sorry so long

takoyaki night at the dorm

mexican restaurant in kyoto equals smallest margaritas ever
went to my first boxing match and saw a side of sam i had never known

the crowd was stoked by the big gaijin in the ring, but his opponent was down in one punch with a bloody eyebrow

next fight in 10 days...

here we are on ben's last night. he broke his collar bone about two weeks ago and had to go home for surgery (he is the tall one in the back)
two weeks ago i had an interview with an amazing artist, Tsuboi Asuka, who was in the forefront of the japanese feminist movement in the 1950s when she began a ceramics group for women because they were not allowed near the kilms.  women have been considered impure in japan for thousands of years and it is not until recently that they have been able to practice many of the ancient traditional crafts  
Asuka with Agano Sensei, my teacher and another inspirational female japanese artist
"American style" mall in Osaka- i guess these girls are socal?
Osaka at night
Susan and Chie at Okonamiyaki restaurant- this restaurant had many types that we had not seen yet-  Susan's had mochi and cheese and Chie's had Korean spicy pickled cabbage called Kimchi
hmmm... chie fondling glica man's knee?
we had a margarita tent at a festival at school last week.  we dressed for the occasion and i finally got the margarita ive been looking for (my camera died after this pic sadly cause it was quite the night)

paper making crit- strange cute paper animal

my piece- knitted wire with a piece in the center that had been dipped in Japanese Kozo pulp

from our fiber sculpture crit two weeks ago- there were some very strange sculptures such as this (phallic) felted piece
and these little neon felted creatures on legs


we went camping last wednesday.  we camped near a little town where my friend, Besty, knew a guy who makes the tastiest tempeh i have ever tried.  

right before the dancing broke out

heres patrick.  He had just shaved his hear the night before and it revealed a wicked scar.  As the story goes in Germany there are certain guilds which require its members to joust in order to join and it was in one of these that Patrick lost a nice chunk of his scalp. oww.
Besty grillin
a lake near my dorm and behind the Kyoto International Conference Center, which I just found out was where the Kyoto Protocol went down... now that australia got on board last year i believe america is the only country that has not ratified it yet. damn america get with it.
we figured out how to tie an obi (kinda)

my first beer from a vending machine. it was huge. a full liter of beer right out of the machine on the corner
i finally made it to Higashiyama in south eastern Kyoto.  one of the most beautiful parts of the city by far.  little winding cobblestone paths leading me from one temple to the next
at the entrance of the Kiyomizu Temple- a stunning view of Kyoto 
touching the buddha brings good fortune 
here is a little video of the panoramic view of the temples and mountains

all throughout Kiyomizu were temples and shrines.  this is the main temple overlooking the hills that surround Kyoto
otowa-no-taki waterfall, the water is supposed to have "therapeutic properties," not sure though the line was a little too long for me 
back home- the rice patties have been sprouting all around kyoto.  this one is just down the street from my dorm