Lately I've been totally been fluctuating between super busy and super lazy. It's crazy to think that my year is almost up. I will return to the United States one month from today! By this time next month, I will be in Detroit... most likely standing in line in Customs.
Lately Mandy and I have been trying to go to all of the places in or around Nagoya worth going to. In that spirit, we've recently trekked to the Nagoya Port Aquarium, the Higashiyama Zoo, and Meiji Mura. I need to upload all of my pictures yet.
Nagoya Port Aquarium is something like the third largest aquarium in Japan. It's rather large and open, one of the largest buildings I've had the pleasure of being inside during my stay in Japan. It has very high ceilings and the whole interior is painted pale blue. There are little sloshy water things with lights to project rippling water effects on the floor and ceiling. In general, the whole atmosphere would have been delightfully relaxing if it hadn't been packed with children and old women with large, pointy-cornered purses. We wound our way through the aquarium, enjoying the very large tanks of dolphins and balugas. My main complaint about the aquarium itself was that there was a little too much museum and not enough fish to the place. While it was very beautiful and I did enjoy seeing the displays, I would have prefered to watch animals. The penguin enclosure was great. Most people don't know it, but I am a great lover of penguins. The penguin enclosure was very deep and quite pretty - it would occasionally snow inside. The penguins really seemed to be really enjoying themselves. The other part that I really liked were the sea turtles. There was a big tank of sea turtles. They were really big and gorgeous. They came right up to the glass so you could really see them all. So that was very fun. I enjoyed it a lot.
Higashiyama Zoo was a little disheartening. I'm not a huge fan of zoos anyway, but the Higashiyama Zoo seemed like it was imported fdirectly otu of the fifties. The enclosures all looked so archaeic and run down - like the classic "barred cage" look covered in rusty chain link fence. The animals themselves seemed to be as perky as any other zoo animals, and they all looked like they were really well cared for. They had a really huge tiger that just would soak for his little tiger bath and then get out, walk over to the bars and shake off onto the onlookers... and occasionally mark his territory (and anyone else close enough and standing in the right direction). He was pretty impressive. The most impressive exhibit was the koala cage. It had its own building - that building was extremely modern and even air conditioned. It was quiet, and a little boring. Koalas are cute, but not really my top choice. Their penguin exhibit was also pretty cool. They had a good variety of different breeds and sizes. Yay penguins!
Meiji Mura is a very interesting little area in the area of Inuyama. After World War II, much of Japan was being rebuilt. Some people were concerned that Japan would lose its traditional architecture and some of the culture with it. A philanthropist gathered up over sixty buildings from the Meiji Era (Around 1900) from around Japan... and even some internationally! The day we went, there were many people in traditional clothingbecause there was some event. We saw a lot of beautiful old buildings, and many of them were really interesting. Getting there was a bit of a trial... it was first about 40 minutes by local train, then 15 minutes by bus. We got something called a "Bikkuri Coupon" that ended up saving us about half on the whole whole excursion. Half off on admission and I think 40% off on the travel. Really cool. Meiji Mura itself was set in a really lovely place. It was far out and away from everything else, up on the side of the Inuyama [a mountain]. It was very prettily wooded with beautiful afternoon light. The buildings ranged from a Catholic Cathedral (popular now for "Romance Weddings" and featured in a period movie) to the home of two well-known Japanese poets, to an old theatre, to a Frank Lloyd Wright hotel. There are some aspects of traditional Japanese architecture that I just am completely in love with. Someday I want to build my own house and incorporate some of the things I like. In particular, I really like the very thin hallway-porches that have one wall made of little windows. It's just so beautiful.
I have other things to write about, but I'm getting tired and it's getting on toward bedtime for me. I'll try to remember (and make time) to write tomorrow.