Sept. 22nd

Wow. Is it really the 22nd already? I've been back in America for almost a month now? Weird. The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. Braden and I have been living out of our suitcases for about a month as we've traveled around Japan visiting friends and then traveled around Washington and Idaho visiting family, and now we're finally back in Ellensburg. I finished unpacking the suitcases yesterday (Its so nice to have a closet and a dresser again), but we still have a lot of things still packed up in boxes and tubs (Mostly decor at this point. All the useful stuff is unpacked now). Seeing our families again was great. I got to see my grandparents, some aunts, uncles, and cousins I haven't seen for a long time, and I got to see all my wonderful siblings, my awesome parents and in-laws, and the adorable dogs and cats back home :). Unfortunately I caught a bad cold as soon as we got to Idaho, and Braden suffered from some severe jaw pain (he needs a root canal soon 0_o), but I enjoyed being around my family and miss them again already. I miss my friends back in Japan too. We had lots of fun and lots of great experiences, and I'm sure that someday we'll go back :). The trip home went pretty well. There was a big selection of movies to watch on the plane, so the ten hour trip went by pretty quickly. We arrived in LA and had to go through some very long lines and then hurry to catch our next flight to Seattle. I lost some luggage at the LA airport (the second time I've lost luggage in that airport...) but it was delivered to Braden's parents' house the next day. We arrived in Seattle and Braden's parents were there to meet us and help us with our luggage (well, except for the suitcase that was missing). Boy was I glad to put those suitcases in the car. The worst part about our travels was dragging those heavy suitcases around, especially getting them on and off the trains in Japan. But now they are unpacked and I don't have to worry about them anymore for a while. Well, now I guess I'll write about a few of my first impressions about being back. As soon as we got to Seattle I had to unpack my sweaters because I was suddenly cold! (It was still very warm in Japan when we left.) Soon after getting back to Idaho I had to start putting lotion on my hands every day because they were getting so cracked and dry. My hands were really pampered in the humid air of Japan. The first day back I kept bowing and saying "gomen" (Japanese for sorry) when I bumped into people at the airport. The food in the stores all looks so big (I can buy gallons of milk instead of just liters again, yay!), but I miss being able to buy cheap natto for Braden and flavor packets for Hayashi Rice. I guess that means we need to take a trip to the asian market Uwajimaya in Seattle soon. Now we're back in Ellensburg getting back into the swing of things. I guess since this blog is supposed to be about our adventures in Japan, there's not much left for me to write about here. I want to print it all in a book and keep it as a scrapbook of sorts of all our time in Japan. Thank you all who've been reading, I hope you enjoyed it. And now I have a diary of our life in Japan to look back on.

I love Japan :).

Sept. 1st

Sorry for the delay in writing everyone. The last few weeks have been very busy with packing, moving, sightseeing, visiting friends, traveling, etc. I have lots of new pictures that I want to post on here and on facebook, and maybe I`ll put a few on here today, but the rest will have to wait until we get home and I have time to get files off the computer. For now, I`ll write a little bit about what we`ve been up to the last couple of weeks. During out last couple of weeks in Matsue we went on a few hikes in the area and visited some famous places. I visited a pretty shrine on a mountain overlooking Matsue with my Japanese teachers, then with Braden and Ed and our Japanese teachers we went on a hike in Oku Izumo and visited some tatara (Japanese iron forge) and katana making museums. The next day we met up with some friends and hiked up to a cool Buddhist temple called Nageiredo, built into the side of a cliff on a mountain. The hike was extremely steep and we spent most of the time climbing up rocks and tree roots, and near the top we got to ring a big temple bell. We moved out of our apartment on the 19th and stayed with our friend Ed in Izumo for the weekend. We visited Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine one last time, and we got the once in a life time opportunity to go inside the gate of the main temple and see the new roof. Every sixty years the bark roof has to be replaced with new bark, and during that time the inner temple area is open to tours to the public (Normally only the Shinto Priests are allowed inside the inner gate). On Monday we went back to Matsue to pick up our luggage (which we left with some friends) and then we went to the station to catch our bus. Some of the ward members and our friend Chieko came to bid us farewell. We were sad to leave our friends, but we were looking forward to visiting our friends in Kyoto and Tokyo. While in Kyoto we stayed at our friend Hiroko`s house. We visited two famous temples in Kyoto, Kiyomizudera and Kinkakuji. Braden finished his summer vacation homework (Yes, they have that in Japan :P), we hiked up to a pretty waterfall with Hiroko and her daughter Anju, and then we did Karaoke with Hiroko and her daughters on Saturday. We sang lots of Ghibli songs, it was awesome :D. On Sunday night we took a night bus to Tokyo. The ride was long and the seats weren`t that comfy, but we got to Tokyo in one piece. I was really worried that the trains would be super crowded since it was a Monday morning, but luckily for us, all the salary men were taking trains towards the center of Tokyo, and we took a train going out of Tokyo, so it wasn`t crowded at all. All that worry for nothing, haha :P. So we took a train to Chiba Ken and arrived at the house of Braden`s former missionary companion, Brother Watanabe, and his wife and two little daughters. On Tuesday Braden and I spent the day in Akihabara Electric Town (As the signs call it). It was really interesting, and there were computer stores, hobby shops, and arcades everywhere. We bought a few souvenirs (and I had to do some clever packing to get everything to fit in our already full suitcases 0_o), and then in the evening we met up with our friend Taisuke, who had done stayed with Braden`s family while going to college while Braden was in high school. He treated us to a great dinner of shabu shabu and then dessert at Denny`s (Japanese Denny`s is really different from the American version. It was all Japanese food. But they did have yummy cheesecake!). It was great to spend some time with Taisuke, he was super nice. The next day Braden and I went to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. It`s in a park surrounded by trees full of cicadas and the museum itself is in a big old fashioned style house with lots of rooms full of drawings, storyboards, demos about animation, a theater for watching short animated films, and lots of just interesting, random things to look at. After seeing all of the museum we took the train home. My feet were so sore from walking around and standing on trains for the last few days, I was so relieved to finally get back to Chiba Ken. That night we went with the Watanabes to the church English conversation class taught by the local missionaries. Their church building is the biggest LDS church I have ever seen! It was five stories tall (the first floor was a parking area). And the fifth floor apparently has a large gym in it. It was way bigger than our church in Matsue, which was two stories tall, but still fairly small. This morning was spent with last minute packing, trying to keep everything under 23 kilos, which was no easy task, but I think I got it ;). Well sorry this post has been so long. I`ll try to get some more pics up soon. Its hard to believe we`ll be back in the US tomorrow (But we`ll be crossing the international dateline, so even though we`re leaving on the 1st at 7pm, we`ll be arriving in Seattle on the 1st at 6:30pm. So we`re going to travel back in time XD. See you all soon!

Aug. 7th

Yeah for summer festivals! This weekend Braden and I got to enjoy Suigousai, a big summer festival in Matsue! It was two days long, Saturday and Sunday, and both days there were fireworks, vendors selling lots of Japanese festival food, lots of people wearing yukatas (a light summer kimono) and lots of noise and fun. On Saturday evening Braden and I rode our bikes down to lake Shinji, where the festivities were being held, and then I put on my yukata by myself in the bathroom in the park, which was no easy task, let me tell you, but I did it! Yukatas can be a little difficult to put on, but I practiced a lot with the friend from church who gave it to me, so I was up to the challenge :). Men's yukatas are a bit easier to put on, and Braden put his on in the park. We had a little trouble with the belt, but got it tied eventually. Then we watched the Saturday fireworks, 3,000 shots total, or so we were told. Then afterwards we went and strolled through all the stalls and bought some ice cream, fried chicken, a candied pineapple on a stick, and some takoyaki (Octopus and batter fried into little balls). Walking by all the vendors and through all the crowds eating unhealthy festival food reminded me of the Eastern Idaho State Fair and their delicious tiger ears and freshly dipped corn dogs. Yum. Japanese festival food is good too, though its a little different. Lots more squid and octopus around XD. So then we watched a half hour fireworks show and oohed and awed all the big ones, then when it was over we took off our yukatas (we wore our regular clothes underneath) and rode our bikes home. The next day we had a great day at church, I got to speak a lot of Japanese with the sisters, then we rode our bikes home in the scorching heat, and got ready for another round of festivities! Sunday evening is really the main event of the weekend, and that's when most of the city goes to see the fireworks, cause they shoot off a lot more that day, about 6,000 shots! Its longer too, one hour instead of half an hour. Shortly after getting home from church, our friend Ed and Sister Hori came by, along with the elders from Izumo, who planned to join up with the elders from Matsue and pass out some flyers to the myriads of people who were going to be gathered at the lake. Sister Hori and I made a big dinner for everyone, and the Izumo elders pitched in with some fried rice that they had prepared earlier. We all ate, then got dressed in our yukatas (except for the elders of course, and Sister Hori, cause she accidently forgot hers at home), then we walked all the way to the lake, which was quite a ways actually 0_o. It was like a forty minute walk XD. Ed had his car but we were afraid we wouldn't find any parking so we decided to walk instead. It took us a while, but we talked a lot and the time went by quickly. It was cool to see how the amount of people walking around increased as we got closer to the lake, and by the time we reached the bridge, thousands of people could be seen walking around. Lots of people were wearing yukatas, but lots of people were in regular clothes too. It was split maybe 50/50. Once we reached the lake we crossed the bridge and found a nice little spot behind the art museum to watch the fireworks from. The grassy spots were already completely claimed by people, but we found a little patch of dirt that wasn't claimed, haha. We had a mat to sit on though, so it was okay. The fireworks were awesome! A lot of them were ones I've seen before on the Fourth of July, but they had a lot of really big ones that filled the horizon, and some that made cool shapes, like slices of watermelon, faces, and even pokeballs! The finale was big and shiny and really cool. I love fireworks, they're big, sparkly exploding works of art. What's not to like?! After the fireworks ended we joined the masses as they got up, gathered their things, and started walking home. I'm glad we didn't go by car, cause of course the traffic was terrible. Soon after the fireworks ended we met up with our friend Kim and the new ALT (Assistant language teacher with the Jet Program), Sara, who had been watching from the other side. Then we all made the long trek home. It was pretty tiring, but we made it. Ed then drove everyone home, and Braden and I went right to sleep. It wasn't too late, only about 11, but poor Braden had to get up really early for work the today and then rush right afterwards to class to take a Chinese final, which he said he did really well on :). Well, I know this entry is probably pretty long, so I'll end it for now. I'll have more to share with you all soon, so stay posted!

Aug. 4th

Wow, only three more weeks left in Matsue! Yesterday was Braden`s birthday so I made him a lovely tonkatsu dinner (breaded and fried pork with katsu sauce) and then we ate cake and ice cream :). It was a pretty quiet party, just the two of us, but it was fun :). We also went and bought Braden a yukata for this weekend`s summer festival. We got it at a second hand store so it was really inexpensive, but it was is really good shape too :). I got a yukata as a gift from a friend, so now we`re all ready to go! I`ll be sure to post lots of pics on facebook this weekend of the festivities.

In other news, the computer at the International Students House has been acting up lately, so I may not by making any free skype phone calls home anytime soon. I haven`t had the best of luck fixing computers lately, and its especially hard when the operating system is in Japanese >:( and the computer is fairly old too... Anywho, its been nice to use these last ten months, ever since my own computer broke, so I am grateful, despite its latest difficulties. They really ought to replace the thing though, for future students who, like me, don`t have laptops...

Well, come back next week for some more pics. Till then!

July 26th

Braden and I are trying to make the most of our last few weeks in Japan, so it looks like I'll actually have interesting stuff to write about ;). Last weekend we went with our friends Ed and Hori San to the beach of the Japan Sea and had a great time swimming and playing in the sand. The temperature of the water was great, just like a swimming pool, but it tasted terrible! I really haven't swam much in the ocean before, and so didn't realize just how incredibly salty it would taste :X. But despite its bad taste, it was still lots of fun, and afterwards we all went to a hot spring to clean up and have a nice relaxing soak. We spent the evening playing video games with Ed and then went home. The next morning both Braden and I woke up very sunburned and sore from swimming, but it was worth it :). Let's see, what else have we been up to? We went to a birthday party last night for our friend Shuhei, who turned 20. Birthday parties occur pretty often at the International Students House, and they're always fun times. Just everyone relaxing, eating some snacks, drinking (there's always juice available in addition to sake and beer, since not everyone who lives there drinks), and chatting about anything and everything. These days I also spend a lot of time studying Japanese, surfing the internet, and riding my bike. I used to watch TV, but just this weekend Japan ended its analog broadcasting system and switched everything to digital, and since Braden and I are leaving soon we didn't bother to buy a digital converter. I kinda miss having the TV though. I usually had it on while I studied for some background noise, and I always watched the kids shows that came on in the evenings while I made dinner. It was a great way to practice my Japanese, and I could practice kanji too, since most Japanese talk shows show captions on the screen with kanji. Oh well, bye bye Japanese TV :P.

On other news, Braden and I had a nice anniversary dinner at a yummy Indian restaurant in Matsue called Spice Kingdom. They always serve really big, really delicious naan (Indian bread). I had a hard time finishing it all, I got so full :X. After dinner I had an English lesson and then we went to our friend's birthday party.

I almost forgot to mention an interesting thing we got to see on Sunday evening. There was a matsuri (festival) that day, and a bunch of people gathered in downtown Matsue to watch a portable shrine called a Mikoshi being carried from Matsue Castle to a shrine on the other side of the river. There were two shrines, one carried by women, and the other carried by men. Both groups carried the shrines along streets lined with vendors selling lots of delicious looking junk food and cool toys, and every once in a while they would stop and shake the shrines so that the bells on them would ring. When they finally reached the plaza near the shrine everyone cheered and then they followed it up with a dance performance. Now, you'd think they'd follow it up with some sort of traditional Japanese dance, but actually it was followed by a dance school that specialized in hip hop XD. I was a little surprised, and it was funny to cross the street to the shrine and suddenly hear the traditional flutes and drums of the Shinto Priests. It was quite the contrast, hehe. Well that's all the interesting news for now, but hopefully I'll have some more soon! Till then!

July 17th

So far it's been a pretty hot, but fun, July. I'm still trying to get used to this muggy heat. It's especially annoying at night when I'm trying to sleep. Every day in the middle of the night I wake up hot and sweaty so I turn on the air conditioner, but after a little while I actually start to feel too cold so I have to turn it off. Then about an hour later I wake up hot and sweaty again and turn the air conditioner on again. Its a vicious cycle :P. Aside from the heat the weather has been pretty nice, and Braden and I have enjoyed getting some sun now that the rainy season is over.

For my birthday we went on a little boat ride through the moats around Matsue Castle. It was a lot of fun, and it was just the two of us and our guide who steered the boat. We saw swans, ducks, a turtle, a heron (or something like that) and lots of fish jumped out of the water to eat the bugs sitting on the surface. And there were lots and lots of dragonflies. We got to go on another boat ride this weekend with our friend Chieko when she invited us to go on a boat tour to some caves along the coast of the Japan Sea. Both caves have legends associated with them. The first cave, called Kyu-kukedo, is said to be the home of the souls of dead children. It is said that the children build little piles of stones in memory of their families. Then, every night, oni (Japanese demons) come to knock the stone piles down. Then Jizo (a Japanese diety who is the traditional guardian of children) comes and chases the oni away. At Kyu-kukedo we were able to get off the boat and look in the cave. Inside the cave were many little piles of stone, and a lot of stone statues of Jizo. Parents of deceased children often go there to leave offerings of toys and food to the Jizo statues. The next cave, Shin-kukedo, was filled with water and big enough for the boat to go through. Inside was a torii gate and lots of water dripped from the ceiling (the boat was covered so we didn't get wet). That cave is said to be the birthplace of a Japanese diety named Sada-no-okami. It is said that while his mother, Kisaka-Hime-no-mikoto, lived in the cave, she got tired of the darkness, and so shot a golden arrow through the east wall, creating the east entrance, and piercing the rock to the east of the cave (which also has a prominent hole in it). After going through the cave and exiting through the hole said to be created by Kisaka Hime, we passed a small light house said to be near the birthplace of the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu. After circling the light house we returned to the harbor. The ride was about an hour long, and really interesting. We got to learn alot about Japanese mythology.

I also got to practice a lot of Japanese this weekend. Today in church I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting, and I gave a lesson in Relief Society, all in Japanese :). The ward members told me I did well, but I know I still have a lot of Japanese to learn :P. By the time I get really comfortable with my Japanese we'll be leaving :P. I'll just have to keep up my Japanese studies in America!

July 9th

Just a random update on our summer activities so far. Today Braden and I had fun making paper lanterns at an activity at the Matsue Community Center, then we rode our bikes around Matsue for a while looking at various hobby shops. Japanese hobby shops are lots of fun to just look at, even if I can't afford to buy anything :P. They always have lots of model gundams, dolls, manga, toys, games, etc. We even saw someone dressed up as a maid in one of the stores we visited today.

It's been really hot today, but thankfully all the stores in Matsue have air conditioning. I guess if they didn't they wouldn't get very many customers in the summer time. The humidity hasn't been as bad this week though, which is nice. When it's really humid it just feels hot all day and all night, shade or no shade. But when the humidity is normal it cools off at night and makes it easier to sleep. (I have such a hard time sleeping when its all muggy :P). The rainy season has officially ended, or so I hear. The rain can be annoying sometimes, but I'm kind of sad to see it go because now it's supposed to get hotter :X. I need to develop Braden's good habit of drinking several bottles worth of water a day so I don't get dehydrated.

For Independence Day Braden and I went to Izumo and had a barbecue with some American friends and even played with some small fireworks. It was a lot of fun, even though I felt sick the next day (must've eaten an undercooked bratwurst or something...). The weekend or so before that we went to a concert in Yonago with an alumni of CWU who happens to be living in Matsue, and that was really fun. Afterwards he treated us to sushi. It was awesome XD. We've both been keeping pretty busy lately. I had more English lessons than usual last month and Braden has his classes and part time job too, but we still have time to hang out with friends. We like to go to Izumo and play video games with out friend Ed, go to free student concerts at the University with our friend Shuhei (who also took us to see fireflies one nice summer evening), and go to hot springs with our friend Chieko. Chieko took us to one this last friday that was pretty cool. It was on the 9th floor of a building and had a big curved window with a really nice view of Lake Shinji. It was funny though, cause the window wasn't a one-way window or anything like that, so if you stood up and walked by the window anyone walking on the sidewalk by the lake would be able to see you XD. Japanese people aren't so shy about that sort of thing though, so I doubt anyone complains, and it's easy enough to just avoid the window if you're worried about it. But still, I thought it was interesting, since I nothing like that would be allowed in the states. Someone would get sued XP. Well, that's all that's been going on lately. I will definitely be able to post some interesting things once the summer festivals start. I'm very excited to experience my first Japanese summer festival :D.

June 25th

A couple of nice ladies from church invited me to go with them to their friend's kimono shop and try on a formal Japanese kimono. The owner and her daughter helped me get it on. Alot of Japanese people don't know how to put on a formal kimono, but kimono shops and often beauty parlors have professionals who can help you put one on. The shop is owned by a family, and the father designed the kimono I wore. Apparently I was the first person to try on this kimono :). This style of formal kimono is called a "furisode." Furisode kimonos have long sleeves and are typically worn by single women on special occasions, like their coming of age ceremony when they turn twenty. Married women usually where a different style of kimono with shorter sleeves. I got to wear the long sleeved one even though I'm married ;). It was lots of fun and the shop owners were really nice. They had lots of really pretty kimonos on display. The kimono shop was upstairs, and downstairs they ran a really nice little gift shop. I really wish I could afford a formal kimono, but they are very expensive (people often rent one instead of buying one for special occasions). I do hope to wear a yukata (a light, informal summer kimono) for the summer festival :).

May 30th

I oughta be ashamed, only two posts this month!! I'm getting lazy :P. Braden and I had a really fun weekend (Despite it raining cats and dogs both Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday our friend Ed came over from Izumo and together we visited Matsue Castle. Braden and I had walked around the castle grounds before, but this was our first time inside the castle itself. It was pretty cool. On the ground floor we took our shoes off, presented our tickets, then proceeded to the first exhibit. The first room had an old well in it, and some large decorations that used to be outside the castle. The bottom of the well was filled with coins, so we also dropped in a coin and wished for good luck. On the next floor they had lots of old armor and weapons on display. The helmets were the coolest, some of them were so elaborate. The next floor had a lot of old artwork depicting the history of the castle and some more antiques. The next had photos and facts about various castles in Japan. I think the next floor was mostly empty, and the top floor was a lookout area with openings on all four sides, and we could see all of Matsue. All in all, it was very neat. Although the castle has been renovated to be safe for visitors, it still retains much of its old self, and it is one of only 12 original castles remaining in Japan. Our tour guide was very nice. She did the explanations in English, and halfway through the tour our friend Chieko (who also works as a castle tour guide) caught up with us and explained some of the paintings to us. After visiting the castle we went with some other foreign exchange students to an event featuring traditional Japanese performing arts (the school got some free tickets to it which they offered to the foreign exchange students :D). At the event we saw a couple of fan dances, a taiko drum performance, a short Noh play about the Shinto Diety Susanoo who slayed a dragon and saved a princess, a short but fun sword fight between ancient samurai, some princesses singing J-pop, a march of Sumo wrestlers (well, they were dressed like sumos, but they weren't really big like sumos), a song and dance about fishermen, and another traditional Japanese dance featuring a dancer in a mask and a cool kimono. The event was pretty long, and some of the performances were more entertaining than others, but it was all in all a pretty cool experience. After the event we went and had some dinner with Ed then finished off the day by watching anime (also culturally significant! lol). On Sunday we rode our bikes through the wind and rain to get to church. Then after church we rode through more wind and rain to get to a High School band concert that we'd been invited to by one of the students of our English conversation class at the church. The concert was excellent. They played two marches, a song by Ravel, and the hymn "Come Ye Children of the Lord" in the first half, and Whistle While You Work, the theme of the anime Gegege no Kitaro, the James Bond theme, and a couple more I don't know the names of, in the second half. It really was the best high school band performance I've ever heard. Course, they are Japanese high school students, probably the hardest working students on earth! Our friend in the band said that they practiced long hours everyday. And it really showed! Well, I guess this post is long enough for now. I'll try to post more in June ;).

May 5th

Osaka is an awesome place to shop. Seriously, there are huge malls all over the place! So first I guess I should mention why we were in Osaka. Our friends Kim and Ed decided to make a trip to the Costco in Kobe, and there were some shops in Osaka that Kim wanted to visit, like the Snoopy shop and a shop called Johnny's, so we went to Osaka first. We found Johnny's without too much trouble, but the Snoopy shop was a pain to track down. We explored three different malls, and in the third one we asked a security guard if he knew where the shop was, and he said yes, he did know, and so he kindly led us through several city blocks worth of underground shops and restaurants, and then voila, we were there! But man, did it take us a while! It was worth it though, it was a neat little shop. I got a couple of pins for my purse and Kim bought a cute snoopy bag, Ed got a cool tie, and we just perused the shop and admired the cute merchandise. Before going shopping though, we went to the Outback Steakhouse in downtown Osaka. It was DELICIOUS! I don't think I've ever actually been to an Outback Steakhouse, and after eating Japanese food for so long, it was super tasty. Japanese food is super tasty too, but sometimes I crave western food. Like steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Yum. So after dinner and shopping we went to our hotel. A capsule hotel! For those who don't know, a capsule hotel is a special kind of hotel, where you rent a "capsule" instead of a room. The capsules were really cheap, only about 30 dollars a night (way cheaper than any regular hotel rooms in the same area). The hotel is split up into different sections for men and women, and each section has a shared locker room, bathroom, powder room, and shower/bathing room. There was also a small lounge, and even some laundry machines. Then there were a few hallways of capsules. Each capsule was basically just a bed set into the wall, and each one had a small TV, radio, air conditioner, and a screen you could close for privacy. We had to wear the hotel robes in our capsule, not our own pajamas, I guess for sanitary reasons. The hotel was really quite nice. It was clean, and the staff was friendly. The only downside was the noise. Not that the women were that noisy, but in the early morning there were constantly alarm clocks going off and they kept waking me up :P. But still, it was a fun experience. The next day we went to nearby Kobe and went to the Costco there. It was so crowded, just as crowded as the last time Braden and I went. It was a holiday too, so everyone was out shopping! I forgot to mention before, but today and the last three days have been holidays. Constitution Day, Green Day, and Children's Day, but all together they're just called "Golden Week". Fun times :). After getting lots of yummy American food at Costco we came home. Tonight we're going to Kim's to eat some chicken and cake that she and Ed bought. So excited.

April 13th

Yesterday the sun was shining, it was nice and warm, and the cherry trees were blooming, so Braden and I decided to ride our bikes and enjoy the cherry trees around Matsue castle. It was beautiful! Matsue castle has lots of Cherry trees around it, and there are lots of paths and parks where you can just sit and enjoy the scenery. There were quite a few people there enjoying the lovely weather and blossoms, we even saw quite a few foreigners, who probably came from surrounding towns to visit the castle during its prettiest time. Matsue castle is the only surviving castle in the Sanin area (which covers a large portion of west Japan) so it`s pretty famous. We also visited a nearby shrine that was a favorite of Lafcadio Hearn`s while he lived here (If you don`t know who is he, read my previous post). There were some vendors there selling food too, so Braden and I bought a chestnut cream filled bun that was really warm and yummy. The vendors weren`t all that busy, they said that most of Matsue had come to enjoy the trees over the weekend. I`m glad we came when it wasn`t so busy ;). We didn`t go into the castle itself though. We were going to go on Monday with the elders but Braden had too many classes that day and couldn`t go, so we`re probably gonna go with our friend Ed some other day. The entrance fee to the castle is pretty cheap if you`re a foreigner (foreigners get a lot of discounts to cultural stuff in Matsue, which is pretty awesome :D). But even though we didn`t go in the castle, you can walk inside the outer walls all you want for free, and that was fun :).

April 11th

Last week a friend of mine took me to the Shimane University Library and showed me around. We found a room dedicated to the life and works of Lafcadio Hearn, a famous english author who lived for a time in Matsue. I checked out a book about his life called "Wandering Ghost - The Odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn". It was a fascinating read, and after I finished, Braden and I decided to visit his museum here in Matsue. The museum had many of his personal possessions, including his suitcases, some clothes, his pipes, pens, desk, etc, and next door to the museum you could visit the house that he lived in while in Matsue. It was a small house, without any furniture except a single desk, but it had a pretty garden, a garden that Lafcadio wrote about often while he lived there. The photo is of a part of his garden. Lafcadio only lived in Matsue for a little over a year (he was an English teacher here), but it was the first city in Japan that he lived in, and remained his favorite, even after he accepted positions to teach elsewhere in Japan, like Kumamoto and Tokyo. Lafcadio preferred the countryside to the city, but, like me, he hated the cold winters here :P.

On the same street as Hearn's house there's an old samurai residence that was converted into a museum as well. Inside the house they had on display many household items from the feudal era. It was really interesting. Both musuem were pretty small and humble, but they were also really inexpensive, which was nice :). In one room they had these mannequins set up like they're having some sort of meeting. This house, and Lafcadio's house, are both very close to Matsue Castle. Today Braden and I are going to take a tour of the castle, along with the elders from Matsue and Izumo. A friend of ours who goes to the elders' English class is a guide at the castle, and she's going to be our tour guide :). It looks like it might rain, but the cherry blossoms are blooming today, so it'll probably be very pretty up there. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Mar. 29th

Hey there everyone! Thought you might like to see what Braden's work uniform looks like, so here it is :). Lookin' spiffy! He has to get really clean before he starts working too. He told me he has to wash his hands really good, apply sanitizer, then put on gloves, wash again, and put on more sanitizer, then he's ready to go. He says the routine is pretty much the same everyday, but it's not real difficult, and he says his coworkers are nice, so that's good. He also gets Sundays off, which is great too.

CWU gave us a bit of a scare last week. They sent Braden an email saying they were seriously considering following the example of the University of Washington and requesting that all their foreign exchange students in Japan come home. Braden wrote back to protest, and let CWU know that we are in no danger here, then CWU wrote back to say that they had decided to let their foreign exchange students remain in Japan to finish their studies, provided that they agree with certain conditions, like communicating with CWU twice a month, creating a personal emergency plan, getting proper insurance, enrolling in the STEP program with the US Embassy, etc etc. It seems a little overkill to me, but I guess they have worried parents breathing down their necks and lawsuits to worry about, so they're trying to cover all their bases. We don't mind as long as we aren't forced to return to America before we're finished. Course, another stipulation was that if CWU does change their mind and ask us to return, we must comply. Hopefully that won't happen. I'm not done learning Japanese! And now that Braden has a part time job, things are going better for us over here.

The weather today got really nice. Last week, even though it was the first week of spring, it felt like winter again. Our apartment returned to its refrigerator-like state and we had to retreat to our bedroom for warmth. I have to leave sometimes though, to cook for instance, but the living room was so cold I had to stand right under the heater to feel it at all.

Here I am trying to get warm. Braden said it looked like I was worshipping it so he told me to stay like that while he took a picture, lol. Today, though, it was so nice that I could open the windows and let in some much needed fresh air.

So that's what's going on in Matsue right now. All of my Japanese classes are currently on spring break, so I'm going to have to study on my own for a couple weeks, at least until classes start again at Shimane University. I'm really looking forward to another semester of Japanese. Its fun to learn to speak it, but very frustrating to learn to read and write it :P.

Mar. 18th

No picture for today, just an update on things over here in Japan. Matsue remains unchanged, for the most part, but foreigners are leaving north-west Japan, including the missionaries in the region. The Church is temporarily dissolving the Tokyo and Sendai missions and sending the missionaries to other cities, including Matsue. We got a new missionary yesterday, transferred from Tokyo. Also, for those who are wondering, Matsue is very far from the damaged nuclear reactors, so we are not in any danger of exposure to radiation.

In other news, the Warrior`s parade that I mentioned earlier as been officially canceled, along with all other festivals and events that have been planned for the year across Japan (or at least this part of the year, maybe the whole year). I was confused about it at first, because they said it was canceled due to the earthquake, which didn`t damage our region at all. But one of our Japanese friends explained that it`s because the nation is in mourning, and it would be inappropriate for them to hold festivals and have any fun events at this time. Which is understandable. But it still makes me sad :(. The Japanese are very ceremonious, I think, when it comes to death. Over New Years I noticed that when we visited a temple with Hiroko and her parents that her parents wouldn`t walk under any Torii gates (big traditional gates at the head of every shrine and temple, and often there are several inside, if its a big shrine). Every time we approached one they very purposefully walked around it. Hiroko explained to me that if someone in your family (or a close friend) dies, you`re not supposed to walk under Torii gates that year. There are many other traditions associated with death in this country, more so than in America it seems, and I don`t know the half of them I`m sure.

In other news, Braden went to his part-time job for the first time today :). He said it was really good. He spent most of the time just putting food into trays for bentos (Japanese portable meals, like a lunch box) and then getting stuff ready for the next day. We`re very grateful that he was able to get this job, its a real blessing :).

Anywho, that`s all thats been happening lately. The people up north are still suffering from want of supplies (especially gasoline for emergency and evacuation vehicles), so any of you that are able, please chip in a little for the effort :). Bye for now.

Mar. 15th

Wow, in just a couple weeks it feels like a lot has happened that I wanna write about, but compared to what's happening up north what I have to say seems rather insignificant o_0. So I guess I'll start there. Off the north-east coast of Honshu (the largest of the islands that make up Japan) there was a giant earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami that completely destroyed several small coastal towns and washed away hudreds of people, homes, vehicles, etc, into the ocean. I saw the footage on the news and it was pretty incredible. Horrific, but incredible. The ocean is mighty indeed. It demands our respect and fear. The earthquake also damaged a couple of nuclear reactors in the region, and now the areas around there and Tokyo are suffering from a shortage of electricity. Those of us in the south west part of Honshu didn't feel the earthquake at all, not even the slightest tremor. We are, however, also being encouraged to conserve electricity in an effort to help out our north-eastern neighbors. Despite the tragedy in the north, life here in the south continues as usual, except that the TV shows nothing but updates about the tsunami cleanup effort and the state of the nuclear reactors, and we are trying to use our electricity a little less. Our hearts go out to all those that are suffering from the tragedy, and we are praying for all the victims and recovery workers. We also made a small donation to the cause, we don't have much to give but I guess every little bit helps.

In other news, Braden got a part time job! Starting Friday he's going to work every morning (but Sunday) at a place that makes bentos (ready to eat lunches for those salary men on the go). The job is early in the morning (6 to 9 I think) which is good since Braden will be starting classes again soon and they shouldn't get in the way. He still needs to get all the paperwork done before its official, but hopefully that will go over smoothly. We could really use this extra money o_0.

Another fun thing to note: today, for the first time, I went to a Japanese onsen (hot spring). Japan, since its seismically active, is just FULL of hot springs. Just in Matsue there are about 4 of them I think. I see hot springs featured all the time in Japanese anime, movies, manga, and other cultural stuff so I've always wanted to visit one. I've been to hot springs in America (like Lava Hot Springs) but Japanese hot springs are different, because people actually bathe naked in them o_0 (and they are always split into a men's side and a women's side). It was a little awkward for my first time, but I was with a friend who told me where to go and what to do and the hot pools were very relaxing :). Before getting in the spring everyone has to wash themselves in a little showering area, then you get in the hot spring for a nice hot soak. They had three different pools, some hotter then others, and one of them had two little waterfalls coming down that you could sit under for a relaxing water massage. It was nice. Afterwards we ate lunch there, and they even had a little shop with local produce that was really cheap, so we bought some oranges and mushrooms and returned home. All in all a very pleasant morning and afternoon :).

P.S. The picture above is from a parade practice meeting that we went to. Braden and I are going to be in a Warrior's Parade! On April 2nd we all get to dress up in traditional clothes and march around Matsue like we've gone back in time! I'm very excited :).

Mar. 7th

Hurray for Costco! Last week a family from our church ward told us they needed to go to the Kobe area on business and asked us if we wanted to come with them, since they were going to go to Costco. Of course we were all for that idea, so on Saturday morning they picked us up and we were on our way. The day before, we mentioned to the Elders that we were going to Costco and they were very excited about that and asked us to pick up some things for them too, which we were happy to do :). It was maybe a three or four hour drive, but it was a fun trip since I got to practice my Japanese alot by talking to their daughter Yoshie who is the same age as Braden and I. Our first stop was a large department store (in Osaka I think) where Brother and Sister Sota met one of their clients from work. While they talked with their client Yoshie and Braden and I explored the department store and looked at some cool art that was on display. Afterwards we went to Costco and boy was it hoppin'! I don't think I've ever been in a Costco that crowded in my whole life! It was mostly Japanese people but we actually saw quite a few foreigners wandering around too. The first thing we did was get some dinner at the Costco food court, and just like in America they had the super cheap but really big hot dogs with a big cup of soda, with free refills of course! I got a big hot dog with lots of mustard and relish XD. They were selling chicken bakes and also bulgogi bakes (bulgogi is korean fried meat) and Braden got a bulgogi bake and loved it. He said it tasted like a Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich. They also had their classic ice cream sundaes, and they also had pineapple smoothies which Braden and I got, and they were delicious!!! After eating we did our shopping, and it was sure nostalgiac to see alot of classic Costco products there, like big Costco muffins, big bread, big bags of chips, etc etc. Most things in Japan come in small packages so to see so many big packages was amazing XD. But it wasn't all American food, they had a lot of asian food in bulk too. So in order to make room for the asian bulk of course there were a lot of american foods they couldn't include. The elders were disappointed that I couldn't find any refried beans or taco seasoning, and I was disappointed that I couldn't find any Macaroni and Cheese :P. But they did have big boxes of grapes and big bunches of bananas for really cheap (compared to the rest of Japan) so that was awesome!

Here's a pic of our cart. We really didn't buy a ton of stuff, only cause we were on a tight budget, but it was still more than I would usually buy in a normal trip to a Japanese grocery store :P. We already ate like half of the rolls already, hehe, they are soooo good. The Tortilla chips were for the Elders, and they were very happy to receive them :). All in all it was a very fun trip, and we might get to go again with our friend Ed someday.

Feb. 28th

Yeah, its March! And you know what that means? Winter in Matsue is almost over!!! It was actually quite nice a couple of days ago, but then it got a little cold again and today its all gloomy and rainy, but I can see spring on the horizon!



So I thought I'd post a couple pics from Valentine's Day for you all to enjoy ;). Braden bought me flowers and chocolates XD, and I bought him chocolates too :X. My sister Becca also sent us chocolates and a really pretty card, and a webcam that she got from a friend :D. In Japan on Valentine's Day its traditional for the girls to give chocolates to the guys that they like, and then on White Day (on March 14th) the guys give chocolates to the girls that they like, and of course every girl who gives chocolates to a guy on Valentine's Day hopes to get chocolates in return in March ;). Well Braden and I kind of mixed Japanese and American traditions since we bought eachother chocolates ;P. Not even a week after all the stores put away their Valentine's chocolates they put out all the White Day chocolates. The stores really go all out, with tons of cute and pretty boxes of chocolates on display for everyone to choose from. They go from cutesy and pink to black and elegant. I'm sure the candy companies make bank every year o_0. lol.

The other day we had some friends over for dinner and I made Chilean Cazuela. Yum :).



Our Japanese friends Shuhei and Towa brought the dessert, and they went all out! They brought donuts, pudding, and cake!! I'm glad that my friends like dessert as much as I do! XD.

Yesterday after church Braden and I went to our first official practice for the Warrior's Parade in April. I'm so excited! I get to wear a Kimono and carry a traditional Japanese parasol and swing it around in a little dance :). Braden is going to be dressed as a warrior, with helmet, armor, and even a sword at his side, but he gets to dance with a fan XD. LOL. Its a cool little dance though ;). At the practice we also got to watch the spearmen, riflemen, archers, and many others practice their parade dances. It was tons of fun. When we go to the parade I'll be sure to take lots of pictures for you all.

Feb. 19th

I'm afraid I don't have a picture for you all today, but I've been having a fun weekend, so I thought I'd write about it. Yesterday Braden and I visited another Kyokushin Dojo here in Matsue. They are part of a Kyokushin organization called KyokushinKaiKan. They aren't a member of any of the IKO's as far as I could tell, but they still do the same Kyokushin. It was a lot of fun to do some Kyokushin again. We only went to check it out and see if it was any cheaper than the other dojo we went to ( it was the same price, alas, so it won't fit in our current budget), but we still got to participate, even though we were just visiting. They did things a lot like the other Matsue dojo we went to. The warm up was slightly different, but the rules of courtesy were about the same and they, too, did a lot of energetic, basic drills. One thing that they did that was different from our other Japanese dojo, and what made them more like our Dojo back home in the US, was that everyone participated in kumite (sparring) not just the higher belts and those who were going to participate in tournaments. Unfortunately, since Braden and I weren't official members of the dojo, it also meant we weren't currently signed up with their injury insurance program, which meant we couldn't participate in the kumite portion of the class. But it was still fun to watch.

This morning was super fun. The elders told us about a free Japanese class that they had found, and I wanted to go so they took us there this morning. The people there were really nice and for my first lesson they taught me how to write my address in kanji. Usually when I send letters I just write my address in English letters, but sometimes I have to write my Japanese address on things and I usually need to ask Braden for help, or a write it myself but I write it wrong. Today I got to practice writing it a lot and now I'm getting kind of good at it, hehe.

Tonight we're having some friends over for dinner and I'm gonna make Chilean Cazuela :D. Cazuela is a chilean stew thats really yummy and great for cold winter days. It was one of my favorite foods to eat in Chile, and although I can't cook it exactly like a Chilean, its still edible, lol.

Feb. 8th

So recently Mcdonald's has been having a promotion where every month they have a different burger themed after a different state from the US. Last month was the Texas burger, and this month is the IDAHO burger!! Of course I just HAD to try one, lol. It was pretty good :). It was a large (by Japanese standards) hamburger patty with cheese, bacon, onions, bbq sauce, mustard, and of course, a hashbrown patty! Even way over here in Japan, Idaho is famous for its potatoes, lolol. Braden and I have been trying to be thrifty so we haven't been to McDonalds in a long time, it was a nice little treat to go there yesterday. After dinner we went to the birthday party of Miyara Kun, the Japanese student who lives with the exchange students and helps them out with stuff when they need Japanese help. He's super nice and helpful so everyone decided to throw a surprise party for him. We decorated the lounge and everyone brought snacks, and then one of the German girls called him while he was at the campus and told him she needed help translating something, and when he came we all yelled surprise and sang Happy Birthday. He seemed really surprised and happy, and we had a lot of fun talking and chatting and playing with Zabine's Kendama (a Japanese toy which has a ball on a rope attached to a wooden handle, and you try and catch the ball with the scoops and peg on the handle.) After that some of us, including Braden and I, went and sang Karaoke. It was tons of fun :D. Here's a pic of all of exchange students:

This photo was taken last sunday, and almost all the exchange students are in it. Braden and I almost missed it, cause we weren't told about it till just before everyone got together for it and we were just about to leave to accompany the missionaries on a visit. (Which was a fun visit. We visited a Japanese man who had lived in Argentina for a long time and he was fluent in Spanish, so I got a chance to meet him and talk to him in Spanish for a while :). ) Anywho, its been a fun week, and the weather has warmed up a bit, which is nice. Hopefully it'll stay that way for a little while at least ;P.

Feb. 5th

Last week I graduated from my first ever beginner's Japanese class. I even got a certificate, lol XD. Today to celebrate we had a tempura party. We all went to the Matsue International Community Center kitchen and fried up lots of tempura covered veggies and made some shishkabobs. It was all very yummy :). I love my classmates by the way. Since all of us speak different languages, and our Japanese skills are rudimentary at best, communication can be difficult, but for some reason we can always find a way to make everything completely hilarious with our simple Japanese :D. I don't know how we do it, and I don't think anyone but ourselves and our teachers would understand any of our inside jokes, but class was always good times, and I can't wait for next semester, I hope all my same classmates are in it :). Yesterday I went on a long walk to find the MICC (where we had our party) and right next to it I found a Japanese cemetary. I've never seen anything quite like a Japanese cemetary before. It's just sitting in the middle of the city, on a little hill, and the whole thing is made up of concrete and marble sidewalks and headstones, and pretty stone lanterns and incense holders, and you can smell the incense as you walk through it. It was really pretty and I took several pictures. Here's just a couple that I took:

There were some gravestones that looked really old. The cemetary itself doesn't seem that old, so I think maybe they were brought there from other older cemetaries. The plots themselves are shared by whole families, not by individual people, and some of them have the family name etched on the main headstone, and then on another stone you can seem the names of all the people who are represented there. Everyone in Japan is cremated, and the ashes aren't always kept in the cemetary, but the family grave is the place where people go to pay their respects to their dead ancestors. The cemetary is located in a quieter part of town and it was quite pleasant to walk through. On the way home from the Tempura party Braden and I stopped at Book Off, which is a chain of used-books stores in Japan. You can get awesome deals there. Today I bought a Tintin book (Cigars of the Pharoahs) in great condition for only a little over a dollar!!! XD. I also bought a manga for the same price. There are so many books in Japan (especially mangas and light novels) and you can always find them for really cheap at Book Off. I don't go there too often cause whenever I go I wanna buy a ton, but this time I decided I needed to make an exception (It was a Tintin book for only a dollar!!!). Lol.

Feb. 1st

Every Thursday Braden and I help the local Elders with their free english conversation class that they hold at the church. Its really fun :). The elders in our ward right now are Elder Nunez and Elder Nicoles (who, incidentally, is the cousin of Lydia`s trainer when she was on her mission in Chile!). Last week the elders had exchanges so Elder Nunez traded places with two elders from another area for a few days and they came to Eikaiwa (tjhe Japanese name for English conversation class). One of the elders was Australian and we had a fun time talking about the differences in pronunciation and spelling between American English and Australian English. For instance, Color is spelled Colour and favorite is favourite, etc etc. Tomato is pronounced tomahto, etc. And they have different nicknames for things. McDonalds is called `Maccas` and apparently Burger King has a different name altogether and is called `Hungry Jack`s`. He also drew a map of Australia on the board and taught us a little about Australia in general, like what the major cities are, a little about the wildlife, etc (although tame koalas are cute and cuddly, beware the wild ones, cause they`re vicious!!! ;P). It was really educational for the Japanese and Americans alike :D. During lessons we encourage the students to ask questions and practice words in english, and some days we play games that require them to speak or write certain english words or phrases. We usually have anywhere from 3 to 7 students, not a ton, but its still lotsa fun. A couple weeks ago I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting :X, and although the bishop told me I could just speak English and have Braden translate for me if I wanted, I really wanted to speak in Japanese, so I carefully wrote my whole talk in Japanese (with lots of help from Braden of course XD) and just this last Sunday I went up to the pulpit and spoke Japanese for about 10 minutes straight! It was great, and afterwards everyone told me my Japanese was `pretty` and my pronunciation was really good, so that made me really happy ^_^. The topic of my talk was unity and harmony at home, church, in life, everywhere. Braden helped me out by reading the scriptures out loud for me. When I read Japanese I`m really slow, so I had Braden read the scriptures for me so I wouldn`t go overtime :P. Japanese is really hard to read because of the Chinese characters that they use so much (called Kanji). The Book of Mormon and Bible in Japanese thankfully have Hiragana characters next to the Kanji to make it easier to read, and I know how to read the Hirigana, but I`m still kinda slow. I can barely read Kanji. I know some basic characters, but many of them have more than one reading (way to say it) and oftentimes I know the meaning of a character but I don`t know how to say it. I`ve heard that even Japanese people have trouble with that sometimes. A Japanese lady in my ward here said that sometimes when Japanese people read a lot of kanji, they can understand it and even paraphrase it, but they can`t read it out loud because even they don`t know all the correct readings sometimes XD. Pretty tough stuff. But they still know TONS more than me, I have a long ways to go before I can really even read simple Japanese 0_o. But I`ll keep studying :)

Jan. 26th

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in updating, I just keep procrastinating :P. Anyway, aren't our bear donuts cute!! Our friend Shuhei came over for dinner a couple weeks ago (I made curry) and he brought some donuts from Mr. Donuts (I LOVE Mr. Donuts!) and he gave us these adorable bear donuts that they were selling. I hadn't seen them before, maybe they were the week's special or something. Anywho, life's good. Nothing too wierd or exciting happening lately, but still having fun! Today Braden and I went to Aikido practice and learned some new moves. Aikido's fun but the gym is FREEZING. The last time I went I was so cold and miserable. This time was a little better though, cause I decided to wear clothes underneath my dogi. I usually just wear my dogi pants, a regular shirt, and my dogi top, but last week in the locker room when we were changing after practice, I noticed that the other girls were wearing pants and long sleeved shirts underneath their dogis, so I decided to do that too. It helped keep my body a little warmer, but my feet still felt like ice blocks by the end (we practice barefoot). Our Kyokushin dojo was also cold, but Kyokushin is really energetic, and we were always moving and punching and kicking, which helped keep us warm. Aikido is a little slower and more methodical. We stand still and watch the senpais (a senpai is a more experienced student) demonstrate a move a few times, then we repeat it slowly until we get it right. Once we get it right we can move faster, but then we eventually have to stop to learn a new move, and go slowly again, etc etc, so I never really warm up. But even though its not as energetic as kyokushin, its still challenging, and it still hurts sometimes. We never hit eachother, like we did in Kyokushin, but we grab onto and throw each other and fall alot, and that can hurt sometimes, especially if you fall incorrectly (in Kyokushin we did practice falling and rolling sometimes, which has been helpful). We practice rolling and falling a lot in Aikido too, its important to know how to fall correctly so you don't hurt yourself doing a move (or having a move done to you). So yeah. Aikido. Its fun. In other news, the end of Braden's first semester is coming up, and after that, Spring Break! And boy is it gonna be great. Its a month and a half long!!! I was really surprised when I found that out. I don't think I've EVER had a spring break that long. But I think that the summer break in Japan is shorter than in America, so I guess that makes up for it. Hiroko did tell us, though, that college students get a lot of breaks, and longer breaks, than the junior high and high school students. Like I mentioned before, college is a time for Japanese students to RELAX. lol. At least for some ;P. I'll also be finishing up one of my Japanese classes (I'll take another one when the other classes start up again). For our final project we made a video about our trip to the Adachi Art Museum. We gave the teacher our photos, she made them into a slide show, and then she recorded us narrating our trip in Japanese :). Its gonna be posted on the Shimane University website at some point, and when it is I'll be sure to include a link so you can all hear my slow and simple Japanese, lol.

Jan. 15th

Sorry I don't have a picture for you all today, maybe next time :P. These last couple weeks after New Years have been pretty quiet. It snowed a few times, and its supposed to snow again tonight, I think. On the Shimane Campus today they're holding college entrance exams for the high school students in the region. College entrance exams are a HUGE deal here. They cancelled a whole day of classes yesterday to prepare for it, and today the college students aren't even allowed to enter the campus for any reason, so as not to disturb the testing atmosphere. Japanese students study A LOT for these exams, and I've heard they're very difficult. I can only imagine its something like the ACTs or the SATs but with harder questions 0_o. From what I've heard though, from other Japanese people, high school in Japan is very hard and the students study a TON, but then once they get to college its a breeze. Braden admits that he gets very little homework and his classes aren't all that difficult, so it seems to be true. Braden said he got way more homework at CWU, and here he hasn't even had to take any tests. But I think those poor stressed out high school students deserve a break after studying every day and night for weeks for those college entrance exams :P. Hope everyone at home is doing well. Until next time :).

Jan 1st - Ringing in the New Year!

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Honnen mo dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (Congratulations on the dawning of a new year! This year, please continue to be kind to me!) Well, Braden and I hope all of you had a safe and happy New Year's weekend. We sure did!! We did so much stuff, I don't know how to write about it all without writing a whole novel! lol. I'll try to keep it concise but get in all the fun details ;). First off, we took a bus to Shiga Prefecture to visit Hiroko and her family (I mentioned her before. She's the one who picked us up at the airport in Kyoto when we first got to Japan). It was really nice to see her and her family again, they are all super nice, and her daughters are so cute and well behaved. Anju is the youngest, 7 years old, and she's so adorable, and she just LOVES Braden, lol. She always wanted to sit in his lap and hold his hand and play games with him, and Braden played with her a ton, it was so cute, he's gonna be a great dad :). The first few days we just hung out with the family and helped them clean their house for New Year's (its a Japanese tradition for people to clean their houses and businesses for the New Year, sorta like spring cleaning for Americans, except I don't know that many Americans who actually do it, but a lot of Japanese do!). We also helped Hiroko's parents clean their small travel agency, and then afterwards they took us to eat Korean Yaki Niku (Yaki niku just means fried meat, and since we were eating it Korean style there was also kimchee and lettuce to put the meat in, so it was a lot like eating Bulgogi. It was so yummy!). On New Year's Eve I helped Hiroko make the New Year's Day meal, which is pretty complicated, there's a LOT of different traditional Japanese New Year's food, and each one needs to be represented in the meal or it's not complete! I also went with Hiroko to do some last minute New Year's shopping, which felt a lot like last minute Christmas shopping, cause it was all snowy but it looked like EVERYONE was out and about buying last minute New Year's gifts and food. That night we ate Kimchee Nabe (So good! Another Japanese spin on Korean food, which is pretty popular here). Then, at midnight, we walked with Hiroko's family to the local Shinto Shrine to ring the bell. We literally "rang" in the New Year, it was really cool! The walk to the shrine was really atmospheric. It had snowed practically all day and there was a beautiful new layer of snow on the ground, and as we walked the dark streets up to the shrine we could hear the bell ringing in the distance. It was really neat. The bell had a deep sound and it resonated for several seconds after each ring, it sounded almost other-worldly. When we got to the shrine we lined up behind some of the locals and each of us took a turn ringing the bell. When it was Braden's turn, he rang it a little too hard, and after the hammer hit the bell it fell back hard and hit the roof of the building behind us, knocking off a roof tile! It was pretty funny, but Braden felt bad too, so the next morning we went back and made an offering in the Shrine's donation box ;P. New Year's morning everyone woke up early (despite staying up late to ring the bell) and we ate white miso soup and mochi (little gummy rice cakes) for breakfast. Then we went with Hiroko and her family as they visited their nearby relatives, wishing each a Happy New Year, giving them a gift, and paying their respects at the family's small shrines, which consisted of ringing a small bell and saying a short prayer while holding prayer beads in their hands. Braden and I politely watched and smelled the fragrant incense that filled the rooms with the shrines. At lunch time we ate what's called "Osechi Riouri". It consists of lots of traditional New Year's foods (many of which I hadn't eated before, EVER). I had octopus, black beans with flakes of real edible gold on them (gold doesn't taste good by the way :P), lotus roots, bamboo, shrimp, mochi, little jellied potato/seaweed thingies, sushi, marinated cod (Hiroko's cod was REALLY good!), fish cakes, teriyaki chicken, carrots, vinegared radish/persimmon/carrot, fish eggs, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. Even though New Year's food isn't my favorite Japanese food (Nabe is way tastier in my opinion) there were still some yummy things. There were also some things that I didn't like. The worst (for me) was the seaweed wrapped fish eggs. I put it in my mouth, then must've made a funy face cause all the kids started to giggle, and Hiroko told me I could spit it out but I didn't want to, so I stuffed some rice in my mouth and chewed and swallowed while nearly gagging! The little kids thought it was hilarious though lol. At least I made someone laugh, so it's all good ;). After lunch we visited Hiroko's Aunt and Uncle who live in Kyoto. On the way we stopped at a famous Buddhist Temple that has a beautiful pagoda-looking tower. At every large temple and shrine in Japan you can buy charms for your car and household, and one of the things they were selling were beautiful white arrows with blessings for the home written on them. I thought the arrows were really cool, so I bought one ;). I have it displayed currently in our entry way. After that we went to Hiroko's aunt and uncle's apartment and we ate more Osechi Riouri for dinner (I made sure to avoid anything resembling fish eggs wrapped in seaweed) and Hiroko's uncle was so funny, he kept bringing out more and more food, even after everyone was stuffed, and he kept asking Braden and I if we wanted more, and the food kept coming and the family had to keep telling him we were full! He was really nice and funny, and he and his wife had the cutest little pomeranian named Coco. While the kids stayed and played, Hiroko and her parents took us to a local New Year's Festival/Market near a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the Fox Spirit. It was a really pretty shrine with lots of Torii gates and bells, and the stores had lots of cute bunny and fox figurines, and they were selling lots of food too, but we were so stuffed we didn't try any ;). After buying a cute bunny figurine (the bunny figurines were being sold to celebrate the New Zodiac animal for this year, the Rabbit) we went back to Hiroko's aunt and uncle's apartment and said good bye and drove back to Shiga Ken. It was a busy but very fun New Year's :). But the trip wasn't over yet! The next day we took the train to Kyoto, and went to the bus stop where were planning to catch our bus back to Matsue (we had already bought tickets a couple weeks before). But the bus never came o_0. Finally a loudspeaker announced that heavy snowfall in the Matsue region was stopping the buses. There was another girl waiting for the bus too, and since the announcer was a little hard to understand Braden asked her what he said, and so she repeated it for us, and even helped us find the office where we could refund our bus tickets so we could buy train tickets to Matsue. She was super nice, and since she was going to Matsue too we ended up traveling with her the whole way, and she helped us get around the train station in Kyoto (which is very big) and Okayama (also pretty big). We took the Shinkansen to Okayama, and once there we found out that all the trains were running late since the trains hadn't been running that morning (due to bad weather). We had to wait a couple hours to catch a train (there was an earlier train that we tried to catch, but it got so packed with people they had to turn us and a few others away and we had to wait for the next one). We finally caught the train and got to Matsue, which was a snowy, slushy mess! We said goodbye to our kind escort, and tried to take a bus home, only to discover that the city buses weren't running at all, because the roads were so bad. There were quite a few cars out still, but traffic was terrible, because cars kept getting stuck in the intersections :P. We tried calling people for a ride, but everyone was snowed in. In the end, we walked back to our apartment, carrying our luggage since the snow was too deep to drag them on their wheels. It was about a two or three mile hike through snow and slush, and then when we got home we had to get up our staircase which was drowned in deep snow! We made it up though, and, exhausted, ate dinner and went to sleep. What was supposed to be a five hour trip turned into a ten hour one! But we got home safe, for which we're very grateful, and now we can relax for a few days before school starts again. It rained a lot today, and the roads are starting to clear a bit, hopefully they'll be completely clear soon. Well, this ended up being really long, sorry, but I hope you enjoyed it!!!