Day Trip to Hirosaki!

On Sunday, I enjoyed a wonderful day in Hirosaki City (about 2 1/2 hours from Mutsu). We could not have asked for better weather....I can actually say that it was hot! (and I got a little tan to prove it):-) I feel like this is the change in weather that I needed to feel like winter is over. So, nice weather, beautiful cherry blossoms, and wonderful friends.....this equals an AWESOME day!
Here are 5 of the 6 of us enjoying the view. My friend's husband took the picture.
We even took time to go rowing on this little river too. It was SO much fun! It is not too often you get so close to the edge that you get attacked by branches from the cherry blossom trees. So funny! Lindsay and I laughed at how this is another one of those experiences to add to the long list of all the cool things we have done in Japan.
Ayako, Makiko, me, Yoshika, and Lindsay...wonderful friends!
The Hirosaki Castle with the cherry blossoms. They have not yet bloomed in Mutsu but I am excited for them to come!
Since it was such a nice day, we were able to see this beautiful view of Mt. Iwaki. I guess it is nicknamed the Mt.Fuji of this area. After walking around for a while, we ate yummy carnival-type food, laughed lots, went shopping, drank coffee, went to a 5-story Pagoda, and took lots of purikura (sticker pictures). It was a great way to end the day.

I Love Kids!

It has been quite a week back at school but overall good. I am totally exhausted. I am happy to report that I made it through an entire week at my hardest school. Yahoo! I also wanted to include some cute pictures from my English Play Group that we have twice a month. I love it! Also, funny story....on Monday I was asked by one of the English teachers to help look over some of the self-introductions written by the students. I came to one that read "My favorite human is Ms. Emi". I have no idea if indeed this student meant to write "Ms. Amy" but I like to think so. I laughed out loud when I read this.
This precious little 1-year-old just started walking and is the youngest member of our group. He can't talk yet but his mom really wants him to be around English as much as possible. He seems to like some of the songs we sing. He is such a happy little guy.
This little girl is 2 years old and shows a very strong interest in English.
These girls are 5, 4, and 2 years old. I love this picture! My favorite part is when the little girl on the far left comes running in, says "Hello Amy" and gives me a big hug!
This picture is classic. Did I mention that little 1-year-old is really happy? Well, he definately is NOT in this picture. His mom is holding him.

From Tokyo to Sendai

I don't want to forget to tell you about my time in Sendai as well. I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) for about 1 1/2 hours from Tokyo to Sendai. As soon as I arrived at the Sendai Station, I headed straight for the Starbucks. Yum! I spent the first night about 1 hour from Sendai with my dear friend, Kaori Takashima (now Oikawa) and her husband. It was really fun to see their new apartment and spend time with her the next day too. I then spent the next 3 nights with Mio and her husband. My family hosted Mio in 1998 when her high school in Mutsu came to Port Angeles for their school trip. It has been so fun to get reconnected with her. She always calls me her sister since she is an only child.
We drove about 1 hour to hike and see Akiu Otaki (waterfall). Mio and Kenji had never even been here before but thanks to my Lonely Planet book we were able to find it! Apparently, it is one of the three most famous waterfalls in Japan. Who knew? Here I am with Mio as we get wet from the mist of the waterfall.
It was so much fun to get to know Kenji. His English improved a lot during my time with them...he would always tell me "Thank you, teacher". Ha ha.
Another fun highlight of this trip was "Miobucks Cafe". She made some yummy coffee one morning so she decided to name it that. Hilarious. We kept laughing about that. The night before I was supposed to leave she said "Let's go to Starbucks for breakfast. I am sorry but Miobucks is closed tomorrow". :-)
I enjoyed playing cards with them at night. Oh, Mio and I also had a "girl's day" one day. We stayed in our pajamas until 12, went shopping, out to lunch, took Purikura (sticker pictures), drank Starbucks, and went to the movies (by the way, it costs about $18 to go to the movies here). It was such a fun day!
After going to the waterfall, we also did some more hiking. It was a beautiful day. We sure did work up an appetite so we ate dinner at a gyutan (cow tongue) restaurant. Sendai is famous for this. I returned back to Mutsu on Sunday, April 13th. Oh, I also carried a Starbucks with me all the way back up to Mutsu....I think I had enough this break to last me for these next few months!

Tokyo Trip- Part 2

I then met up with my Uncle Dave to explore new places in Tokyo!
We made our way to the Tokyo Dome and to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum! It was so cool to learn more about how long Japan and American baseball teams have been playing games against each another. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth even came to play in Japan in 1934! We also enjoyed lunch at the Baseball Cafe nearby.
I had the privilege of spending time with my Uncle Dave for 3 days! He definately knows his way around Tokyo area so we were a great team! I had so much fun seeing new places in Tokyo but the best thing of all was getting to spend some quality time with him. Here we are at the train station in Enoshima.
The Great Buddha Statue (Daibutsu) in Kamakura that was completed in 1252!
We spent time in Yokohama, Japan's 2nd-largest city. We made our way to this pier just as one of the cruise ships (Nippon Maru) was leaving! We arrived just in time to wave good-bye to everyone on board, watch the balloons/streamers being released, and be among all the people there to see them off. It was SO cool! We later learned that this was the starting point for this ship on a 3-month cruise to 28 ports around the world!
Here is the view from the top of the tower in Enoshima. We walked across the causeway to this little fishing village island. It was a nice little hike around to the top and a GREAT view! We could even see Mt. Fuji.

Tokyo Trip- Part 1

Ok, I am now back after another fun adventure...this time making my way down south to Tokyo. One word to describe my entire Spring break.....AWESOME! April 5th and 6th were spent seeing friends, exploring new places, and enjoying the beautiful cherry blossom trees.
My friend met me at the Tokyo Station and we made our way to the Ueno Park. The park was filled with people enjoying the nice weather and these beautiful trees.
I had so much fun with my friend, Yasuka. We met in October 1998 when she came to P.A. for a school trip from Mutsu City. We were both high school students then and now she is a Junior High School English teacher. We enjoyed the park and then the Ueno Zoo. So fun! Don't worry...this is just one of the many statues they had around the zoo:-)
I enjoyed my very first "Hanami" experience. This is basicly "flower-viewing", which means people gather in parks, eat and drink a lot, and enjoy the cherry blossoms. It was quite an experience that I will never forget. I went with my friend's boyfriend (since she had to work) and his co-workers. So, here I am with some of my new friends that I made during this experience.
I walked around Shiba Park a little, taking pictures of the flowers, and enjoying the sunshine. I was excited to see how close this park was to the Tokyo Tower!!!
I stayed 2 nights with Yoko, another friend from my high school years. We met in June 2000 when I came to Mutsu and my family later hosted her in October 2000. She is now a beautician in Tokyo. It was so much fun to hang out with her again.

More Pictures from Korea!

Here are a few more pictures from my time in Korea. I also forgot to mention that I absolutely LOVED eating at some American Restaurants...Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, and Cold Stones. They have some of these in Japan but not here in the Aomori Prefecture. I definately needed my fix. All I can say is...YUM!

Another cool picture of part of the palace.
Here is a sign showing how far away we are from other places in the world while here in Seoul. I am pointing to the Tokyo sign.
We headed up the Seoul Tower. Actually, this was our 2nd attempt since a few days earlier it was raining. We got a free pass to go up again so we took advantage of that. It reminds me a lot of the Space Needle.
Okay, so this is by far one of the best views....and it comes from the bathroom!
Just call me "Amy the Traveler":-)

My Trip to Korea!

Hello again! So, I am now back from my trip to Korea! I took a 3 hour flight from Aomori, Japan to Seoul, Korea(Incheon International Airport). I stayed with a Whitworth friend for 5 days. Some hightlights from the trip:
1. Seeing the differences and similarities between Korea and Japan
2. Exploring a new country!
3. Eating yummy Korean food
4. Getting to know Nicole and Won better
5. Visiting an International Christian School (where Nicole teaches ESL)

This was another awesome experience. Just as we arrived at the Gyeongbokgung (Palace) in Seoul (on Monday), they were doing the changing of the guards. It was quite a show!
I think this picture is awesome! They were heading right towards the crowd but soon turned towards the Palace entrance to begin the guard change.
This is just another area of the huge palace, home of the king and queen during the Joseon Dynasty.
Here we are at the Korean War Memorial. We are pointing to a sign that says "Photo Shoot here". This memorial is huge so we were not able to finish going through it all. We also walked around the display of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are on here until June. It was so cool to see coins that were found when Jesus was here in Earth.
Some of you may have heard on the news about an old famous gate in South Korea (Sungryemun) having a fire and burning down back in February. Well, here is what is left of it...nothing. They have put a wall around it to protect the area and also so people can write messages. We happened to be there on the 49th day since this incident so they were preparing for a memorial service.