I think every other Japan blog I have seen has cherry blossom photos posted these days, so I will refrain. The really amazing thing about the cherry blossoms is that they make even the normally ugly sites beautiful for a week or so. Drive by any big rectangular factory in the country now and you'll see thousands, tens of thousands of beautiful delicate pink blossoms on the grounds. Same with cemented canals, dirt parks, road sides. They look good dressed in blossoms.It's the one time of the year when every place can be beautiful.
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Been dealing with a clash of old meets new these past couple of days. A clash of cultures, I guess. In what is probably a well meant but possibly futile attempt to stem guilt and facilitate connectedness, I have set my inlaws up with my old 400 mhz iMac, a wireless ADSL internet connection and a web cam. Only problem is they don't really understand how to use any of it. I have set up the computer so it will be as easy to use as possible, but it's all new to them and confusing.
It's funny how I will bust ass to please my inlaws when I've never worried nearly as much about trying to appease my own parents. I guess my in laws are more verbal about what they think we should with our lives. They think we should be buckling down and settling in for the purpose of acquiring security at the hands of some larger entity, preferably corporate. That is so not my tune. My parents know that. They learned how to let go and trust me before I knew how to do it myself.
In the meantime, my mother in law is concerned that Shiro go to a shrine to procure the proper protective amulet to keep us all safe from harm in our travels and lives away. She was insisting they go down to Sakai in south Osaka, which is a 2 hour drive from here through Osaka traffic. Can anyone tell me why so many Japanese women (it's not just my mother in law who does this) think if something is farther away it is better? I think we managed to convince her that an amulet from a local shrine will do just as well. Of course it's not going to be just some shrine down the street, but Kyoto's close by so I'm sure there must be something suitable in the area. I bet women down in Sakai travel up to Kyoto to buy their amulets.