Hey y’all!

   Next week, Emily, Michael and I head to Hanoi, Vietnam for our end of January vacation. Over the course of that week, there are a million different things we would like to do such as eat pho and banh mis’, but I’m most excited for the historical aspect of our visit. A lot of Southeast Asian culture took place in Vietnam and getting to see all that in person will be absolutely amazing. For example, seeing how French architecture and Asian architecture come together as one. Hanoi also lays claim to be the birthplace of pho which is a staple Vietnamese and South Asian dish. We also plan to go to Le Van Huu eatery to eat and see where former US President Barack Obama and world renowned chef Anthony Bourdain once shared a meal together.

   I think regardless of what we do in the end, the trip will be absolutely fantastic. It will be a great time in a new place, with awesome food and with great friends. What more could you ask for?

    Have a great break y’all and see you in class!

Sam

「インフルエンザにかかっちゃったのでお休みします…」

というご連絡をいただくことが多くなっています。

大垣本部校では保健委員会を発足（？）し、生徒さんと講師の

身体を全力で守っていきます！

アルコール消毒にご協力をお願いします！！

A while ago I posted about my training for an Ekiden in February.  I’m happy to say that I’ve made steady progress without any injuries or set backs for the last two months so I should be ready to go in 4 weeks!  I am racing 9.3 km which is the last stage and is located in the far south of Ogaki.  I haven’t seen the course yet.  As for my training, as we get closer to the race I’m keeping my total distance around 50 to 60 km a week, but I’m adding lots of faster running like 5 km in 20 minutes or 6 to 8 300 meter sprints with 150 meter jog between each.  Then the last week I’ll just do easy jogging to rest up.  I’ll let you know the result in February!

Happy New Year!  It’s time to make and proclaim this year’s resolutions.  Last year, I had two goals: study Japanese and go running regularly. I definitely failed on the first goal, but I did manage to create and maintain a solid running schedule for all of 2018.  Now that I know I can keep a resolution, it’s time to challenge myself a little more.

For 2019, I want to stop buying bottled water.  I hate seeing the amount of PET bottles I create every day.  I know they get recycled, but I think my first step should be to reduce the number of bottles I create.  To this end, I have invested in a good, lightweight water bottle that I can carry with me everywhere.  I hope that having this refillable container will prevent me from purchasing drinks from the vending machine.  No more PET bottles for Molly Coyle!

What are your resolutions for 2019?

(Too many PET bottles!)

This past Sunday I visited a place I have never been to before throughout my almost 15 years of living here in Ogaki. My in-laws took my family and I to Myojorinji Temple in Akasaka. It was amazing, beautiful, and I was completely surprised that not only have I never been to such a fascinating place during all of my years here, but it made me start thinking about just how many more wonderful places are nearby that I still don’t know about.

While I was there, I learned that the temple is dedicated to not only those born in the year of the cow and the tiger, (hopefully you can see the tiger which is carved into the side of a limestone wall at the top of the mountain that I have attached to this blog post) but that it is also a very popular place for pregnant woman to visit to pray for healthy child birth because of the patron deity that is enshrined there. I was also very happy to learn that that temple is known locally as Kokuzo-san by local residents.

Behind the main hall of the temple, I also visited Iwasu Park. I was absolutely blown away by the natural beauty there and wished I had more time that day to fully take in, appreciate, and photograph more of the naturally carved and almost otherworldly shaped lime stones that have been carved by weathering throughout the ages. I am looking forward to finding the time to go there again in the near future to explore the grounds even further.

After visiting the temple I was lucky enough to be able to do a bit of research about the temple and learned that it was built in 684 by a monk named Ozune who is said to have personally carved the Kokuzo Bodhisattva at the temple, which is said to be one of the three great Bodhisattvas in Japan. I hope to do even more research about it and learn even more not only about this fascinating temple, but to keep learning even more about this entire wonderful area I am proud to call home.

John