Fushimi Inari

Also called "Torii Mountain", Fushimi Inari Shrine is famous for the thousands of bright red-orange torii that cover the paths that crisscross the mountain on which the shrine is built. For a small sum, you too can have a torii engraved with your name and placed on the mountain.

Technical Difficulties

A few days ago, the computer I brought to Japan started running really really slowly. I spent most of Sunday troubleshooting the problem, trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally, the Intel Processor ID Utility gave me an answer.


Yes, that's correct, the Intel Pentium 4 processor in this computer, which is capable of running at 2.4GHz, has slowed down to a crawl, puttering along at a measly 0.31GHz. Great. This computer would be state-of-the-art in, oh, 1998. Of course, the computer still turns on, but since the processor is so slow (it can't even keep up with my typing -- I have to periodically pause to let it catch up), everything actually takes 8 times as long. That doesn't seem too bad, I suppose. Let's see, quick estimate... I should be able to get everything I was planning to do in the next 4 months done by about, uhm, 2011.

Hoping this was a software problem, I downloaded the latest drivers and utility updates from Toshiba. Installation went smoothly, but after rebooting, I was faced with the following message.


Fantastic. The computer I brought to Japan, which is not even mine (my laptop broke the day before I left; on such short notice I was fortunate enough to be able to bring my dad's), basically doesn't work and there appears to be no way for me to fix it.

Someday I will have a computer that actually works. Until then, this blog is officially on hiatus.

宮島

Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Miyajima is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the three most scenic places in all of Japan.


Miyajima is somewhat far from Kyoto (a couple of hours by Shinkansen), but thanks to the generous contributions of the Bing family, our whole program was able to visit Hiroshima and Miyajima and see the great torii. Other highlights from the trip included enjoying a meal of Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki, a sobering trip to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, our delicious Bing dinner, hiking up our yukata to slosh through through the mud and water at 10PM so we could pose for pictures under the great torii (only possible at low tide), and spending most of Saturday climbing Mt. Misen — we went all the way to the top of the island.

広島

A couple of pictures from Hiroshima, including the A-Bomb Dome, one of the few structures that survived the atomic blast, and the Peace Memorial Park Cenotaph, a memorial dedicated to the victims of the atom bomb.

Big or Small — You Decide!

When I was in the 3rd grade, I read a small book about conservation and the environment. I remember one section particularly well because it suggested practical ways to start living more conservatively. One suggestion was to place a jar or carton filled with rocks in the water tank of your toilet so that you would use less water with each flush. This is great for water conservation but the accompanying loss in flushing power makes the rocks-in-the-tank solution less than ideal. Although reduced effectiveness was my mother's stated reason for denying my request for an empty carton and rocks, I'm sure it had just as much to do with the fact that she didn't want a 3rd grader mucking around with her toilet. Fair enough, but I never let the idea of a variable-water toilet die and I think if I ever had a few spare days at home, I would try to find a way to make it work. Well, it looks like the Japanese have beat me to it. It's brilliant. Most of the time, you need just a little bit of water, but, as my mother correctly pointed out over a dozen years ago, sometimes you need all 2.5 gallons.

Fountain Hopping

Apparently, people in Japan also go fountain hopping. Although some of us were interested, we resisted the urge to join them.

My Desk

三十三間堂

Today, Otousan took me to 三十三間堂 (Sanjūsangen-dō), a famous Buddhist temple that is over 900 years old. The temple features a gigantic seated Buddha surrounded by 1000 life-size statues of the same deity. In addition, the temple contains 28 guardian deity statues and famous statues of Fujin and Raijin, the gods of wind and thunder. The main hall is 120m long and the sight of 1000 life-size gold-covered statues is an amazing one. Unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed, but you can read more about the temple on Wikipedia.

同志社の明徳館

The Stanford Center is located on the second floor of this building, Meitokukan. It is where I have class, eat lunch, and hang out with other students during the day.

Matsuri

There was a small festival in our neighborhood last weekend so my host father and I went to watch the procession. Here are some pictures.

Imperial Palace

Some pictures from the imperial palace in Kyoto.

East and West

Here are two articles about differences between people from Asia and North America.

Researchers found Japanese and Americans look to different areas of the face for clues about another person's feelings. The Japanese tend to look more at the eyes while Americans focus more on the mouth. Full Report

Researchers found differences in the aspects of pictures that people paid attention to depending on the person's cultural background. Those with European background tended to focus on the one or few prominent objects in a scene while people with Chinese background tended to spend more time examining the background and how the main items relate to the rest of a scene. Asians raised in North America were between the other two groups. Full Report

Deliciously?

Sometimes I wonder about word translations. The following word makes perfect sense, except for the sense of it meaning 'deliciously'. Can someone tell me how to use that in a sentence?

旨く 【うまく】 (adv) skillfully; well; deliciously; aptly; cleverly

Courtesy of Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Japanese-English Dictionary Server

There's a reason it's called "studying abroad".

After a week of orientation sessions and few classes, followed by a 9-day-long holiday, it's finally time to get started with the "studying" part of studying abroad. (The "abroad" part, aside from a 14 hour plane ride and 16 hour time adjustment, has so far been more or less manageable.) Two hours of Japanese this morning began the routine that will include 9 hours of Japanese class a week as well as the usual load of quizzes, problem sets, midterms, readings, papers, and presentations. Better hit the books.