Before my Golden Week vacation actually began, I had the chance to spend Sunday in Ueno. While I was there I walked around the Ueno Park and went to the The National Museum of Nature and Science's Darwin Exhibit. Even though it was difficult to fully comprehend the entirety of the exhibit (it was in Japanese), I enjoyed a day spent out and about.
Close-up Number 1
Close-up Number 2
Looking at the Ueno traffic from the park's overlook.
Seasonal flowers at Ueno Park.5.3.08
Today marked the first official day of my week long vacation. Lauren and I were both looking forward to our time off mainly because we haven't had more than a Sunday off in the past five months. Work keeps us on our toes but it's good to stop and refresh every once in a while. We headed into Tokyo to meet up with our friendRyoji. We had all been invited to a birthday party for one of Ryoji's friends. It was at an Japanese/English (the owner was English) pub in Tokyo. Even though it was quite noisy, the atmosphere of the pub was warm and friendly. To be honest, I wasn't used to seeing and hearing so many English speaking people in one place; it was a nice change.
Roomies: Me and Lauren!
Lauren and Ryoji
Ryoji demonstrating the "Typical Japanese Camera Pose".5.4.08
Today (Sunday), I was invited to my friend Yasuko's house for a spring potluck picnic. In actuality, the party was at Yasuko's parent's house--an old, beautiful traditional Japanese house with a large backyard and garden. The house was well outside the metropolitan area of Tokyo. It took me about one and a half to two hours to get there from my apartment; however, it was well worth the trip. I met up with some people half way (inOgikubo which is on the western edge of Tokyo) and was able to rely on them for the remaining leg of our trip to Tama station (Yasuko's house was a 15 minute walk from Tama station). As we all walked down the streets near Tama station, it was easy to see that we were no longer part of the bustling city. The air was quiet and smelled like spring. Every few houses you could see small patches of land that had been prepared for farming. I was even able to point out some tomato plants to a friend as we passed by on the street.
By the time we arrived at Yasuko's house the party had just started. Megumi, Yoshi and I helped Yasuko by preparing some coals for the barbecue. This process was really interesting to me because it was so different from what I'm used to doing back at home. Back home in America, we usually either have a gas grill or we buy charcoal and douse the charcoal with lighter-fluid in order to get the grill started. Here in Japan it is simpler--in terms of the reduction of technology/chemicals that are used rather than "simplicity" in terms of the time it takes to complete the task. A fire is started in another location just for the purpose of making hot coals. The hot coals are then gathered and moved the grill so that cooking can commence. This was was a little more time consuming but I was definitely more appreciative of the food I ate because of the whole process.
Besides eating a lot of really great food, I had a chance to make a few new friends and talk about life in Japan. There were a few times I tried to chime in with the little Japanese that I know and most times I was understood. It was good practice for me! :)
Playing with Emma (from left to right: Kate, Gladson, Emma, Megumi, Lindsey, Yasuko who seems to be hiding and someone that I didn't formally meet)
Emma and Megumi :)
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