Success!

I finished knitting this a few weeks ago but just recently mustered up the courage to wash it. It was a smelly experience. Now I just have to block it and add a zipper!

Goodbye Winter, Hello Okinawa!

Don and I have happily booked a 4-night vacation to Okinawa in early April. We'll be trading in snow and wind for warmth and sunshine. We can't wait!

Sounkyou Hyobaku Matsuri

We had a really amazing day last week a few hours from our house.  We started out by taking a huge gondola ride to the peak of a mountain (almost the peak), tried to snowshoe to the top but got freaked out by how steep it was, and then hiked part of the way down.  We had a lot of fun playing in the snow and goofing around.  Next we had found a true double trouble delight.  We found a place that sold a combo platter of a big bowl of ramen and a bowl of curry rice.  We thought that we were going to have to decide between the two but this place had a sweet deal.

Next we went to an onsen and soaked in the natural hot spring baths.  After that we drank a beer while sitting in some kick ass massage chairs and relaxed before we went to see the village made of ice.

The Hyobaku Matsuri (ice village) was amazing and beautiful.  We had a great time going into all of the structures, going down slides, eating festival food, and watching the fireworks.  (I especially enjoyed almost throwing a Japanese guy off the top of a structure after he shoved Christine out of his way and she almost fell)

Enjoy the pics!

Busy Busy

In case you were wondering, my life is no longer the relaxing thing it used to be. I'm not complaining, but just don't want you to think I'm lounging around reading and thinking, and napping anymore. So what happened?

Well, I started teaching 2 english classes, and I'm tutoring two children, one teacher, and one friend privately, I have my day time chat club and a night chat club every other week. I play a crazy-fun game called kinball almost every Friday for a few hours, as well as volleyball. I meet once a week with a woman for help with Japanese. I also occasionally meet with a friend for crafting stuff, or with people from the chat club for traditional Japanese experiences. Thrown into this mix is taping our radio show and taking adventures around Hokkaido. AND, although Don is making a lot of efforts to help out more now, I'm still playing housewife.

Not all of these things are new, but they've slowly been adding up, and I'm really starting to feel it now. Really it's teaching the little kiddies that is the most time-consuming. For them, I have to do a lot more research and make a lot more materials, and it takes a LOT of energy to entertain them. I totally have a new respect for elementary school teachers and anyone that is trying to teach a child to read.

To wrap up this rant, I don't have as much time to myself anymore, but that's probably good. I just have to remember to have fun and enjoy all of the experiences!