Miyajima

  I am finally feeling like my time in Japan is starting to wind down.  As of today I have 13 days remaining in Fukuoka before I return to DC.  I am still far from fluent in Japanese, but I have definitely made progress over the last several weeks, and I hope get even better before returning home.  Here is what I have been up to lately....

Last weekend I had a school "field trip" to Miyajima and Hiroshima.  For those of you who are keeping count, that makes three trip to Hiroshima for me (strange, I know) so I will focus my post on Miyajima instead.  Before arriving in Miyajima, however, our groups made two stops along the way.  First we paused briefly at Shimonoseki, the point where the islands of Kyushu and Honshu meet.  Next we stopped at what was called "the third most beautiful bridge in Japan," Kintaikyo Bridge--where the #1 and #2 most beautiful bridges are, I don't know.  

                         

From Kintaikyo bridge we made our way to Miyajima, a small island off the southwestern coast of Honshu that is most well-known for the giant orange "gate" off its coast.  When the tide is low you can walk out to the gate, but when the tide comes in, the gate and the surrounding shrine appear to be floating.  On Miyajima our group stayed at a Japanese-style inn, a ryokan, where we were served a traditional dinner (with specially vegetarian dishes just for me!) while sitting on a tatami floor and dressed a yukatas (summertime kimonos).   Other activities on this trip included a nice ferry ride and a visit to an important Shingon Buddhist temple where I got to sit in on a ritual ceremony that happened to be taking place when I arrived. 

                    

One more note to add about Hiroshima that was new on this trip.  For lunch on the day of our visit, the trip leaders from KyuDai (my school here) took us out for Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki.  It is basically a bunch of noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts and sauce (and pork, for those who so desire) wedged between a pancake on one side and a fried egg on the other.  Please see the picture below.  It will probably surprise most of you to find out that I thought the okonomiyaki was amazing!    It certainly doesn't seem like something I would normally eat, but it was one of the best food I've had since I arrived, and I've been seeking it out to try it again since last weekend.  Luckily for me, I had the chance to try it again last night at a potluck dinner with friends from Japan and many other places around the world.  

Still enjoying my time here, and hopefully I'll have a few more new and exciting things to post about before I take off.  Thanks for reading!

Maureen