Nostalgia Part 2 ^_^
So, as mentioned before, someone on my flist called joncub recently inspired me to show some pictures from way back when. 10 years ago to be exact.
Here's part 2 of that series. (I'm not sure exactly how many there will be; I guess I'll finish up when I run out of pictures ^^;; )
So for those of you who are wondering....I was a Rotary International Exchange Student. Thus get-togethers with the other Rotary kids was always a party ^^;; Here is a scene for our Christmas Party that was only a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon. Apparently in previous years the party was much larger and took up an entire weekend, but because some kids in the year before us decided to set off fireworks in their hotel room and almost burned the place down....things were kinda...um...scaled back ^^;;
On the left, my Rotary Counsellor. On the right, my Rotary Club President. In the middle is the Club sponsored University Exchange Student. Yes, we were all quite drunk ^^;; (Well, not soo much myself as my counsellor didn't want me to drink ^^;; )
This is Inuyama Castle. It sits perched atop a cliff looking over a large bay (I believe). You can actually go all the way up to the top and go out on the balcony for an amazing view....the best part is...the guard rail only goes up to your shins ^^;; (This REALLY didn't help my fear of heights at ALL)
Ah, the Daibutsu. For those of you who don't know what that is...it's a very large statue of Bhudda. But by large....well, this picture is taken from the entrance of the courtyard. It takes a good 4 or 5 minutes to get to the building. Yeah....THAT big. Anyway, inside the large building beside the giant statue is a large pillar with a hole cut out at the bottom. It's apparently Bhudda's nose. If you are able to crawl through it, you are guaranteed good health for a full year. That is, unless, you're silly like me and get stuck half-way through -_-;; When I was willing through the hole, I turned my hips the wrong way and got stuck...to the point where I was imagining being on the news and everything...people started to panic including myself which only made things worse -_-;; Someone however, had the bright idea that I would twist and pop! I was free! I learned the hard lesson that from then on I should prolly not climb through tiny holes for good health.....maybe that's where my claustrophobia comes from ^^;;
I'm not exactly sure where this is....but in the middle of a long hike to find a really remote temple (read: Army Shortcut), I stumbled upon this great picture :) I wish I could remember where this is though >,<
Sad to say, I'm not sure where this is either -_-;; But I do know that it is the entrance to a large Shinto Shrine. Other than that, I'm at a loss, sowwie -_-;;
In High School in Japan, every year they have a School/Culture Festival. Every class in the school (read: Homeroom) makes a project, display, etc for the festival. Some classes do a coffee/tea shop with cakes and sweets, some do murals and large art installations, some do plays on the mainstage....etc etc etc. My class decided to make a large Domino presentation. We made up all the dominos, painted images, and set up very complicated patterns and the like. It was very cool once it was all said and done, and we were voted 2nd place out of all the grade 10 classes. The only reason we didn't get first was because there were too many people that came to see and there wasn't enough room to fit them all in. Kinda ludacris, I know...but that's what it was ^^;;
Myself and a couple of classmates while on a field-trip down to the Suzuka Circuit Japan F-1 Race Track ^_^ We, however, only went to the Amusement Park....but don't get me wrong...it was totally awesome ^_^ The Roller Coasters kick supreme butt!
And with Summer comes Summer Festivals! Here's a large group of us (the same bunch from the tea making in the last post) about to head off to the local fireworks competition. It's hard to really explain what Japanese Summer Festivals are like...but it's certainly something that I enjoy very much. Perhaps I'll have to take some pictures from one this year ^^
This here is a picture from my going away party. On the left is my 4th Host Mom and on the right is my Counsellor. If you are wondering who that is in the middle....that's me. Now I finally understand what my family meant when they said I looked emaciated when I came back O.o
All those hours of doing Kendo, working out, and Summer Heat made me drop to a very svelt 130lbs! However, I think I looked like that mostly because all of the weight was from the muscle on my legs and forearms! I swear, I must have had like 1% Body Fat or something....
Please, if I ever say I want to look like that again...give me a big hard smack upside the head!
Here's a couple of pictures from my last day at school. At the end of every exchange year, my Host Club donates a tree to be planted on the school grounds with a plaque erected to memorialize the exchange student's stay at the school. The first picture is with some Rotary Members, the second with my entire class. They planted a Japanese Maple in my name; representative of how I'm from Canada and Japan at the same time (Maple being something Canadian and the Momiji (the actual tree) being Japanese). A lot of people that I was friends with, that I spent time with....they didn't see me as anything other than one of them. It's not something that happens very often here; so having them call me Japanese and actually mean it....it certainly meant a lot.
Well, that's all for this post. Taking the time to go through these pictures has been really...Cathartic. My time in Gifu, while hard at times, really changed who I was. It also helped me find who I was as well. It's been a long time since I've been that Michael. Maybe it's time that be him again.
Thanks again for reading and sharring these pictures and memories with me. Big hugs and Kisses to my Family. I miss you very much. Also Hugs and Kisses to those special people in my life. You know who you are.
Here's part 2 of that series. (I'm not sure exactly how many there will be; I guess I'll finish up when I run out of pictures ^^;; )
So for those of you who are wondering....I was a Rotary International Exchange Student. Thus get-togethers with the other Rotary kids was always a party ^^;; Here is a scene for our Christmas Party that was only a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon. Apparently in previous years the party was much larger and took up an entire weekend, but because some kids in the year before us decided to set off fireworks in their hotel room and almost burned the place down....things were kinda...um...scaled back ^^;;
On the left, my Rotary Counsellor. On the right, my Rotary Club President. In the middle is the Club sponsored University Exchange Student. Yes, we were all quite drunk ^^;; (Well, not soo much myself as my counsellor didn't want me to drink ^^;; )
This is Inuyama Castle. It sits perched atop a cliff looking over a large bay (I believe). You can actually go all the way up to the top and go out on the balcony for an amazing view....the best part is...the guard rail only goes up to your shins ^^;; (This REALLY didn't help my fear of heights at ALL)
Ah, the Daibutsu. For those of you who don't know what that is...it's a very large statue of Bhudda. But by large....well, this picture is taken from the entrance of the courtyard. It takes a good 4 or 5 minutes to get to the building. Yeah....THAT big. Anyway, inside the large building beside the giant statue is a large pillar with a hole cut out at the bottom. It's apparently Bhudda's nose. If you are able to crawl through it, you are guaranteed good health for a full year. That is, unless, you're silly like me and get stuck half-way through -_-;; When I was willing through the hole, I turned my hips the wrong way and got stuck...to the point where I was imagining being on the news and everything...people started to panic including myself which only made things worse -_-;; Someone however, had the bright idea that I would twist and pop! I was free! I learned the hard lesson that from then on I should prolly not climb through tiny holes for good health.....maybe that's where my claustrophobia comes from ^^;;
I'm not exactly sure where this is....but in the middle of a long hike to find a really remote temple (read: Army Shortcut), I stumbled upon this great picture :) I wish I could remember where this is though >,<
Sad to say, I'm not sure where this is either -_-;; But I do know that it is the entrance to a large Shinto Shrine. Other than that, I'm at a loss, sowwie -_-;;
In High School in Japan, every year they have a School/Culture Festival. Every class in the school (read: Homeroom) makes a project, display, etc for the festival. Some classes do a coffee/tea shop with cakes and sweets, some do murals and large art installations, some do plays on the mainstage....etc etc etc. My class decided to make a large Domino presentation. We made up all the dominos, painted images, and set up very complicated patterns and the like. It was very cool once it was all said and done, and we were voted 2nd place out of all the grade 10 classes. The only reason we didn't get first was because there were too many people that came to see and there wasn't enough room to fit them all in. Kinda ludacris, I know...but that's what it was ^^;;
Myself and a couple of classmates while on a field-trip down to the Suzuka Circuit Japan F-1 Race Track ^_^ We, however, only went to the Amusement Park....but don't get me wrong...it was totally awesome ^_^ The Roller Coasters kick supreme butt!
And with Summer comes Summer Festivals! Here's a large group of us (the same bunch from the tea making in the last post) about to head off to the local fireworks competition. It's hard to really explain what Japanese Summer Festivals are like...but it's certainly something that I enjoy very much. Perhaps I'll have to take some pictures from one this year ^^
This here is a picture from my going away party. On the left is my 4th Host Mom and on the right is my Counsellor. If you are wondering who that is in the middle....that's me. Now I finally understand what my family meant when they said I looked emaciated when I came back O.o
All those hours of doing Kendo, working out, and Summer Heat made me drop to a very svelt 130lbs! However, I think I looked like that mostly because all of the weight was from the muscle on my legs and forearms! I swear, I must have had like 1% Body Fat or something....
Please, if I ever say I want to look like that again...give me a big hard smack upside the head!
Here's a couple of pictures from my last day at school. At the end of every exchange year, my Host Club donates a tree to be planted on the school grounds with a plaque erected to memorialize the exchange student's stay at the school. The first picture is with some Rotary Members, the second with my entire class. They planted a Japanese Maple in my name; representative of how I'm from Canada and Japan at the same time (Maple being something Canadian and the Momiji (the actual tree) being Japanese). A lot of people that I was friends with, that I spent time with....they didn't see me as anything other than one of them. It's not something that happens very often here; so having them call me Japanese and actually mean it....it certainly meant a lot.
Well, that's all for this post. Taking the time to go through these pictures has been really...Cathartic. My time in Gifu, while hard at times, really changed who I was. It also helped me find who I was as well. It's been a long time since I've been that Michael. Maybe it's time that be him again.
Thanks again for reading and sharring these pictures and memories with me. Big hugs and Kisses to my Family. I miss you very much. Also Hugs and Kisses to those special people in my life. You know who you are.