Oh the places...

Japan is just bursting with places to visit!

Two weekends ago, IES Abroad took us to visit Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and Gujo Hachiman. These are 3 towns north of Nagoya, closer to the Japanese Alps. Shirakawa-go is known for it's phenomenal snowfall, and the traditional thatch-roof houses built to withstand the cold and snow. Takayama is further North, and famous for it's agriculture (especially miso), Tokugawa-era shogunate administrative house, and--of course--the gorgeous nature surrounding it. And Gujo Hachiman...well...besides the fact that I ate some delicious dango on the street, it is known for "sampuru", the plastic food displays you see in front of a lot of restaurants here. We even had the opportunity to cover vaguely vegetable-looking pieces of plastic in wax (supposedly tempura) ourselves! Not quite sure what I'm going to do with that souvenir yet...

Shirakawa-go

My time in Takayama was quite memorable. This is because I love food, and there is a lot of great food in Takayama. I woke up extra early to wander around town a bit (I looked for places to hike, but we were too close to town...sad...), and stumbled upon the Sunday morning-market, where I bought regional miso (filled with nuts and fruit! It's like a chutney, it is indescribably delicious) and a big bag of apples. Then after our group had breakfast and toured the shogunate house, I went back to the market. I ate so well...a skewer of the regional specialty, Hida beef, barely grilled and served with a cup of hot sake was definitely the winner. It was $8-9 for it, but definitely worth it. I saw candy-makers, shichimi-togarashi-grinders, cloth-weavers, incense-crafters, wood-carvers...Takayama is filled to the brim with handcrafted items.

Shichimi-maker in Takayama

Otherwise, I've been on break! Hooray for fall! Our school holds a festival called Nanzan-sai every autumn where all the school clubs give performances and make street food for 4 straight days! I went for 2 of the days to see my friend dance, eat taiyaki and takoyaki, and generally just hang out with all the Nanzan students :)

Not to mention during my break I've been doing 5-hour karaoke sessions, going to izakaya, and basically taking time off. It's been wonderful! Today since okaasan and I both had a break she decided she could dress me up in a kimono. It took probably 15-20 minutes to put it on me, but I think it fits well, don;t you? Maybe I'll see if I can get a used one and learn to put it on myself :)

Okaasan dressing me up.

The final product.

That's all for now, next up this weekend I go to Kyoto (finally!)...keep in touch :)