Tazawako Lake and walking 10 kilometers!

April 26
In Akita, an hour away is the deepest lake in Japan. In the prefecture above there is another lake called Towadako. There is a legend that Tazawako has the spirit of a woman who turned into a water dragon of the lake because she drank too much of the lake water in order to become beautiful. Lake Towadako is her husband that too turned into a dragon of Towadako. I can't remember why. They say that in the winter Tazawako never freezes over because of the heat coming from the two dragons that meet and then making love. Ohh naughty...

Hiraizumi- The "would be" Kyoto

April 19 to 20

Chuson-ji Temple






Takkoku Cave (A shrine inside a mountain)
There is also a Buddha carving on the rock.




Ichinoseki City and the Geibekki Gorge.
Just to be confusing there is a Genbekki Gorge 40 kilometers away. We ended up ping-ponging between the two because we didn't know which one had the Flying Dango.

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.

Happy Birthday Yohei Party

So there's no pictures right now. I'm really just making this post to save the date. That way when I finally can set up pictures, you don't see a slew of them on the first of May. Man I miss my home internet. This old school computer doesn't cut it. It doesn't even recognize a camera. Sigh...

YAY!! Yohei party pictures!