Sayonara Nippon

The time has come for us to say goodbye! We have had an amazing eight months here in Japan. We definitely came across a few obstacles along they way, but I don't think anyone has ever said living in a foreign country was easy. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to live abroad- especially after NOVA went bankrupt. Thank you for all your care packages, emails and prayers for our well-being. We look forward to sharing all of our Japan stories with you.

We'll continue to post when we get back home. Jake received a "too good to give up" scholarship to the University of Oregon, so it looks like we will soon be heading to the Eugene area. I think we all know how Jill feels about Eugene, but she promises to mourn for only a few more days and then will get "on-board" with the idea of not living in Portland-especially since it's only for another year. :)

Love you all!

J and J

Hiroshima

Hello All.

We just got back from our last trip before we head home. After spending a mere 52,500 yen we were able to travel to Hiroshima- oh how we will miss spendy train rides. We, again, for your sake narrowed down the 200 plus shots to a few that summarize our time in Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Hiroshima's regional dish is hiroshima-yaki- egg based pancakes made with soba, cabbage and a fried egg. I added prawns to mine and Jake was brave enough to add squid to his.









Yes, that's right, we came all the way to Hiroshima and then spent an evening in an arcade. We had too fun of a time playing Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart and Air Hockey (we were sore the next day).














A-Bomb Dome at night.




A few months ago when we were in Nara, Jake had the opportunity to pose with a deer. He took the opportunity, but to his heart's regret did not put his arm all the way over the deer's shoulder like he had always dreamed of doing. As you can see, his dream finally came true with a deer in Miyajima. I had no such dream.
*A few hours later a deer tried to eat Jake's shirt...








Floating Torri Gate in Miyajima.










Masked Performer with chanting- we're not sure what exactly was going on.










This was the beginning of our hike up Mt. Misen. It started off with a gentle slope and then went straight up. The Japanese must not be fans of switchbacks.







Not only was a beautiful view waiting for us at the top, but also an old man selling ridiculously priced soda and chocolate bars. We definitely went for the chocolate.






On our way down, we crossed paths with a troop of wild monkeys (Google informed us that groups of monkeys are troops?). We were within an arm's reach of 20-30 monkeys! It was quite a remarkable experience.





We were rewarded with another beautiful view at the end of our 5 hour hike.




A mass grave for many of the atomic bomb victims.








Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. This is the Hall of Remembrance. The wall is a panorama of the bombed city as seen from the hypocenter. It is made up of 140,000 tiles, the number of people estimated to have died by the end of 1945.


We also visited the Children's Peace Memorial where among many other cranes and messages we found a poster sent in from a class in Newberg, Oregon. The Peace Memorial Museum was a very moving experience for both of us. The museum narrates the events preceding, during and after the bombing. What really got to us were the pictures and singed articles of clothing left behind from school children who were killed.

Tokyo

We just got back from a four day trip to Tokyo. We managed to take almost three hundred pictures while we were there, but for your sanity have chosen only a fraction of those to share. For those of you closest to us, you can look forward to clicking through all 30 of Jake's sunset pictures, all 17 of his duck pictures and so on...


When in Tokyo, you must try to imitate statues in public places. It helps if you wear a hot pink jacket backwards to limit the attention you are drawing to yourself.







Can you find Jake? He's off to find a bargain at Ameya-yokocho, a once famous black market district. We scored to some Adidas gear for far too cheap.






Jill was approached by three Japanese Jehovah Witnesses. They told her she looked like "a nice Christian girl."







Harajuku had some very interesting sights. Large groups of "kids" dress up every Sunday and gather together for some much needed attention.




Our friend, Alecia! We all lived in Edobashi until NOVA went bankrupt. She has been living in Tokyo since December and graciously let us stay with her.






One of the many skyscrapers in the Shinjuku district.









The Imperial Palace-the Emperor is one lucky guy.








We took a wee little break for a wee little beer. Navigating Tokyo was a bit more challenging after this stop.









This is Rainbow Bridge at sunset. The walk across the bridge was 918 meters (feel free to do the conversion) and gave a great view of the city. The traffic whizzing by behind us was not so great.


Tokyo at night from Odaiba.



Our last stop in Tokyo- Hamarikyu Garden.








****
Our time in Japan is quickly coming to an end. We leave on Thursday morning for our last trip. We will be in Hiroshima for three days and then will only have a handful of days left in Nagoya before we head back to Oregon.

We had a two-hour layover in Gero, a spa-resort town of about 15,000 people. In various locations throughout the town, there are free hot foot-baths. Jill and I warmed our feet and tried to ignore the evidence of "floating foot stuff." from other people's nasty feet.




Gero's most famous "public bath" happens to be right at the foot of a well-trod bridge giving a perfect top-down view of wrinkled, leathered, old Japanese men. Apparently they like to watch the mini-golf course on the lawn while they scrub their various crevices. In the tourism pamphlets, this bath is featured with a beautifully lit town and a couple naked Japanese women. We're pretty sure no women ever go in this bath...



Our Japanese style hotel room featuring tatami mats and floor futons. Spacious, and with excellent HDTV flat-screen Japanese TV programs...




Jill demonstrates a yukata, or traditional pajama garb. We were meant to wear them on our way to the public baths; I was fine with the idea, until I found out that the tub I was meant to share with a stranger was the size of a double mattress. Jill and I weren't into spooning other people while naked in a tub, so we always bathed at 4:00 in the afternoon while other people toured...






While touring one of the temples, we stumbled onto a traditional Japanese wedding. The bride is wearing a wedding kimono, but the 79 German tourists weren't so traditional...









This is the "Main World Shrine," a name which is quite sure of itself. Its followers practice an off-shoot of Shintoism and Christianity. We couldn't take pictures, but inside a golden shrine and glowing neon fish tank take the place of the traditional cross. When Jill and I walked through, the place was ghostly empty, but every month 10,000 or so of the congregation make the pilgrimage to Takayama to worship. We tried to ignore the proliferation of swastikas and guards patrolling in Nazi-like uniforms...PS: you can see Jill's tiny body next to the giant Star of David towers...






Jill is so elegantly sprawled across the ruins of Takayama Castle's main gate. The English signs instructed us that the castle was "reduced to the reduced ruins." The whole site is a nature preserve which was a welcome escape from the crowds of European tourists. The man in the straw hat happened to be taking a piss in the woods when I unwittingly came up behind him to get a "cultural" picture of his hat. He turned around and zipped up and I pretended to take a "cultural" picture of the mountains.




This picture simply demonstrates how desperate for Mexican food we are. We went to this Lonely-Planet-recommended restaurant three different times, and it was closed each freakin time. Guess it was a sure sign that we needed to stick to Japanese cuisine while we are here...

Toba and Osaka

After saying Sayonara to the Moores, us Denbrooks took off for Toba and Osaka.


Toba was freezing cold, but we were able to escape the crowds- the town was virtually deserted. We took a cruise around the bay and had a great time.

We were definitely the only people on the top deck. Crazy gaijins? Probably.






Jake's pretty amazing. Maybe one day he really will fly.








Meotoiwa- The Wedded-Rocks.











We took the bullet train to Osaka on Wednesday- we're thinking of purchasing one of our own.



Yummy! Jake eats an omelet filled with rice. An Osaka specialty.









It's Spring time!!!














A nice mosaic in front of the public bathrooms.

Goodbye Chatty Kids!

Last Wednesday was my last day of pre-school. I miss my kids already, so I thought I would post a few more pictures. They have truly made my time in Japan memorable.

Momoka and Sakuya are one crazy train!











Lion had the cutest curly hair before his mom chopped it all off. He's still pretty adorable.










Momoka and little Shota. When I started teaching, Shota wasn't speaking any English. Now, you can't get the kid to shut up. He was even able to introduce himself to Jake.







Paul, Heidi and Pat. As you can see, Pat really enjoys having his picture taken. Satomi, our music teacher, is hiding in the back.

I have tons of pictures of my class, but I'll wait until I'm home to show off the rest of them.

Monika and Darrel's last full day with us is tomorrow. We have had so much fun and will be sad to see them go. We will especially be sad to say goodbye to the Marriott!

Kyoto and Some Stuff

In true Japanese fashion, we spent the last 5 days moving at a very quick pace. We've visited castles, temples, shrines, walked the Path of Philosophy, eaten sashimi (raw fish),and for those of us without mono, consumed our fair share of alcoholic beverages.



Thursday- After gorging at an all you-can-eat Indian Curry Buffet, we waddled around Nagoya Castle.


The six of us barely fit into our tiny apartment. No one understands how small it really is until they try to spend more than ten minutes inside. We lasted fifteen.




Friday (Day One of Kyoto)
Fushimi Inari and the endless Torri Gates. You may recognize the Torri Gates from Lost in Translation or Memoirs of a Geisha. If you haven't seen either of the movies, put them on your list!



Kinkaku, or more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion. The temple is actually covered in gold.



Justin's Dinner. Tuna Sashimi. Thanks to his adventurous ordering we were all able to experience raw fish, and surprisingly enjoyed it.



Saturday (Day Two of Kyoto)
Heian Jingu- just another shrine. :)


The Path of Philosophy. Do you feel enlightened?


Ginkaku Ji. The main temple was under construction, so we opted for tasty treats instead. Justin and Jake are enjoying boiled fish paste with shrimp inside, while Erika licks her green tea icecream. Yum!


Geisha at Kiyomizudera.



Kiyomizudera. It's remarkable that we were able to get a picture without a million people in it.


Our last stop in Kyoto was Sanjusangendo- home of 1001 statues. Here were are in front of the ever popular cherry blossom tree. I think having to tilt your head to look at the picture really adds to its beauty.


Sunday-
We are back in Nagoya and at the Port. This picture was taken before it started to pour. We are all very tired and would probably rather have been in bed.