Sakunami Onsen

Ryoko and I went to Sakunami Onsen today and spent the afternoon at a hotel/onsen(hot spring). Sakunami is a small town west of Sendai and is famous for the natural springs in the area. As a result, there are at least 12 hotels in the tiny town and they all have public baths for day trippers to enjoy the water and the beautiful scenery.
We went to a hotel called Ichinobou, which has a very traditional Japanese look to it and has indoor and outdoor baths. I would have loved to have taken some pictures of the bath rooms, but of course there are rules about taking pictures in front of naked people. The outdoor bath was just amazing; it was a terraced set of pools which drained straight into a river that passes by the hotel. The hotel is situated at a U-turn in the river, which allows for a magnificent view of the steep cliffs and the many trees and plants; and at this time of the year, many of the leaves have changed colour, so it made the view even more spectacular(^_^).

We had a really good lunch, and then relaxed in a lounge by the hotel fountain. While we were sitting there, a Japanese woman in her 60s or 70s came up and started talking to Ryoko. The woman was asking about me and whether I was American. She then explained that her sister had married an American and so she felt that North American men were much kinder and better than Japanese men (I won't disgree there). This conversation was all in Japanese by the way. I only caught a bit of what was said and the rest was translated for me. I think some compliments might have been said as well, because Ryoko said "Thank you" about 3 times, but those weren't passed onto me. That's about the 6th time that something like that has happened to me in Japan. I'm always happy to be complimented, but I always feel embarrassed about the situation. I can't imagine myself walking up to a Canadian whom I've never met before and telling them that their foreign boyfriend is soo much better than Canadian men.

Anyway, it was a great day and we both want to go back and spend the night there sometime in January or February. I'm looking forward to it already(^_^).

Baseball and partying

It's been an interesting week. Ryoko returned from New York a week ago Saturday and we met on Monday for lunch/shopping. She had lots of pictures and stories from her week long trip and she bought me some souvenirs too (^_^). We also went to the travel agent's and bought my plane ticket home for Christmas, as well as plan a 2 day trip together to Tokyo in November. We're going to go to Tokyo Disney Sea, which is similar to Tokyo Disneyland, but more adult oriented. Monday was also the day that North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb, which is a bit strange considering it happened less than 1000km away. Hopefully nothing worse happens out of the situation(>_<).
Last week at work was a little strange and sad. We had a substitute teacher fill in for Renae's classes, an I've never met such a boring Canadian in my life. His name's Robert, and he's been working with GEOS for over 8 years. Too long I think. Anyway, his last day at our school is Wednesday and Lauren and I will be happy to see his departure. The sad news was that the Japanese teacher Taku will transfer to a GEOS school in the Tokyo area at the end of the month. He's been a good friend of mine since I arrived and I'll be sorry to see him go.
Today(Sunday) I played another baseball game with my team. Personally, I think I played my best game ever. I was 2 for 3 at batting and I was pretty busy at 1st base, with a lot of ground balls heading my way. Unfortunately we had a rough 1st inning so we lost 11-5, but it was still a great day.
After the game, Lauren joined us and we all drove to the nearby Hirose river and had an imoni party. In the autumn, Japanese people in northern Japan will have imoni parties along the rivers. The main dish is a big pot full of boiled vegetables, beef and miso soup, in addition to meat and vegetables cooked on a grill over another fire. And of course there's lots of alcohol. The spot we chose was pretty busy, with about 6 other groups of people having their own imoni parties. It was a great time and the temperature was around 20 degrees, so it was perfect.
I had been invited to 2 imoni parties last year, but they were both cancelled due to rain(>_<). It was worth the wait though.
Unfortunately, Ryoko couldn't join us though, because she had a bad cold and a little jet lag still from her trip. But we've made plans to go to Sakunami, a famous hot spring town close to Sendai next Sunday, so I'm looking forward to it(^_^). I'll be sure to take some pictures there and post them.
Later!!

Scenery. Chapter 1

Alright, so here are some more pictures of beautiful Japan. The waterfall is called Akiu Ootaki and is about a one and a half hour bus ride west of downtown Sendai. I went there last October with 2 friends to admire the falls and the leaf changes in the area. The top right picture is of the nearby Akiu gorge. I'm planning to go again this October to take more pictures and enjoy the day. Akiu town is also a famous hot spring resort (one of the three best in Japan, according to some guide books).

The third picture is, of course, Mt. Fuji. You can't live in Japan without seeing it, and I've been fortunate enough to see it twice and climb it once. This picture was taken last December 24th, when I went to Hakone national park, east of Mt. Fuji and south of Tokyo. The park has beautiful lakes, mountains and forests, and several excellent spots to view Fuji san. We were lucky that it was such a clear day:). My friends and I also stayed at a small youth hostel/hot spring on Christmas eve in the park. We had a couple of drinks and then I had a private outdoor bath in the evening. It was my first time using a Japanese hot spring and it was a very memorable experience; spending Christmas eve staring at the clear starlit sky.

The second time I saw Fuji san was in July, when Renae and I climbed it. It took 20 hours to climb and descend it (including about 8 hours spent in a rest lodge on the side of the mountain) and it rained almost the whole time, so unfortunately I don't have any really good pictures:( It was a great experience though and I'd like to do it again next year when the weather is better in August (we were dumb enough to climb it in July, the rainy season(>_<).

Shashin shashin shashin

So here are some pictures of places I've been in the past year. The top left picture is of the mausoleums of the 2nd and 3rd feudal lords of the Date clan. The Date (pronounced "Dah-tay") clan ruled the whole region around Sendai and Miyagi prefecture for over 250 years (ending in 1868). The first lord (Masamune Date, whose mausoleum is close to these two) is still a well known figure around Japan and his image can be seen all over Sendai. The main station has a statue of Masamune on a horse, and it's a very popular meeting place for people. The mountain picture is at the top of a large temple structure on the side of a mountain in Yamagata prefecture, in a town called Yamadera. There are about 12 temples on the mountain side and 1,015 steps to the top. It's a great view and great exercise. I've been here 3 times so far and when I went in the Winter, Renae and I saw a group of monkeys on the side of the hill :)
And the last picture is of a Buddhist temple in the city of Shiroishi. The temple is close to Shiroishi castle and those two people off to the left are my parents. This was my first visit in early May, when the cherry blossoms were just finishing in the area. Hope you enjoy the pics!
Plenty more to come (^_^).
And not much else to report here except that my baseball team won another gameon Sunday.
BDG