The Fun Never Ends!!!

Chris and I are having a great time in Fukushima, and it seems that we have a never ending list of fun activities to do every weekend. Last week we rode our bikes with Alex and Mayu, one of my students, out to Four Seasons Park. It was a beautiful ride, and great to see all the families enjoying the wonderful weather at the park. Later that night we went out drinking with some students, and taught them how to sake bomb. The next day we took the bus to Sendai and did a little exploring. I never realized how green Sendai was until we tried to find the castle there and had to drive through all these beautiful green mountains.

This past weekend we went to Nihonmatsu with a co-worker to try a great restaurant with really affordable set lunches. Then it was off to an ikebana (flower arranging) exhibition to meet one of my students, Hiromi. Her club had organized the event, and she invited Chris and me to learn more about the art, and get a chance to try it out ourselves. Later that night we went to a co-worker's house for a potluck party. This afternoon we met Mayu and Alex again to have lunch up in the mountains. We went to this awesome outdoor restaurant where you have to fish noodles out of this little stream that runs across your table. I wish I had my camera, but I took some pictures on my cell phone so maybe I'll post some of those next time. It was a lot of fun though, and we had a great time. After that we went back to Four Seasons Park to paint kokeshi dolls (wooden dolls, basically with ball for a head anda long cylinder for a body). The dolls were kind of hard to paint because the colors kept bleeding, but it was a fantastic experience. Next we went to Saint Anna's Garden for some coffee and desserts, and then did a little shopping before calling it a day.

Despite all the fun we're having, I think Chris and I will enjoy a quiet night at the apartment just relaxing and watching a movie. Oh, by the way, I added a picture of the Golden Temple in Kyoto because it's pretty famous and I thought you'd all like to see it. Also, leave comments! I know people are reading this, but it's hard to stay motivated to write if I don't get any comments in return. Okay, enjoy the pictures!

Mayu, Alex, and Chris enjoying ramune (a soda with a marble in it that is only avaliable during the summer). It was super refreshing after our 2 hour bike ride out to the Four Seasons Park. 

The rope structure that Chris and I climbed. Yes, those are a bunch of little kids climbing on it. Yes, we were the only adults to climb to the top. 

Kids cooling off in the foutain area at Four Seasons 

Having fun in the woods behind the Four Seasons Park. 

Chris and me goofing around near the Sendai Castle. 

A temple in Sendai 

My student, Hiromi, and the flowers she arranged. She's super sweet and made Chris and me a booklet on flower arranging. She also gave us a little tour of all the displays, and helped us to arrange some of our own flowers. 

The flowers Chris arranged. 

The flowers I arranged. 

My favorite arrangement style. It's supposed to look like a pond. 

Another arrangement 

The Golden Temple in Kyoto. 

Japan Update!

Hi everyone, since Leslie is so busy I will be filling in this update. If you don't know me, my name is Chris and I'm Leslie's boyfriend. I just got into Japan a week ago and I'm having a great time. I think my vocabulary has totaled to 7 or so words (amazing)--just enough to greet and say goodbye and of course buy food. We just got back from a pretty quick trip to Kyoto, Himeji, and Kobe. Now, of course, I've realized that there is life outside of Fukushima and that nearly every city is cooler to some degree (something Leslie has told me many times but I never believed it until I saw the rest of Japan). So, I've posted a few of the pictures I took on our trip. Hope you like them.

This a really cool lily pond in the back of a Shinto Shrine in Kyoto. I was entertaining the idea of walking across those stones, but my tourguide probably would have smacked me for wondering off.  

Here's us in front of the garden of the same shrine. Leslie thinks that this Shrine was used in the filming of "Lost in Translation." You might not be able to tell, but there all kinds of friendly turtles in the water. Well, I'm not sure if they're friendly or just hungry. Actually, I bet that if I fell in the water they'd eat me or something.

I'm not sure what this shrine is named, but it is in Kyoto and is certainly my favorite because it seemed to be nestled in a huge forest and had an awesome view of the city.  

Here's Leslie at the base of the Shrine entrance. Behind me are all kinds of shops, which she is eyeing while trying to fight off her urge to buy things. 

A part of the shrine. 

There were all kinds of cool tables to eat at this shrine. We had granola bars instead though. 

There all kinds of these cool alleys in Kyoto. To the left of these restaurants there is a really big river, and if you're good enough at Japanese and seeing through deception you can find a restaurant that has a balcony overseeing it. We, however, are lame and ended up eating in a closet-like bar after being lured in by someone's grandma. The next night though we knew exactly where to go and swung a nice table right next to the river.

This is Himeji castle. It stands tall above the city of Himeji and has been inhabited by many generations of Himeji lords. In case you couldn't tell from the melting flowers, it is something like 300 degrees out here. I believe I passed out from heat stroke shortly after this shot.  

This thing is tall--something like 8 stories with extremely steep stairs. It has a pretty cool view too.  

This is a shot of us after a dinner we had at Kobe. Yes, you might have heard of Kobe from the phrase "Kobe beef," a supposedly delicious cut of steak from cows who were given beer and massages their whole life (doesn't sound too bad). Unfortunately, and to our surprise, there is no Kobe beef in Kobe. We searched far and wide, but eventually settled for normal beef--which was still the best steak we've ever had. 

This is my favorite part of Japan so far. I guess it is fashionable to have english words on your clothes, even if they are unintelligable. Leslie tells me that this is called "Engrish." You must know various things!