JET me away!

Indonesia FUN!

2011-03-31T04:25:00.000-07:00

Spring break time! Christian and I spent weeks looking around and trying to decide what to do with our spring break this year. Upon a chance, we stumbled on a dive center in Indonesia and thought it was a good time to try our chances with scuba diving.

We flew out on Thursday March 17^th from Narita. It was terribly difficult just getting to the airport but after the night bus and airport shuttle bus, (and 9 or so hours later) we made it!

After our fun night out in Singapore, we were back to the airport to fly to the island of Sulawesi. We flew in to Manado and headed to our guest house, The 4 Fish. It was fantastic! We had a lovely little room with a HUGE deck! Down the stairs was a nice pool. The place included breakfast and dinner. The dinner was cooked by their cook who is a local and a fantastic chef! They were so yummy!

Here are some pictures of the guesthouse…

The large patio looking towards the tables/kitchen-

View from our room outward...those chairs were comfy!

The view from the porch (with us)...palm trees galore!

Our room...

The food was spicy and delicious! At the guesthouse, our dinners always had soup, main dish and dessert. This was one of our most interesting desserts...avocado smoothie...

I also learned that sprinkles on toast means breakfast in Holland! It was delicious!

We enjoyed wandering around our local village. We would walk to buy a bit of chocolate or soap. The village was always full of children playing or people working or cattle, pigs and chickens wondering.

me and the street..

Rebuilding the local church...

One of the shops. It was about the size of a one car garage.

Locals bringing fruit to market...

The "road" to the main shop-

The local dive center is called “Thalassa.” We went there on our first day to get the overview of our week and pick out our dive stuff. We worked with our awesome instructor Man over the week to complete the “open water diver course” and “advanced open water diver course.” The open water course was about 4 days long. It consisted of 5 confined water dives in a swimming pool and 4 open water dives in the sea. The advanced course is meant to give you more experience with different dive. We were required to do two specific dives and then allowed to pick three other dives from a long list. The two required were the deep diver (going down to 30 meters) and navigator.

We spent many nights back at the guesthouse studying. Here we are at the table reading…as we were almost nightly!

studying...

and more studying...

One of our advanced dives was a photography course so here are some awesome underwater photos…

all the dive sites around the island (we went to about 6 so...best go back!)

On the boat after a dive! COLD!

WOOHOO! Underwater!

FISH! (should learn some names!)

Cute little fish

Crazy looking things grow under the sea...

We loved these cute little fish that lived on large pieces of coral. They would pop up and down lots and were so cute!

One of favorite moments of the whole trip was seeing the sea turtle! I had to chase this out to sea to get a picture but I got him!!

Sea slug. ick.

NEMO!

Lots of fish and lots of coral! It was BEAUTIFUL!

We had lots of fun being neutrally buoyant! (lots of spinning and somersaults!)

On our day off we went into the city of Manado but it turns out it was a total hole. We did get pizza for lunch which was pretty awesome though. We took a taxi for the 30 or so minute dive and it cost about $8! While in the city we bough more chocolate. We also found this terrible and funny “Hello Kitty” wanna be crackers.

After all our dives were done we had a Friday afternoon free, since we had to allow 24 hours before flying home. We spent the afternoon at the fancy spa in the city. It was amazing to get a salt scrub and massage and facial! It was very relaxing!

It was a lovely vacation!! We can’t wait to go back! (We have wreck diving and enriched air on our list as our next courses!)

Singapore!

2011-03-31T03:36:00.001-07:00

On our way to Indonesia we had a 15 hour layover in Singapore. Normally that might be a hassle but we were super excited to have a night out in Singapore and lucky to have a friend waiting to show us around!

We arrived in Singapore at about 6:00pm on Thursday, March 17^th. Our friend Daphne was waiting for us at the train station and had set up some plans for dinner and was ready to show us around the city.

Singapore, we quickly realized was a pretty cool city with amazing architecture! Here are some pictures of the city…

and

Daphne had set up a “set meal” at a local market so we could try a bunch of the local foods. The first part of the mail included meat on a stick in some sort of delicious chili sauce, mutton soup, chili crab (something famous from Singapore), chicken and sugar cane drink. We also got dessert which was some interesting soup thing (still not sure of what was in it) and a sweet red bean, jelly thing. Since the set meal was for two but there were four of us, we also ordered stingray.

Here are the four of us (Daphne, her co-work Tok, Christian and Colleen).

The stingray was pretty good…

Mmm…sting ray

After dinner, we strolled around the lake and checked everything out. There is a building we could see that had really interesting architecture. Christian quickly decided it was one of his favorites and took a million pictures.

Here is the building...

And with us…

Cool building for the art science museum…

After exploring for a bit, we had a drink and listened to some live music. That night, Tok let Christian and I stay at his family’s home so we were well rested and ready for the next leg of our trip!

shakin'

2011-03-30T04:59:00.001-07:00

As you all know, there was a large earthquake just off the east coast of Japan on March 11^th. Living on the west coast we felt the quake and were shaking for days after.

At the time of the local quake I was in school and we felt a slow rocking motion. We shook for a long time…long enough that I grabbed my book because I got bored sitting under my desk!

After the quake and then tsunami there was some panic around the country. The earth didn’t really stop shaking for days and we seemed to feel half a dozen earthquakes daily. People reacted in true hording, panicked style. Here are some quick pictures I took at the grocery store.

Instant ramen…GONE! There are usually thousands of packs of ramen but they were nearly ALL sold out.

NO BREAD! I wanted to buy just a small pack of bread for us to have toast for the rest of the week but there was none!

and another snow festival!

2011-02-23T05:16:00.001-08:00

As if we didn't get enough snow last weekend...we felt the need for more! This past Saturday, February 19th we headed south to Tokamachi for their snow festival. The Tokamachi Snow Festival is also celebrating its 62nd birthday but has not grown as large as the Sapporo Snow Festival.

The Tokamachi Snow Festival is spread out throughout the city...which means a long driving course is necessary to see all the sculptures. There is a main event area with some sculptures, the snow stage, a childrens play area and lots of food shops. Here are some pictures from the festival.

We found this sculpture on the drive up...

The first sculpture we say walking to the main stage was this one. It is an "Alice in Wonderland" sculpture. It is really cute. Some of the details were really great too...the cat was adorable and the cards were great. (They might have looked better before the warm days but they still looked good!)

and the cat...

and the cards...

On our walk toward the stage we met many friends. There was an party after the concert we were excited to attend. But before that, we made sure to check out the main snow stage. We caught a terrible Japanese pop group...but the stage was amazing!

After the party we decided to check out a bunch of sculptures before heading home.

The whales...(our car headlights aren't the best spotlights)

The whales and me...

race car!

Something with space...

Some sort of house. I am thinking it was too look like a book.

These two were a pair. The pictures didn't turn out great because we were over taken by some drunk guys who really wanted to help by taking our pictures. They were loud and crazy and totally made my night!

The first one was a samurai

The second one was a house of sorts

Then off to home we drove...icy roads and all! We made it home at about 3am! Slept like a baby!

Sapporo Snow Festival

2011-02-22T02:58:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend of February 11-14th we, Christian, Martin and myself, took a trip up nort' to see one of the largest snow festivals in Japan! The Sapporo Snow Festival is celebrating its 62nd year and was full of winter goodies. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Friday February 11th was a holiday so we flew up to Sapporo on Thursday night. It was a long day! After 5 periods of speaking tests, a train ride, a plane ride, a subway ride and another train ride...I was so happy to make it to our hotel shuttle pick up point. Being 11:00 at night, don't we look good?

On Friday the 12th we were ready to explore Sapporo. We took the subway into the city and met up with our friend, Sean at the Starbucks (which did become our breakfast spot for the next 3 days!). We walked down the the first main snow sculpture sight. There was a "dino land" of ice sculptures. Here we all are with the T-rex.

Christian really liked the Jurassic Park raptor.

There was also a "Hina matsuri" (Girl Day/Doll Festival) sculpture. Christian and I have our poses down!

These ice sculptures took up about 2 blocks and we walked through them on our way to the TV tower. We went up inside the tower and got some great views of the city! You can see the long park area behind us where the snow sculptures all were. Here is a picture of Christian and I at the top of the tower...

We decided to climb down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator! SCARY!

After the never-ending stairs we decided to walk to the station for lunch. On our way we happened upon the clock tower. I really wanted to see it because it was rated in the "top three most disappointing sights in Japan." We were disappointed (you can see it on our faces!)

After lunch we came back to the main snow sculpture area and started further back to see the international snow sculpture competition. Sean had a friend that and helped with the New Zealand team and the wanted to see it.

This one if from Hawaii. It was some tail about seas and spirits...can't remember...

Here is Christian and I in front of another from China...it was about the Chinese festival dragons. I liked it because you could see the little peoples feet at the bottom...so realistic!

This one was my favorite. I believe it was from Switzerland. It was called "imprint."

And with Christian and I...

This one with the hive got first place...I didn't think it was the best of them all but it was nice too!

Hokkaido (the Island Prefecture we visited) is famous for bears and melon (among other things), but if you put them together, you get...MELON BEAR!

Then we found the BIG sculptures! These ones were like 4 stories high! They were awesome! This first one is of Sazae-san. She is a comic book character. The comic book just celebrated its 65th anniversary so they did a large sculpture for her!

And us...

and MORE Japanese characters... (this is Miku. She is the computer display for computer generated music. She "sings" them...concerts and everything.)

A few of the sculptures could have used a cleaning...like this cute pig!

Snowmen carrying a portable Japanese shrine...

The next big one was a Japanese house. I LOVED this one. Here is a picture from the side.

And from the front...

and you would miss us...

After dinner we headed back for the "lights show." Here is another large sculpture lite up. I never really figured out what this one was about. There was a temple, a mountain, the great wall and some animals. The detail was amazing but not totally sure on the concept!

They did a color lights show with music. I wasn't too impressed.

Colorful dinos!

On Saturday February 12th we started or day a little sweet! We headed to the outskirts of town and went to the "chocolate" factory. The factory is called Shiroi Koibito and they make little cookies with chocolate inside. The factory had a Willy Wonka feeling to it. There were three buildings...all with very different looks, a snow slide and a bubble machine!

I, of course, didn't say no to a snow tube ride!

And the bubbles were so cute!

Once inside we, as Christian said "feed the corporate monster."

Christian and I with the cookies...

And the factory line...

At the end of the tour was an antique toy museum. Not sure how it all fit together but these old bugs were cool...

and wooden dolls...

After the tour we ended up at the fist market. Being lunchtime (and after a failed attempt to find "Curry Soup Alley") we decided to head into a fancy, 8* lunch shack next to the tanks.

Me and my crab on rice! (Hokkaido is famous for crab too!) It was delicious!

The tank where my crab came from...

Saturday evening we headed to a neighboring city for their small snow festival. They had many small lanterns and were known for having lanterns floating the in the river.

Christian and I by a cute heart sculpture/lantern... (very cold!)

The lanterns in the river...

and of course, us...

On Sunday the 13th we were getting tired but still had a lot to see! We started our morning by heading to the other site of the festival which was all ice sculptures. Here are some of our favorites...

The "White Bear"!

Lost of dead fish in the house. (they were bloody so it was kinda icky!)

Beautiful Owl

Christian as "Gundam"

Love the fish in the coral!

This one was for you dad...

Dragon!

Some are even meant to play with!

After ice sculptures we went over to "Ramen Alley" for lunch! Here is a view down the alley. There are about 20 different ramen shops all in this one spot.

Here we are having lunch.

My ramen, butter corn (yes a Hokkaido specialty) was amazing!

In the PM we went to a sake brewery for a tour and some drinks. We also went to the beer museum...which sucked. There was no tour or drinks!

Me with the Sapporo beer...

At least the building was beautiful!

After dinner we headed back to the ice scupltures for the "night viewing" but the lighting wasn't so impressive! We also went back to the large snow sculptures to take pictures of the one we missed the day before. I also enjoyed this one.

There was a gospel choir on the snow stage (blocked by our heads)

On Monday the 14th we had a lazy morning before heading out to the outlit mall by the airport. We had a lovely flight home!

Merry Christmas to all!

2011-01-03T03:27:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hope you all have a very blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year! Christian and I enjoyed our holiday season though it didn’t really feel like Christmas here.

We started Christmas with “decorating” our tree. I cut out a paper tree from some left over cardstock and paper star and ornaments. Here we are decorating.

The tree pre-decorations…

Christian decorating…

Me decorating…

The finished tree…

Us and the tree...

and with our Christmas package from America…

Our tree up with presents (from my parents) under it…

Our Christmas cake…

Us and our cake…it was yummy!

We didn’t take any more pictures but the tree way lovely with all our other presents under it. We loved all our presents. I got two awesome pairs of socks (smartwool) and a beautiful pearl necklace from Christian. I also received a new pair of goggles from my parents. They will be super useful. Christian got a case of root beer and 3 books on bugs, spiders and other creepy crawlies of North America and Minnesota from me and a pair of PJ pants (with white bears) from my parents.

On Christmas day we went over to celebrate with Martin and Chigusa. We enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and green beans. We also had a traditional German Christmas dessert. It was YUMMY! We watched Christmas movies and played games. It was a lovely day!! :)

Halloween

2011-01-03T03:21:00.001-08:00

On Halloween Christian and I went over to Martin and Chigusa’s house for a small Halloween party! We all dressed up with awesome costumes, made delicious food and played some games!

My costume was a tornado…

Christian decided to be “Dr. Rick Dagless M.D.” (a character from his favorite British comedy ‘Dark Place’)…

There were 3 couples at the party. Here we all are dressed up…

lantern festival in Murakami

2011-01-03T03:11:00.001-08:00

On October 10^th Christian and I joined Martin and Chigusa on a trip up north for the Murakami lantern festival. Murakami is a small city about an hour north of us. Every year they host a lantern festival with handmade lanterns made from bamboo. Lanterns are place all around the cities. Here are some pictures from the trip….

Me enjoying the set up at the shrine.

Christian and me...

The lanterns on the street were beautiful lit up. It was really windy so they continually were being blown out.

more...

They were so lovely all lit up once it got dark...

There are cute little ghosts that are to protect us from rain…they didn’t work!

Christian tried to make some “lantern art” by making hearts and trying to spell my name with the lights.

almost...

Christian's mum visits!

2011-01-03T02:40:00.000-08:00

After announcing our engagement to our families, Christian’s mom wanted to come out to visit and celebrate with us. We hosted Jane from September 18^th to the 26^th. Three of us crammed into our tiny apartment were cozy but we did have fun.

We didn’t have a very adventures week but enjoyed traveling around Niigata. We visited our local lagoon in Christian and my city.

We also went to an Alberix game (Christian was very happy)!

And though I had to work 3 of the days of the week, we spent our weekend hiking at a local waterfall.

me and a mini falls...I just like this picture

the first of the two waterfalls (the small falls)

enjoying the beautiful scenery...

Hooray for hiking...

we made it to the big fall...

and last but not least...Christian's unsuccessful frog leap...

SOCCER!

2010-12-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

Back in September (9/11), we were lucky enough to receive free tickets to a Niigata Alberix game. The Alberix are the professional soccer team of Niigata. Christian was given the tickets from a co-worker. He was so excited to go since he had never been to a professional soccer match before!

YAY! Soccer…

Sad face…the Alberix suck…

Us at the stadium…

yummy in my tummy!

2010-11-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

I know there are debates and arguments over Japan’s whale “research” so Christian and I did our part and helped…

Our plate of whale sushi…

Conducting the experiment…

Christian’s conclusion…tasty but unsure, more research should be done

Colleen’s conclusion…guiltily delicious

WE'RE ENGAGED!

2010-11-07T04:14:00.001-08:00

Okay...I know this blog is over 2 months late but it's here...

The day after sumo (August 22) started out as a lazy Sunday. Christian and I were lounging around deciding what to do with our day. He suggested a nice drive to a view near his old home that he loved and a short hike to what he defined as "the scariest place on earth."

We pack up the car, grab a quick breakfast and go. Christian's old home is a good 2 hour drive but we had a blast singing along with the Beatles and chatting away. I didn't even suspect he was going to propose until we got about half way there. The thought crossed my mind and I got a little excited and hopeful.

We finally arrived and we walked down to the edge of the road to take in the lovely view. It really was beautiful!

As I was enjoying the view, Christian pulled me around, got down on one knee and proposed. I jumped into his arms...though not too hard as we were at the edge of a road and said "yes!" Here we are enjoying the view...

And us and my lovely ring...

After the proposal, Christian took me to what he thinks is the scariest place. It is an old water system thing. The place itself isn't actually scary but a place that one would never be found if they fell!

Don't fall!! AHHH!

Sumo!

2010-11-07T03:31:00.000-08:00

This past August Christian and I were invited to a small village up north for a local festival. The village is the hometown of our friend Chigusa. The festival was for the small, local neighborhood people and was a sumo tournament. The local men or spouses of children would compete. Chigusa and Martin invited us to join in the fun!

The fun started with lunch and at Chigusa's parents' house. They set up a noodle slide for us! It is a piece of bamboo that us cut in half. As you can see, a hose is then tied to the top and noodle are fed down the line. We all stay by with bowls of sauce ready to catch!

After lunch we took a lovely drive into the countryside where an old fashion dam had been built on the river. The slight elevation meant that fish swam up and were waiting to be grabbed! The fish to be caught were called "ayu" or in English, sweet fish. They smelled like watermelons. We didn't catch any big ones and set some small ones free.

They were prepared by slow cooking over embers...

When we got back...it was Sumo time! The fighting done here wasn't exactly up to standard Sumo rules and regulations...in fact...most rules were ignored and the fighting got dirty....salt in eyes, spiting, slapping and scratching were all "fair" game!

Christian is ready to fight!

And the battle begins...

And a WIN for Christian!

Christian did REALLY well! He won the "battle royal" and the "5 in a row" tournaments. For it, he was awarded cases of beers for a prize which he shared with our lovely hosts.

We had a lovely day of sumo and snow cones (for me at least!)

We heart MN!

2010-09-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

Christian's first trip to the mid-west and my joyous return. We visited MN and SD for about 12 days. We arrived home and were kept busy with wedding stuff. After the business had settled, we were able to enjoy the steamy hot weather MN had to offer!

We caught up with old friends! And Christian tried walleye for the first time. Here we are out to dinner with Nicole and Aaron.

Off to SD for 2 days. At the boarder...

Leave it to Christian and I to use the most of our camera memory on a spider...

A reunion with Salsa

Beautiful spider...

Christian overjoyed to hold her...

And so happy to see one of my favorite profs and one of my Sioux Falls families...

We did lots more in SD that we just never took pictures of! I was so happy to visit again with old friends, have a BBQ and for Christian to eat Mexican for the first time!

On the way home we stopped by Pipestone National Park for a hike around the query!

The beautiful prairie...

and us...

Christian and the query...

Us at the waterfall...

and as usual...I was found at the bookstore reading the children's books

We also headed up to Taylors Falls for a hike! It was beautiful!

We found another waterfall...

Check it out...

And the best birthday present ever!! AMAZING tickets to Wicked!!

adventures with friends.

2010-09-13T02:12:00.000-07:00

Rick and Nicole came down to Uonuma to visit Christian and I over the holiday weekend (July 18th). We decided to hike to the same waterfall Christian and I had hiked to over the 4th, show them an old house and out for delicious horse!

The house is an old house which belongs to the Meguro family. It is a large property with a shrine and beautiful gardens. It is also the first house in Niigata to get electricity. Here we are at the gardens of the house...

The waterfall again...

Us at the waterfall...

Christian and Rick tried to see if they could throw rocks across the valley and hit the waterfall...

The boys also wanted to go swimming in the river. After 5 tries they were able to jump and make a heart...

4th of July hike

2010-09-13T02:01:00.001-07:00

On the 4th Christian and I spent the afternoon hiking. The sky was overcast but the chances for rain were low...at least until we got to the start of the hike. It was a short 30 minute hike but it was pouring rain for the entire trip! The view at the end was worth it though!

The trail...

Us at the top

The beautiful view...

We did it!

Golden week in the Tokyo Islands

2010-09-13T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hello my well, two followers…as you can see, I haven’t written in a long time. The honest answer is that well, I strongly dislike blogging and only do it for you mom and grandma.

It has been, well a good long time since I have written and so I am going to power blog, lots of entries in a short while. Sit back and hold on…

First, we have to go back a bit…like way back. This first entry is about my “Golden Week” trip. Christian and I had Thursday plus Monday-Wednesday off and with one day vacation, took advantage of our 7 day weekend.

We took a boat ride off the hustling and bustling city of Tokyo to the Tokyo Islands. There, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the beautiful islands! No one could have ever guessed we were actually in Tokyo city!

The island we went to was Miyajima. It is known through out Japan as a young peoples or party island. It is also known to have the best surfing in Japan with waves similar to Hawaii. We also took a day trip to Shikenijiima which was a quiet little island a 15 minute ferry ride away. We enjoyed hiking and a quiet beach on that day.

Here are some pictures…

Christian and I are waiting for the ferry. It was an overnight ferry which left at about 11pm and got us to the island around 7 am.

We were able to get little “sleep spaces” on the ferry.

We’re here!! (with heavy backpacks full of camping supplies!)

Day 1 (April 30^th) we walked to the camp sight (about 5K) and set up our tent. The wind was blowing like crazy and actually blew our tent away at one point. We were invited into a group of surfers who had arrived earlier and found a more protected area. We also found some heavy rocks and bricks to weigh down the tent more.

After we set up, we walked down to the beach. It was beautiful! (note the beauty of the Japanese tetra pods…concrete in the water is so lovely)

The island is technically in the “sub-tropical” region but it surely did not feel like it. We were bundled up in a few layers and said “whoohoo, sub-tropical” as we took this picture!

Day 2 (May 1^st) on the island was sunny and lovely! We rented bikes for the remainder of the trip and spent this day exploring the island. We went to the history museum and learned many fun facts…such as a large population of the islands were people political exiles or criminals who were exiled there by the government.

We also explored the main temple and shrine of the island.

The temple…

Christian and me in front of a small shrine to some god…

Beautiful craftsmanship on this temple…

We also went to a “look out point” where we were able to climb around and find what we can only assume is an old look out tower…

And us…

After, we also went to a glass museum where they hand blow glass and to a sand onsen. The sand bath was wonderful! We were buried in hot sand for about 15 minutes. It felt a little warm but was amazing! After a long day we huddled in many layers in our sleeping bags for the night!

Day 3 (May 2^nd) was spent trying to learn to surf!

Since the island is known for it’s surfing, Christian wanted to try! We rented wetsuits, a surf board (for Christian) and a body board (for me).

We spent a few hours in the water and after been tossed and turned in the water till I was sure I knew what drowning felt like, I gave up and spend the afternoon in the sun reading Harry Potter.

Christian tried his luck surfing but gave up and had way more fun on my body board. Christian and his surf board…

After the adventure, we returned our rentals and headed to the free onsen for a warm bath and sunset.

Day 4 (May 3^rd) was our day trip to Shikenijima

We took the morning (about 10 am) ferry to the island and took a stroll around. There is not much to see or do on this island except hikes into the mountains and the beach. We found a preschool that had their carp “windsocks” up for children’s day (May 5^th). We thought these ones were so amazing because they were HUGE! We had to take a few pictures…

We enjoyed lunch and headed to the beach! It was a bit cold so I only went in for a short while. I enjoyed lying on the beach and reading while Christian hiked and climbed on the rocks.

And us…

The evening was spent playing in the stone animal museum and eating delicious sushi.

Day 5 (May 4^th) was time to go home

We packed up our tent…

Returned our faithful bikes…

And got back on the ferry…

It was a wonderful trip…little colder than we were expecting but better than Niigata!

Hanami (cherry blossom viewing)

2010-06-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Every year there is a large ALT party to view the flowers in the park. However, this year, the flowers were not really ready to bloom. The flower view was minimal but the company was great!

Christian and I at the castle...

and as a geisha and samurai...

Then 2 weeks later, on a crisp Saturday afternoon we headed to a park in the city! The blossoms were beautiful and falling on us like rain! It was wonderful!

YAY! cute couple and pretty flowers...

This tree was also in bloom but we weren't sure what it is. I think it is a plum tree!

PNG 2010

2010-06-02T02:24:00.000-07:00

The great PNG adventure...

DAY 1 (March 20th)- flight!

Whoohoo! We are on our way (leaving at 11pm!)

DAY 2- (March 21) Arrival!

It's only 5:30 am...and with a little sleep we are all excited to be in PNG! (can't you see it in our faces...)

Early mornings mean a day of adventure. First stop, the Amelia Earhart memorial. This was the last place she was ever seen. Amelia took of from Bau before she disappeared. With the least amount of class we could muster...

After sunscreen and flip flops, we were ready to go to the Rain forest preserve. There were tons of beautiful birds, alligators and other lovely creatures!

Everyone checking it out...

Christian and me...

and a snake to hold!

and the beginning to many dances...

An aunt of one of our tour guides made us a traditional dinner. The meat and veggies were wrapped in the leaves and buried with hot coals to cook!

DAY 3- into the Jungle

Sean, who came on the trip last year, donated about $200 for books! Knowing my love for children's book, he let me pick them out! I had so much fun choosing and buying books for the school and Culture Link Library!

6 hours in a tin boat can lead to insanity! (and dancing!)

On a stop Christian and I tried the waterproof feature of my camera. This is a picture of us (not underwater) taken from underwater.

We "caught" a fish!

Written in sticks in the word "ORO" (which is a greeting/welcoming call!)

And of course...welcomed with dancing...

DAY 4-First day of school!

The morning was spent sorting school supplies between the different schools we were going to visit...

and playing with kids... (I totally lost the thumb wars)

After sorting, we headed to the building site. A few of us took on a solar oven project!

I was the gluer...

We left it out for the bananas to cook!

The building site...

The building was mostly done so we helped paint!

In the evening, there was a culture program. Here some of the boys are trying to start fire with two sticks! The local boys (about age 6) could do it in about 2-3 minutes while after 30 minutes, two guys from our group were finally successful!

(Christian was not one of the two)

DAY 5-story telling

We spent the day sharing traditional stories! The kids told us many stories about their tribes history and we tried to share a few too!

In true fashion...we were welcomed with a beautiful dance...

Here the kids are sharing a story about a hunt...

Here we are trying to tell a story...

In the evening, we learned a dance that we will be doing during the opening ceremony for the school.

DAY 6-school visits...

We had our first of many school visits to a school called Winso duna.

ladies dancing on the side...

getting all decked out in skirts and head dresses (and playing with kids!)

back in the evening back in Bau it was another night of learning dances! This one is a little bit like jump rope. It was fun but a little pain when wrong...

DAY 7-and other school visit...

On day 7, we traveled a little ways to EU Primary school for another visit. Here we learned some traditional crafts and games. I learned to shave coconut for coconut rice...

Here is a wonderful game. There are 5 hoops. Each of the 4 members have a hoop and one is in the middle with 5 coconuts. The goal is to get 3 coconuts in your hoop at once.

This second game was spear throwing. It was us versus some kids. They killed us 9 to 0...

DAY 8-up the river...

Today we traveled up the river and stopped at the technical high school on the way. We were given coconuts to drink with AWESOME straws made of some sort of plant...

DAY 9-PEMA! (Home Sweet Home!)

I was SO excited to get back to Pema and be back in Waria River. It was so exciting to be back in the village...

We were not able to see the school completed last year and were so happy to see it and hear that with the new building and books we gave last year, Pema is now offically a reconized primary school in PNG!

Look at this beautiful school...

Hanging out in the school yard...

and hanging out with the kids...

On the boat ride up the river to the guest house...

playing at the guest house...(rick in a billum) :)

(billums are made to carry children in but a 25 year old adult...not so much!)

Giza (2nd picture) caught and held a huntsman spider that was hanging out in the boys room. After a bit of freaking out, I was very excited to hold him! (Christian pouted a bit since he missed this event)

DAY 10-Hike in Pema!

Last year we went to this same beautiful waterfall and played in the falls!

There is a cave on the side that if you go through, you shoot out in the falls...very fun!
(Christian and I in the cave!)

DAY 11- starting home and more dancing!

Christian may have been sad that he did not get to hold the spider but was happy he got to hold this giant stick bug!

Back in Saigara we were welcomed with a celebration! Nicole (the trip leader) and I were asked to light the giant bonfire!

and burn it did...

and what night would be complete without a wonderful dance...

Nicole and I...

DAY 12-Siagara donations and another school...

We donated school supplies to Siagara. I was excited because this backpack has Hello Kitty on it...

Nicole and I got beautiful billums full of fruit for our leadership of co-directing (me) and trip leading (Nicole). We were to carry them in the traditional way...our necks were a little tired!

I was very excited about this gift at the other primary school. It's an awesome mask!

This school had 4 poles carved to each for each of the clans. This is the bego pole and I am hanging with my bego family! (We the begos are hunters!)

DAY 13-travel and rain!

We were supposed to leave early and enjoy an afternoon on the island...but with rain we had a relaxing day reading on the beach! (under the protection of the roof!)

DAY 14-PARTY TIME!

It was time to dedicate the school. I wolk up that morning to the sound of the pig being sacrificed. It wasn't very pleasant but surely made me appriciate my food! Here was our dinner cooking! Not a piece went to waste...

The school was all decorated for the opening...

In America we cut the ribbon on a new building but in PNG...they smash a pot! Our fearless leader got the honor of smashing it!

I got the honor of pulling down the curtain to reveal the sign for the school...

Being our main project, Bau Elementary got the most donations. Every person in our group was able to give something. It was beautiful to watch 16 people with 8 boxes, a guitar and LOTS of toys and books donate!

Our whole group!

Our school...

YAY! Our school! (Christian and I)

and again

on the front of the school was a list of all those who came to PNG and all those who participated in the musical/made large donations!

On the way back to the guest house we were able the bego clan was able to stop by the bego house. It was really exciting for us girls to go onto the second floor! (Usually for men only)

DAY 15-on the way home...

Happy and sad to go home. happy knowing a shower was waiting....

we stopped by an artifacts shop and bought wonderful things! (beautiful bowls and other trinkets!) This painting was on the wall and we all were moved by it!

DAY 16-flight home

flying out with the sunrise... (flying from Bau to Port Morsby)

We had some time to kill in Port Morsby (play on words since Port Morsby is the 2nd most dangerous city in the world!). We were shown around by palament member, Sasa. He is from Waria Valley and was happy to show us around after we built a school in his village!

After a stop to a HUGE grocery store (I bought chocolate and oatmeal!) We headed to the parlament offices to look at the mural...beautiful as last year!

afternoon flight and we were back in Japan around 11 pm!

Another fire festival!

2010-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Martin and Chigusa had heard of a local fire festival at our local onsen. I tagged along to check it out. To my great disappointment, we were to late for roasting mochi (sweet [and gooey] rice cakes) but we were able to enjoy the other parts of the festival. We walked around the area, checking out a local glass making shop, the sight of the fire, and of course, the lines of festival food!

This fire festival was to burn all the old wooden shoes called geta that people wear at hotels and onsens. People burn them for good luck and health in the new year. They also burn the decorations that were used to decorate the temple for New Years. They must be burnt since they are holy and cannot be thrown away.

Here is the structure where the temple decorations and old geta are and will be burned. The round red things on top are called "daruma." They are used for luck in Japan. People draw one of the eyes in and make a wish. When the wish comes true, they color the other eye in.

All the geta...

Chigusa and I by the main fire site. This is also full of temple decorations to be burned. The giant wooden rectangles are designed to look like geta too!

After we checked everything out we did enjoy some festival food. I was so excited to see Hiroshima okonomiyaki. It was Christian and my favorite food on our trip in Sept! You can see them making the greasy festival deliciousness...

After dessert (a choco banana), the people started running with the fire. They started and ran to the site. It took them about 30 minutes. When they got to the site, they ran and chanted and screamed around and then attacked!

We thought the were crazy...running in shorts and shoes with fire in the snow...

Then everyone threw their torch on to the fire and cheered and clapped and yelled some more...

And of course...what better time for the fireworks...

They also lit all the geta on fire too...

It was cool watching everything burn but watching the shoes burn gave me images of concentration camp so that was a little unsettling...

After everything burned down the festival was over! It was an interesting and fun night...the only thing missing was roasted mochi!

Tokamachi Snow Festival

2010-02-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

Every year there is a giant snow festival in the city of Tokamachi. Tokamachi is about 2-3 hours south of my house. It is the oldest snow festival in Japan! There are many events including snow sculpture competition, concert, sledding and festival food!

Christian and I headed over to Tokamachi around supper time and checked out a few sculptures and went to the terrible concert. Here is what we saw...

Here is the first sculpture we saw while driving in...

We thought this was a cool one but weren't totally sure what it was. Phoenix and tiger and maybe a cave...

Christian and I...

Gods opening a gate...

After checking out these sculptures we went up to the snow stage to hear the concert. The singer was Watanabe Misato. She apparently is a little older of a singer and popular among the middle aged crowd. We all thought she was terrible but had a great time dancing (to stay warm) like fools! The stage was made totally out of ice and snow. Lights and a few fireworks made it quiet a sight...

After the concert, Christian and I ate some terrible, greasy festival food and then meet up with a group of friends for a drink. They had these cute tiger sculptures by the food...

Christian and I...

After drinks Christian found our way home in a round about way seeking out a few more sculptures. The map was terrible so we got lost a few times but eventually found our way! We found this sculpture that I think was a "New Years" themed sculpture. It had a few tigers and samurai in it.

and us...

And the last sculpture we found (the one we originally went out looking for) was a "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed one. It was about 1 am when we found this one so there were no lights. We had to position the car in the most upright way we could and then turn on the brights to see it.

Me + the sculpture...

and Christian and I...

HAPPY (belated) CHRISTMAS!!

2010-02-22T00:05:00.001-08:00

This year for Christmas, Christian gave me a weekend trip. He reserved a night away for us at a ryokan (Japanese inn) about an hour north of my house. It was a beautiful place, set back in the mountains and on a river. We drove up on Saturday afternoon through a terrible white out! The snow was flying up so baldy that the main roads were closed and we had to take the (elevated) pay highway! There were points where we could not even see the hood of the car! It was scary but we were so glad to have made it! When we arrived, we were shown to our private cottage (each room is like its own little cottage) and shown around the room. The woman also directed us to sit under the kotatsu (heated table) and warm up while she served us tea and cookies. We enjoyed an evening of hot springs, relaxing and a wonderful dinner!

Here are some photos...

We had to park across the river and walk over this bridge...

the river...

Here is our room right after we arrived. You can see the kotatsu table in the middle. There is a heater built in under it! This is one of the main ways Japanese people stay warm in the winter! I never wanted to leave it was so cozy!

The view out the back door...

Our room have 3 different hot spring baths. 2 were outdoors and 1 was indoors. This bath was the best because it had a beautiful view of the snow covered mountains and river.

The room also had ukata for us to wear. These are like kimono but made of cotton. Since it was winter, there was also an overcoat. It was presented so beautifully!

Me in my ukata...

Christian tied a beautiful knot which he learned in iaido (the art of sword fighting)...

Christian and I with our Japanese stern faces....

and not so stern...

Part of the service was a beautiful 6 course meal served to our rooms! The first course was 4 different salads...

On the tray was also this drink of strange bitter alcohol! We just thought it was cute being the shape of a heart...

Then there was crab and raw beef served on ice (with an adorable igloo)...

Part of the crab tray was this stuff...It is cod sperm. We both tried and did not like it.

There was this mini nabe dish with meat and veggies cooked over this little fire...

There was the fish plate with 3 different kinds of fish...

And dessert...

After we were done, she asked if we also wanted rice but we both felt like we were going to explode!!

It was a lovely and relaxing weekend away!

FIRE festival!

2010-01-19T23:58:00.001-08:00

Hi all! I hope you are having a wonderful 2010 so far. I am back in Japan and enjoying every minute of it. Last weekend, I joined a group of friends in a trip to Nozawa-onsen's "Fire Festival" and for a day of snowboarding.

The festival is an interesting one and well, none of us really understood it. In this festival, there was a giant shrine like structure made from a tree and twigs. There were men under it who were "protecting" it. They had pine branches as weapons. Another group of men were to come at them with the goal of setting the shrine on fire. Together, they just beat each other up and eventually, let the shrine on fire.

A young man near us told us the fire had something to do with purification but that was about all we knew. He also later said that people in the area were just cold and drunk in winter and needed something to do. I concluded (after watching the fighting), they also must have been angry.

Some pictures from the festival....

These were giant banners with what I can only guess were wishes. I overheard something about all the new babies born in the city that year. I am thinking it was parent's wishes for their children. Either way...they were thrown into the fire at the end!

The giant sea of people...and the giant fire...

First of two pictures of the shrine. Check out the size of the snow flakes!

Better lighting the second time. You can see the way it was pieced together.

Dave, Christian and I...freezing our butts off...

Starting to attack...

Angry mob with fire...

"grab your torch and pitchforks..."

Eventually the giant fire won and the whole thing went up in flames...

And then came crashing down...

Christian and I after it was over (totally frozen and partically numb)

This video is when the men were attacking the shrine. You can see how they are trying to set it on fire and how they are all beating each other....

The fire festival was on Friday night and so we took advantage of being in the mountains and went snowboarding on Saturday. The weather was cold and snowy but the mountains were BEAUTIFUL! With 8 layers on top, 4 on bottom, 3 on my feet, 2 on my hands and 1 on my head (that is right...17 pieces of clothes to keep me warm!) I was warm and toasty on the mountain.

I concluded that I don't really like snowboarding so much as I just love being on top of the mountain. Christian was a very patient teacher in helping my learn and though I complained a lot, I did enjoy the day. Though, I did not enjoy the sore muscles the next day!

Here are some pictures from snowboarding on Saturday....

Christian scraping the car. The snow on top of his car is the snow that fell from over night! Over a foot over night!

Christian was patient with me as I whined about my legs hurting...

Last one of us on top of the mountain!

Christian playing in the snow!
(we also had fun sledding down hills while sitting on our boards and jumping in the snow!)

cooking class!

2009-10-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my new friend Caitlin introduced me to a local cooking class in the next town. I was eager to join in a learn more about Japanese cooking (and practice my Japanese!) We meet every Tuesday at 7:00 for class. The class is about 2 hours long. We meet, cook and eat together!

The meals follow a similar pattern...main dish, salad, rice, soup and dessert. It is A LOT of food and I always have leftovers to take home for dinner the next day!

Here are some of the things we created...

meal:
hamburg (Japanese style hamburger)
steamed veggies
salad that you wrap in the lettuce
soup
rice
grapes for dessert

This past weeks meal:
Salmon (foil cooked with ketchup, onions and butter...strange combo but it tasted good)
Salad (it was turnips and cucumbers!!)
soup (which tasted like chicken noodle but wasn't!)
rice (with corn in it)
apple "compost" dessert (apples that are boiled in sugar water until they are soft and whip cream on top!)

CAMPING! (Oct 10-12)

2009-10-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Another 3 day weekend allowed for another camping adventure!

A group of us car-a-vanned over to the next prefecture for a camping and caving adventure.

Our group of 7 left Saturday morning for Fukushima. The drive took longer than expected and between taking a long lunch and finding a campsite, we were not able to go to the caves on Saturday. We set up camp and made pumpkin curry (in a pumpkin) on the fire and s'mores...delicious!

On Sunday we awoke ready to start out caving adventure! We headed to the first cave. The first cave we went to was call Abukuma-do. This was the "pretty" cave. The path was easy and there were signs (with some English!) explaining the types of formations. It was well lite and FULL of people! The formations were about 80 million years old and were BEAUTIFUL! But see for yourself....

The group shot before entering the cave...

Some different formations...

This picture grosses me out a little...it looks so slimy!

Rick walking along the path...

The girls...

There was an underground water system...

and more formations...

climbing the stairs...(even we, of normal height and weight, had trouble fitting through here...)

The whole group inside the cave!

curtains, soda straws and box formations...see mom, I learned something on my vacation!

I just really like this one because it is a whole wall of similar formations...

I am pretty sure this one is called "something mushroom"...don't know how it go it's name...it looks NOTHING like a mushroom!

After we enjoyed the beautiful formations in Abukuma-do (and learned) we headed just a few kilometers down the road to Irimizu-do. This cave had 3 different courses-A, B, and C. A course was only about 150 m and was very easy. (trust me-women were walking it in heels!). B course was more difficult and was 450m further into the cave. For B course, you had to carry your own light (as most of it was not lite) and be ready to crawl through tight spaces while mid-calf deep in FREEZING water. We were ready!

The course was a blast. The water was cold but after a short time, all of our feet were numb so it didn't matter! (we just ignored that little voice screaming about how much trouble we would be in if anything happened while in there!) We squated, jumped and climbed over rocks to view many more beautiful formations! We could not take a camera in since we knew we would get soaked so we only have a picture of the after...(note that none of us are dry from waist down and our tops or sufficiently soaked threw!)

Silver week was GOLDEN!

2009-10-08T01:19:00.001-07:00

3 days off work makes a 5 day weekend of adventure in the making!
(September 18th-September 23rd)

I had spent about a year making paper cranes to put on the Children's Peace Memorial. There is a Japanese story about a young girl, Sadako, who got leukemia because of the atomic bomb. She knew of an old Japanese legend that if someone folds a thousand paper cranes than they can make a wish. She folded over a thousand cranes in the hope of getting better but died in the end. After, her classmates and other children from all over Japan raised money to build memorial. Folding cranes for those who are sick has become popular since.

I really had only about 250 done (out of 1000) in the start of August so I spend the month and half before the trip folding like crazy! I finished the cranes about a week before we left and was so excited to make my wish and put the cranes on the memorial.

Here are my my 1000 cranes on the couch. There are 50 cranes on each string-20 in total. (the rainbow ones are my favorite!)

I was all ready to go, excited and eager to sit on the train for 9 hours...

DAY 1: Hiroshima

After my planning Christian and I decided to visit Hiroshima and Kobe. We took the over night train from Niigata to Hiroshima. We left Niigata around 11pm on Friday night and arrived in Hiroshima at 8 am. We both we exhausted but had so much to see!

We started our tour of Hiroshima by going to the a-bomb dome. The dome was a busy center of arts and offices. It became a center, a landmark of the city of Hiroshima. It was one of the few buildings standing after the bomb dropped. The bomb feel about 600 m away from the dome. Since the bomb fell so close to the dome it was considered to fall directly on top of it. Since that happened, the building was able to still stand. The city was going to tear the building down but the people decided to preserve it to remember the horror of nuclear war. The building is preserved to look exactly as it did the day the bomb dropped.

Our first view of the dome after we got off the tram:

And a few around the side:

And a few from the front, looking in:

And a view from across the river:

We crossed the river and went to peace park. The park had many different memorials. There was a peace bell (which we rang), a mound with ashes (all the ashes of unknown victims), the children's memorial, the eternal flame, and the peace museum.

My favorite part of peace park was the children's memorial. I was so excited to put my cranes on the memorial! Me at the memorial!

Behind this memorial were these plastic storage containers to put the cranes in. I was so excited to make my wish and put them in!

Further in the park was this eternal flame. The flame was lite one year after the bomb dropped at the first peace ceremony. The arch covers a container with a list of all the known victims. There is a pool here that contains a prayer for peace in 8 different languages. There is a memorial ceremony here every August 6th.

After we enjoyed listening to a group of high school students practice singing in the park we went to the museum. It was moving and full of amazing information. It was very interesting to see information about the war from the other point of view. It was amazing to see how Hiroshima has dedicated itself into being a city of peace.

After enjoying out time in the peace park we were starving and ready for lunch. We had read up on Hiroshima okonomiyaki, a local delight. Okonomiyaki is also called a Japanese pancake. It has a think layer of batter, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onion, meat (or other filling like shrimp and eel), noodles, and cooked egg on top. We walked to an area called "okonomiyaki village" to find the best in the city. It was AMAZING!!!

After lunch we headed to Hiroshima castle. We were able to walk through a building that was designed like a guard tower (or at least that is my guess). We enjoyed looking at models of the old castle and played the taiko drums!

Across the castle grounds was a rebuilt tower. It is the main tower where the feudal lord lived. It has been made into a museum now. It is 6 stories tall with each floor being dedicated to a different theme: weaponry, Hiroshima history, life in the 40s and more. The 6th floor was a viewing floor and offered a beautiful view of the city!

On the castle grounds was also the emperor's old home. We enjoyed hanging out on his steps!

After this wonderful day of sightseeing on not nearly enough sleep we were exhausted! We found more Hiroshima style okonomiyaki for dinner, picked up some ice cream and the local convince store and head back to the hotel to crash early!

DAY 2: Miyajima

Miyajima is home to one of Japan's most famous sights-the floating tori. Miyajima is a small island just off of Hiroshima city that is easily accessed by a short boat ride. The island was thought to be a holy land and they did not want anyone to die there. In the past, no one was allowed to live there (except maybe priests?) and anyone who wanted to access the shrine must do so via the water. The main shrine was actually more like a giant pier. The tori is only under water during high tide and we were lucky to see it first thing in the morning. It was a beautiful sight...bright sunny sky, blue water, green mountainous back drop...

and me and the tori...

Then we walked to the shrine for another view...

and again, me and the tori...

After walking through the main shrine and viewing the beautiful tori we were ready for a hike up Mount Misen. Along the way we saw beautiful sights of tucked away temples and little waterfalls.

The hike way lovely too. The forest way green and there were 800 steps. Here is Christian waiting for me as I make my way, slowly, behind him (whining too, no doubt).

another picture of the path...

and the breath taking views of Hiroshima bay...

Almost to the top we found a beautiful little shrine tucked away in the woods...(you can make out the orange of the roof in this picture)

The tori on the way in (rock piling was very popular around here...not sure of the significance but it was beautiful)

me + view from the shrine...

In the picture I am stand on top of a giant rock. While looking around, Christian noticed a roof down below. After some climbing around we found another amazing little shrine under the rocks...

Christian is standing on top of the rock (the point at which I am standing in the picture above) and I am now down below on another rock by the shrine, just to give you an idea of the distance.

And this was the little shrine. It was built into the wall of the rocks....

And the view from the rocks...

After enjoying this view we finally decided to push to the top. We finished our hike at 530 meters...the top of Mt. Misen!

The prize winning view from the top...

After our hike back down the mountain we found the tori at low tide. It was surround by small pools of water and mud but we were able to walk all the way up to it. The whole place was crazy crowded.

It was fun to see up close how small we were in comparsion!

We enjoyed some of the local cuisine. Miyajima is known for a broiled eel on rice...yummy! We also sampled the local treats, maple leaf shaped manju (cakes with sweet red bean paste filling). Along the streets we also saw the worlds largest rice spoon! It is 7.7 m long, 2. 7 m wide and weights 2.5 tons!

After this we caught the night boat back to Hiroshima. We walked back to our hotel and stopped at the a-bomb dome to see it lit up!

DAY 3: Kobe

On this morning we hopped onto a shinkansen to head to Kobe. The train ride was about 2 hours long. Kobe is famous for it's amazing beef so we were headed there at 10 am, and already looking forward to dinner!

In Kobe we started our day by going to the aquarium. It had a few great tanks, Japan's first underwater tunnel, giant turtles and dophin shows.

Us in front of the large tank (sorry it's blurry!)

And a dolphin show...

We enjoyed an AMAZING Kobe beef dinner. After dinner we headed up Mt. Rokko on the Rokko cable car to take in the 1000 man dollar ($10,000,000) view. We aren't sure if they are trying to say the view is better than a million dollars or just got confused.

On the cable car...

And the view... (you can see across the bay all the way to Osaka harbor). It was lovely but not sure if it was a 10,000,000 dollar view...

DAY 4: Kyoto/home

On our last day we finished our tour of Kobe by going to the earthquake museum. It was really interesting to learn about how the earthquake affect the people and how the city used it's strength to rebuild.

We then headed to Kyoto to catch our night train back to Niigata. (the train would leave Kyoto and midnight). Since we had a little time in Kyoto we stopped to hike around my favorite shrine- Fushimi-inari taisha. It is famous for having MILLIONS of tori. I LOVE the wish wall (people pay and write their wishes or messages on these wooden boards and hang them on the wall)

and the million of tori on the hike...(I kept thinking memoirs of a geisha when the little girl was running through here...)

As you can see, many were worn and beaten up. I thought the lanterns were also beautiful...

We caught our train home at midnight and made back to Niigata around 9 am on Wednesday morning. (and slept most of Wednesday away!) It was a fantastic silver week!

2009-09-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday August 22 I headed up north to the inaka (rural) with my friends Martin, Chigusa and Jon. We headed to Asahi which is Chigusa's hometown. Every year in Asahi there is a neighborhood sumo festival among the local men.

There are really aren't any rules...anything (including slapping, spitting and throwing salt in your opponents eyes) goes. There were judges (though, like the participants, most were not of a sober mind), but their only job was to watch for when a participants foot went out of bound.

There was a sumo dohyo (a sumo ring) built just for the occasion! The dohyo is made of clay and sand. There is a ring in the center that is the "out of bounds" area. There are also usually two white lines in the center where the wrestlers start.

Before the adults wrestled, there was a kids tournament. This was for kids ages 3 through elementary school (age 11). The cute little kid on the right is Chigusa's sister's son. Koki isn't exactly the toughest child and he was picked up and thrown out of the ring. He didn't cry but did panic every time his father carried him near the ring again. He did win a prize which he was happy about!

After the child were done it was time for the adults. The men put their mawashi (the loincloth) on, drank some sake and sat down.

When it was a wrestlers turn they...

First the men would throw some salt onto the rink (or n the case of some of these guys...into their opponents eyes) and do a sumo stomp.

Then the two men would met at the center of the ring, squat and stare each other down...

On the referee's mark...start the sumo...

Then the winners would get their prize...

After the winner was presented with their prize they bring it to the front of the ring, throw some salt, clap twice and do the sumo stomp again...

These were Martin's prizes...a giant empty box and a case of chu-hi

Here are some videos...

Martin's first match!
(though he looked like he won he actually didn't because he stepped out of bounds!)

One of the matches was a "free for all."
All the men were in the circle and the last man standing was to be the winner!
Martin actually won this! (though...we were a little surprised!)

At the end of the tournament a person has to win 7 in a row to become the champion. The winner had already been decided (because he has to host a party at his house after) but they other men would not make it easy for him! This part was especially brutal...men with bright red backs from slapping and stinging from salt being thrown in their eyes!

After the champion was named the men all sung and walked to his house for the drinking party. After the party there was a dancing part of the festival. We joined in and I was dragged in to dance with Chigusa's aunt. I eventually figured out the local dance and had a blast with the ladies!

We also set off fireworks (little burn to the finger) and looked at the stars (saw the Milky Way and 4 shooting stars!) It was a fantastic night!

birthday bash!

2009-08-16T23:41:00.001-07:00

After a horridly long day at work (elementary seminar day), I was greeted at home by wonderful friends who were ready to throw me a fantastic birthday bash!

We went to this beautiful Italian restaurant near my apartment and had a delicious dinner. After dinner I also got this BEAUTIFUL cake as everyone sang "Happy Birthday."

yummy...

blowing out the candles...

Naomi's artistic photo of the cake...

Everyone...

take two...

cute mini-fan present from Ruu and Futoshi...

and Naomi provided the musical entertainment...

and my going away present for Naomi (I'll miss you!)...

where everybody knows your name...

2009-08-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

There is a local bar about a block from my apartment that we visit quiet frequently called Rugoos. They have a 1000 yen nomihodai (all you can drink for an hour and a half) so we love to enjoy our Friday nights there!

Rugoos does a birthday service where they provide a cake, a horrid English song and pop noise makers for you! I made a reservation for us and requested the birthday service. The young woman who took the reservation asked, "whose birthday is it? what name should I put on the cake?" and when I said, "It's my birthday." She responded with, "oh, so we will put "Colleen" on the cake." I was very taken back that she knew my name but felt special at the same time!

We ordered some delicious food and toasted good-bye to Laura and Sarah (who would be leaving Japan next day) and to my birthday.

After a while they brought us the birthday cake and played the birthday song.

"Happy Birthday Korin!"

Then they took a picture of all of us.

me and my cake!

Then they took the cake away and cut it for us.

And when they brought the cake pieces back they also brought
this awesome card they made for me!

Drivers License

2009-08-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

My International Drivers Permit expires after one year which means it was time to get my Japanese license.

Getting your license here was a HUGE ordeal, well, it is a huge ordeal if you are an American!

Here is the process...

1. Translate the American license into Japanese
2. Go to license center and fill out lots of paper work (no...I have no been pulled over by a cop. No, have not gotten a ticket...and so on...)
3. Take a written test (which was a joke...10 true or false questions)
4. Take the driving test
5. Get license

Now...the process seems simple enough right?

The first 3 steps are pretty simple. The written test was a huge joke. Each question had a picture a horridly worded English question. For example, one question had a picture of two cars in an accident. The written question said something like: "If, therefore, an accident has happened then that it would be a good idea if you left your car scene with no police having arrived." By the way...the answer is false.

The driving test is horrible. My first test was with Frankenstein (really-he does look like Frankenstein!). I felt that I drove wonderfully but my first attempt was a fail. I took two lessons to learn the secrets of the driving test. I learned you should be 50 cm away from the white line on the left side, foot NOT over the brake around a turn, two (forceful, nauseating) pumps on the brake when stopping, hands at 10 and 2...and many other lovely tips. I was ready after my two lessons and practicing on the course.

Attempt number 2 proved to be a success and I got my license! I now have keep a little yellow and green symbol in my front and back windows to indicate that I am a "new driver." I have to keep them in for one year.

Here is my license...

FUTBOL!

2009-08-12T21:16:00.001-07:00

Before Laura left she wanted to enjoy one more Alberix soccer game. We got the group together and were ready to cheer!

Here Laura and I are with our tickets...

Jon and I cheering at the game...

All of us in front of the field...

and Laura and I enjoying her last game...

The Alberix are in 3rd place right now and they tied Yamagata (11th place) 1 to 1.

Fuji--san

2009-08-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Hikers ready! Fuji-san here we come...

I was totally ready with enough trail mix for everyone...YUMMY!

Here we are at the bottom. We started at station 5. (The top is station 10)

We started hiking around 11pm. About 30 minutes later was a beautiful scene of the lights of the city below. This picture really isn't that wonderful but I tried...

At station 6 there is a sign pointing to the summit...Laura and I searched for it..."Fuji-san summit, where are you?"

We made it to station 8 by sunrise (our group spit into two...those who could make it to the top and then us...those who wanted to die from altitude sickness!) We found some comfy rocks to sit on to watch the sunrise. It was still mostly dark when we sat down but here is the start of the sunrise...

And the sun continued to rise...

Then we actually made it to station 8 (our seats were about 10 feet below the station)

Station 8 is 3,100 meters up!

Then it was time to slide down. There was a long line both going up and going down...

The scene only got more beautiful as the sun rose...

but AHHHHH....be careful...don't fall down Fuji!

Overall it was a pretty miserable hike. The winds were hurricane level (ok, maybe not but I swear it was close.). The trail was like a pile of rocks dumped up the mountain in which you have to climb over. Here is a picture of part of the trail...

Pretty sure, with that wind, this was one of the most dangerous things I have ever done. To support my statement...2 people died on the mountain the same night as we climbed it! But the sunrise was beautiful and I am glad I did it! :)

fender bender.....

2009-07-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

I had the terrifying experience of my first fender bender. This was the first time I had ever hit another car (and I HOPE it will be the LAST!). I luckily was near my friend Troy's house and called him. He quickly came to be my translator with the police and the guy I hit. It was a tiny accident and (also luckily) no one was hurt.

My poor Stella....

Just a little dent, right?

and that happened to the other guys car was a broken tail light...

(and he was driving a company car and could not have cared less that I hit it. It was already covered in dents. He was so sweet about the whole situation as I broke down.)

My poor car...

I had to scream "STELLA" (how could I not?)

just like mom's home cooking...

2009-07-12T05:21:00.001-07:00

on 7/1

Troy called and invited me to join what is usually his Japanese lesson but turned into a cooking class for him. They had made this "fancy" style of cooking that is used for parties and celebrations.

First-may a layer of salt on the tray
Second-set the fish onto the pile of salt
Third-place a bamboo leave over the fish
Fourth-cover EVERYTHING in salt (and draw a fish in the salt)
Fifth-bake for about an hour

When the hour is up the the salt will have hardened and the fish will be SUPER tender.

Brake the salt open with a knife to reveal the delicious dinner....

Troy working hard to get us our food...

Success!!!

Side dish...(eel and octopus with caramelized onions...)

The whole table...

Thank you to our WONDERFUL hostess...

Visit to the doctor (6/25)

2009-07-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

On 6/25 I had my first visit to the doctor!

I had been sick for about 3 weeks and thought it was about time I take care of it. I bribed my friend Troy to come along as my translator in exchange for dinner. After taking my temp the doctor handed me a mask. (First time ever wearing one! )

4 different prescriptions later and I feel brand new!

End of May-family visit (part 6-Niigata)

2009-07-12T04:25:00.000-07:00

Our time in Niigata was very uneventful. We arrived on Thursday night and since I only have 4 days of vacation...I had to head to work on Friday!

I brought my parents along to my elementary school for a short lessons with my 2nd graders.

My parents were warmly welcomed by a sign and comfy slippers at the door...

We had a short lesson about animals and played a few games....

After school we ended my on a short walk of the local lagoon...(pretty but windy!)

We joined Martin and Chigusa for dinner at "kappa sushi." Everyone tried lots of new things (including natto-good work family!).

And we loved watching the sushi being delivered on the Shinkansen!

lots of plates later...

On Saturday we drove down (about 2 hours south) to the prefectural museum. It was a great place!

After the museum we went to the beach to see the Sea of Japan.

On Saturday day night we had set up a tabi-nomi-hodai with some of my friends. (an all you can eat/all you can drink for 2 hours) at a yakiniku (grilled meat) place. We were brought LOTS of meat and were to grill it right there.

There were lots of fun people...

And after some WONDER food and drinks we were ready for another drink at a local bar...

(It too a handful of beers and we were all about the Japanese style peace sign in pictures!)

(Sunday was spent sleeping really late to get over the hangovers....)

End of May-family visit (part 5-Kyoto day 4)

2009-07-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

Our final day in Kyoto....

We had a half day in Kyoto before 2 Shinkansen rides (and 4 hours) back home (well...home for me). With our half day we visited the last 2 temples on our list.

We went to Sanjusangen-do. This temples is know for the 1001 statues of Buddhist deity. There are 1000 smaller statues of the Kannon (Important Cultural Properties) and one large seated statue. There are statues of the Thunder God and Wind God which people used to pray to them for a good harvest. The grounds on the outside were lovely too. There used to be archery contests where people would shoot arrows for 24 straight hours!!

We weren't actually allowed to take pictures here so here's one from the Internet...

After Sanjusangen-do we went to Kiyomizu-dera. I was told by co-workers this is the most famous temple in Kyoto-a must see.

This temple had a large balcony with a beautiful outlook over HUGE gardens. The main balcony:

These springs are flowing holy water. It is believed that if you drink from each of the three streams you will be able to make a wish...

This was the explanation...three wishes...fulfillment, health and long-life...

and one last photo...

Then 4 hours on the Shinkansen....here we come....

End of May-family visit (part 4-Kyoto day 3)

2009-07-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

Another full day in Kyoto ahead of us....

On day 3 we started with Toji temple. This is a 5 story pagoda and is the tallest in Japan.

Kevin and I....

Then we went to Fushimi-inari. This shrine is known for having thousands of tori (the red gates). This place was, without a doubt, my favorite. I now want to go back and hike
This was the main shrine but we were unable to enter because there was some sort of ceremony happening.

Behind this main shrine were thousands of tori. You are able to walk through them. There is a 4km hike all through tori too.

There were other little shrines along the way too...

After our morning of two temples we headed off to spend the afternoon at "Movie Village." This was so fun! It is a village where they have set up an old edo style towns where many old dramas and movies are filmed. We were able to walk threw old style houses, the pleasure district, edo style shops and watch part of a filming for a drama.

The 4 of us sitting in front of a samurai house.

The streets of movie land...

Walking is just so tiring....

Kevin and a cute Japanese gal...

Awesome ninja and movie affects....would have been fun to try this!

And for our last night in Kyoto we stayed at a ryokan (a Japanese style inn).

Here is our room. The 4 futons were prepared and set out on the floor for us. The sweet inn taker brought us green tea and sweets. It was wonderful!

The garden off the back of our room...

End of May-family visit (part 3-Kyoto day 2)

2009-07-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

Kyoto day 2 (the marathon!)

We started the day at Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) It was beautiful...

and family Christmas picture time...

Then we also went to Ryoanji Temple. This temple is known for it's famous garden. This garden is a very simple Zen garden. There are no trees, white pebbles and 15 large rocks. You are able to sit at the edge of the garden and are supposed to find something as you stare at it.

The whole temple had lovely gardens as well....

Our 3rd and last temple of the day was Ginkaku-ji (Silver pavilion). Though unlike the Golden pavilion, which is gold, there is no silver to be found. We actually found a temple under construction! The grounds were lovely and there was a small zen rock garden too.

Zen rock garden:

Japanese style garden:

End of May-family visit (part 2-Kyoto day 1)

2009-07-08T03:20:00.000-07:00

2 hours on the Shinkansen and we are in Kyoto!

Day one starts off in full force (my mother said I was running them like crazy around the city...which isn't entirely untrue).

We started the day off with a tour of Kyoto Imperial Palace. It was beautiful. I would have loved to explore more but we weren't able to go into any rooms, of course.

This was the guest entrance:

This was the waiting room. There are three different rooms. Which room you were to wait in varied was based on your status.

And this is the Emperor's room. There were changing chambers, sleeping chambers and a space for morning prayer.

beautiful buildings...

and beautiful gardens...

and our tour guide was adorable...so why not take her picture...

And after the Imperial Palace we headed over to Nijo Castle.
We got to walk through this castle. It was a long and thin. This was a defense tactic so that intruders could be easily spotted. The floors also squeaked as a defense tactic!

More castle:

and more...

The castle had the most beautiful gardens. There was both a Japanese style garden and a western style garden.

There was also a huge line of maple trees-BEAUTIFUL!

We also went to the Yuzen-en Kimono Gallery. Her we could see hand painted kimonos...

close up...

End of May-family visit (part 1-Tokyo) (power update 2/2)

2009-06-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

Wooohooo! The McIntosh's take to Japan! Big city Tokyo here we come!

I hadn't been in Tokyo since orientation....10 months ago! The family and I spent much time looking at train maps and agreed on a random station to meet. It was the station closest to our hotel. Everyone gave me this horrified look that I wasn't going to meet my parents at the airport and hold their hands on the way in. On my train ride in I was starting to get nervous that they would get really lost and we would NEVER find each other. However, we meet randomly on the platform in Tokyo station. It was perfect!

Our first hotel was call "Sakura something" (Cherry blossom). We staying in the dormitory style rooms. It was full of backpackers...we met some interesting people! (normal street in a city-note the lack of anything green and growing).

On our first day in Tokyo we went to the Imperial gardens...

Outside the gardens:

The whole family:

Just the garden:

We also went to a temple...name long forgotten...

and Tokyo tower...

On day 2 in Tokyo it rained. Our plans were to go see the kids who dress up like anime characters but with the rain they wouldn't be out. We decided to head over to Ueno park just to check it out and go to the National Museum.

When we got to the park we realized there was a matsuri (festival!) It was an ice festival. A little late in the year we thought but it was fun to watch. there was ice sculpting and beet mugs and martini glasses made out of ice. There was a giant snow pit where kids where having snowball fights and making snowmen.

Ice sculpting:

There were different beer cans and liqueur bottles frozen into giant blocks of ice. It made me feel like I was back at one of the ice castles and there would be frozen fish in the walls.

We finally made it to the museum. It was full of amazing art, old scrolls, armor, kimonos, calligraphy sets and pottery. It was a great museum.

Rewind-May 3rd (power blog update 1)

2009-06-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

I hate blogging and have already FAILED my New Years Resolution to be better....so after nearly a month it is time for a power blog update....

Starting with May 3rd....

On May 3rd I joined a few friends for what we have decided is the greatest idea in history....strawberry tabihodai (all you can eat!) Just walk up and down the aisles of plants and eat....YUMMY!

After we ate till we were sick a few of us went down to a fox matsuri. This is a wedding celebration. A special engaged couple is chosen (out of 19 applicants she told us) and well, I don't exactly understand the point of the celebration. But the bride is paraded around the town until she meets her groom on the bridge and then there is lots of celebrating....it was a LOT of Japanese.

You could have your face painted like a fox like the bride...

and apparently watching the foreigners get their face painted was worth taking pictures. Jon took a picture of the 8 people taking pictures of us....

Laura, Yoshie and me with our foxy-fox-faces....

Even the police officers had their faces painted!! They were cute....

After all the face painting commotion, and good food it was time for the fox bride to walk and meet her groom. She was presented to everyone at the temple where she started her walk.

Many other men, women and children walked with her...carrying lanterns, fans and dancing. I am sure there is more explanation but we didn't fully understand....

She meet her groom on the bridge...everyone drank and celebrated....we didn't understand but we certainly enjoyed the festivities!!

art class

2009-05-05T00:41:00.001-07:00

In elementary school it is totally normal that I teach 5 lessons a day...and never stop moving. However, when I ended up back at elementary school in the new school year I had only 3 and had 2 free classes. One of the 2nd grade teachers invited me to join their 5th period class and I was so excited to be a part of it. The class had been working on an art project that related to some legend. This legend is about a magical egg and is popular in elementary school here in Japan. I did not ever hear the actual story but did get to do the art project. We colored our eggs and then "cracked" them open. Once they were in 2 pieces we glued them to a piece of paper and got a little free time to draw what was in our egg. I grew a baby Godzilla. The kids drew everything from fruit, to fish to monsters.

Here are our finished pages (the kids are holding their pages in front of their faces because I cannot post pictures of my students). If you click on the picture you can see the different art pieces better. They are adorable!

しゅう　字　（calligraphy)

2009-04-28T22:33:00.001-07:00

I have been taking calligraphy lessons here in Japan for about 6 months now. I go every Friday night (or almost every Friday) for anywhere between one and two hours. (The class is from 7-9 and you can come and go for any amount of time between there). I find calligraphy to be relaxing and so enjoyable that I am usually there for the whole two hours!

About 3 weeks ago I received an email from one of my teachers who had set up this calligraphy class for me. My calligraphy teacher contacted her to inform me of an art showing in the area this summer. All types of art will be included-photography, calligraphy paints and sculptures-and my teacher wanted me to enter a calligraphy piece.

2 weeks ago at class I learned about my entry. It was 2 kanji that together means "moving lively." They are very pretty together. I will be doing a style of calligraphy that is more flow-y looking...almost messy (but that isn't the right way to say it). I practiced the proper stroke order and movement to learn the kanji. I failed more than usual (they are really hard kanji!) but eventually mostly to them down.

Last week at calligraphy class I learned my entry will be on a piece of paper that is 180 cm long (to give you an idea-I am 172 cm tall!). It is HUGE! The brush I am using is about as thick around as a softball and the bristles are kind of floppy. It was really hard to control and I would splatter ink everywhere. I was told that this was ok...it is part of the look of the piece.

I would spread the paper down and walk down the paper as I wrote.

I used a small bucket with watered down ink.

My feet were BLACK when I was done!!!
(a totally finished piece-not the best one but pretty good!)

The little kanji on the left side are my name kanji. My name in Japanese is ko-rin
My name kanji is:
子鈴
こ＝子 (meaning little)
りん＝鈴 (meaning bell)

花見-桜

2009-04-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

And for our Japanese lesson of the day...
花-flower
見-see, look view (verb)
桜-sakura (cherry blossom!)

That season is here...the cherry blossoms have made EVERYTHING pink and it is just beautiful.

There is always a predicted weekend in every prefecture on when the cherry blossoms will be at their prime...and of course...we celebrate that like there is no tomorrow. Over the secondish week in May was the prime time here in Niigata. The festivals for flower viewing feel over the weekend of May 11-12. There were cherry blossom parties everywhere and we were not about to miss out on it!

A large group of ALTs (and others) planned to meet in Joetsu (south part of Niigata prefecture) at the Joetsu Castle, Takada, which is a famous viewing spot (number 3 for night viewing we heard!)

We had the perfect spot, right on the water, under tons of blossoms and a great view of castle. We threw down our tarps, hit the stands for delicious matsuri food and toasted to a beautiful day.

(Laura, me and Mark with our food and drink...)

Yes, we started drinking around 1....hey, it was 5:00 somewhere....

(a small group of us toasting to the blossoms)

The view from our spot...

and the trees we sat under...

And the matsuri is full of lots of fun things like cool picture opportunities...

the best takoyaki (octopus ball) EVER (yes...that is a WHOLE octopus in each ball...YUMMY!!!)

and games...(you have to catch as many goldfish as you can before the rice paper paddle falls apart)

And CHICKENS!

Obviously the place to be...

Many views from around the park...

(up close)

(Sakura road-very busy!)

(the castle)

We went for many walks to stay warm...and had races up the hill...Dave won and Marshall and I each owed him 50 yen...

Flowers+sunset=BEAUTIFUL!!

(Laura and I)

(Dave and I)

And then night fell...Takada park lived up to its fam...the night viewing was amazing...

(but it was COLD! Marshall and I)

(A view from where we were sitting)

(blossoms and boats on the water!)

(Sakura road at night!)

(and up close)

PNG-good-byes

2009-04-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

We finally got to have real showers! We were back at the hotel in Lae and enjoying our last night together. We enjoyed the hotel-swimming, reading and having dinner together. We all went to bed early (or mostly early) because we had to be out of the hotel at 3:30 to catch our plane.

We had a 5 am flight from Lae or Port Morsby and then a 3 hour lay over in there...in the second most dangerous capital in the world! We took a bus around the city...going to a HUGE grocery store, the government building and then back to the airport.

The government building is famous for the giant mural on one of the walls. The mural was designed with representatives from as many tribes as possible (the government wanted to create a mural that represented as many of the 850 tribes as possible!). It is a really cool mosaic!

An attempt to get the whole thing....

And the best view is of course....

With this it was time to say good-bye to PNG. It was a very sad and tearful good-bye....and with this...I can't wait to go back!

PNG-Bau (the beach vacation!)

2009-04-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

DAY 1:

We had to get back to Bau....back in the banana boats! We took 3 boats as usual but for the last leg of the trip (15 minutes) we crammed all 20 us into one boat...it was painful. We squished in, sat on top of each other!

and the boat....it was hard to get a picture of boat when you can't really move!

We also saw tons of palm trees along the way...which made me really happy! This grove of trees looked JUST like the cover of the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" We tried to capture it but were not totally successful...

We had 2 more days in the jungle. We were out of the river and back on the Solomon Sea. We were back at Bau and could actually enjoy it this time. The beach was endless, the sea was a perfect blue and the sand was clean and white.

We arrived and were ready for a relaxing afternoon on the beach. The view was amazing....we enjoyed swimming, reading on the beach and relaxing.

just beautiful....

We also did some henna tattooing too...

DAY 2:

We started day two off with a couple of school visits. We were greeted at Bau Elementary and then another school a little further down the river. At this second school (with a name that is slipping me!) we got an amazing greeting. There were tons of dances and gifts.

The kids presented our leader Christian with tons of gifts for everyone. The dancing was wonderful. Later there were many more dances in which we joined in on.

The kids from our own clan gave each of us presents.

They gave us many necklaces.

And introduced themselves.

After this visit it was time to head to Bau island for lunch and snorkeling. The hike across the jungle is wonderful...

and the snorkeling was amazing (the water was shallow but the coral and fish were cool!)

DAY 3:

and this morning it was time to say good-bye to Bau...it was beautiful and sad to go...

PNG-the journey home (Siagara 2)

2009-04-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

We had one more night in Siagara.

We had a great time but pictures were not taken! We swam and played with the kids in the afternoon. Played more games of "Uno", "Go Fish," and "Set" in the evening. Overall...it was a great and sad closing to the jungle.

That night the people of Siagara had a bonfire for us. The bonfire was HUGE! It was also lit in the traditional way. To do this, you rub a small stick (of hard word) on a large branch of soft word. It creates an indent and also creates a lot dust. Eventually it will start to smoke and if you can rub hard enough and fast enough you will finally get one ember. That ember is then put onto some dry bush and blown on until a small fire is created...and that small fire is used to lit the big bonfire.

After our bonfire was lit they performed a garden burning dance for us. It was an awesome dance. The kids also performed some songs and dances too.