Japan Week 6

(9/10) Thursday- I am still on the job hunt! Any suggestions?? Of course teaching English is an option; however, the options are very limited living in such a rural area. I had hoped to find a job teaching, or an entry level medical position, but that seems nearly impossible as I am only a beginner in the Japanese language. I am trying to think outside the box; perhaps something I can do online... like write a column, or possibly something with an online travel agency since I have a fair amount of traveling under my belt. If you have any creative ideas please let me know... I can't sit at home forever and I feel like if I start working I can really experience Japan to the fullest!!

It's been a very busy week... my apologies for the delay!

(9/11) Friday- Genevieve had us over for dinner tonight and we made delicious Thai (rice paper) spring rolls, with peanut butter sauce! Genevieve had every vegetable possible prepared for us, so it was quite the feast, man was it good! MMM! Eating dinner with friends is always so much fun!! After dinner we discussed our plan of attack for our scavenger hunt for Saturday morning! Team Cheetah is going to win because we are so "speedy"!

(9/12) Saturday- The Scavenger hunt has finally arrived!! The email with clues was sent out at 8:00, and our plan had been to hit the road running at 8:05, but since our "planning mtg"/dinner lasted until this morning... we got a later start than we had planned, but it's ok... we're Team Cheetah! <- The name says it all! So we headed off with clues and a (useless) map and enough excitement to last the whole day! The clues were all over Aomori Prefecture so we visited some areas that we had not yet explored... and some that we were quite familiar with. One of the clues was to find the oldest apple tree in Japan. This task did not seem as though it would be very difficult as we see the turn off sign for it every time we drive into Goshagawara... what we didn't know was that one sign is the only clear sign. The signs along the path pointed to forks in the road and did not inditcate which way to go, and there were a few crucial turns missing signs. Luckily, we decided to use a street shout out (cash cab anyone?) and ask the locals for help. We knew we were close, so we figured they would just give us turn my turn directions, or point and send us on our way. The woman we asked didn't know but she was with her friend and their baby so she asked the other woman... who called someone... then they all got in their van and told us to follow them, we met up with the person she called at a gas station, who called a few of their friends, who ended up discussing it in the street for a few minutes. Eventually we went on our way, still following the van and wound up in an orchard, they opened a gate for us, and led us in and we finally found the tree!! It was actually a very beautiful and rather interesting tree. I was quite impressed to see that it was still producing apples. Needless to say, lesson learned. Only ask for directional help if you REALLY need it!!! I think the clue we were most excited about was the Tobbagon ride at Moya Hills... not only did we know exactly how to get there... but it's awesome! Unfortunately the rain ruined our fun and the ride was closed... guess we have to go back... again! (There are many other photos from the scavenger hunt up on facebook.) We completed as many of the tasks as possible and made it to the finish line 3rd. The finish line was the welcome party where several JET's and other American's living in Aomori had quite a fantastic night and we camped out cabins at ski resort (not the same ski mountain as last weekend). After the points were tallied up we came in second!! Which was extra exciting because we had forgotten to officially submit our name, so they gave one to us... Team Losers R Us :( Thankfully we proved them wrong!! Most importantly, fun was had by all.... as usual!

(9/13) Sunday- One of the tasks that we did not squeeze in yesterday was an Onsen. So, after a long night at the cabins, we decided to take a "victory lap Onsen" on the way home... it was so relaxing and wonderful. I think I'm addicted!!

(9/14) Monday- Today we went to our first of many Japanese Ekaiwa class. It is free for people to attend becuase members of the community here are kind enough to volunteer their time to teach us Japanese! We learned so much in 2 short hours, I think it really going to help us! Our friend Hal brought a home-made apple crisp to share with us after class so we headed to a friends house (Katie) who lives down the street from class and had some delicious apple crisp and ice cream! Aomori Apples truly are fantastic (and huge)!! During our impromptu dessert party, we decided to host dinner for tomorrow! We are so excited for our first "family dinner"!

(9/15) Tuesday- Tonight we had 4 guests over dinner! It was quite cozy with 6 people around our little dinnette table, good thing we all get along! I tried a recipe, from one of our guests, for potato leek soup... unfortunately I was unaware that you are only supposed to use the bulb... and the not the leafy portion so the soup was kind of terrible, but everyone was a good sport about it, ate some of it and told me it was terrible. Fortunately we had an awesome salad, thanks to the farmers market! We had delicious garlic bread... but a few of the rolls got charred thanks to our oven being too short for a roll to fit in it properly. Luckily I had planned 2 desserts... and everyone brought a dessert as well!! Dinner was a slight failure, but the dessert marathon was fantastic! Bit sized Ice creams covered in hard chocolate, home-made banana bread (that finally came out right), watermelon, a cake, apple crisp and ice cream! I think I can safely say that no one went home hungry... I just hope they are willing to come back and give us a second shot! After dinner we played card games and had a fabulous time! "Family" nights are so much! I hope they become a regular occurance at our house!

(9/16) Wednesday- I haven't written about lunch in awhile... that's because I am finally learning how to cook and read Japanese instructions- so although lunches are now lacking fires... they are much more reliable! Today Eric requested Sushi and Sashimi... which makes things easy for me... drive to the store, pick it up, bring it home and put it on the table! The sushi from the grocery store here is far better than some of the sushi you get in restaraunts in Phoenix... and MUCH cheaper! Today Eric had a plate of sashimi (salmon and tuna mix), a plate of tuna with the skin on it (I thought it was seared ahi), and an array of other mixed fish rolls and it was only 800 yen (easily $25.00 at home)! Tonight was the first of our English Ekaiwa class! It is similar to our Japanese class, only the roles are reversed. We went out to dinner with 5 adults from our local community and had discussions in English for about 2 hours, this will be a monthly occurance and we are really excited to get to know people in our community... and they speak English very well!! One of the men offered to take us to a traditional Shinto festival at the base of Iwaki San (the large mountain we can see from our house) on Saturday! We are so excited to experience a religious festival, and to be fortunate enough to be escorted by a local, who speaks English, is going to be phenomenal! Although I have been looking for to our first lazy saturday morning since arriving in Japan... I am much more excited about the festival! After our Ekaiwa class, since we were too busy talking to eat... we had dinner with Genevieve! Pasta, salad and garlic bread, so delicious... and so familiar :)

I think week 6 in Japan was really wonderful! Making friends, and spending time with them really changes the feel of things. I think we can safely say that we no longer feel like tourists, or visitors.