Fini! the exam, she is over!

Our camera is finally back from the shop, so we can now post some pics from our Korea/Japan trip...

Chris and me in front of the Sawanoya Inn, the first place we stayed in Japan. Nice little family-run Japanese-style place (read: futons on tatami mats, shared showers).

A shrine to Inari, the fox-god of business ventures. The red bibs are a way for people to venerate him. Plus, they keep little bits of his prey from sticking to his chest fur.

Chris in front of the Hozo-mon Gate of the Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo.

Japanese sweets. How do they get them perfectly round, and so shiny?

A bamboo grove at Engaku-ji temple in Kamakura, Japan

The Great Buddha at Kamakura, 1252 A.D. It's 44 ft tall, and is thought to be evidence of cultural exchange along the Silk Road, because it has the unusual feature of looking proportional when viewed from below--the only image from the time that has this.

Kyoto. Rice paddies right next to houses? I'm guessing they don't have basements in Japan.

Kyoto. This mystery plant would appear to be in the same family as hen n' chicks?

Everybody wants a piece of the geishas (or people who've paid to be dressed up like them).

Roof decoration in Kyoto. That oughta scare the evil spirits away!

Outside the youth hostel in Beppu, Japan (On Kyushu island). The town's mascot is a little devil creature, due to the many multicoloured volcanic pools and steam vents in the town. We really liked Beppu--nice change of pace after hectic Tokyo and Kyoto.

Volcanic pool #1: Umi-jigoku ("sea hell"). Lovely. That's a basket of eggs being cooked in the water.

A red volcanic pool near the Umi-jigoku.

A nice little lily-pad pond, also near Umi-Jigoku.

Enjoying the therapeutic "leg bath" at Umi Jigoku.

The  monkey park outside Beppu. The monkeys just roam around anywhere they want. Fortunately, these aren't the poo-flinging variety.

Enjoying a cup of green tea and relaxing in my yukata (casual robe) at the inn in Fukuoka, on our last morning in Japan.

At a Shinto temple in Fukuoka.

Under the eaves at Beomosa temple, near Busan, Korea.

Inside one of the temples.

Seaweed for sale at the Busan open-air market.

Bags of some small green fruit of some sort.

Beans and peas!

Gift melons all dressed up in their Sunday best

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Our first Korean meal. We thought Korean food was just ok after this, until we got to Seoul and had all manner of amazing Korean delights.

An, um, interesting shirt.

Chris, Trey, and Rachel ready for a delicious meal at So Sim in Seoul.

Chris testing out a handmade flute in the trendy Insadong district.

Ginseng for sale

Rachel, Trey, and me striking a pose in front of the big palace in Seoul; wish I could remember the name of the place.

Sanchon Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. So beautiful! The food was great, and the traditional dancing later on was superb. This place ranks first in the restaurant experiences of my life.

Tea for sale at the Korean folk village. Tee hee.

.The whirling dancers at the Korean Folk Village were astonishing.

Chris enjoying some mulberries a nice local woman gave us at the fortress in Gongju.

In Narita, Japan, the day before flying from Tokyo to home. The temple there was the most beautiful we saw in all of Japan. Sadly, our camera battery ran out and we have very few shots of Narita.

Gearing up for school to start this Tuesday; I'm nervous and excited about this year. It's supposed to be more interesting than last year, so that's a very good thing.

Here are a few shots of the wee beasties for you:

It's a shame Django can't relax more.

Here's Romeo in his normal state...

And here he is after yesterday's bath. Poor kitty! You'd have thought he was being murdered, what with the noises he made.

And here's our little Ella, looking very grouchy yesterday after I combed out all the knots in her fur.

Wow. I love this man! If only the U.S. had politicans like this.

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I'm free! Free, I say!

Whew, what a week. Monday's written anatomy exam felt like an assault (this is the half-crazy Yugoslavian brain surgeon's class; he's a great teacher but his exams always feel like assaults even when you do well). I think I did fine, but there were tons of people crying in the washroom afterwards :(

Wednesday's anatomy lab bell-ringer exam was an exercise called, "Here's a slab of what appears to be leathery beef jerky. Here's a nerve/tendon/something running through it, alongside 10 identical structures. You can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going, and you've never seen it in the lab before, but tell us what it is anyway." One of my classmates stared at a body part for the allotted 60 seconds and could not even make out that it was half of a person's face. I think she identified a structure in the nasal passage as a vagina (!)

Yesterday's Immunology exam, too, was a lovely parting kiss. 60 questions, all like this one:

"At which point in the development process does thymocyte positive selection occur?":
a)a:b 3+4+8+
b)a:b 3+4-8-
c)d:g3-4-8-
d)a: b 3+4+8-
e)a:b 3+4-8+

Good lord. You'd think the prof might have looked at the exam load we had, realized that we'd be extremely crispy by the time the last exam rolled around, and cut us all a break. But you'd be wrong. I'm not worried, though--I'm pretty sure I had passed the course without that exam--but it was still a pretty rough way to end the term. But it's all over now :)

Most of the class went out afterwards and celebrated in decidedly un-naturopathic style at this huge student pub called The Madison. I had a nearly-illegal amount of fun. I love my classmates so much--these are people who will go to the trouble to type up full class notes, insert pictures from the textbook, and post them on the class website for everyone to use. When you only have 6 hours to cram seven chapters, as I did for Immunology, things like that make a world of difference.

Tonight, Chris and I are heading to this great Moroccan place, Boujadi, for a celebratory dinner with a few of our closest friends. This weekend, I intend to get practically nothing done. Next week, though, I'm going into full-out trip planning mode for our Korea visit, since time's-a-wastin'. My plan is to have it all mapped out and the tickets bought by the end of the week, so Trey, if any dates in June are no-go's due to other commitments/work/etc, please do let me know.