The Bishamon Temple

 On my last morning at International University of Japan, my friend Tony picked me up and took me to the station. We planned it so that I could visit the Bishamon Temple and then we could have lunch together before my train left. On the way to the temple, we stopped so that I could take pictures of this old store.

 What they are selling are snow hats. They are the traditional style hat, made from reeds and pyramidal in shape. The are smaller versions of the had that I wore during my Ohenro pilgrimage.

 While taking the pictures, I notice a really old style fire hydrant.

 We parked in the temple parking lot and, as I got out of the car, I noticed this statue. The sign in the doorway says, Watch out for falling snow!

 This is the narrow road that leads to the temple. The temple gate is just visible in the distance.

 The temple is on the side of a hill. This is one of the buildings, maybe where the priests live.

This is the main gate. The workmen are putting up protective walls for the Naked Man Festival that will be held in another week.

On campus for the last time

 Hnin, my favorite facilitator, wore her native Myarmar clothes to class on day. Later that day she was going to address a group about her country.

 One of the UNIQLO students wanted to have a picture with me at the certification and goodbye party.

 A beautiful sunset with an approaching snow storm.

 For one of the groups I taught, instead of role playing a dinner party, we actually went to a restaurant and shared a meal. There were five students, five facilitators from Ghana and India, myself and an administrator. Considering it was officially a class that I got paid for, I had a wonderful time.

 We all sat at a single long table. As the ranking member, in terms of age, education, and being a faculty member I had to sit in the middle.

 Another incredible sunset.

 The choice of meals on my last night on campus. Notice that they are hallal, in other words they are okay for the Islamic students to eat.

 This is my desk and my very comfortable chair where I spent a lot of time preparing for classes and using the internet.

 On my last morning in my apartment, I looked out a window and discovered that a bug had come to say goodbye. I do not remember the name of these but, if you crush them, they give off a terrible smell. I was surprised that it was still alive.

This was the view out another window. On a clear day, you could see mountains through the trees.

On campus

 Nights on campus were very pretty. In this picture you can see the lights on a ski area in the mountains on the other side of the river.

 Even the nears factory looks nice at night.

 The snow-covered mountain in the distance was visible in the last rays of light as the sun disappeared below the horizon. The campus is in the upper reaches of the flood plain of a river and is essentially surrounded by mountains that get bigger as the distance grows.

 The sunset was very pretty. I guess the snow causes the blues.

 A final party with the students from two groups, both of which I taught and my time here will be finished. This was the desert arrangement.

 This was some of the food that was provided. At the party the students get a certificate of completion and there are lots of short speeches, since after all this is Japan.

 When I got back to my apartment building, I found a truly strange icicle. I have never seen one with this sort of shape.

In the morning after I had cleaned up my apartment, I went to my office and did a final check to make sure that I had not forgotten anything.

On campus

 These are the steps at the top of the hill between my office and the classrooms. On some days they were covered with snow and the water sprays were working hard.

 Since it was a little warmer, icicles started to form on the overhanging snow banks.

 I was surprised at how much greenery there was under the snow. The snow must act as an insulator to keep the plants from freezing.

 A bird I saw in the parking lot.

 Some more pictures of the trees.

This is snow hanging from the administrative section of the main building.

On campus

 These icicles are hanging down over the main entrance to my apartment building.

 The road in front of the building is more like a small riverbed. It the colors were greens, browns, and blues, instead of white, gray and black, it would be a near perfect resemblance.

 When I went to be last night, the snow was up to the top of my head. Now, after less than twelve hours, I can not reach the top.

 The trees are completely covered, making them look like the Spring trees covered with cherry blossoms.

 The snow in the internal quadrangle is almost up to the top of the first floor.

 I had to go through this to get to my office which is in the center building in the background.

 The mountains were pretty, although they were a bit gray.

 The trees outside my classroom were pretty but the light was not good because of the density of the clouds.

At lunch time the cafeteria was quite busy. This is a very friendly place. If I sit down alone, it is not very long before someone comes over and asks to join me: students, staff, faculty, and once the university president.