Well, I'm back in Canada again. It was really, really hard to leave, but here I am, so it's time to look ahead and work hard.
I'll post more pictures in the Gallery's Travel section, so go take a look! Better even, go visit Japan and China yourself and see for yourself!
Some of you will also notice a new block on the bottom-right - If you are one of those with an @ashemia.net E-mail address, you can just click on that link rather than remembering the full link each time. Enjoy!
Being one of maybe 10 foreigners in a large city is a unique experience, and probably the closest you can get to knowing how a real alien is received...
People stare - some even lose control of their cars/motorcycles/etc. as they turn their necks to get a better glance. Even Cui is not excempt as she is scrutinized to see what's different to her that makes her walk around with a westerner...
Anyways, I'm still alive and doing well (the food is awesome!), and the gallery now has a big update of pictures. Now that I'm online again, I'll update the gallery a it more regularly (I hope).
Well, I'm writing from the airport on my way to Japan. It will be a trip of 5 days in Japan, one month in China, and then back to Japan for another 10 days.
I'll be in Osaka while in Japan, and in Yanji while in China. Keep an eye on the gallery, as I'll be posting lots of new photographs as I travel!
Well, I've been on an unecpected trip to Edmonton, and somewhat out of contact - living in an RV is not exactly internet-accelerated...
Anyways - the advantage is that I now have loads of new pictures for the gallery, (I'll get to them in the next few days) and can now pick up the shards on this site - dropped several times already and try to glue them together again.
Don't expect a lot of normal settled-in behaviour though - my visit to Japan and China is ahead, and I might not be online much - if at all for extended periods of time. Just bear with me - I'll be back with even more pictures and stories!
By the way - if you are a member, you will also notice a new entry in the left Menu: Blog. It's experimental, and I don't know if it will pan out, but I decided to give it a try. Feel free to partake!
Well, I'm back in South Africa, and am busy experiencing some reverse culture-shock. Suddenly, I am noticing things that I did not notice before because it changed too gradually. But the meat is nice!
For all of you who would like to contact me, my old cellphone number is still active. My internet connectivity might be a bit spotty and irregular, but I do check my E-mail regularly via my P800 phone.
I also just got news from the Canadian High Commission that they are ready for my passport, and I can get my visa in a few days! This means I will be leaving again as soon as I can get a decently priced plane ticket to Canada.
I will also try to upload the last photographs that I took in Japan to the gallery. As soon as I do, you'll see the album highlight picture change.
July is Hanabi (花火) season in Japan! I went down to the river to take pictures of the daily fireworks that goes on for more than a month. People in Japan love going outside to cool down from the summer heat and shoot off some fireworks.
I was invited by a group of Kyodai (Kyoto University) students to join them in the fun. 有り難う 皆さん! 楽しかったです!
The pictures I took is up in the gallery under "Kyoto in July"... Enjoy!
Yesterday I went to the Aoi Matsuri Festival, one of the three biggest festivals in Kyoto (and Japan).
It was amazing to see so many people in Heiean period outfits (over 600), and the day was filled with culture you could pick out of the air and eat.
According to history, the festival owes its existence to bad weather and an impious populace. Terrible storms had been battering the country and the ruler of the day, Emperor Kimmei, had discovered from a soothsayer that the gods of the Kamo shrines were furious at the peoples' impiety and had called up the storms as punishment. In order to make amends the Emperor sent some of his courtiers to pay homage to the Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines and present offerings to the irate gods. This seemed to do the trick, as the storms soon abated and the people were again able to enjoy abundant harvests. The festival continues to this day in commemoration of these events.
Aoi Matsuri is thought to be one of the oldest festivals in the world. I've been told that historians trace its origins to the Heian period in the sixth century a.d.!
I've taken 115 photos of the festival, and have made a huge upload of pictures into the gallery, so be sure to get your taste of Japan right here!
Okay - so you want to spend an extended amount of time overseas...
What should you remember?
Here are a few tips I could reccommend (some tongue in cheek of course):
Get as many Credit Cards as possible. Go to ALL the banks and get yourself a nice fat selection. Why? Because 50-80% of them will give you shyte when you try to use them. Between the Reserve bank and SA's poor service in all the banks, you will pick up problems with some.
Stay in a shared house. It's damn cheap, and you get to meet new interresting people. You also get to experience normal every-day life of people in that country.
Get a Phone working there. It's the perfect way to stay in touch. Don't just activate roaming, get a local phone. Pre-paid phones are available just about everywhere.
Travels: Chickenpox Strikes at the worst possible time!
Just as I'm about to head off and properly get my adventure in Japan started, I get sick.
With what? The one and only childhood disease I did not get as a child: Chickenpox.
Oh man, what bad timing! I'm stuck in an $$expen$ive$$ hotel with no internet connection for a week! The hotel costs me more than two MONTHS rent would have been, and I waste a huge amount of my valuable time in Japan watching daytime TV. Japanese TV is a hoot, but after a week, even that's not funny anymore.
Anyway, I'm out, and into my apartment. Now I just need to go shopping for a few essensials, and I'm all set to go where I was supposed to be a week ago.
Alrighty! I have finally arrived in Japan. It is absolutely everything I imagined - and more. All the sights and sounds make it feel like I am living inside an anime...
I am in Tokyo till the 4'th, when I move to my more permanent base in Kyoto.
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