Happy Birthday Me!

Kyoto Fun

I think there could be no better birthday trip then the one I just took. I decided to go to Kyoto for three days and visit friends I had made way back in May. You might recall the story I have often told of the dentist I met on the train to pick up my Dad from the airport when he visited. The dentist was terribly nice and invited my father and I to dinner. Since then we have kept up contact through email and I had been wanting to see them again. This time when I visited I stay at their house and they showed me all the sights in Kyoto.

The best thing I did was go to the Iwatayama Monkey Park! It was soooo cool. There are monkeys just walking around everywhere and you can stand right next to them, they are so close. There are no cages. I did notice signs that warned us not to make eye contact with the monkeys or try to touch their babies (just good common sense really). Then in an enclosed area you could feed the monkeys. Of course I paid my 100yen and got a small bag of bananas to feed the monkeys. They stick their tiny fingers through the bars and ask for the food. It is soooo cool. I highly recommend going there if you are in Kyoto!

Also, I went to Nara and saw the big buddha. It was good fun cause there are deer roaming around and you can feed them too.Overall I had a fantastic time. The dentist's family took great care of me and took me around everywhere so I could relax and enjoy. There is nothing like Japanese hospitality. I just hope I can return it so well if they come to visit me in the states!

Softball Day turned into Cricket Day

After some planning, asking, pleading, hoping my school agreed to let me hold an English (as in the language, not the country) Softball Day. In the end, Roger (an Australian CIR) and I managed to prepare everything and even got the Daito Softball team to come along. Finally, the long awaited day came. But what could ruin a softball day more than no one showing up? Well that is an easy question, Rain!! Not that we were unprepared. Roger had brought a cricket set and we had made sure the gym was available to use, just in case. And it was good we were prepared because it rained all morning and afternoon. On the up side, I got to play cricket for the first time. It was interesting and the watered down version that Roger taught us was alot of fun. In the end it was a good day. I am glad I got to do something international at my school even if it was not exactly what I had planned. A big thank you to everyone who helped out, Janelle, Sara, Hugh, Todd, Nick, Naoko, and Mishima-san!

More Halloween

Just when you thought you had had enough of Halloween pictures I have a few more up my sleeve! These pictures are from my own high school, Daito. Enjoy!