Anyhow, headed north today to see a traditional city-a national treasure. Debates ensued over ideas such as required quantitative research methods courses at smith, and whether eggs consumption can really be anti vegetarian practice or merely vegan.
The Japanese weather channel has been off with regards to the forecast and those cute snowmen they keep predicting never seem to come our way. It was quite chilly up north despite only being a ½ hour away from Sendai. I saw some beautiful temples and a harbor that rendered memories of Hingham.
Now I must say, I have heard the argument that it is wrong to make comparisions between locations because each place has such a unique character, to compare would be to dismiss said unique characteristics. But I must argue against such an opinion because when in unfamiliar territory it is only natural and understandable to make sense of it within a context that is familiar. Now that’s not to say you should dismiss difference, or worse live in an area and not be constantly reassessing its landscape and space as it pertains to you. But to be initially struck by a landscape and become either nostalgic or relate it to prior experience is only natural. I digress-there were beautiful winter tree’s blossoming and the weather was perfect and sunny. I only wished I could have participated in Asian culture a little bit more by whipping out my tripod so that Yum’s and I could have our pictures together. Alas, there was no tripod present which resulted in awkward 1 person pictures.
I beg you not to take offense if you are a fan of the so called one person tourist shot, but I find them to be extremely awkward, and the individual never looks natural-well unless it’s a candid, that’s a different story. We made our way to two temples and I found myself more frustrated than ever, not being able to take pictures within the temple.
Although I understand the reasoning, the artwork and craftsmanship was so breathtaking, I only wanted to be able to have some tangible memory of it. There were also deep caves carved into a mountain with stairways built in the stone. Needless to say, I wished I could have explored, but the gate clearly marked it as gaurded territory.
I contemplated using the foreigner card-I mean let's be honest there were no signs saying do not enter in english. But, similar to the train station earlier that afternoon, you can only use the foreigner card when situations are unclear. Stepping over fences and exiting the train station for diet coke without paying readmittince doesn't fly anywhere---especially, when you are traveling in the company of a citizen of said country where you are considered a foreigner.
So, I entertained myself by looking at the wildly artistic and trippy statues instead.The second temple had a shrine that apparently, if you pray and leave money, will bring you good fortune with relationships.
As one who reads their horiscope frequently, though half-heartedly believing, I figured what the hell. The whole money deal had me feeling as though I were about to get gypped, as one might who say, uses the psychic hotline? But, it was a temple, and spiritual-so I figured it was worth it. Nonetheless, if my love life is not fulfilling, I blame JAPAN. They are pretty well covered since the idea is, you should die feeling fulfilled in your relationships. I am sure when I die, I will have feel fulfilled hopefully-I guess that’s where the money came in handy. 
We also came across this aged tree that was over 700 years old. It was amazing. We briefly toyed with the idea of visiting the aquarium.
I am not sure if it was the gay whale outside that made it seem so appealing, or the penguins. Either way, noises echoing from inside sounded like there was a whale named wily ready to be freed. And we figured we best steer clear should he break through, like the scary scene in the movie where the tank breaks and the children go running. Now that’s a conversation all of it’s own-can we talk about the Free willy soundtrack and a New Kids on the Block comeback as NKOTB! WOW.
Following an unsuccessful search for traditional lanterns that didn’t have a souvenir store feel, we hoped on the Jrail and headed home. Oh, so many cute children sleeping after a long day of touristy events. They looked so peaceful! That is until the train stopped…and the realities if parenting a whiny child following naps became clear.
The day was fantastic and topped off in perfect fashion. ROBOCON! Yes the competition where the science squad from your high school competes to make the most succusful robot fulfill tasks and navigate obsticle courses.
Perhaps what was so interesting about Japan’s coverage of ROBOCON was the panel of analysts and newscasters in the studio reporting. You would have thought it was ESPN during a super bowl event. They hypothesized winners, analyzed strategies, and gave public interest stories about the teams competing. Needless to say, things got tense at the end-but my team came out on top. Yumi was pretty disappointed, since my team was the most attractive by far. She feared it would give nerds across the world-reinforced ideas that the attractive person always comes out on top. Myself on the other hand, I begged to argue it could only give the community more attention in a good way; that is breaking down stereotypes. Now if only I could straighten out my Thailand ticket situation. I don’t understand how an email following a price quote that states “I am looking for something LESS expensive” could result in an email with a new quote that is 200 dollars higher. But I also suppose I still haven’t figured out how my ticket to Bali increased by 100 dollars in 2 hours. Here’s to being lost in translation at my wallets expense. Cheers from Japan-it’s new years eve. Wild times ahead.
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