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Himeji Castle
List of weird things I've eaten
- thorny twig tempura (a thorn got stuck inside my mouth!)
- reproductive shoot of horsetail plant
- Quail's eggs (hard-boiled in a stew)
- spaghetti with nasty tiny dried whole minnows
- raw sea urchin - luckily just slimy with sort of a pungent flavor
- raw octopus - shudder - the tentacles popped in my mouth as I bit into them
- Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) spaghetti - from the photo, I thought it was a nice tomato sauce!
Quote of the day
out of the mouth of an English teacher:
"His charm point is teeth."
On the back of a 12 year old girl's sweatshirt:
"Feel free to Love Yourself
It enhances feminity"
On the box of muffins I brought into the teachers on my last day:
"Welcome to Delicious Town. There are many delightful treat dexterously prepared with fresh eggs, by ensuring the richness of natural bounce. The people who live in the town experience smiling meal time with their family, and enjoy seasonal sweets."
Humanity is ocean.
If a few drops of the ocean
Are dirty, the ocean does
Not become dirty.
(as seen on a teacher's T-shirt. Has an almost haiku-like rhythm to it)
"His charm point is teeth."
On the back of a 12 year old girl's sweatshirt:
"Feel free to Love Yourself
It enhances feminity"
On the box of muffins I brought into the teachers on my last day:
"Welcome to Delicious Town. There are many delightful treat dexterously prepared with fresh eggs, by ensuring the richness of natural bounce. The people who live in the town experience smiling meal time with their family, and enjoy seasonal sweets."
Humanity is ocean.
If a few drops of the ocean
Are dirty, the ocean does
Not become dirty.
(as seen on a teacher's T-shirt. Has an almost haiku-like rhythm to it)
Question of the Day
Do American children have difficulty understanding their mother's accent? (asked by a student teacher who wants to be an English teacher. I barely managed to keep a politely blank look on my face)
How many centimeters is my nose? (handily the girl had a ruler ready - it's 2.5 cm for those of you who were wondering!)
Asked by a curious 7th grader:
Do Americans use hot or cold water to bathe?
Asked to me by an 8th grade girl:
Does Orlando Bloom sleep in his underwear? (I don't know why she thought I might know! I told her probably)
Asked to me at an enkai - How old was I when my father stopped taking a bath with me?? (here it's common for family members to bathe together. The vice principal said he bathed with his daughter until she was in high school!! A female teacher said she bathed with her father until she was about 9 years old).
This question was actually posed to Heather:
Are those your original eyes? (as in, have you had cosmetic surgery to make your eyes bigger?)
From a 6th grade boy:
Do you like dental clinics?
How many centimeters is my nose? (handily the girl had a ruler ready - it's 2.5 cm for those of you who were wondering!)
Asked by a curious 7th grader:
Do Americans use hot or cold water to bathe?
Asked to me by an 8th grade girl:
Does Orlando Bloom sleep in his underwear? (I don't know why she thought I might know! I told her probably)
Asked to me at an enkai - How old was I when my father stopped taking a bath with me?? (here it's common for family members to bathe together. The vice principal said he bathed with his daughter until she was in high school!! A female teacher said she bathed with her father until she was about 9 years old).
This question was actually posed to Heather:
Are those your original eyes? (as in, have you had cosmetic surgery to make your eyes bigger?)
From a 6th grade boy:
Do you like dental clinics?
Current Time in Himeji
Current Weather in Himeji
For those of you thinking of visiting:
The nearest airport is KIX in Osaka (about 2 hours away)
This link is great for prices and times for train travel - http://www.hyperdia.com/
Link for website about Japanese guesthouses (ryokan) including making reservations -http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm
Link to website for business hotels - http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
Link to Kyoto sights to see http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/
This link is great for prices and times for train travel - http://www.hyperdia.com/
Link for website about Japanese guesthouses (ryokan) including making reservations -http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm
Link to website for business hotels - http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
Link to Kyoto sights to see http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/
other Himeji blogs
What I'm reading
- The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family by Elisabeth Bumiller
- Yakuza Diary: Doing Time in the Japanese Underworld
- Norwegian Snow by Haruki Murakami
- Inside Japan by Peter Tasker (another good book about Japanese history and culture)
- Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda (a true story, not as romantic as Memoirs of a Geisha)
- Culture Shock Japan - a book I reread frequently
- Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami
- Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima (1st book in a tetralogy. It's fantastic!)
- Dogs and Demons, also by Alex Kerr, but now he's become much more critical of Japan
- Lost Japan by Alex Kerr - a great, and balanced, perspective on Japan
- Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiling - it says exactly what I would say about being in Japan, if I was a better writer!
- A History of Love
- The Colors of Heaven (short stories from around the Pacific Rim)
- Samurai William by Giles Milton
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (it's excellent!)
Who's checking out this blog??
About Me
- Sara
- I'm spending a year in Himeji, Japan through Phoenix's Sister City Teach Abroad Program. I'm an Assistant English teacher to Japanese English teachers at a junior high school.
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