Photostream
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Finally!
This is what Mt. Fuji looks like from far away after the sun has risen. Hopefully that’s descriptive enough, as pictures are worth a thousand words and this one’s sayin’ a lot more than a thousand…..
I have no idea
It wouldn’t be a japanese site without some vaguely (homo)erotic cartoon characters on the premises.
Morning mountain mist
On the opposite side of Mt. Fuji, some morning clouds drape across the sleepy village nestled in the mountains.
The results of a pre-dawn hike
This is where getting up at 4:30 in the morning and hiking for a good hour and a half will get ya. Not a bad deal, seeing as how you get to see the sun rise over Mt. Fuji.
Mt. Fuji
Yes, that behemoth in the background is Mt. Fuji. I’ve never felt so insignificant before as when I rounded the corner and was suddenly stopped by this sight. Of all the things it inspired at that moment, the most intense was a desire to climb it one day. If it could inspire such feeling from so far away, I can only imagine what it must be like to look out on the land that surrounds it from its pinnacle.
Unfortunately, it’s closed for the season so I only get to go up part of it tomorrow. But there’s always next year/time….
Literal translation
The literal translation for this place was “place where you can buy alcohol and stay”. Or, as we like to call them in America, restaurants.
The Best Souvenir
If this could fit in my backpack, I’d take it. In a heartbeat. Screw all the Japanese social customs about theft and honesty. Bringing this puppy home would be worth every shameful moment. If the Japanese invent nothing else in their collective lifetime, that will be okay with me. Instead of describing in intricate detail the miracles this device is capable of, I’ll leave the power of your own imagination to fill in the blanks that the Japanese-only instructions on the armrest explain. (Although it’s best not to push said buttons while toilet is in use, it can make for some hard to explain to your dorm mates surprises)
Bamboo path
One of the shots I found while wandering around a bamboo forest in Kyoto. If you listen to the Air track “Alone in Kyoto” parts of it sound eerily similar to what the bamboo forest sounds like….
It looks brand spankin’ new!
Just an example of the impeccably clean tracks in Seoul’s underground. Each your heart out MTA! There’s no refuse, no river of digustingness running in the middle of the tracks and more importantly not one single sign of vermin anywhere!!! It’s a far cry from the rat infested underground in the big apple.
Transit Heaven
I could rave and go on for ages about the miracle that is the Seoul Subway system. If there were a promised land of transit systems, surely it will be modeled after Seoul’s. Not only could you eat off of the tracks of the train itself, the entire stations are spotless. They’re meticulously maintained by these ladies in orange vests who make it their personal mission to see not a stray piece of garbage or misplaced gum mars their charge. In addition to the general cleanliness, the trains themselves are efficient and easy to understand. Everything is announced in Korean first, then followed in English. Signs are accompanied by an English translation and diagram. I dare the deaf, blind and stupid to get lost in the Seoul underground. And even if they might temporarily look confused, there was ALWAYS a helpful Korean nearby to provide assistance. In addition to the headache handles, my only other complaint would be that the system shuts down at like 11 p.m. How can you call yourself an international city and capital of your country when your transit system (buses included) shut down at 11!!! My only rational is that surely the tireless workers that maintain such an impeccable system must rest at some point.
Headache Handles
To the average Korean, these swinging subway handles represent the opportunity to sway comfortably while enjoying their daily commute. To the 6′3” American, these headache handles represent a constant source of bruises on the forehead, sharp exclamations of pain and muttered curses under my breath.
Just when I thought I’d mastered the minefield of handles, I’d turn around to leave only to be smacked in the face by one of the damn things. If I had one complaint about the amazing and wonderful subway system of Seoul, it would be the existence of these death traps.
Dead pig
Not bad for not having shot an arrow since high school.
Score!
Score! After like 20 arrows I finally managed to hit the damn pig on the target.
Cheerleaders
While I was shooting, a small group of kids visiting the fortress for a field trip, started cheering me on and going wild each time I managed to get the arrow in the air. I’d like to think they were wanting me to do good, but I’m pretty certain they were just excited to see a foreigner and practice their english.
Fire!
Nancy and I decided to get out of Seoul before heading to our cancelled baseball game and go to Suwon Fortress. I’m sure the fortress is pretty and all what with it having a famous palace or something, but the main attraction was the archery range that for a buck fifty, you got to shoot about 10 arrows.
Purses
Forget the manpurse (aka murse) the korean guys don’t play around and go straight for the full on purse.
Teaching
My cousin Nancy teaches kindergarten in Seoul, Korea. She’s got a great group of kids and was willing to sacrifice me, I mean allow me, to take up one of their lesson times and show them some of the fun pictures I took on my trip. I went through all the boring ones of buildings and churches and things, but when I showed them the picture of me floating in the dead sea, they went wild! I thought I would get asked a bunch of fun questions about where I’d been and what I’d done, but this is an international school so half the kids were from places where I’d already been and were hardly impressed; that didn’t stop them however from noticing my tongue ring and asking plenty of questions about that. Fortunately, kids are easily distracted by Skittles which I didn’t hesitate to share because it’s hard to ask questions with your mouth full.