This pic is of the waterlillies that sit in a pond on campus.After being back in Japan for nearly seven weeks, I finally went out for a hike on Sunday. This is the perfect time to hike in Japan. The weather is finally getting cooler and drier. The crowds are somewhat thinner. The quality of the air is clearer. One of the guys I met through the International Adventurer’s Club invited me and seven others to go hiking about an hour-and-a-half outside of Tokyo (this means 2.5 hours on the train for me). The trail we went on wasn’t anything special (start at Ikusabata and end at Mitake, both on the the Ome Line), but it was a relief to get out of the city.
On the train ride out a 7-ish year-old boy kept coming up to me, giggling “Hello! How are you?” and running back between his dad’s legs. I also got into a smiling contest with another littler kid who was being held by his mom. An older guy then came and sat next to me and showed me his mushrooms, each of which I felt compelled to smell because he would hold each up to his nose, inhale, and pass it over to me. I wish I could have asked him what the story was with him and his mushrooms, but my Japanese doesn‘t quite cover that kind of conversation. So I had to be content with smiles and mushroom sniffing.
During the hike we came upon a group of septuagenarians on the trail. One of them asked me, “Genki desu ka?” Which means something like, “Are you doing okay?” To which I replied, “Genki desu!” “Yes, I’m fine!” I came upon the group again after we had stopped to admire a shrine we came across. One of the guys who was up the trail a little ways shouted, “Are you well?” (He said this in English.) “Of course! Are you well?” I caught up to him and we fell into small talk. Being a 72 year-old, he was leading a group of similarly aged men and women on a day hike. I can only hope that I, too, can do a moderate 10 kilometer hike when I’m in my 70’s.
The other nice thing about the hike was that I met a few new people and I was the only American (we had two Japanese, two Finns, a Greek, a Ukranian, a Brit, an Indian, and me). All-in-all, it was a great day. The only downside is that I had to spend 5 hours on the train to hike for less than 5 hours. However, I started reading “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, which totally made the train time fly by.
My next adventure will be as a volunteer for the Scottish Highland Games next weekend. Although there will be haggis, I haven’t decided if I will be that adventurous.
On the train ride out a 7-ish year-old boy kept coming up to me, giggling “Hello! How are you?” and running back between his dad’s legs. I also got into a smiling contest with another littler kid who was being held by his mom. An older guy then came and sat next to me and showed me his mushrooms, each of which I felt compelled to smell because he would hold each up to his nose, inhale, and pass it over to me. I wish I could have asked him what the story was with him and his mushrooms, but my Japanese doesn‘t quite cover that kind of conversation. So I had to be content with smiles and mushroom sniffing.
During the hike we came upon a group of septuagenarians on the trail. One of them asked me, “Genki desu ka?” Which means something like, “Are you doing okay?” To which I replied, “Genki desu!” “Yes, I’m fine!” I came upon the group again after we had stopped to admire a shrine we came across. One of the guys who was up the trail a little ways shouted, “Are you well?” (He said this in English.) “Of course! Are you well?” I caught up to him and we fell into small talk. Being a 72 year-old, he was leading a group of similarly aged men and women on a day hike. I can only hope that I, too, can do a moderate 10 kilometer hike when I’m in my 70’s.
The other nice thing about the hike was that I met a few new people and I was the only American (we had two Japanese, two Finns, a Greek, a Ukranian, a Brit, an Indian, and me). All-in-all, it was a great day. The only downside is that I had to spend 5 hours on the train to hike for less than 5 hours. However, I started reading “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, which totally made the train time fly by.
My next adventure will be as a volunteer for the Scottish Highland Games next weekend. Although there will be haggis, I haven’t decided if I will be that adventurous.
1 comment:
Bleh! People are using your blog to advertise their crap! Like the new format, but hate the new anonymous "comments." Anyhoo, Marci sez the Japanese garden in Portland is peaking right now -- wish we were there!
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