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04/10/2007 Japaaaaaaan!I've already experienced something very "Japanese."
Sushi? No. Kimono? No-no.
Earthquake!!!
It was not so serious in Tokyo, but enough to scare me since it occered middle of the night (Oct.1st, 2:21am).
I've had many earthquakes over the years but never used to it. Never ever.
Now I'm in my hometown and ready to go to see my grandparents with a lot of souvenirs :-)
27/09/2007 I'm leaving NYI'm leaving NY from now....
I enjoyed my journey. Met old friends and new friends. I'd like to thank everybody!!
To my friends overseas; see you someday, someplace! If you are to visit Japan, please let me know ;-)
To my friends in Japan; see you soon!!
19/09/2007 I'm in Boston(^o^)vNow I'm in Boston. Weather is fine everyday, a little bit chilly, though. Staying at my brother's.
Instead of sightseeing around the town, I'm reading a lot of bookes at home. Wasting times? He has quite a lot of books I'm interested in. Already 5 done. Hardcovers and soft covers. All Japanese^^;
I'll be in Japan before the end of September, I suppose. Don't want go back yet!!!
14/08/2007 next place!Yesterday, we had Jigg's Dinner picnic by the seashore. Jigg's dinner is one of traditional cuisine in Newfoundland (Am I spelling correctly?), but first time for me to have outdoors. That was nice!
But... again, I had fly bite. Again, just above my right eye. Don't do that at least on my face, please!?!?
Then in the evening, visited another friend. We chatted and chatted and it was after midnight we realized the time. That was fun, too!
Today, I dropped at another house and had really good time. Oh, my, many relatives came around in an hour and I could talk to everyone after long time no see. Sorry that I cannot come to their big outdoor party, but OK! Next time!
Early in the afternoon, left St.John's and came up north to Lewisporte. Nice 5-hour drive, but no moose. Will be here until this weekend!
11/08/2007 hi from St.John'sNow I'm staying at friends' house in St.John's. A little bit cool for summer, but warmed up thanks to a friendly puppy dog!
Arrived at St.John's airport at 0:50am. There, I had an immigration interview (oh my goodness, that was tough!) and baggage check, so I went to bed around 2:30am at the nearby hotel. That was about 6:00am by England! I had a long day.... I come up to friends' next morning.
Wow, here comes the sunshine! Should I try to go out?!
08/08/2007 site seeingWhew. I walked so many streets and avenues. It looks closer on the map but when you do that many times... I don't know how I go home from here^^;
Went to Backingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Boat tour, Tower Bridge, ...then no time to go ticket shop for tonight's musical.
Tomorrow evening, I'll be heading for Canada. I'd like to stay here more, but it's exciting to go ahead, as well!!
06/08/2007 London!Now I'm in London. I've been tried to connect through my PC but still doesn't work.
So, I'll try to keep my travelog in English from now on! I cannot update my photoes till I get connected, through. About the days in Hastings will be also updated then since I had comments stocked(!) on my PC. Sorry, but I'm too lazy to bring them to the internet cafe and copy....
This morning, I did some mailing and came to Leicester Squre, where mentioned in a coursebook I used at school in Hastings. Bought a musical ticket for tonight and now I'm leaving for the National Museum. Tomorrow, I'll take city tour by double decker bus!
It's hot and humid here in London. Raind in the morning, but by the time I leave the hotel, it stopped. It's time for me to wear sandals!
11/07/2007 little noteI'm already in Hastings, England, but I hadn't got a chance to log-in with my PC. I'll update the weblog and photos of a short trip in Dusseldorf and the first week in Hastings as I get connected. Stay tuned (!?) 25/06/2007 School excursion to KoprivshtitsaKoprivshtitsa!
The School Master kindly invited us to the one-day excursion with grade 10th, on Wednesday 20th. Koprivshtitsa! “That” Japanese guidebook says that it declared as a “Museum City” …I don’t know whether this phrase is right since no other guidebook nor information sites in other languages mention it.
Anyway, managed to got up earlier than usual and arrived two minutes before 8 o’clock. Bought a bottle of drink, ride on a coach, and set for Koprivshtitsa around 8:15am from the school. The coach went on and on between fields and mountains. Whenever finding a little village, we asked if that is Koprivshtitsa, and the answer was always “No, not yet.” Then, found a road sign to leads there, 16km ahead and off the main road.
Passing the winding and narrow road, it appeared in front of us was a pretty village! Along the clear stream were roads without signals. Or, after leaving Sofia, we didn’t see traffic signals at all! Crossed the little river and got tickets, then set off for touring.
The main six house museums are: Oslecova House(OH), Dimcho Debelyanov House(DDH), Todor Kableshkov House(TKH), Lutov House(LH), Georgi Benkovski House(GBH), and Luben Karavelov House(LKH). All those houses were huge, but different in details. Unlike in other cities, they were made by woods and colorful façade. OH had beautiful paintings on the front, while the walls of DDH was colored in deep blue, which I like it very much. In TKH and LH were displayed lots of woolen hand-woven carpets. GBH had lots of materials for farming, while printing machines were displayed at LKH since the house was used for the base of revolution. Each house had guest rooms, a kitchen, bed rooms, a living room with gorgeously curved ceiling with chandeliers, a special room for mom and baby’s, and so on. They were quite impressive.
We visited a church and some souvenir shops in between. There was a lady in a souvenir shop, who was weaving a red carpet using a loom, a traditional machine. Some students tried to put though the strings! On the streets, home-made jams were sold, one of the main souvenirs for here. Then, some of us went up to the monument in the middle of the hill, …but for me, it was too hot to walk up any more (before lunch!) so that I took a picture and left there. There must have had a nice view of the entire village.
We got in the nice restaurant and had lunch. We (teachers) had Bulgarian white wine and students had beer!! (maybe I shouldn’t write that, thoughJ). Four students had a picnic at the monument, I heard. That would be nice, too!
Around 3 o’clock, the coach left Koprivshtitsa. Thanks for the inviting, a guide maps, and a home-made jam!
A sad thing is that not very many people actually live in the village, because of few jobs. The young go out of the village for work with good pay, and some stay for tourism related job such as working at hotels or running souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants, and so on. This village was safe when Turks was overtaking Balkans, but for now, it might be too far from other towns and cities.
03/06/2007 2-day trip to KazanlakSorry for the late update...!
I went to Kazanlak from 24th to 25th last month. Actually, started to think about it on the previous weekend, found a place to stay on the internet, then on the very day, went to the bus terminal, got a ticket, and hop on the bus at noon. If unlucky, wouldn’t have been there! Rose Festival has not started yet, but once it starts, the hotel price would be doubled, so decided to go before that.
The bus was comfortable. We had a brief stop at the gas station by the road and several stops for some passengers who go to small villages on the way to Kazanlak. The weather was fine, with a little bit showers, but thanks to the happy driver, we overtook the dark thick clouds and arrived at the sunny town.
After check-in, strolled around the nearby areas. Found an information centre, which seems to be very new.* Dropped in and asked for a free map and a guidebook. The lady there was kind and very nice to talk to. She gave me the last copy (maybe) of the guidebook written in Japanese!!
As her recommendation, had a quick tour at Kulata Ethnographic Complex and Iskra Museum of History, since those two were almost closing for the day. Found a restaurant on a guidebook and ordered something “Bulgarski” I thought, including Bulgarian wine. ;-) It was still bright after dinner, so strolled around the Svoboda Square again. Many people were out there, having some drinks and enjoying the sun and breeze. There was a fountain and it is said that people drink from that fountain would come back to Kazanlak again. Of course I drank some!
On the next morning, had an early (for me!) and quick breakfast, check-out, walked to the Kazanlak Central Bus Terminal and Kazanlak Station –they are close to each other- to book a return ticket. Checked the departure time and decided to take train, got a ticket and left a baggage at the station, went up to the nearby park where part of the “Rose Festival” would be held. In fact, when I was looking for the bus for Rose Museum and walking around the bus terminal, the one just has gone! I must have been in between of stops. Knew next one comes one hour later, had a rest under the trees in the park and wrote postcards. Again, found a guy with “that” Japanese guidebook.
It was so hot! Had an ice cream bar while waiting for the bus. The bus driver was so kind (?) to take me to the rose museum for free. Maybe it was not very long distance and the bus conductor wasn’t on duty, or did I look like a little kid?!?! It was 10:30am so most roses were already picked up…. I missed the rose picking! Should have taken that bus!!
There were a French couple at the museum and only three of us were the visitor at that time. Museum was open but the office was closed, so that we didn’t know how to pay the 2Lv of admission fee. Anyway, we looked around the museum. While watching the pictures, historical documents and old materials used for purifying the rose oil, two ladies came and opened the office/souvenir shop. At first the one was explaining about making rose products to the French couple in very fluent French, then they left, she spoke to me in some Japanese greeting words! French and Japanese aren’t very common here in Bulgaria, so I think she can speak German and Russian, too. Got some explanation in English and bought some rose products. They produce oils not only from rose but also lavender, thyme, geranium, and others. Rose fields were largest around there, but they had some lavender fields behind the research centre.
Took the bus to the centre of the town. The same driver! There was a bus conductor for this time so I paid 40 stotinki. Became hotter and hotter as the sun went up to the top of the sky, jumped in the nearby mall and found a T-shirt to change. Had plenty time before train leaves, so walked to the Thracian Tomb. On the middle of the way, felt something cold on my face. The sky was covered by dark clouds. Hurried to the restaurant close to the site, then it started to rain heavily with lightning and thunders. Had late lunch there and waited for the rain stops. Just when finished eating, it stopped and cooled off everything, so left the restaurant to the long steps. The map said there would be 94 steps to the Thracian Tomb… actually, to the replica of that. The real one is open only by reservation.
Lost a map on the way, so that missed one turn, walked too long way to the station. Got a cold drink and went into. There weren’t many passengers at first, but by the time train arriving, more than 100 people there to get on, see off, or pick up. Found a compartment nobody using, settled there. After a while, knew why nobody was there! The window wouldn’t open and the light wouldn’t turn on…. Well, not a big problem.
A man sitting next to “my” compartment talked to me in Bulgarian all the time. I did not understand most of them, but he was so kind to show me the nice points to take pictures, named the station and pointed on the map, told when long tunnels coming, and gave me an apple! :-) He showed me an old picture of a lady –maybe his daughter- and said she was learning karate and got 2-dan! He got off at the small station and waved until we couldn’t see each other.
The sun sank and the sky got darker and darker. Yet running in the woods, no city light couldn’t be seen. As I didn’t know whether the train would terminate at Sofia or go beyond, was worrying that I might have missed the station. Then stopped at one station, where I could see the tall buildings, trolley buses, and a lot of cars! This can be the Sofia station…? Got off, the train started to move, then found that was not Sofia. Oh, no… where am I? Luckily, found a tram station which is somewhat familiar to me. When looking into the city map and tram station’s name to try to find which way to go, a guy spoke to me in English and kindly offered the help. We chatted while waiting, then he showed me the way and see off as I got the right tram to get home. Was good that he was not a “bad guy” at all.
The name of the station was “Poduene,” and the next one was Sofia Central Station. Oh, well, at least I was safe home. Good enough!
*I've found that info centre in the newest edition of "that" guidebook! It has opened not recently but maybe several months ago.
22/05/2007 day after day...Still raining…!
It started raining on last Wednesday, then no fine day since then. It stopped this afternoon for a while, enough to go out for shopping groceries, but in the evening, thunder roars and heavy rain starts to fall again. We got a long weekend but were kept in the room all the time. Sigh… Another bad weather week is coming, according to the weather forecast. Where have those bright fine hot days gone? Is it a rainy season? I got to ask someone!!
Only 1 week to go for smaller students, 3 weeks for middle classes, and 1 month for 8th grade and upper. Time flies!!! I hope I gave some good impression of Japan to the students. Will be there anyone, who can proudly fold “jumping frog” by origami paper, coming to Japan in the near future? :-)
I haven’t seen many heritage sites in Bulgaria yet. Only I'm doing is that reading guide books and searching on the internet - have to hop on a bus!
06/05/2007 short trip to PlovdivThe coordinator at school and his girlfriend kindly took me out for Plovdiv (Пловдив) today!
It was cloudy all day but no rain. It took 2 hours from Sofia to Plovdiv by car, going through the second biggest valley and then middle of the plateau. They can drive as fast as 130km/h on the highways except for certain areas here in Bulgaria.
Passing by farms and fields, even an ostrich farm and rice fields, we arrived in center of the town. Plovdiv is a second biggest city in Bulgaria, and is one of the oldest at the same time. It is said this place has been inhabited since 6000 BC. There are some remains such as the Roman Colosseums, old churches, luxury houses, fortresses destroyed by Turks, etc. It was Saturday today, so many people were out for shopping and some tourists like us were around, too. We even noticed a couple with “that” Japanese guidebook! They might be traveling by train (Balkan Express), which runs from Hungary to Turkey and stop at Plovdiv on the way.
There used to be seven hills around, but now (“that” Japanese guidebook says) three in and around the town. That means, lots of slopes are here and there! In some area with narrow cobbled slopes, they have to renovate houses as it used to be, and preserve the atmosphere and scenery as they were centuries ago. Some houses are used for a museum, souvenir shops, or a B&B nowadays, while most of other houses belong to those rich people’s descendants (maybe!) and actually they are living there.
We saw lots of cats living peacefully. The town must be nice to live for human beings, too! (Cats know the best place. ;-))
Leaving Plovdiv, dropping at an old church and a fortress on the precipice on the outskirts of Asenovgrad (Асеновград), we came back to Sofia around 8pm. It was before sunset!
I’ll up some photos in a few days.
19/04/2007 my rough plan to westwardMy travel plan will be like this:
3rd Jul. – from Sofia to Düsseldorf
8th Jul. – from Düsseldorf to London 7th Aug. – from London to St. John’s 19th Aug. – from St. John’s to Montreal 21st Sep. – from Montreal to Boston 26th Sep. – from Boston to NY 30th Sep. – from NY to Tokyo(arriving 1st Oct.) May slightly move around when the day comes, but no big change. See you there!
13/04/2007 now in Sofia, Bulgaria!It seems that I've come to Sofia with spring!
It was raining in the morning of my arrival, but stopped before I stepped on the Bulgarian land. Since then, clearly fine and warm days last. They say it rarely rains in spring. Flowers are ready to bloom and trees are full with young, light green baby leaves.
We – the other intern teacher and me – are sharing a room in an apartment in a calm residencial area. (You’ll see in picures!) Small shops, supermarkets, post office, tram stop, shopping mall, and parks are in walking distance.
This week were for relax and adjust life in Sofia. We start classes from next week. Isn’t it exciting? 23/03/2007 New Open!Hi! This is my first weblog.
I'm going to travel around Europe and North America for six monghs. Hope to see you somewhere on the way! |
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