November 13, 2004 - Madadayo

Tim and I watched a wonderful Japanese movie last night that I highly recommend. It is called "Madadayo" and is directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is a wonderful story about an aging professor and all of the friends who admire him, love him, and care for him. In return, he is their teacher and he helps them all retain a healthy perspective on life. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. Read a review.

November 13, 2004 - Mt Rokko
One of our many dream houses in Japan that lies near the bottom of the trail. Trail hazards during the hike Friends we met on the way out	Yesterday we went hiking. We had signed up for a group hike with one of the international student associations. The plan was to get some fresh air, visit the local mountains, and maybe meet some new friends. When we arrived at the meeting point, we saw a crazy mass of people (over 100) standing around a woman with a bullhorn. She was urging people to sign up and get into their groups. Well, we had already sent an email response that we would be going and they asked for our names and nationalities for insurance purposes, so... we weren't sure what to do. Quickly, we looked at each other and headed for the train station exit. We were intercepted by one of the organizers who obviously could tell we were foreign students who were looking for something or someone. We claimed ignorance and said we were solo hikers who were looking for the trailhead. He looked a bit uncertain about our story and asked if we were looking for the organization he was with. After we reassured him we were not, he attempted to show us the way (although he didn't really know the way.) About 20 minutes later, we found ourselves back at the station. He saw us again and flagged us down. "Are you Tim-san?" Sheeeeet. "Uh, ya. We were confused. Sorry." After about 5 minutes of talking, it turned out they had been waiting for a different Tim, but by this time we had generally uncovered that we had originally intended to hike with the group. We tried to play it off, and they turned out to be very nice guys. Luckily, we were about half an hour behind the mega-group, so we were a small group. The guys were mostly in their 50's and were very interesting to talk with, so it was fun. They also gave us some insider tips on cool places to travel. When we met up with the mega-group for lunch at a beautiful lake, surrounded by pines and changing maples, they were beginning organized games. We then stated that we did not actually have time to stay, but thanks for organizing the hike. We tried to sneak off to relax on the other side of the lake, but two different leaders insisted on showing us the way to the return trail. At the trail, some random strangers were headed the same way and our 'host' asked them to escort us. "No problem" they agreed. Jeeeeeez louise! First they waited one hour for the late-arriving Tim, now they were trying to escort us all the way back to town. Very nice of them, but after our host took off, we turned down the new leaders and went to sit by the lake. As it turns out, when we finally headed down the trail, one of our original leaders caught up with us. It seems he snuck off too. He was very friendly and good-hearted so we had a good time finishing the trail with him.

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