Life back to normal?

Well, I've been back in the US for two months now. I've gotten back into my "normal" life where it left of last year. I'm working for a company called Software for Good in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. It's interesting work and it's nice to be in a big city with a lot going on. Of course Osaka was 10 times larger, but here its a lot easier to find out about events and meetups here. I'm trying to make a point of attending various get-togethers organized through Meetup.com to meet new people with similar interests.

I'm trying to keep up with my photography, though I'm still adjusting to a full-time work schedule. It turns out I'm only 1.5 miles away from the center of Minneapolis so the other weekend I went for a long walk through the city with no particular destination in mind. I brought my camera along and took a few interesting pictures. 

This scene reminded me of my time in Japan. No doubt these keys haven't been around for as long as the keys in THIS picture, but it's nice to see that at least some people here are considerate of others.

Although, on this same trip I also saw just how far people will go to make a little money at the expense of another. 

I'm sure I'll get a taste of all aspects of American city life as I spend more time here. One thing I'm not sure about though is how I will survive the winter. Only time will tell. 

Talent Show

When I went into downtown Osaka I would sometimes hang out at what the locals call Triangle park in Amemura. There are hardly any public benches in Japanese cities so the park is one of the only places downtown where you can sit down. When people meet up in the city, they often meet here. Many performers and skateboarders also gather here to practice their craft. The last time I went to Triangle park, this guy was practicing something though I couldn't figure out what. He was holding a fan and attempting to balance on something wrapped in a plastic bag. I asked a Japanese women sitting next to me watching the man what he was doing and she said she had no idea. 

There are many characters in a big city like Osaka. 

Back in the USA

In case you haven't heard, I'm back in the US. Actually I've been back for over a week, but I've been somewhat busy catching up with everyone so I haven't gotten around to telling you guys.
I still have some photos from Japan left to process so I'll have a few more posts about Japan in the future.
The title of this blog translates to "Because I'm a photographer", so I may continue to post here about my adventures in the US, so if you're interested in what I'm up to please check in from time to time.

Thank you for your continued viewership!

In the strangest places

I never know what I'm going to find wandering around town. There are millions of interesting life stories out there and I've been lucky to glimpse a few of them. I suppose this should be obvious, but even now I am struck by the kinds of individuals you run into if you keep your eyes open. I didn't have the chance to meet the owner of this house, but in one way or another, they probably aren't a typical Japanese person, whatever that means. 

Conveyor Belt Sushi

Despite the fact that when many people think of Japan, they think of conveyor belt sushi, until recently, I had never gone to one. There are two of these places in my city and walking back from a shopping adventure, my friend and I decided to stop in. The main feature of these restaurants is a long conveyor belt that stretches through the restaurant with plates of sushi riding on the belt. Customers are allowed to take sushi off the belt and the prices of the sushi are determined by the color of the plates they rest on. At the end of your time at the restaurant, a waitress adds up the cost of your plates and gives you your final total. 

Because this is far from a traditional sushi restaurant, they are able to serve many uncommon, non-traditional kinds of sushi. I had corn sushi, hamburger sushi, and duck sushi to name a few.

In addition to the regular track, there is also a special sushi train that can deliver special orders to your table. You can request anything on the menu from the touch screen at your table and it is brought out to you by the train. The train is styled to look like a Japanese shinkansen.

At around $1 a plate you can try a lot of different sushi. In the end I spent around $12 and had a great time. I probably should have gone to one of these places sooner!

Very Controlled Flooding

Somewhat strangely, in the middle of Hirakata, a city with a population density of 16,200 per square mile, there are numerous rice paddies. In this picture, a local middle school is surrounded by various types of farmland. This is not the country, this location is a short walk from the city center. The areas that are underwater are part of an extremely complex system of water channels used to flood specific areas of land to grow rice. When I arrived in Japan, farmers were just harvesting their rice and for most of the year, these fields are empty, but over the course of about a week, most farmers planted their rice plants and flooded their fields making for a stark change of scenery walking around town.

The Crows

The crows in Osaka are pretty huge. My friends from different states and countries are surprised by how big they are, but my friends from Minnesota are already used to seeing crows this big. Most of the birds I've seen here are also found in Minnesota, I wonder if they were brought over here or if they just fly wherever they like the weather.