pretty pretty pictures

This isn't from any trip, but it is one of the stained glass designs in the entranceway to my school. I wonder what ALT let that English slip by... or maybe they just thought it was cute (it is).

This is the school courtyard, behind that stained glass window above.
This is Minami Junior High School in all its glory. There's a rice paddy in front of it in case you were wondering if it's really in Japan or not.
Nagasaki chinatown (I think maybe more like an ode to the chinatown that used to be in Nagasaki, but pretty nonetheless).
Amber's friend humbly paying her respects to the gods at this temple in Nagasaki.
As you can see I've taken advantage of Japanese cybernetic medical technology and had my left arm replaced with a fearsome blade. It's also magical.
This picture more or less captures what we did in Nagasaki for 2 days.
I liked this Samurai statue. He's from the 19th century, so you may notice that he is wearing western-style boots under his traditional attire.
A picture can't quite capture this moment. This was a group of special needs individuals performing a fishermans dance outside of Nagasaki station. You'll notice a man with no leg, someone wearing a helmet in the corner, and perhaps some dazed looks. But they looked like they were having an amazing happy time for the most part, and the crowd merrily cheered them on and lots of old ladies said "kawaii!" (cute!) lots of times. When we first saw it Amber pointed and asked if they were "special," to which her Japanese friend responded by scolding her and saying "you can't say that!" At first I thought maybe it was a bit much to have these special needs individuals paraded like this, but they were having so much fun, and had so much support from everyone around them that by the end I thought it was great. Not a common scene along American urban streets...
Amber riding a panda-car-machine at "Space-World" near Kokura. It's an amusement park that would be more appropriately named "Kokura land" according to some of her friends. It's seen better days (cracked ground, broken machines, rust) according to Amber, which dashed some of my preconceptions about Japanese cleanliness and cautiousness. Amber noted that while they do build frequently, quickly, and relatively efficiently, they don't necessarily maintain existing projects very well. School cleaning time is maybe an example, which at least at my school is about 20 minutes of communal pushing dirt around time. But this is the only real cleaning time the school receives and as a result looks pretty dirty.
Space World again. Kind of creepy and not really "space" related at all. It was still a fun day though.
Amber's friend Yuki has a baby. Most babies and little kids anywhere are pretty cute, but there's something really really cute about Japanese kids. The winnie the pooh (pooh-san) scooter helps.