May 3- 9, 2010
In front of the Castle's moat
Ice Cream Carts
Women preparing Takoyaki: little balls of dough with octopus and other goodies inside.
Canoes in the moat. We'll be back to do this when the crowds are gone!
Enjoying some time in the park surrounded by all of the beautiful trees!
There were so many beautiful flowers of many different colors everywhere.
The view of the Castle that people were fighting to see.
Wednesday (Childrens' Day) was back to study, study, study for me. Eric cleaned the house and cooked all of our meals today! It was such a nice treat for me to have that taken care of while I studied. Too bad I can't clone myself so the housework can do itself while I study!
For those of you who didn't know, my sister was able to go home to America for a visit for a little over 2 weeks. It is so wonderful for me to know that she is home recharging her batteries, standing up for a good friend while she gets married, and enjoying the comforts of home. I must say though that the jealousy did not escape me, and in turn it's left me a little home sick. Skyping with my Mom and Dad with Kellie there just makes me miss them very much. Eric knows how to cheer me up though, and I'm trying to stay focused on studying and enjoying the incredible atmosphere in Japan right now. I'm very happy that Eric has been home the past few days to keep me company, I needed that this week :) It's nice how things just work out sometimes.
On Thursday, Eric had to go back to work, sigh ;/ But on the bright side, it was only a 2 day work week so it went very quickly! We had tutoring on Thursday night as ususal. I wish we were learning Japanese a lot faster, it's such a difficult language to learn. . . then again, any 2nd language is hard to learn.
Friday was such a great day :) I have been wanting to do something to make Friday night Shabbot at home a little extra special for Eric and one of the things he often mentions is that the typical white bread just doesn't really do it for Shabbot, so this week, I made Challah bread from scratch! I think our yeast wasn't quite active enough because the dough didn't really rise during the rising stage so braiding it was pretty tough, it was much like braiding slime. Fortunately when I baked it, it started to rise a little. This was the end product. One plain, one sesame. It was okay, we ate it. I'll try something different next time though. This was definitely a case of, it's the thought that counts!
After Shabbot Eric and I went out for burgers and it really hit the spot! We went to a fast food restaurant called MOS burger, we figure that it's a Japanese version of Carl's Jr, or something close to it. Eric has a spicy burger that was incredible and I had the regular hamburger that actually had bbq esque sauce on it. We both added pureed jalapeno sauce to our burgers and we shared onion rings. It was so very delicious!! It's so nice to go out to eat now that I can actually read the majority of the menu!
I found out I did not get the part-time job at the school in Hirosaki. They ended up hiring someone with a special TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) License and they have a JLPT (Japanese Langauge Proficiency Test) certification for the 2nd highest level. How was I supposed to compete with that? Oh well. Hopefully another great opportunity is out there for me! I'm still hoping for one other position that is full time, but is next in line if there are any further budget cuts. I'll know more in June/July. I keep telling myself that good things come to those who wait! *As long as you don't just wait for it to fall in your lap and you put the effort in too, which I am definitely doing!
Saturday was such a beautiful day! There was no way I was going to be able to study all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. . . I was rapidly hitting burn out point so, I escaped my stacks of notes and my 8 pound textbook and went on a little adventure with Eric. We decided to go to Hirosaki (it's our favorite, can you tell?) to check and see if Eric's fountain pen was done being repaired yet. We made little stops along the way to places we have been wanting to check out.
This is what Mt. Iwaki looks like these days, it's so beautiful! The grass is so green now too!
We paid a visit to a Strawberry Patch! The berries were so delicious!
Look at the trees at the base of the mountain! They are so beautiful!
Soo cute!
Do you see why he reminds me of Clifford?
Saturday night Eric was sitting on the couch and he was quite squirmy and seemed uncomfortable, then he got up and was in the bathroom for a few minutes, I figured he was washing his face or something but when he came out about 3 minutes later. . . he had a new haircut! His hair was tickling his face, so he went in the bathroom and cut it off! He's quite the problem solver. It came out pretty nice, especially considering he used kids scissors and did it himself :)
Sunday was Mother's Day, and it made us miss our Mom's a lot!! Eric was thankful that he gets to see his Mom in a few weeks, and I was thankful that my Mom was in Illinois spending some time with great family friends and their adorable children. We miss you Mom(s) and we love you very much!!
And so concludes week 40 of our Japanese adventures. With so many of my friends and old classmates being pregnant right now everytime here things about 36 or 40 weeks I instantly relate it to baby terms. I know I'm a little strange, but that shouldn't be news to any of you! Can you belive we've been in Japan for the same amount of time it takes to create human life! It's amazing.
It's officially Golden Week! Which means there are 4 National holidays all within a week of each other. The schools are closed, along with many major corporations. It is very common to take the additional days off and travel with your family; which of course means traveling in Japan is a little hectic and, depending on your routes and mode of transportation, possibly more expensive. We opted to stay home for Golden Week this year. The initial reason we decided not to travel was because I have my final next week and the MCAT coming coming up. At first we were a little bummed that we didn't have travel plans, but in the end it was perfect! No matter where in Japan you are during Golden Week, there will be special festivals and beautiful sights. Spring is all around us and the weather is fantastic!! Especially now that we are staying a second year, we got to experience Golden Week within Japan this year, and we'll plan well ahead of time and travel next year!
Monday (Constitution Memorial Day) was filled with lots and lots of studying, poor Eric was quite bored but he read quite a bit and got caught up on some well appreciated R&R.
Tuesday (Greenery Day, much like Earth Day) I took a break from studying in the morning, after all, All Work and No Play Makes Melissa a Stressed Out Girl! (OK so I know I made up the 2nd half but just go with me.) We ventured to Hirosaki Castle Park to view the Hanami.
I knew the Japanese Cherry Blossoms (Hanami) were quite popular, but I didn't have any grasp on how popular they are. We live in a very rural area, and although we went to the second largest city in our prefecture to see them, it's still a rural area when you compare it to places further south so I still didn't expect enormous crowds. Regardless, the crowds were unbelievable! We learned that the hard way on Saturday afternoon and devised a plan to be able to see and ENJOY the hanami... Tuesday, 9am! It was perfect. We got the park just before 9am and were able to get a parking spot just across the street, it was 1000 yen ($10) but the places really far away were still $5, so we decided to just go for it. The festival didn't officially start until 10am but many of the vendors were already open. It wasn't a big deal anyway because we really didn't want festival style food at 9 am anyway! The park was more-or-less empty with people steadily strolling in. We stayed on the quieter side of the park, that lacks the view of the Castle, we figured we can see the Castle 365 days a year and we would rather enjoy the trees in peace. We found a nice park bench and played some card games. After awhile the tour groups started pouring in! One group walked by us and starred at us pretty hard, we were the only foreigners around that early. The started talking about us to each other, we caught a few words, but Eric looked up and them and very cheerfully said "ohaiyogozaimasu"! Which is the proper way of saying "Good Morning" in Japanese. The little old ladies roared in laughter. It made my day! We couldn't figure out what surprised them the most about us, but they certainly acted like we were specimens on display. It was quite amusing. After several rounds of card games, soaking up the glorious 20 degree Celsius sunshine (68F) we decided to venture over to the other side of the park for a view of the castle. Bad, bad, bad idea. The crowd was HUGE and loud and disorderly. We took a quick glimpse and happily went back to the serene side we came from, where we stayed until it was time to head home.
Hirosaki Castle Park is an absolutely breathtaking place to view the Hanami. The trees cover the area is masses and it's truly an incredible sight. Unfortunately, the trees are only in full bloom for about 2 weeks so the crowds come pouring in, it's constantly covered on the television though, we saw a helicopter that was either giving private tours or doing a news broadcast, either way it was pretty impressive considering it's all over some gorgeous trees! If you are ever planning on being in Japan in the spring time, please take the time to find out when the trees bloom in your area of interest and if possible, schedule your trip in time to see them. They are one of my favorites things of Japan thus far.
Here are several pictures of the multitude Eric and I captured from our morning in the park.
Monday (Constitution Memorial Day) was filled with lots and lots of studying, poor Eric was quite bored but he read quite a bit and got caught up on some well appreciated R&R.
Tuesday (Greenery Day, much like Earth Day) I took a break from studying in the morning, after all, All Work and No Play Makes Melissa a Stressed Out Girl! (OK so I know I made up the 2nd half but just go with me.) We ventured to Hirosaki Castle Park to view the Hanami.
I knew the Japanese Cherry Blossoms (Hanami) were quite popular, but I didn't have any grasp on how popular they are. We live in a very rural area, and although we went to the second largest city in our prefecture to see them, it's still a rural area when you compare it to places further south so I still didn't expect enormous crowds. Regardless, the crowds were unbelievable! We learned that the hard way on Saturday afternoon and devised a plan to be able to see and ENJOY the hanami... Tuesday, 9am! It was perfect. We got the park just before 9am and were able to get a parking spot just across the street, it was 1000 yen ($10) but the places really far away were still $5, so we decided to just go for it. The festival didn't officially start until 10am but many of the vendors were already open. It wasn't a big deal anyway because we really didn't want festival style food at 9 am anyway! The park was more-or-less empty with people steadily strolling in. We stayed on the quieter side of the park, that lacks the view of the Castle, we figured we can see the Castle 365 days a year and we would rather enjoy the trees in peace. We found a nice park bench and played some card games. After awhile the tour groups started pouring in! One group walked by us and starred at us pretty hard, we were the only foreigners around that early. The started talking about us to each other, we caught a few words, but Eric looked up and them and very cheerfully said "ohaiyogozaimasu"! Which is the proper way of saying "Good Morning" in Japanese. The little old ladies roared in laughter. It made my day! We couldn't figure out what surprised them the most about us, but they certainly acted like we were specimens on display. It was quite amusing. After several rounds of card games, soaking up the glorious 20 degree Celsius sunshine (68F) we decided to venture over to the other side of the park for a view of the castle. Bad, bad, bad idea. The crowd was HUGE and loud and disorderly. We took a quick glimpse and happily went back to the serene side we came from, where we stayed until it was time to head home.
Hirosaki Castle Park is an absolutely breathtaking place to view the Hanami. The trees cover the area is masses and it's truly an incredible sight. Unfortunately, the trees are only in full bloom for about 2 weeks so the crowds come pouring in, it's constantly covered on the television though, we saw a helicopter that was either giving private tours or doing a news broadcast, either way it was pretty impressive considering it's all over some gorgeous trees! If you are ever planning on being in Japan in the spring time, please take the time to find out when the trees bloom in your area of interest and if possible, schedule your trip in time to see them. They are one of my favorites things of Japan thus far.
Here are several pictures of the multitude Eric and I captured from our morning in the park.
In front of the Castle's moat
Ice Cream Carts
Women preparing Takoyaki: little balls of dough with octopus and other goodies inside.
Canoes in the moat. We'll be back to do this when the crowds are gone!
Enjoying some time in the park surrounded by all of the beautiful trees!
There were so many beautiful flowers of many different colors everywhere.
The view of the Castle that people were fighting to see.
Wednesday (Childrens' Day) was back to study, study, study for me. Eric cleaned the house and cooked all of our meals today! It was such a nice treat for me to have that taken care of while I studied. Too bad I can't clone myself so the housework can do itself while I study!
For those of you who didn't know, my sister was able to go home to America for a visit for a little over 2 weeks. It is so wonderful for me to know that she is home recharging her batteries, standing up for a good friend while she gets married, and enjoying the comforts of home. I must say though that the jealousy did not escape me, and in turn it's left me a little home sick. Skyping with my Mom and Dad with Kellie there just makes me miss them very much. Eric knows how to cheer me up though, and I'm trying to stay focused on studying and enjoying the incredible atmosphere in Japan right now. I'm very happy that Eric has been home the past few days to keep me company, I needed that this week :) It's nice how things just work out sometimes.
On Thursday, Eric had to go back to work, sigh ;/ But on the bright side, it was only a 2 day work week so it went very quickly! We had tutoring on Thursday night as ususal. I wish we were learning Japanese a lot faster, it's such a difficult language to learn. . . then again, any 2nd language is hard to learn.
Friday was such a great day :) I have been wanting to do something to make Friday night Shabbot at home a little extra special for Eric and one of the things he often mentions is that the typical white bread just doesn't really do it for Shabbot, so this week, I made Challah bread from scratch! I think our yeast wasn't quite active enough because the dough didn't really rise during the rising stage so braiding it was pretty tough, it was much like braiding slime. Fortunately when I baked it, it started to rise a little. This was the end product. One plain, one sesame. It was okay, we ate it. I'll try something different next time though. This was definitely a case of, it's the thought that counts!
After Shabbot Eric and I went out for burgers and it really hit the spot! We went to a fast food restaurant called MOS burger, we figure that it's a Japanese version of Carl's Jr, or something close to it. Eric has a spicy burger that was incredible and I had the regular hamburger that actually had bbq esque sauce on it. We both added pureed jalapeno sauce to our burgers and we shared onion rings. It was so very delicious!! It's so nice to go out to eat now that I can actually read the majority of the menu!I found out I did not get the part-time job at the school in Hirosaki. They ended up hiring someone with a special TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) License and they have a JLPT (Japanese Langauge Proficiency Test) certification for the 2nd highest level. How was I supposed to compete with that? Oh well. Hopefully another great opportunity is out there for me! I'm still hoping for one other position that is full time, but is next in line if there are any further budget cuts. I'll know more in June/July. I keep telling myself that good things come to those who wait! *As long as you don't just wait for it to fall in your lap and you put the effort in too, which I am definitely doing!
Saturday was such a beautiful day! There was no way I was going to be able to study all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. . . I was rapidly hitting burn out point so, I escaped my stacks of notes and my 8 pound textbook and went on a little adventure with Eric. We decided to go to Hirosaki (it's our favorite, can you tell?) to check and see if Eric's fountain pen was done being repaired yet. We made little stops along the way to places we have been wanting to check out.
This is what Mt. Iwaki looks like these days, it's so beautiful! The grass is so green now too!
We paid a visit to a Strawberry Patch! The berries were so delicious!
Look at the trees at the base of the mountain! They are so beautiful!From there we drove into Hirosaki a different way than usual because we wanted to go past the park so we could see the beautiful trees again, but the trees were naked!! The flowers were ALL gone! I couldn't believe it! They really don't last long and it's a good thing we went when we did! 
After the park I got us a little turned around but we found our way, and more importantly we found this dog! It's a giant dog statue, it made me think of Clifford after swimming in a pool of bleach! The plaque says: "A to Z Memorial Dog" and the artist's name is Yoshitomo NARA. It was pretty cool, see for yourself: 
Doesn't he just make your heart smile?! :)
After the park I got us a little turned around but we found our way, and more importantly we found this dog! It's a giant dog statue, it made me think of Clifford after swimming in a pool of bleach! The plaque says: "A to Z Memorial Dog" and the artist's name is Yoshitomo NARA. It was pretty cool, see for yourself: 
Doesn't he just make your heart smile?! :)
Soo cute!
Do you see why he reminds me of Clifford?
Sunday was Mother's Day, and it made us miss our Mom's a lot!! Eric was thankful that he gets to see his Mom in a few weeks, and I was thankful that my Mom was in Illinois spending some time with great family friends and their adorable children. We miss you Mom(s) and we love you very much!!
And so concludes week 40 of our Japanese adventures. With so many of my friends and old classmates being pregnant right now everytime here things about 36 or 40 weeks I instantly relate it to baby terms. I know I'm a little strange, but that shouldn't be news to any of you! Can you belive we've been in Japan for the same amount of time it takes to create human life! It's amazing.
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