off packing

schools done

my project is complete
gion matsuri with its brightly colored yukatas and slow moving temples on wheels has come and gone



i said goodbye to my peeps



then it was off to tokyo for one more hurrah with chelsey- where i bought a camera that can go underwater do crazy panoramas

we got off the night bus in tokyo at 6 am and realized that it was the perfect time to see the tsukiji fish market in full swing 
probably one of the most overwhelming places ive ever been.  large machinery, small allies, yelling, cursing, and fish guts everywhere
chelsey smoking outside of the smoking box

shibuya crossing 7am
and 10pm
everything i love about japan summed up in one- man wearing a yukata, holding an umbrella (note- it is not raining) talking on a cell phone next to a store called "books FUKUYA"
underneath a Louise Bourgeois spider in the Roppongi Hills
on the streets of harajuku
chelsey and i crashed her parents swanky hotel room right next to the tokyo tower (the panoramic mode sometimes distorts things a little bit...)
the sky in ginza was really that color
PACHINKO!
what it feels like in a PACHINKO! parlor
like i said it was really that color
then chelsey had to go back to kyoto so i decided to jump on a ship and head to paradise
NiiJima Island- one of the seven islands that makes up Izu Shoto just south of Tokyo (niijima had the strangest stone carvings all over the island)

my only sighting of mt fuji (notice the little bump in the clouds on the right side)
greek ruins? guess they have it all in japan...
but they make for a good onsen
i camped on niijima for a few nights and met a few guys, tov and hank, at the site next to me.  here they are eating the delicacy of the island- Kusaya fish- which translates into "smells bad." thats all i really need to know
surfing beach 5 min from our campsite
matching helmets?
yes.... sitting at the end of the world in the blazing sun


after i left the island i set out to see mt fuji up close and personal.  but my camera died.  and then i ran out of cash.  but i did climb up a hill right next to it and met a girl who took my picture for me and swore she would send it to me... 

schools out for the summer

well almost.  tomorrow is my final crit and last day at Seika.  this past month has mostly been spent in the studio, working on a massive Katazome print.  Kyoto has been unbelievably hot since the middle of June (it felt as though it was about 100 with the humidity at 830 this morning) so the air conditioned studio has been a nice retreat.  But, sad to say, it means my exploration of Kyoto has come to a halt.

And then my camera broke last week.  damn it.

So here ya go, a single pic of me in the studio.  This is all I have for you now, but there will be more to come, I promise.  Next week I kick off a month of traveling with the Fuji Rock Music Festival in the Japan Alps with Chelsey, followed by Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Seika Tango Beach house, Hiroshima, and then either Kyushu or Shikaido Island, well just have to see how it goes

But this is the beginning of the end.  Most of the other exchange students are leaving within the next two weeks.

I can't believe it is almost over... I feel like I just got here

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