pictures that i didn't take

So, I've posted this picture below because it might be my favorite from the New Zealand road trip and the story behind it is kind of interesting. This was taken by a Korean woman at the Milford Sound as I was settling down to prepare lunch and enjoy the view on a clear day (it was cloudy when we arrived the day before). I noticed her a bit before she starting taking pictures so when she began to snap some shots of me cutting up vegetables for a salad I wasn't too thrown off. Actually, this type of attention is not uncommon in Japan so it made me feel a bit at 'home' after days of driving in an unfamiliar country. Anyway, she came over to me a bit later and after naming all of the ingredients in my salad the woman politely asked my for my email. I of course gave it to her and by coincidence later on in the day I ended up day helping her husband find some gasoline in one of the most remote parts of New Zealand after his car stalled out in a nearby tunnel (yeah, that's a whole other story). This was two months ago. The interesting part of the story is that I thought of this couple for the first time since the event happened yesterday, the same day that they emailed me this picture along with this short message-

I think meeting you is one of the good things that happened to me during my trip. I'd like to keep these good memories for a long time and hope you had a good time, too. If it is possible, I hope me can meet again some day.

p.s. I am sorry about that it took so long to send pictures.

(I'd suggest clicking on the below picture to see it full-size.)


These other pics were ones that I really liked that Cris and Caitlin took last week. They're straight off of their Flickr pages so all credit goes to them.


Anthony, myself, Caitlin, and Cris at the summit of Mt. Tsurugi.


Ant and I, windblown and about to finish the three hour climb.


Head first into the desert, Naruto.


Cris at Kyokaimae station.


Ant having some breakfast in my apartment.


In the depths of Iya Valley, somewhere in Tokushima.

this has been a busy month

Yeah, things have been busy around here. May has been a month full of visitors- three different sets, actually. Early in the month my parents flew in from Pittsburgh, Last week Jon, Nikki, and Hillary came by ferry from Korea, and right now Ant and Cris are now somewhere in Japan after taking off from Philadelphia last week. I think that time goes the quickest when visitors are around. Maybe this is because there are so many things that I want to show people when they come here, I'm not sure. Either way, May has been flying by.





My parents' visit was a bit short due my dad's four days of hospital time but, as I told them, they got to see the efficiency and determination of the Japanese people in a true but unlikely way. We had a few good days of sight seeing and after their visit I think my mom could now navigate the Kyoto station area with her eyes closed...

Next, Jon and some other Fulbrighters from Korea met up with Caitlin and I in Kyoto and we did a quick highlight tour of some fun things I like to do in the city. These included (but were not limited to) finding tiny, alleyway bars, famous temple viewing, LOTS of Japanese 'fast food' (udon and soba were favorites), multiple hours at the onsen (natural hot spring public bath), very late night/early morning karaoke, and gettin' down Pittsburgh-style at a dance club.





The next day, Caitlin and I took a bus ride to a small town about an hour north of the Kyoto called Ohara. This town has the kind of bucolic, picturesque feel that most people would think of when 'Japan' comes to mind. It was a good Sunday kind of thing to do.



The next weekend Ant and Cris arrived by taxi in Naruto. I showed them the wonders of Kizu (my neighborhood), we camped in Iya and hiked Mt. Tsurugisan, went on the vine bridges after they were 'closed', and then got lost in some really strange parts of Tokushima. It was the best...I could only wish that I always had two good friends waiting for me in my apartment after work so that we could cook dinner and listen to the Melvins.






This weekend I am going to catch up on my sleep and probably just hang out. And I promise that I'll update my blog more! Oh, my dates for visiting America will be July 16th through August 2nd...my tickets were purchased yesterday. I'm interested to see how I feel after a year of 'sumimasen's and 'hai hai hai's...