RC-WIC Picnic 01 - Hanging in the lobby			20040914-rcwicpicnic01.jpg
	On the 14th, the Japan Study group got to spend a day hiking through the woods and eating a picnic with students/people from the RC and WIC, or the Rainbow Club and Waseda International Club. As usual, I got a picture of everyone milling arond not doing anything in particular, because I like behind-the-scenes shots. They capture more of the "this is what is actually happening here" parts of the events they are detailing rather than highlighting the sensational moments which may or may not really have any significance to the feeling the trip gave. Wah, that was more of a philosophical ramble there than a picture description... o_O
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	RC-WIC Picnic 02 - Walking to 7-11			20040914-rcwicpicnic02.jpg
	Before the day-long trip, the organizers advised that we head to the local Seven Eleven to stock up on some drinks, because we were going to be gone for quite a while and the day would most likely be quite hot. So, now you can see what it looks like when you leave the NWEC!
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	RC-WIC Picnic 03 - Just a Japanese street			20040914-rcwicpicnic03.jpg
	While this isn't the best representation of just how skinny and crowded Japanese streets can be, it's a street nonetheless. Note the vending machine in front of that guy's house. Vending machines are everywhere, and I mean everywhere. One thing the Japanese do which only makes sense is have mirrors at intersections. Especially with the narrow streets and pedestrians all over the place, these mirrors just... make a lot of sense. Blind corners are no fun to have to deal with on your own, especially with bikers and people everywhere.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 04 - Seven Eleven			20040914-rcwicpicnic04.jpg
	Oddly, I don't think I've ever been to a Seven Eleven in America, though I'm pretty sure they're all pretty much the same. Lots of foodstuffs, and they're relatively inexpensive. Which brings up an interesting point: prices in Japan (or at least in the Tokyo area) seem to be relatively constant when it comes to bottled and packaged foods. No matter if you go to the convenience store or the grocery store, OJ is still just about the same price and so is Pocky. Some places may charge one or two yen less, but that's not really anything substantial. Very interesting.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 05 - Warp Tom			20040914-rcwicpicnic05.jpg
	After we got our drinks, we headed over to the kitchens where we learned how to make onigiri, or little triangular rice balls. The rice was very, very hot, straight out of the cooker, so we had to toss them between our hands often to prevent them from burning our fingers and palms. In this shot, you can see Tom, the resident director, warping into action. *laughs* Yay for unintended camera effects.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 06 - The Master teaches 1			20040914-rcwicpicnic06.jpg
	While the woman with the cloth in her hair actually did most of the showing of how to make the onigiri, the guy in blue was just so awesome-looking that I had to title the image after him. He actually described what the lady was doing, both in English and Japanese, though mostly in English.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 07 - The Master teaches 2			20040914-rcwicpicnic07.jpg
	In this picture, you can see the rice we used as well as the things we put inside the rice balls. Some of them contained what I'm pretty sure was salmon bits, while others contained a type of pickled Japanese plum. The Japanese like their [insert anything here] pickled. ;)
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	RC-WIC Picnic 08 - Slicing the best pears ever			20040914-rcwicpicnic08.jpg
	Japanese pears are amazingly delicious: they're about the shape and size of large grapefruits, and have a crispness to them like apples, but still the softness of pears most people in America are familiar with. They're called nashi and they are AWESOME. And quite expensive, too... usually well over a dollar apiece, I'd say. But hey, I'd pay that much for something that tasty. And no, that bowl is not full of fingers that got cut off while everyone was slicing the pears up... they're actually little sausages. *laughs*
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	RC-WIC Picnic 09 - A very purple van			20040914-rcwicpicnic09.jpg
	This is a very purple van. Yes indeed. Note how low it rides. A sports van..?
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	RC-WIC Picnic 10 - Approaching the mountain			20040914-rcwicpicnic10.jpg
	The group walked quite a while to get to the picnic spot on the mountain, and on the way I was able to get many nice pictures. This spot is actually quite a rural area: lots of farms (hatake) and not many roads. Power lines are still everywhere, though. We didn't walk SO far that power disappeared, too. ^__^
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	RC-WIC Picnic 11 - Landscape shot 1			20040914-rcwicpicnic11.jpg
	Now here's a good town and country shot: in the foreground you've got rural Ranzan, and in the background you've got not-as-rural Ranzan. I thought this was a rather nice shot, especially with the large white Japanese-style house slightly off-center. Note how the shingles are; they're like that all across Japan.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 12 - Japanese farm			20040914-rcwicpicnic12.jpg
	Here's one of the aforementioned hatake. Looks cozy, don't it?
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	RC-WIC Picnic 13 - Photo-op in the forest			20040914-rcwicpicnic13.jpg
	The lady in pink was a Japanese woman who tagged along with the group, and the guy is one of the Japan Study students. They were in front of an amazing valley-like chasm that was full of trees, so I had to snap a picture. Very awesome; unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of just the trees.
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	RC-WIC Picnic 14 - Japanese flower			20040914-rcwicpicnic14.jpg
	This is a very interesting kind of flower; I don't think I've seen the likes of it before anywhere in America. They were growing all over the place, too, which was cool. The lady following us said I should take a picture of them, so I did. Yay for flowers!
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	RC-WIC Picnic 15 - By said flower			20040914-rcwicpicnic15.jpg
	And here's a picture of me by one of the aforementioned flowers. Yay for flowers again!
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	RC-WIC Picnic 16 - Famous poem			20040914-rcwicpicnic16.jpg
	This is a rather famous poem in Japan written by a rather famous Japanese poet. Sadly, I can't read it and I don't know what it's called, either. It looks beautiful, though! Maybe someone here knows..?
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	RC-WIC Picnic 17 - Me and a Monkey			20040914-rcwicpicnic17.jpg
	No explanation needed. ;)
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	RC-WIC Picnic 18 - Monkeying around			20040914-rcwicpicnic18.jpg
	I suppose this one could use some explanation, but I still think it's rather self-explanatory. o_O
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	RC-WIC Picnic 19 - Kireina kawa			20040914-rcwicpicnic19.jpg
	As we walked with the Japanese woman and stopped to check out all the sights, we ended up losing sight of the rest of the group and actually got lost. At one point we realized that we could either continue up the path or head off to the left and across a beautiful river. We (erroneously) figured the group would take the scenic route, so we headed over as well. So, this is a picture I normally wouldn't have been able to take had I not taken the chance to get lost. ^__^
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