Brugge...the Venice of the North

Brugge is one of the most famous cities in Belgium because of it's medieval charm. It was really beautiful there. Ine and I had a great time making our 3 1/2 mile walk last 5 hours. (We got side-tracked...)

The Market Place


The Provincial court in the Market Place




Look up


We got lucky and found someone to take our picture.


A monastery for the Benedictine sisters (who still live here now).


Sorry, I forgot who this is...I should have taken notes.


Pictures from our boat ride




More pictures--don't you love it?








Interesting fact about Brugge: There is a church there that claims to have the blood of Christ. Yes, I'm serious. You can read about it here.


Now for a few silly pictures--which is bound to happen when there are statues around.




I was totally laughing, but I was trying to re-create the look on this guy's face.

Antwerp

Well, I saw Antwerp every day since that's where Ine lives. So, these pictures are in no particular order and are from random moments throughout my trip.

A battleship in the harbor


All the buildings in Grote Square (Town Square)have gold statues on the top of them.


Brabo fountain (but it is turned off in winter) in the center of Grote Square


According to a legend, a terrible giant, called Druoon Antigoon, lived on the banks of the river Scheldt in ancient times. Whenever sailors on the Scheldt river refused to pay toll to the giant, he punished them by cutting off their hand. A Roman soldier, Silvius Brabo, managed to kill the giant. Brabo cut off the hand of the giant and threw the hand away in the river.

Here is the giant


Antwerp is actually named for this legend. The city name comes from 'hand' and 'to throw'. The 'hand' is the symbol of Antwerp. There are hands in the town flag. Also there are several sweets in the form of a hand.

There is also a great 'hand' statue. Taylor and I couldn't resist having a picture with this great, umm, monument.


Our Lady's Cathedral




Inside view


The 'Steen'

'Steen' is the Dutch word for 'stone'. In Antwerp the 'Steen' is the name of the little castle that can be seen at the entrance of the city center, on the border of the river Scheldt. The castle is called that way because it was one of the earliest buildings in Antwerp constructed with stones (at a time when most houses were still built with wood).

Ine and I doing what I do best--taking pictures of myself with friends


P.P. Rubens--Antwerp's most famous artist


Central Station






We ALMOST ate here.


An hour later, it caught on fire. I guess it was a good thing it was too crowded for us since we were hungry.

The movie theater where we saw 'Brokeback Mountain'. We were sitting next to 2 guys, so I'm wondering...For my guy readers, I have a question. Would you go see that movie with a guy friend?

It's the biggest theater in the world.

Belgium or Bust...

It's raining, therefore I have no excuses to not work on this now. Without further adieu, my account of spring break.

I got there late on the 15th. Ine was there at the airport to meet me and it was great to see her. It was a little strange having her drive me around now. She's a good driver though--sort of. (Just kidding Ine!) When we got to her house, I met her parents, then went to bed. The next morning I slept in while Ine went to school. We rode bikes and got lunch when she got home, but it was a pretty lazy day since I had just spent a day traveling. Taylor was supposed to be there between 8-10 p.m. so we stayed up waiting on him. However, when he didn't show up by 11, we decided to go to sleep and just listen for the doorbell. Well, he finally made it sometime around midnight--I think. I'm not real sure what time it was because I was totally asleep when he got there, but I woke up and we talked a little, then he said he was going to do his homework. In actuality, he didn't do any of his homework and we talked more until finally falling asleep.
So, that was my first full day in Belgium. The next day, Ine, Taylor, and I headed to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. First we went to the Atomium. What's that, you ask? Well, it's this:



It was built for the International Exhibition of Brussels, that took place in 1958. We went up to the top. This was the view:





Ine and I with some old cars in the Atomium

The one of the left is the Urkel-mobile.

After we toured the Atomium from top to bottom, we took a tram downtown.


(sorry for the blurry picture, but I still thought it was fun)

First things first--Ine and I really needed to find a bathroom. So, we casually walked into a nice hotel and found their bathrooms. Taylor was waiting for us and got a great idea for a picture while waiting. There was a big mirror so we wanted to try and take our own picture in the mirror.
Here's a test shot. We were really focusing...


The result--we're complete dorks


The King and Queen's house


A statue of one of Belgium's most famous poets--don't ask me his name, I forgot.


New York has the Statue of Liberty, Copenhagen has the mermaid and Brussels has the... Manneken Pis.


A closer look


There are many legends about this statue, but the one I like the best is the one Ine told me. It is said that a general in a war was about to attack the city, but was peed on by a little boy. The general took that as a sign that he shouldn't attack the city, therefore he saved the city. Umm, yeah...He is dressed as a soldier here, but he has many outfits--over 600 according to one website.

In Belgium they don't call them "Belgium waffles". They call them "Brussels waffles". This is quite possibly my favorite picture from the day.


Ok, no laughing this time


A courthouse and church


A group picture--since Taylor jumped in without us noticing.


Taylor and I, while we were waiting on Ine in the information building


Pictures of the square






A few random pictures




Of course I'd never have taken this picture if I didn't live in Japan. It was funny to me because this is quite possibly the dumbest name for a Japanese restaurant.

Of course I'd never have known that without living in Japan.

This world has nothing for me and this world has everything...

"My life looks good I do confess
You can ask anyone
Just don't ask my real good friends
Cause they will lie to you
Or worse they'll tell the truth...

See I'm not water but I'm not wine
You could say I'm just here for the party
With one thing on my mind
Squeezing me and my camel through the needle's eye"
--Derek Webb

So, I just ruined my favorite sweater. It makes me really sad, but not so much about the sweater itself, but that I care so much about material things. So yeah, that's it. I'm a little sick of myself, but I'm glad I can at least be aware of it and try to change. Every time I think I've gotten over one hurdle, it seems like another one is right there. Thus is life though, eh?

Yeah, I know--you are looking for pictures from my trip. I swear they'll be up tomorrow...or the next day, but they are coming.

I've been a horrible blogger...

So, I really have no desire to write on this thing lately. I do have things to write about, I just haven't felt like spending time on the computer, thus the lack of e-mails many of you are missing. Anyway, I decided I'd at least share a few funny stories from school this past week.
This is my last week at Katsutadai. I've really loved that school, because the students are great.

Story #1: Thanks to my okasan (mother) I've had goldfish crackers in my lunch this week. All the students beg me for them and I'm a sucker every time. Technically it's against the rules for them to eat anything other than school lunch, but they're just so cute--I can't help it. I gave one boy a goldfish and then motioned for him to keep it a secret. He was very stealth (read: obvious) putting it in his mouth, then covering his mouth so no one would see. It was great. Of course, after lunch he told the teacher I gave it to him and that it was 'oishi-kata' (delicious). Luckily, it was a teacher that thought it was funny, so I didn't have to worry about being in trouble for giving students 'outside' food.

Story #2: Ok, this is actually a conversation with my favorite san-nensei, Atsushi.
A: Hello. I'm 15 years old.
Me: Yes, I know. I'm 26 years old.
A: My birthday is January 2nd.
J: Oh, mine is July 4th.
A: Nana-gatsu? (July)
J: Hai.
A: When I was a child I was very small, but I grew up.
J: (laughing) Yes, you did.
A: I will go to high school now.
J: Where?
A: Ichikawa/Shinjuku
J: Oh, good.
A: What's wrong?
J: (laughing) Nothing-what's wrong with you?
A: I'm 15 years old.

I'm seriously going to miss this kid.

Story #3: I had my last class on Thursday with my ichi-nensei (7th graders). At the end of class, 2 boys gave speeches to thank me for teaching them. The first boy gave a really impressive speech with some really difficult English words. I was proud of him. The second boy's speech was HILARIOUS. It went something like this:

Hi Ms. Jenn. You have a nice body. You are sexy and very pretty. When you are sad or having a bad day, please remember us and be happy.

It was so adorable--and so funny.

I have a few pictures from the last days, but I don't know if I'll post them until after I get back from Belgium. That's right folks-in 3 days I'll be on a plane headed to Belgium, after a short stop in Denmark.

DRC: Forgotten War

"The grim reality of life in many areas of the DRC has become commonplace, a kind of normalization of the unacceptable," said Nicolas de Torrente, Executive Director of MSF in the United States. "...These photographs go behind the headlines and offer glimpses of the strength and suffering of ordinary people - reminding us, and the world at large, that we must refuse to let the unacceptable become normal."

Click here to read the entire article.

I can't make this stuff up...

Dear Ms. Jenn

Hello! My name is Akari.
I play the piano.
I like music. My favorite singer is Britney Spears. She is so cute.
I think she is the best singer of all singers.
Do you know Britney Spears? If you know about her,
I want to talk about her with you.
I hope to hear from you :-)

From Akari


Just in case you think I did make this up, here's proof.



I must commend her for her English, even if she does have horrible taste in music.

This is a test-this is only a test

I don't really shoot much video, but since I learned how to do this, it might inspire me to do it. George-I hope you don't mind me sharing this with the world...haha.


Video Sharing at DropShots.com