Monday Monday

Woke up late today (9am) after the late night I had, Evan was sitting on the couch waiting for me to get up with his toothbrush in his hand, he wanted to brush his teeth so he could go outside. Yasuko came home at 10 am and doesn't have to go back, she wants to go to Bestom to get some things for Evan to use at school.

We went shopping and of course stayed for hours like we usually do, and ended up having to rush back to get Koby so we could make it to our Japanese class on time. Evan's school called and said all of the paperwork was approved and that he can start tomorrow. He is only going to attend through lunch Tue through Friday, and then will start full days next week, this will allow him to get used to it slowly.

After Japanese class we cooked dinner outside on our grill, we cooked chicken, pork, asparagus, and baby bamboo sprouts, and also had some rice balls to go with it. Everything was good, and of course we attracted all of the neighborhood kids who were going on a Beetle hunt with flashlights and nets.

After eating we got the kids into bed and cleaned everything up, I am going to bed early, this has been a busy extended weekend.

Temp: High - 75
Low - 54

Forest Park Festival

Today is a festival at a nearby park, so we are planning on going, the festival starts at noon and continues until 8:30pm. There will be a treasure hunt for the kids at 3:00pm so we are planning on going at 2:30pm to let the kids join in on the treasure hunt.

Yasuko went over to Fujita-sans house to help with another vegetable sale they are having today, and I stayed home and worked in the garden some. Yasuko came back home at 2:00pm and we all got ready and headed to the park, it only takes about 10 minutes to get there.

As we arrived Sumi-san and her kids were arriving also, and about 10 minutes later Fujita-san arrived with her kids, all of the kids were called to the stage and then a picture of a basketball and tennis court were held up, all of the kids took off running for the basketball courts, over at the basketball courts was someone holding up a sign of a fire truck, which was the next place to go.

At the fire truck were little pieces of paper that said whether you won something or not. Koby and Evan didn't win anything on their first try but went back and got another piece of paper, Evan didn't win the second time either but Koby won 500 yen ($5).

After the treasure hunt Yasuko looked around at the flea market and I ran into my friend Ben the ALT english teacher, we talked for a bit while the kids ran around the park and played, then we decided to go home and eat and take baths and return later for the fireworks show.

When we arrived back home Ueo-san was planning another cookout outside and invited us, I told him that we were planning on going to the fireworks festival, and he said to join him when I got back. Masani-san came over and looked at the garden, Ueo-san asked Masani-san to join him in which he did.

We had fun at the fireworks show but it didn't last very long, maybe about 15 minutes, we all loaded back up and came home. When we got back I was in the house for about 10 minutes when Masani-san was hollering in the door for me to come on, haha.

I went over to Ueo-sans house and was surprised to see Kitayama-san was there also, I drank sake while the others had been drinking sochu (potato vodka). Masani-san and myself were the last ones left, and both decided at the same time to end the party. I came home and went straight to bed.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 54

Road Trip

Today we went for a long drive to visit two Mitchi no Eki we haven't been to and get some more stamps in our book. The first one was about an hour drive north and was called Kenbuchi and there drawing point was a play area for kids with lots of picture books to look at.

The building was fairly new and was beautifully designed and made of wood. We looked at all of the items they had for sale and then sat down to eat lunch that we had brought, we also bought some cherry tomato's to eat with our lunch, these tomato's were the sweetest I had ever eaten, and were sweeter than some grapes I have had.

After eating lunch we took some pictures and then got back in the car to visit one more roadside station. We drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived at the second station which was in Nayoro. The drawing point of this one was sticky rice and had lots of different flavored Mochi, which is a smashed sweet rice.

Nayoro is where our friend Fujita-san is from. We took the kids to a park afterwards which had these huge white bouncing domes that all of the kids were jumping on, it was like trampolines built into the ground. The kids had a great time playing there.

Our next stop was to get some nice pictures of a waterfall, we drove out into the country looking for the waterfall, and on the way met a fox on the road. We stopped and he came right up to the door and we threw chips to him and took a video of him eating them.

After the short fox stop we continued on to the waterfall, it was really far into the woods, and then a short hike down to the waterfall, we got some great pictures but the bugs were horrible, luckily we brought the insect repellent. After getting some good pictures and letting the kids throw rocks into the water we hiked back up to the car.

We drove back to Nayoro's roadside station to get some gifts for neighbors and then headed back home. When we got to Asahikawa we stopped at a restaurant and had dinner before coming home. A busy day to say the least.

Temp: High - 77
Low - 55

Kindergarten

Today when Yasuko comes home we are scheduled to visit the daycare that Evan will be attending and pick up the paperwork that needs to be filled out. After breakfast Evan and I got dressed and ready to go so when Yasuko got home we could leave.

When we arrived at Evan's Daycare/Kindergarten he was a little shy and cried a bit because he didn't want to join the other kids, even though he knew two of the kids well. After warming up to them a bit he was ok, we walked around town with all of the other kids while they checked out the rice fields and looked at the frogs and tadpoles. Evan even caught a frog that still had it's tale.

After looking at the rice fields they played at the playground of a local school for a while and then walked back to the kindergarten building. We took the paperwork and went home for lunch, but not before exploring a road we had never went down before.

After lunch and filling out the paperwork we went back to the Kindergarten to interview with the two teachers, the other kids were taking a nap so we went into a back room and talked while Evan played with various toys they had.

Evan is scheduled to start on July 1st for half days for a week, and then he will start full days which is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. I think he is going to like it and it will give him a chance to pick up the Japanese language faster and to interact with kids his age, which he has never been able to do.

The school is only $70 a month, so it is very reasonable, and will give me an opportunity to do some side jobs for money and not have to worry about coordinating schedules with Yasuko and Koby's school.

When we arrived back home I worked in the garden weeding the last area I have available to plant more corn. I didn't realize that one corn plant makes one ear of corn, so we are going to need a lot more plants than we have now.

Later on that evening we took a trip to the grocery store for some snacks, we are going to go with the Sumi-san family and Fujita-san family hiking tomorrow, and wanted to get some things to eat for a semi-picnic.

Temp: High - 77
Low - 52

Broccoli

Today was another beautiful day and another great day for working in the garden. Out of everybody,s garden here on the school grounds property, ours looks the best by far. I also have a lot more time than everybody else does also, but no weeds are in my plot.

I managed to get the broccoli planted and watered today, and need to clear out my last strip of land of weeds, so I can plant more corn.

Nothing much to write about today, other than I have been taking some awesome pictures lately of my surroundings in which you can find on my Flickr account

Temp: High - 75
Low - 50

Gardening and Weeding

Regular routines today, and not much to mention, the weather is beautiful and warm and a great day to work in the garden.

After lunch Yasuko and I worked clearing a 10 ft X 10 ft square in our garden of weeds, preparing it for some broccoli plants that we have, this will bring the vegetable/fruit count up to 11 different kinds.

We worked hard until it got late, then it was time to come in and prepare dinner.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 54

Paying Bills

Today Yasuko will come home early and then we have to make a trip to the post office to pay some bills. I am not sure what other plans that she has, but I will find out soon enough. Evan had breakfast of cereal already and I am going to make coffee right now. I have the windows open on this cool morning and I can hear my windmills outside spinning.

I worked on the Internet all morning until Yasuko came home, she made lunch while I went into the garden to look at everything. I noticed a lot of ants on my pepper plants, and that means one thing... They are eating something, and when I looked under the leaves I seen the aphids they were after, Darn... After smashing a bunch with my fingers, I decided to look for some Organic solution to them.

We took our trip to the post office and Koby stayed home, he doesn't like going to the store with us now, so he went to Ian's house instead. We payed the bills and then went to Bestom to get some groceries and other stuff.

I found an organic spray to take care of the aphids, we also bought a grill and some charcoal so that we can have BBQ's outside, Yasuko asked if I wanted to do it this evening, but I declined, I haven't felt good in a few days, I have chest congestion and coughing.

I helped one of the Maskawa kids when I returned home, plant some mini tomato cuttings that I had in a cup of water, the roots were shooting out all sides. I also bought some more corn seeds and some broccoli seeds for the garden. I also got some organic food for the plants, good ole chicken poop.

The rest of the evening was spent having a hot bath and eating dinner, I took some cold medicine which makes you sleepy, and will probably get in bed early tonight.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 46

Temple Visit

Normal routine's today, Yasuko and Koby were off to school while Evan and I stayed and had breakfast. I went and worked in the garden a while removing all of the weeds from my row of soy beans and green beans. Everything is looking good, and starting to produce. I have peppers forming, melons, cucumbers and tomatoes so far. I also made another windmill out of a plastic drink bottle and put it by the corn, maybe it will keep the crows and foxes out (??).

Yasuko came home at lunch time and Evan wanted to ride his bike, so I helped him get started while he rode around the school grounds. He can't start by himself yet but can ride for a while before he comes to his normal crashing stops. We rode until he got tired then he came back in. Yasuko had to go back to school when we were finished.

At 2:30pm when Koby came home he had some homework to finish and then get ready for Japanese class in Higashikagura. We left at 3:10pm to make our 3:30 appointment. We studied time, dates and calendars today, it was a very difficult class for the both of us. We had to leave a little early today because Yasuko and I were invited to the Buddhist Temple in town for a dinner and meeting.

We stopped and got some milk on the way back and brought it home to put in the ice box, I had already wore nice clothes to my lesson to save time, we got right back in the car and I dropped Koby off at Fujita-sans house, I looked down the road and saw Yasuko waving at me, the Temple is about a block from Fujita-sans house.

I found a parking place and then Yasuko and I went inside, everyone else was already eating, so we hurried and sat down and started our vegetarian meal (Buddhist), we had a salad, mountain vegetables, and vegetable tempura with miso soup. It all tasted great, but we had to hurry to catch up. At 6:00pm it was time to go to the main room and take our seats. A Buddhist monk came out and chanted for a while, and then we had a short break.

After the break and monk from another temple came in and talked for about an hour, he talked about how everybody has suffering in their life, from the richest of people to the poorest, and that we all have to learn to deal with it, that it is a part of this human existence, and the only time suffering stops is when we leave this physical body.

The temple was beautiful, and I was allowed to take pictures of the alters, although none of the pictures came out and were too dark, maybe I will have another chance someday. After the meeting we picked the kids up at Fujita-san and came home. Koby finished his homework while Evan cleaned their room. They both were very tired and went to sleep soon after laying down.

Yasuko and I were not too far behind them.

Temp: High - 78
Low - 59

Vegetable Sale Part 2

We got a call this morning at 8:00 from Fujita-san asking if we wanted to bring the kids over and play, they were planning on having a vegetable sale in front of their house. No other plans today so why not, we quickly ate breakfast and got the kids ready and rode the bikes over to her house. When we got there, Yasuko and I started making signs to line up along the road, Fujita-san already had one sign, but we felt it wasn't enough so we made more

The kids were playing in the irrigation ditches and riding bikes while the adults sat around and talked, all day we had about 5-6 customers and sold most of the items that they had. The good thing about Fujita's house, you don't even need vegetables at the stand, you can just ask customers what they want, and then they can go in the back to their greenhouse and pick it right then, can't get any fresher than that, and they are organic.

I stayed over there for about half the day, and we all ate a lunch of rice balls and you guessed it vegetables, Fujita-sans mom grilled young bamboo shoots that her husband had collected on Asahidake, delicious. I needed to plant carrots and daikon so I came home, and worked in the garden. Ueo-san was planning a cookout of Yakisoba and asked me if I would like to join, I told him I think that we already had plans with Sumi-san that night.

While I was working he poured me a beer and said come on Charlie break time, well needless to say that break lasted until 9:30 that night with a lot of good sake (rice wine) being drank, he also smoked some fish which was awesome. Yasuko and the kids ate at Sumi-san and I never got to go.

When I got back home the kids were finishing up baths, and I worked on the Internet for about an hour before going to bed.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 57

Family Day

I was not as sore as I thought I was going to be this morning, just certain spots on my back. We all woke up late today and had breakfast. The weather was foggy and overcast and had rained a lot overnight. It was much cooler today than yesterday and probably never made it past the 70 mark.

Ikeno-san and Masani-san came over today and talked a bit, Masani-san took me and showed me the next fields that needed to be cut, I had previously been cutting buckwheat (Mugi) fields, but the new ones are Soba (a grain that the Japanese make noodles out of). It is heading toward the dam this time.

About 1:00 pm we decided to go to visit another Michi no Eki (road station), there are over 100 Michi no Eki's in Hokkaido and we are planning on visiting them all eventually, we have a booklet that has a blank spaces in it, that allows you to place unique rubber stamps in it from the various mitch no eki's.

So far we have Asahikawa, Biei, Higashikawa, and the new one today Tomah. Maybe you are wondering what a Road Station is, well it is basically a rest stop that has restrooms, phones, vending machines, a small store with snacks and souvenirs that is unique to the surrounding area and sometimes a restaurant. Tomah's specialty was the densuke melon, the black skinned melon that sells for 50-70 dollars on the average.

We had some soft serve densuke melon flavored ice cream, it was great, and we also bought some snacks for a Fujita-san family since they give us so many free vegetables. After there we went into Asahikawa and visited a wood craft store. They had all kinds of wood sculptures carvings and crafts, the coolest thing I saw was a brief case made entirely out of wood, very nice if you have about $800.00

When we left the wood craft shop we searched around for a place to eat and found a curry restaurant called "Indo", I ordered a green lamb curry with rice and a pork cutlet, you could choose the heat of your dish from 1-20, I went midway and ordered a 10, but next time I think I can take a 13, the people who can eat a 20, I take my hat off to ya. Whew!

After eating we headed home and did the normal routine of getting the kids into bed and surfing the net.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 57

Long Workday

I woke up at 3:00 am this morning, but it was a little early to go cut grass, not to mention I was still tired after going to bed at 11:00pm. So I went back to sleep until 5:15am then got up. I had breakfast of toast and cereal and then got into my work clothes and loaded the cutter and took off to the barley fields to cut the weeds from around them.

It was a overcast and cool day, and threatening rain, I worked from 6:00 am to 1:00 pm at $10 an hour, so did well today, but my body is feeling it and my allergies are acting up something terrible.

After cutting grass I ate lunch and then Koby came home from school, he said that he had fun at the other school and the kids were nice, I hear that's unusual, and usually the country kids get made fun of, but that didn't happen.

I didn't do nothing the rest of the day because I was sore and tired, Maskawa kids came over and took a bath together with Koby and Evan and then we ate dinner. After dinner the Maskawa kids and Koby and Evan shot fireworks outside while I watched.

I am tired and am going to bed early, it is 9:00 pm right now and sounds like a great time to go to bed! Goodnight.

Temp: High - 70
Low - 61

Shopping for Tripods

Looks like it's going to be another warm day, although Asahikawa is forecasted to get some rain, but that doesn't mean nothing here in Shibinai, even though we are only a 30 minute drive away. Yasuko had to go to school at 9:30 am and will be back at 12:10 for the rest of the day. I am a little sore and tired from yesterdays grass cutting adventure.

Evan is outside playing and I am making coffee and toast. Yasuko came home at lunch and I asked her if she would like to go to the store, I have been wanting to get a tripod for my camera, especially since I recently learned how to do HDR images.

We went to Bestom first but not before we stopped at Sumi-san's house and asked her if she needed anything, she needed a couple of things. Bestom had tripods, but I wanted to check out the local electronics store to see if they had any cheaper ones, and I am glad we did. Bestoms was $32 and the electronic store had one for $19.

We also looked at some digital cameras, I have my eye on one, but we are waiting to see if we can get some income coming in. I think that we are going to put Evan in Daycare/Kindergarten soon, so he can start interacting with other kids, it is only $70 a month, compare that to America.

After the store run it was late and we came home and had dinner, tomorrow Yasuko doesn't have to go to Koby's school since they are visiting another school in Higashikagura. So I think I will get up early and go cut grass.

Temp: High - 81
Low - 55

Wind Invention

Today the weather is warm and sunny, Yasuko and Koby were off to school at the regular times, while Evan and I performed our normal routines. Yasuko will return today before lunch and not have to go back. I am planning on cutting grass today in the evening. Kitayama-san let me bring the cutting machine home, so I can go when I want.

Masani-san came over and visited today we walked around the garden while he gave us some tips, and him and Yasuko just talked. I made a windmill out of a plastic drink bottle to keep the crows out of the garden, I got the idea the other day when we were taking pictures at the local ski resort.

It was very easy to make, by cutting fins all around the length of the bottle, then running a wire lengthwise threw the bottom of the bottle and threw the cap, I then set it in a stick of bamboo where it can turn into the wind while it spins.

At 4:00 pm I went to cut grass from around the barley fields, I cut grass from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm, depending on the weather I might do it again tomorrow. It is hard work but it pays well.

When I got home Yu-chan was at the house trying to remove a splinter from Evan's hand, man you should have heard the screaming haha. I took a hot bath, while Yasuko had to go to a meeting at the community center about the next vegetable sale. If my garden does well I might have some vegetables to sell also.

The kids and I ate grilled lamb, bean sprouts, carrots, rice and a large salad for dinner, it was really good.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 55

Slow Life

Up at 8:30 am, Evan and myself woke up at the same time this morning which is unusual, he usually beats me up, I guess all of that playing last nigh wore him out, not to mention he went to bed late. He had toast for breakfast while I had the same but a cup of coffee also.

Today Yasuko will come home at lunch time and then she wants to go run some errands, so Evan and I are getting dressed, teeth brushed, and I need a shave something terrible. Yasuko came home right at 10:30 am and doesn't need to go back. After lunch we went to the post office and tried to deposit some money orders that I received from the sale of our house, but the post office didn't recognize them so we will have to take them to our bank in Asahikawa.

We sent some mail off and then went to a local ski resort to take some pictures, they had a small playground and Evan enjoyed playing for a bit before we left. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things, one being my favorite Sake Otokoyama.

When we got back Ikeno-san called and asked if I wanted to go cut some grass until it got dark, Why Not! I can use the money, so I got into my work clothes and he came and picked me up. If I didn't have to watch Evan I would be cutting grass everyday.

We worked for a couple of hours and then quit for the day, when I got home I got the Ofuro (bath) ready and took a hot bath, and then poured some cold Otokoyama all malt rice wine to sip until a dinner of extra spicy green curry was ready.

Temp: High - 70
Low - 55

Free Food

Back to the normal school routine, Evan had breakfast when I got up at 9:00am, Brooks-san brought over some home made Miso this morning that her mom had made. Thanks a lot, I know it will be great. At 3:00 pm after school Koby and I have a Japanese lesson at Endo-sensei's house.

I worked on the computer a bit and then had something to eat, I need to move my corn plants from there little pots to the school grounds today, it has been 5 days since I prepared the ground, so more gardening today, I also need to prepare the ground for the carrots and radishes. Before lunch I got the corn plants in the ground and also spread out and mixed in the worm dirt in preparation for planting the carrots, so Saturday should be the planting day for them.

After lunch I worked on the Internet a while until Yasuko asked if I wanted to go collect some more mountain vegetables for tonight's dinner, sure, we asked Maskawa-san if she wanted to go also, since she was off of work today, she agreed. We managed to find a lot and split it with Maskawa-san, we stayed longer in the woods than we had planned to and had to rush to get to our Japanese lesson on time, Maskawa-san was also rushing to get 2 of her kids to a dentist appointment.

Japanese lesson went well, and when we got back I worked in the garden until dark, I got all of the garden near the house weeded, and also prepared the ground where I will be planting the Japanese radish (daikon). I was tired when I came in, but Yasuko had already planned to eat dinner together with Maskawa-san family, so the food we had prepared we just took it over next door and we all ate and talked while the kids played, It was a fun time.

We walked the 9 steps home and the kids changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth and got in to bed, at 9:45 pm. Yasuko's mom called and they talked a while, while I worked on the Internet a bit.

Temp: High - 66
Low - 50

Outside BBQ

Today our doorbell rang at 7:00 am this morning, it was Ueo-san coming to get me to cut grass, which I totally forgot about. It was too late for me to go, so I stayed home. We all were late in getting up and moving around.

The kids went outside to play with the other kids about 10:00 am while I worked on some websites and Yasuko read a book outside, enjoying the nice cool weather.

About 11:30 am I went outside to work in the garden, I managed to get quite a bit done today, Yasuko and myself got the rest of the tomato plants in the ground, I kept the mini tomato plants near the other two I had, and we put the six regular tomato plants in the school garden space. I also built a mini green house over the tomato's on the school grounds, just until they get strong.

Ueo-san asked if I wanted to go collect wild vegetables from the mountain with him called udo, and I said sure, so after I ate lunch we took off and collected a bag full. He was planning on having a BBQ outside and asked us to join, and we accepted. We had a good time cooking on the charcoal grill, we had lamb, eggplant, onions, asparagus, japanese radish, tempura mountain vegetables, and lots to drink as usual.

We moved the party inside about 7:00 pm when it started to sprinkle rain, and the wind was a little cold also, so the party continued inside until about 9:45pm when Yasuko and the boys came home. I stayed until 11:30pm talking and then came home. Yasuko was in bed reading and I followed very shortly afterwards.

Temp: High - 64
Low - 45

Ladies Night Out

Today we woke up early and had breakfast because at 10:00 am Fujita mom and her 2 girls are coming over and we are all going to a new store we have never been to, and after that going to a Burger joint to eat lunch and then head off to the science museum. It was the usual morning telling the kids a hundred times to hurry up and get ready or they are going to stay home. We walked the recycle garbage to the corner and put it at the drop off point.

At 10:08 am Fujita arrived and we took off to go to Asahikawa, it took about 30 minutes to get to the store we were going to, this store had a little of everything and also reasonable prices. We finally found Evan a helmet to wear while he is riding his bike, Yasuko picked up a few other things that we needed. After that we went to the Hamburger place called Mos Burger. I had a shrimp burger and fries and drank a melon soda, It was really good, everyone else had regular hamburgers except Achi (one of Fujita's girls) she had a sausage on a stick and a piece of chicken.

After we finished eating off to the Science museum we went. It was $4 for us adults and the kids were Free, there were all kinds of exhibits and fun things to do, we just let the kids run wild and do what they wanted to do. The highlight of the trip to me was the cold room, where you could experience temperatures of -30c (-22 degrees F). We put on these large coats and went in the first room which was -5c (23 degrees F), then we took the next step and went in the -30 room.

Once we were in there you could immediately start feeling the moisture in your nose start to freeze, we took wet towels and held the corner while we spun them around in the air, after about 30-45 seconds they were stiff and in the shape that they were when they were spinning. Next we all got straws and blew bubbles, the bubbles would rise a bit and then start to fall, you could catch them in your hand, as they would be frozen.

We were told by Fujita-san that it regularly gets -25 to -28 where we live and sometimes -30, but it didn't get that cold last year. So now I kind of know what to expect, it is very cold but with heavy clothes and skin covered, it is bearable. A new adventure awaits haha. We left the museum at 5:00 pm and stopped by the store on the way back to get something for dinner, Yasuko has ladies night out tonight so I will be playing Mr. Mom!

We are having salad, rice, pickled vegetables, eggrolls, and fried fish, Yasuko will probably be out late, her and about 8 others are going out to eat and drink.

Temp : High - 61
Low - 45

Japanese Lesson's

We woke up at our regular times today, Yasuko and Koby was off to school while Evan and myself stayed home and had breakfast and watched kids show. Yasuko will be home at 10:00 am and I am going to go cut grass for a couple of hours.

After I came back from cutting grass I ate lunch and Yasuko took a short nap until Koby came home from school, we hurried up and packed everyone in the car to head out to Japanese class in Higashikagura. Yasuko and Evan walked to the library from our Japanese teachers house, while Koby and I had our lesson. The lessons are going good and we are learning a lot, Koby is learning to speak Japanese so fast, but I knew he would, he will pass me easily.

After class we drove over to the library to get Evan and Yasuko, when we arrived Evan was watching a Sponge Bob DVD in English and Yasuko was picking out some books for the kids, she got all of us a library card. We hung out at the library for a while before we made the journey back home.

When we got back the kids played outside for about 30 minutes before it was time for dinner.

Temp: High - 66
Low - 48

Vegetables Galore

Woke up at 8:00am this morning and had a breakfast of my usual toast and coffee, Yasuko and Koby were off to school, while Evan and I did our normal routines. The weather was nice and warm today and perfect for working in the garden.

I got all of the garden weeded today and took the tomato's out of the green house and built a teepee around them so they will have something to support them when they start making a lot of tomatoes. I prepared the soil for the corn also but will wait for about 5 days before I transplant the corn to their new home.

As I was working in the garden today Fujita grandpa came and checked the school's garden plot, so I showed him all of the plants that I had started, he asked me if I wanted some more tomato plants and I told him sure, so he said follow me to my house.

I went over to the Fujita house and got 6 regular tomato plants and 4 more mini tomato plants, it was way more than I needed, but if I have extra then I will have something to give away and trade to other people. Also while I was there I got a head of lettuce, about 8 cucumbers, and two bunches of spinach. Also Kitayama-san gave us a bunch of asparagus today and oh yeah almost forgot, Sumi-san dropped by and gave us some Daikon (Japanese radish), have I mentioned that I love living in a farming community.

All of my plants are doing well, and I think all of the edemame I planted have sprouted, I also noticed that 2 of the green bean seeds I planted have started to sprout. Tomorrow I am going to cut weeds for a couple of hours before Koby and myself have to go to Japanese class at Endo-sensei's house.

Yasuko has Yoga tonight and has prepared dinner before she left, the kids and I ate and then watched spiderman 2 before they went to bed.

Temp: High - 72
Low - 43

Doctor Visit

Woke up to Yasuko saying Masani-san wanted to talk to me. So I drug my tired butt out of bed at 7:45 am. Masani-san brought me a harness that fits the weed eaters for the next time I wanted to cut weeds. I was told that from now until Sept, I could do that job as much as I wanted to for $10 an hour, just write down my times. I think I will rest today, my body is aching from yesterday, but I will get used to it. This is a good opportunity until I can find a teaching job.

We have a lot of errands to run today, one being taking Evan to the doctor to look at a tick bite he got, I think it is ok but Yasuko wants to be sure, it only costs $3 anyways with the National Health Care plan that we are on. (In your face America - 7,000 for a 8 hour emergency room stay). We also have to get some grocery's and pay some bills.

Evan's doctor visit has to be the fastest doctors visit I have ever experienced in my whole life, it took all of 15 minutes to be called and seen, and another 10 minutes to get a prescription. Dr. said that the tick bite looks fine, and prescribed some steroid ointment to put on the bite. And the total cost $ 5.80 cents for the visit and the prescription, if ever there was a proponent for national health care sign me up!

After the doctor's visit we stopped in Higashikagura to get a few groceries and then came home.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 55

Grass Cutting

I thought I was going to have a chance to rest today, but that thought was out the door at 8:30 am this morning when Ikeno-san came over and asked if I wanted to weed eat the grass away from the ditches and fields, he said that it paid 1000 Yen per hour (about $10), so why not! Up I got and had a quick breakfast before he picked me up at 9:00 am. We rode down to the fields near Kitayama-sans house and loaded up the weed eaters and headed for the fields.

Now the weedeaters that I am used to are the kind with the plastic string, nothing doing here.... Theses weedeaters were the industrial kind with a large circular spinning blade on the end. So there I was strapped to this medieval gas powered instrument of death, ready to chop any weed that got in my way. It was hard work, and we did it for about 2 hours, and then quit. Ikeno-san said that if I wanted to do it more, I could do it by myself after lunch, so I decided I could use the money and went back at 2:30 pm and worked until 5:30 pm, so a total of 5 hours for $50 and small animals that died count = 1 snake. (I accidentally killed him while weed eating, Ikeno-san was glad, but he was non-poisonous so I felt a little bad)

Another day that went by where I didn't have a chance to work my own garden, maybe I can do it tomorrow, but who knows what surprises await me in the morning. Dinner was good, we ate natto and rice, pickled vegetables, cream stew, soup, rice and some awesome salmon that Masani-san gave us. I was tired after all of the work and went to bed at 10:30 pm


Temp: High - 81
Low - 54

Birthday Party

Up at 9:30 am this morning, but everyone else was already up and had ate breakfast. I was still tired from the day before and sore. Yasuko was also complaining of being sore all over. Thats what a little exercise will do for you.

Evan and Koby went outside to play with all of the neighborhood kids, the weather is great and hot! At 2:00 pm everyone showed up for the birthday party, I drew a donkey on a piece of paper in preparation for the pin the tail on the donkey game. We are also playing bingo for prizes.

It was loud but lots of fun, all of the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and everyone brought Koby presents, which I was surprised. They all ate cake and orange soda and candy, and afterwards sang happy birthday to Koby, then he opened all of the presents.

After opening presents we played games and gave out prizes and then goodie bags for everyone before ending the party. After the party the kids all went outside and played until dinner was ready. Fujita-san over and visited with Yasuko for a while and invited the kids over after dinner to shoot fireworks, fireworks are sold here until August and are a summer time fun thing to do for the children.

After fireworks, we all came home and the kids got ready for bed and laid down. Back to the normal routines tomorrow.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 55

Sports Festival

We were all up at 7:00 am to get ready for today's sports festival, Koby and myself have to be on the school grounds by 8:30 am. I will have to work in between the events that I am participating in, Ueo-san and myself are going to be manning the finish line on all of the races.

The weather looks like it's going to be good, and the fireworks this morning at 6:00 am signified that it was going to happen outside. When I got there I was given a schedule and the finish line tape and told that I would hold the tape for the winners of each race. Norman showed up and was having water gun fights with many of the younger kids that were not participating in the sports festival, the kids sure do like him.

There were many events during the day from relay foot races to throwing balls in a basket, eating contests, rolling large ball relays, dressing up as a scarecrow relays and on and on. It was a full day and everyone got prizes for every event that they participated in.

The prizes ranged from gloves to rolls of paper towels, six packs of beer, soap, tissues, drinks, chips etc. We came home with a large bag of prizes and our team came in second overall. After the sports festival was the after party, where there was food and yes beer, sake and shochu (potato vodka)

After the party ended there was a second after party at Koby's principles house which went on until real late. There was tons of food, drinks, guitar playing and singing. When it was done I was ready to drop. I got home about 10:00 pm so sports festival was from 8:30 am to 3 pm and partying was from 3:30 pm to 10 pm.

I went straight to bed and probably fell asleep in 2 minutes. Tomorrow is Koby's birthday party, so it will be another busy day.

Temp: High - 70

Low - 50

Birthday

Happy Birthday to Koby!! He is 9 years old today! We woke up to another rainy overcast day, but the good news is that it is supposed to be no rain on Sunday, but it changed from sunny to overcast. No problem as long as the rain stays away for the sports festival. We have a lot of errands to do today in preparation for Koby's birthday party, Yasuko has been writing invitations all morning and Koby has been walking around town delivering them.

I got the plants uncovered and noticed some of the newest corn I planted has started to sprout, I am going to see if I can get some of the worm castings today for the carrots, so I can be as organic as I possibly can.

With all of the running around we had to do today, I had no time to go get the worm castings, and tomorrow will be out of the question also, so maybe Monday. We took Koby to two toy stores so he could pick out his present, he decided on a Pokemon lego set.

We had also got him a jump rope and some other things that he could play with outside, later on we had to pick up his cake at 4:00 pm, and then we went out to eat in Asahikawa City at a family restaurant.

Koby had his favorite dish Omelet Rice, Evan had a kids set with fried shrimp, hamburger steak, salad, egg, and pudding with a glass of orange juice, Yasuko had a fried shrimp and egg on rice and I had my favorite curry and rice. We were all so full we could barely walk.

After dinner we walked around Asahikawa and checked out the train station before we went to the car, it's a big difference in walking downtown at night here versus Houston, here you are perfectly safe and never think twice about being in danger, in Houston you would be fearing for your life at every step.

We came home after walking around and sang Happy Birthday to Koby and showed him his cake, he made a wish and blew out his candles. The cake was a beautiful strawberry shortcake that you can see in the video.

We all need to be getting in bed early tonight for tomorrow we will be up at 6:30 am getting ready for Sports Festival (Undokai), and then I am sure the drinking will go on till very late afterwards.

Whew it's going to be a busy one tomorrow.

Mail Day

Everyone was up to their normal routines today, although the weather was cool and rainy, I hope it gets it all out of it's system so it will be nice on Sunday for the sports festival. The school has already said that we are going to have sports day no matter if it's rain or shine. Anyways when it rains here it normally just sprinkles and doesn't downpour like we are used to in Texas.

Evan is inside playing video games today, we have a deal, if it is nice weather outside, no video games are allowed, but if it is cold and rainy or one or the other, then the boys are allowed to play video games inside. The warm weather is too short here to stay inside the house, there will be plenty of indoor time when the long winters arrive. Yasuko thought that she would be home early and not have to go back today, although the schedule at school got changed due to the rain and she will have to be at the school until 2:30 pm.

When she gets home we have to go to the dollar store and pick up some things for Koby's party on Monday. As far as the garden goes, all of the plants are looking good, and all of the potato's are sprouting, I have yet to see any of the new corn that I have planted sprout yet or the soy beans, but it is still kind of early.

We got two boxes in the mail today, one was from a author I met through the Internet who I made a video for, he sent me 3 of his books and a 2 dvd video conference he did. The second box was for Koby and was a birthday present from his Grandpa (My Dad). He got a new video game for the computer, something that he can do when the weather is bad outside. We have cut the boys game playing out to bad weather only, in Texas they stayed inside in front of the TV too much.

When Yasuko came home we went to the dollar store to get some things for Koby's birthday party we are having on Monday. We are going to invite the neighborhood kids and play some games and eat cake, birthdays are not celebrated here in Japan the way we do it in America, but we thought we would bring a little touch of America to Shibinai. When we got back I closed the plastic on the plants, they got a good watering with the rain we had today.

For dinner we had American style spaghetti and tomato sauce with lemon parsley sausage, a cartoon movie came on TV and the kids watched it until they fell asleep, Yasuko took some medicine for her cold and went to bed, and I stayed up and worked on building some websites.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 48

Long Ride

Up at 8:30 am this morning, Evan had already eaten breakfast and was outside playing with Ueo-sans kids before they went to daycare, Evan is ready to go practice riding his bike some more but I have a lot of things that I need to do around the house still.

Yasuko should be home early today and not have to go back to the school, she is scheduled to help some of the other ladies in town clean the community center in preparation for the sports festival this weekend, so far the weather is fore casted to be sunny and warm, we have our fingers crossed. The weather was sunny and warm today, I hung up the clothes to dry outside and tended to the garden, Yasuko came home at 11:00 am and her and Evan went to the community center to clean.

It was such a beautiful day and since Yasuko did not have to go back to the school today, I decided to take a bike ride and explore my surroundings a bit. I started off heading towards the Chubetsu river to get on the bike trails that run along the river, I rode and rode until I found myself in Asahikawa City, about 10 miles away from the town that we live in, it was an easy ride except for the last 1/4 on the way back. Yasuko was worried about me and I did not realize that I had been gone for 3 and a half hours.

After I got back, we went and ordered Koby's birthday cake, we are going to have a small party for him and invite the neighborhood kids, this is not something that the Japanese do, but it will be fun for everyone. We are planning on introducing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey to all of the kids, it should make for an interesting day.

Later that evening we had a dinner of tempura vegetables and shrimp with cold noodles and sauce. Yummy!

Temp: High - 75
Low - 50

Evan Bike Riding

Another beautiful and warm day in Shibinai today, the cicadas are in the trees making their sounds and the sun is out, although there is a prediction of rain in Asahikawa today, maybe this afternoon, or maybe next to the mountains, not at all.

Evan and myself went outside and practiced riding his bike, I was surprised to see him ride almost halfway across the school grounds before he fell. All of that scooter practice has helped him learn his balance, and it wont be long before he is riding his bike with all of the other kids.

We came back in the house because we didn't want Yasuko to see, so we could surprise her at lunch time. I made some coffee and toast for breakfast. When Yasuko came home we were unable to show her Evans new bike tiding abilities because the kids were on the school grounds practicing for undokai (sports festival), so we waited until they were done and then surprised her, she was amazed and Evan was happy and all smiles.

The rest of the day was spent riding bikes and playing with the neighborhood kids, all of them got to bring home their unicycles from school and practice, Koby is really good at riding the unicycle now.

I also managed to work in the garden some today, the potatoes are looking good and sprouting above ground now, I also got a row of green beans planted. I bought some carrot and Japanese radish seeds (Daikon) to plant but am going to wait until I can buy some worm castings to fertilize the soil first.

Yasuko had a meeting at the community center today, while me and the boys had baths and ate dinner, Yasuko is still feeling under the weather, but seems to be improving. It was a hot day today, a little to warm for my taste, but hey we could be in Texas still suffering in the mid 90's, whew!

Temp: High - 70
Low - 50

Fireworks

Another beautiful day in Shibinai this morning, clear blue skies and warm temperatures. The forecast looks great for the next 3 days, and I hope it continues on through the weekend. Everyone is praying for good weather for sports festival.

Evan ate cereal this morning and is watching kids shows on TV, while I had my normal coffee and toast. Yasuko should be home around lunch today, but will have to go back for one hour afterwards. I went outside and weeded the garden for a while and Yasuko came home and hung up the clothes to dry, she stayed for about 45 minutes and then had to go back. She will return again around lunchtime.

When Yasuko returned at lunch she said that she did not need to go back today, we all ate Ramen for lunch and Yasuko made an appointment at the beauty parlor to get her haircut, while Yasuko was getting her haircut Evan and myself went to a nearby park and played on the slides and swings for a while, then we went to a Park Golf course near the river and watched people play Park Golf and threw rocks in the river.

After about an hour we went back to pick Yasuko up and then take a trip to Bestom to get a few things. I had to get gas in the car and the price has just went up to $6.88 per gallon, it cost me $68 dollars to fill up the car.... WOW! Some things are more expensive here in Hokkaido, while other things like land, rent and electricity are cheaper.

We used our hot plate at dinner tonight and had shrimp and vegetables with rice, it was really good, in the middle of dinner the doorbell rang and it was Sumi-san, and her two children Keito (6) and Reeko (3), they had bought some fireworks and wanted to do them with Koby and Evan.

We set outside and watched the kids shoot fireworks until about 8:30 pm, after that the kids got ready for bed and brushed their teeth. While Yasuko and I looked around on the Internet a bit.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 46

Sports Day Practice

Up at our normal times, although I slept unusually late today 9:30 am, I have been feeling real tired these past few days, and hope I am not catching a cold or anything, but when I woke up I felt good. Outside it is warm and clear blue skies. I had a breakfast of toast and coffee and updated all of the blogs. Today at 1:30 pm I have a meeting at Koby's School to practice for the upcoming sports festival on Sunday. This is a very big festival in Japan and is called (Undokai), the kids and us adults will be playing all kinds of games, dancing, performing and I am sure more than I even know about yet.

I will let you all know more about what my role will be as I find out. Also tonight we have Japanese lesson at 5:00 pm, so I have a busy day ahead of me. Today at sports day practice we watched the kids perform a traditional dance, Koby did well as did all of the kids, I will post a video of it when the real thing happens.

After the dance we divided up in teams and threw balls into a basket at the end of a long pole, our team ended up winning. After that we had a relay race of rolling this large ball down a field and around a cone, our team won that race also. After that we played a game where everyone does the bunny hop dance, when the music stops you have to play rock paper scissors with the closest person, whoever looses has to go behind the winner and hold there shoulders and the music starts again with everyone doing the bunny hop. This goes on until there is one large line, and the person in front is the winner, Miu Maskawa in first grade was the winner, she was all smiles.

After practicing sports we went inside the school for a meeting, after the meeting we had about one hour before our Japanese lesson, Maskawa's mom brought us a gift from her ex-husband who lives in Otaru, he got us a gift of different flavors of fish cakes, because we help out Maskawa and her family often, it was very nice and the gift was expensive I am sure, we ate the scallop flavored ones for dinner and they were great.

Japanese lesson went well, but is starting to get difficult, Koby still seems to be doing well, and his knowledge of reading and writing Japanese (Hirigana) amazes me. Evan and myself took the teacher home and stopped by the grocery store and got some milk on the way back, we all had hot baths and ate curry and rice for dinner, Yummy!

Temp: High - 66
Low - 41

Shopping Mall

We all slept late today due to the weekend and no one having to get up at a certain time, although sleeping late here to us now is 9:00 am, very different than the States where it was common to sleep to 11:00 am, I don't like doing that here because you feel like you have wasted the day. The weather was overcast today, and it has been sprinkling. There were no kids outside playing today so Koby and Evan just went outside only a short time.

We had breakfast and just hung out around the house today until about 1:30 pm, then we decided to go check out a shopping mall called Aeon. It took about 45 minutes to drive there, but it was a pleasant and very little traffic drive (like most drives here). We arrived and the mall was huge. It wasn't very long, but it made up for it in height, being 3 stories. The mall contained mostly clothing stores, but had a little of everything including a grocery store.

We walked around until the kids started complaining of being hungry, so we found a restaurant to rest at and get a bite to eat. I had curry while Evan, Koby and Yasuko had Om-Rice which is a thin egg omelet draped over a mound of tomato rice, with a type of sauce over the top, this is one of Koby's favorite things to eat here in Japan. The food was real good and we all finished our plates. The good thing about Japan is they give you portions that you can finish, not like America where you can eat 3 times on the same portion you get in a restaurant, could his be why there is such a huge obesity rate? To go boxes are unheard of here.

After dinner we walked around and finished looking at the rest of the mall, the highlight of the trip was the game section where there were hundreds of the games that has a claw and you try to grab prizes with them, in Japan they call them UFO catcher, and I am not sure what we called them in America (the crane game perhaps?) They also had the games that we used to see in the traveling carnivals where you put your quarter in and it falls down and lands on a platform that hopefully pushes more off to return you more.. But these games used tokens instead, and you could exchange the tokens for prizes.

We walked until our legs were aching and then decided to head back home at about 8:15 pm, we grabbed some drinks for the trip back and took off. When we arrived back home, it was a quick routine of changing into pajamas, brushing teeth and getting ready for school the next day.

Temp: High - 65
Low - 42