First 2 weeks of November

A few noteworthy excursions over the last 3 weekends.

1. A day trip to Yamanashi Prefecture and the 5 lakes around Mount Fuji. I borrowed the best bike in the world (cannondale below) and combined with smoothly paved roads around the lakes, and crisp autumn air and color, I enjoyed the rides immensely.

2. I am no artist, but Romica invited me to an art and wine event on the military base (hence all the Americans- mainly moms and teachers). Dans, I think you did a similar activity relatively recently (a red background with some birds on a tree??) Ultimately, I was satisfied with the outcome and it will decorate my classroom nicely :)

 3. Festival near Zushi beach. Morning Samurai parade and afternoon Yabusame- traditional archery on horseback dating back to this beach location over 900 years ago!

This is Halloween...

Happy Halloween!

Our school went all out for Halloween. For the last month, my class has teamed up with the 1st grade class to learn a dance routine to Ghostbusters. The 10 students then performed on Halloween day for some very excited parents during our joint class party. 

I had the students help with the decorations of the room (Mindcraft creepers, Halloween themed paper chain and a few other bits and pieces). All students were allowed to come in costume for the day and I had: a Ghostbuster, Vampire, Olaf (the snowman) and 2 Elsas (from Frozen). 

My floor team (Adam- Kindergarten teacher, Seiko- Kindergarten teacher, and Jo- 1st grade teacher) all teamed up to be the main characters from the Wizard of Oz. 

As it turned out, the Wizard of Oz is not known AT ALL in Japan, so that night when I decided to go out to Tokyo for Halloween night with my apartment friends, I decided to change my costume. Being very last minute- I had to pull something out of my closet in about 20 minutes. My solution was an 80s girl- and I had all the pieces! Leg warmers, star-spandex, thick belt, off the shoulder shirt, finger-less gloves, side pony-tail, big earrings, purple eyeshadow...I thought I pulled it off. Turns out it was too "normal" by Japanese standards and I was even asked at the club if I was dressed up!! Haha! 

Japanese interpret Halloween as an opportunity to be as gory and scary as possible! So when we headed into Tokyo there were a ton of bloody brides, and very intricate face paint of wounds and blood! Check out this news about Shibuya on Halloween. 

So that night, about 15 of my Eda apartment-mates headed into Tokyo- Shibuya to be exact and were met by millions of costume-clad revelers! 

I attempted to take some photos of the night. But this video montage has a much better display of what happened that night!

My German friend, Ken (tallest guy) with new Waldo friends!

 Where's Waldo was a HUGE hit! (what a simple costume, right?) But Ken made friends with other Waldos wherever we went, and took many photos with them!

Still crowded at 5am the next morning!

Aomori- Northern Honshu

Katy and I took a quick weekend trip up to Aomori prefecture- the northern most point of the main Honshu Island- about 700km from Tokyo.

We left at 6:40pm by Shinkansen from Tokyo station and 3.5 hours later, we arrived. We booked a ryokan (Japanese style place) near the station for one night. The next morning we were up bright and early to catch an infrequent bus (all public transport runs much less frequently outside of major cities) to see some fall foliage. Our intension was to get off the bus at a gondola that would take us to the top of a volcano- so we could hike around the rim.

The drive to the volcano was a burst of color through the lush forest. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side. As we rode the gondola up, the misty rain turned to thick fog and we were pelted with icy rain and poor visibility at the top. So, we rode the gondola back down, got back on the bus, and continued down to the river hike. Fortunately, we were met by sunny skies and fresh forest smells. The 10km or so that we walked along the riverside was absolutely magical- right out of a magazine edited for color, contrast and autumn beauty.

                                                                         

But we just couldn't seem to catch a break, and our last hour of hiking was in steady rain. Neither of us were totally prepared to be walking through such incessant rain, so sopping wet, we jumped on the bus to take us the final 4km to the lake-front. We warmed up with a hot lunch and tea, walked along the boardwalk next to the lake and hiked up to see a temple in the woods. By 5:30 pm, we found our backpackers hostel and by 7pm we were asleep!

Well Sunday's weather, while windy, was clear and sharp- the crystal clear lake reflected the blue of the sky and the browns, oranges, greens and yellows were in their glory. Our hostel allowed us to borrow 3-speed bikes for free, so we attempted to ride as much as we could around the lake. However, the hilly portions are nearly impossible on a speed-less bike, so we got about 15-18 km around, when we had to turn back. Next we jumped on the ferry that would take us on a cruise around the lake. The front row seat, the sun baked couch and the smooth lake was a perfect setting for a nap! That's right, I slept through most of the cruise! It was fantastic.

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