These Fish Ate My Feet

Damien and I have now joined the ranks of our friend Jeremy as people who have actually paid to stick our feet in a pool of water filled with small fish that are willing to eat them. We were walking through the local shopping center when I saw the temporary set up. I remembered Jeremy's blog of his experience in Southeast Asia this summer. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I paid my money and stuck my feet in. I wasn't prepared for the fish to attack my feet so quickly! It was one of the weirdest sensations I have ever felt. Lots and lots of ticklish pin pricks all over my feet and ankles. I was just laughing and laughing and almost had to take my feet out because it was so strange. But I kept them in and after a few minutes it just felt more like a massage. The point of doing this is that the small fish, about 2 inches long, eat the dead skin leaving your feet or hands soft and clean. Not much of a life for the fish I fear, but it made my skin soft!








Damien refused to do it on Saturday but agreed to try it on Sunday. We got free tickets for it from one of my students and went back on Sunday. Very interesting experience but I did have to wonder why there was a box of band-aids next to the tub of water!



Today I went out to lunch with some of my students and Damien and I went out with our co-workers and students last Saturday. We haven't gone out much since we got here so it was nice to socialize!




Besides continuing to see many small animals and insects and birds not much else happening at the moment. I will write more later.

Poison Snake

Damien and I went to a park the other day and were lucky enough to catch a small snake sunning itself on some rocks. It didn't seem terribly afraid and sat there for a bit while we took pictures. We though it was probably a mamushi, which is Japan's poisonous pit viper. But we asked some students what mamushi looks like and it didn't sound like the pretty, colorful snake we had seen. I looked up Japanese snakes on the internet and found that Japan has two poisonous snakes. The other one, called yamakagushi, is more poisonous but less agressive. This is the snake we saw. Their bite can be deadly I guess but they rarely bit. We were excited to see such a snake here!!

Little Green Friend

Look at this cutie! He is a little green tree frog that has taken up residence on the wall just outside our apartment door. At night he poops on the railing and watches the spiders intently.

I don't know if he is able to catch them or not. They are almost as big as he is!!

Farmers in the field

The rice is starting to get golden and heavy in the fields around Kani. I guess they will be harvesting soon. I got some great pictures of farmers out in their fields as the sun was getting low in the sky. I also wrote a haiku about rice:

golden green

gentle curving grains

of August rice

My Commute

I was inspired by my mother’s recent blog and pictures that followed her daily commute to and from her job. I thought that was a great idea and have decided to do that myself. Click here and see what I see every day from my apartment to my job and back:

Commute Pictures