The Third Trip

Wow, so I just had to go read my last post to see what I wrote. Things have been very busy here the last few... well, weeks. As I said previously, last friday night I moved into my new apartment. This has led to a lot of running around the last few days changing my address with the city, my bank, and my cellphone company. Also, although this is a fully furnished apartment, a few "western" style kitchen items were needed (a BIG pot for making spaghetti, a glass that holds more than 1 liquid ounce, non-chopstick utensils, etc.) Add on top of that, I had my first two days at work. TGIT (thank goodness it's tuesday) and therefore my "weekend"!

Okay, now backtracking a week, I went to Kyoto last sunday. Mostly I walked around the same places that I did two and a half years prior with Sparks. The only place I couldn't find was the big shopping arcade in the middle of the city, but more on that later. Instead of my usual boring detail, I present some observations I wrote down while walking around.

On a rainy day, riding into Kyoto, the mountains sneak up on you, hidden in the clouds.
Coming into Kyoto from the south, the landscape becomes very flat. Not just the terrain, but the buildings become low-slung. It is said that and building taller than the surrounding mountains will be destroyed by angry gods.
A great way to see a city is from it's river banks.
The crane is no fool, it doesn't wade into the deep water to fish. Rather it sits in the rapid and waits for the fish to jump.
Point of thought: Man feeds pigeons, pigeons attract hawks. Is man feeding hawks?

Kyoto is a day trip in the best sense. It takes about 90 minutes to get there, and most of the "big sites" can be seen in a day. Again this trip I failed to see the Kyoto Imperial palace, as it's evidently closed on sundays.

Move over Don Quixote penguin, there's a new favorite mascot in town!

Birds fishing.

Anyone who has read Memoirs of a Geisha will remember Gion.

The notably CLOSED Kyoto Imperial palace.

A week later (last sunday) I decided to take another walk around Kobe. It was a very nice day and again I walked down to Meriken park. This time I went up to the top of Kobe Port Tower and took some pictures.

Big. Metal. Fish.

Preserved piece of Meriken park from the '95 earthquake.

Kobe Port Tower with Kobe Maritime Museum in front.

Kobe Port Tower.

Looking East.

Looking Northeast.

Looking North.

Looking Northwest.

Saturday I had my first day of work. Ironically I was sent into Kyoto and taught at each of the two schools in the part of town where the big shopping arcade I was looking for the previous week is. Monday I started out at my "normal" school but was sent to a school two stops down the line later in the day. All this running around should settle down in a month or two as permanent classes become available. Classes so far have been fun. I like all the students, and the lesson plans are pretty idiot proof (on the teacher end.)

I'm liking the new apartment and my new roommate seems cool. The building is in a historic neighborhood up the hill from Sannomiya station (downtown Kobe.) There are lots of neat old western style homes (which I shall photograph later, as time permits.)