Deer Suck, but Nara is Awesome!

Nara is a quaint sprawling area marked with temples, beautiful scenery, and the worlds most ravenous deer.  The deer do to Nara and the people who visit here what the velociraptors in Jurassic Park do to that guy with the shotgun.  They lure you into trusting them and BAM! deer attack from the side, stealing your food, your maps, and your dignity.

Yes, deer are super cute, but after my trip to Nara, the next deer I want to see should be on a dinner plate and not trying to pan-handle crackers off of me.  Get a job, deer!  Stop begging!  Have you no dignity!?!

No Dignity Whatsoever!

Deer in Nara are protected and all around Nara you will find people who are selling these circular wafers that are supposed to be delicious to deer, (but tasted a lot like old compressed dry bread to me).  Deer wait in packs near these vendors for unsuspecting tourists like myself, and pounce!  They smell your fear and weakness, and know just how to target you.

It is also quite fun to put a deer cracker onto a backpack or back pocket of an unsuspecting person and watch them act very confused as the deer try to bite it off of them.  I must have spent about $10 just doing this activity.  The looks of realization are priceless.  

There are also old war veterans who know how to control the deer.  If I have ever seen a "don't fuck with me face," this one is it.  Sorry for the language, but I am sure you will understand with the picture.

One Instantly Burst Into Flames

Deer are also masters of surprise and evasion.  Take a look at the following photo and try to find the deer in it.  I will give you a hint.  There are four deer.  Look really closely.  One should be obvious, but the rest have a level of stealth that would make the active camouflage in the Alien movies seem childish.

Look Closely

This all leads us to the epic showdown.  I was walking along a trail, minding my own business and out comes this little deer.  I thought he was cute and decided to give him a cracker.  Worst mistake of my life.  As I grab a cracker, he grabs my beautiful plastic covered full size map.  We get into a tug-of-war game while a few people watch.  I finally gave up, (I now know deer are quite strong), and he sat there eating my map.  Slowly.  Just enjoying and savoring the plastic-tasting victory.  It started as a few chews, and then you could tell he did not even want it anymore.  He was only eating my map as a way of proving his dominance.  I could do nothing but stand there and watch - in shame.  It took him ten minutes to devour my dignity.   

Asshole

There are some amazing things to see in Nara, massive temples, cultivated trees that are older than civilization on the European Continent, and deer.  If you ever wanted a reason to eat more venison, visit Nara.

Also See the Largest Bronze Buddha in the World

Miyajima and Itsukushima

Stairs, deer, and shrines in the water.  Oddly enough this describes most of Japan, but in this case we were at Miyajima (a.k.a. "that big orange gate in the middle-of-the-bay somewhere in Japan that is in some movies").

See, orange and in the water - you knew what it was already

Besides this awesome temple on the island, there are deer.  If you travel with my wife, tame deer are an amazing opportunity to do something no one should do with wild animals - pet them.  She is of the mind-set that every zoo should be a petting zoo, and all animals want to be patted lovingly on their fuzzy heads.  Or, if there is a lack of fuzz, scales - or whatever the animal is made of.  

That face says pet me and I will kill you

The animals put up with it, probably because they get to nab food from people when they are not looking.  It does make for some great photo opportunities, but damn do they like to follow you around.  We started giving them names and associating personalities with them.  While they look cute and happy in nature, after this trip I am going to just come out and say it.  Deer are evil creatures.  More on that in a few blog posts though.  Nara... I won't forgive you...

The other thing Japan loves is stairs.  Lots and lots of stairs.  See that cool building?

Something historical and impressive

Yeah, you need to have a black-belt in stair-stepper to get to it. 

Maybe a second degree black-belt

The amazing thing about this trip is we gained weight!  I had a pedometer going the entire trip.  We averaged 13 miles a day of walking.  We still gained weight.  Guess we needed to take more stairs?

The trip out to Miyajima was amazing, the boat ride was like going across San Fransisco bay, the oysters and eel were to die for, and we saw more beautiful scenery than we could handle.  If you like deer with secret evil plots, stairs, old buildings, great food, orange shrines in water, tolling bells, more stairs, and a general small town feel - Miyajima is the place for you.

A deer-free main street.  The way it should be!

Seeing the World

As I look around my cluttered living room, taking stock of the different things from various time periods of my life, I have to make a very black and white decision - trash or box.  I mailed a letter today that would seal the fate of many items that have taken up refuge over the years in my home; medals from running, scented pine cones, a few plastic dinosaurs, bowl of chopsticks, an old guitar, a turquoise blue macaw feather.  While many things have a specific dollar value, it is not how they can pad my very light wallet that makes me decide their fate, but the memories that have been attached to them that will decide what gets moved into a a few boxes that will define our spartan existence.

The letter I sent in was a proverbial trigger pull that has been years in the making.  We have decided to take a leap of faith and change our home from Hilo, Hawaii, to Salaya, Thailand.  We speak no Thai, combined we have been in Thailand about a week.  We order our food medium-hot.

I am a high school math teacher by trade.  The last year in school has been trying to say the least.  Our school was in the direct path of oncoming lava for quite a few months during the school year (Hawaii problems) and while we have survived, it has been at quite a cost.  Teaching has been a challenge.  Students went without power for three weeks due to a hurricane, had to cross barricades to get to school, suffered through incessant media exposure, and dealt with the ever-present question... will my school still exist next week?

I am exhausted. 

We appear to be out of the "line of fire" so-to-speak, but it all came with a price.  I am now ready to explore.  While I might someday have regrets about leaving a wonderful school with kids who excel at qualities that are more important than numbers on standardized tests, I know that I must adventure out into the world, 

 

Thus, Thailand.

Papers are mailed.  Signed contracts in languages I cannot read have been sent with tracking numbers.  Suddenly I wonder if I am a bit like the cast on Gilligan's Island setting out for my "three hour tour" but somehow going to end up in a new land, with a new way of life, paid in a monetary system that I have never seen before, but with no hope of return and only cancellation looming over my head.

At my heart I am an introvert.  I like to watch people, I like to observe and just see how others act.  Travel has always been daunting for me.  The idea of seeing new places is alluring and fills me with wonder, but the idea of getting there, not knowing what is going on, and not being able to speak to people fills me with dread.  

Guess life is full of these double-edged swords... 

Just like the deer in Nara, Japan, (Story is here), if you keep chewing on a problem long enough, eventually you will be able to swallow it.  Probably could have gone with a different analogy route, but I am a math teacher.  We are not known for our eloquence.

Goddamn deer.