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!