ichiban saigo

can't believe i'm still talking about that winter vacation trip... I'd be disappointed in me if I were you. But here are at least a few more pictures and words before I let it go.

Some coins people threw at the little buddhas near kinkakuji.
This is inside the Kyoto Train Station, which is a crazy postmodern futuristic construction. Kyoto, as you may know, is renowned for holding on to some of the last remnants of an old Japan that bombs and "progress" have mostly removed. But the city's train station, as well as most of the city's downtown and residential areas, are glass, steel, and of course, concrete.
This is my last mention of Shana being 5 years old on this trip, but I mean, c'mon...
If there was one thing that we could agree on throughout this trip (sometimes there wasn't...), its that Jaime needed to lose some weight. Here's her being grumpy about the diet we put her on. Maybe I've been to conscientious myself though, since last I weighed myself, the scale said 58 kilos, which puts me under 130 lbs. I don't even remember the last time I weighed so little... Who would've thought leaving American food and using a bike to get around everywhere could affect one's physique?
This is Alex, possessed by something insidious it seems...
This is maybe the worse picture of Roopali I've ever seen, so I figured she would probably want me to put up in public...
Here's a much better one though. She's happy because there's a cute animal next to her, and that makes all little girls happy.
Another reminder that we were actually walking around looking at pretty Japanesey things. Also that it was the winter, and there are no cherry blossoms in the winter.
Not that we can forget the big weird shiny things, which are just as Japanesey as the pretty temples and parks.
And finally, here I am doing what I do best, pouting. Probably because i proved my weakness in Japanese at this Korean restaurant in Hiroshima. The waitress told me something about some all you can drink with a big meal set, but because we just wanted a few drinks i said no thanks, we'll just have a few beers and some tea. After getting this for us in a reluctant manner, and saying no to food for a second time, they tried explaining things to me again, and this time I got it. The only thing they offered that day was the big set they just explained to me. So after the waitress earlier had told me that, I responded that yes, i understood, but just get us some drinks anyway. What a rude foreigner I am. But I apologized, we left not long after, and the owner even sprayed us with febreeze so we wouldn't smell like grilled meat. I'll keep studying, I promise. And I'll be more careful with my "wakarimashita" (I understand).

So after Kyoto, we headed back to Takasaki where we planned on going to the Daruma doll festival. But a few things plotted against this part: we got back too late the first day, i was really sick, there was no convenient transport there, and well, moving a group of 4 girls isn't easy. And I'm not much of a motivator when various gross liquids won't stop rushing out of my face... But anyway we had a final day or so in Tokyo, where the girls got to do a bit of last minute shopping and sightseeing, and I got to spend hours at the airport with Shana and Jaime. I hear the fish market was particularly interesting, but have no pictures to prove if that's true, and I had to go to work the day Alex and Roo went. Not that Junior High School kids aren't great too. It was good to see everyone, though by now I'm sure they've all returned to the daily routine. Come back anytime!

Next time, I'll talk about my plans for this new year, how things are going here, and maybe even have a surprise or two. Oo aren't you excited...

Aaron