Relaxation

So yesterday was pretty tiring (hence no blog). I spent almost the entirety of yesterday doing homework and studying (and *coughs* watching anime). Then I went to the scuba diving club's first meeting! It was a lot of fun and great Japanese practice (no one spoke English and they were all college age students). Only two unfortunate things came out of the experience: 1, the portions of the dinner were extremely small. I think the establishment holding the event did not realize how many
people would show up so platters that would have fed maybe four people each fed eight to nine people. 2, I realized I cannot join this club. The actual training for the scuba diving license doesn't start for another month or so and then it isn't completed until the end of July, start of August (when I leave), and the actual scuba diving experiences/trips are in late August and then some in January, February, and March (long gone). That was a little disheartening, so on the way home I got some more food and...watched more anime before bed. BUT the best part of yesterday, other than that feeling of accomplishment one gets when completing homework and when making oneself carry out social plans, was eating homemade Okonomiyaki. It was so good, I'm drooling just remembering it.

Today, I actually slept in (it was glorious). Also, it was sunny and really nice out today, so after lunch I went to Kabuto Forest Park again. I wasn't able to get any good bird pictures though I did spot this rare bird that is small and greenish yellow with a very beautiful song (they are sooo flighty...*winks*). I did see spiders (one I did not catch on camera, but it seemed to be a jumping spider variety with sparkly indigo and danced) and moths that crackled when they flew.
I also saw an adorable lizard of some kind (difficult to research so far) and a snake! Thankfully, I had my telephoto lens, but I still didn't get any good pictures of the snake. It fled once it heard my footsteps and all I saw was it slowly receding. I did some research though and it might have been a yamakagashi, or Tiger Keelback. This snake is quite common in the Kansai area apparently and has only recently realized to be venomous due to its rarity of biting and the way its teeth are placed, making it difficult to actually bite humans (https://wildinjapan.wordpress.com/tag/yamakagashi/).

Other than awesome wildlife, calming trees, and amazing views, I also went to the Temple on Mt. Kabuto - Kanno-ji Temple. This is the temple from which the deep gong of a bell resounding through the forest park that I mentioned previously comes from.

An old poet showed me how to get to the temple and I greatly appreciate that. I also learned some cool words thanks to him:

• ga - moth
• namiki - line of trees
• hanafubuki - petals falling like snow/rain
• douoniji - homophone (literally "same sound, different writing")

I really enjoy seeing Japanese temples. They are often close to nature or have a backdrop of mountains and the wood-heavy architecture mixed with stone statues continue to convey that sense of nature. With exceptions such as Todaiji and other famous, historically-important temples, they seem to be comprised of a handful of small shrines and temples set up in an open area.

I particularly liked this one, Kannoji temple, since it was actually inside the forest park, had that awesome bell, and tied to Kannon. I saw a statue of her at the Todaiji Art Museum and absolutely loved it. Kannoji is an exalted being with a bunch of arms holding various items representing multitudinous factors of life.

Behind the temple was a path to the peak of the mountain (which I took and then saw most of the animals I mentioned before). There were amazing views both from the temple and on the way up the mountain, but the actual peak did not have any views. The peak was a field surrounded by a ring of trees, obscuring the scenery but creating a sense of a high paradise. It was actually really neat.

This Forest Park is cool also because there is a walkway with various statues and sculptures along it, with a tall angel statue of love surrounded by misty water fountains (funsui). On my way home, the sun was starting to make its journey down the sky, so the angle of the lighting made for some pretty cool shots. Including a rainbow and some odd trick of the light and mist that looks super sci-fi-like.

I didn't study much today, but I feel pretty okay about it since I've been studying daily since the start of week and I've completed all but two things due this entire week. Of course, I'm still only getting into the rhythm of the semester (while facebook keeps bringing up end-of-semester-blues and almost-done messages).

I am not quite sure if it really connects, but speaking of rhythm, I learned an interesting thing today. In Japan, it used to be believed that there is a giant catfish under Japan that writhes when upset with humans, causing earthquakes and such. So, in political cartoons, officials being represented with the unpleasant catfish was not uncommon. This also explains why the app I downloaded a few ago that documents earthquakes in Japan has a catfish as an icon! I love when symbols of old continue to be relevant.