さよなら

This last week has gone by so fast. I worked at the Board of Education for a few days after getting back from Naoshima. I helped plan for English camp next week, although I obviously won't be there. In the evenings I mostly packed and cleaned my apartment. Wednesday was my last game day and that night Marc, Tanya, Juha, and Megan came over to play a new game, Dead of Winter. I lost, but it was a really fun game. We played another 3 vs. 1 game after DoW and it was really fun. I was the one person trying to complete secret missions and escape and although I barely made it out, it was a ton of fun and a great last game.

Thursday was my last day at work. Afterward, I went over to Kikumi's to watch some movies. Shinki and I went to a local fish market to get some sashimi for dinner before starting the movies and Megan came over as well to watch with us. Friday I slept in before finishing the majority of my packing and starting to really get stuff ready for the new ALT taking over the apartment. I stayed home most of the day, but went out in the evening to Riverwalk where I met up with Megan to go see the new Pokémon. We ended up getting dinner after the movie and Megan doing some last minute shopping before the stores closed.

Saturday I met up with Leah for lunch before heading home to put on my yukata and head into Tobata. The weekend before I'd missed the summer fesitval in Kokura while in Noashima, but Tobata's summer festival was this weekend and so many people came out! I saw my friend Teppei who I hadn't seen in a long time and a bunch of ALTs in Kitakyushu were there. It was a great last weekend in Japan!

Sunday I finished up my packing and cleaning and had some friends over to help out. Megan, Leah, Bec, and Chris all come over to help me finish up the cleaning. We played some games after we finished and it was really a nice day. We all parted way for dinner and I went into Konyamachi to see Kikumi and Shinki who were playing with their band. I always enjoy seeing them play and it was nice to see everyone from the band one last time.

Monday I met up with Kikumi and Shinki again to take a beach trip! All the bartenders from Konyamachi went out and there were about fifteen of us all together. We set up BBQs in the sand and had a great day! We went swimming in the ocean, ate a ton of good food, and I even played soccer (and our team won!). We stayed at the beach for hours, but I went home a bit early to be back in Kokura by dinner time. Dan, another leaving ALT, was having a party at a beer garden and I went to say goodbye. Almost all the ALTs came out and even someone from the BoE joined us. It was nice to go to the beer garden one last time. After dinner some people went home, but some of us stayed out and went to karaoke. We sang our hearts out for two hours before saying goodbye to Dan and all parting ways.

Yesterday (Tuesday, July 28th) was pretty quiet for me. I went out for lunch with some of the ALTs and Bec came over afterwords with her car to help me move my bags to Leah's where I'm staying until I leave. Leah was tired from the night before, so I went out for dinner with Megan to an okonomiya/monja restaurant. The food was delicious and after dinner we decided to find the cat cafe in Kokura that we'd both heard about, but not visited. The cafe was really cute and I'm so glad I went before leaving! I was back at Leah's pretty early and we hung out just talking and watching TV until we decided it was bed time.

Today (Wednesday, July 29th) I'm hanging at Leah's until I got meet the new ALTs in the afternoon. There are two new ALTs moving into my apartment complex and I'll help show them around the area. Juha will show the new ALTs around the other area and we'll meet up for dinner at Tetsunabe where we'll join all the Kitakyushu ALTs for a welcome dinner. Because it's also my last night, we'll go out after dinner and have some fun and there will be a lot of goodbyes.

My flight tomorrow leaves at 2:10 PM from Fukuoka airport. Leah and I have breakfast plans before she leaves for work and Kikumi and Shinki will pick me up around lunch time to drive to the aiport. My last meal in Japan will of course be a sushi lunch with them before I head back home!

Living in Japan has been one of the best experiences of my life and although I know it's time for me to move on, it's certainly bittersweet. I'm leaving behind a lot of amazing people who I will never forget. I hope to see everyone again in the future and as sad as I am to leave, I'm so excited for my next adventure in Denver!

Naoshima

Last night Leah and I got back from an amazing long weekend in Uno! Uno is a small town on the coast of Honshu and it's main draw is the ferry port going to many of the islands in the Seto Inland Sea. These islands are famous for their art exhibits. The typhoon that hit us last week was supposed to also hit Uno and the Seto Inland Sea while we were there, but we got lucky and the weather was beautiful all weekend.

We left Saturday morning via shinkansen and arrived at Uno Station just before 11 AM. Momoko, the girl helping us at our guest house, drove to the station to take our bags and show us to the ferry. We didn't want to waste any time, so we hopped on the 11:10 ferry heading to Teshima. Although Naoshima is the more populated and more famous island, we still wanted to check out all Teshima had to offer. The ferry was a bit under half an hour and by noon we had rented bikes and were enjoying some lunch. Although Momoko had told us to get electric bikes to help with the steep hills of the island, we decided to save money and rent regular 3-speed bikes. After going across the entire northern area of the island we were wishing for electric bikes, though. It was so hilly!! We took frequent rests at the different exhibits on the island. We saw a few temples as well. The Teshima Art Museum was my favorite exhibit we saw. It was a white concrete enclosure with two holes in the ceiling. Water came up through some spots on the floor and ran into two pools under the holes. Inside was huge and really relaxing. It was also at the top of the biggest hill, so it was a great place for us to rest for a while and get out of the sun.

We stopped at a few smaller exhibits on the way to the eastern side of the island. At the very north-east corner was the next big exhibit, Les Archives du Coeur. You entered a completely dark hallway with rectangular mirrors of differing sizes covering the walls. About 20 feet into the hallway was a single light-bulb flashing in time with a heartbeat being played from somewhere in the back of the hallway. That flashing bulb was the only light source and the heartbeats were recorded from real people on the island. It was very cool, but a bit scary when the beat slowed as different people's heartbeats played. We could have payed extra to record our heartbeat to add to the collection, but decided against it.

We headed back towards the port on the western side of the island, stopping at a few more smaller exhibits and temples on the way. We played basketball at No One Wins - Multibasket where the backboard was a map of the island and hoops were placed at different heights. It was way more fun than we both originally thought it looked and we spent almost half an hour just goofing around. We also went to a place called Storm House, where you sat inside an old-style Japanese house and watched the windows. In a four or five minute span it seemed to go from the sunny it was outside, to a big thunder storm, and then back to sunny.

By the time we got back to the port it was almost 5 PM, closing time for the exhibits. We luckily just made it into the Yokoo House. It was a really cool house fitted with all kinds of strange features. The main house was made half of black wood and half of red, translucent plastic. The garden in the back had beautifuly crafted animal statues and a koi pond with mosaics running throughout the bottom. The smaller house in back was half tatami floored and half glass to see through to the koi pond. The walls were displaying 11 different 2-D works (some paintings, drawings, and other mediums including one half painted and half moving pictures). Back in the main house was a giant smoke stack shaped area that was covered in pictures of waterfalls and had mirrors on the top and bottom so it seemed to go on forever. I'm really glad we had time to see it before it closed!

We had a snack while waiting for the next ferry back to Uno and got back just about dinner time. Momoko had recommended a restaurant called 大坂屋 (Osaka Ya) and we decided to eat there. Momoko came to pick us up from the restaurant to show us to the guest house for the first time. The guest house, Uno Slope House, is really just the owner's parents' house refurbished into a hotel. Only three rooms are available and there's no signs saying it's a guest house because they want it to feel like you're staying with a friend instead of a hotel. Because there's no signs, though, it's hard to find for the first time, that's why Momoko picked us up. We spoke with her for a while before heading to bed.

Momoko made breakfast in the morning for us and another family staying there. We left early for Naoshima so we could spend all day there. The Uno Slope House had bikes we could use for free, so we took them with us on the ferry. I'm really glad we did, because it was packed even that early in the morning and it looked like the line to rent a bike would have taken over half an hour to get through! We started by going to the area I had been to with Hofstra in Japan. We saw all the Art House Project exhibits and the new ANDO Museum. We had macha floats at a cat cafe and yellow tail burgers at Maimai. After biking around and seeing everything there, we headed to the part of the island I'd never been to. We passed the Tsutsuji rest house and beach and it was packed! Because of the long weekend everyone was out having BBQs and swimming. Leah enjoyed the beach for a bit while I stayed in the shade a read a book. We walked around the Benesse Art Site and took pictures with the famous pumpkin. It was incredibly hot that day and we'd biked around the entire island, so we decided to call it a day. We caught a ferry back to Uno and were back around 5 PM.

Momoko was back as well, so we hung out with her for a few hours. She told us that Uno was having a summer festival that night so around dinner time we decided to check it out. It was only one square block, but it was really nice! Lanterns were hung everywhere and there was an area roped off for taiko drums and dancers. At the shrine, a priest was using an 大幣 (onusa, a wooden staff with zig-zag, white paper) to perform purification rituals for people. There were lots of yatai stalls selling all kinds of food and small goods. There was of course 金魚すくい (kingyo sukui, goldfish scooping), ヨーヨーすくい (yoyo scooping) and even スーパーボールすくい (super-ball scooping). A lot of the local businesses were also out selling food. Momoko told us a friend of hers was selling doughnuts, so we tired them and they were delicious! A local coffee shop was making fresh espresso and selling espresso beer, which was also very good.

After having dinner at the food stalls, we stopped to watch the dancing. The dancing area was a large oval with the tiako drummers int he middle everyone was dancing around the edge of the oval in a pretty easy repeated dance. Leah and I were miming it on the side and one of the dance teams pulled us in to dance with them! It was open to anyone and people from the crowd were joining into the circle, so we decided to join them. We did one full lap around the oval before stepping out, but it was an amazing experience! About an hour before the festival ended we ran into Momoko, who invited us to sit with her and her friends. They were telling us most of the tourists in the area couldn't speak Japanese, so they were excited they could all talk with us in Japanese. We stayed with her and her friends until the festival ended and we all reluctantly parted ways. It was an amazing night and although we were tourists, we really felt included and like we were welcomed into the community!

Monday we had breakfast with Momoko again before checking out of the Uno Slope House. We went back to Naoshima in the morning. We'd found a much smaller beach with no one on it and Leah wanted to go swimming. I stayed on the beach reading and Leah swam for a bit. Once the sun got too much to us we went to the bathhouse we'd missed the day before. The bathhouse was beautifully decorated on the inside with mosaics, a designed glass ceiling, and even an elephant statue. The best part, though, was the name. It's called 'I ♥ 湯.' The last kanji usually means hot water and is part of the word bath, but it's pronounced yu. So the name is, 'I love yu.'

We grabbed some lunch before taking the ferry back to Uno and catching a train to head home. We had to change from the local train to the shinkansen in Okayama and before heading all the way back to Kokura we decided to check out Okayama Castle. We walked about twenty minutes from the train station and I'm really glad we decided to stop. The castle was beautiful and we spend a relaxing time walking around the outside and exploring inside. There was a park nearby and we walked around it until dinner time. We headed back to the station and found a small restaurant on the way back. We were pretty tired by this point, but still had a great dinner and sleepy train ride home. It was the best last trip in Japan I could ask for.

I'm not less than 10 days away from my flight home and I'm going to be busy cleaning, packing, and seeing everyone. I'm hoping to get one more post in before my flight when I will no longer be a JET.

Goodbye Parties Abound

I figured I'd post now since I'm worried I'll forget some things after my trip to Naoshima. I had my last week at school and the Board of Education goodbye party. I'll be flying home in less than two weeks and it feels real now that I'll be leaving.

On Monday I met up with Caol, Shinki, and Kikumi for dinner. We went to a yakiniku place we often go. The owner was sad to hear I was leaving, but gave us some extra food as a goodbye present. After dinner we sang two hours or karaoke before saying goodbye to Caol. I went with Kikumi and Shinki to one more place before calling it a night. Tuesday I met Megan for an after dinner coffee so we could gossip about all the new things revealed at SDCC. Wednesday was the goodbye party for the BoE. We went to a nice restaurant in Kokura and I sat with Leah and some of the higher-ups. We all had to make speeches that mostly turned tearful, but it was a great night. I got a few gifts from the BoE, but the one from the other JETs was my favorite. They just bought a message card and everyone wrote a message around all these pictures of us from over the last two years. It was really touching and I couldn't have been happier. My favorite moment, though, was talking to one of the BoE employees about my new math teaching position and he told me he remembered my math lesson from English camp and he thought I'd make a great math teacher. A few of us went out to karaoke afters, five ALTs and three BoE higher-ups. It was the perfect end.

Yesterday (Thursday, 7/16) was my last day of school. There was a typhoon scheduled to hit us today (Friday), so the school canceled the last day. I hadn't been at Tsukida long, but I became really close with one of the teachers and it was hard to say goodbye. I made an English speech during closing ceremony that I'm pretty sure everyone understood and a student came up to give me a bouquet of flowers. I know coming home is for the best, but I will really miss the students and teachers I've worked with these past two years.

Thursday night Leah came over to celebrate school ending. The typhoon hadn't hit yet, but the air was cool enough to sit outside enjoyably, so we sat on my balcony for a few hours just talking and hanging out.

Today is Friday. I used my day off to clean everything and get some more packing done. I'm going to meet Leah for lunch in an hour and we'll grab our shinkansen tickets for our trip tomorrow. Tonight I'll see Caol for one last dinner and karaoke since he's going to Ireland for a visit tomorrow and I'll be gone by the time he gets back to Japan. Tomorrow I head out with Leah to Naoshima and Teshima for our last Japan trip and from then on I'll pretty much be packing and seeing everyone I can while I can. It's really bittersweet leaving, but I'm going to make the most of these next two weeks!

Counting Down

There's only two and a half weeks before I head home and I've been really busy packing and getting ready to leave. I went to Kikumi's on Monday night to watch a movie and have dinner. Another friend, Taka, came as well and we had a great night. I had my last Board of Education meeting on Wednesday and went out to dinner with Leah and Lisa afterwards. Friday I met up with Megan to go to Aru Aru City. We stayed until it closed looking for gifts for Megan's friends. We walked back to my apartment afterwards and ordered pizza for dinner. I stayed up late that night to get Welcome to Nightvale tickets that went on sale at 3 AM Japan time, so Megan stayed late to keep me company while I waited for the tickets to go on sale. She left for last bus, but I'm glad she could stay with me at least for a bit!

On Saturday I packed a few boxes and sent them off to America in the morning. In the afternoon, I met up with two of my former Shinozaki students. They heard I was leaving and wanted a chance to say goodbye. After introducing myself to their parents, we headed off to the most popular teenage girl spot in any culture, the mall. They showed me all their favorite stores I helped them pick out English books and cute bags. We went to the arcade for プリクラ (purikura, specialized photo booths) and played taiko drum rhythm games featuring new songs. We ended the afternoon at the food court where we had chocolate, banana, and strawberry crepes. After saying goodbye I headed back to Kokura to meet up with Caol for the Kitakyushu JET Sayonara Party. Eighteen of the JETs living in Kitakyushu came out for dinner and we had a fantastic time! Everything went their separate ways after the party and Leah, Caol, and I headed for karaoke. We only stayed for two hours before heading home, but we had an amazing night!

Sunday I met up with Juha and Dan and we all caught the bus to Fukuoka. For Jake, Dan, and I it was our last game day in Japan. We made sure to get there early so we'd have all 12 hours full of games. We played a ton of different stuff. I played a few new games I love and want to pick up when I get back to the States and some of my old favorites. By the end of the night there were only seven of us. Jay had a few bottles of wine for us to share to celebrate and we ended on a murder mystery game. It was so much fun and it was great to see all the board game people again before going home.

Today I'm starting my last week at Tsukida. So far I've had some great last classes. It's so bitter sweet, I love all the teachers and students here, but I'm really excited to come back and start working in Colorado. I have my Board of Education goodbye party in a few days, Kokura's Gion (a summer festival) starts on Friday, and Leah and I will take our last Japan trip to Naoshima over the weekend. It is a long weekend, so next weeks update will probably be a day late, but I'm so excited to get my last few adventures in before I start packing up for good!

Happy 4th of July!

Now that it's July I really feel like I'm in the home stretch. In less than a month I'll be home preparing to meet my first class of 7th graders for math. These two years have gone by so fast, but I still have a few more adventures before I return to the States!

On Monday I went to Colet with Megan. She wanted help picking out a yukata for the summer festivals starting soon. We grabbed dinner and a coffee and we had a great night. On Wednesday Leah came over for a drink. Jupiter and Venus were both visible and almost touching, so we went up to the top of my building for a beautiful view of the city and the stars and planets overhead. Tanya came On Friday I went to Costco with Kikumi and Shinki. We went out for sushi afterwards and even won a capsule prize!

On Saturday I was up early to clean my apartment and getting all the 4th of July food ready to travel. I headed out to meet Caol and Megan at Cha Cha town to catch the first screening of Avengers: Age of Ultron playing near us. Megan and I had already seen it in Korea, but Caol hadn't seen it yet and because of the early morning time, it was fairly cheap to see it again. We all walked back to my place afterwards and pretty soon Kazuki was there picking us up! We loaded up our rental car and headed off to Yamaguchi. The drive was a little less than two hours and we had no trouble finding the campsite. We got there a bit early, so we stopped for lunch before checking into the cabin. The cabins were beautiful and had a fully stocked kitchen, so Chris and I got started on prepping the food while Caol and Kazuki headed out to get drinks and a few extra things. Once Caol and Kazuki came back and the food was all prepped we walked back to the main camping headquarters and spend some time in the onsen there. After relaxing for a bit we headed back to the cabin to start our 4th of July celebration! We started by drinking red, white, and blue sangria (strawberries, blueberries, and white wine). Soon after I started cooking the burgers and corn. We were originally going to have a BBQ outside, but the weather didn't hold up. Thankfully the cabins had a great kitchen and we were able to cook everything without a problem! We ate and drank all night and even played truth or dare for a while. It was a ton of fun and we all had an amazing night.

The next morning we made chocolate pancakes topped with the extra fruit and whipped cream from the night before. We also had red, white, and blue sprinkles to make them extra American. We headed out around 10:00 AM and found another onsen to stop in on our way back home. There was an outside pool and the water wasn't too hot, so we ended up staying there for over an hour. We headed straight home after that to return the car, but all had lunch together. We decided to get yakiniku since that involves grilling and we wanted to get some grilling in to make the holiday official. We had a great lunch, but parted ways afterwards. Megan and Caol came back with me to pick up their bags they'd left at my place. Megan hung out and we watched some videos until she had to go home. The rest of my night was pretty quiet.

This week should be another exciting one! I'll meet Kikumi and Shinki tonight to watch movies and make hamburgers. They really wanted to come for our 4th of July trip, but had to work on Saturday, so they couldn't make it. I'll be meeting Leah and Tanya for a girls night later in the week and on Saturday I'll have another goodbye party. I'm starting to pack things up, but it doesn't quite feel real yet that I'll be leaving. These are going to be a hectic and bittersweet few weeks. And although it wasn't my best performance, here's the video from last week as promised! Sorry it took so long.

Shopping and Singing

Last week at school was pretty quiet again. Leah came over on Thursday for dinner, but other than that I stayed home. Friday I did some shopping after school at Book Off. I'm getting a few of my favorite books, music, and movies to bring home for when I miss Japan. I headed to Aru Aru City after and met Megan where we did a bit more shopping before meeting Caol for dinner. We snacked on some gyoza before doing a few hours of karaoke. Megan went home after, but Caol and I stayed out a bit later at Babu Box, a bar owned by a friend of mine and the drummer for the band. We didn't stay out too much later, but it was a nice night and a nice end to the week.

On Saturday I cleaned during the day and ran errands. For dinner I met up with one of my students from Shinozaki who I don't see anymore. It was so nice to see her! We went out for conveyor belt sushi. Normally if you order sushi they put it on a special plate to mark it as reserved and it comes around on the conveyor belt like everything else, but this restaurant had a second conveyor belt about a foot above the first where the "shinkansen" would come with your orders. It would go directly to your table and you took the plates and pushed a little button to have it go back to the kitchen. It was so cool! And instead of stacking your plates to be counted at the end of the meal, there was a little shoot the plates went down that cleared them away and counted them at the same time. As an incentive to eat more, for every five plates you sent down the shoot you had a chance to win a little capsule prize. We stayed at the restaurant for about two hours talking and it was really nice to see her. After dinner I waited with her while her mom came to pick her up. Her mom was really nice and was so excited to meet me. She told me about how much her daughter liked having me as a teacher and how sad she was when I changed school and how grateful she was for the books I have her. My poor student was getting more embarrassed every minute her mom was talking, but it was really sweet. After talking for a bit we parted ways and I headed to Caol's to watch movies and hang out. Megan was there as well and the three of us stayed up late talking.

Sunday I went over to Megan's in the morning for breakfast. I had gotten Megan a waffle iron for her birthday and she wanted to try it out. Our first batch of waffles didn't turn out so good, but we got the hang of it by the second batch and made some pretty ones by the time our batter ran out. I didn't stay long and soon I was back home getting ready for band practice. The band changed one of the songs at the last minute, so I went in at 4:00 to practice. We only had half an hour to practice the new song before mic check started for all the bands, so it was a little rushed. Despite that, everything went really well! Leah, Bec, Caol, and Megan all came out to see me and we had a great night! Two other bands played as well and they were both great. Because it was a Sunday the show started a bit early, so even though the entire show was about three hours we still finished just after 10:00. Unfortunately the video's aren't up yet, but I should have links by next week!

This last weekend was so amazing and next week should be just as fun! It'll be another quiet week in school, although I am going to go to the science classes to help them dissect pig heats. I'm also taking anther step towards coming home and will be figuring out which of the new JETs will get my apartment after I leave. Next weekend is the 4th of July, so I organized a trip for eight of us to go on a camping trip where we can BBQ and celebrate the holiday. Only three of us are Americans, but everyone is really excited!

First Goodbye

School last week was again pretty normal. I had a good time at Matsugae and enjoyed eating lunch with the students in their classroom during the week. I went out for dinner on Monday with Kikumi and Shinki, but other than that I pretty much stayed home getting work done during the week.

Friday night I went out with Leah and one of my teacher, Yamato. We went to a restaurant in Kokura that none of us had been to before, but passed by often. It was really good and I'm so glad we went! After dinner we went to Orange Door. I was helping Kikumi and bar tending that night. Before it got busier I was able to sit down and play cards with Leah, Yamato, and Caol who came to join us. Around midnight my friends left and I stayed behind the bar until I headed home. It was a really fun night!

On Saturday I cleaned up my apartment in the morning and ran errands in the afternoon. For dinner I took the train into Fukuoka and met with a bunch of JETs for the (first of many) Sayonara Party. It was at one of my favorite restaurants in Fukuoka and it was really nice to see everyone. I don't often go into Fukuoka, so I don't get to see them very often. Jake, Greg, and I left a little early to grab one more drink before going home and it was nice to spend some time with them. I caught the last train back to Kokura and all in all it was a great night.

Sunday I had work for an English camp I won't be attending. It was fun seeing all the students, especially the students I knew from last year or other schools, but it was a little sad for me to be there since I will be gone before the camp starts. It was just an afternoon full of meetings, so it didn't take too much time. After we got out I went over to Heart Key to practice with Kikumi's band. I'll sing two new songs with them next Sunday and we wanted to practice for a bit! For dinner I met up with Leah, Juha, Marc, Tanya, and Megan at Cha Cha Town. We ended up at a 回転寿司 (kaiten zushi, conveyor belt sushi) restaurant. We had an early dinner so that we could catch a movie afterwards. We went to see Mad Max: Fury Road since it came out here on Saturday. We all really enjoyed the movie! Leah, Juha, and I all walked home together afterwards and it was a great end to a great weekend.

More Birthday's and Games

Last week was a calm week at school. I had a lot of nice classes and enjoyed eating my school lunch in the classroom with the students. I got some great news Thursday morning, I will have a job when I get back to the States! I also found out my flight home will be one July 30th and I'll be flying to Boston via Toronto. I'll be flying home in a month and a half and although I will miss Japan, I'm really excited to come back and start on my next adventure!

I went out with Leah on Thursday night to celebrate. I cooked dinner and we both went to Bob's bar for a drink and some karaoke. We both went home early, but it was nice to see her! On Friday my friend Lisa came over after school for a girls night in. I cooked and she brought a bottle of wine and dessert. We live a bit far apart from each other, so we don't see each other often. It was really nice seeing her and we ended up hanging out well into the night.

Saturday we celebrated Bec's birthday. I met Dave for coffee in the morning and we headed to the castle together. Chris rented a BBQ and we had a little picnic on the castle grounds. It was a ton of fun! I left with Marc and Tanya a little early to head into Fukuoka for the night. The JET charity committee hosted a pub quiz to raise money for the relief effort in Nepal. Juha was originally supposed to be on their team, but he had to drop out at the last minute, so I went instead. We did win, but it was a great night and it was nice to be in Fukuoka again.

Sunday Marc and I headed back into Fukuoka for a game day. I've missed the last few months of gaming, but it was really nice to be back! We played some games I've played before, but we also played a bunch of new games! We played from 11 AM until well after dinner. Marc and I headed back to Kokura around 9:30 PM. It was a great week!

This week I'm excited to be in Matsugae again for school. I'll also be back in Fukuoka over the weekend for the JET Sayonara party. I have to work next Sunday, but afterwards some of us are thinking of going to see the new Mad Max movie (it comes out next Saturday in Japan). I'm really enjoying the last of my time in Japan and I looking forward to my last few trips before heading home!

誕生日おめでとう！

Another quiet school week this week. It was great to be back at Tsukida. I'm really close with the two English teachers there and I was so happy to be back! This week I'm switching back to Matsugae, but I like this school as well, so I'm still sure it'll be a great week!

On Thursday, Kikumi had a movie night in her bar. It all-you-can-drink during the movie and we watched Gone Girl with Japanese subtitles. I was the only one who had already seen the movie, but I was happy to see it again! Patrick came out as well and we had a good night. Friday I also saw Patrick, Kikumi, and Shinki. We all went to Patrick's apartment and I cooked dinner. Kikumi and Shinki had to leave for work right after dinner, but I stayed with Patrick a little later. I helped him clean a little and we just hung out on his balcony and talked for a while. It was a really great night.

Saturday I didn't have anything to do during the day so I took the morning to run errands. I ran into Patrick one last time on my way to the post office, which turned out to be good. He had a bunch of bags with him that I could help with. After my errands I spent the rest of the morning cleaning. I'd let my apartment get a bit messier than I'd meant to, so it was really nice to get everything back in order. I also went through my clothes and other things to make sure I know exactly what I have to pack up since my return home is coming up pretty fast! Around 7:00 that night I headed out to 牛さくら (Gyu Sakura), a yakiniku restaurant, for Kazuki's birthday. About eighteen people came for dinner and he was so excited because he said it was the biggest birthday party he'd ever had. We had a great dinner and even surprised him with a cake at the end. Some of us went to Bob's Bar afterwards. It's a small place that barely fit us, but thankfully Caol had rented out the whole place for the party. Bob's does unlimited karaoke for only ￥200 and it was tons of fun! I left a little early to get some sleep, but it sounds like no one stayed out too much later after I left. It was a great party!

Sunday I slept in and was pretty lazy throughout the morning. I headed over to Megan's apartment in the early afternoon for movies. We watched stuff all afternoon while periodically making popcorn or running out for ice cream. It was a really relaxing way to spend a Saturday.

This week will be another quiet one. Bec's birthday is on Saturday and we'll have a picnic at the castle, but other than that I don't have much planned. My next big adventure will be camping on July 4th. Although I haven't been traveling much, I've been really busy making preparations for back home and hopefully I'll have some good news soon about what I'll be up to once I'm back in the States!

Eurovision

I had another quiet week. I was back in my new base school Matsugae and had a great time there. On Friday some of us went out for dinner to celebrate that our visiting school period is over, but I went home a bit early. Saturday we had a Eurovision party at Bec's house. It was my first time seeing Eurovision, a big singing contest with one group representing one country, and it was pretty fun. Bec is Australian and this year Australia was one of the contestants. It was a potluck and we had a ton of delicious food. It was a great night! Sunday I stayed home and cleaned.

This week I'm back at Tsukida, my other base school. It should be another great, but quiet, week for me!

Picnic in the Park

This week was pretty quiet. I laid low during the weekday, but Friday I went out with Lisa. I don't get to see Lisa too often, so it was really nice to see her! We went out for dinner first and sat and talked for hours. Then we ran to the arcade down the street for プリクラ (purikura). It's really popular in Japan, but I don't do it often. It's like a full-body photo booth and you can personalize your pictures with stickers and writings. It can also do different things like make you look taller, make your skin look smother, make your eyes look bigger, and retroactively give you makeup. It's pretty fun to play around with! After the arcade we spent an hour at karaoke before heading home. It was a great night!

The next day I was up early for spring cleaning. I cleaned everything in my apartment and went through my drawers and shelves to make sure I'm ready when it's time to start packing for home. Patrick came over in the middle of cleaning for a break. We both have a packet of forms to fill out before leaving (pension, bank stuff, change of address, etc.) and of course they're all in Japanese. We figured it'd be easier to figure it out if we worked together, so we went through it all and filled it out as best we could. It was nice to have someone else to help with it. After Patrick left I continued cleaning and finished in the later afternoon. I grabbed some stuff for dinner and Megan came over for dinner and to watch some movies. She didn't stay too late, but we had a good time and I was able to get to bed a bit early.

Sunday was beautiful, so I made some food and headed to the park for a picnic. I met up with Kyoko, Caol, Bec, Chris, and Leah and we enjoyed the weather and some lunch. The May-time Oktoberfest was back up, but we stayed on the other side of the park. Kyoko and Caol both had to head home, but I stayed out with everyone else well until dinner time. When the sun started to go down we decided to walk over to a restaurant for dinner and had a nice meal before we each headed home.

This week will probably be quiet as well. I'm saving money for coming home and my last month here will be filled with goodbye parties, so I'm saving money for that as well. I'm starting at my new base school this week and so far everyone has been incredibly nice! June should be just as quiet, but July things will get exciting again! I'll also post updates on my move back home since June is the month where I have to pick flights and really start getting ready for the move!

たこ焼き Party

Nothing really exciting to report this week. I had a great time at Asakawa, the students and teachers there are always nice to see. I had a meeting on Wednesday at the Board of Education and Emily, Leah, and I all went out for dinner afterwards. I also had dinner with some friends on Friday. At Asakawa, one of the students' fathers and I have a mutual friend. Last year I was invited to their house for 手巻き寿司 (temaki zushi, handrolled sushi). They invited me again ths year and we had たこ焼き (takoyaki, fried octopus). It was really fun to see them again and the food was delicious! They were surprised I knew how to make the takoyaki and were really happy I could eat it! (Sometimes foreigners don't like eating octopus, they said.) We even used the takoyaki pan for dessert and put pancake batter in to make little pancake balls. We covered them in honey, strawberry syrup, and whipped cream. They were so delicious! I had a great time seeing the family again and I hope I can go see them at least once more before I come home!

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I cleaned during the day and met up with Kikumi and Shinki for dinner. We went to the Turkish restaurant and it was Shinki's first time having Turkish food. He really enjoyed it! We went out for a few drinks after at her friends bar. The bar just had a few couches and a ton of instruments set up. It was still early, so we were the only ones there. The owner, Sasaki, and Shinki played the different instruments while Kikumi and I sang. It was so much fun! They want me to preform again before I leave so hopefully at the end of July I'll get to sing again!

Sunday was another relaxing day. I slept in before meeting Leah and Kyoko at Katsuyama Park. There was a fair going on and we looked at all different stalls and what everyone was selling. Leah got some good stuff! We went to get lunch soon after at an okonoiyaki place and it was nice to have some girl time! Juha met up with us after lunch and we headed back to Leah's place. We all hung out until dinner, when Juha and Kyoko had to go home. Leah ended up walking me home and hanging out at my place all night. We hadn't seen each other much the last few weeks and it was nice to spend so much time with her!

This week will be another quiet one. Kyoko planned an 梅酒 (umeshu, plum wine) picnic party for next Sunday, but other than that I'll probably be laying pretty low. I'm excited to be a completely new school this week, everyone seems really nice and it should be a good week!

Weekend in Korea

It's only been a short time since my last post, but I've got a lot to tell you! I had a great two days back at Asakawa before the weekend started. On Friday I went to Marc and Tanya's after school. Juha and Megan came as well and we ordered take out for dinner. We hadn't all gotten together in a while and it was really nice seeing them again. We hung out and played board games for a while (I won!) and had a great night. I meant to go home early to get some rest before my next trip, but I ended up staying later than I meant to because I was having such a good time!

On Saturday I met Megan again to head into Hakata. We went in early to exchange our Yen for Korean Won and then caught a ferry at noon. The ferry was a little under three hours and we quickly landed in Busan, Korea! Our hotel was only a 10 minute walk from the ferry terminal and we found it pretty easily. We'd gotten the hotel because of how cheap it was, but were really happy to find the room was beautiful! We even had a view of the bridge and nearby ocean! Although the room was nice, we were eager to get out and see things. We walked over the bridge to the shopping district. We walked around for a bit and had a late lunch. We really wanted to also go see Avengers: Age of Ultron because it wouldn't come out in Japan until July, so we found a movie theater nearby playing it and went. It was a great movie and afterwards we went to get some coffee and talk about the movie. We were at the coffee shop for about an hour before we started getting hungry for dinner and decided to check out the area around our hotel. I'm really glad we did, because although it had looked a little dead earlier in the day, at night it was completely lit up with small restaurants and bars everywhere! We just wandered the streets for another hour enjoying seeing everything we could. Eventually our hunger got the better of us and we decided to try a small BBQ place. I wish I could tell you the name of the restaurant, but it was all in Korean and I have no idea what it was called! It was small, but one of the servers spoke both English and Japanese, so we could easily communicate. Despite having gone in on a hunch and not knowing anything about it, we ended up with a fantastic meal! The restaurant's specialty was pig skin, so we had that along with some pork for the BBQ. For Korean BBQ you also get lettuce, vegetables, garlic, and sauces to wrap the meat you cook. It was a perfect end to the day! We headed back to our hotel after dinner since it was almost midnight by the time we finished and got a good nights sleep.

We slept in a bit, but were our of the hotel by 10 AM. We found online a 4D version of the movie and decided to see if we could go. We were hoping to go to a 4D version when it came to Japan, but in Korea is was much cheaper! There were just a few seats left, so we grabbed some before heading out to find breakfast. We wanted to also go to Yongdusan Park, so we found a cafe on the way called Whoever Cafe. Breakfast was perfect and we continued to the park afterwards. The park was beautiful and had a lot of famous building and statues. We saw Busan Tower, the Palgakjeong Pavilion, Cheongdongyongtap (bronze dragon statue), the Flower Clock, and the Busan Citizens' Bell Pavilion. It was a really beautiful spot and I'm so happy the weather held out for us to see it all! We stayed at the park for a while, but eventually headed back down toward the shopping district. Megan wanted to buy a shirt, so we did just a little bit of shopping before heading back to the theater for the movie. The 4D was really fun! All the seats moved, air blew around you, and there were even squirts of water all timed and relevant to the movie. I'm glad we'd already watched it once, though, because all the movement could get a bit distracting. It was really, really fun, though! After the movie we headed back to the ferry terminal and got there just in time to catch the ferry back to Hakata. We had dinner a great Mexican restaurant before catching the train back home.

I'm back at Asakawa this week and I'm excited for some quiet. I'm glad to be back at this school for now with no plans but to relax for a bit.

Golden Week in 愛媛

I'm back from my Golden Week vacation! Quickly, last week I had Wednesday off, so I went back to 河内富園 (Kawachi Fuji-en, Kawachi wisteria garden) with Leah and some of her Japanese friends. We had a great time and it was so nice to go back again so soon! We had lunch at a famous champon restaurant and spent the rest of the day at the natural history museum in Yahata. It was a great day off in the middle of the week!

Friday is when my real vacation stated, though! After school I went home, gathered my things, and met Juha, Kyoko, and Caol at Kokura port. We caught an overnight ferry from the port that left close to 10 PM. We stayed outside for the launch and enjoyed watching Kitakyushu's city lights before finally passing under the Kanmon Straights Bridge and leaving the city completely. The boat had a big room full of mats and everyone was assigned a number corresponding to their sleeping mat. The floor was a bit hard, but it was surprisingly comfortable! We slept until about 4 AM the next morning when the lights were turned on to prepare for our arrival. Since we couldn't check into our hotel and nothing was open that early, we stayed on the boat until about 7 AM when we ventured out for breakfast. We caught a train to Matsuyama city, had some coffee, and went to our hostel to drop off our bags. Our hostel, the Sen Guesthouse, was in Dogo, another area of the city, so we had to take a small tram. Arriving in Dogo was amazing! It's a very famous onsen area because it is the setting for a very famous book called 坊っちゃん (Botchan). The titular character Botchan frequents the onsen in Dogo, making it very famous for many Japanese people. There are many references to Botchan around Dogo including a small train that can run on the tram tracks, a clock tower, and a foot bath. After looking around the area a bit, we went to drop off our bags.

We couldn't check into the Sen Guesthouse early, but they took our bags and gave us some ideas of where to go. We started by visiting Dogo park and it was so beautiful we ended up staying there for a few hours. After leaving the park we walked through a few temples. We started at the Isaniwa Shrine. Shikoku (the island we were on) is famous in Japan for the 88 Temple Pilgrimage. It is a 750 mile long trail through 88 temples all associated with the Buddhist Monk Kukai. Because of it's length many people tour the temples via bus, but some people still walk the Pilgrimage. We were not there for the pilgrimage, but we still decided to visit one of the temples. Although the first shrine we visited was not on the pilgrimage, we next visited the Ishite Temple and it was beautiful! We saw people making the pilgrimage dressed in white robes and straw hats with walking sticks. We burned some incense at the temple before moving on. We found some caves in the back of the temple and followed them out back to a third shrine. It looked a little run down like it hadn't been maintained in a few years, but it was still very nice.

We still had some time before our hostel would be ready, so we walked to Matsuyama Castle. We took a chairlift up to where the castle sat on the mountain and explored for a few hours. Some people were dressed in old gate keeping uniforms and it was really fun! After the castle we headed back to the hotel to check in. We got in and our room was amazing! It was one of the best places I've ever stayed. The owners gave us great suggestions for things to do and we decided on heading to the onsen. Dogo onsen was a bit crowded, so we decided to go next door to Tsubaki no Yu, another bath house. It was a great bath and we all decided on dinner after we met back up. We tried some sushi for dinner in the area and headed back to the guesthouse. We brought a few beers and went up to the roof, where the owners had told us about some hammocks and a great view. We relaxed and hung our for a bit enjoying the fresh air and views of the castle before finally heading to bed.

We slept in the next morning and decided what to do for the day. The owners had told us about a boat festival happening in Hojo/Kashima. Kyoko, Juha, and I all decided to go, but Caol hung back to explore the city more. We took a train out to Hojo and a ferry over to Kashima. The whole trip only took about half an hour, it was very close to the city! The island was beautiful and there were many wisteria flowers blooming. The festival started at the Kashima Shrine where people carried big bamboo springs with flags tied all over it. Children also sat on floats that men carried up to the shrine. Eventually, everything was carried down to the water and loaded onto the boats. Three festival boats were launched. The first carried the bamboo, had people drumming, and had children dancing at the front and back. The second two were not decorated, but tied to the first and carried two お神輿 (omikoshi, a divine palanquin used during ceremonies or when moving temples). We got a small boat just for the three of us to follow the festival boats. By this point, it had started raining, but thankfully our small boat had a canvas roof. The driver of our was very nice and got us really close to everything! He even dropped us off near the train station instead of back on Kashima island like he was supposed to. It was a really great festival and we had a lot of fun!

By the time we went back to the hostel it was almost dinner time. We meet back up with Caol for dinner and then went back to the hostel. The owners were showing a moving and we wanted to see it! We watched 思い出のマーニー ( Omoide No Mani, When Marnie Was There), a Ghibli Movie that currently had an exhibit in the Matsuyama museum. The movie was great and it was really nice hanging out with the owners and some other people from our hostel. We were getting up early the next morning, so we decided to head to bed after the movie.

The next day we got up early and headed to Dogo Onsen. It was packed because of the holiday. Although most Japanese people know it from Botchan, Dogo Onsen was also the inspiration for the onsen in Spirited Away. The bath was beautiful and the inside does have a bit of an otherworldly feel to it. After the bath we took the tram into the city center for lunch and to see the museum. The exhibit for the movie we'd seen last night was prominently featured. The exhibit was incredible! The had perfect scale models and even entire rooms you could walk through from the movie. Throughout the exhibit there were projections of the characters that would only play for a few seconds every minute and it really felt like you were in the movie. It was one of the coolest exhibits I've ever seen and I'm so glad we went!

After the museum we went back towards the castle. We didn't go all the way back up, but we walked along the shopping street we'd missed earlier. Everyone was pretty tired so they caught the tram home, but I was still enjoying the nice weather and decided to walk. It took almost an hour at my leisurely pace, but I saw some small shrines and got side-tracked walking through a park. I finished up all my souvenir shopping on the way back and it was almost sunset by the time we got back to the hotel. We sat and talked with the owners for a while before decided to head up to the roof to watch the sunset. A bunch of other people staying in the hotel came too and we all had a great time! We met another guy from our room and after the sun was down headed out to dinner with him. We went back towards the city center and found an amazing Indian restaurant. We walked around for a bit before heading back to the guesthouse. We played cards up on the roof for a bit longer before bed.

Our last day in Ehime we decided to take the train an hour south for another festival. Ikazaki is a very small town, but they have a huge kite festival every year. There were hundreds of kites and even a giant kite that had to be lifted up with a crane! Caol and I helped hold the rope for the giant kite and tried to help it fly. After the giant kite flying, all the smaller kites came out. There is a big kite fight as part of the festival and all the kites had gagari, a cutting tool, attached to their strings. The kites would fly into each other and try to cut each others strings! It was the first time I'd ever seen a kite fight and the festival was really amazing!

By the time we got back to Matsuyama City, it was getting late. We decided to take the bus to one last onsen before we had to leave. The onsen was only ten minutes away, so we had just enough time. This last onsen was also amazing! The baths were outside and they had all different baths, almost like a spa. There was a Jacuzzi, mineral bath, and even private tubs. It was the perfect way to end the trip. We grabbed our bags from the guesthouse when we finished and had dinner near Matsuyama station. We got back to the ferry a little early and found our spots. We again went outside to say goodbye to Ehime, but went to bed pretty soon after we left the dock.

Yesterday was also a day off for me, but I mostly slept and cleaned. I had such an amazing Golden Week, but I needed a bit of a rest! Today and tomorrow I'm back at Asakawa, but Saturday I will take another ferry to Korea. This one is much shorter and will just be a one night trip! I'll let you know how it goes on Monday.

Shimonoseki and Fuji

It was great to be back at Shinozaki all this week! My week days were pretty uneventful, but being back at my old base school has been fantastic. On Friday I went with Leah and Patrick to Caol's house for a dinner party. It was a really fun way to close out the week and we had some delicious food!

On Saturday I took the train to Mojiko to meet Megan. We caught a ferry over to Shimonoseki where we went to the fish market and walked around the wharf. There was a festival going on while we were there and we could see different performances going on. There was even an inflatable puffer fish bouncy house! It was pretty cool to see it all, but after a few hours we decided to head back on the ferry to Mojiko. Before heading back to Kokura, we walked a bit around Mojiko and found a huge market with over 100 tents set up along the waterfront selling pretty much everything. They had hand-made crafts, furniture, food, plants, and even collectibles. We walked around and had a late lunch while looking at everything that was being offered. We didn't really get much, but it was a really fun way to spend an afternoon. We caught a train back to Kokura in the evening and had some bubble tea before each heading home. I ended up going back to to meet Juha, Kyoka, Dan, and Leah for dinner. I hadn't seen Dan in a while, so it was great catching up with him. We met Patrick at karaoke after dinner, but I headed home after that.

I met Fumiko and Dave Sunday morning to go to the Kawachi Fuji Garden. We bought some food for lunch on the way and caught a bus as far as it would take us. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to walk the mile and a half from the bus stop to the gardens rather than take a taxi. I hadn't seen Dave or Fumiko in a while, so it was great catching up with them. We had a great time at the garden even though the wisteria wasn't fully in bloom yet. We had a picnic lunch and stayed in the garden for a few hours before heading back into Kokura. I went back to Fumiko and Dave's apartment with them to play some games and watch movies. Leah eventually joined us and we decided to all have dinner together. Fumiko wanted to use her new takoyaki pan, so we all took turns making takoyaki while snaking on some Kitakyushu senbei. We watched some more movies before Leah and I headed home.

It was a busy weekend, but really fun! I'll go back to the Fuji Garden again on Wednesday with Leah since we have no work due to a national holiday. Golden week is also just around the corner and next Saturday I'll be in Ehime with Juha, Kyoko, and Caol! And then a week from next Saturday I'll be off to Korea with Megan! With all the traveling I'm not sure when my next update will be, but I'll post again as soon as I can!

New School

This will be a pretty short post. I'm happy to have a quiet week at my new school, Tsukida. I had a great time meeting all the teachers and students and am really happy with the placement. I taught a bunch of classes and can't wait to go back! This week I'm back at Shinozaki, but as a visiting ALT instead of as a base school. It's great to be back and see everyone again, although a ton of staff moved around over the holidays. I'm excited for a nice week back with the students and teachers I've gotten to know over the last two years.

Even my weekend was not terribly exciting, although I spent a lot of time with my friends. On Wednesday I went out with Leah and Dave after a work meeting. I went back to my now weekly dinner with Caol on Thursday and karaoke after. On Friday I again went out with Caol and Kazuki just for karaoke. On Saturday I saw Leah, Caol, Megan, and Kazuki for dinner before going to Bob's Bar. Sunday I spent time cleaning my apartment, playing games, and just generally relaxing. It's been really nice to relax after my very exciting beginning of the month and a good was to save money for my Golden Week trips to Ehime and Korea.

Back to Work

This post should be much shorter than last week! I had a great first day of school at Tsukida on Thursday and I'm excited to be working here all this week. After leaving school last week I went to Huis Ten Bosch. It's a beautiful faux-European park with many different areas. There were shows and attractions and everything was incredibly fun! We saw taiko drummers on Thursday and singers and dancers on Friday. I'm really glad we stayed over night because they light up the whole park. There were millions of lights and decorations throughout the park. They even had electric tulips next to the real ones that light up in time to music. It was a great few days!

Friday night we came back to Kokura for a gyoza dinner at Testunabe. Some friends of mine came with us and we had a delicious dinner. Afterwards, Mom came back to my place with my friends and we had some dessert and some drinks.

I spent Saturday mostly packing up my winter clothes and other things I won't need to send back to America with my parents. We met up with my parents for dinner and went to Mojiko to try their famous dish, yakicurry. we also tried a dessert banana and chocolate pizza that was surprisingly good! We walked around Mojiko a little bit and saw Bananaman before heading back to Kokura.

Sunday we sent my packed bags off to Narita in the morning before having breakfast. Mike and I said goodbye to my parents and we headed into Hakata while they headed north to Kyoto. Mike flew out of Fukuoka airport around noon and I headed home to clean and get reorganized. It was so great seeing everyone, but it was also nice to have a quiet afternoon to myself. I got a lot done and will be glad to have a quiet few weeks.

Family Visit!

Sorry in advance, because this is a very long post! I've had a great week with my family! Last week I didn't do much but work at the Board of Education until Wednesday. On Thursday Leah came over to my house for breakfast before we both headed to the airport! We flew up to Tokyo and I could see Mt. Fuji from the plane window! We made it to our hotel pretty quickly and hung out waiting for my parents to arrive. They were scheduled to get in a few hours after us, so we explored a little and found a beautiful cherry tree garden. We walked around before grabbing a snack by the hotel. After a bit of food we decided to go wait in the lobby, but as we walked to the hotel we saw their bus pull in! We all got settled into our rooms before Leah and I showed my parents the garden we'd found near by. By then it was getting late so we decided to get a bit more food and a drink at the top of our hotel at a lounge where we could see a beautiful view of Tokyo. It was a great first night!

The next day we were up early and headed straight for Ueno Park. Ueno Park is one of the most popular parks in Tokyo with almost 9,000 trees. It's especially popular now because of the beautiful cherry trees. The park is also lined with museums and a zoo. We walked around the park for a few hours, stopping at different shrines and 屋台 (yatai, small food carts). We eventually got lunch at a cafe with a table outside to enjoy the weather and sights. We saw many women in kimono's walk by and later found there was a kimono event being held near the museum! In the afternoon we headed over to Asakusa to see the famous shrine there. We again walked around for a while before eventually returning back to the hotel after a short coffee break. We rested a bit at the hotel and waited for Mike to arrive. My parents were a bit tired, so they turned in early and Mike, Leah, and I all went for a quick dinner. Mike went to bed after dinner, but Leah and I stayed out a bit later to enjoy Shibuya!

Saturday was Mike's first full day in Tokyo, so we decided to have a nerdy day! We started by going to the new MegaTokyo Pokemon Center and exploring around the Ikebukuro area. After exploring for a bit we got back on the train and went to Akihabara. We again walked around, played some UFO games, and window shopped. We'd gotten a late start and between over an hour of train time and our slow walking it was almost dinner time. We had reservations for a show in Shinjuku at 6, but decided to quickly run into the Gundam Cafe in Akihabara before jumping back on the train. We had to wait for a few minutes for a table, but it was really worth it! The drinks were all named after different characters and my coffee had a Gundam drawn on top with chocolate powder! The entire cafe was decorated to look like a Psychoframe Gundam (very glow-y) and the staff was dressed in Gundam federation uniforms. The walls were decorated with lots of Gundam paraphernalia and even the food was shaped to look like different Gundams. We had a soup dish that looked like a robot named Haro. After leaving the cafe with a few souvenirs, we headed over to Shinjuku for a show at a place called Robot Restaurant. Despite being called a restaurant, we decided not to eat there. The show was fantastic and we both really enjoyed it! We went to Shibuya afterwards to meet my parents so we could all go out to dinner. We got there a bit early and explored the area around the famous cross walk. We meet my parents and went to a great dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Sunday was a bit rainy. We went to Harajuku to walk around, but it was difficult with all the umbrellas. We found a few nice shops and had a great gyoza breakfast before giving up and trying to find something inside. We took the train to Ebisu and found a museum there for Yebisu beer. It was free and pretty interesting, not to mention indoors. By the time we were ready to go, we had to hurry back to the hotel. We quickly had lunch before grabbing out bags and heading to the train station. We took a shinkansen and then another train to Takayama. It took a while and we didn't get to our hotel until about 8:30. Mike and I stayed in a traditional ryokan with tatami floors where you sleep on a futon. Takayama is a very small city, but we managed to find a restaurant that was still open. We had a great dinner before turning in for the night.

We were up early the next morning to take advantage of the onsen our ryokan provided. We were meeting my parents at 7:15, but the bath opened at 6:30. Because it was so early, no one else was in either bath, so both Mike and I had our onsen to ourselves. It was a great way to wake up and Mike really enjoyed the traditional room! We left our hotel to meet my parents and we had just enough time to store our luggage and get train tickets for later that day before our tour bus came to pick us up! We went with an English speaking guide to Shirakawago, a UNESCO world heritage site. The bus ride was about 50 minutes, but the guide was very funny and kept us entertained the entire way. First we went to the observation site overlooking the village before heading down into the village. Shirakawago is famous for it's gassho style houses, houses with very slanted, thatched roofs. We had an hour and a half in the village which was the perfect amount of time. It was raining again, but we were able to go into one of the houses and explore the inside. We also found a small museum about their yearly sake festival and was able to try some of the Shirakawago specialty sake. We had just enough time to grab a few souvenirs before getting back on the bus and heading back to Takayama. We had lunch in Takayama before heading back to the train. Again we took a local train to the shinkansen and went all the way down to Kobe! We found our hotel easily and went to Harborland for dinner. We went to a great Brazilian restaurant that overlooked the water, Kobe Tower, and the Kawasaki museum. It was raining again, so we couldn't sit outside, but we had a seat right next to the window! We went back to the hotel afterwards and Mike and I found a great little bar across the street for one more drink before heading to bed.

On Tuesday we slept in a bit later than we had been before. We still made it to breakfast a few stops away from our hotel by 11 AM. Breakfast was delicious and right next to our next destination! After breakfast we walked only a minute or two before getting on the ropeway for the Nunobiki Herb Gardens. I went to this garden before with Leah and I was so excited to go back! The ride up to the top of the mountain is stunning, even with the foggy weather. The gardens and huge and beautiful and seeing all the spring flowers instead of the October ones was great! We spent more than a few hours up there walking around the gardens, eating herb burgers, and drinking tea. This is probably one of my favorite spots in Japan and I was so excited to go back! By the time we got back down the mountain it was pretty close to dinner time, so we went back to the hotel for a little rest. There was a miscommunication with the restaurant we were supposed to eat at, but we found another restaurant close by. The first restaurant is very showy and geared towards tourists, which is fun, but was much more expensive then where we ended up. We all tried Kobe beef at the new restaurant and it was amazing! There was no real show to it, but the kitchen was completely open so we could see them cooking everything. The food came out on a sizzling hot plate and along with the steak was a little spinach, a few fries, and a bed of garlic and onions. I'm really glad the first restaurant didn't work out, I'd been there before last time I was in Kobe and the food we had was even better! We had a little ice cream for dessert and my parents headed back to the hotel. Mike and I, continuing our Gundam trend, found a Char themed bar. Char is a character from the Gundam series and the bar was really fun! It had paraphernalia everywhere and the waitress and owner both dressed as Char. They were really nice and even let us watch a new Gundam movie that had just come out the week before. They put on English subtitles and we got to watch it long before it will come to America! It was a great night!

We left the hotel on Wednesday and walked through a shrine near our hotel. We leisurely made our way to the city office building. There is an observatory at the top, so we had great views of the city! We found a cafe up there for breakfast and sat facing out over the city. Mike and I went to Kobe's Chinatown next. The Chinatown in Kobe is very famous and I wanted to go last time, but it was too crowded. This time there were much less people and we could see everything! We tried some pork buns that were incredibly delicious and walked around seeing all the statues and buildings. Eventually we went back to the hotel to meet my parents before heading to the train station. We got back on the shinkansen to make our way down to Kokura. Thankfully this trip was only two hours. We made it back to Kokura by mid-afternoon and my parents got settled into the hotel while Mike and I went to my apartment. We meet back up for dinner. We went to a yakiniku restaurant Caol and I often go to. We went with Caol and Leah and it was delicious! The owner even made special chicken wings for all of us free of charge because Mom said she liked the chicken. After dinner we went to karaoke for my parents first Japanese karaoke experience and we had a blast!

Now I'm at school for the first year students' entrance ceremony. I'll be leaving soon to meet up with Mike and head to Nagasaki. My parents left this morning, so we'll me them there. We'll meet at Huis Ten Bosch, a giant park made to look like parts of Europe. The gardens are supposed to be amazing and I can't wait to get there!

花見

This has been a great week! I started off at Ishimine for the closing ceremony to end the school year. I had a lot of problems at Ishimine at the beginning of the year, but I couldn't have been happier there by the time I left! On Tuesday the chorus club surprised me by calling me outside after the ceremony and sang a song to me in English before presenting me with a message card they'd all made. I told them about how much they'd helped me adjust to the school and be happy there. I don't think many of them understood, but some tears were shed by many of us.

Wednesday, even though school was technically over, I went back to Ishimine for a farewell party with the chorus club. We brought hot plates into the chorus room and made yakisoba (fried noddles) and pancakes. We had all different kinds of fruit, sweet red beans, chocolates, and even whipped cream the students had whipped by hand. We all had a great time and listening to the students sing together for the last time before the graduating students move on to high school was pretty emotional. I was so happy to end this school year on such a high note.

Thursday and Friday I visited my two new base schools to meet the teachers and school staff. Although one of the principals will retire before next year, I really liked all the teachers and staff and am excited to get to work with them!

Friday night the cherry blossoms finally started to bloom! I met Patrick and Juha at Kokura castle to enjoy the flowers. Patrick had to leave, so I ended up meeting Dave across the river to have dinner outside and enjoying the warm weather and flowers. I hadn't seen Dave in a while, so it was really nice catching up. We spent a few hours just walking around before we both headed home.

Caol's birthday was on Tuesday, but we celebrated on Saturday with an all day flower party. We met at the castle for lunch and stayed there all afternoon. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and just relax in the sun. I went back to the castle on Sunday. Juha and Kyoko brought badminton rackets and we played a little bit. We also saw the group next to us had a big jump rope and they invited us to jump with them. It was kind of silly, but a lot of fun! We went out for dinner after staying at the castle again all afternoon. Dinner ran a bit late, so I went home right after.

This week I'll be working at the Board of Education. It's not as much fun as being at school, but I'll be next to the park and can sit under the sakura trees during lunch and many of my coworkers are there and it's always nice to see them. On Thursday, Leah and I will fly up to Tokyo where I'll meet my parents and Mike and travel all around Japan with them! I'm not sure when my next post will be as we'll be very busy traveling, but whenever it come the next post will be very action packed!

No 花 to 見

The weather is getting nicer as we move towards summer and school is winding down. Last week was mostly games in class or finishing the last page or two of the textbook. On Wednesday I met the English teachers from Shinozaki for a farewell party for one of the teachers. Either this week or next week she is moving up north of Tokyo to be with her husband. She hasn't gotten her plane ticket yet, but work officially ends this Wednesday and she'll be leaving soon. We had a small party for the English teachers to say goodbye to her. We went to a small restaurant that the teacher had always wanted to try. It was really good, but had some strange food like chicken sashimi. It was only my second time eating it and although I'd never eat raw chicken back home, it was delicious! It was really to see all the teacher again, especially since I won't be going to Shinozaki anymore.

I saw Caol and Leah for yakiniku on Thursday and saw Lisa on Friday for dinner at the Spanish restaurant. After dinner on Friday we headed over to Orange Door. I promised Kikumi I would tend bar for her that night and it was great fun! Juha also came out to join us and we played games and sang karaoke until pretty late.

I cleaned on Saturday morning and Megan came over around noon. We worked together to cook some food and headed out to Kokura Castle for a picnic with some other JETs. We met Leah on the way over and there were probably ten people already there to meet us. It was supposed to be a flower-viewing party, but the flowers were still only buds. I'll go again next week and hopefully the flowers will be blooming then! After our picnic, many of us went to karaoke and then out for a late dinner. Some people continued to go out after dinner, but I was pretty tired from the night before, so I just headed home.

On Sunday, Megan and I met Caol for lunch before doing some shopping. I didn't need anything, but I helped Caol and Megan find things they needed. We ran into our friends Kazuki and Leah throughout the day and walked back and forth between Riverwalk, Uomachi, and Cha Cha Town. They finished shopping around 5 PM, so we all went our separate ways. I went home and made dinner before heading back out and meeting Patrick. I hadn't seen Patrick since we went to Okinawa together, but the weather was so nice this weekend we decided to go out and take a walk. It was really nice to see him and talk to him and it was a great end to the week.

This week I'll finish school and start going to work at the Board of Education. Closing ceremony is on Tuesday, although I'll still come to Ishimine on Wednesday for a goodbye party with the chorus club. Thursday I'll also be traveling to both Tsukida and Matsugae, my new base schools for the next school year. Work will be a bit busier, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful all week and with the busier schedule means more time outside, so I'm excited!

Graduation

Hello! Sorry this post is a day late! I had a pretty busy week. Between being at three different schools since my last update, graduation was also last week! I went back to Shinozaki for the ceremony and it was so nice seeing all the students graduate. Graduation was on Thursday and we had an enkai on Friday to celebrate. We went to the same place we'd gone for our New Year party and it was just as good as last time! The party was a litter bittersweet not only because of graduation, but because or principal is retiring and the English teacher I'm closest with is moving north of Tokyo in a few weeks. We all went to karaoke after dinner before going home and I had a blast, but I'll really miss all of them now that the school year is almost over and I won't be going back.

On Saturday I went over to Leah's new apartment. On Friday she moved to 金田 (Kaneda), which is much closer to Kokura than she'd previously been. This also means she's much closer to me! We got lunch together to celebrate and went shopping for the last few things she needed for the new place. We carried them to her apartment on my bike and I helped her put everything together while she unpacked. We took a break in the afternoon to meet Juha and Kyoko at the park for a little picnic since the weather is getting really nice here. They come over to Leah's new place for dinner afterwards and Leah and I went out to meet some other friends after dinner. Unfortunately, Leah lost her phone during the night and ended up staying with me.

The next morning I made breakfast for the two of us while we tried to find her phone. Leah doesn't have internet at her new apartment yet, so we used my computer to track her phone and put a message on it saying that if anyone finds the phone to please call my number. We had set out to look for it when a call came! Someone nearby had found the phone and were able to meet us in the park to return it. We found them quickly and were very thankful to have the phone back! We also found that there was a flee market going on in the park, so we stayed and walked around for a bit. Leah bought a few things, but I didn't find much I liked. I did find a nice bento box for picnics that I can use now that the weather is nicer and decided to get it! We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the weather before going back to her place. I helped her finish her unpacking and finding a place for everything and by the time we finished it was dinner. We went to the store for groceries and made dinner. I went home soon after and headed to bed.

This is the last full week of school in Japan, our closing ceremony is next Tuesday. I'm at Midorigaoka and Ishimine this week and will finish next week at Ishimine. I'm also going out tomorrow night for a special English teacher enkai with the English teacher moving away and meeting Caol for our now weekly dinner on Thursday. I also finalized another trip and will be heading to Korea in May. I'm getting really excited for spring break, the weather is becoming beautiful and the cherry trees are almost budding!