The Wayfarer Blog

Farewell, 2007…

Another year has come and gone.

Don’t worry. I won’t take you on yet another nostalgic look back at everything that happened this year. But I do think this was a year full of growth and changes for me. It wasn’t always easy, and it certainly wasn’t always fun. But I am very satisfied and grateful to be where I am today.

I spent about four months using crutches. I lost a lot of chances to take pictures and travel, and be active. And I used up my vacation/sick time. But I also got back in touch with my health, and I’ve been able to address some physical issues. (Nothing serious; I am talking more about my fallen arches, and the fact that I needed to strength certain muscles and loosen up others.) The simple act of walking was, at times, difficult, painful and even frightening. I’m not used to feeling weak and helpless, and that was perhaps the hardest part for me.

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Like usual, I ended up doing everything backwards and upside down, but I thought all of you would get a laugh at what a dummy I am…

Unlike everyone back home, I haven’t been subjected to the same Christmas songs over and over since Halloween, so it was actually fun to hear the occasional song. I mean, I like Christmas music, but do I really need to hear it for two months? Especially since the radio stations play the same stuff over and over. By the time Christmas comes, it isn’t as special anymore.

Anyway, I rarely listen to internet radio these days, but on the 26th, I opened up iTunes and saw a list of holiday music. So for the last few days, I have caught a few songs.

It’s funny, the way music can bring up so many unexpected memories and associations. I almost imagine myself shopping for holiday stuff, riding around looking at Christmas lights.

But not this year.

PS: I am listening to a Dutch station, and they just started playing Dutch commercials. That snapped me back to reality!

Wow. I have always been interested in Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history. When he wasn’t winning duels, he was dedicating himself to Zen meditation and producing artwork. He was clearly a fearsome warrior, but he had a sense of poetry and an appreciation of beauty, as well. The subject of countless stories and movies, Musashi has become a legendary figure to millions of people around the world. It is difficult to know where the truth ends and the fantasy begins.

In his latest article, In the Shadow of Musashi, Jeff, an English teacher and martial artist living in Japan, writes:

In the middle of November, thanks to exam week at the university, I had a week’s vacation. I decided to take a trip to Kumamoto to visit the various places connected with Miyamoto Musashi. I had been there a couple of times before, but not since I bought my digital camera. I wanted to take a lot of photos and also just soak in the atmosphere by myself. (It’s hard to do that when you are with a bunch of non-martial-artists who can’t understand why you want to visit some stupid cave in the first place, let alone sit on some rock for half an hour.)

You can read the rest of the article here: In the Shadow of Musashi

This is a great post, and a great idea for a trip that I need to make before I leave Japan.

Copyright notice: the picture above is in the public domain

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(Via Tales of a Budo Bum.)

I have no idea what, if any, significance this duck statue has, but It was sitting serenely on a railing by Iidabashi Station, in Tokyo. In the midst of a very busy and colorful area, its quiet simplicity caught my eye.

It looks great as a grayscale.

This week, I’ve mostly been doing office work at my company–editing, developing lesson plans, etc. I had a couple lessons planned, but they were canceled. But I did teach one class at the Saitama Honda Factory. I’d been there once before, but this time I met a couple other teachers at the station. I had a few hours to kill, and since my leg continues to feel pretty strong, I went out and took some pictures.

Here’s a sample of a few I took. You can find the rest on my flickr page . I have more to put up, but I will do that later. It takes time to tage and label pictures. It’s a work in progress. A lot of my pictures aren’t very descriptive yet, but I’m working on that. I have more pictures from Yokohama too. It’s great to be back in the swing of taking pictures!

Unless there is a change today, that should be the last class I teach for the year. I just have one more day of office work ahead of me, and I will be a free man.

Dear Friends and Family,

Although I couldn’t make it home this year, you are all in my heart, and in my mind. It isn’t easy to be apart. That is why I started this blog. And even though I don’t update it enough, and the pictures and words I write might be a clumsy and shallow attempt to keep you informed, I hope you enjoy sharing part of my journey.

To all of you reading this, I wish you and your families a happy and healthy holiday season.

Merry Christmas.

In the “I really didn’t need the calories or added expense but I don’t care!” category:

Christmas Cake!

Christmas Cake is a big deal in Japan. In every cake shop and supermarket, and in front of every convenience store, you can see a crowd of people buying cakes for Christmas. This year, I decided to get one, too.

I went to my local Supermarket and got a few groceries. Ginza Cozy Corner, a famous cake shop, was selling cake in two areas of the store. One area, their dedicated shop, had a huge line. But in the middle of the store, they had a special booth set up with just a few people. I walked up to the counter and chose this beauty:

Click the link below to read on and see more pictures!

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I’m still not very confident about night photography. But I thought this was pretty good.

A full moon overlooking Yokohama. To the right is a HUGE ferris wheel; to the left is a famous building. (I can’t remember what it is, but I think it is a hotel.)

I caught this view out of the corner of my eye. I was on a small footbridge with Christmas Lights on it. I will put up more pictures later, but I need to run some errands. I’ll take my camera.

I went to Yokohama today. Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, and it is very close to Tokyo. I took a bunch of pictures. Here just a couple. I’ll put up more soon. It sure was nice to go out and take pictures again! (For that matter, it was nice to be able to walk easily. My leg continues to improve.)

I wonder how Santa had time to ride around Yokohama with his friends…?

Here, I forgot…I have taken a few pictures over the last few months. I took these in November, for example. These are from Shinjuku. They aren’t the best, but it’s nice to have something new to show…

I will put up more later. Enjoy.