The Plan In Its Current Form...

My plans for the next few months are actually pretty firm at this point, so I wanted to share a brief sketch with you all.
Now –June 26: final weeks of regular classes.
June 26 - July 1: final trip to Tokyo.
July 2 - July 17: final weeks of irregular classes, graduations, and good-bye parties.
July 18 - July 26: return to Chiiori in Shikoku and return to Kumano Kodo in Wakayama to “do it right”
July 27 – August 1: Return home to finish cleaning and emptying my house, meet my replacement, and help him settle in.
August 2 – 9: final travel in Japan, including hiking up Mt. Fuji, and possibly the Japanese Alps and Sea of Japan.
August 10/11. Leave Japan from Osaka, take train to Shimonoseki, ferry to Pusan in S. Korea, then train to Seoul.
August 11-13?: chill in Korea somewhere, maybe meet David Q.
August 14: Fly from Seoul to Hanoi, Vietnam.
The rest of August: Hopefully met up with Deborah H. Chill in Vietnam and make our way south.
Late August: Enter Cambodia and go to Phnom Penh, where Deborah has an internship.
September: travel around Cambodia with possible trips to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.
Early October: Fly to New Delhi, India.
October: Travel around India looking for volunteer opportunity.
November-March: hopefully be involved in some meaningful contribution to the betterment of humanity, or something like that, with one major pause to check out Nepal.
April: Fly to Kenya... and from that point things are too vague to keep putting them in concrete words!

That’s how things look at this point, and it’s all just around the corner! I like how this buffer of friends has sprouted up between Japan and India. Going straight to India might have been a traumatic shock to my system. If anyone has any tips, insights, or questions, let me know! And as always I’ll do my best to keep you all informed!

Tokyo

The Next Adventure

I'm getting very excited about the upcoming vacation, and not only because I'll be anywhere but in work! Through some strategic vacation requests, I've connected several state holidays to get myself 12 days free starting next week. The weather has turned friendly, and I've been itching to make another walking trip, perhaps not so extreme as the previous such trip in CZ (and hopefully without the limping and pressure and what not). I was going to walk from Nara to Ise, which is about 100 km through slightly mountainous country. Ise is the most important Shinto shrine in Japan, and I see it referenced in all kinds of novels and histories, and it seems like something I should see. Making a "pilgrimage" from Nara, the ancient capital and spiritual heart of the country seemed especially appropriate. However, I was reminded by a friend that tourists can't actually see the shrines at Ise. Even today only the Imperial family is allowed access to the actual shrines, while everyone else has to be content with replicas outside. That seemed a little anti-climatic for a 4 day pilgrimage.
So I did a little research, and stumbled upon information about an ancient (over 1000 years old) pilgrimage route through the mountains of Wakayama prefecture (the prefecture to the south of my home). The path is still maintained, and it weaves through the mountains connecting 33 shrines and temples. There are campgrounds along the way, and many hikers even just find campsites for themselves wherever they want to stop. It sounds absolutely perfect and idyllic, especially now that I've found maps and won't be wandering through the rather inhospitable Japanese mountains. For more information and pictures check out this site: http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/kumano-kodo/index.html, or check back here in about three weeks!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the XSi Has Arrived!

3 days, 5 prefectures, 10 million cherry blossoms, 1 new camera, 3 lenses, 1200 pictures... Let's see what this baby can do!!
(note, this blog seems to oversaturate pictures slightly, and I had to cut the size down to about 10% to post them)

What I've Been Up To..

I Like Sumo!! Who knew?!
Enkai! (lots of seafood and alcohol is not a great idea)

Azuma-san!! A retired sailor who has adopted me. :-)

Andrew took me to taiko practice!

Showing great form...

A ceramic artist who lives near my village..

I guess this is as good a time as any to introduce the future Mrs. House!

Boiled boar meat with vegetables (Nakashi-san shot the pig himself!)

You never know what you're going to find on the streets of Osaka!

Chillin' in Nara after the fire festival..