Just trying to keep in touch with another update from Japan...
This last week has been busy with all sorts of work to do in the lab; the testing program we've started is going well though and we are, for the moment, ahead of schedule. The folks I work for through a party welcoming me and wishing a recent departee from the lab well. We had a traditional dinner and drinks at a former sake (Japanese rice wine) factory; I finally got to give all the gifts I brought for them from Oregon which was a real hoot; the favorites were the OSU baseball hats; I didn't realize how big baseball is here is especially with the local team (Honshin Tigers) currently leading the league.
I was able to do some site seeing this weekend in Nara; a city to the South of Uji/Kyoto and yet another former capitol of Japan. All three of the photos are at one of the temples we visited called Todai-ji. This temple is the largest wooden structure in the world and houses the largest Buddha statue (Daibuhtsu-den) in Japan. Other cool sites in Nara included a park with hundreds of tame deer; they're considered to be a sort of national treasure and there are little old ladies all over the place selling packets of crackers to feed to the deer; very interesting to pet a +200 lb. buck with a full set of antlers. We also visited a stamp shop (not postage); as it turns out, in Japan stamps bearing one's family name are used in the same way we use our signatures in the states; on bank documents and the like your personal stamp is required; apparently forgery is "avoided" by having your stamp custom made with subtle variations in the characters. Having an Angloname I had to settle for something close but not exactly my name (Mathew = Mashu in Japanese). The closest the proprietor could come to Mashu was Masio (pronounced basically the same way) meaning "true" (ma) "salt" (sio); you can interpret that any way you like :)
The international dormitory I've been living in has been working out great; I'll post photos of that next time. Incidentally I can receive phone calls there free of charge (to me anyway) so please feel free to email me and I'll send you the number. Well, that's all for now. Please enjoy the pics and keep in touch. Cheers.
Matt or Mashu or Masio (take your pick)
Todai-ji Daibutsu-den Temple, Nara, Japan, July 2003
Namee, Adam, and Matt at the Daibuhtsu-den, Nara, Japan, July 2003
Daibuhtsu or "Big Buhdda", Nara, Japan, July 2003
No comments:
Post a Comment