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I heard something going on outside my apartment, so I grabbed my Sony DSC-V1 and ran out the door. It turned out to be a parade of sorts, but unfortunately I don't know anything more about it.
UPDATE: I'm told this was in fact the local Cherry Blossom Festival. Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water for not knowing these things.
Arguably this photo is not very interesting. I also have a picture today of a box of mini doughnuts I bought that turned out to be individually wrapped. Can you imagine yourself eating just one delicious mini doughnut? But that seemed to have such a negative tone. So I replaced it with this cell-phone picture of a near overflowing drainage channel. Hopefully you won't be so disappointed by this picture that you'll skip the next few days. The cherry blossoms are due any time now.
I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Sony for making a fantastic digital camera. Here we have a shot of the new Sakura or cherry blossoms. My friend Myris is set to arrive in Japan on Friday, and I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that he doesn't miss it. It only lasts a few days, and will probably start in full force tomorrow. --Just a cultural aside, in Japan we also have the term "shout-out." It's "???????" or pretty much, "shout-o out-o." I think it's cute when the Japanese pop stars use it.
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The students are back!
This is the school's Brass Band after a performance. I was really impressed by their skill! They played for the new Freshman as they left the auditorium. It was the first day for the first year students, and quite a lot of fun for me. I'm sure you'll be seeing them in the coming days here on my site.
Some of the new first year students! Welcome!
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This giant bee tried to steal my key!
This photo was taken in Shinjuku park, in Tokyo. This park is famous for its Sakura, or cherry blossoms. There are over 1000 cherry trees in the park. I went to the park together with my friend Myris, who's visiting for a few days.
Here's a guest picture for the day, since I didn't take one. Myris went into Tokyo while I was at work and took some pictures in the Imperial Palace.
Wonderful weather at long last! Today was the day for school club introductions. Apparently on this day, male students often dress up in the girls' uniforms to play jokes on the freshman. I didn't know about it until it was over, but it was probably good in the end. A photo like that would be a bit embarrassing to have posted on the internet.
Today all the teachers who changed schools returned to their old schools for the afternoon. Teachers are required to change schools every 10 years, and have only minimal say in where they are reassigned. In this picture some students are giving flowers to one of our very popular former teachers.
Delicious Tako Pizza! If you're ever in Tako, Japan-- stop in at the Tako Pizza for some wonderful european style pizza.
This is the old part of the Tokyo Train Station. Myris and I were on our way to Akihabara. We found a great used CD store and bought tons of cheap CDs. I didn't notice the name, but I marked the GPS coordinates on my mobile phone. I'll be checking in there from time to time!
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Just a view on the way home from work. I like the rustic moss covered wooden wall.
This photo is exactly the 5000th photo taken from my Sony DSC-V1. The very first photo was taken May 13th, 2004.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Today an intruder came into the school with a knife and started yelling at the teacher of the class I was in! I fearlessly took this photo of the man, in which you can clearly see the knife. A few moments later he was wrestled to the ground and gave up his weapon. Luckily for everyone it was just a drill to prepare the students incase such a thing really happened. I bet I had you worried there for a minute!
I'm sorry this picture is so bad. Today is the world premier of Tiger, and this is the front of the line to buy it. The row of people goes on for 3 city blocks, after which another rent-a-cop has a sign designating the end. Hold on a moment-- What is that burning plastic smell?... Oh, the building across the street appears to be on fire. Huge plumes of de-combusted polymerization wafting into my apartment. But tragically the building is not aflame, it is merely the waste removal technique of choice in Japan-- The residential plastic bonfire.
This is just outside the South East exit of Shinjuku station. I was told to use the East exit, but I couldn't find it. I was beginning to think it was an April Fool's Day joke-- there wasn't a single sign for "East Exit." But apparently the station is so big I just didn't walk east enough. In the end some people more familiar with the station came to get me.