As some of you know, I was back in the US for a few weeks but now I'm back in Osaka and already settling back in. It's actually been a surprisingly easy transition back and forth between here and there. It seems that I've been here long enough for it to feel like this year's home, while the US still does feel that way. In any event, the only real adjustment I've had to do is for jetlag, and even that has been fairly manageable.
Business accommodations
My first night back in Japan was actually spent up in Tokyo because my plane got in too late to catch a train down to Osaka that same night. So I ended up staying in the cheapest non-hostel option available to me: a capsule hotel. (I've heard the term coffin hotel as well, but that seems needlessly sensationalist.) I found it rather cozy and was able to get a few hours of jet-laggy sleep before leaving at 530 for the first Shinkansen of the morning.
Thanksgiving 日本スタイル
After making it back on a very crowded train (Friday was a national holiday), Rachel got us going on my second Thanksgiving dinner of the week - adapted for Japanese grocery options.
Above you can see (from left to right): balsamic glazed chicken, fried onions (to be used on top of...), "green bean casserole" (mushroom and cream base with green beans and fried onions), mashed yellow sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie.
It was a great meal and provided the appropriate post-thanksgiving tiredness to catch up on a little sleep before....
紅葉狩り(autumn leaf viewing) in Kyoto
This is the fall counterpart to the famous spring cherry blossom viewing. We went with Keiko and did some temple visits, shopping and good eating during a very long day in Kyoto. The leaves really are quite striking in their intensity of color and in the contrast between the various red and yellow hues of the deciduous trees and the bright green of the evergreens. Most of these are from Kyomizu-dera, a temple up in the hills on Kyoto's eastern side.
The holiday weekend meant that the temple was packed with school groups who had come from other places in Japan for the viewing.
This (and the one below) are from a smaller garden area at Chion temple
After Kyoto we trained it back to Kyoto and have been home bodies for the most part (with a small excursion to Ikea yesterday). We've also been enjoying the chilly temperatures and comfort food.
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