8 weeks and counting

time is flying by... today marks 8 weeks for me...

here is okaasan showing us how to make homemade red bean mochi

mochi goes in everything. we had plain mochi, mochi in soup, mochi with diakon and soy sauce, and, finally, sweet mochi
there is some sort of performance everyday on campus... 

last friday we went on a field trip to a textile factory north of Kyoto by Lake Biwa where we saw them paste paper onto velvet to create this beautiful aged looking material



the cloth selection was to die for
this vending machine at a bus stop has a tv in it
little winding river
traditional tea house with zen garden
mel and the smallest cup of 5 dollar coffee
Aoi Matsuri Festival, Kyoto's largest festival- they have a large parade where people are dressed in traditional Heian period costumes and they march through the streets, stopping at temples to perform ceramonies.  We only caught a small part at the Shimogamo-jinji Temple
horses running (thats it, they really didn't do much more as far as we could tell)


a kabuki performance

on sunday, susan and I went to Kobe to meet up with a friend of a friend of hers.  We spent most of the day by the harbor, avoiding the crowds and watching bands perform
kobe port
blue grass band called "happy and blue (grass)"

what you cannot do while in the park (4th one down)- "playing in park with hard on"
lost in translation maybe...
today i performed a piece i have been working this semester. next week we have our first critique and i will be presenting a short film in which i deconstruct two kimonos publicly

and then used the material to wrap susan
and then i cut mel out of the other one

Golden Week

During the first week of May most of Japan gets a few days off to relax.  Most people get away for the holiday so Kyoto was surprisingly chill over the weekend. We got to see a few live shows though- one Samba Band at an Irish pub and a Jam Band at a Honky Tonk Bar

Jam Band Night (Japanese Style)

rawr
say goodbye to chelsey's last dread- end of an era
The Gardens of Kyoto right down the street from my dorm
East meets West- vending machines everywhere
The walk from my dorm to the subway station, an off shoot of the Kamo River
The most expensive taxis in the city
sam giving an aussi smirk on the overpass (and yes that is a flower behind his ear)
Kurama, a little one street town right up the road from the school- not quite sure what is with the big nosed red dude, but he is everywhere
little buddhas with adorable bibs at the bottom of temple walk in Kurama
Almost to the top, Kurama is nestled in the trees
and yes, vending machines even at the entrances of temples
sick dragon fountain
the top
main street, Kurama (up the hill to the left is a wonderful little natural hot spring or onsen)