(10/8) Thursday- Today we are experiencing our first "tropical storm" type weather. Currently at our house it is 9.4 degrees Celsius (49 F) and the rain is poring down hard, and it's kind of raining sideways due to the 80 kph (50mph) winds. We are currently under a Tsunami advisory but don't worry it's considered a small Tsunami (4-5 ft wave projected) and we live at the top of a high hill about 1 km from the beach so we will be fine. We are also under a typhoon warning. School is closed today and tomorrow, but Eric still has to go to work. I made it to the grocery store this morning before the weather was too severe so we have plenty of food in the house. It is quite a new experience for me coming from Arizona where my biggest fears were ha-boobs and heat strokes!
This morning Kellie and I called my grandparents house (thank you again skype, i sure love you) and it was great to talk to them together. They were so excited (and partially confused) and we had a great chat! I am very sad though because they were telling us about getting ready to go to my cousin's wedding next weekend. Brian is getting married to an amazing woman named Abigail and the wedding will be in Baltimore and the entire Taylor family will be there, minus the 3 of us currently in Asia. Grammie also brought up how hard Christmas is going to be this year because it is the first time someone wont be there, and 3 of us wont be there! Fortunately though we have amazing technology and we will be able to video chat on Skype :) My parents went over to Grammie and Papa's house and took them a web cam for papa's birthday and set them up on skype so now we can video chat, it is really amazing! I am also very thankful that I will be able to spend time with my husband, and parents and sister enjoying a tropical vacation in the middle of our very long winter! It will be so nice to spend time with them at about the mid-point of our Asia experience, and to get out of Aomori and thaw out a bit! I am so excited :)
(10/9) Friday- The storm has passed. While the rain lasted a very long time, it seems to me like it wasn't too bad of a Typhoon. The sun came out today a little and it was nice to have some sunshine! (Especially because it helped warm up the house).
(10/10) Saturday- Today we headed in to Goshogawara to run some errands and explore a few shops we have been wanting to check out. We went to a really interesting recycle shop that Eric has seen (similar to an antique store). We saw some beautiful old Kimonos and Samurai swords, old books, and little trinkets. We bought a very old abacus with Japanese inscriptions on it. Next to the recycle shop is the Techi Nebuta Museum, and we decided to visit it. We went to the Techi Nubuta Festival back in August, on my first day in Japan. While I really enjoyed the festival, I wasn’t really able to wrap my head around how incredible the floats were. I was still in shock I think… the excitement of seeing my hubby after 12 very difficult days apart, the shock of Japan itself, and knowing I wouldn’t see my family or friends for an entire year. Needless to say, I missed a lot that night. But, the museum allowed me to really appreciate it all. The floats are 4 stories tall and hand-painted, which I knew but couldn’t really grasp. They are made from wire, and then covered with small pieces of paper glued on, and then painted by hand. As each section is completed the float is assembled. It takes an entire year to complete the floats! Each year 1 new float is made, and there are always 3 floats, which means every year the float made 3 years prior is phased out. There is a spiral walkway that goes around the floats allowing you to see each section up close. It was truly amazing! While at the museum we also enjoyed a sample of some delicious Scarlet Apple Juice made from locally grown apples, and we got sucked into buying the $10.00 bottle, but let me tell you, it was absolutely worth it! After the museum we headed to the foreign foods store where we ran into our friend Allison, and talked her into getting Baskin Robins with us! (not that it’s a hard thing to do) It is so fun that we run into our friends at the mall now ☺
(10/11) Sunday-(10/12) Monday- Today is national Health and Sports day in Japan and therefore Eric has the day off!! (It’s also Columbus day at home!) Since there was no Japanese class tonight due to the Holiday we decided to host our 2nd family dinner, complete with delicious soft tacos, chips, salsa, guacamole and an amazing Garlic Oil dip appetizer that Eric made from our Takko Garlic! Mmm Mmm good! After recovering from our food coma, we play a rendition of Balderdash using a great online dictionary of “lost words”! We learned lots of great words, which also provided from some hilarious, made up definitions! My favorite words were Saggitopotent, which has nothing to do with odor as it may lead on, but rather it means to have great ability in archery; Obacerate- to stop one’s mouth; and my absolute favorite- Weequashing: spearing of fish or eels by torchlight from canoes! We had great company, awesome food, and very entertaining games!
(10/13) Tuesday- Today after work Eric helped me to take photographs for my article about our town! I am very appreciative because his photographs are far more superior to my simple pictures. The article should be up soon ☺
(10/14) Wednesday- I am finally feeling 100 % better, and we have great weather so I took advantage of it and went for a run! I needed to explore the sports park in town anyway so that I can write about it for the article. The park was absolutely beautiful and I am only disappointed that I did not discover it sooner! The park has baseball fields, softball fields, tennis courts, an amphitheater, a children’s playground, and go-karts!!! Now that Autumn is in full order here the views are even more beautiful with an abundance of colors! I can’t believe that I have missed out on 22 wonderful rounds of this great season that people call Fall, one downside to living in Tempe my whole life where I experienced two types of weather… hot and very hot! I also had a first time running experience today, I felt the ground rumble beneath my feet! There was a small (only a 2.9) earthquake while I was out running. Lots of leaves fell from the trees, and the street signs shook a little. Nothing major at all, no damage, just a cool new experience. I also saw animal droppings, which is very rare here, thanks to responsible pet owners, so I was a little surprised. Then a few minutes later I heard animal sounds that I am 99% sure were monkeys! Put the two together and it makes sense! I can’t wait until it snows and the monkeys come out more often ☺
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