Update time! On Wednesday, Jillian and I went to Udo Jingu, or Udo Shrine, which is on the coast about a half hour drive from the university. We hadn't seen Kaori in a little while, so we were happy to go out and visit such a beautiful place with her. (Jill has been to Udo Jingu twice already, and posted about one of her visits here.)
A lovely view of the ocean - you can see some tiny figures fishing on the rocks on the right side of the picture if you look really closely!
We left the college at about two in the afternoon with Kaori, since she'd had a presentation that morning. Along the way, we passed the Devil's Washboard in Aoshima, which I unfortunately couldn't get a good picture of since we were moving. Unlike the sandy beaches of Hawaii or the pebbly beaches of Olympia, the Devil's Washboard is a really unique formation that has a weird sort of angular washboard-like look to it. (It's worth it to Google or Wiki it if you'd like to see a picture)
An observation Jill made about the view was that in Japan, or at least in Kyushu, there isn't really a tree line like in Washington. That is to say, when one looks at the mountains here, they're entirely covered with green. Also, the trees go almost all the way to the water, except where people have developed the land.
Along the way, we almost ran over this little fellow:
An observation Jill made about the view was that in Japan, or at least in Kyushu, there isn't really a tree line like in Washington. That is to say, when one looks at the mountains here, they're entirely covered with green. Also, the trees go almost all the way to the water, except where people have developed the land.
Along the way, we almost ran over this little fellow:
Why, hello there!
Luckily, Kaori saw him in time and slowed down. At first, he ran back into his little hole, which gave me the chance to snap this picture. Kaori had never seen one of these before, either. We think that he may have been some kind of たぬき, (TaNuKi - or raccoon dog) but we weren't entirely sure.
Run, run little guy! Whew... he made it across the road safely.
"Raccoon" seems like kind of a poor comparison for these things, since they're very different from the raccoons we usually see around Evergreen. If you're a Mario fan, you might recognize the word "tanuki" from Mario 3, where Mario can don a Tanuk Suit, that makes him look like a raccoon. (Or, maybe you're not a huge nerd and have no idea what I'm talking about. ^^) Actually though, this guy looked kind of weasely... in any case, we can speculate about what he is later.
Ah, Udo Jingu, the shrine by the sea...
Ah, Udo Jingu, the shrine by the sea...
Lucky for us, Wednesday was really sunny in Aoshima, although a bit windy. Unlike the last time Jillian, Kaori, Charlie and Max had come here, it was nice and dry out, so the climb down the stairs to the small cavern in a cliff where the shrine is wasn't the slippery, treacherous scramble they'd had to deal with before.
Jill and Kaori at the shrine. Almost more amazing than the structure itself is the cave it resides in - the rock formations are amazingly interesting.
One thing I might not have mentioned before about shrines is that there's always a place where one washes their hands before coming into the grounds. Men also, (if they're brave) are supposed to wash their mouths with the water as well, but not everybody does so.
Udo Jingu has a cool, but scary dragon at its hand-washing pool to ensure 100% cooperation. If one fails to wash, he promptly soaks you with a blast of icy water. (Not really, but wouldn't that be awesome?)
Udo Jingu has a cool, but scary dragon at its hand-washing pool to ensure 100% cooperation. If one fails to wash, he promptly soaks you with a blast of icy water. (Not really, but wouldn't that be awesome?)To my surprise, there were a lot of people at the shrine when were there. Not as many as when I went to Dazaifu, but still quite a few. When we asked Kaori about it, she explained that ever since Higashi Sonomanma (remember that guy in the orange robe I wrote about before?) became governor, the tourist trade in Miyazaki prefecture had been revitalized and boosted in a much-needed way. Tourists come to Miyazaki from all over Japan now, whereas it was considered to be kind of a backwater before the new governor came along.
This is a good luck bunny inside the cave.
This is a good luck bunny inside the cave.
Jill, Kaori and I pet this bunny on its head for good luck. Jillian's Chinese zodiac is ウサギ、(USaGi - rabbit,) mine is トラ、(ToRa - tiger) and Kaori's is 牛, (うし、UShi, Bull or Cow.) We thought that it was kind of neat that all of our birth signs go in a row! (1985 - Jill, 1986 - Moi, 1987 - Kaori-san) For Jill, this bunny is extra-lucky, I think.
Another thing we saw at the shrine were a bunch of えま、(EMa) which are the flat, wooden things in the picture below. Kaori explained to me that the kanji for ema are the kanji for picture (e) next to the kanji for horse (uma). In some of the books I'm reading for my contract, the authors often state that Japanese people seem to think in pictures, or pictures of words, rather than words. Being exposed to so much kanji here, I'm beginning to understand that a little better, although I can still only recognize and read a few kanji i learned back at Evergreen, along with the ones I see here every day.
There were so many of ema, most likely from students, because this is the college entrance exam time of year. One writes their wishes on the piece of wood, and then hangs it up at the shrine with a little prayer for good luck. Students were hanging these up at Dazaifu, too, but I didn't know what they were then.
The Breast-Rock sign, and lots of 絵馬。
Another thing we saw at the shrine were a bunch of えま、(EMa) which are the flat, wooden things in the picture below. Kaori explained to me that the kanji for ema are the kanji for picture (e) next to the kanji for horse (uma). In some of the books I'm reading for my contract, the authors often state that Japanese people seem to think in pictures, or pictures of words, rather than words. Being exposed to so much kanji here, I'm beginning to understand that a little better, although I can still only recognize and read a few kanji i learned back at Evergreen, along with the ones I see here every day.
There were so many of ema, most likely from students, because this is the college entrance exam time of year. One writes their wishes on the piece of wood, and then hangs it up at the shrine with a little prayer for good luck. Students were hanging these up at Dazaifu, too, but I didn't know what they were then.
The Breast-Rock sign, and lots of 絵馬。
One particular attraction of this cave is the mother's breasts-rocks, which are a section of the rock wall that look kind of like breasts. Expecting mothers and newlyweds come to these rocks to wish for good luck. (I didn't take a picture of the rocks themselves, since they are difficult to photograph well.) It's entirely acceptable to touch the breasts, but I just couldn't bring myself to.
Something that Jill had written about when she visited Udo Jingu the last time is the throwing of rocks into a circle out in a little cove. Kaori was the only one who could manage to make it into the circle before, so I was eager to try it out!
Here is the target where you throw the clay balls. 5 tries for 100円！
Here is the target where you throw the clay balls. 5 tries for 100円！
What I didn't know until I purchased my tries was that traditionally at Udo Jingu, men are supposed to throw with their left hand, and women are supposed to throw with their right. It's just our luck that Jillian happens to be left-handed, and me right-handed. We got pretty close a few times, and even managed to hit the inside of the circle a few times, but they kept bouncing out or breaking - we just couldn't make it into that little pool of water!
Darn, missed again! The man next to me kept encouraging me, though. He was really nice.
Darn, missed again! The man next to me kept encouraging me, though. He was really nice.
After the shrine, we stopped by the お土産矢 （おみやげや、OMiYaGeYa - souvenir shop) for some soft cream. (Soft-serve ice cream) We each got Hyuganatsu, which is Miyazaki's famous fruit. (A yellow-colored citrus fruit that tastes kind of like a cross between a lemon and an orange) The woman who sold us the ice cream insisted that she give us a larger-than-normal portion, since we spoke English. (We actually ordered in Japanese, but she heard us speaking in English to each other when we were trying to decide which kind of get) We were grateful, but also a little embarrassed. The ice cream was amazing, though. Very light and refreshing, even though it was a cold day.
We also stopped by Kaori's friend Keiko's house, who Jill and Kaori hadn't seen since November. Keiko, a Miyazaki University graduate, had a baby back in September, who is an adorable and energetic baby named Nago-chan.
Kaori, Keiko, Nagomu, Jillian and I - Nago-kun was shy for this picture
We also stopped by Kaori's friend Keiko's house, who Jill and Kaori hadn't seen since November. Keiko, a Miyazaki University graduate, had a baby back in September, who is an adorable and energetic baby named Nago-chan.
Kaori, Keiko, Nagomu, Jillian and I - Nago-kun was shy for this picture
Jillian and Kaori were both really surprised at how much Nagomu had grown since the last time they'd seen him. It was my first time meeting Keiko and her baby, but they were both still super nice. Kaori has an amazing talent for stopping Nago-chan from crying, and Jillian's fingers are some of Nagomu's favorite toys.
Aw... isn't he cute? He liked Jillian quite a bit. He was really shy with me, though.
We're hoping to go back to Keiko's in a few weeks to make lunch together, since she really seemed to appreciate the company. (She doesn't get out as often since she's had the baby) Keiko-san's husband works as a driving instructor near the college, so he wasn't home that day.
On the way back to Kibana, Jill saw a monkey and its baby, too! I guess before, Kaori and Jillian had seen a big family of monkeys near Udo Jingu on their last trip. I, unfortunately, missed the monkey because I was looking at the trees, but I did see a monkey that someone was keeping as a pet in their back yard from the train a few weeks ago. (It was jumping, a lot, but not on a bed.)
The only monkeys I saw this time were these road work monkeys -Of course, Japanese barriers have to be cute too, you know.
On the way back to Kibana, Jill saw a monkey and its baby, too! I guess before, Kaori and Jillian had seen a big family of monkeys near Udo Jingu on their last trip. I, unfortunately, missed the monkey because I was looking at the trees, but I did see a monkey that someone was keeping as a pet in their back yard from the train a few weeks ago. (It was jumping, a lot, but not on a bed.)
The only monkeys I saw this time were these road work monkeys -Of course, Japanese barriers have to be cute too, you know.
Later on, we went to pick up Rumi, Kaori's sister from the library at the nursing college, then dropped her off at work in Aoshima. Jill, Kaori and I went out for Okonomiyaki for dinner, (My favorite! Mmm...) and reflected about the trip so far and the weeks to come. It was a lovely lovely day, and spending time with Kaori is always therapeutic. Although we were sad that we couldn't share these times with our friends back at Evergreen that we used to make dinner and spend time with, Kaori seemed to take comfort in knowing that our friend Allison will be coming to study in Kobe soon, and Charlie should be coming to Miyazaki in the next few weeks to visit before returning to the states, too.
Thursday was Saint Valentine's Day, which Jill and I spent together on a little date downtown. The morning was spent cleaning, though, since the International Dormitory at Miyazaki University that Jill lives in had their end-of-semester cleaning day on Wednesday morning. Pretty much everybody that lives here go together to clean all of the common areas like the hals and kitchens. It seemed a little rough to have Valentine's be the cleaning day, but at least it was taken care of in the morning instead of in the evening when people seemed to be busy. (Some girl's on Jill's floor were making home-made chocolates in the kitchen. It smelled amazing!)
An interesting thing about Valentine's Day in Japan is that only women buy chocolates and give them to men, who then give gifts to the women who gave them gifts a month later, on White Day, March 14th. Also, it's almost exclusively called Saint Valentine's Day here, not just Valentine's Day. It is, of course, just as commercialized, if not more so, than in the states. We had a nice, relaxing day on Thursday though, and I received a fantastic care package of Annie's Mac and Cheese, Valentine's Candy, and other tasty comfort snacks from home. (Thanks Mom, Kevin, Tyler, Wilson and Dan!)
Um, that's all for now. I'm sleepy. Next week - Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and I'll (hopefully) finally get around to writing that friendship thing. 'till then!
Thursday was Saint Valentine's Day, which Jill and I spent together on a little date downtown. The morning was spent cleaning, though, since the International Dormitory at Miyazaki University that Jill lives in had their end-of-semester cleaning day on Wednesday morning. Pretty much everybody that lives here go together to clean all of the common areas like the hals and kitchens. It seemed a little rough to have Valentine's be the cleaning day, but at least it was taken care of in the morning instead of in the evening when people seemed to be busy. (Some girl's on Jill's floor were making home-made chocolates in the kitchen. It smelled amazing!)
An interesting thing about Valentine's Day in Japan is that only women buy chocolates and give them to men, who then give gifts to the women who gave them gifts a month later, on White Day, March 14th. Also, it's almost exclusively called Saint Valentine's Day here, not just Valentine's Day. It is, of course, just as commercialized, if not more so, than in the states. We had a nice, relaxing day on Thursday though, and I received a fantastic care package of Annie's Mac and Cheese, Valentine's Candy, and other tasty comfort snacks from home. (Thanks Mom, Kevin, Tyler, Wilson and Dan!)
Um, that's all for now. I'm sleepy. Next week - Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and I'll (hopefully) finally get around to writing that friendship thing. 'till then!
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