Friday, February 18, 2011

Mountain Bikin' Mt. Kagenobu


Carrie and Akihiro took me to an AWESOME restaunt. The dishes were more like an art rather than food. There was spicy tomatoes (kimuchi), seasame tofu, fried oysters, and many other tasty things....including an extremely thin fish fried twice that was crispy like a potato chip! I ate the tail and everything!

So, we decided to go mountain biking! Nevermind the 1/2 hours bike ride just to get to the base of the mountain. I about died getting there because the last half was practically all uphill on a bike. But, once we started hiking I was ok......as long as I could keep traction on the slush! I pushed my bike up the entire mountain, but it was well worth it because coming down was SO FUN!

Here is a view from the top




Coming down was....scary and dangerous....which of course made it way more fun! By the end, my hands were cramping because I had to do the back brakes the entire way down and the front brake every so often. You have to be careful not to do the front brake by itself, or your bike will flip forward. Riding through slush was also difficult to control....and if you turned too much, the bike would slide completely over: hence, this picture!

We got very very dirty....YAY!

The evidence of a true mountain biking experience: a dirty bike

Then little Tomokun and Carrie came for supper.....he is so romantic:) Giving me kisses....he even tilts his head to the side and comes in real slow;)

Cutest picture EVER

This was the last night to hang out with just us girls :(.....I got a wasabi hamburger...whew my nostrils were burning, but it was tasty as usual!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A little of everything Japanese style

We made cookies

I made a sumo wrestler cookie.....heehee

The icing got a little out of control......only for the children of course;)

So.....it finally snowed in Hachioji...and the snow was so easy to pack. The best packing snow I've ever seen. Unfortunately, after we made two giant snow men, suddenly Andrew couldnt find his cell phone! After searching on the ground, we deduced that it must be in the belly of one of the snow men! So.......we hacked them apart....and still no luck. We moved snow around for 2 hours but never found it...... 

Me and Sarah went shopping in Asakusa



This man was reading palms!

Two idols at the shopping place

I help teach an English class to 5 kids once a week. They are really really kawaii! (cute)



Me and Sarah ate Chinese and Korean.....Mhmmmmmmm! (Korean is really spicy, and Chinese is very flavorful)

Today, I went to Hannah's school for a speech competition.....but not in the way you think;) They pick one person out of each class to memorize a short story in English. Then, one by one, they read it. Judges determine who wins based on pronunciation, accuracy, and overall presentation. So funny!

Here are the winners.....they mostly have trouble saying "th" or remembering to put s on plural words (Japaanese doesnt use plural for objects). They read excerpts from Jack and the Bean Stock, The Rabbit and the Fox, and The Diary of Anne Frank.

Spicy Ramen! (ラーメン)

At church. This sweet man's name is YY;) (Yoshio Yamazaki)


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Japan VS America

Here are just a few differences I have noticed:

THE FLOOR

THE LIGHTSWITCH


THE SILVERWARE


THE DRYER


THE PROXIMTY OF HOUSING


THE FUN BUTTONS ON THE POTTY


THE TRANSPORTATION


THE HUGE CLOSET FOR STORING SHOES.............NEVER NEVER NEVER WEAR SHOES IN THE HOUSE..........EVER


THE KEYBOARD


THE GARAGE


THE FOOD (YAKISOBA)


THE DRIVER'S SIDE


THE RICE


THE ROOTS.....THAT YOU EAT


THE ONIONS


THE KETCHUP....NOT IN A PACKET


THE ART (ORIGAMI)


THE MONEY


THE YARD


THE SWEET POTATOES


THE CARROTS


THE BATHS


THE LETTERS/LANGUAGE

.....AND THAT'S JUST THE START! :D