Monday, January 21, 2008

A New Year- On to 08

So after Christmas I headed down to the California of Japan otherwise known as Kansai. My roommates family lives there and it is always a blast to hang out with them. We always soak up some culture, see the sights, have fun, and my highlight is always joining in on the family praise time. I just love the Kitahara family!

So this year the first big activity was making mochi, or Japanese pounded rice. It was a lot of fun and afterwards we got to spend time with family friends talking about what are job with the BEST Club looks like. I did my best to explain it in (very choppy) Japanese. Luckily Keiichi was there to re-translate it into Japanese.

The next big event found us on our way to Kyoto. We had a great time seeing the famous Gion district full of small streets and old buildings and temples, we were a bit early though so no photos with a Maiko this year. But I will include a kimono shot for you to kind of set the mood. In the summer time this area is much busier and I have heard that it can feel a bit like a time warp to old Japan.


The highlight of the day for me was catching up with my friend Kazi. He is an old friend from my first summer in Utsunomiya and is now a grad student at Kyoto University, maybe the second most famous university in Japan. It keeps him super busy, so this is the only time each year that I get to see him.

This year my roommates younger brother turned 20, the big year to celebrate entering adulthood. So we all went to a hotel up in the mountains and celebrated. It was a cool place and after hitting the Sinto (ie hot tub) we relaxed in traditional kimonos and sang Karaoke.


The lady that runs it has an amazing story of how God's saved her from suicide and now 70 of her employees people who attempted suicide and she is helping them turn their life around. Awesome!

On the way up to the hotel we stopped and visited Himeji Castle. The most famous castle in Japan. It was gorgeous, and it's even more amazing in the spring. Here's as close as I got to actually seeing it when the cherry blossoms bloom.


OK there was lost of other fun stuff but I'll wrap up with a shot from the Hollywood Hills. I mean Osaka Hills. This is the view all the Japanese Movie Stars see out the windows of the mansions. It really did feel like you were looking down on L.A.



OK there are way more photos but I think that's enough for this post. If you haven't checked out my photo page I encourage you to do so.



And if your wondering why this post is in blues and grays, it because I spent the whole trip battling a cold so I had to spend a lot of time sleeping :( But it was still a great time!

posted by Keith @ 9:58 PM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home