Kanazawa

Well, it has been a while since I last updated this thing. Two weeks ago we went to Kanazawa, a rather small city on the Japan Sea coast about 4.5 hours from Nagoya. We stayed in the area for 2 days and managed to see all the sights and get some interesting cultural information with the help of the very friendly and helpful Tanimichi family. Our main purpose for the visit was to meet the Tanimichi`s, a family we got in touch with through my cousin Leanne. Anyway, the visit was a success, we were able to meet new people and see some cool parts of a very old and seemingly traditional city.

On the first day of our visit we got the grand tour of the city and were taken to the Higashiyama district. This area was apparently famous for Geisha activity back in the good old days, before the arrival of foreign hostesses. The area is situated at the base of a mountain and consists of many narrow streets lined with geisha houses. The outside of these houses are really beautiful as they have many thin wooden slats covering the windows, the architecture gives the area an old-world feel. During our walk through the area we actually heard a geisha practicing playing the shamisen (traditional Japanese instrument) through the window of one of the houses.

That evening we visited friends of the Tanimichi`s and ate a dinner of homemade soba noodles and sushi. After dinner Amy and I had a lesson in the timeless art of playing the Shakohachi (a tradition Japanese flute-like instrument). Although when I tried to play, it sounded distinctly like a duck experiencing a large amount of pain and not like music at all. Oh well, can`t say I didn`t try!

The remainder of the trip was taken up by sightseeing. Kanazawa is famous for Kenroku-en, it`s beautiful Edo era garden . It was a fantastic experience and we managed to beat the crowds of tourists by arriving very really early. We were both so happy to have tour guides like the Tanimichi`s who explained the history and were so generous!

In other, more recent, news we are MOVING! Yay, we have finally decided to ditch the incredibly expensive and relatively inconvenient Nova apartment in favour of the gaijin (foreigner) ghetto called `Freebell`. Freebell is where a majority of teachers live, and is close to both downtown Nagoya and work. We both had loads of reservations about moving, Amy was worried about the money and I was worried about having to hang out with people I don`t like. But I think we worked it out, it is a lot cheaper than our current place, we get free FOX, CNN and ESPN on the TV ( Yay crappy American TV!) and we will be able to hang out with friends more. So, the move-in date is the 20th of January.

Finally, today I called to book accommodation for our winter holidays! We will be staying in the town of Hakuba, just outside of Nagano. We will be snowboarding for 2 full days at the ski hill that hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympics so I am really excited!!!! Yay, only 15 more work days.