http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Japan , Yamanashi en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:07:49 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:07:49 UTC Konnichiwa Sorry I know I'm really slow with posting entries but I think you'll forgive me after the amazingness of the tales I am about to tell. You're gonna love it I swearSunday 08302008This day was the start of a festival in Tsuru called HasakuMatsuri. It marks the beginning of fall and is a 2day festival that we were gonna get to have all sorts of fun in. For this first day we met http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-346785.html Hisashiburi That means it's been a long time Sorry I won't make excuses...even though I've been busy I should have been writing...So I'll just get started08282008Every year the Tsuru exchange students climb Mt.Fuji. It's grueling tough and one of the most memorable experiences that the group shares. The Thursday before the Friday that we were supposed to climb finally arrived...and our http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-341081.html Hi everybodyI'm very excited to write this entry because I get to write about one of the coolest experiences I've had in Japan yet. Are you ready for it Time to grab some popcorn oh how I miss popcorn... sit back and relax as I present another epic Japanese adventure...08262008As a misty wet rain fell from the sky so did ashes and embers falling from pillars of burning wood. I pushed thr http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-331693.html KonnichiwaI know I know...it's been a while since I've written a new entry. Sorry everyone It's hard to sit down at a computer and type when I have so many fun things to do here Gives me lots to write about when I do though. Without further delay I bring you more tales from the Far East...Saturday 08162008Not much notable happened that day so I wouldn't even bother to mention it except http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-325179.html Konnichiwa minna minna means everyoneI'm taking it upon myself to teach you all a little Japanese. Gomen sorry for taking so long to write a new entry There's just always too much fun stuff going on here. But I love you guys so sorry again and here we go with more tales from the shadow of Mt. Fuji...Monday 8112008After normal readkinda boring morning class we were to try our h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-319988.html Hi everyoneSorry that it's taken me a few days to post a new entry. We had to do a speech for school and I've been spending a lot of time writing and memorizing it so I've been quite busy. But don't worryit's definitely not all work and no play I'm sure you could have figured that out though. Alright well down to business. I'll be picking up this time with my 2nd weekend here in Tsuru. We http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-314924.html Konnichiwa I hope everyone is enjoying the end of Summer break I'm already in classes here but still having a great time In an effort to get you all caught up to my current happenings I'm going to kind of squish the first week at Tsuru in to this entry. Once we got to Tsuru things calmed down a lot so I'll just be giving you the highlights. Hope you enjoy and feel free to email me or leave http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-313492.html For Recommendations and Contact Details scroll down to the bottomWednesday Pre Departure I am so unprepared for this. I anxiously email Yumiko in a slight panic. Yumiko emails me backSubject It's OKDon't worry Leah san. I finish work then I tell you the schedule for tomorrow We have a schedule for tomorrow thank god I'm going with someone more organised than me. Thursday Day One I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Fujikawaguchiko/Kawaguchiko/blog-312802.html KonnichiwaI hope you enjoyed my account of my first couple of days in the land of the rising sun. I will now attempt to further entertain you with my masterful storytelling. Cue Japaneseish music to set the mood And now my faithful readers we begin with last two days in Tokyo before journeying to Tsuru...07312008With our complimentary breakfast coupons in hand Michelle and I ventured out o http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-312302.html So here's the deal... this is actually a lot harder than I thought so I hate the fact that I didn't do this at the time.. This month mainly consisted of three events... Tokyo Water falls and presnowboarding. I will now list my purchases and please imagine what I may have done. Thank youSo that was a lie but this is honestly painful... I am only continuing because I feel as though I have let dow http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-312058.html Hello everyoneSorry that it has taken me over 2 weeks in Japan to get my first entry published. Hopefully I'll be better about it from here on out. So for starters while I've been here so far I have navigated my way from the airport to the 1st and 2nd hotels in Tokyo gone to the Harajuku Shibuya and Akihabara districts of Tokyo seen a Meiji Shrine been to two festivals eaten some amazing http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-311972.html So its been a long time. I would like to sit here and tell you that the reason I haven't written is because I've been having so many crazy awesome adventures and I just honestly coulcn't fit you guys in but that would be a lie. Not that I haven't been having crazy awesome adventurous but really... think about how many crazy awesome adventures I'd have to be having all the time just to not be able http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-308035.html Long time no blog so...I'm in Japan now. When I came to Wanaka I thought I'd stay and work there for quite some time. After a couple of days working for the jobagency we found out that that would be it for the work until june. By that time we already had th apartment and everything and were settled in a bit. We watched movies on Em's laptop hung around the apartment played with the cat went http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-280360.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 Between Christmas and New Year my family along with Mario and I went to Fujigoko Fuji Five Lakes region for 3 days. Mt Fuji was hiding more than I would have liked but it was a great trip nonetheless. We went to FujiQ Highland Roller Coaster Park and mum went on the scariest record breaking Eejanaika coaster So brave even if her eyes were closed the whole way haha We also went ice skat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Fuji-Five-Lakes/blog-251424.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 Life has been treating me good but its time to finish off 2007. Where I last left you off I had just finished The UNITAS Christmas party. The next big thing was our unofficial Christmas party. Basically we went out to our managers place and exchanged Christmas gifts and drank a lot.. except for the DD. That sucked. But we also got to drive around and see two houses that had fantastic Christmas li http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-231637.html Alright this post is long overdue and I definitely have more than enough to talk about. To start off Happy New Year This is the last post of the year although the next post will probably have some of last year in it but this will probably be the first post you read in the New Year so Happy New Year. As you may remember from my past blog I mentioned that I have started to dream in sarcasm. Th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-231623.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 So this weekend I finally packed up and headed out to what felt like the tropical paradise of Tokyo for a weekend adventure and 'Thanksgiving Dinner'. Friday night I took the last train out of Tsuru to Tokyo. I made it to Tokyo around 0 dark thirty 1230 am met courtney and Jenny who had come with us to Fuji Q Highland and we ended up going to bed around 2 am. This is important to keep in mi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-226292.html Whoa time is flying by I've been here for over two months now and I can barely believe it. I just got my second paycheck and I'm super pumped about that. My coworkers and I have now made it a tradition to go out for a culture food event every two weeks. I wanted to do it every week but apparently its too fattening. Which brings me to another point. Everyone in Japan is super skinny... they have http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-225805.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 My whole perspective when coming here is I can do anything and will try anything unless someone tells me that it will kill me. I'm beginning to slowly realize that maybe this isn't the best outlook on life although it does tend to lead to interesting situations. For instance the other day I found some trails that led into the mountains near my house. So mid afternoon last Monday I decided that http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-224942.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 Yowza Three weeks gone by That's unbelievable For whatever reason things are definitely winding down around here. I think everyone is just exhausted from the program and the school term. We have been doing classes for a full three months now which is longer than the typical quarter. I think that's why not a whole heck of a lot has been going on lately. Let's see. Ah yes Two weeks ago I was S http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/Tsuru/blog-222365.html So life has been pretty good in the land of the rising sun. I haven't had much chance to explore as I had to work an extra day last week and I've been trying to set myself into some regular routines. For instance I run every Sunday Tuesday and Friday. I have my Japanese Classes every Monday Thursday and Friday and most importantly I go out for drinks every Friday night. The last one wasn't real http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Yamanashi/blog-222058.html