Cricket
This weekend the British (and Aussie) conglomeration decided it was time that people discovered the joy of cricket. And so, we spent Sunday afternoon on our usual football pitch playing the game! It was actually surprisingly fun, and while Zach was a star as usual, I even managed to make a couple of runs while batting, even if I was absolutely terrible at bowling!!
Ikebana
These are pictures of my ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) classes that I go to each week. Surprisingly to me, I actually really enjoy it! My teacher is even going to put my work in an exhibition downtown in June!!!!
Also of note is that all of these pictures were taken with my cell phone!
Canadian Thanksgiving
Last night we had some friends over to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving--although we had spaghetti instead of turkey I think that we were all sufficiently thankful.
Mt. Hakusan
These are pictures from my climb of Mt. Hakusan-- one of the three spiritual mountains in Japan. It was a terrible day-- it poured rain the entire day so that the trail was mud and gushing water (the trail had actually turned into a waterfall on the way down!). It was so misty that you couldn't see anything, and several of the hikers hadn't returned by dark, resulting in search parties, phoning the pollice, and hours and hours of waiting on the bus!! But, everybody returned back safely in the end and we could finally get back to warmth!!!
Hakone
Corine took me to Hakone- a resort town near Tokyo-- during my stay with her. It was absolutely beautiful. Even if she did make me take a rope car to the top of a volcano despite my terrible fear of heights!!! I think I did okay. Then we took a boat tour of the lake on the giant pirate ships, complete with pirates on board. Of course, what would any day in Japan be without a trip to the onsen (hot springs bath)? Corine took me for my very first experience, and I am completely addicted now!!!! We also had one of the best tempura lunches that I have still had in Japan-- with shrimp bigger than me!!! And with all of that, we still made it home before the typhoon!!
Tokyo
Pictures from our first night in Japan-- downtown Tokyo!! Corine took us to Shibuya for dinner- you may recognize it from Lost in Translation. It is insane how busy it is-- it seems like 500 people cross the street each time there is a red light!!!! We are very excited to get back to Tokyo and see more of the city- it is crazy!!!
But, most exciting about Tokyo is that to get to Kanazawa, I had to take the Tokyo subway by myself for two hours to get to the airport! And I did it with no problems!!!
Ryokan in Wakura Onsen
Zach and I stayed at a Ryokan, or a traditional Japanese inn, at the seaside town of Wakura Onsen. The views of the Sea of Japan are taken from our room. We had the most amazing seafood dinner that night, including more fresh crab that one could eat, which took us almost three hours to eat!! The best part of the ryokan, though, was the ofuro, or public bath. The hot bath was outdoors, in rocks, overlooking the Sea of Japan. It was beautiful, especially as at night there was a huge thunderstorm. Luckily for me, the Japanese were all afraid of me and left as soon as I arrived, so I had the entire place to myself!
The 6:00am fish breakfast was not the best part of the day though!!!
Fighting Fish Festival (Kaga City)
These pcitures are from a festival we went to with some JETs in a nearby town of Kaga. There were two teams, one old and one young. Each team carried a giant fish that they paraded through town from the shrine to the train station. At the train station (the centre of town), the two fish fought, followed by traditional dancing. The procession then returned to the shrine, where the winning fish was burnt in a huge bonfire. (Apparently the little fish is supposed to win, and the big fish burned each year. But, the big fish won, but they burned it anyway-- it is the losing fish that is suppose to be sacrificed). Zachary decided to join in the fun, and joined the team carrying the fish and helped to burn the fish in the bonfire!!! It was a lot of fun, and our first chance to really see a Japanese festival in full force (plus we received lots of free beer and food!)
Zach's School
These are pictures of Zachary's school. He really enjoys teaching there, and the teachers and students have all been really welcoming of him! Plus, it is very close to our house!!
Nagano
Here are pictures from our weekend trip to Nagano for the football tournament. The weather was perfect, the mountains beautiful and the people a lot of fun! It was our first chance to get away and see a bit more of Japan, and it is so great!! Plus, my cleats are awesome!!!!
Kenroku-en
These pictures are of Kenroku-en garden in downtown Kanazawa. It is ranked in the top three of gardens in Japan, because it meets all six qualifications to be a great garden. (Including lots of coi that actually climb onto the rocks to get food! Okay, this is just one of my qualifications).
