch and then browsed around a nearby shopping mall.

At the final point, I actually got invited over to Ikue's house (something that you don't have happen often in Japan) and we hung out until her parents got home. Ikue seemed really excited that someone could come and visit her hometown (she lives about an hour and a half away from Hirakata and it's somewhat pricy to get there) and she was smiling and I was smiling and
it
was
perfect!

I'm so happy.

Afternoon at the (old) Capitol

So, I started off this day with brave intentions to see the Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival)--a giant parade where people dress up in Heian clothing (my favorite period of Japanese history) and go do a ritual festival associated with hollyhock leaves which are supposed to provide protection against lightning, earthquakes and provide easy childbirth, to name a few.

Well, Jaimes and I were all pumped up for it, only to emerge shocked adn disappointed when we learned it had been rescheduled due to rain.  

FESTIVAL FAILURE.

So we decided to wander around Kyoto instead.

We had a moment of great insight with the local sparrows as we fed them crunched crackers.

And then it fed it to its baby

HOW CUTE.

And some hawks as well. How many can you count?

Then we wandered for a while in Gion-Shijo, went to an arcade, did purikura, and then headed home.

Byodoin with the Family

So today I got up bright and bushy-tailed for one of the final installments in my "Travel Japan" Plan (you see, I only have sixteen days left in Japan, yikes!)--a trip to the famed temple, Byodoin.

Byodoin is certainly famous--its likeness is on the back of the ten yen coin and the phoenixes that adorn its roof turn up on the back of the 10,000 yen bill.

It's also one of the only pieces of Heian architecture to survive to this day without major upkeep. Originally Byodoin was Fujiwara Michinaga's (the guy who was basically the "man behind the curtain for all of court life) retirement villa and when his son Yorimichi inherited it, he converted it into a temple for Jodo (Amida's Pure Land) Buddhism. Jodo Buddhism oversimplified is that if you pray to Amida Buddha, you will be taken to heaven and away from this worldly hell when you die. This temple was designed to look like Amida's Pure Land (also known as "Amida's Paradise"). Hence, the giant lotus pond (said to be the main landmark in Amida's Pure Land) and the fact that it faces the East (so that when you're facing the hall, you're facing West, the direction that Buddha comes from).

The translation of "Byodoin" is actually "Phoenix Hall" and not just because of the giant metal birds on the roof! The entire layout is supposed to look like a phoenix with two wings and a tail. The "wings" are not actually connected to the "body" so when you go explore them, you have to walk out of the main hall and physically enter them yourself. The "tail" is used for storage. The main "body" houses a giant, glistening Buddha decked out in gold leaf and absolutely spectacular when the light hits him a certain way.

Red = Body, Blue = Wings, Yellow = Tail

On this journey,  Ojiisan (Okaasan's father) accompanied us. He gave me very useful tips on how to take pictures (though most of the Japanese went over my head) and was very nice.

Shot of the giant wisteria trees in front of Byodoin

After visiting Byodoin, we had lunch, starting with delicious steamed eel sushi and following that with kitsune soba!

Wrapped with the offshoots of baby bamboo

YUMMY!

Ochasoba--soba noodles made with green tea

Hina enjoys green tea dango

Hina had woken up on the wrong side of the bed--several times throughout the day she told me, Okaasan, and Otousan that she hated us.

See her cranky face?

Her mood changed though as we took a scenic river boat ride up and down the river. It was soothing and nice, but I forgot my favorite pen on the boat and didn't realize it until we had returned home. That was a little depressing.

Otousan with a dragonfly on his hand

But then we got ice cream and it was delicious!