A Great Weekend!

I've just had the most awesome weekend in a long time. First of all, Alex just finished his first week here in Fukushima, and it's really great having him around. He's from San Diego, and we're the same age, and have similar senses of humor so it's fun to goof around the office with him. Plus we get to hang out a lot outside of the office, and it's always nice to make new friends here.

Speaking of new friends, I just made a fantastic one this past weekend. Remember me mentioning an Amity teacher, Michelle, that I met at the Hanamiyama bbq? Well, I met up with her yesterday to check out some flower festivals that were going on around town. I didn't really know her very well, but I thought it would be a cool opportunity to learn more about her and get some yummy festival food (e.g. ooban- little pancake pockets filled with chocolate/cream/red bean and anything else good you can think of). It turns out that Michelle and I have a lot in common. She's from the Lake Tahoe area, and went to school at UCSB. She speaks Spanish fluently, and lived in Chile and Barcelona before coming here to Japan (well, not those things, but many others). She's really athletic, and adventurous so we decided that we would make great friends and could go exploring together. Later that day we went for an hour run around Shinobuyama. We ran all along the path on the bottom, along the river, and then around the back into some residential areas tucked away in the mountain. The view was absolutely beautiful, and I needed the workout.

Things just kept getting better when she took me to a pick up indoor soccer game that goes on every Sunday night. Playing soccer again was so much fun, and I got to meet a lot of other Japanese and foreign people who were all really friendly and fun. One of the guys at the soccer game owns an Indian restraunt, and I guess everyone goes there for dinner afterwards. I had the best Indian food ever, and it tasted even better because I haven't had any Indian food in quite some time (I think the last time was at Megha's restraunt). After everyone left, Michelle and I talked for hours with the owner, Nana, and his wife, Mayu. He's Indian and she's Japanese, but he moved to Japan and she adapted his religion. They're both really sweet, and Nana kept us laughing non-stop with his silly jokes. We finally left around 1am, but Michelle said that sometimes she ends up staying until 4am!

Today, Michelle and I took a bus over to Koriyama. It's not the most exciting town, but there's better shopping than Fukushima and it's close by so we felt it was something we had to see at least once. I bought some really cute stuff, although I was trying my best to restrain so I can save up for Golden Week. We also saw a couple temples, and went up to the top of this planatarium building at night to see a great view of the city. We finished the night off with some kaiten zushi (where sushi comes by on little plates), and made plans to check out this cute cafe later in the week. Michelle and I are on the same page about wanting to explore as much as we can while we're here, and I think it's going to be great to have someone to share all of it with.

Here are some pictures of Koriyama!

A temple Michelle and I found while exploring Koriyama. 

Some gates to the left of the temple 

I think this is the place where the god of the temple lives. 

A family visiting the temple. 

Michelle in front of another temple. 

Inside the temple. 

There is a big bell inside. 

Sakura!!!

The sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full force here in Fukushima. This weekend I was able to enjoy the fleeting beauty of the blossoms at many differnt places around town. Yesterday, while wondering through various neighborhoods I found a few parks, and walked down by the river where the trees were in full bloom. Later I met Alex, the new teacher who had just gotten here the day before, and we joined some students for a hanami (flower viewing) party at Hanamiyama, a very famous flower viewing mountain in the area. Actually, we didn't sit under a tree or anything, but there was kind of a bbq and lots of food and drinks set out on this guy's lawn. It was really cool to be in more of the countryside part of town, and I had a great time just sitting and talking with everyone there. By some strange coincidence (well, maybe not that strange in a small town), the two Amity (AEON for kids) teachers were also there so Alex and I got to know them a little better.

After eating and drinking we started our hike up the mountain. Hanamiyama is well know for having many different colors of blossoms, and sometimes it looked as if the hillsides were blanketed in flowers. The sight really was incredible, and many times I found myself unable to describe the beauty of it all. I'm sure the pictures will do a much better job of conveying how remarkable the blossoms really were.

Today I went back to Shinobuyama to show Alex the stone wall with all the carvings in it. I posted pictures of that too, so please enjoy!

The stone carvings at Shinobuyama 

A view from Shinobuyama 

A cool type of cherry tree whose branches bend downwards 

At a park near a school 

Some trees looked completely white 

The trees along the river 

A view of the river 

So many blossoms! 

Sakura up close! 

A cute little park I found while wondering around. 

Hanamiyama Park! 

My student, Kumi, whose friend hosted the party. Kumi is super nice, and one of my favorite students. 

All the tourists making their way to see the blossoms or maybe to the restroom . . . 

There are many different colors of blossoms at Hanamiyama 

All the beautiful blossoms 

The view of Fukushima City from the top of Hanamiyama 

The group shot after finishing our climb to the top of Hanamiyama. 

You can take the girl out of Fresno . . .

The geography of Fukushima, being between two mountain ranges, causes the city to be really windy especially during the transition between seasons. Sometimes the strong winds can be incredibly annoying, but today they provided the perfect cool breeze for an ideal run around town. Today I ran on the paved walkway along the base of Shinobuyama again, but this time instead of exploring up the mountain I followed the trail to its end. Again I was impressed by the beauty of the path, and of all the little flowers starting to bloom. When I reached the end of the trail I found myself at a river bank and decided to walk along there and enjoy the view. It was so incredible to watch people walking their dogs, and really appreciating their surroundings. Maybe it's the Fresno in me, but I find something so comforting in feeling dirt beneath my shoes as I look out at a flowing river lined with trees just waiting to burst into hundreds of pink blossoms. Later I came upon a small flower/plant farmer's market set up along the bank, and as strange as it sounds, taking the time to look at all the plants made me feel like part of the community. Although the neon lights and loud music of Tokyo can be very appealing, I think I will have a more meaningful experience in the smaller, quieter town of Fukushima.

Seeing people walking their dogs made me think of when I would take my own dog, Bailey, for runs over in the fields at Fresno State. I'll take pictures of Fukushima next weekend, but until then here are some pictures of my runs in Fresno.

The dirt path between the fields at Fresno State where I would take Bailey running