Winter Cold

The title says it all. Nothing exciting happened this week. I spent the last half of the week trying to stand up and teach through a nasty cold. I am spending my weekend with bottles of cold medicine and ibuprofen, OJ, and bad American dramas on cable. I hope I start to feel better soon; I'm feeling couped up already.

Happy (Chinese) New Year!!!!

This past weekend, I went to see the lion dances at the gates of Chinatown in Yokohama. Lion dances are believed to bring good luck and good fortune to businesses, and they are often performed to mark special occasions, such as Chinese New Years, weddings, etc. They can be performed by either a pair (one makes the front and one makes the back of the lion) or by a single dancer. The lions danced around to the beat of drums, gongs, cymbals, and firecrackers. The dances were very artful and acrobatic! Here are some pictures:

This is a picture of me trying on a smaller version of the lion costume. They had a small display of the lion dancing costumes.

Here is a picture of two costumes, a drum, and some golden lights. The lights are in the shape of the Chinese equivalent of a bar of gold. They are used to represent good fortune in the new year.

Well, hello there Mr. Lion! This is a close-up of the lion during one of the dances. He is a southern-style lion (he has large eyes and a mirror in the middle of his forehead). They also have northern-style lions that usually have a bow and shaggy fur.

The lion in action. I don't think I would want to be the back person; you have to dance around bent at the hips for most of the dance (which was about 10-15 minutes long).

When the cover is just too heavy...

...now it's as easy as pushing a button. Not kidding. This is the toilet at McDonald's in Kamakura. I've become numb to the heated seats, music options, etc., but this latest feature has left me a little speechless. Is it really that hard to lift/close the cover on our own?

The Great Buddha

After narrowly escaping another visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses (they were headed up the stairs as I headed down on Sunday), I decided that Bruce and I needed some salvation. We figured a trip to Kamakura and a walk through it's many temples just might do the trick.

This is a view of Kamakura from a lookout area at the Hase Kannon Temple. Yup, that's the blue water of the Pacific. It was sunny and about 50 degrees here today. The weather was perfect for this Wisconsin girl; I even took my jacket off for a bit.

Bruce and I tried to befriend one of the guard statues at the Jochi-ji temple. As you tell by his eyes and teeth, he wasn't too friendly, but he did allow us to be photographed with him. Bruce got a little scared, so I had to buy him some green tea ice cream to comfort him.

Finally, for all of you skeptics, Buddha really does have super powers!!!! Here's proof, wing ports! This is the back of the Great Buddha at the Kotokuin Temple (you can go inside for about $0.20). The Buddha statue is bronze and was cast in the 13th century. He is over 32 feet tall and his house washed away, leaving him exposed to the elements, about 140 years after he was created. He's one old dude but doesn't show his age too much.

The Bruce Report

As Amy brought to my attention, I have been a negligent mother to Bruce recently and have pretty much abandoned him on top of my television (although in my defense, I do dust him weekly). So, here is his update:

Finally, she takes me out of this prison. Ohhhh... I saw her gathering her JR train map, phone, mp3 player, etc.; we were taking the train somewhere. I would gladly be shoved in a purse for the chance to get outside.

Once she retrieved me from her purse, I realized that we were in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. Apparently, we needed to find some gifts to send her nieces and parents for Valentines Day. Above is a picture of me trying to hang with the Harajuku kids. These kids were crazy; a lot of them were dressed up in costumes and anime get-ups. I tried to talk to them, but being plastic and all, I wasn't too successful.

Then we ventured down to Kiddyland on Omotesando to find presents. This is an incredible toy store. It is five floors and has a ton of different stuff. We had to get the typical Hello Kitty stuff, but we also browsed some of the other floors (Barbie, anime characters, Sanrio characters, etc.). Then, we headed back down to the hustle and bustle of Omotesando (this street is always a little crazy, lined with every designer store known to man... Jessica wouldn't let me stop at Louis Vuitton, claiming she didn't have enough money to buy me a new purse. I think she's just cheap!).

After some more window shopping and running into two fellow teachers from her training group, we boarded a train for home. Three trains and about 40 minutes later, this is me on the platform as our last train pulls away.

Now I am stuck back at home again. I hope she takes me out again soon! The day rocked (literally; we had an earthquake shortly after we got home).