Hanami at a Buddist Temple and a Photo of the Goodbye Party of a Couple Friends

Well, it hasn't been a long time since I wrote, but here are some photos that I want to post.
Photos are below the article.

The first one is actually from my first weekend back in Japan. My friends had a BBQ at a park in Nagoya (Tenpaku Koen). Some of them are gone now. It's not the same place without them.
The other photos are from Hanami at a Buddist temple in Matsue. We went there on a lab trip. Actually, usually one would sit under the cherry trees while drinking beer and saying great things about cherry blossoms, but at a Buddist temple I'm not sure if it is allowed. However, we were asked by the professor if we wanted to stop at the convenience store and get beer for the hanami. I, of course, turned down the offer along with everyone else. Instead, we drank traditional green tea (Maccha) and I listend to others say great things about the cherry blossoms...I don't really care for flowers to beging with.
At the end, everyone threw a 5 yen coin (and it must be a 5 yen coin) into a box, put their hands together and said a prayer (for whatever it is they wanted I guess).
Finally, we all parted to go home.
Anyways, like I said before, I may be headed back to Nagoya in a couple weeks. It should be fun.
Adios for now.

Friend's Birthdays

So, I took another trip back to Nagoya this weekend because two of my friends had birthdays (Paul from Ecuador and Fausto from Brazil).
Unfortunately, everyone is a little busy recently. I think it is common in Japan at this time of year. The fiscal year starts on April first here. So, they also are dealing with the new semester and presentations, etc...
By coincidence, on my way from Nagoya to Matsue, I ran into a couple other friends of my in the subway (on my way to the bullet train). It was kind of interesting...It's a city about the size of Chicago and I ran into a couple people that I know rathe randomly. That doesn't happen often in the US.
Anyways, I didn't take any pictures of my friends parties, but I did take a few scenic pictures from the train and from the university that I can share (below).
I also met with my language exchange friend while I was Nagoya again. She seems to be doing fine. At least I was glad to meet her. We talked for a couple hours at Starbucks.
Some of my friends have left to go back to their home countries, so it seems that my circle keeps getting smaller and smaller. Japan isn't as good without them. I think that a lot of my friends are trying to get jobs and postdocs in Germany (for some reason). I guess if they are all going maybe I will do that too. I should probably start thinking about a postdoc now as well.