Full Bloomin' Sakura

This weekend we experienced one of the best reasons to be in Japan, Hanami season! Hanami means "Viewing the flowers", but in real Japan-speak it means "Drunken parties with your friends under the Sakura trees." On Saturday we had our first Hanami with our new Japanese class. The weather was kinda blah and the white sky sort of washed out the flowers, but regardless the time was well spent. However, God decided to give us a break and on Sunday the sun shone and the sky was an intense blue. The park that we went to that was deserted with a few scattered, shivering Moriokans was now busting out of the seams with parties, bright blue tarps, and singing from various musicians. We had our second Hanami party with people from a cafe that we frequent. Nothing could have beaten our Hanami. We had great food, great conversation, and even a Charlie Chaplin mime. He was excellent! The colors of the sky made the flowers extra pink and nothing was more beautiful then that day. It was even worth not drinking just to enjoy the view before it would go away. But of course... we did drink. Because not even alcohol could have made us overlook the beautiful scenery that was surrounding us.






Hanami Kanpai!

桜咲く The Sakura Blooms!

After bearing the sweltering, sweaty armpit, constant forehead drip of August, conquoring the drenching rain and typhoon of September, barely making it through the negative temperatures and disaterously dangerous icy death traps of November, December, January, February, and March, it has all been worth it to finally see... SAKURA!!! This past week, little buds of pink have been coloring the grey streets of Morioka. Everyday is a Sakura watch and everyday that I go to school I look at the three huge Sakura trees in front of our school to monitor its progress. Whenever I'm teaching in class, I have to make sure not to look outside or risk getting mesmerized by the pretty pink clouds of love. Finally today they are nearly in full bloom. The flowers overpopulate the trees, but they are still a pale pink. By tomorrow of early next week, they ought to be a beautiful pink color. Tomorrow will be hectically busy. It's Hanami season which means tons of drunken parties in the presence of the Sakura trees.

The time for flip flops has arrived!

Well, last weekend we went out with our friends for the first outdoor river BBQ of the year. YAY! We went to the nearby river and set up along the rocky ground. I was hobbling like a bent over baachan (granny) while I teetered on my two inch heeled shoes over the rocky ground. I felt stupid, but empowered. The weather, nor the rocks, not my embarassment can keep me from wearing open toe heeled shoes on a bright sunny day! Our friend Kenta bought over ten pounds of meat and we ate heartily. We had a great time chatting and bathing in the warm sun. It was short lived as a chilly wind started to brush against us and we had to retreat to warmer areas. At least we had that one moment. It was like our own oasis.

A New Season

With the start of April, I can see why spring has that essence of new beginnings. Even in our own lives, we have experienced a multitude of things that brings us to a brand new place. Within a month, the snow has completely melted, new flowers have bloomed, there are birds chirping in the early morning, Ron has started his new job, I have begun to wear open-toed shoes. We have put away the skiis and started to pull out the road maps. And the most surprising change of all... this past weekend, we moved into a new home!

It was neither expected nor was it something we ever thought we'd consider, yet in a weekend we have moved from our 3 room, 9 meter squared two-story apartment, to a 5 room, 20 meter squared one-story home for only $230 a month.

There has always been a house behind ours that we always assumed was taken, but my supervisor recently told me was vacant and if we wanted to see it, we could. Curiosity killed us and we looked at this new place. Apparently it is the teacher's housing for principals or vice principals, but since it has gotten so old, they don't use it for their housing anymore. What we came to was an incredibly spacious home, with a backyard, easy access to our garden, ample parking space, and a dance floor (as Ron calls it).

Our home has always been wonderful, but there has always been a few things that has kept us from truly loving it. Since Ron and I are spending more time together, it is hard to both be in a space meant for one person. Also, the stairs that we have are really scary and I always have the fear that one day, it will take my life. And... probably the worst of all, everyone knows of Ron's teeny bladder and he continuously wakes up in the middle of the night needing to relieve himself. He has to trek out of the warm room, into the cold, brave the deady staircase, make his way to the bathroom, and then find his way back, in the dark. He tells me he's fully awake by the time he gets upstairs. Now all he needs to worry about it making it the meter from our new room to the new bathroom.

We are so happy with our newest string of luck and we are looking forward to lounging in the backyard, having an American style BBQ with friends. We are also looking forward to people visiting, both in America and in Japan and being able to give them a whole room to sleep in, rather than a portion of a room in between the dining room table and China cabinet. We are continually being blessed by so many wonderful things and we can see that both prayers and good vibes are keeping us happy, healthy, and apparently, in new housing.

Everyone, please come and visit.

Happy March!

Yesterday we had a gigantic amount of rain in Morioka, which is huge! That means that we are now away from negative degree weather and it's now a waiting game until the beautiful sunshine shines warm and I can start working on my tan. I think the high today is 2 degrees. YES!! Today is also Graduation for the third year students. Everyone at the school looks their finest and I've even donned a skirt for the occasion. Tonight is our biggest enkai, which I am very much looking forward to. All in all, spring is coming and I can't wait. Happy March!

Also, as a friend of mine informs me, yesterday was Garlic Day in Japan.
2-29 (2 is ni)(9 is ku)= ninniku = which means garlic. OK, it's just a play on numbers but everyone should eat a big bite of GARLIC today!

39 (san)(kyu)= Thank you!

The Beautiful Views for the Shivering Foreigners

Yet another vacation for the Okeya-McCormick corporation.

This beautiful February weekend led us to Sapporo for their annual Snow Festival (Yuki Matsuri). This is one of the biggest things to see in the winter time and there was no way we were going to miss it. We were able to travel with our friends from Tokyo, Kunino and Shizuka.

We took the rest of that day to look at all the beautiful statues of snow.





Pretty huh? Not to mention getting to eat yummy festival food(sausage lollipops)and beer.


The next day we went to the seashore town of Otaru, 30 minutes away and now, one of our favorite tourist spots. This place is really made for travellers. We got to walk through their famous canal, make glass cups, and walk through the incredible illuminations.

The next and final day was quite a relaxing way to end the vacation. Kunino and Shizuka had to leave to catch a 22 hour boat ride (ganbatte yo~) so we had our last meal in Sapporo's finest... THE REPUBLIC OF RAMEN!


We also went to the winter wonderplayland of SATOURANDO. We played in a maze and played mini snow golf.






This was an experience worth happening. We realized that this is the fourth big vacation we've had in the 7 months we've been here. I like those odds. We can't wait for the next one. Possibly... a bike trip from Osaka to Hiroshima. YAY!

Brace yourselves people!

The winter is here. Back in the good ol' California, you could walk out of your house on any given day and assume it was spring. Sometimes a hotter spring, sometimes a colder spring, but either way, everyday is spring in California.

We are now realizing, through a very abrupt culture shock, that no such feeling exists in Japan. The gods and goddesses that look over this tiny island make for damn sure that you know what season it is. This past weekend, Ron and I had an amazing experience. More is described on top. But what I really want to describe is the crack cocaine that Mother Nature-sama in Japan is on. On Saturday I had the day off. I cleaned, talked to my dad via Skype, went to the post office to send stuff to my mother, and then made my way to Ron's work. As I walked there, I saw this gorgeous tree. The sun was directly hitting it and the colors exploded off the leaves as if it was in Photoshop. I took some photos and thought to myself "Morioka has a fantastic autumn."

When I got to Ron's work, we left with our new friends to the neighboring prefecture to hang out. (More later) The VERY NEXT DAY, we woke up to snow. We walked outside and the nature that had been bursting with color 12 hours ago was now a sheet of white. Needless to say, Ron and I almost peed in our pants. But knowing that our pants would freeze, we held it in.

Although it was a shock, thoughout the day we saw more and more beautiful things. I couldn't help but think, "Morioka has a fantastic winter." I never thought I would saw both sentences within 24 hours.

Beautiful Morioka

A drive in Morioka

Today both Ron and I had the day off thanks to a Japanese national holiday. We've been trying to save money so instead of going someplace far far away, we decided to take a drive to get a better look at Morioka.

If you are to ever look at a tourist pamphlet of Morioka, there will be two things that the guest of Japan must do, see Mt. Iwate and Koiwai farm. Mount Iwate is said to be the "Mount Fuji of the North." It's pretty huge. So we went towards the mountain, didn't climb it, but had some really nice pictures.

On the way back, we saw the signs for Koiwai farm. This farm is the only privately owned farm that became a theme park filled with sheep and cows, and selling anything that comes from sheep and cows. It's suppose to be really beautiful in the winter when they have their winter festival, which we will show you all in a few months, but since we were in the area, it seemed like something to do now. It was so fun. We ate lamb, drank fresh milk and ice cream and went into the wool museum. There was something really fun about this place. Families came from all over just to be together in this park. It was a really memorable time.

Wow! Our first typhoon!

So I heard that there was a typhoon coming around this area, which is pretty rare. I heard its not very dangerous and it usually doesnt come around Iwate. Well last night I woke up because of the rain, there was so much just pouring down that it woke me up. Today at school was just as rainy and after lunch the rest of class was cancelled because of the typhoon. They wanted the students to get home before the shinkansens and other trains stopped or are delayed. So Im just sitting around waiting for them to let the teachers go. Its only one o clock so Im hoping for a bonus couple of hours to leave. Hopefully all well get is rain.