http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Pierquets-in-Japan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Pierquets in Japan en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:56:17 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:56:17 +0000 For the past few months Jessie and I have been homesick. First for the United States a country filled with things we thought we knew and missed and the people there we missed. And now for the foreign country that for a year adopted us and made us feel at home.About five weeks ago we left some of the closest dearest friends we have ever had and will ever make. We knew it would be difficult to l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Green-Bay/blog-318699.html Well four days from today we'll be back on U.S. soil. Now the challenge becomes trying to describe our year here in Japan. As with many things the temptation is to write a list of the things we enjoyed and the things we didn't like about Japan. But the more Jessie and I talk about our experiences here the harder it is to come to conclusions. Seemingly every time we've tried to make a generali http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-297233.html Jessie and I don't consider ourselves travelers. We're home bodies generally content to stick close to what we know. However because we realize this we often find ourselves especially in Japan stepping out of that comfort zone in order to experience new things.We had been planning to take a trip alone to some far off place in Japan since our arrival here and having saved up enough money we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/Hiroshima/blog-287391.html Jessie and I took a day trip to Tokyo Tuesday to see possibly the most controversial destination in all of Japan Yasukunijinja shrine and Yushukan the shrine's accompanying museum. The museum commemorates Japan's war dead from the late 19th century up through WWII and the Japanese believe the shrine is home to the spirits of those who fought and died for Japan. The shrine is a popular destina http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-273655.html You are and crazy. Those three words were in every sentence out of our friends' mouths when they heard Jessie and I would be hosting six members of Jessie's family at our little house for a week and a half.Well yes we are. But they came we all survived and had a pretty great time too.It's going to be a lot quieter around here and I feel kind of like I feel the day after my birthday...But http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-268206.html That's right sakura mania is once again sweeping Japan a time when friends and families gather under perfectly placed and pruned cherry trees and drink sake gross food and look at the cherry blossoms sakura.In addition to these ohanami events the Japanese generally are enthralled with their cherry trees. The blossoms bloom brilliantly for about two weeks depending on wind and rain and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-262142.html Well things have been busy here for Jessie and I to say the least. Not only is the school year winding down but our free time has been spent with friends and preparing for our families to visit Japan.We knew these next two months would be full of adventures and challenges.My parents have been here for a week now and we're having a very nice time. Thankfully our friends have been eager to whisk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-259440.html ldquoIrsquom worried that Japan may have become just like foreign countrieshellipwe have to think of a good way to prevent such occurrences.rdquoThis the reaction by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda following a December fatal shooting at a sports club.Seems like I Greg can't go a week without a Japanese person telling me how peaceloving and harmonious Japan is.OK I get it already. Japanese http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-248417.html So for about a day it was white in Minami Alps. Actually it has snowed four times here already which is a lot compared to last year's one. The snow only lasts for the day and then melts away. We are hearing stories of all the snow in Iowa and Wisconsin and we can't say we miss it. The first time it snowed I opend the curtains in the morning and yelled for Greg to look. We ventured out on our bik http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-245338.html The New Year in Japan meant celebrations galore and new opportunities to experience Japanese culture for Jessie and me.Our friends here in MinamiAlps City treated us to experiences including searching out local monkeys and visiting the Mt. Fuji area.One question wersquore asked here quite a bit is ldquoIs Japanese winter cold for yourdquoWe try not to laugh but say no it is not too col http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Fuji-Five-Lakes/blog-233884.html Happy New Year from Japan Last night we had to forgo our usual tradition of Chinese food and watching the ball drop at Times square for Japanese food and watching Japanese boy bands sing in the New year fromTokyo.Five minutes into 2008 our friend and my student Masako picked us up to go to a traditional new year celebration at the local shrine. Just down the road from our house the shrine we' http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-231884.html Ima nanji desu ka Christmas desu. What time is it Itrsquos Christmas.Ok I think thatrsquos pretty close. Wersquore always practicingChristmas just isnrsquot the same so far from family. You donrsquot miss the other stuff here just family. But wersquore doing our best to revel in the Japanese Christmas season which consists of everything overwhelming and unnecessary about Christ http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-229757.html Jessie and I set out for Kyoto early last Saturday morning with our friends Hiromi and Takahisa Fukasawa.The Fukasawas are my students. We meet once or twice a week at their house for a lesson that is supposed to take an hour but usually lasts longer because we goof off too much. Theyrsquore in their fifties hersquos a dentist and shersquos a sixthgrade teacher.The leather of their Audi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/blog-226378.html Jessie and I really like camping. Well I like to camp. So I was looking forward to the prospect of camping in another country a country where mountains streams wild monkeys and really neat foliage are commonplace. Japan seemed like a nice place to explore because itrsquos small in size so yoursquore never far from civilization but at the same time mountains amongst which few people li http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-225224.html The Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone but the memories of this yearrsquos events will definitely live on. As with most of the ldquoAmerican thingsrdquo we do here in Japan celebrating Thanksgiving was not easy. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Japan of course and not many people know when or what it is. November 23 is a Japanese National holiday translated as Thanksgiving Labor Da http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-224394.html The leaves here in Minami Alps are finally starting to change colors. The trees are still full with their red green and yellow leaves with just a few brown on the ground unlike in Wisconsin and Iowa where by late November most of the trees are already bare. After an unseasonably warm summer we are now hoping for a warm winter. No one on the main island in Japan has central heat including u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-219135.html Jessie celebrated her birthday on the 29th and what could have become a sad reminder of her being away from her family and friends turned out to be a wonderful experience and further proof that we are making some great friends here in Japan.My tutees Yoko Maki and Shizu along with our good friend Jason threw Jessie a surprise birthday party last week. The celebration was thoughtfully planned http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-215736.html We are a novelty here. For that reason people stop by our house bring us places and are generally interested in us simply because we're Americans. Never before have we made so many friends and acquaintences in one place.Some of them want to practice their English with us some want to practice their pickup lines on Jessie but others have given us hope that after a year in another country we w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-213564.html We boarded a bus headed for Tokyo at 526 p.m. last Friday ready for our first big adventure here in Japan. We were on the bus two hours then transferred trains a couple of times before stopping in Ueno Tokyo where we stayed the night in the cheapest hostel in Tokyo so we were told. Greg and I shared a 10rsquox 6rsquo tatami room with a futon mat blanket and two pillows. There were commu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tochigi/Nikko/blog-210518.html Itrsquos school festival time in Japan This means two things one the students are very busy and two English conversation teachers are not. Last Monday my school kicked of its festivities with what they called Cultural Festival. It was a day of student choral performances followed by a student talent show. Unlike in the United States where the students have a choice to join chorus or not th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-204987.html