I haven't took you about the rest of Japan. Oops!
A very brief overview of Kyoto:
Well lots of temples... Like a lot! But each was amazing and beautiful and it snowed at several and it was just magical looking. I could tell you about each individual temple but it would take a while and to be honest it would probably be boring because it is way better to see them! I will say that there is something magic about snow floating down, bright green moss growing and red leaves on the trees. Temples are also surrounded my beautiful gardens. They are beautiful. There is pictures on face book.
We also went to an onzen, which is a public bath were you are with all women (or men depending on your gender obviously) and then soak in tubs of hot water. It was an experience. Not used to being around naked Asian women... Or having an spot where they send electricity through the water. Not sure what it is good for but totally weird feeling!
Now Osaka:
We went to a cool museum... It was in an old castle and all about the life of the man who united Japan as a country. Very interesting but all of the names started to make my head spin. Lots of people are involved in history. Who knew!
Then Hiroshima:
Heartbreaking. I left the museum after several hours totally nauseous. I am glad to have done it but I don't ever need to go back. Totally reinforced my feeling of anti nuke.
Then we came back to Michael's house to sleep and chill after a week of going and going and going. Then on to Seoul to get an India visa for Tara.
Seoul was really fun. We stayed in my favorite hostel I have been in yet. Meet wonderful people who did things with us. Went ice skating with a Peter who is from Slovakia (he taught me how to skate backwards. Also he looked a bit like he was born with skates on his feet but I guess you would expect that seeing where he is from), went to Gangnam with our new friend Raymond from Singapore, went out with the hostel owner and where we meet Raymond, Peter, Maggie, and Rahan, and overall just had fun. It was also freezing the whole time we were there.
Now we have left Tara's passport to get an India visa and are back at Michael's for Christmas. Thankful to have Tara with me for adventures and a house to come back to to cook and celebrate in. It will be very weird to be just the two of us for Christmas but Skype makes the distance between us and our families much smaller!
Tara and I got a teeny tiny Christmas tree and decorated it with earrings and put our small stack of presents under it. We hung an ankle sock of our stocking and are having marinated tofu, mash potatoes and eggnog for Christmas. Oh and we bought coffee to make on Christmas morning! It sound kinda sad but I am very happy with our Christmas spirit. I hope all of your holidays are bright and full of love. Hug those close to you and remember what a beautiful place the world is! Happy Christmas everyone.
Hey Keeley!
ReplyDeleteI just HAD to post after hearing about how you made it work as far as Christmas decorations goes. I love the idea of hanging earrings as ornaments - what an awesome idea for singleton earrings!
Christmas here was pretty normal for me (well only because I do not normally spend Christmas with you). I got to go home and see my family and my sister. I have lots and lots of extended family and so it was good to see everybody! I missed Bozeman though and am glad to be back.
I am back at work cuddling babies (seriously, my job is awesome) and making sure Lincoln stays out of the hospital. He's apparently not the one I should be worrying about though - Dan fell on a rock while XC skiing and went to the ER and got 6 stitches!! luckily I think it was pretty painless, thanks to Amy and her friend Brecken who are both EMT trained (Pre med) and were skiing with him. they cleaned it out on site as soon as it happened and bandaged it up. still - ouch!
anyway, I hope all is well and that you had a wonderful christmas with friends and family! so great that you got to do that even when you're halfway across the world! miss ya!