Memuro / Golden Week

I spent a good half an hour updating and the browser crashed.

I am not a happy camper.

Not at all.

Golden Week update;

Saturday was Hanami, sat around with the international club, Hi-C and hung out. Was lots of fun.

Sunday went to Memuro. Memuro is through the mountains about three hours away. It was amazing. The weather was fantastic. I enjoyed Memuro`s country-side-ish vibe too. It was definitely not a bustling city, but still, was nice.

Have I mentioned this is incredibly frustrating after I already typed all of this!?!?! Anyway...moving on.

We were staying at my host mom`s late husband`s sister`s / Family`s house. There I met my host mom`s other daughter and her husband and her 13 year old. He was a cool kid. He spoke barely any english..but that was okay. That day I went park golfing, which is basically short course golf with a bigger colored ball. I wasnt half bad. While there, we saw a helicopter going back and forth between a station and some trees right next to us at the course, but a little up a mountain/hill thing. It was spraying the trees, I supose with water...I mean if it was poison I probably wouldnt be here to talk about it...also probably not the safest thing to spray next to a golf course..yeah?

That night was my first experience with an Onsen. I enjoyed it...except for the..er...nakedness. Let me explain, an Onsen is a hot spring / bath house. And the Japanese do not wear bathing suits or anything there. In fact they barely wear even a little towel to cover anything up. I mean it`s a completley culural thing and wouldnt have been a big deal if I had grown up going to Onsens... but as it stands that was my first time being so..very...naked in public....Sure I was on the swim team..but even we werent so.....naked.

Okay..Im over it. It was a good experience, theyre nice, but..naked. Anyway, this is what happens, you de-clothe, and then you go to a station where you sit down and clean yourself up. Soap and Shampoo and the works, there was a shower head and a bowl where I was. After that, you pick a bath and slide on in. There are various baths, mostly hot. Some have jets, some are even hotter than the normal ones (which I could not do) and some are outside, which was really nice with the breeze and everything. There was even a hotter-than-Hades (Hades?) sauna, with a cold bath next to it. It was ...overall... a good time. Refreshing..but..so.....naked.

Anyway, the next day I went wild vegetable picking with the late husbands sister, my host sister, and the grand son. It was interesting...we picked these things whose names I cant remember right now. The were green and their stalks sprilaled at the top. They werent half bad either, apparently a good food to have. Later that night we had a BBQ! IT was amazing, they had all types of meat, and vegetables. I was especially a fan of the meat, as Im not such a fan of fish. I even had what I think was chicken neck..or something like that. Some things get lost in translation. There was even cheese inside potatos and just plain fried cheese. I passed on the fish.... BUT I did eat the asparagus, so points for me, yeah?

The next morning we all parted ways, the other daughter and her family left early, which was a little sad, I enjoyed my time with them, I really like my host family and her extended family. I hope I get to see them at least one more time before I go... Anyway, me and my host mom left around noon via fast train towards Shin Sapporo (which is a station that connects with the subway line back to the house). That was a fun trip, we got to get a close up again of the mountains, and can I say what a beautiful country side it was? I never get tired of living in the vicinity of such a gorgeous picture, even here I can look out the window of the school cafeteria or my classroom and see the mountains. Its nice, especially coming from Flatsville, USA.

Thats all for Golden Week. School is going well, and I continue to love it here. Take care all, and a special shout out to all Moms out there, but most especially mine! I`m sorry I can`t be home in person to wish you a very happy Mother`s day! I love and miss you very much, Mom! It was due to your influence that I went to St. Norbert in the first place. I can remember being a relatively uninterested college-searcher. Who found SNC with the Japanese program? That would be you. And here I am, in Japan. Thanks for always being there for me, even when I`m not in the country.

Take care all!