ajisai in kamakura

by mikka



It's hydrangea season all of a sudden, so there are ajisai everywhere now. They're not as striking as sakura - or maybe I'm just more used to them since they're more common back home - but they do make our morning drives to work that much prettier. Last weekend, we went to Kamakura, where the ajisai are supposed to be particularly nice, with some of Iain's students - the same women who took us out on our nature walk a few weeks ago, plus one of my students (who's married to one of Iain's students) and their super-cute son.

Kamakura does indeed have some beautiful ajisai. Unfortunately, everyone else in Japan was also there, which means said ajisai were often obscured by the hoards of zoom-lens-wielding flower enthusiasts.



Crowds aside, it was still nice to get out of Numazu for a bit (something we rarely do) even if the hoards of people quickly reminded us of just how much we love our city and it's comparative quiet.


Above: As you can see, I only have "slightly good luck" at the moment. Also, I am more than a little alarmed that I have to stay vigilant against arranged marriages.


Above: I often claim I didn't play with Barbies as a kid, but that's only because my dad brought us back the far cuter Licca dolls from his business trips to Japan instead. So this photo is for Maggie - check it out, she has way cooler hair now.




It was nice to go to Kamakura, and to have a fun day out with some of our students, who are so nice to show us around and explain things to us; some of Iain's students in particular are fairly low level and I can't imagine how exhausting it must be for them to keep us in the loop using English, but I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them outside of work. I have my doubts about going anywhere just to see seasonal flowers framed by some very specific view, though - there are some places in particular that have become such famous backdrops for the flowers that the stampede of photographers (to me, at least) obliterates whatever it was that made the view beautiful in the first place, especially since you all emerge with identical photos. Meanwhile, on Saturday when we went up to Kanuki, there were ajisai everywhere and not a zoom lens (or another person) in sight - so much nicer!