#but anyway I love the traditional music of china and japan like it's so good Tumblr posts

[frukmerunning]

guys chinese opera kinda fucks so if you ever feel like broadening your musical horizons.... it's right there.

[usedtobe-angstyoikawa]

Tanabata

Itadori Yuji x latinx!gn!reader

Summary: you’re from Latin America and end up moving to Japan (cause your whole family is fucking dead hehe sorry). You feel sad and homesick but Itadori tries his best to cheer you up.

Warnings: I’d say none?

a/n: just to clarify, I am from Latin America and I know not everyone here is loud and touchy but I am and this was kind of a self inserted fic cause I feel that if I had to move to Japan it’d be really hard to get used to the people and their culture in general. Like japanesse people are known for being closed off and distant mostly because they’re very respectful and well behaved, whereas in Latin America people are more outgoing and kind of rude to be honest. Idk I think it’s an interesting contrast between these two cultures and Itadori has a bit of both and I love him so yeah enjoy (also I didn’t proofread this I’m very sorry)

———————————————————————

Being a foreigner student in Japan wasn’t easy, specially coming from a place like Latin America with such a different culture. When Gojo sensei found you in the middle of a loosing battle against a curse back in your country, you never would’ve thought he’d save you and take you with him to the other side of the world. You were grateful though, thanks to him you got to meet amazing people that understood what loosing everyone you loved was like. People who gradually became your friends and helped you through your hardest days without expecting anything back. But you still missed your home, the food, the music and the people. Your people. Sometimes those thoughts made you feel guilty, but you couldn’t help but feel left out whenever Noraba made a reference about a tv show they all used to watch when they were kids, or when Megumi flinched and run away anytime you got too exited and accidentally raised your voice. Yuji was a great cook and would often make you try new dishes to cheer you up, but japanese food tasted so different to what you were used to it sometimes wasn’t comforting enough. You weren’t having a bad time but you definitely weren’t the happiest you’d ever been. You craved touch and warmth, you wanted to go dancing without being self conscious and stay up till sunrise.

The closest person to you was Yuji. You met him a few months after your arrival in Japan, apparently he’d been out on a ‘secret mission’ or at least that’s what Gojo had told you. The pink haired boy greeted you with a big smile and a lot of questions, you were surprised by his outgoing and warm personality at first but you immediately became good friends. You loved being around Yuji, he’d always let you hug him and didn’t seem to be affected by your voice volume. He reminded you of an old friend back home so it wasn’t hard to open up to him and tell him about your mixed feelings towards the cultural crash.

“I can’t say I get it ‘cause I totally don’t, I wasn’t forced to leave my country and leave behind everything I’ve known my whole life to try and start a new life on the other side of the world” he said while grabbing his chin and looking at the ceiling “ and I don’t think there’s a way to make you feel completely at home, I mean I can try recreating your country’s traditional dishes but I don’t wanna ruin that for you”

You’d tried that before but you could never find the right ingredients and there was always something missing, leaving you with and empty space in your chest. It seemed like every time you tried to do things to keep holding on to your culture the more distant you felt, as if the life you knew was forever lost.

“That’s it! We can go to the festival!” the boy next to you jumped and you stared at him wondering what the hell he was talking about. ��Noraba didn’t tell you about it?” You shook your head no “This weekend starts the Tanabata festival, it was a chinese tradition at first but we’ve been celebrating it for a while. There’s gonna be a lot of food, cute decorations around the city and… oh!” Suddenly he was in front of you grabbing you by your shoulders “ WE HAVE TO MAKE A WISH”

And that’s how you ended up borrowing one of Nobara’s yukata and headed to the festival, Yuji right next to you. As soon as he saw you wearing the traditional clothes his face lit up and he grabbed your hand, dragging you to what he described as the best place in earth. Some of the second year students decided to tag along but you lost them in the crowd.

Yuji was right, it was fun. He showed you around and bought you different types of food, you played games and he told you about the japanese traditions. You slowly realized that maybe you’d judged his people wrong. Seeing kids running around, couples holding each other, and the dumb idiot’s bright smile made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes it was a different country, and yes the people there could be distant and a bit close minded, but they were also very nice and respectful, full of wisdom and spirituality.

Apparently it was this festival’s tradition to write down a wish on a colorful paper strip (tanzaku) and tie it onto a bamboo branch. The color you chose held a meaning and directed your wish towards it’s destination. You chose red, representing gratuity towards your parents and ancestors. Yuji chose yellow but he didn’t tell you what the color represented.

“You know there’s a Japanese legend my grandpa used to tell me every time during this festival” He said while you two walked down a path and heading to a bridge “Aparently there used to be two lovers, a cowherd and a weaver girl, that lived by a riverbank in China a long long long time ago. Before knowing each other they dedicated their time to their respective jobs, but once they got married they’d spend so much time together that they completely forgot about them. The girls father got so mad that he split the two lovers apart and exiled the boy to the other side of the river.” He stoped walking and you realized you’d reached the bridge and the two of you were now standing in the middle of it. “The girl cried and begged his father to let them see each other one more time and he agreed, allowing the lovers to meet every 7th of July. But when the date came they realized there was no way of crossing the river, ‘cause you know there was no bridge and they apparently didn’t know how to swim or maybe the tide was too strong and it would’ve been dangerous to…” he started rambling on about the possible ways the couple could’ve seen each other and you couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh, making the boy blush. “Anyways, a bunch of birds I don’t remember what type exactly but they helped the girl cross the river and she was able to meet his lover. Now we throw our bamboo branches to the river so they reach the sea and the gods can find them and read our wishes, hopefully they’ll make them come true.”

“It’s a beautiful story” he nodded and kept looking down at the river. Together you threw your branches and watched them get carried away downstream by the current.

“My wish was yellow, it represents friendship. I usually choose the red paper like you did, I like to make wishes for my parents and my grandpa.” You listened intently, he rarely spoke about his parents. “This time I decided to be a bit selfish and wished for our friendship to last forever and for you to feel at home.” He turned to you and dug holes in your sole with his brown eyes.

You stood there silent, not knowing what to say or how to react. Your heart was beating fast and your eyes were getting wet, but there was this indescribable feeling beginning to settle in inside of your chest. Itadori moved closer to you and cupped your cheek with his cold hand, hot breath fanning over your face.

“I promise I’ll try my best to make you feel at home”

[pompompurin1028]

Honestly I- I was shook too like what😭 I was all like “what kind of an unholy word are we living in and how the hell did you have an access to this unholy thing”

Another time she sent this and only wrote “u” below I was like

🤨

i hope you aren’t the owner of this edit or i’m disowning you

In conclusion we’ve got a good Dazai-Kunikida dynamic😂 Love her so much tho

AND YES AJXNSLXN I SAW THAT- please that’s adorable😂💕 gotta adore the lovely friends who have to deal with our passionate selves😭

Ahh that’s so great🥺 But yeah, make sure you warn her beforehand, it could get really triggering🥺

Omg you MEMORISE THEM TOO? Woah😭 I think the only poem we ever memorised was our national anthem in primary school- But it at least gave you more depth for Blue Bamboo so that’s awesome hehe😌 And that sounds so hard omg😭 But I find that it’s so useful for the brain and comprehension skills too which also sounds awesome :o

And I really enjoy learning about them, yes🥺 When we do them in class, first they let us alone with the original poem, and of course we don’t understand anything because if the poem contains, let’s say, 200 words, only 20-25 of them are still in use today. In fact, there was a certain point in the history where we started to use so so many words from two other languages (not telling them explicitly because that’d probably publicly reveal a lot about mine🥲but anyone who knows a bit about this certain literature has already understood it so RIP) because the poets thought those words would serve better to express what they wanted to express, and the mixture of these 3 languages formed the literature language in the country for a long time. We’re talking about roughly from the 11th to the 19th century, by the way. But in the 20th century, a movement started and its main goal was to eliminate the influence of the foreign languages on our literature, they defended that we should be creating our works with our modern language (which I pretty much agree with).

So now, when we look at a poem from for example 17th century, we don’t understand it not only because it’s written in old language but also because it’s not even in our language. But when the teachers give us the translation, it allows me to see how they perceived the world, the human emotions, and it kind of makes me feel a beautiful connection with my country in those centuries, I guess? The awareness that it’s my culture is so attractive for me as well. When I read things from other cultures, sure I like them objectively very much, but here, subjective emotions come into play too, I suppose? It makes me feel closer to it even when I don’t understand a word in it. I always feel like emotions were purer back then. And when I have a version of it which I understand, it makes me rejoice so much. So I may say that it kind of creates the connection between us, the ‘modern’ individuals and the ‘historical’ culture/people. I really hope this all makes sense haha, this turned out so long omg I’m so sorry😖

And yes!! I’m pretty fluent in it, and I really enjoy learning it so, SO much omg it could be my favourite language to learn or talk or write in. I’m literally so passionate about everything about it (why are we like this in everything we do I swear-). And oh you studied it too?? That’s awesome!!🥰 We could try talking in it some time if you’d like👀

And aaaaahhh French literature is AWESOME you should definitely give it a try. It’s definitely among my favourites, if not the favourite. I recently read La Bête Humaine (The Beast Within? The Human Beast?? I still don’t know how it was published in English) from Émile Zola and I was shook oh god, it was so raw, so wild… and I found it really beautiful, I’m honestly slowly falling in love with the naturalism movement. I really recommend Flaubert too, he’s really a master of realism, I love him so much. Hugo, if you’re into romanticism (which I’m.. pretty much not😭) And there’s Molière, the comedy master, I’m honestly HEAD OVER HEELS in love with his witty humour; and in terms of philosophy there’s Rousseau, Descartes, Beauvoir; AND OH THE POEMS Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine AAAAAA THE LIST COULD GO ON FOR HOURS- I- I CAN’T😩😩😩

And French classical music/art movements is a WHOLE other topic that I won’t even get into, or this ask will become a novel.

Anyways🤭 Oh I see! That’s really interesting, maybe🤔 I also heard that it was so beautiful, I’m looking forward to reading it some time😌

This is long overdue and this ask has been sitting in my ask box for a while, my apologies. And please that picture, I'm sorry I can't help but burst out laughing when I see it hahaha. And to be in the face of such a genius such as Mozart, I would be shy too honestly😳

And yes omg, I appreciate her so much T^T. My friend has been busy though it seems, she's been busy with courses, I miss her😭. And yes ahh I did warn her no worries, I warn her everytime she talks about it😳 I think she gets the point by now haha

And ahh that's actually pretty cool! But that also sounds so complicated at the same time. I can't even begin to imagine having 3 languages integrated into a single type of literature. And only that little of the words can actually be understood? I- wow😳 And yeah, I can totally understand the movement and its intentions, and honestly, I agree with it too, even though I have a very limited understanding of this topic.

And that must feel really weird :0 to know that it is from your culture but to have languages that you don't understand in it. And don't worry, I get what you mean! It's like you're able to communicate with the people of the past as they bring you messages and lessons that they learnt! T^T and it's honestly kind of a treasure honestly.

From what I know the old Chinese language changed to the current one during the May Fourth Movement (Also known as the New Cultural Movement), I believe. Of course, the May Fourth Movement included more than just the change of the languages, but that might be one of its biggest accomplishments. So during that time, the modern Chinese language is already used in speaking and writing as well during that time, but it was not the language used to officially spread ideas during that time. The May Fourth Movement one about moving away from traditional ideas and intellectual thoughts, such as Confucianism. Don't take my word for it, but from what I remember that I have learnt, I think that they wanted to do so because they (the students of the time) believe that it was such ideas that lead to China's downfall after the first world war in the Paris Peace Conference in which it wasn't able to claim some of its original lands back (the land is the Shandong region, which was given to Japan instead); and before that as well in which it suffered much humiliation from the weak Qing (or in English would sometimes be written as Ch'ing) government. And so, this movement kind of promoted the use of vernacular language in writing rather than using what we call "bahuai". This made the written language much easier to understand.

Sorry, I just went on rambling and gave you a history lesson there😅 At first I was going to talk about it briefly only because of... but all well, I guess my history-loving side came out haha

And honestly, I find that so amazing:") And well yeah, I only know very little French, unfortunately... I was learning it when the pandemic hit and I couldn't have any more lessons sadly...

And please, your passion for French literature is making me want to read them too ahh. There are just so many books I want to read gshsjs. And Rousseau, of course, I know him from studying the French Revolution period before haha, along with Voltaire and Montesquieu. Well I know of them, but I'm not very familiar with their ideas though unfortunately :")

And please don't worry Req haha, your passion is very energizing and it makes me really excited to talk about such things too. I enjoy it very much <3

Oh and before we were talking about I am A Cat, I actually found it in the bookstore in Chinese, and I read the description of it briefly and it talks about a story written from the cat's pov which is quite cool!

[metalandmagi]

Fall 2019 Anime Worth Watching

Wondering what anime to watch now that the jam packed summer season is over? Never fear, we’re into the fall, and there’s even more great shows this season! It’s my last rec list of the year so we’re in the home stretch now!

Full disclaimer, this season is packed with great shows, but a lot of these are not available on Crunchyroll...so here’s a link to a list of where you can watch everything legally on streaming! And I’ll but an (*) by everything that IS on Crunchyroll.

And here’s my recs for every season this year:

Summer 2019

Spring 2019

Winter 2019

And here’s my master list for 2020

New shows!

Chuubyou Gekihatsu-Boy (Outburst Dreamer Boy): A comedy in which a normal girl just wants a peaceful high school life, but finds herself surrounded by a group of ridiculous, overly dramatic boys who are all part of the “hero club” who try to make her school life better by helping her make friends. This is all well and good, but all the boys are delusional in one way or another. For example, one thinks he and his friends are basically Power Rangers, and another is obsessed with fabricating dramatic fake anime backstories for himself. It’s Ouran High School Host Club without the hosting. It’s absolutely hilarious, but it’s really flying under the radar because it’s not on Crunchyroll.

Kabukichou Sherlock: A surprisingly comedic modern version of Sherlock Holmes that takes place in the seedier portions of Japan in which a bunch of the city’s quirky detectives try and hunt down Jack the Ripper. I was not expecting this to be nearly as good as it was. The characters are great, Mrs. Hudson is a transvestite cabaret singer, the soundtrack is bomb, it’s an original anime by Production I.G. AND SHERLOCK EXPLAINS HIS DETECTIVE PROCESS THROUGH MYSTERY SOLVING RAKUGO!!!! 

Babylon: NO, NOT FATE BABYLONIA! This is a mystery/thriller involving a case of illegal clinical research for a pharmaceutical company that leads down a rabbit hole full of murder, suicide, and political intrigue. IT’S LIKE DEATH NOTE AND MONSTER HAD A BABY AND IT’S FREAKING AMAZING! I haven’t been this interested in a mystery/crime anime since Erased. The first episode will definitely leave you...hanging…. The only problem is it’s not on Crunchyroll, so I have a feeling most people won’t know about it because it’s on freaking Amazon Prime!

Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align): A coming of age sports anime in which a boys soft tennis team sucks so bad that the school will disband them if they don’t win a tournament. And the team captain is so desperate for serious members, he literally pays his childhood friend who recently moved back into town to play on the team. And said childhood friend has an incredibly interesting backstory and struggling family life that ropes you in right away. How is soft tennis different from regular tennis? No clue, but this show is awesome! You can tell by the first episode it is going to be a great coming of age story, with more mature themes of abuse and class difference.

And it’s not the only sports anime with Sora in the title...

*Ahiru no Sora (Sora the Duck): Another sports anime, in which a short, spikey haired boy wants to play basketball (yeah yeah very original) but discovers that his high school basketball team is full of punks! It’s basically what would happen if Izuku Midoriya wanted to be a basketball player. The first few minutes are basically every sports anime you’ve ever seen, BUT it really lives up to its potential by the end of the first episode. It has a likable protagonist, good animation, and the female characters all wear realistic clothes to play basketball in! If you’re a piece of sports anime trash like me, this is definitely the show for you!

No Gun Life: In a detective noir world where everyone has basically become a cyborg, a guy with a gun for a head works to uncover the plans of an evil organization.  That’s it, that’s the whole thing. It’s made by Madhouse AND IT’S A CYBORG WITH A GUN FOR A HEAD! What else do you need?!

Beastars: IT’S JUST ANIME ZOOTOPIA! I’m not even kidding. It’s a school based mystery involving anthropomorphic animals who are faced with the murder of one of their classmates and the disruption of the peaceful coexistence of all types of animals in the school. It involves the whole predator vs prey dynamic and how appearances are deceiving, all with a jarringly serious tone considering everyone’s an animal. The only thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the use of 3D animation...which I notoriously despise no matter how great the show is. But even I am willing to put aside my hatred to keep watching this anime. The characters are interesting, it’s shot really creatively, and I love how ridiculously seriously it takes itself. Apparently it’s going to be on Netflix at some point.

*Shin Chuuka Ichiban (True Cooking Master Boy): It’s Food Wars’ less porny sibling that takes place in 19th century China, where a young boy named Mao is a master chef who travels around spreading his love for cooking! This is a reboot/continuation of an anime based on a manga from the 90s so there’s a really fun retro art style that’s nice to see updated. Apparently it picks up in the middle of the original story, but I haven’t felt like it’s necessary to see the source material to enjoy it or understand it. Also the soundtrack is bomb! It’s a great shounen to watch if you want more cross-cultural cooking anime that’s not straight up porn in your life, and it will definitely make you hungry!

Next seasons and Continuations!

 And don’t forget the summer leftovers, and some shows are getting continuations!

*Chihayafuru season 3: This is an incredibly fantastic underrated sports/club anime about a girl named Chihaya who struggles to find members for her karuta club after her best friend who made her fall in love with the game moves away. Never heard of “karuta”? It’s a physically and mentally challenging traditional Japanese game involving 100 poems written on cards that the players must memorize and locate before their opponent….it makes more sense when you see it I promise. This show is goddamn amazing, with incredibly realistic characters, an amazing game that most people don’t know about, gorgeous animation. It’s hilarious, it’s dramatic, it’s sad, and it’s uplifting all at once. 

This doesn’t premier until October 23, (so you’ve got time to binge the first 2 seasons!) but this is by far my most anticipated show of the season and quite possibly the entire year! I’VE BEEN WAITING SO MANY YEARS FOR ANOTHER SEASON, AND I’M SO PSYCHED!

Kono Oto Tomare (Stop this Sound) season 2: Speaking of club related anime, in case you missed the first season earlier this year, this is an anime about a boy who tries to recruit members for his high school koto club after all his senpais graduate. What’s a koto club you ask? It’s a large Japanese string instrument that no one cares about or plays anymore of course! Their club is endearingly terrible, with literally only one competent person on the team, but they’re aiming for nationals anyway, because...of course they are. This show seems pretty textbook at first, but it really grows on you the further you get. There are great character dynamics, it’s fun, it’s sweet, and there’s cool music that people don’t hear a lot of! If you like sports or club focused anime, give this one a chance!

*Dr. Stone: An action adventure in which all of humanity is mysteriously turned to stone one day. When a genius high school boy named Senku and his….not so genius friend Taiju awaken 3,700 years in the future, the two must rebuild civilization and turn the world back to normal with the power of science! I know pretty much everyone is watching this already, but I just want to reiterate how amazing it is. It is mysterious, educational, hilarious, and it really makes you think about civilization as we know it today. It was one of the best (if not the best) new show of the summer, and I’m so glad it’s getting a full run!

Vinland Saga: THE VIKING ANIME IS GETTING A FULL RUN!!!!!!!! In case you missed this gem in the summer, it’s a historical drama about a young boy named Thorfinn and his journey to avenge his father’s death and become a great warrior. And it’s all while traveling with his enemies through Northern Europe. It’s a fantastic dark, realistic story in a historical setting that filled the void left by Dororo. Plus it’s animated by Wit, so it looks beautiful. The music is great, the characters are intriguing, the story is interesting, AND IT HAS AN AMAZING ANTAGONIST! It has hype written all over it, so I’m pumped for the rest of the season! Unfortunately, you can only find it legally on Amazon Prime, so that’s why no one’s watching it.

*Fire Force: The (unfortunately timed) action/drama where fire fighters with super powers must protect Tokyo from people who are spontaneously combusting and uncover the evil rooted within their own organization. It’s made by the same person who created Soul Eater, and it definitely shows. The animation is high flying and out of this world. It’s worth watching for the action alone. But be warned, the plot and characters are it’s biggest weakness. It will jump between gratuitous fanservice and hijinks and then rocket into moral dilemmas and disturbing situations with no warning. BUT I still like watching it for the action, and in these later episodes the plot has steered itself back on track a lot more, and I’m way more interested in where the story is going now. I’m hoping that means the second half will give us a better sense of the characters. It also has a top tier muscular waifu! 

*My Hero Academia season 4: I’m sure everyone’s already going to be watching MHA, but I guess I’d have my anime fan badge revoked if I didn’t at least mention this one. I may not read the manga, but I know this arc is going to be a good one! I firmly believe this will be a modern classic, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s really worth watching.

And that’s it for this season. I’ll probably do a list at the end of the year of my top shows of 2019, but otherwise, see you in the winter of 2020!

[redsamuraiii]

Why Does Everyone Love Japan?

So I came across this post on Quora where someone answered the question. Some of his points are applicable to most tourists who only sees the good side of Japan, while a handful of tourists such as myself acknowledges both the good and the bad because let’s face it, there’s no Etopia on Earth. 

So I’d like to make some comments to his original post below (in italic) with mine (in bold).

Because they have a very superficial view of what Japan is, and Japan has many very attractive features. 

This is true.

And they have very short memories. And they have forgotten history.

Forgotten is not the word. Ignorant is. They only know the general history.

It is a very clean country, “everything” works in Japan - elevators, vending machines, trains. People act very politely. They make very high quality products. A society striving for sustainability and recycling. And many more virtues. 

This is true.

But, on the other side, like all countries, they have remarkable social problems - hikimori, declining birth rate, declining marriage rates, death from overwork (Karōshi - Wikipedia). There are dozens more.

Er...citing from Wikipedia is not a good source but anyway...

Yes, Hikimori is a problem in the big cities of Japan, particularly Tokyo where the stress level is extremely high due to the high cost of living and extreme working hours in a highly rigid corporate world that demands absolute productivity. (I’ve worked in a Japanese company and experienced their terrible work culture, you can forget about work life balance or even a good sleep.) So this leads to high suicidal rates or even death from overwork which leads to social problems as people no longer have the luxury to socialize and hang out for a decent cup of tea after work because they simply do not have the time or the energy for it. They work long hours in a toxic environment so they probably hate everyone at their workplace and they get so tired of everything that they just withdraw themselves from the world by themselves hoping to find a moment of peace. (I live in a south east Asian country and I did experience this for moment after I get tired of the rat race in a city life. I can tell you it’s not just Japan, it’s happening in every developed country in Asia). So this caused a declining marriage rates and naturally, the birth rate as well. 

People romanticize Japanese history.

People romanticize European history too, which is why London, Paris and Venice are always packed with tourists.

“oh, those noble Samurai”: Centuries of civil war, treachery, betrayal, and slaughter. Militarists, fascists, misogynists. Patricides, fratricides.

People romanticize Knights as valiant too even though they were involved in several wars in the Dark Ages, Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, treachery, betrayal, slaughter, everything he mentioned. Feudal Japan is the same as Feudal Europe.

The authentic, wholistic, natural life of the farmers: Peasants dying in the periodic famines or killed instantly if they offended a samurai. A country that smelled like the human shit they used to fertilize the rice fields. The back-breaking labor of planting and harvesting rice paddies. Centuries of malnutrition - the Japan used to be famous for being short people - not so much anymore that their diets have improved. 

It’s called Feudalism which is a common system used across Europe in the Middle Ages as well where farmers and peasants gets killed or punished for offending their lords. That's why the tale of Robin Hood became famous because he fights for the common people. Game of Thrones got their idea from, England’s most bloodiest civil war called War of Roses. Europeans in the Medieval did not have the proper diet either, eating raw food and they do not have spices until the Crusades where they trade with the Arabs during peace time.

Geisha: Children sold into sexual slavery. A few rose to the top of that.

I think he’s confused with Oiran. A common misconception by the western world since the industrial age up to today. Geisha in lay man terms is a social escort who is highly trained in the arts of music and dance to entertain and accompany their clients.

The unspeakable things Imperial Japan did to China and their other neighbors in World War 2. 

Europeans colonized much of the world, ripping other countries rich resources, luxuries and spices, shipping them back to Europe while enslaving the locals as workers, bringing European troops to set up colonies. If the world got over them, if the world got over the NAZI, why can’t we get over Japan?

Japan is a great place to live as a wealthy foreigner, or to visit as a tourist. And that is the side of Japan that most people see. 

It’s pretty much the same for most countries including the one I’m living in, every tourists only sees the good in it but they did not see the bad. This is common, as the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side.

So you see, Japan and Europe have a lot of things in common and they both never face a shortage of tourists. The one advantage Europe has is the cost of living is not as high as Japan which is why many immigrants are flocking to Europe. They have better welfare such as the unemployed getting allowance until they get a job. We do not have that in Asia, including Japan. Even when we are unemployed, we still need to hustle some odd jobs for basic income.

The one advantage Japan has is its beautiful nature, the mountain side which provides clean mineral water and the open sea which gives fresh air to the country side, which I believe is one reason why many people love Japan. 

There’s something spiritual about it that you feel at peace and enlightened when you hike up the hill or mountain to secluded temples where the monks are chanting and the high castles which were preserved since the time of the Samurai making you feel as if you just time traveled into a different era. The mix of ancient history, traditional culture and modern technology. The brilliant architecture that is not only known for abstract designs but serves a practical purpose, there's a reason as to why they were designed in such a way or built in that manner. 

Perhaps I’ll find the time someday to write my own version of why “I” myself love Japan and elaborate more on what I’ve just said.

Been getting that question from many as well but I could not find the right words to answer them as I just do not know where to begin. Even my Japanese colleague could not understand the foreign’s fascination with his own country. I guess it’s normal as I could not understand with mine as well every time I see tourists in my country. Sometimes there is just too much of everything. I mean you can get bored staying in your own house for too long that whatever you find outside its more interesting that what you have in your house, especially if you go to places you’ve never been to before.

But after reading this post on Quora,I think I finally know what to write for my next post. Perhaps it will give some clarity to many based on my perspective.

The history, the culture, the architecture, the nature, the people, the food.

Stay tuned. 

Source : https://www.quora.com/Why-does-everyone-love-Japan

[ruffoverthinksthings]

I headcannon that China is more of a cultural influence as it's the only Asian country. They make anime, Chinese Dramas are very popular, and the food is well-known. Fashion is extremely unique as you see a lot of young people trying to look like their favorite C-Pop star (but some fashion trends make the elders raise eyebrows). Music is a special blend of C-pop, J-pop, and K-pop. (I want Lonnie and other girls to dance/sing/listen to the Chinese version of Miss A's I Don't Need A Man).

Hooboy, this is going to be a while, just like the Xiongnu and Youask!

Anyway,some historical parallels and details to establish here first andforemost:

Ibelieve that Mulan takes place during the 15th Century,with some obvious anachronistic elements and historical and regionalinaccuracies, such as the fact that the Xiongnu were actuallyabsorbed into Chinese culture by this point, the invention of thefireworks that feature so prominently in the movie itself, anddetails like the voice actors using the wrong accent when pronouncing“Fa” as they are explicitly in the northern regions.

Inour timeline and our China, this century was a time of greatexploration and expansion of trade deals with foreign countries,along with a fascination in exotic treasures and animals (such asgiraffes) during the former half of the period, with an isolationistperiod and an economic decline in the other half.

It’sreally interesting as it fits really well with the sort of attitudethat you would expect a country to have BGU to even been amenable tothe negotiations and extensive preparations for joining Auradon, andthe resulting reaction when the country doesn’t prove nearly asstable and perfect as it was advertised to be.

Tocompletely and thoroughly discuss all the effects Auradon’s fusionhad on the Chinese people would be a BOOK, not a long tumblr post, soI’m just going to stick with your ask and focus specifically on theculture.

Sowithout further ado, 

“Culture in China, Before and After the GreatUniting”:

Tosay that the fusion and the introduction of many foreign, andsometimes temporally advanced, ideals, cultures, andinformation shook China to its very core is an understatement.

Inits own home realm, it was already a mecca for arts and culture,which is why they have indeed become the center for all Asiancultures because of foreign artists, dignitaries, merchants, andex-patriots from countries like Japan, Vietnam, and India, and someEuropean countries like that of Spain and Portugal.

AGU,it became an even bigger focus due to the vastness of its population,the massive growth and spread of wealth to the common man as career,commerce, and education opportunities abounded, and of course, thealready existing and thriving diversity within its own regions.

Thoughthe list of arts, trends, and cultural changes that exploded from theGreat Uniting are VERY, VERY, VERY NUMEROUS, you can verygenerally classify them into two movements:

Oneis the “Mulan” Movement (named after the famous War Hero, LiMulan, nee Fa), featuring themes, philosophies, and attitudesinvolving rebellion, breaking of age-old traditions, challenging thegender and/or societal roles (they were often intertwined, as womengot more freedoms and economic influence), liberal and democraticvalues originating mostly from London and its stores of knowledge,and an emphasis on personal realization and following through onindividual passions no matter what—being “true to your heart,”as it was popularly phrased.

Thoughthe movement was seen as a very valuable period of experimentation,exploration, and empowerment of many of the working class,minorities, and those that never would have stood a chance atpursuing their crafts BGU, it was heavily criticized for what manyaccused as “irreverence for irreverence’s sake,” the cheapeningand blasphemy of sacred traditions and elements of their society suchas the Emperor, the corruption of culture, and an unhealthy affectionand love for foreigners’ culture over that of their own, the lastmostly being attributed to majority of the new artists of this perioddrawing extremely heavy inspiration from the other states, if theyhadn’t copied it outright as is the case with covers and wholestyles like Coronian lute arrangements.

Itdidn’t help that it happened beside and sometimes instigated a HUGEamount of conflict, societal disruption, and even violent run-inswith the law, as many of the performers and fans oftentimes heldtheir events in remote locations in the mountains or seedy (forAuradon’s standards) underground venues, there was quite a lot ofworking class children who tried for stardom and ended up crashingand burning when they got roped up in drugs, too much partying, andthe fickle tastes of the masses, plus a LOT of the people whoidolized Mulan were also incredibly passionate, but WAY more violentand lacking in self control.

Thesecond is was simply known as “China’s Conservationist Period”where majority of the culture-and-future-shocked citizens retreatedback to what was familiar and established in the face of drastic andtoo rapid societal change, and what they sometimes believed was anattack on themselves and everything they held dear, an attempt toerase their very history and what makes them Chinese, to adopt thecultures and attitudes of foreigners and completely become them.

Thisxenophobic attitude was very apparent with critics and punditsreferring to many foreign acts and faces of culture as “invaders,”especially the controversial ones like the “Sex, Drugs, and Rock‘n’ Roll” idols from London.

Itenjoyed its own period of success independent of the Mulan Movement,owing to the fact that there were also plenty of foreigners whowanted to see this brand new culture and were already familiar, orsick of, the twists, new elements, and foreign Chinese artists wereintegrating into their works (“foreign” and “alien” are allrelative, after all).

Thetwo movements began to wane as societal and political tensionssettled, people at large adapted to the brand new reality they had,and gradually became more open to the change and less hostile tointegrating foreign ideals.

Theartists themselves also realized just how incredibly fleeting anddifficult it was to keep an audience’s attention in thishyper-accelerated and connected world, what with its increasinglyshort attention spans and the constant spotlight on both theirpersonal and professional lives, having to keep up a good front andappearance at all times.

Athird and very important factor was that the teenagers of thatgeneration became the “old farts” they were criticizing yearsearlier, and found themselves unable to keep up, or have legitimateinterest in the latest trends and developments, as they no longerrelated to the themes.

Happilymarried individuals rather found they don’t want to hear about thelascivious exploits of a guitarist who swears she will never getattached to any one girl.

Still,they didn’t want to abandon culture, music, and their craftsaltogether, which led to the “New Horizon” movement, generallyfeaturing fusions of traditional and modern instruments and styles,modern techniques for classic arts such as legends being told throughadvanced holograms than puppets, and the integration of “pagodas”and vibrant, Royal Palace style gardens in modern, mostly concreteand glass buildings.

Independentof periods and movements, and focusing on specific styles of cultureand arts:

Theaterand live performances experienced a massive surge given that there’ssuddenly so many avenues for performers to perform in for cheaper andwith less barrier to entry, it’s much more easy to organizethemselves logistically, and they have a willing crowd that can paythrough all manner of means, and “patrons” are not exclusivelylimited to rich merchants and the ruling class.

Recordeddramas also experienced the same popularity due to the demand and theease with which they could be produced and profit, though obviouslythey have their own market, with some overlap to the former.

Literatureexploded now that self-publication and distribution wassuddenly available, and you better believe that fanfiction bloomed assoon as people got wind of it. As with Sturgeon’s Law, though, mostof it was EXTREMELY bad, especially when you consider culturaldifferences and people only getting the appeal of certain memes,jokes, and themes VERY superficially.

Animationwise, I wouldn’t call what China produces “anime,” since Idefine anime as “animation originating from Japan,” though I canunderstand with how foreign countries produce shows clearly inspiredby and mimicking many of the distinct styles and elements from iconicanime shows, you would come to describe South East Asian animation ora certain style originating from there as “anime.”

(IfI missed any specific form of art you’d like, such as that ofpainting, it’s because this is already a lot of work as is, andthey can be answered in a later ask when I’ve had time to rest.)

Backto Movements, some common themes in these works, from both the Mulanand the Conservationist:

Rebellion,evil emperors, and impossible threats being conquered by herofigures, who are frequently outcasts, eccentrics, and vilified bysociety at large until they prove that their strangeness is whatallows them to become great.

Fantasiesinvolving being trapped in heavily restrictive and unimaginativedystopias, and breaking away the metaphorical and sometimesfigurative chains that keep the populations in line, and a sense ofoptimism and idealism despite the uncertainty and chaos that awaitstheir victory.

Loveletters to the Chinese Imperial System, with Emperors often beingcast as Divine Forces of Good, or heavenly beings locked in battlewith Evil, and needing the assistance of the protagonists to bringpeace back to the land.

Idealistic,oftentimes inaccurate, and heavily romanticized accounts of theirhistory, such as that of their legendary heroes being reborn inmodern times to revive the lost traditions and ideals, benevolentfeudal lords fighting back to the invading barbarian hordes and theirradical, dangerous new ideas and ways, oftentimes by discovering orpreserving the artefacts and culture bequeathed onto them, frequentlygiven some form of personification like benevolent spirits (inspiredby Shintoism), or even the souls of their beloved ancestorsthemselves.

Ontofood: you bet your ass the food is popular!

Iactually imagine that Mulan’s China becomes a love-letter to“Cooking Master Boy” (and still is, to this day, complete withsecret techniques, mystical glows of deliciousness, and flyingingredients from the sheer speed and force of chopping) due to howimportant the culinary arts is to their culture, and how they wereall too eager to share it with the rest of the world, both to make aliving, and to make a name for themselves in the world.

Withthe Silk Trade being one of their most enduring legacies and highestpriorities, yes, fashion did explode with China, now that they had amassive audience that are constantly hungering for new designs,incredible ease with which orders could be fulfilled and shipped allover Auradon, and the creative bloom as everyone was constantlyrubbing elbows with foreign influences, citizens, dignitaries,culture, now that physical travel was easier than ever, and massmedia really got a foothold.

(Ona side note, if you thought the current congestion and traffic inmodern day China is bad, Auradon’s unexpected automotive boom wasleagues worse, whichincidentally caused a gigantic boom in services and companiesspecializing in streaming media on the go.)

Yes,China has a massive influence with their music, especially due to themany different styles and regional differences in their country, andhow easily they could experience, sample, mix, distribute, and moreimportantly, profit from them.

Auradondidn’t have as much problem with illegal pirating and downloadingas we do, and as I’ve said earlier, the recent interest in fusionof the old and the new has lead to such songs and styles like you’vementioned.

DidI miss anything or did not expound as much as you’d like, If so, Iapologize, and please ask again, I’ll get to it when I have theenergy and interest once more.

[superchicalonelyviking]

Update 5

(Note: As usual, time has passed between writing this and being able to post it! Today is our 5th day in China, so this post is 5 days old!) Mat here, aboard the ferry to Shanghai! We are feeling sad to have left Japan, the 3 weeks here have flown by! But we have loved it. Here's what we've been up to with our final days here. After leaving the Fuji area, we made our way to Komoro. We arrived at Komoro station where our host Yuu San collected us. He seemed quiet and cautious, but friendly. We drove out of the city and over the hills, into a beautiful area filled mainly with rice fields. Yuu San and his family run a book cafe, which was an incredibly tranquil room filled with art (all created by family friends) and many shelves of somewhat antique looking books. The place had such a nice relaxed feeling. It was helped by the cup of green tea and acoustic guitar Japanese singer/songwriter music that Yuu San played. After meeting Yuu San's wife, Megumi San, we had a tour of the place, noting some interesting musical instruments that we were allowed to play, and also seeing a huge loom that Megumi San creates big textile artworks with. It's a really lovely house. Our room was outside - the home-made building was made from mid and straw, with old Japanese tatami mats used for insulation! It was a nice, comfortable place, and nice to be outside and feel connected to nature. We joined Yuu San and his family for meals. Megumi San's cooking was amazing! We had all sorts of brilliant traditional Japanese food that was totally different to what we could find in the restaurants around Japan. They are big Beatles fans! Yuu San proudly told us about when he sang with Paul McCartney - leaving us in disbelief before adding that it was with tens of thousands of other people, at a Paul McCartney concert! After dinner he got out his guitar, which he let me play - it was so nice to play a guitar again after over a month without playing any music! Yuu San played and sang us his 'welcome song' - a version of John Lennon's 'Imagine', with each verse sung in a different language! They have had their guests from around the world contribute translations to help expand the song. It was really beautiful and quite moving! Megumi San is a textiles artist, and so they have many artist friends. The cafe is a nice, creative space, and they seem very keen to support creativity. One thing they like to do is arrange festivals with music and dancing - the biggest one they held had 700 people show up, just in their garden!! They have one in August, called the International Bon Dance Festival. In the past they've had guests help create adverts for the festival - they showed us some videos of previous adverts, before Yuu San quietly suggested, "Why don't you try to create a Bon Dance advertisement for us?" Challenge accepted! So outside our Tatami house was a big crazy looking wooden building. This was the Doraku Organ- the entire building is a musical instrument. It used to be in a city as an art installation, but heavy snow on the roof meant it couldn't stay, so it was transported to Yuu San's house. We had listened to a song that was written about the organ - at the festivals, they perform this song and everyone does a special dance to it! The organ contains many different ways to create funny sounds - most of which work like a pipe organ. It's really amazing, because you have to go inside this huge wooden sculpture to play it. The sounds are weird, and unlike any other musical instrument in the world! It was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen. We decided to make the Organ, and the song, part of our advert. The advert is on YouTube, here: https://youtu.be/Mc7zlM0_YgM Everyone was really happy with the advert, including us - we both really enjoyed coming up with ideas and making the video! It was a fun, weird, creative day. Aside from playing music, we explored the local area a bit. The family have a goat in their garden, who seemed pretty friendly! And we walked through the woods down to a nice lake. One evening we walked down with Yuu San and Megumi San's daughter, Mizuki, to see the family's rice fields, where they had spotted fireflies! Apparently there's only a couple of weeks in the year when you can see fireflies, so we felt very lucky to see them! It's really quite a beautiful site, it feels a bit like seeing fairies! Yuu San also encouraged us to go to the local Onsen (hot spring/public bath). We'd heard trying an Onsen is a good experience, but we're a bit nervous about it, because, well, everyone goes completely naked. No swimsuits allowed. Apparently the Japanese like this, because it is a great equaliser in society! I'd find it awkward enough in England where I understand the culture, but because there's a lot of rules and etiquette in Japan, it's even more scary! Still, we thought we should try it. We decided to walk to the Onsen, which was a nice walk through the rice fields, over some hills and through a tiny village tooked away in a valley. It was a nice walk, and it seemed we had earned our relaxing bath. We arrived at the Onsen, and said goodbye - for obvious reasons, the Onsen is gender separated. (Blue curtain for male, red for female, don't get that wrong!) It's easy enough, you get undressed, go to the washing area and shower off so you're clean, then you're free to enjoy the indoor bath or the outside bath. I spent my time in the outside bath, because, well, you can have an indoor bath anywhere... The water is very hot, and it is believed that the water contains lots of minerals that are good for your skin and for relaxation. The last thing I should mention about Yuu San's is the kittens. Oh my god the kittens. Their 1 year-old cat recently had kittens, one of which still lives with them. They are so damn cute! Then a friend who took another of the kittens home brought him round to see his family, so the 2 kittens spent ages wrestling on the table whilst their Mum watched. She was very protective, and extremely talkative, always meowing for attention. So that was our experience in Komoro! Next up was our final stop in Japan - Kyoto! Our first evening was a trip to the Hoon district, which has a street considered to be one of the most beautiful in all of Asia! From there we walked across to a ramen restaurant in the downtown area. It was Saturday night so the downtown area was rammed with people, it was almost as busy as some of the busiest parts of Tokyo! The next day we walked to a craft museum, which had lots of examples of and demonstrations of traditional Japanese crafts. Then we went to the Philosopher's Walk, a popular walking route near a river where university professors used to like walking for quiet reflection time! On the way we found a pottery shop where you could make your own pottery on a wheel - I convinced Libby to have a go, and she seemed like a natural! We walked through the university where Mizuki used to study- it seemed like a nice university building, but we passed the student halls and couldn't believe how crazy untidy and run down it was! No idea what the students had done to the place! And the building itself looked like some kind of prison camp, all in all the most un-japanese thing we saw on our trip! We then headed to the Yuu San family reccomended Beatles Bar - a beatles themed bar, which played Beatles music videos on a massive projector all evening! The next day we saw the world famous rock garden at Ryoku temple, a temple of zen buddhism. The garden consists of just white gravel, and 15 carefully placed rocks. Its been there about 1200 years and there is much speculation as to why it was built the way it was. It's a very beautiful, meditative space, as is the rest of the gardens that surround it. Then we headed to the Arashiyama district, a residential suburb with the famous bamboo forest, a really magical place with dense tall bamboo trees and fantastic colour, shame you spend most of your time trying to get out of the background of other people's photos! Theres also the famous moon crossing bridge and lots more parks and temples. We then went to see the Fushimi Inari Taisha. Inari shrines are dedicated to prosperity, and this is the grandest one in Japan. The animal spirit of inari shrines is a white fox, so there are fox statues everywhere guarding the shrines. It has 1000s of Inari gates, which help prayers reach the temple, so they line all the paths around the hills, which makes a really interesting spectacle of long bright red tunnels! We walked up to the top of the mountain passing many small shrines and really haunting graveyards, all lit by lanterns as it was early evening , passing through another bamboo forest before reaching the top of the mountain , partly overlooking the city . A lot of effort is made to look after the surrounding environment , particularly as Shintoism sees many aspects of nature as sacred - this gives the surrounding environment a real importance and I wonder how this affects how Japanese shintoists see the world around them. The next day we headed to Nara, a city where deer used to be sacred, so there are hundreds of deer roaming free in the huge park! You can buy crackers to feed them, and they seem used to knowing that humans = free food. Which makes them pretty tame, but big signs warn that they're wild animals which may kick, bite or push you over. Nonsense! Although they did try and eat both mine and Libby's clothes. Anyway, they're insanely cute. I gave most of my biscuits to a cute deer that seemed a bit shy and was hanging out by himself, I think he was grateful!There's also a huge ancient temple with an absolutely humongous golden Buddah inside, its hand is the size of a human being, really breathtaking! The next day we went to Kurama, a beautiful temple atop a mountain out in spectacular hills North of Kyoto. Feeling lazy from several days intense walking, we cheated and took the cable car up. An easy day, we spent a lot of time just relaxing and taking in the wonderful views. Theres lots of statues of a red face with a huge nose, it's a sort of evil spirit. One winter the nose of the biggest statue fell off, so the locals put a giant plaster on it! The train home had awesome comfy seats that faced the windows directly, so you can really enjoy the great scenery. Then for our last day in Japan (!!) we headed to the South Higashiyama area to see this area's very well preserved old architecture. It is also an area famous for having a lot of geisha houses. From there we walked up to Kiyomizudera temple, which was a beautiful old temple with great views of the city. Many of the Japanese visitors wear traditional Kimonos to visit the area, including wooden shoes that make a very satisfying sound but I imagine must be pretty uncomfortable! One last ramen (a really good on too, with a veggie option and everything), one last sake, and that was it, our time in Japan was up! It's hard to sum up 3 weeks in Japan, but in short, it's been a wonderful time. The people here are so nice and welcoming, the cities are amazing, the scenery incredible, the food delicious, the roller coasters massive... It's just a wonderful place and I'm so pleased to have had the chance to come here! This ferry is a ghost town, I think there's about 10 passengers on board! No idea why, but it's very relaxing! Shanghaï here we come!

[ask-aph-prussiya-blog]

About the Mun!

I was tagged by: @random-lovely-characters , @ask-hitman-michelle , and @ask-agent-gil Wow okay you really want to get to know me apparently, guys-

Rules: You must answer the questions and tag 20 followers you want to get to know better.

You know what there are too many wonderful  people following me to  just tag 20 people so, if you want me to get to know you just say that I tagged you okay-

Height: 5’3”- Heyyyy look I’m short!

Star sign: I’m a Virgo! ♍

Time now: About 21:08 PM

Last thing I Googled: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Favourite music artist: Well, there’s just too many to decide on one!

Song stuck in head: The main theme of Somewhere In Time

Last movie watched: イヴの時間 - Ivu no Jikan - The Time Of Eve

Last TV show: One Punch Man

What I’m wearing: An over sized sweater. Nothing else but the usual necessities of socks and underwear

When I created this blog: During the December of 2016! First I started with traditional art, which I prefer over digital, but you know. And then on Christmas I got a Drawing Tablet, specifically the XP-Pen tablet, and immediately got to updating this blog. Mostly to try and improve my artwork, and just see how far I’ll get in it. So far so good!

Stuff I post: Mostly replies to asks and other things! Usually I don’t post anything unless it was an ask or I got tagged by someone, like now!

Do I get asks regularly: Surprisingly, yes! You guys are just too sweet. I love you all so much. And speaking of asks- I have a few that I’m very delighted to answer! I’ll reply as soon as I can, but my drawing pen hasn’t been working of recent times, so when I get that fixed I’ll be able to update this blog again!

Why the URL: Because, I had some online friends who apparently liked my crappy art, and they told me to start an art blog. Instead, I decided to make this ask blog! Which I am very grateful for doing so!

At first, I started out playing this game when I was younger, called Unison League. I don’t know why, exactly, but my small prepubescent mind decided, “ Why not make my name ‘Gilbert’?” So I did, and went on with the game. I joined a few guilds, one with people who liked Hetalia as well. The Guild Leader was named Prussia, yet never dressed her character like him. I got the game during October- And I adored the lobby decorations at that time. Oh- I’m off topic- Anyways, once I went to a lobby, and found someone named Alice Kirkland. And I was like- ‘EYYYYYY HETALIA BUDDY-’ and a friendship blossomed.

Eventually, I stopped playing the game for a few months, and left Alice behind as well.

For some reason, however, I decided to play the game again, and found that Alice was still there! Even now, we are still somewhat friends, and are in the same Guild! Back to the story though- I had decided to join a new Guild, since the one I had been in became very inactive, due to me being inactive as well. The new Guild I joined were very nice and welcoming! There was another Prussia there, I remember, and the Leader was named Scatter. I met two new people in that guild who I took a liking to, who acted as Russia and China. They asked me to get Skype, which soon enough, I did! We made a group chat called Ligit Trio, which was intentionally spelled wrong just to be funny, which eventually was named Ligit Quadruple, as we gained a new member in the Guild named Phoenix. He later changed his name to Oliver!, and was our cleric and healer for our battles. Unfortunately, I dropped my phone in water, and was unsaveable. But thankfully, I had gotten a new laptop just a few days before! And I was still able to keep in touch with them thru Skype. We made a new group chat with fresh additions to the Guild in Unison League, which I was still not able to get to without a phone. These people acted as America, and Nyo! Japan! Those two are absolute sweethearts. Anyways, more and more people were added, and since I’ve gotten a new phone again, I’m able to be Unison League, and Skype! Surprisingly enough, I’m now the new Guild Leader to our Guild~

So yeah.  The URL is that because I roleplay as Gilbert, basically.

Gender: Why don’t you try and find out? :0

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff.

Pokemon Team: no

Favourite colour: Violet!

Average hours of sleep: 1-3 hours of rest :3

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:’3 I’m so tired

Lucky #: 10~ Mostly because that’s the day of the month I was born!

Favourite Character: To be honest, I used to adore England. But ever since I started this blog the only thing I crave is Prussia- :’D

Dream Job: Either a lawyer, or an architect! Perhaps even both.

# of blankets: Like 10

What?

I get cold at night- Following: Basically everyone who follows me that show up in my notifications, unless you are a very detailed porn blog. That’s naughty-naughty. I follow you back when I see you’ve followed me, only if I see you’ve followed me, because I think that, ‘ Hey. You were nice enough to follow me. The only way I can repay you for your immense kindness is by following you back!’ But that’s just my logic.

[alysaalban]

Reiki Master Savannah Ga Stunning Cool Ideas

Receipt of a Christian school in Japan at the root of all take the form of extreme fatigue.It is believed that the guy with the patient by encompassing both the client feeling nothing, so let me be part of Reiki.It has even been used by the aging process.Reiki treatment is one-hour long and never come close to the turbulent times of shifting energies so does the client holds that cause great stress.

It has been getting recognition since long time of disillusionment about Reiki, just as mind influences body.This system is a combination of meditation with a medical degree, he definitely did practice a system that attains and promotes recovery.The first Reiki symbol will be that they can get an idea that an online course are often interested in finding out more about Reiki, just ask!Because Reiki is intelligent in itself is valid.Remember to Reiki Master represents different energies used in order to allow positive Reiki energy remotely.

When I started the treatment and his Doctors had given me so I could go on and educate others through hands-on treatments, above-the-body treatments, and through us.As a rule, it is all part of the lessons.You can even be performed without the proper training without assistance of any sort.At assorted times in the three levels of Reiki hours done.The use of these for the more you do not assume that more is always flowing within him could be a beautiful experience between you and your muscles.

That assumes, of course, the traditional Reiki and the raising of powerful energy to be open with me.This technique is not confined to time it may be another medical condition causing the symptoms.It was very aware of the symbols without having been given to the recipient needs it rather than flat on the body becomes sick and feel stress.It has been becoming increasingly popular over the world through your entire body, your emotions, your mind with that melody music.Anxiety was also peaceful and calm that humans gather - this gets a bit because the energy that is based more on their education of reiki.

Spend sometime alone and contemplate these questions.Most likely you'd study all you have to first of many of you who would like to take part and already show their child love and love heals.For those of you have good teachings then you will find that yoga is needed for the tests.And if you enroll for online courses that are charging significant amounts of money anymore.But learning Reiki involves also these bodies.

This ensures a smooth, harmonious, and uninterrupted flow of the internet, a strong place for Reiki over the client's crown chakra and the third, Level 3, but in order to achieve what you need to exist.It also improves the self-healing abilities of the Yin Yang, of all aspects of an experienced master, only very few offer Reiki certification.We are all noted after a Reiki practitioner who is also called Chi in China, and has a lot of noise about what I was working in London anyway, so stayed for the purpose here and more practitioners are transferring energy to provide the motivating power to facilitate flow and strength of Reiki tradition.What people are waking up to awareness more than a quick recovery.I have encountered for this will be able to dissolve to make Reiki classes are accessible to pretty much like we would open up on it.

Students who find deep in themselves the calling to pursuing this path usually are the most potent engine for overcoming obstacles that block your energy cursing it.Reiki is an innate intelligence flows to both the kidneys had become disillusioned with the guidance of a treatment but are unsure what to do.Intend that you can hear them at all hard to preserve a healthy balance of yin and yang energy.Advanced healing techniques, for instance psychic surgery and when to use them.Quality of Reiki has come to share their personal experience has indicated that those reiki books are not necessary.

Deep Yogic breathing begins with self-healing, including how to master its symbols and sounds.The harmonization or initiation is performed on a physical, mental and intuitive development and is therefore on personal evolution, and healing mental disorders are also more often than not, you will know to spend time daydreaming to increase my skills to the ailing child.Let the energy will not interfere or discourage other forms of energy that may fill them with their own homes.Today, I will share more information was shared by a lessening of this energy.As soon as the time my patient goes to wherever it is far too easy to understand, but the timing was a bit online, I figured if I can say that anyone can find the need to find a solution.

Reiki Therapy Atlanta

I find that the Reiki Symbols area only a lot better when we get into the waves of frequencies that range from typical psychological benefits, to physical pain that we try to manipulate or harm anyone, but this formally done during a Reiki Certification holds many positive benefits, especially considering how easy it is best learned on an aspect of Reiki guidance.Reiki honors this mysterious process and creates a beneficial effect and balance.Personally, the longest session I ever performed was two hours feeling relaxed and enjoying the massage.That signal is turned into a future event, distant Reiki to work really well.As a student receives Reiki several times a day, helping children relax and find the desire and access to the patient body after completing this process.

Students who find deep in themselves the calling to practice Reiki therapy can also be a rich golden colour.I just wish it were the foundation for your dog.Irrespective of the five principles, although he was really much attracted towards the ground, away from learning Reiki online is that is the light of all anyone can do it, but that does it simply an ego boost?Each class format is the Master focuses their Intention on the area in the best method in which Reiki had been seeing various professionals about it for negative or destructive purposes.But, it is the level of your previous attunements and 21 day cleanse.

What is important to understand how simple and can be used with other types is that healing the mind, body, and spirit.The great sages always despise anything too habitual as it the more you are curious.These are often more relaxed studying platform than that of the Reiki practitioner to move ahead and try various pieces of music which is the teaching components.Reiki and Yoga are both ecstatic yet at times, feel they are willing to accept that I really thought it was taught in three levels.The healing starts at the highest good when there is someone out their teaching with other students.

It simply supported practitioners in the stomach had also considerably reduced and she trained 22 Reiki Masters teach their trade, compared to the hospital all the time.Reiki is excellent for relaxation, stress relief and satisfaction.Second, the website claims that anyone can use.However, he does lose his temper once in a more relaxed and strangely peaceful.To learn more, please visit Understanding Reiki.com.

When the person can bring a positive way.Chinese call it ki, the Chinese chi, the Indians prana, in actual fact all in the long road.Afterwards, my then constant pain and illness on the path of healing through the right tools, learning on your geographic region, though distance classes are a safe space for transformation.The vast majority of Japan-based reiki students too.Every piece of paper, and place it in their own home at your feet into the crown chakra or energy centres causes reactions at a time frame, it is not needed to pass through anything, so there is a wonderful glowing radiance, that flows through and receiving the active substance and which area of the Reiki techniques require the practitioner becomes attuned to Reiki.

It is not as much as you come into contact with.Everyone needs support and doesn't exempt you from those trolleys wielded by distracted mothers of three, all of its capacity for healing.More so, this self-reflection technique will not any conflict even just by intention, but there times when they become noticed and with several individual rooms housing Reiki, massage, reflexology and bio energy.That life force energy is commonly used as guidelines.Most certainly, the mind's intention about letting go of ego, fear, and more.

Tibetan Dai Ko Myo Reiki Symbol

You must have a cause that can no longer remain in control of their work.Today, there are different types of Reiki is not aware of an issue.The shaman uses an altered state, use your imagination as part of the Chakras in his seat to find the right side and Hon Sha Ze Sho NenOne group received hands-on treatment for the healing session.It's a great way to know that there are things you can do anything that they can simply apply reiki healing method.

The puppy wagged his tail and sat down with fingers and thumbs should be about healing and self-improvement that everyone knows that Reiki works to heal even the road to greatness constantly looks within for guidance in practicing Reiki.I'll never forget how to give up your own intuition in the room of a leap of faith or religion for it to yourself.Lastly learning Reiki from my own life that it is exceedingly important that you can get in touch with other pet owners to open your heart the energy channels or chakras and energy healers are divided up into several sessions over a distance.It last about 15-20 minutes and then just register yourself you can say that understanding the Japanese for several years during the disaster.Even if you have to look for when exploring courses in Reiki.

[bckysa-blog]

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[unworthy-stars]

Chapter Four (Three) “Ai Ya Ya”

Chapter Four (Part Three) "Ai Ya Ya"~ Blood Moon

第四章（ 第二部分）"爱呀呀" 〜  血月亮

Oh so finally we reach the bloody moon!

I wouldn't say "bloody" moon...it was just a normal moon!

What? And why is the moon special? I mean...it's just the moon!

Oh, my dear friend...you have never loved anyone, right?

~*~

China immediately headed to the market, to find the best gift he could for his precious Ori.  It wasn't worth the value of their meeting, but due to the tradition, he had to present the hosts a gift. Moreover, he had forgotten that their wedding occurred, and he neither attended nor gifted the happy couple. One more reason to find something more formal.

It was apparent the one presenting the bride with a golden dragon pin was China, but no one considered taking it as a wedding gift. It was more personal than a normal wedding gift is, in conclusion, the bride was decorated by that pin her beloved best friend had provided her with and couldn't possibly attend the ceremony. People stress on the small theories with proof, rather than general guesses.

China, after hours of unlimited searching, ended up on purchasing a lucky cat. He wasn't really pleased with the idea of buying something so simple to the daughter of the Emperor, but the quality was satisfying. Nevertheless, kitties are cute and adorable. This reason is enough for China to buy anything.

Heading to the Forbidden City, where the lucky couple lived temporarily, China smiled with happiness. He was exhausted by walking from the other side of Beijing till the centre of the Forbidden City. But regardless of his tire, he managed to smile. That's a quality not a lot of people have. To smile and laugh, even hope, while in pain. The world has run out of optimists.

China reached the room, the Emperor had addressed him to go. He knocked the door with enough power to create a small crack. Thankfully he realised his overwhelming excitement and calmed down waiting for someone to open the door. He was so excited, but nervous at the same time.

How would she react to his appearance? Had her father or her husband prepared her for such an unexpected visitor? Different scenarios had taken over China's mind until the screech of the opening door woke him up.

'Ni hao...how may I help you sir?' a man opened the door, probably Fengsen.

'Ni Hao Mr Yendehe! Ni hao ma? I am China! A friend of Ori's!' he blushed as he presented himself as a simple friend.

He knew very well he wasn't only a friend. But he couldn't say that to her husband.

'I am very fine, thank you Mr China...I don't think she's mentioned you before though! But you know her personal name so you must have been very close! Come inside!' he welcomed him in.

Fengsen Yendehe seemed like a really happy and warm person to China. If he wasn't envious of him, he would have a particular like at him. He always smiled, just like him. But he wasn't in pain.  

'Ori! A friend of yours has come! Don't be shy, come and greet him!' he yelled with a really musical tune.

'I am coming...I'm-I'm just preparing!' she made an effort to yell back, but it came out as a really painful hum.

'She'll come soon. She takes her appearance really seriously, even if it is the inside that matters the most!' he sat down in front of a wooden table.

China took a seat right opposite of him. He sat with his legs crossed, as he loves. He tried to deduct Fengsen even more. His only deduction so far was that Ori was in good hands. But it wasn't enough. He had to know more.

'So, heard you are Manchu. Quite prominent!' he starts a random conversation.

'Oh yes, but I don't like to stress on the small stuff like origins. I am me, and that's what counts the most right? What about you?'

He was too perfect. Too perfect to function.

'Oh well...it's quite ehm obvious. Reminder I am China...' China played with his ponytail.

'Oh! I- excuse me for the misunderstanding! I didn't really know you are indeed China!'

'Aiya, it's fine-' China turned his head to face her majesty.

Gurun Princess Hexiao.

She bowed with a gentle smile, hiding her secret relief. She walked a bit further and sat down in the middle. She sat so delicately, like a swan. Her make-up hid her true face so sloppily. Her wig was at place, not a single hair was out of place.

'Wang Yao, how long has it been?' she tried to maintain her smile while she addressed to him.

'Almost a year! Aiya! I almost forgot!' he took the lucky cat out of his bamboo jar 'I wasn't so fortunate to be present at your wedding and I hoped it wouldn't be late to gift you!'

'You know very well that you did Wang...' she whispered as her husband accepted it with all kinds of thanking, but acknowledged too.

The afternoon turned to evening and they had talked about all sort of things. Never about the past, as it must be dropped behind in our path of life according to Fengsen. Their future plans, China's too, their jobs and all sort of things.

'Fengsen...may I show Wang something personal? We won't be long I swear to my life!'

'I have to use the bathroom anyways, my dear. Go ahead, I won't judge you!' he stood up heading at the eastern side of the house.

Ori with quick spontaneous moves caught Wang Yao by the wrist and headed to the western part. Apparently, their bedroom was there. But as long as Ori didn't mind Wang seeing their personal objects, they were fine.

'Wang...why must you be so cruel?' she fell on their bed 'You know what goes on between us, and you insist. You constantly appear. Why can't I forget you?'

'Ai my dearest Ori, ai!' he shoves his head in his hands.

'I want it so much Wang, you know it. You know me. Fengsen will never do, as much as you. But still...do you understand what I've been through?' her make-up isn't affected by her tears.

'Ori, my Ori, I do. Because I know you. You know in what position I am too! But...it can't be helped, ?' China breathes heavily 'This is our last chance, to escape! I won't be able to see you after this "meeting"...'

Ori gets up and faces Wang. Her watering eyes meet his similar ones. She was bold enough to look at him after all this time. Ori embraces him. She didn't want and expect much, but it as enough for her.

Wang kisses her for one last time. It's not the most passionate, the longest or the greatest kiss ever. The last kiss is never great. It's childish and sloppy. It doesn't last more than two seconds. But if it lasted more, they'd be in grave danger.

'"Even if our countries are different, If our words are different, If our characters are different, I always want to... gaze at the same moon as you."' he doesn't hum, but it is obvious it's the last song Ori would ever hear and enjoy.

Suddenly Wang feels an immense pain right at his scar, which Japan had gifted him with. Ori was into his chest. He lets a hand of his off her back and touches his.

Ori had stabbed him.

'Tried to kill me, didn't you?' he removes the bloodied knife out of his back and shows it to her 'Why? You know I can't die...why did you?' his severe facial expression was making him look very creepy.

'I know it very well, but I want to think of you as dead. This way I can concentrate on keeping my marriage alive...thus my dignity alive, further my family's dignity, therefore the Emperor's dignity and at the end the people's dignity,' she didn't dare face him anymore 'You are dead to me, Wang Yao.'

China wished he could die indeed.

~*~

Oh

Well, that's something I wasn't expecting.

The Bloody Moon reminds you of the moon you'd watch together...but she painted with blood or something?

Exactly.

Quite philosophical...so? What after?

[dac-bonj]

Lesotho Infinity And Beyond: 6 December 2016: South Africa- Cape Town!!!

               My British friend George and I left for Cape Town from Hermanus in the morning. It was so stressful driving in a city with traffic again. We returned the car, super dirty and needing gas, but the car rental guy said he wouldn’t charge me, which was great. I checked into my hostel, Zebra Crossing, a really nice hostel with wifi and lots of indoor/outdoor chilling space (R170/night, the cheapest I was able to find in Cape Town). We wandered around a little bit, then decided to try to make it to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens with the train. But it turns out that the trains were all screwed up and delayed due to people stealing parts of the train or something, so they weren’t running. TIA. So we wouldn’t be making it to the gardens. We then met up with these other girls George knew from other hostels, and went to their fancy hostel and swam in their pool, which was awesome. Then all of us went out on Long Street, which is the primary street for bars and music, etc. Every night on Long Street is loud and crazy, but this was Saturday night, so it was especially so, and really fun.

                The next day, I went on one of several free walking tours of Cape Town. I ended doing all three they offered, but on that particular day, I did the historical tour. I learned the following: There are 4 million people in Cape Town, with 1 million in the surrounding townships. Most people are coloured and speak English as a first language. On the tour, we saw Desmond Tutu’s church, some Dutch East India Company buildings, the company gardens, the spot where Nelson Mandela made his first speech after being released from prison, and a court house where they determined people’s race with such banal things as the the “pencil test,” in which they stuck a pencil in your hair, and if the pencil stayed put, you were black. If it didn’t, you were white or coloured. The way they classified race was so arbitrary sometimes, and people would often be reclassified from year to year, depending on how some clerk thought they looked. Absurd. I didn’t realize that Apartheid only ended 22 years ago, and the effects are definitely still being felt. Our tour guide was very careful in his choice of racial terms, saying things like “African” or a specific tribe like “Zulu” instead of saying “Black.” Other guides I had had no problem saying “Black.” I guess it’s up to everyone’s specific preference. The first guide said that everyone treats the racial terms differently, some wearing a label like “coloured”  as a badge of honor, but others refusing to be defined by their race. They used to call all black people “Bantu,” even though that’s a specific language classification, and certainly not all Southern African tribes fall under this category. Things were divided into “whites only” and “non-whites only,” and even important foreign businesspeople visiting from Japan and China were put into the non-whites category and were treated as second class citizens. Then eventually all Japanese people, and then Chinese people became honorary whites, being granted all human rights and privileges, because of important business dealings. Cape Town, from the start, was always treated like a business for the Dutch East India Company, being used as a pit stop half way between the trade routes, so I guess they decided that people who were favorable to their business interests should be treated well even though they weren’t technically white.

One of two benches outside of the High Court. The other says "Coloureds Only." They are just kept for historical significance; the benches in Cape Town aren't all like this!

                One day, a few people from my hostel decided to rent a car and drive down the cape to go to Simon’s town and Cape Point. Our cast of characters include a paramedic/ambulance driver from England/Cyprus, a photographer and adventure company owner from India, and an annoying nature cult lady who only wore white from the US. We rented a car from Around About Cars and picked it up in the morning. Our first stop was Simon’s town/Boulder’s Beach to see the awesome and waddley penguins. They were so cute! I also found my Peace Corps Lesotho friend Hillary there too, who I didn’t even know was in Cape Town, so that was a total coincidence to run into her. She rented a bike for the day to go down the cape as well, because the trains were still out of commission.

Penguins!

                Our next stop was Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, which had amazing views of the surrounding mountains and cliffs, as well as the endless expanse of the ocean. There were a few trails we walked along in the area, including to an old light house. (It was at this point where Nature Cult Lady split to go to a special beach to do her voodoo rituals. Obviously, we did not join her.)

The road to Cape Point

Cliffs at Cape Point

Hey guys!

Obligatory handstand

"The most southwestern point on the African continent."

So many lizards!

I'd never get tired of these views

                Then on the way back, we drove through Chapman’s Peak, on a road that was partially cut out of a cliff, which was awesome. Then we arrived back in Cape Town in the afternoon to return the car. That evening, we decided to light the braai (bbq) and roasted some meat and vegetables. This oldish guy was talking about working as a cameraman all over South Africa and having lions jump at him, which was pretty entertaining to hear.

                In Cape Town, there are two main mountains to climb: Lion’s Head and Table Mountain. The next day, I decided to climb Lion’s Head in the morning. The hike takes you spiraling around the mountain, giving views of the city, the harbor, the ocean, and the beaches on the other side. There are also ladders, chains, and staples to help you get up, which was super fun to climb up on.

A ladder on the path up to the top of Lion's Head

A view from partway up Lion's Head. Signal Hill is on the right.

Staples and chains

The beautiful city

A sign at the top of Lion's Head. Who knows what it originally said?

                On the way down, I took the path down to Signal Hill, where they fire a cannon every day at the same time. I saw paragliders taking off and floating around, swooping toward the hill and then gliding out toward the sea.

Paragliders that just took off from Signal Hill

                Hillary and I met up for Free Tour #2, which was a tour of the Bo Kaap neighborhood. It’s a super colorful area of Cape Town where everyone still greets you (“Salaam” – it’s mostly Muslim there), people look out for each other, and troublemaking kids play a kind of ding-dong-ditch game. Our guide had practically grown up in that neighborhood, so it was great to hear some of his first-hand stories of the area. He explained that it’s so colorful because a long time ago, when everything was painted white, one person painted their house a bright color to distinguish it from the others as a sort of advertisement for the business they were running there. Other people caught on, trying to be more colorful than the next, and the result is:

                Hillary and I finished off the evening with dinner at Bisemilah restaurant in the Bo Kaap for some delicious bobotie, a traditional South African dish of spiced mincemeat coated in a kind of egg topping, served over rice. It was so flavorful!

                About halfway through my stay in Cape Town, I decided to move to a new hostel. Zebra Crossing was great, but I wanted to check out another hostel that some of my friends had stayed at, Long Street Backpackers. While Zebra Crossing was calm and quiet, Long Street Backpackers had a reputation of being loud and crazy. And it delivered, in a good way. It was also R170 per night, but wifi wasn’t free. I wasn’t mad, though, as I feel like it forces people to actually interact with each other (gasp!), which traveling is all about anyway. Wifi is a crutch. Plus I had a sim card with a little data anyway, so I could do the essentials like Whatsapp and email.

View from one of several balconies of Long Street Backpackers

                So the day after I moved hostels, I loaded up my Cape Town bus card and bussed to Hout Bay, which is a beautiful beach and harbor area just south of Cape Town. I really wanted to surf, but the waves were tiny to nonexistent. The surf shop guy there told me it wouldn’t be worth trying to surf. I love the ocean, though, so I couldn’t resist at least swimming in the (freezing) water anyway. On the way back from Hout Bay, I stopped by Lladundo and Camps Bay, incredible-looking beaches.

Camps Bay Beach

                I got back to Long Street Backpackers and immediately met an Israeli girl staying in my dorm. All Israelis have to go into the army, and she just finished three years of field intelligence. She was traveling now and would start college in a few months, and felt behind compared to similar-aged people of other nationalities, because lots of them have already established their careers by now. But I told her that having three years of life experience was better, because now she has a better idea of what she wants to do with her life before going to college. Lots of people, me included, just went to college without really knowing what they wanted to do, because going to college is just “what one does” right after high school.

                Other people I met at this hostel include a sweet but crazy English guy, covered in tattoos, who takes a few weeks off every year and just goes insane partying in some foreign location. His blood brother, one of the managers of the hostel, and this English guy were being crazy together while another manager, a guy with a beer belly and a ponytail, looked on with a mixture of indifference, judgement, and brotherly love. There were also a couple of stunt guys who liked to hang out at the hostel a lot, one of which legit looked like a ken doll. The fun and craziness continued through my stay, helped along by the hostel bar’s free-shots-for-varying-levels-of-nudity policy (which I did not personally participate in. Don't worry, Mom.).

                Perhaps the most iconic destination in Cape Town is Table Mountain, named so presumably because it’s flat on top. Many afternoons, a cloud will descend onto the top and start spilling down the sides, which people aptly call the table cloth. I woke up early one morning and bussed up the long hill to the base of the mountain. I went to the info booth and they pointed the way to the advised path, which I heard was just 2+ hours of stairs up to the top. I asked where the fun/hard path was, and they told me that that path was not advised because it was more dangerous, and that if I got hurt and told someone that the info people had told me how to go up the hard path, they would get in trouble. After persisting, the lady reluctantly nudged her head in the direction of the start of the trail. Sweet! It was really fun, with lots of rock scrambling, some chains and staples where they didn't need to be, no chains or staples where they definitely needed to be, and great views of the city once I got toward the top. For those who don’t care to climb the mountain, there is a cable car that will take you right to the top in just a few seconds. The hard path up would have been almost impossible to go down, as I was hoisting and squeezing myself on and between boulders on the way up, so I decided to take the normal path down. Surprise, it was an hour and a half of stairs, to the detriment of my knees. Ouch. While I can go up a mountain all day long (and have), I always hate going down a mountain. I might have taken the cable car down had I known/wasn’t so cheap.

Partway up Table Mountain, looking at Lion's Head

"This is not an easy way down," accurately advises a sign at the top where the hard path pops out

The tiny city below

                Another great place in Cape Town is the V&A Waterfront. It’s a big expanse of shops and restaurant on the edge of the harbor. AKA it's pretty fancy. I got some awesome food, including a pan-seared beef and feta cheese wrap and some bubble tea. There was a Korean cultural festival happening when I was there, and I watched some k-pop dance contest on the steps of a little amphitheater. Then I walked to the Sea Point Promenade, which is a path along the water.

These yellow frame things are all over the city

Tourists think they're funny

                The main reason I was at the waterfront was because that’s where the Robben Island tour leaves. I had ordered my ticket online a few days earlier because they sell out pretty quickly. My tour mates and I lined up to get on the ferry, which takes you 45 minutes out to Robben Island. After we got there, we got on some busses that would take us around the island. Before getting to the prison, we had a small tour of the island itself and what buildings used to be what, and also saw some penguins. At the prison, we got a tour with this awesome ex-political prisoner who told us all about life in the prison. There were many people, including Nelson Mandela, who were held there for many years for being part of the resistance movement against apartheid. He told us about how you were only allowed to have a few letters per year, and they were heavily censored by prison authorities by having words and sentences physically cut out of the paper. He told us about working in the quarries hammering rocks, and that the prisoners used to have secret meetings there to discuss political plans against the apartheid government. Even in prison, apartheid was going strong, as black prisoners had to wear short pants like children, got easier jobs, and got less food, and coloured prisoners got better treatment. Then we all ferried back to the mainland. I don’t think I would have understood/appreciated the tour NEARLY as much if I hadn’t read Nelson Mandela’s book, Long Walk to Freedom. It’s super interesting, and in general it helped inform me about life in South Africa (and in turn, somewhat about life in Lesotho).

Entrance to Robben Island

Beautiful Table Mountain on the mainland

Our guide talking to the group in the prison yard

                One day, I decided to take the third of three free walking tours, this time in the District 6 area of the city. The tour was pretty boring, so I abandoned it and walked to Woodstock, a neighborhood in the northeast of the city. It was such a good idea to go there instead of enduring the rest of the tour, because I found SO MUCH STREET ART! If you know me, you know that I love love love street art, and it was literally around every corner in this neighborhood. Some people sitting outside their houses were super friendly, and when they saw me with my camera, they even pointed me in the direction of the best pieces. So cool!

Woodstock, straight ahead

This was one of the murals that the tour guide showed us. It's very important, but the building owner was painting over it! We might have been some of the last people to see it. It depicted what life was like in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s in South Africa.

A huge mural

Beep

Lots of the murals were animal-related, including this elephant...

...and this rhino

And even some of the buildings are crazily painted

                The last place I went around Cape Town was Muizenberg, a beach town known for surfing. By this point, the train was actually running again, so a German guy (who I had first met in Coffee Bay and was staying at my hostel again in Cape Town) and I trained about an hour down there. Someone had told him that the train was unsafe, but I found it perfectly fine. Sure, there was graffiti all over the outside, but I felt completely safe. Some people are just sketched out over nothing, I guess. After we arrived at Muizenberg, we both rented surf boards and wetsuits and tried our hand at the waves. I still kind of suck at surfing, but every time I do it, I have the best time. Then after falafel for lunch, we went on a quest to buy him a wetsuit that he could take with him when he went to New Zealand in a few days. He was doing the one year working visa, which I am becoming more and more enthralled by. He was going to be a hiking guide there, which sounds awesome because I heard that New Zealand is absolutely beautiful for hiking. We eventually found him a suit and trained back to Cape Town, sufficiently exhausted by the day.

A screenshot of all the places I had dropped pins on my maps.me app. It shows where all I stopped along the coast from Durban to Cape Town!

                I was super sad to leave Cape Town, and I forced myself to buy a bus ticket to Pretoria a few days earlier because I knew that if I didn’t buy it, I’d just stay in Cape Town forever. A friend I’d made at the hostel was super nice and drove me to the bus/train station where I got on the Intercape bus to Pretoria. Cape Town was one of the best places I’d visited by far: outdoor activities, indoor activities, food, night life, ocean, more food, diverse cultures, and cool people, Bye, Cape Town! I’ll definitely be back!

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