so, last wednesday i went to hyogo to teach in an english camp. i don't really want to write about work, but let me say i had a lot of fun! i was actually surprised by how much i enjoyed it! i also loved traveling in hyogo. basically i went to kobe, which i haven't visited in over ten years! i didn't have any time for sight-seeing, i couldn't even meet up with kansai friends, but i was reminded about how much i love traveling in japan and should do it more often! especially without three small children attached to me...

sadly, i forgot my camera at home, and the battery in my keitai died my second day there, so i have no photos. not that i would share any of the students, but i could have got a lot of great pictures. esp. since on my way home, there was a professional baseball game at koshien stadium (loads of interesting people dressed for the game! such a shame the game was rained out.) there was also a game at hiroshima stadium (sorry, i don't know the official name for it) and it looked spectacular from the shinkasen!

there was a heavy rain storm that hit kansai as we were returning to koshien from the camp. i got completely soaked on my way to the station, although the (private) bus dropped me off right there. then the shinkansen was delayed by rain in kyoto, so i had a slight panic when the train i was supposed to be on didn't show up on the information board! they only show two departures at a time, so it showed up afterward. so, i got home rather late, and had to wait quite a bit, and ended up taking a taxi home just to find myself locked out! but in the end, i made it home and into bed. everyone missed me, even the cat and the dog didn't want to let me out of their sight. what a family!

on saturday morning i woke up very early and did some laundry. it looked like it wasn't going to be all that great a day weather-wise, plus i was going to be gone and so i took the wet stuff to the coin laundry to get it all dry. when i got back i packed up a lot of stuff (and yet forgot sasha's undies) including towels (for onsen or possible paddling opportunities) and got the kids fed. then dressed. then in the car. we actually left the driveway at 8:30! first we were off to 7-11 to turn in halloween coloring pages to get a prize. woo hoo? anyway, we were on the road to oita by 9 am and i gave gaijin wife a call to tell her our estimated arrival time. i actually got it right for a change, and that included a stop for lunch! there were a lot of, 'mommy, i have to pee!' from the back, nearly every ten minutes. there was a bit of screaming and fighting but the promise of jiji the cat and the threat of going back home (i even turned the car around, once) kept them in line and we were at kitty's house a little bit after one in the afternoon.





we were invited out to GW's to meet sarah and her family. they are so nice, and sakura is a little beauty! she has such a beautiful smile.



the kids had a great time playing and the time seemed to fly by! before i knew it, it was time to leave and meet up with jo!


(i would have taken more pictures but my nikon died right about here:


but i got some pics with my olympus before giving up:

)

we met at a joyfull and had dinner with jo and her kids, and then we followed them to their house. it's really in the country-side, right in the mountains. we checked out the cottage, and then we went into their house to hang out. even though they were really tired (none of then had a nap), hiro, sasha and tommy had a GREAT time playing in jo's house, i think we didn't get back to the cottage until after ten! then it was shower, teeth brushing and pajama time. we opted for the futon route, because the kids love to sleep with me, and we wouldn't have fit on the beds. i actually moved to a bed once the kids were asleep, but some time during the night hiro came and found me....the kids also surprised me by being afraid of 'oni' (devils?) and asked me what would happen when the oni came. ??? i told them that i would protect them. sasha wanted to know what i would do to the oni. ??? i was stumped for a few seconds, and then said i would close my eyes because that would make the oni disappear. oni are not real so closing my eyes would make them go away. that didn't really seem like the right answer, but they went to sleep anyway. phew!

the next morning jo's family had to leave really early because of undokai, but she very kindly left us breakfast! sasha and i were up and dressed early enough to say goodbye to our hosts and wish them luck at the undokai. then we had a slow morning playing and having breakfast. i got a few pictures, mostly of the cottage (which is just so lovely!) and the chickens which were so friendly. well, they would run up to the fence when they saw anyone coming.







but that wasn't the end of our day! sunday was rachel's littlest one's birthday party.



as always there was a lot of fabulous food:



i couldn't resist the caramel slice:



there were cakes and sandwiches, too.







the kids had a great time playing, dress-up, running around and going outside. we probably had too many sweets, but it was a birthday party so we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

i actually managed to drag myself (and the kids) away at a decent time and managed to get home before dark! i was pretty exhausted, but i think it was a great weekend. we would all like to thank GW for inviting us over to play, jo for letting us crash at her place (and i REALLY REALLY hope we have time someday to actually spend together. the kids are STILL talking about your place and want to go see jo. as early as tomorrow, if possible! lol) and of course to rachel and erica for having us over for the birthday party! we had a great time and i hope we weren't too much of a burden!

i wanted to write last week about how i had heard a cicada for the first time this year, but i had just posted about (uh, whatever i last posted about. check previous post) and didn't want to post twice in one day. but then life has a way of getting away from you and here we are, a week later. harumph. ANYWAY. i heard a cicada last week. first time this season. even though it's rainy season, it really brings home that it's finally summer!

last friday i went to a japanese lesson held here in town. it's free, and was really fun. i was actually surprised, i usually find these things very boring and far beneath my level. but i am joining in an established group (and it feels like they've been doing this for a while so really have their act together) and didn't feel annoyed or shy or anything. yay! i also got a book for studying kanji over the weekend, so here's hoping my japanese will improve!

over the weekend i went to osaka for the AFWJ board meeting. seeing as i'm now a member of the board! LOL i got up bright and early (well, ok, early) on saturday morning in order to catch a train before six in order to get to hakata station before 6:30 which was when my shinkansen was leaving! rachel got on at kokura and we chatted and had breakfast together on the train. then when we got to our destination, we went to starbucks and met up with most of the board there (surprise! lol)

the meeting was very interesting and i learned a lot. dinner afterward was really great but took a very long time! i met a lot of new interesting and fun women in osaka, i am really glad to be a part of the board. i also finally got to meet vicky and heather, who are also on the board!

on sunday i got up bright and early again and went for a walk. ok, ok, i was actually looking for subway sandwich, but it took me an hour to find it! it was only about 20 minutes away but i walked past it (one road over) but if we have another meeting in the same place, now i know where to go! i left osaka rather early and got back to hakata in time for lunch, so i went to mcdonalds, then daiso and then kinokuniya (book store). then i went to tenjin so i could catch a bus home (the bus stops practically in front of our house) but they were delayed by nearly an hour so i had a VERY long wait! i thought i had missed the 2:17 bus and waited for the 3:17, which didn't leave until 4:30!! it was a very long and tiring day.

this week has been rather uneventful. yesterday was very beautiful, so i did BBQ for dinner. that meant cutting the grass and weeds in the back garden, because it is very wild back there!! the kids really love BBQ but they mainly only ate the potato salad i made, leaving more meat and veggies for me!

aaaand, that's about it for now. tomorrow will be another japanese lesson and i am really looking forward to it!

we packed up the car and headed to shimane on saturday, to visit friends. we were invited to stay the night so we were excited to start out early and visit our (well, maybe just my) favorite fish restaurant in japan. our friends also contacted other friends and we had a impromptu dinner party at a chinese restaurant. before dinner, though, we all (nine!) of us went to an onsen and had a nice relaxing bath. sunday was a slow morning then off to a party! yay!

the drive up to masuda was fairly easy, even the kids did well. of course, it helped that tommy and sasha fell asleep in the car for a while! we stopped at kanmon (potty break!) but didn't do much looking around since it was raining. we made good time, too, and got to tagosaku at about 12:30, greeting our old friends (those who own the restaurant, not those we were there to visit) and showing off how much everyone had grown. after a great lunch, we peeked at the house where (yoshi and i) used to live, then went to R and K's house. they have two girls now, three and a half L and eight month old M. M. is an adorable little baby! and so sweet to cuddle. *sigh* we hung out for a bit then decided that an onsen would hit the spot, and before dinner would be better than after.

hiro was PITA, though, and wouldn't go with 'the boys' and cried in the changing room of the women's bath. eventually he joined us, just as we were getting out. more sobbing, and then he joined yoshi on the men's side! pbbbt. anyway, we eventually got out of there, went back to R's and then went to dinner. it was lovely seeing even more old friends, so big thanks to R for organizing that!

sleeping arrangements were made and the kids had a blast helping us set up the futons. hm...i think we know what we need to do to entertain little kids! make them work! then, after getting the kids to sleep, we adults had a drink (or two), i got out my crochet, R got out some sewing and we chatted for a couple of hours.

the next morning was a blueberry pancake breaky (with extra kids!), then a walk and then we went to a party. the details will no doubt bore you, but we did know the host, and the guest of honor, so we weren't horrible party crashers, i assure you! the kids again had fun (and actually, maybe it was better that we did go, since our three were the only other kids so L had little buddies to run around with!), there was a lot of fish to be had, and i enjoyed a lot of chicken drumettes! yummy!

the drive home was more hellish, even though the kids fell asleep nearly as soon as we turned on the car. however, after they woke up, there was a lot of shouting and fighting *sigh*, which is rare, but certainly not fun when it happens. we had udon for dinner, got everyone home and everything out of the car, got bathed and everyone in bed by nine, so we survived the trip home! phew!

hopefully i'll have some pics sorted out by this evening and will be able to share soon!

our trip to yufuin was so much fun! we arrived sunday evening and had time for a bath before dinner (dinner is served at 7, which is actually tommy's bed time, so that was a bit rough). the food was delicious (sorry, no food pictures.) we put the kids to bed, and i actually went to bed with them. i was worried about tommy, because he really only sleeps well in his crib (as we found out over obon), but eventually everyone fell asleep. unfortunately, tommy woke up a four and wanted to play. eventually he fell asleep again and we all got up at 7.



after breakfast we straightened up our room, then headed out for some sight-seeing. we left the youth hostel with a song. the manager at the youth hostel recommended going to the kannawa area in beppu, where all the jigoku (hells) are. basically these are onsen that you can't enter, maybe because they are too hot, or too acidic (or basic?) and would kill you if you got in. there are seven (eight?) hells in the kannawa area, but we only went to one, the kamado jigoku. we got some eggs steamed by the jigoku, some chicken, then dipped our feet in a steaming hot pond. then we looked and boiling mud, a face onsen, eggs being cooked and the big white pond. hiro tried his hand at climbing on monuments. *sigh*















afterward we had lunch, then we went to a beach just outside of beppu. it was great! hiro and sasha played in the water, without clothes, which made me worry about 'accidents' and told them over and over to let me know if they needed to go poo! i collected a few shells and rocks, and also found some little creatures rolling in the surf. i *think* they were sea slugs, but i guess they could have been sea cucumbers!









then we went home, had a bath, then dinner, then bed...except we couldn't get tommy to go to sleep. eventually yoshi took him for a walk and he conked out. *sigh*

all of the above pictures, except for the one of yoshi and tommy sleeping, and the sea slug in my hand, were taken by the nikon. but i feel like this was the best picture i took (taken at an onsen/park in nakatsu, oita, on our way home):



it was taken with my little olympus digicam. isn't it great?

set at flickr: trip to yufuin. not all photos are public, so if you are one of my contacts, be sure to log in to flickr.


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i finally got my blogroll re-done. i can't remember exactly who was in it before! please let me know if you want to be added, or taken out, either in comments or by e-mail (in my profile). thanks!

just before we moved back to fukuoka from shimane, yoshi and i took a trip to izumo and matsue. matsue is the largest city in shimane, and is also a castle town. izumo has the izumo taisha, a large shrine which is supposed to be for married couples. it is also the shrine where all the gods in japan go to in october. too bad i'm not up on japanese culture and talk all about that (in another post).

we had only planned on staying one night, but matsue is far from masuda, so when we hit the city, we decided to stay another night. we called the matsue lakeside youth hostel and got a room. the couple running the hostel were young, had a little girl just over a year old, and could speak english really well. they also did little extra things like have everyone play games after dinner, and they sent you off with a song (take me home, country roads...in english!). we joined their club, but we never made it back to the hostel. matsue is far from masuda, but it's even farther away from munakata.

as members of the club, they sent us e-mails and post cards from time to time. last spring, they moved to yufuin, in oita-ken. yufuin is an onsen town, one i've been to several times, and we were excited to be able to visit them again. with pregnancy and two small kids, though, we never made it. until last weekend. we had a lot of fun. the hostel is a bit up the mountain, near yufu-dake (mt. yufu) and has a lovely view. apparently it's number 3 (in japan and the world?) in concentration of onsen (or hot springs). we could see several steam vents from our room.



yufu-dake dominates the town, you can see it pretty much anywhere in yufuin. it's an interesting shaped mountain, and even had some snow on it! this is the only shot i got of it, the clouds were hiding it most of the time we were there.



on sunday we met our hosts at a big park. yoshi and the kids had fun playing while i stayed inside (with tommy) and worked on my cross stitch (we got there before our hosts). after an hour or so, i met up with everyone and watched while the others played. on the way back, all of the children fell asleep, but we went to joyfull for dinner and then headed back to the hostel. yoshi, our host and one other guest watched soccer and then went for a hike up the mountain. thankfully all of (my) kids fell asleep rather early and i got to work on more cross stitch.

in the three years since we last met, our friends had another baby, and we had three. hiro and sasha had so much fun playing with our hosts' daughter, who is nearly five. she was in love with the baby, though, and constantly wanted to hold him.



we took pictures before we left, our hostess actually knew how to set the timer on my camera. embarrassed, i didn't know i could do that!



then they sung us the 'goodbye song' and we were on our way. i think they actually bought this hostel (they were only the managers in shimane) because the name of the hostel is 'country road'. it is a lovely place with good people and good food. if you ever have a chance, you should check it out!



(yoshi doesn't know i have this, i think, and so don't tell him you saw this!)

this year we went to miyazaki during golden week. again. we have such a great time. this was the third year. i hope this continues as a yearly thing for a long time.

we left on the third very early in the morning. we actually over-slept. i wanted to leave at five, but that's when sasha woke me up that morning. i had put my alarm in the next room so i wouldn't disturb the kids, but i didn't hear it, either!

it takes between three and five hours for us to drive to victoria's house. this year it was about four. we didn't have to stop as often this time around. both hiro and sasha slept most of the way.

there were several dual nationality families there during the three days. we met our old friends and made new ones. this year there were actually quite a few kids of the same age and ran around a lot playing. it was great to see. they even played with hiro sometimes. in fact, sometimes when the girls were fighting they would fight over who could get his attention! the older boys liked hiro, too, with gentle teasing and shoving him under benches. LOL ok, shoving is a harsh word, no one was injured in the 'hiding hiro under the bench' game.

the weather was perfect on the third. for dinner there was delicious baked chicken (made in dutch ovens with potatoes on the bottom and stuffed with garlic). fabulous. the rest of the week, though, was mostly rainy. that was ok for an onsen trip, but pretty much canceled out any other sight-seeing. i kinda wanted to go to the gorge this year to get some more photos. but, because of all the people and all the room at the temple, the rain didn't really matter much (except maybe to the moms, who just wanted some time alone together but the kids kept showing up where they were! LOL)

here are the kids and a few dads watching a DVD, giving the moms a break!

on saturday morning there was a yoga lesson, that's where sasha is there at the top of this post. she's so cute in the morning! i didn't do much yoga this year because of the pregnancy, but also because i was wearing a skirt. oops! ;)

our drive home was pretty uneventful. although, at one point hiro started yelling, 'poo poo!', and then we could smell it. i think he is really getting ready for potty training seriously.