Kamakura field trip

For all of you who have been asking for more pictures, this post is for you!!! Our first week was filled with attending an Area Orientation/Intercultural Relations class. On the 4th day we took a class field trip to the city of Kamakura. As a class we took the train (which is an experience in itself) and went to a shrine. Then we were on our own to take a train back! ENJOY - oh and you can click on a pic if you'd like to see a larger view.

Fact: Japan's population is roughly half the US population, but is the size of the state of California (and only about 20% is usable land because it is very mountainous)! EVERYTHING is crowded and built UP!

Shane's lunch in Kamakura: ginger pork with rice, cabbage, and miso soup - tasty!

My lunch: katsu-ju - deep fried pork on a bed of rice and cabbage with a side of miso soup - I will DEFINATELY eat this again!!

Outside the restaurant...still not sure of the name of the place!

Just outside the train station (yes, we took the train!!)

Any guess what trash goes where? Bottles go in the round holes, I have NO idea about the rest!

A Torii gate indicates the entrance to a Shinto Shrine. Shinto is one of two major religions in Japan and is the only native religion. In the past roosters were given as an offering to the shrine. The Torii is actually a rooster perch.

Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine

Cleansing before entering the shrine. The process is to rinse the left hand, then the right, pour water in the left hand, rinse the mouth, spit the water onto the rocks, then let the remaining water pour down the handle to prepare it for the next person.

Barrells of Sake!! Donated to the Shrine each year in order to receive prayer and blessings for a good season of rice crops.

This is a ceremonial dance platform, also many Japanese weddings are held here.

Hongu Shrine - the main Shrine at the Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine, there are several others within this complex

This was an interesting vending machine...choose the drink and it comes in a cup with ice!

Buddhism is the other major religion in Japan, it was brought to Japan from India via Korea. This is the Great Buddah (second largest in Japan) and is so big it had to be placed outside the temple.

Kotoku-in Buddhist Temple

Think it's tough to choose cellphone service? Imagine if everything looked like this! The only thing we could read on the entire contract was "Shane Price" everything else was in Japanese characters!!! Fortunately, honor and trust are extremely important to the Japanese so we got thru it and now have Japanese cell phones!

Yummy pork dumplings and noodles at a chinese restaurant in Yokosuka.

Showing off his chopstick skills!