Part 3

I was lucky enough last month to see Ethan, who I usually see once a year if we're lucky, not once but twice. He made Japan the first stop on his trans-Asiatic tour, and it was absolutely wonderful to see him. And as usual when we are traveling together, things never quite went as planned, we didn't see the conventional sights, but we had a GREAT time.

We started in Kyoto, where we bypassed the temples to check out the Astroboy Museum. We got a photo with him, and got to watch a sweet anime film that we didn't understand a word of.

Shortly after we hopped on the train to Osaka to meet Shohei, who we stayed with. The one thing we wanted to see in Osaka was the Cup Noodle Museum, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Shohei not only "LOVES NOODLES!" and works at a ramen shop, but that he had never been to the museum and really wanted to go. So at the crack of noon the next day we made our way through the beautiful outskirts of Osaka to the place where it all began (or at least the place commemorating the place where it all began).

Tunnel of Ramen

I learned many things that day. One, Instant Ramen has been around since 1958, and Cup Noodle since 1971; two, astronauts eat Cup Noodle in space; and three:
Three reasons to eat Cup Noodle:
1. cheap
2. safe
3. delicious!!

Then, glory of glories, we made our own.

Designing

Anything (Dried) Our Hearts Desired

Shrink-wrapped for Freshness

After that excitement we hung out in Osaka, ate, drank, and sang karaoke.


We ran into this guy and his girlfriend at an arcade. The guy had spent months and over $500 on this one machine in order to win this stuffed animal. Talk about priorities.

Ethan almost missed his flight, but we managed to make time for Purikura.

Las Ketchup, Part 1

Unfortunately, I have not really been what you would call "on top of things" lately, blogging being one of those things. I apologize.

Since last writing, some pretty big things have happened, namely:

1. my family came to visit for 10 days
2. my two closest friends in Toyama left (for good)
3. my friend Ethan came to visit

I'm going to start in chronological order, so here goes.

It was absolutely wonderful having my family in Japan. We had so much fun together, and we got to see a lot of different and really cool sights, most of which were new to me as well. They first came to Toyama to see my life here, and from there we went on to Kyoto and Nara, where we got to see two beautiful festivals. Next we took a ferry to the beautiful island of Shikoku, "the Tibet of Japan." We rented a car and drove along tiny, winding roads on the sides of beautiful green mountains that lead down into steep, steep ravines. The riding got a little stressful at times, with the roads being one lane switchbacks and cars driving on the left (slight tension in the car, especially when lost), but the scenery was gorgeous.

After two nights in a cabin in a national park on the center of the island, we made our way across Shikoku and off to Miyajima, a small island famous for the large Torii gate in the water, and for deer wandering around everywhere. It was very peaceful (some might say too peaceful), and we had a nice hike up to the top of one of the mountains. We were hoping to see the monkeys that live there, but unfortunately they weren't around. We stopped in Hiroshima on the way back, which was incredibly moving. All in all we couldn't have asked for a better trip. We had so much fun together, and I'm so happy they were able to come and see my life here and that we could experience Japan together.

Torii Gate and Temple at Miyajima

The deer love eating paper. And this was in the women's bathroom.

We look so good in the morning.

Top of the Mountain on Miyajima

A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima

Tokyo Giants vs. Hiroshima Carp @ the Tokyo Dome

1 Girl, 1 Keg

Go Carp!

Think of the Children

I never knew how easy American kids have it. I know that as a nation we are incredibly fortunate, we have more than we need, etc. etc. etc. But, honestly...our kids have it easy! I remember whining about swim team practice (well, 6:45 was way too early) and doing the occasional yard work, but for the most part life was pretty easy as a kid. To prove it, the following list:

Things I Never Had To Do That Almost Every Japanese Kid Does Every Day (of Summer Vacation):

1. wake up at 6:30 am, walk to the nearest park, and stretch with the other neighborhood kids, some parents, and many old people while listening to the radio

2. upon finishing, clean aforementioned park

3. after cleaning, study for tests (that will take place before summer vacation ends)

4. spend 3 or 4 hours at club sports practice in the middle of the day!! (it's seriously hot here)

5. go to extra classes for additional English practice, or help with other subjects

6. do enough homework that you need to work on it every single day of vacation

I never realized how easy I had it.

(Mom & Dad, if Gabe needs help realizing, feel free to let him read this.)

The Jump Off

So here it is, my brand new blog. This post is going to be short and sweet, I think I need to ease myself into the blogging experience. But I will put up some photos of the amazing lunch Lindzy and I had today at our co-worker Eri's house in celebration of Girls Day. It was delicious and so fun. We played cards, we made origami, and Eri's grandmother even juggled for us. Doesn't get much better than that.