Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

So, while I've occasionally had time to belatedly think "Oh, gee, I haven't updated my blog in awhile," I didn't realize until today that I've gone nearly two months without a substantial update! I haven't been up to too many shenanigans or adventures during this time, though, for several reasons: busy working at school (and breaking three bicycles...), busy sleeping, busy organizing meetings for the summer community lessons, and busy staying inside while it's raining (usually I'd end up sleeping). So, some of the things I've been up to, in no particular order, and occasionally with photographs. (Note to self: procrastination always ends up giving me more work to do!)  Jinnan Junior High School I just finished up my one-term-per-year time at Jinnan Junior High School, which is far out in the northern part of Himeji. My commute, as with Hirohata, was about an hour in total for each way: first a 15 minute bus to downtown, then a 20 min...

I was able to tour the synchotron radiation facility, SPring-8 , and it was pretty neat! It was also very very crowded--they only open the facility to visitors for a very short window, and on the day I went they were expecting crowds of over 5,000 people! The facility was gigantic, especially the ring which launches electrons to (almost) the speed of light; as far as appearance goes, though, it was mostly just lots of heavy machinery, and really didn't look that much different from laboratories in the US. The facility itself was pretty neat though, and despite my limited knowledge of applied physics I was able to get the gist of how most of the machines worked in this particular lab. It's reminiscent of an electron collider (like the ones that lead to the discovery of the Higgs Boson recently), except that they don't smash the atoms, they only speed them up to extreme speeds. The electrons move on a curved circuit--aka, a ring--and the curves are important as this a...

Much delayed, but here are some photos from the day in Kyoto! I'll write some more posts soon about some of the highlights of the first few weeks of the new school year here in Japan, as well as some photos I'll be taking on a trip to SPring-8 this weekend, so stay tuned! Toji Temple My first stop in Kyoto was to see Toji Temple (which I visited before in December for the massive flea market they hold there. I'll be doing some serious yukata-shopping there again come June 21st!). It was nice to see the temple during a sunny day, versus the rainy one it was the last time I was there. However, that darned temple is just about as impossible to photograph in daylight as it is during cloudy weather; it seems no matter what angle you try to take a photograph of it, it ends up looking like a big black box in the sky. The cherry blossoms were nice, though! And there were turtles everywhere; though they were only Red-Eared Sliders, which makes them an invasive species, but th...

I don't think words can even begin to describe how incredible Spring has been so far in Japan! It is such a relief to actually be warm for once (which is now in the mid 60's for me). Everything you've ever heard about cherry blossom season in Japan is true: they are absolutely phenomenal! I've been doing a lot of travelling this week to experience the blossoms, and I have taken many photos! I'll sort them by locations, within different posts; all of these photos have been taken between March 29th and April 2nd. I still have some more trips planned for spring vacation, but I'm taking advantage of my first restful evening in the last week. The scaffolding is coming down fast at Himeji Castle! Sometimes you can see the castle peeking through the steel beams, and it still manages to look impressive despite the construction surrounding it. I've visited it twice so far this last week: on one day it was a bit rainy, and today it was just a bit cloudy instead. ...