滋賀県彦根市 (the City of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture) is where we are receiving our training in Japanese language and vocabulary appropriate to our roles as U.S. Pavilion Guides during the months of January and February. We're studying at a place called ミシガン州立大学連合日本センター (mishigan shuuritsu daigaku rengou nihon sentaa, The Japan Center for Michigan Universities), and living next door in the Toyota Motor Company's hotel for their employees. All of this is on the shores of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. It's quite a nice place. Take a look at the photographs below and you'll see.
This is the view of Lake Biwa and JCMU's Japanese garden outside our classroom window. Some people choose to sit with their backs toward the window, 'cause otherwise the view is distracting!
I wanted to share with you the backpack that I tote around Hikone, decked out in all its Expo glory. First we have a patch which I purchased at the rest stop in Aichi prefecture on the way back from Tokyo which has the Expo 2005 play-on-words title logo; then we have a pin I got at the same rest stop with our beloved mascots on it along with the Expo logo, as well as the official U.S. Pavilion Guide pin (not available in stores; I'm sure you're all jealous ^_~). I even added to the Expo-ness with a keychain from Osaka Expoland, the site of the 1970 World's Fair which has since been turned into an amusement park. I visited last October and bought a souvenir keychain of my favorite coaster there. At that point I did not even know I was going to work at Expo 2005. Clearly it was my destiny. ;)
It doesn't snow as much here as some of us are used to, but one morning in January we woke up and found snow on the ground, which made us Northerners feel a little more at home, and was very pretty besides! It all melted within hours, but here it is while it lasted. I guess it's okay if it doesn't snow any more, though, because it's not much fun to have to wear ski goggles while biking to the grocery store.
You can see the JCMU dorm building in the corner of the picture.
This is the view across Lake Biwa out our windows in the Toyota Building. Not bad, huh? ;) The little dark spot is an island called Takeshima. You catch a ferry and go visit it if you want. A bit farther north there's also a bigger island, Chikubushima, which is covered with shrines. I visited it last fall before getting into the Expo program.
Once again it's the view over Lake Biwa, but this time it's the most splendid view of it I've yet seen. Take a look at the larger version for more detail. (The picture's 1024x768 and suitable for wallpaper if you like.)