Shibinai Life

Picture Day

2008-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today started with the normal morning routine of getting the kids off to school, I can't cut grass until Kitayama-san gets some parts for my cutting machine, so I am going to drive into the mountains and take some pictures.

I spent about 3 hours taking pictures at the Dam and then going to the natural springs to get some water, it was a hot day and I was lucky to have a bottle in the car to fill up. After getting the water I continued up the mountain to the Tenninkyo Resort to take more pictures. There is a beautiful waterfall that I have yet to visit there although it is closed now due to a mudslide.

I took pictures until the cameras battery died and then headed home. Yasuko has a date with a couple of her friends to go drink tea and gossip so I will be picking Evan up alone today.

Koby went to the pool again today with the other kids, they ride the bus into town which costs 50 cents one way, and the pool is Free. We give him extra money so they can get a snack at 7 Eleven after swimming, he usually gets home at 6pm.

After picking Evan up he went outside to play with the other kids, I took a trip to Kitayama-sans house to pick up the newly fixed cutting machine so I can go cut grass in the morning. I like to start around 5-5:30am and then cut until 8:00am then I have to come home to take Evan to school, then I go back and cut more until lunch.

Temp: High - 81
Low - 63

Beetles (Not the Band)

2008-07-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

Morning routines as usual, we got everyone off to school on time and made coffee and toast for breakfast. We were told that the parent are getting together today to clean the daycare, although I had already planned to cut grass.

After cutting grass I came home and took a nap, and after the nap it was time to go get Evan, we went a little early so we could help clean, the men put up a greenhouse that the swimming pool was going to be put in, while the women cut weeds and cleaned floors.

After about an hour we were finished and got Evan and went home. Koby rode the bus into town to go swimming with the other kids, and Evan went outside to play with the kids who didn't go to the pool.

I was going to go cut grass some more this evening but I am having problems with my cutting machine so I dropped it off at Kitayama-sans house so he could take a look at it and see what the problem was.

We had dinner and watched TV, and the older kids went out at night to look for beetles, here it is very popular for Japanese boys to keep the big stag beetles as pets, and if we are lucky to find the real large ones (about 3 inches) and large horns on their heads, they sell for hundreds of dollars at the pet stores. There we go, a new business venture, Beetle Husbandry! haha

Temp: High - 88
Low - 66

Full Days

2008-07-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Evan's first full day at school, he will be attending from 8:30am to 5pm. Everyone was up getting ready, Yasuko was making lunches while the kids were struggling to get dressed and wash faces and brush teeth. Koby left at 7:50am to walk to school and we all left to take Evan at 8:15am, he was ready to go and happy that he didn't have to come home at lunch today.

After everyone was dropped off, Yasuko had to go to Koby's school for an hour to help him with Japanese class. I updated some web pages and cleaned out emails before going into the garden to have a look at things.

Yasuko and I later on went to the store to get some things that we needed, it sure is quiet now that both kids are gone, during the day. After shopping we came home and had lunch and just lounged around until it was time to go get Evan, we are both worn out from Yesterday and sore.

Evan was full of stories from his first full day of school, he had a good time, took a nap ate all of his lunch and played with all of the kids. There is a total of 8 kids in Evan's school. They usually walk during the day to either the rice fields and look for frogs, or go to the local elementary school's playground and play. Sometimes they play in the mud, and soon they will be putting up the swimming pool for them.

The rest of the day was un-eventful, I am going to bed early tonight!

Temp: High - 90
Low - 66

2nd Sports Festival

2008-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the sports day celebration for the city we live in, as you remember back we had the one for the village we live in, and now all of the different villages get together and have a sports competition, I hear that our town of Shibinai usually comes in last due to a small young people population, well we will see what we can do about that today, I am entered in about 5 different competitions.

Masani-san was here to pick us up at 8:30am and we all loaded up and took off for Higashikagura. When we arrived the beginning ceremony started as we were walking up to the Shibinai area, Sumi-san was already there waiting for others to arrive.

After the beginning ceremony it was time for everybody to exercise and stretch, they have a special song they play and everyone gets up and does exercises, I don't know the routine so I just have to watch and follow along, it is fairly straight forward with touch your toe, knee bends and jumping jacks.

After the exercises it was time for the competition to start, the first event that Yasuko and I were in was called the Love Balance, this consisted of holding a large bowl on my head, and balancing a much larger ball in the basket while running, but wait there's more, Yasuko was behind me holding a hula hoop around the both of us and was not allowed to let it touch my stomach. If the ball dropped we had to stop put the hula hoop down and return the ball to my head pick up the hula hoop and start again. We were fast and easily moved into first place without dropping the ball. Shibinai came in first place on this event... Take that other towns.

The rest of the day went on with various relays, two legged races, ball throws, mass jump rope, and many more. At lunch time everyone took a break and ate the lunches that we had all brought, then it was time to compete more.

When it was all said and done out of 6 towns, our town came in 3rd overall and we got to hold the 3rd place trophy for the year. It proudly got displayed in the community center. Exhausted we all headed back home and after a 30 minute rest started a outside BBQ party that is going to go on well into the night.

We ate and drank our fills and staggered home around 10:00pm, wow these people sure know how to enjoy life, no more sitting in the house in front of a computer like I used to do in Texas, no time for that.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 64

ZOO Fun

2008-07-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

We are going to start the weekend off by visiting the most famous zoo in Japan, and that is the Asahiyama Zoo, which just happens to be a 15 minute drive from our house. We bought a season pass which costs only 1000 yen (about $9), and we can go as many times as we want until March.

Before we went to the zoo Yasuko wanted to stop by the recycle clothes shop to see if she could find a swimsuit for Koby, of course while we were there she found shirts and other stuff also, but I can't complain, a shirt and a swimsuit cost $3.

The next stop was the zoo, this zoo is situated on a mountain and there is a lot of uphills to navigate to see the different animals. You can see some of the pictures we took at the zoo on my Flickr account.

We spent most of the day there until it was closing time, we will have to go back on another day since we didn't get to see everything. It was funny they play Aud Lange Sign when it is time for the zoo to close and the animals have learned the music means feeding time and they all go to the back of their fenced in sections to the back door and wait.

It was a fun and long day.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 61

4th of July

2008-07-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July, although it doesn't mean anything here, in fact I didn't realize it had came and gone until a few days later, Oh Well! We saw our fireworks the other night! Evan and Koby was off to school at 8:00am this morning and Yasuko had to go also for an hour to help Koby with Japanese class.

I stayed home and worked in the garden some more, I finally finished weeding my last strip of land that I haven't used yet. I will be planting more corn there and it will be staggered so it is all not ready at the same time. I also have some greens to plant but they like cool weather and I can hold off a bit still before getting them in the ground.

Yasuko came home and we decided to go to the store to get a few things, it sure is quiet around the house now that both boys are gone, I kind of miss Evan's voice around the house in the daytime, but he makes up for it when he comes home. haha

We went to pick Evan up at 12:30 and he was full of stories to tell of how is day went, this was his last half day and he will start full days on Monday.

We came home and Evan took a nap until the big kids came home and then they were all out playing until it got dark, they are planning on going to hunt for Beetles after dinner. It seems to be popular here for Japanese boys to collect the large stag beetles, and some of them sell for 1000's of dollars, maybe we can find some and sell them.

Temp: High - 84
Low - 57

Kindergarten and Kids

2008-07-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in Shibinai, blue skies and mild temperatures. Evan was up early and ready to go to Kindergarten, I think he is liking it a lot. At first I thought that we shouldn't use the money for him to go since I could watch him for free, but Yasuko told me he needed to interact with other kids his age and start doing other things instead of staying home all the time.

She was right and it was a good choice to get him started, not to mention it is only 7,000 Yen ($70) per month. Koby was off to school his normal time also. I ate breakfast and then went to work in the garden after dropping Evan off at school, Yasuko had to go with Koby for his Japanese class but will return shortly.

The temperatures here are starting to warm up, and I am already missing the cool days, at least the nights are still cool, but the biting bugs are bad here, good thing they don't last long.

After picking Evan up at lunch we made him take a nap, he needs to get used to it since they have nap time from 1pm to 3pm. He fell asleep fast and didn't wake up until the big kids came home from school.

Koby and Evan went out to play with the neighborhood kids as usual until it got dark.

Temp: High - 82
Low - 54

Gardening and Tomato's

2008-07-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Evan was excited this morning to be able to go back to school, everyone had breakfast and got out the door. We left to take Evan to daycare at 8:15am and he went right in like a pro. Yasuko has to go to Koby's school in the morning time, and I came home and made coffee.

I will be out in the garden in a bit trying to get the last bit of weeds cleared so I can plant my corn. I worked in the garden until it was time to go get Evan and then Yasuko and I went to pick him up.

He had fell today when they went out for their walk and skinned up his knee, but the teacher said he didn't cry and that they were surprised. He is very clumsy but hopefully he will get more coordinated climbing, jumping, and playing.

We came home and Evan took a nap, I went to the garden and worked until Koby came home from school, Masani-san showed up and wanted to take us to his cousins house who grew mini tomato's for a living. We had a good time looking at all of the vegetables that he grew, and I was shocked to learn that he is 76 years old and takes care of 5 huge greenhouses of mini tomato's, personal garden and about 4 rice fields, totally amazing, I hope I can do that when I am that age.

We brought back a lot of tomato's and cucumbers that we were given as presents, the tomato's were totally organic and were as sweet as grapes. After we got back I worked in the garden more until the biting flies got too bad to withstand.

I will finish the weeding tomorrow, and will get the corn planted, I have to hurry because it is getting late for corn here. After a hot bath and dinner I went straight to bed, and so did everyone else.

Temp: High - 81
Low - 52

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-07-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Evan's first day at Daycare/Kindergarten, he seems to be excited about going but things can change once we get to the door. He is scheduled to go until lunchtime and then we will go pick him up, but next week it will be full days, from 8am to 4:30pm.

Evan surprised us and went in the school with no problems, Yasuko had to go to Koby's school for the morning Japanese class but then will be home and not have to return. I ate breakfast and then went out to the garden to work until she came home.

We had to go to the post office and go into Higashikagura to pay for Koby's swimming lessons that he will be taking soon. On the way back we stopped at a farmers market and bought some tomato's and beans, there are farmers market on almost every corner here with fresh in season vegetables.

We went and picked Evan up and the teachers said he did great, evan said that he played and then they went and looked at the fire truck at the local fire station, and then walked around the rice fields looking for frogs and tadpoles, he said they even saw a snake skin.

He ate all of his lunch that he had brought and was anxious to return. We came home and made him take a nap, he has to get used to naps because they take naps at school from 1 to 3. He took a nap until the big kids came home from school and then went outside to play.

I worked in the garden almost the whole day, I am clearing my last section of weeds to plant more corn, and then also have some greens to plant. The garden is looking good so far, and we are starting to get cucumbers.

Yasuko has Yoga tonight so I will be getting the kids cleaned up with baths and fed. It was a busy day and I am going to bed! Goodnight!

Temp: High - 77
Low - 52

Monday Monday

2008-06-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-17T04:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

Weekend Park

2008-05-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in Shibinai Village, clear blue skies, but a cold wind coming off of the mountains, I went outside for a bit after breakfast but quickly came back in to put more clothes on, it seems when the sky is cloudless it is much colder. After breakfast the boys went outside to play at the school playground with Ueo-sans kids, I am surprised that I don't see any other kids outside playing on such a beautiful day.

I screwed up this morning and cut the power off to the Router and the Internet went down and I couldn't figure out how to get it back up, so a quick call to the man who helped us get it connected, instructed us to push one button and BAM it was back on, I have never had to rely on someone else for computer repair or service because I have always been able to do it myself, but here with everything written in Japanese and zero experience with ISDN, I feel helpless.

I got some mail that I really didn't want to see today, it was a letter from the Pi Pi International School, telling me thank you for applying but at this time they do not need me. :( That bummed me out!! But maybe it was not the right time or place, everything happens for a reason, and maybe there is a better, higher paying job around the corner.

I raised the plastic on the plants today so that they can get some fresh air, other than that, Norman is supposed to give me a call after his only lesson today at 11:00 am, and right on time as usual I received a call at 11:55 am saying that he was on his way. When Norman arrived I suggested that we go to a local park and walk around to enjoy the beautiful weather, and he thought that was a great idea, so off we went.

It was chilly and the wind was cold and strong, but there were many people at the park and even a few campers, we walked around and took some pictures and videos, the kids rode a luge type ride on a wheeled cart that they have been wanting to do for a while, Koby rode by himself and Yasuko and Evan rode together, they really enjoyed it, but it is $3 for about a 30 second ride. We also went to a nearby horse stable and let the boys look at all of the horses.

It was getting cold so we decided to head back to the house but stopped right before we came down the other side of the hill to Shibinai and took some pictures of our town from atop the mountain, It is a great shot of all of Shibinai.

Norman left not to long after we arrived and we all went to Bestom to get Koby a haircut and pick up a few grocery's that we needed, we got back late and took baths and then ate dinner, Evan was falling asleep at the table so he went to bed before finishing, but Koby finished and then headed off to bed also. It was a long and fun day!

Temp: High - 64
Low - 41

Normal Routines

2008-05-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in the Kamikawa Basin, the weather is sunny and in the high 60's and it feels great outside. Everybody was up to their normal morning routines around the house, I went outside to raise the plastic on both greenhouses before breakfast.

Yasuko came home at 10:30 am but has to go back at 1:20 pm for the last hour. We got a call from a neighbor (Yoshitake-san) and said she had some vegetables that had been given to her that she couldn't possibly use before they got bad, so Evan Yasuko and myself walked over to her house to pick them up.

On the way back Yasuko went to the school for the last hour while Evan and I came back home to wait until Yasuko and Koby comes home. After school we are going to go to a new Electronics shop that we have not been to yet, we are in the market for a new refrigerator, and are just shopping around and pricing one that we might want. I think Koby also wants to look at the Nintendo DS games, since his grandma in Tokyo sent him some money for his birthday.

It was fun looking at all of the electronic gadgets at Yamada Denki, Koby bought a new game for his DS with the money his grandma in Tokyo had sent him, Yasuko and I looked at refrigerators, but they were really expensive there and we have seen then cheaper at another electronics store. While we were there I got a USB extension cord that I needed for my new camera, I didn't feel comfortable plugging the camera into the back of my MAC, because it felt like the USB plug on the camera could possibly snap off easy, so now I have a cord to use which feels much more stable, we also got a long ethernet cable that Yasuko needed to sit in the living room while surfing on the Internet.

After the electronics store we headed back to the house but first stopped off at the dollar store to exchange a book that we bought in error, we picked up some bread also from the grocery store on the bottom level of the dollar store and then headed back to the house. We came home and ate dinner and then went to bed, nothing exciting for the evening.

Temp: High - 66
Low - 39

Gardening

2008-05-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

Woke up to some beautiful blue skies and sun peaking through, hopefully we are done with all of the rain for awhile, but this is the mountains and the weather is always volatile. We all were up at normal times today, and ate breakfast while Yasuko and Koby went to school.

Koby and the school kids are outside practicing for their sports festival that is coming up in a little over a week. They have been practicing running, throwing balls into a basket, dancing and playing songs on their flute recorders. Koby is really enjoying going to school here.

After breakfast I went outside to plant a row of soy beans that Kitayama grandma had given me, I will probably have enough soybeans to supply the whole town with, after that I weeded both of my potato beds of all the grass that had started growing on them, there are potato plants starting to poke their heads through the dirt, so I was pretty excited when I saw that.

After weeding the potato beds, I planted the rest of the corn seeds that I had, so far I have a 100% germination rate, so if that keeps up I should have about 30 corn plants. I plan on doing several small rows of corn in hopes of getting good pollination rates, and if I have seedlings left over I will just give them to someone else. All of the other plants are looking good so far.

Koby came home from school and said that he had been invited to Fujita-sans house and that they planned on making chewing gum. I am not sure how that is done, but he was instructed to bring some honey with him. Evan is outside playing with the remaining kids that stayed behind.

My friend Ben stopped by today to show me the motorcycle he just bought, it is a Honda and is a 50cc bike, here in Japan Motorbikes under 50cc can be driven with a regular car drivers license, but anything over 50cc needs a motorcycle license. The bike was made in 1997 an is modeled after a 1960's style bike, I think it looks cool, in a retro sort of way. A motorcycle here in the summer would be nice to have, but 6 months of the year, it would be sitting in a garage somewhere, because of snow.

It is getting dusk now and the boys are at the playground getting the last playtime in before it gets dark, Yu is outside riding her unicycle and Yasuko is in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I didn't hear from the school I interviewed with, but they said 2-3 days so hopefully tomorrow I will get some good news.

Genghis Khan

2008-05-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone was up around the normal times, Yasuko and Koby were off to school while Evan and I did our normal routine. Evan and myself ate breakfast and then I quickly went outside to uncover the plants a bit and let them breathe. The day started off sunny and warm but later after lunch started to get windy and cold. Yasuko came home at lunch and we had to go to town hall and the dollar store to run some errands.

When we got back I closed the plastic on the plants and we decided to have a semi-BBQ in our house with the new hot-plate that we purchased the other day. We had cabbage, onions, bean sprouts, shitake mushrooms and lamb marinated in a sugar soy base. The local Hokkaido people like to refer to the lamb meat as Genghis Khan. The dinner was great and I even took a short video of it, that I will try and put up for everyone to see.

In the mail today was a surprise that I have been waiting for, it's the new Flip Video Digital Camcorder. The camera we had, battery decided to die and would not keep a charge, we checked out how much a new battery would be and it was going to cost us over $100 dollars... WOW!! My new camera only cost $140, and that is exactly why I got it.

It is very easy to use and runs off of 2 double AA batteries, and uses no tapes, it is all solid state and downloads straight to your computer, no fuss. Thanks Dad for ensuring it got to me quickly.

The rest of the day was unremarkable and nothing to mention, I miss all of my family and friends, but we are doing great and loving living here.

Temp: High - 64
Low - 39

Job Interview

2008-05-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Everyone was up at their normal times this morning, Evan and I did our normal routine eating cereal, toast and coffee and watching kids shows on TV. We have to get ready quickly this morning to make it to my interview at Pi Pi International English School, I think we will leave at 10:00 am just to be on the safe side that we make it on time. We have never been there before and just want to allocate time if we get lost. It is not that far away, and probably only takes about 20 minutes to get there. Wish me luck!

The interview went well and I am very confident that I will get this job, another person was applying for the same position when I arrived but was an hour late, so maybe I already have the advantage since I was right on time. After the interview I hung around to observe how the other teachers operated with the children there. I saw about 8 children from ages 2-5 in attendance, and they all came over to talk with me and show me their art projects that they had just completed.

Playing with kids, doing art with them, singing and dancing and getting paid for it, while exposing the Japanese children to a English speaking environment, what more could you ask for? The person who interviewed me said that she would give me a call in 2-3 days to let me know what the results of my employment would be. From what I understood I will be working from 9 am to 5 pm 4 days a week and then 1 pm to 6 pm at a local Elementary school for one ore day, for a total of 37 hours per week.

The person who interviewed me said that Evan could attend also for free, this is like a big bonus being that this school is very expensive and charges about $500 a month for a 5 day week. My pay will be around $2000 dollars a month, which will provide us plenty of money for all of our expenses with a little less than half of it left over. Hokkaido rent is very cheap, now we are paying $160 a month, but have to move out in 4 more months since this house is allocated for the teachers that teach at Shibinai Elementary school, there is another house in front of us that is owned by the city and is newer and a little larger that costs $360 a month. We want to live there since we will be able to stay for as long as we are able to pay rent, so even if the school closes and the boys have to attend the next closest school our housing will be set.

The rest of the day was spent making a trip to a local Electronic Store to look for Koby a video game he has been wanting and then I played with the neighborhood kids until it started to get dark. For dinner we are having curry and rice, Yummy! One of my favorite dishes!

Temp: High - 54
Low - 46

Fresh From the Garden

2008-05-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Koby and Yasuko were up at school time while Evan and I got up at 8:00 am, Evan set down to a breakfast of cereal and kids shows, while I typed up the Shibinai diary for the day and drank a cup of coffee. I need to go out and raise the plastic on one side of both mini green houses so the plants can get some air. I think I will start some more corn plants today, I have so much space in my school garden plot I am still undecided what else to put there except a lot of corn, In the picture you can see some asparagus fresh out of my garden.

The weather is overcast now, but is supposed to be in the low 60's, the school kids were out in the garden plot today so I walked outside to see what they were planting. Today was just flowers called "Basalm", I never heard of them before, tomorrow is supposed to be vegetable planting day if the weather is ok. Later on in the day after Yasuko came home and we went into town and I got a much needed haircut, we had a couple of hours before Japanese class so we decided to go to Bestom because Yasuko wanted an electric hotplate that we can sit on the table and cook things in front of us.

The weather took a turn for the worse and the rain just pored down, we rushed to get back in time for Japanese class only to find a message from our teacher saying she would not be able to make it because of being sick with a fever. I called a local International Kindergarten instead that was looking for an English Teacher to see if they needed any help and have to go in for an interview tomorrow at 11:00 am

I quickly got a resume together and saved it to a small flash drive that Fujita-san had let me use, we dropped it off at their house and asked if they could print it out for us, she said no problem she would get her husband to do it and bring it over tomorrow. Dinner was Okonomiyaki, which is the Japanese pancake style food made with cabbage, sliced pork, egg, fish cake, with a sauce on top and bonito (tuna) flakes sprinkled on top. It was great and the new hot plate worked fine.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 50

Ramen Village

2008-05-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

We all slept until about 8:15 am this morning and then everyone pretty much got up at the same time, Yasuko made toast for everyone while I went out to raise the sides of my mini greenhouse's. The weather is overcast today and Asahikawa says it will be rainy, although the weather here in Shibinai right next to the mountain is always a little different, so who knows what will happen.

We are helping collect old newspapers and magazines today for the school to recycle, the money goes to the operation of school functions, we are all meeting at the community center at 10:00 am. Collecting the papers was pretty easy and we made 2 trips to get all of the magazines and newspapers and boxes people had left at their doorsteps for recycling. When we finished Yasuko, the kids and I went to a flea market that was being held at the park we went to the other day that had the castle. The weather was rainy and got cold, everyone started packing up their items just after we arrived and we missed out on most of the items.

We mostly ate food there, and did very little shopping, Yasuko bought a cutting board and some honey made from bees in a cherry blossom field. We ate sausages on a stick, steamed bread filled with scallops and cheese, and ice cream, it was all real good, afterwards we came back home and rested for a while until Yasuko asked me if I still felt like going somewhere else, Why not let's go!! We went to Homac which is a store similar to Home Depot in the States, and then Toys R Us, yep they have one here also... and then we went to Asahikawa's Ramen Village. I had Kim-chee Ramen and a bowl of rice with grilled pork, Evan had a half bowl of soy sauce Ramen, Koby had a Miso based Ramen that was a bit spicy and Yasuko had a soy sauce based ramen, we ate until we were ready to pop.

We got home late after stopping by a local food market and picking up a few items we needed for in the morning. Koby had a little homework to finish, and Evan got ready for bed right away and fell asleep fast, after Koby finished his homework he was in bed by 10:00 pm and fell asleep very shortly. It was a busy but fun day, I hope the weather starts improving from all of the overcast and rainy weather we have had recently, the difference in the rain here versus Texas is that in Texas it floods, and here it just sprinkles, but its cold.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 50

First Onsen

2008-05-24T17:39:00.001-07:00

Today we slept late since there is no school, I got up at 8:30 am while everyone else got up at 9:00 am. Today Masani-san is coming over at lunch time to take us to the nursery to get some vegetable plants for our garden. The school has also allocated a spot for us which is even bigger than the spot I have out the front door, gosh I have no idea what to plant there. I think I will put some corn there since corn takes up a larger space, also we have soy beans that were given to us so maybe I will grow some soy beans also (Edemame).

Masani-san showed up at 10:00 am while we were still eating breakfast so we hurried up and got ready to go. We all rode in his van to a local nursery that he frequents and bought (1) bell pepper plant, (2) hot pepper plants, (1) Zucchini plant, (2) melon plants and (1) cucumber plant. After the trip to the nursery we drove around Biei a bit and looked at the beautiful landscapes and farmlands. We stopped at a petting zoo which was free and looked at, fed and petted some animals, we saw horses, cows, rabbits, sheep, goats, chickens, albino deer, and an ostrich. The kids had fun feeding everything grass and dandelions.

After that we came home and I planted all of the pepper plants and the cucumber plant in my miniature green house, also I have 6 corn plants that have sprouted in my little cups, once they get healthy enough I will transfer them to the school garden plot. Masani-san set up another small greenhouse on the school plot, and we planted the melons and zucchini. I have a lot more room for other things but have not decided what to add. So far the count is 2 tomato plants, about 20 green onion plants, lots of potatoes, corn, and the other items that I got today.

It was a very hot and beautiful day today, perfect for gardening. Koby and Evan are outside somewhere playing with the neighborhood kids, Yasuko is taking a nap on the couch while I type up the journal for today, both of us are sore from yesterdays work. After the gardening work was done I went next door to see if Yu-chan wanted to play ball, her brother and sister were spending the night at Sumians-sans house and she was by herself today. She came out and I rescued her from boredom until it started to get dark.

After we ate dinner, Yasuko suggested that we go to the Hana Kagura Hotel and take a bath at their onsen, there onsen is not a natural one like many places around Hokkaido it is more like a spa community bath. We loaded the kids in the car and took off, the hotel is very near our house and only takes about 5 minutes to get there. We went inside and Yasuko payed while the kids and myself stored our items in the lockers. It costs $4 each for Yasuko and myself and $1 for Koby, and Evan is Free, so a total of $9.

Yasuko left to go to the women's side and me and the boys went to the mens side, we went into the locker room and took off our clothes and then entered the bathing area. There were small stalls set up along the wall with stool and shower heads where we all washed our bodies, and then came the good part. There was a total of 5 soaking pools and a sauna, the first one I tried was lukewarm so I passed on it to get in the hot one, while the kids got next to me in the lukewarm one. Actually the hot one was not that hot, and I make our bath at home much hotter usually. The boys joined me in the hot one and had a blast walking around the huge pool, I looked out the large ceiling high windows and thought I saw the reflection of somebody outside, and then realized there was people outside, I told Koby to go check and see if there were more pools outside, he came back with a big smile and said there were, so off we went.

Outside was Amazing, sitting in the cool air in a Hot Steamy pool under the stars was a great experience, they had the outside lit up with blue rope lights that lined the hill that we sit on, I liked the outside pools much better than being inside. After soaking outside I told the boys lets check out the sauna, after walking in and staying for all of 10 seconds the boys left while I stayed for a few minutes until the sweat was rolling off my body. The rest of the time was spent alternating between the pools and the boys braving the small ice cold pool, I stepped in the cold one and it was so cold that your toes would instantly start to get numb.

At 5 minutes until 10:00 pm we headed back to the dressing room to dry off and get dressed, Yasuko was waiting for us outside and apparently had been there for about 20 minutes, I asked he why she didn't stay until closing time, and she said she was worried that we were out waiting for her. We all really enjoyed it and will definitely return for another relaxing bathing adventure.

We returned home and the boys went straight to bed while Yasuko and I stayed up too late (12:30 am)

Temp: High - 75
Low - 46

Rice Farming

2008-05-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

We all were up at 7:00 am to get ready for the rice field work day. Yasuko had to make a lunch for school today since the cafeteria people were off today, she made Evan and myself a lunch also to take to Fujita-sans house. Koby left for school at the normal time and Evan and I left at 7:50 am to walk to Fujita-sans house, when we arrived Fujita Grandpa and Grandma had already planted half of one field, so we waited until they were finished and then was explained what my job was.

My responsibilities for that day was to hand the trays of rice plant sprouts to Ji-chan (grandpa) after he made one pass in the rice field with the tractor, I also took the empty trays off of the tractor and washed the mud off of them, and then did the same thing over and over. We loaded the trays of rice sprouts on the small truck they have and then I would drive it out to the field and stage the trays on the side of the field. After about an hour and a half we took a juice and snack break, but the juice turned out to be a beer, so there I was drinking a beer in the rice fields at 9:30 am in the morning (The breakfast of Champions). haha

At lunchtime we took a break and went into the house to eat, Yasuko showed up at 12:30 pm and ate lunch while I took a short nap before we had to start again. After lunch we planted about 2.5 more fields, in total we planted about 5 fields, we finished as it was getting dusk. Oba-san (grandma) asked if I wanted to be payed in money and I declined, they have helped us so much I couldn't possibly take money from them, but they said they would give us rice instead. We usually pay $30 - $40 for 10 kilos (22 pounds) of rice, and the rice that Fujita-san grows is much better than the one you find in the store, so that will be a fine payment.

After the day was done they had ordered a Sushi dinner for all of us, I wanted to go home and take a shower first but they said no you take a shower at our house, let all of the kids take one together first and then Yasuko and myself. Yasuko started laughing because in Japan it is common to take baths together in the Hot Springs here and since Fujita-san has 2 girls ages (8) and (7) we wondered how Koby and Evan was going to react. After a little convincing that it was ok and that he needed to get used to it he agreed and all of the kids had a great time bathing together, in fact we had to make them get out because they were in there so long.

After a great meal and a relaxing bath and not to mention good company, we all were taken home by Fujita-san, the boys went to bed shortly afterwards and Yasuko and myself followed.

Temp: High - 66
　　Low - 50

School Trip

2008-05-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Koby left this morning at the normal time, but there is no school, instead they are all going on a school trip to the Asahikawa Zoo. Yasuko made a lunch for him to take and he also brought some candy. Yasuko took some pictures of him leaving on the bus, all of the kids were excited to be going on the first school trip of the year. While Koby was on his school trip, Yasuko, Evan and myself decided to drive to a local ski resort which is a park and a golf course in the summer time, and has a great view of Higashikawa, and Higashikagura and also parts of Asahikawa. There is also a Japanese style castle that sits on top of the mountain which we got to go in and lookout from the top.

The castle doubles as a museum of agriculture and as many tools that they used to work the fields with a long time ago, including plows, horse saddles, old hoes, etc. It was very interesting and a nice day finally to get out and breathe some clean air. The temperature was warm today and will be very nice the next three days.

After the park visit we hurried home so we would be here when the school bus came back from the zoo with the kids. We took pictures as Koby and the other kids got off the bus and watched the short dismissal speech. After that we went to the post office and then came right back. I played with the neighborhood kids until it started to get dark.

We ate udon noodles and stir fried veggies for dinner and watched TV, the kids were worn out from playing hard today, especially Koby and went to bed at 8:45 pm. We got a call from the Fujita family and asked if I could help them plant rice tomorrow at 8:00 am. You bet I will be there to help out, after all of the free vegetables that they have given us and also the use of their car when we were car-less, it's the least I could do.

I have to be at their house at 8:00 am so I think that I will get to bed earlier than usual tonight.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 45

Friend Visit

2008-05-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day today, while Yasuko and Koby left for school at 8:00 am, Evan and I ate breakfast of cereal and toast and coffee. Evan watched kids shows for a little while until he got bored and wanted to play the playstation 2. I just messed around on the computer and checked all of my websites until Yasuko came home at 12:30 pm. Koby had English class today which is funny, since he speaks better English than 75% of the population in Japan. I think that he usually sits in the corner and reads a book while the other kids learn "Hello, My name is ____."

Around lunchtime Yasuko came home and then shortly afterwards our doorbell rang and it was the English Teacher at Koby's school which is a friend of mine, his name is Ben. We chatted for a while, and he was excited to have just bought a vintage motorcycle to play around on this summer. Motorcycles are popular in the summertime here since there are so many beautiful places to see and nature to experience, but be careful my friend.

The rest of the day was spent inside due to bad weather.

Temp: High - 57
Low - 52

Inclement Weather

2008-05-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a overcast and very windy day, it looks like it will be an inside the house day today. Yasuko and Koby left for school at the regular time, Evan ate cereal for breakfast while I had a cup of coffee. There is a typhoon in Okinawa now that is heading North East, which is in our direction, but will be passing under us, nonetheless we are experiencing heavy winds as a result of it. I have had to keep an eye out the window on my mini greenhouse, because the wind keeps blowing the plastic around and uncovering my tomatoes. After the 2nd time I went outside to fix it, I lined the plastic all around the edges with giant stones, and I dare the wind to blow those off.

Yasuko came home at 12:30 pm and does not have to back. We ate lunch and just lounged around the house due to the inclement weather. Koby came home at 2:30 pm and some of his friends came over and played video games. Later we went to a local grocery store to get a few items we needed in the mean time, and had to hurry back since Yasuko has a meeting at the community center tonight about the school's sports festival.

The kids and I stayed home and ate noodles and tomato sauce, Yasuko was gone to the meeting from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. I got the kids ready for bed, before Yasuko came home. There was not much to write about today since most of the day was spent inside.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 50

Helping Neighbors

2008-05-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today was another busy day, Evan and myself got up at 8:00 am and I ate breakfast, but Evan was n a bad mood and skipped breakfast, he bumped his lip last night playing with the other kids, and I think it was hurting. We went to Ueo-sans house about 5 minutes until 9:00 am to help load up all of the items that he was going to throw away. He borrowed Kitayama's truck again to haul all of the stuff to the dump.

When we got to the dump they weighed the truck, and then we unloaded everything that was to be thrown away, and then the truck was weighed again, and they charge by the weight. It was not as expensive as I thought it was going to be, and the whole truckload cost about 2,000¥ which is a little less than $20.

After we unloaded the items we drove back to Shibinai and returned the truck and drove back to the house in Ueo-sans car, he asked me if I could go with him to his shop and help him do a few more things, and I agreed. We took some more restaurant supplies, and he had meetings with the beer & sake supplier, the fish market man and the man who is making his sign. After we worked for a while we went next door to a Ramen shop and had lunch.

After the meetings we drove to the sign shop to choose the colors of the sign, and he got to look at it on the computer to see if he liked the final project. After the sign shop we drove back to Shibinai, but not before we drove to a local park, and looked at some great views from the top of a ski slope. This place is very cheap to ski there and will probably be the place that I learn to ski at. You can get a 4 month season pass for only $200 and can come as much as you want.

We came home and I have a little down time before my Japanese lessons today at 5:00 pm. Japanese lesson was fun, and we learned here there ad over there (kore, sore, asore) we also played matching/memory games with the characters of the Japanese alphabet (Hirigana).

When the lesson was finished I took Endo-sensei (our teacher) home in Higashikagura, she usually rides her bike from her home to the bust stop, so I always drop her off at the bus stop. When we returned dinner was ready, the rest of the day was spent watching TV until bedtime.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 46

Mountain Biking

2008-05-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

We slept late again since it was the weekend, everyone except me got up at 9:00 am and I was up at 8:15 am, the kids ate a breakfast of cereal, while Yasuko and I had rice, natto, kimchee and Miso soup. The kids went out to play with the rest of the kids since they had been ringing the doorbell since 8:30 am. Masani-san came over and gave me a couple of tomato plants and tied them up for me, we put them in the little green house and watered them real good, he told me to leave the plastic up during the day but at night put it back down.

When I came back in the house there was a message from Norman, so I quickly called him back and told him to come on over and bring your bike. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for a mountain bike trip. I updated the blog, while I was waiting for Norman to come over. After he arrived I gave him the present that we got for him which was a electric air popper and lots of raw popcorn. Apparently it is not something that you can get here in Japan that easily, and if you want popcorn you have to settle for the already popped in bags that is 99% of the time stale.

We headed towards the dam on our bikes but stopped by the old house that we thought that we might of had to live in once. The place is huge, but very large, in fact I think it is larger than our house in Texas, but very old. After the short stop to the old house we continued to the dam, the biting flies were in force. The flies are called buyo's and are like a cross between a horse fly and mosquito, they suck blood and leave a nasty bump that itches like crazy. Norman got bit a couple of times but I made it without a bite after putting on some bug spray before I left.

After a short stop at the dam and some picture taking, we headed back along the levy and the banks of the Chubetsu river. The only wildlife we saw this time was a fox that quickly took off before we could get a picture. We continues our trip along the levy until we reached the bridge that crosses over the Chubetsu river into Shibinai, and then decided to ride further to a nearby park. It was a nice easy ride, but Norman's backside was hurting and my legs were tired, we walked the bikes a bit around the park and then rode through a nearby neighborhood that has the most adorable Swedish Alpine style houses that I have ever seen. Hmmm maybe someday!!

After the ride through the neighborhood we headed back along some back roads and partially on a bike trail. When we got back we set on the steps and rested a bit. Yasuko informed me that we were invited to a Yakisoba party at Ueo-sans house tonight, so Yasuko is preparing some cabbage. Tomorrow I am going to help Ueo-san get rid of a lot of rubbish that he had behind his house, I am going to get rid of a microwave oven also along with the items, it is expensive to get rid of large items here, but it helps with the recycling process.

The yakisoba party was fun, but had to be moved inside because the weather started getting bad and cool, we all had fun talking and looking at each others photographs. Yasuko and the kids came home at 9:30 pm and I stayed until 10:30 pm

Temp: High - 70
Low - 46

Rainy Days

2008-05-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

Everyone slept late today, we were still eating breakfast when the doorbell rang about 4 times with kids wanting to play with Koby and Evan, I did all of my computer activities until noon when Norman called and said that he was going to have to get his bike worked on before he could go riding. The weather started off nice this morning but quickly became dark and cloudy.

The winds picked up and the rain and thunder started, I guess it was good that Norman didn't come today, we might have got caught in some bad weather on the way back from our bike ride. Instead we took a trip into town to check out some recycle shops. Yasuko has been wanting a cabinet to store the dishes that we have, so we looked around. Most of the stuff they had seemed to be expensive to me, but there was a few items that was reasonable,

I saw some ski's and snowboards, so maybe that will be a good place to get some started equipment for the coming winter season. After we got through looking around at the recycle shops I asked Yasuko if she wanted to see where Ueo-sans restaurant was at, she said yes, so we drove there next and he was inside so we stopped for a bit and talked and looked at the place. It really looked different than the last time I saw it, he should be ready to open soon.

After we left Ueo-sans restaurant we went to kaiten sushi, which is a sushi restaurant with the food traveling around the tables on a conveyor belt, the plates are different colors depending on the price of the item thats on it, so you just grab what you want off of the conveyor belt, and when your done they count the plates and you get charged by the plates you ate. Our dinner came to about $35 for all four of us.

After dinner we came home and just relaxed until bedtime.

Temp: High - 72
Low - 43

Shibinai Days

2008-05-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Koby and Yasuko was off to school at the normal time this morning while Evan watched TV and I slept late from the party last night. When I got up a 9:00 am Evan wanted to eat more so I fixed him and myself toast. After eating Evan went outside to play a while, it is a beautiful day with clear blue skies and warm temperatures.

Yasuko came home at lunch and told me that Evan needs to stay in the house for a little while because they will be spraying the cherry trees with a type of medicine and he should not breathe it, so we got him inside and he played the Playstation 2 for a while.

Koby came home at the normal time and quickly went outside to play with all of the kids. Today I stayed in the house and messed around on the computer. The weather is supposed to be great for the next 3 days with warm temperatures, I think mountain biking with Norman will be a plan this weekend.

Temp: High - 68
Low - 45

Dinner Date

2008-05-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Another normal day in Shibinai, Koby and Yasuko went to school this morning, I think that Yasuko is feeling much better although she said her throat was a little sore this morning. Evan ate cereal while I had my usual toast and coffee, but this morning I used our coffee grinder and ground some beans to make a fresh pot of coffee and the difference is like night and day, I really know now why I hate instant and coffee in the store that is already ground.. (It's stale)

I finished the Shibinai Blog today and have gotten caught up to the current date finally, I am putting a lot of great pictures on here, but you can see even more at my Flickr account, I highly recommend that you become a member at Flickr and request friends with me so you can see all of the pictures that I have designated as friends and family only, otherwise you will just be able to see the scenery pics of Hokkaido.

We are scheduled to eat dinner at Ueo-sans house tonight, he left this morning, probably to go work at his restaurant more, his big opening is only about 10 more days, and then I have a feeling that I will not be seeing him much.

Yasuko will be home at lunchtime, and Evan is playing the Playstation 2. Yasuko came home and does not have to return until 4:30 for a short meeting, after that we went to the store to buy a few items to take to Ueo-sans house, when we returned they were waiting for us. The dinner consisted of rare tuna steaks marinated in a soy based sauce, a Korean style Kimchee stew, Scallops, and a vegetable dish with fresh seaweed and tofu. Everything was delicious as Ueo-sans dinner always are.

Yasuko and the kids came home at 9:30 while I stayed until 11:30 and talked with Ueo-san more.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 40

Bank Woes

2008-05-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby left for school this morning while Evan and I ate breakfast and watched kids shows, our normal routine. Evan has caught a cold, and Yasuko also has not been feeling well, but they both seem to be feeling better today. It must have been one of those fast flu bugs. So far I have not felt bad, and Koby doesn't seem to be affected either. Ueo-san has invited us to his house for dinner tomorrow night, I guess he feels that it is a good way to repay me for the help I have given him at his restaurant, but I was happy to help him.

Yasuko came home at lunchtime and will not have to return for the day, we made a lot of calls to Wells Fargo to try and figure out how to initiate a wire transfer of our money to Japan, and were told unfortunately they cannot do it without me setting it up before we left. WHAT!!! I just want to go on record and say that Wells Fargo is the crappiest bank I have ever had the dis-pleasure of banking with, after visiting the bank numerous time before we left inquiring about how we would make the transfer, and were told that everything was going to be no problem, Now This..

It looks like I am just going to request a check for the amount we want and then deposit it over here, it will take longer that way, but our bank here said that they would accept the check, so I guess that is the way we will have to do it.

Koby came home at 3:00 pm and did his homework, afterwards him and Evan went outside to play with all of the kids, I just stayed inside today, for some reason I feel real cold today and cannot get warm, but I will fix that problem later with a steaming hot bath. Tomorrow is the dinner date with the Ueo family.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 37

Shibinai Village

2008-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off again at their regular time to school, but Yasuko came home early to eat lunch. Yasuko said that she heard Koby say I love Japanese class, WHAT??? Wow that is a huge change from last month when he said he hated it, so things are changing with him in the language classes and he is starting to enjoy it now. I think the private lessons have something to do with that also.

Today was a cool but warmer day, I went for a bike ride with Koby and 2 other boys, these hills here kill me when you have to go up then, but it sure feels good to coast down the other side, the temperatures here have been highs of 56 and lows of 38 at night, I will start putting the temperature at the end of my posts so friends and family can keep up with what the weather is like here.

Later on that evening we had a house full of kids, and this house is small, so they were running around and hollering, and it sounded like a circus. I went outside and played ball with everybody until people started disappearing to go eat dinner, We all came home and ate also.

Asahidake

2008-05-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off to school this morning at the normal time, Yasuko will return early today and not have to go back since Koby's remaining subjects will be PE, Music and Art. There is a teacher at the school that speaks a little English named Toyoko-san and can help if Koby needs it. Yasuko came home at lunch and we took a ride to collect some more spring water, it was a nice cool day in Shibinai and was light jacket weather. After we collected the water we decided to drive up mount Asahidake took sight-see, it was absolutely beautiful and we took a lot of pictures, although the temperature was much cooler than in Shibinai. Snow is still all over the mountain top and is melting slowly.

When we got back Koby came home shortly afterwards and quickly went out to play and ride bikes with the other kids. Koby and myself have our first Japanese lesson together today at 5:00 pm our teachers name is Endo-sensei (sensei means teacher). Our Japanese lesson was fun, Koby surprised me of how much of the Japanese writing that he knows, I know more sentence structure and words for things but he can read and write far better than I can.

We also got Koby's bike tire fixed today at the local gas-station, and they did it for free when we asked how much. Koby has been riding another one of the neighborhood boys old bikes, which is a little big for him, but it makes him feel like a older boy. haha After our Japanese lesson the boys and I took our teacher back home, she lives in Higashikagura near the library and town hall. I need to study the Japanese alphabet more so I can catch up with Koby, but I have a feeling that I wont be able to catch up.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Up again at 8:00 am with a breakfast of toast and coffee, I met Ueo-san outside at 9:00 am to go to Yoshitake-sans house to load up the truck with things we need to take to the new restaurant. As I predicted Ueo-san was not feeling good at all, and said he had a headache and felt nauseous. I felt fine because I paced myself. The truck was a large one that Ueo-san had borrowed from the Kitayama family.

We separated the things that would be brought to the restaurant and the items that were to be brought to Ueo-sans house, since Yoshitake wants all of Ueo-sans things out because he is going to remodel the storage place and make it part of his house. Nothing was really that heavy except the freezer box and took 3 of us to lift it onto the truck, I was extra careful not to hurt my back. Once we had the truck off we went, Ueo-san called a friend to meet us there, so he could help us unload. Unloading went quick and we were pretty much done by noon, I was anxious to get back to call my friend Norman to see if he wanted to ride mountain bikes today.

After we were done carrying all of the things to Ueo-sans house, we parted company but not before he invited us to his house to eat on Thursday, he also gave us a microwave oven, table for our living room, and numerous dishes in payment for me helping him., I didn't need any payment but it was nice, and we needed the items he gave us. I called Norman, but he said that he forgot that it was Mother's Day and was going to take his wife Ikuko shopping, and that we would re-schedule for another day. Oops I forgot it was Mother's Day also, but Mom if your reading this, I love you and miss you!! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Restaurant Work

2008-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am helping my neighbor Ueo-san clean his restaurant in preparation for his grand opening, his restaurant is about a 15-20 minute drive from our house. I was up at 8:00 am and ate toast and drank some coffee until Ueo-san rang the doorbell. We took off and went to his restaurant, when we arrived he said that I could scrub the floors while he cleaned the walls and everything else, the place seats about 20 people so it is not that big of a job, especially compared to the decks I used to scrub when I was in the Navy.

I scrubbed the floor with a brush water and soap, and Ueo-san wiped up the dirty water with a towel, he complimented me on a great job and said the floor looked beautiful. We took a break for lunch and went to the local Home Center called HOMAC to get some wax for the floor, and then we went to eat lunch. We went to a friend os his restaurant called "Hindi Hipster" which is a Indonesian Curry restaurant. The owner is Japanese but has lived in Indonesia before and learned the Indo way to make curry. The food was great, and unusual to find authentic Indo Curry, especially in Hokkaido.

Afterwards we returned to Ueo-sans shop and waxed the floor, when we arrived that morning he said we were going to scrub the floor twice, but I guess I did such a good job, he thought that once was enough. The restaurant that was there before he got the place was a charcoal grilled meats restaurant, and the place had a coat of soot everywhere. After the waxing the floor looked fantastic and he was very pleased.

Tonight another BBQ is planned and of course we are invited, I need to be careful tonight and not drink too much because tomorrow I am helping Ueo-san move all of the furniture, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, and dishes to his restaurant. The BBQ was tons of fun, but was real cold out. Luckily there was a barn that we all got in and BBQ'd in there instead, it started to get smoky inside, but we opened the windows on top which took care of all of the smoke.

Yasuko and the kids came home early, while I stayed with about 8 others and talked and had fun. I have a feeling Ueo-san is not going to feel very good tomorrow, but I will be fine!

Freeze

2008-05-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

It was very cold last night, and we got hit with some unusually cold weather, it probably was in the mid to high 20's and unfortunately killed all of the plants that I had put in my garden. But I cannot complain because one of our farmers here in Shibinai lost his whole field of Asparagus. WOW!! All of that work for nothing, but he is not the only one, all over Hokkaido it happened and it was all over the news.

Asparagus prices are going to be through the roof. Right now Asparagus is about $4 for a bundle of about 6 Asparagus. I love it, but not for that price.

My plants were only 88¥ each that is a little less than 88 cents each, so I was not out much money, 88¥ X 6 about $5. I am told to wait a few more weeks to make sure all of the real cold weather is gone.

Masani san gave me a miniature green house for my garden, it will help to extend the short growing season that we have here in Shibinai, it basically consists of strips of bamboo stuck into the ground, covered in plastic. It is a very common thing to do here.

Koby's school also has a big field that they use to grow vegetables, and they asked us if we would like some of the field to use also. Yasuko told them yes, so now we have even a bigger plot to grow vegetables. I am going to have to add a lot more items to my garden now.

Internet Finally

2008-05-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Everybody was off to school at the normal time while Evan and I ate breakfast and watched the usual kids shows, one thing I hate about the kids shows they have here is that they play the same episodes all week, so you have them memorized by Friday.

Evan got some of his toys in the boxes out and started playing with them, he is playing with Mr. potato head now. Evan and I practiced riding his new bike today, he did good and I think he will be riding by himself in a couple of weeks.

Yasuko came home at 10:30 am today, we are going to meet the person who is going to look at my computer today at lunch time, we have to drive to Biei town to meet him which is only about 15 min away, we have to get gas in the car also soon, the price has went up to $1.56 per liter.

We met the man in Biei and he followed us back to our house, he worked for about an hour and set up everything that we had to do to get online. He charged us $50 for the labor and $60 for the equipment, so even cheaper than a new terminal adapter. But we are finally online.

Afterwards we filled the car up with gas, it cost $50 WOW! But the good thing is that we don't drive very far to go to the store or the park, everything is very close. Our service costs only $14 per month, compared to $35 per month in America, although the connection here is much slower.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning out email and answering emails, and giving everyone our new contact information.

Boxes Arrived

2008-05-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today Yasuko and Koby were off to school at the regular time, while Evan and I ate breakfast. After breakfast I went out and worked in the garden until Yasuko came home at lunchtime. Here in Hokkaido the soil is very rocky, so I lined the whole garden with big river stones.

Yesterday we bought some corn seeds, 2 bell pepper plants, 2 hot pepper plants and 2 eggplant plants, I am going to plant them today, and also put some potato's in the ground to grow some potato's. I still want to get some cucumber plants, and zucchini plants. I have a very large garden plot, and have room for more things, but I am still undecided in what to grow.

The weather is rainy today, and I am dodging the showers in between working. I managed to get everything that I had planted. We didn't do anything special today since the weather was rainy and the temperature was cold, but we did go pick up a bicycle that was given to Evan, it is a very nice bike and it is time that he learns how to ride, Koby's bike got a flat tire that we have to get fixed.

I contacted a guy today that is a Macintosh Expert and asked him about Internet service, he is going to come over tomorrow and check out our computers and help us get online with both computers, so hopefully soon we will be back online.

Our boxes that we shipped from America arrived today, and we stacked them all in the computer room, they didn't take up as much space as I thought they would, we have a list of what's in each one so we will only have to open the ones we need to.

Working in the Fields

2008-05-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

I was up at 6:15 am to get ready to go work in the rice fields, I had breakfast and then got dressed in my jumpsuit that was donated to me, and my snow boots I bought. As I was walking out Ueo-san met me and we walked to the meeting place where everyone was gathering to find out their assignments.

Ueo-san and I were paired together and our job was to clean out the irrigation ditch that floods the rice fields. We took regular breaks and shoveled out the irrigation ditch of all of the mud and weeds that had started to grow in them. It was hard work and both of our backs were hurting when we were finished.

The day was beautiful with a nice cool breeze, but it warmed up as we got closer to lunchtime. After we were finished, Ueo-san invited us over to his house tonight for dinner, we had promised the Maskawa family that we would make dinner for them, but Ue0-san said bring them also, it was just the three children since their mom had to go to work at a local resort hotel.

I laid down a while to rest my back, and then had lunch. We took a trip to the grocery store to get some supplies and got back just in time to go to Ueo-sans house at 5:00 pm. Dinner was great and it consisted of Okonomiyake, which is similar to a pancake but made with cabbage, pork, and egg, on top is a ketchup based sauce and bonito (fish) flakes are sprinkled on top.

Yasuko and the kids came home at 9:00 pm since Koby had school tomorrow and I stayed until 11:00 pm. When I got home, everybody was asleep, and thats just where I went also. It was a long and busy day.

More Parks

2008-05-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

We all slept late today, especially me since I drank a little too much last night. Today we are planning on taking the kids to a new park that they have never been, right now they are out playing with the other kids.

We left to go to the park at about 12:30 pm, the park was really nice with lots of fun things to do for the kids. We took some pictures of the kids on the slides and all of the other attractions, then we went into the inside playing place, where they had a climbing wall and rope tunnels that hung from the ceiling.

After that we stopped at a 7-eleven and got some rice balls stuffed with tuna and some sweet bread and drinks, and made our way to a second park where we had a picnic. The weather was cool and windy today, and we were kind of cold when we were eating.

After we ate the kids played a bit more and then we made our way home. Tomorrow is Koby's final day of vacation, and I have a job tomorrow clearing out drainage pipes for the rice fields here in Shibinai, it pays $10 per hour and lasts from 7:00 am to lunchtime.

Vegetable Sale

2008-05-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

We all woke up late at 9:00 am, Yasuko must have worn everyone out yesterday, especially the 283 steps. We ate breakfast, and Yasuko and I volunteered to help with the vegetable sale today, the local farmers here in Shibinai have gotten together to sell vegetables to the tourists that are traveling on the road here on the way to the mountains. I am not sure what my job will be but I will do what they need.

We went to the vegetable sale, and only women were participating, so I went with a couple of the men to the mountains and learned how to collect mountain vegetables, It was a nice day and very warm. We came back with 2 plastic bags full of them, they grow on top of a long stalk that is very thorny, and you have to collect them when they are just blooming. We brought them back and fried them with Tempura batter outside near the vegetable sale, we had so many we shared them with everyone and all of the kids.

The vegetable sale was a great success, with practically everything selling out, later on after the sale I helped all of the men take down the tables and the large tent and put them away. Later on a outside BBQ is planned. We ate a lot and drank a lot and ended up at Ueo-sans house again until late.

Yasuko went to a meeting while we were BBQ'ing and they talked about how they can make the next sale better and bigger since it was such a success.

Golden Week

2008-05-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Golden Week starts, and the weather is continuing it's warm streak, we all were up at 8:00 am and had breakfast, I am not sure where we are going today, but I am sure Yasuko will figure out something, until then the kids are headed outside to play.

We departed Shibinai about 9:00 am to go driving in the country and mountains, we ended up at a tourist information center in Biei, which is a town adjacent to Shibinai, Yasuko talked with the lady working there for almost an hour, while the kids and I roamed all over the grounds, there was a beware of bears sign up, but there was way too many people for a bear to come wandering into the area where we were at, bears tend to stay away from people.

After that we took a scenic drive to the mountains that was the most beautiful that I had ever seen, we stopped at the side of the road and took a lot of pictures, Yasuko started yelling and we heard the echo, just like in the movies, so all of us took our turns saying things and hearing it echo back to us.

We continued our trip up the mountain to a place that Yasuko said was going to be a surprise, we finally arrived at a group of hotels and parking area and she said this is it. We parked our car and walked to this bridge and was amazed at the most beautiful water falls I had ever seen, even on TV. The bridge was real high, and Yasuko said it made her legs shaky. After taking a lot of pictures there was a staircase that consisted of 283 steps up the mountain to the volcano information center, so up we went. Wow you really find out how out of shape you are when you walk up those steps, not to mention it was covered in Plexiglas, which contained the heat and made it real steamy as you walked up. We were glad to make it to the top and made our way to the information center.

We watched a movie in 3D about volcanoes, and learned some information about the volcano that we were standing on. They had all kinds of interactive displays that the kids had fun playing around with. The last time the volcano that we were standing on had erupted was in 1988, and was expected to have another major eruption within the next 30 years.

After the mountain visit we went to a nearby organic restaurant and ate, the owners were real nice and we talked with them for at least an hour after we finished eating, we exchanged phone numbers, and discussed some future business opportunities that we might be able to do together. This place is so beautiful, there is no way I can describe it in words.

After the cafe we drove to a nearby ostrich farm and surprised the boys, you should have seen their faces when they saw the ostriches for the first time. There was a cafe attached to the ostrich farm that made cookies and cakes out of the ostrich eggs, but we didn't buy anything.

After the ostrich farm we drove to a couple of other places to look at flowers and scenic views, to end up at a roadside stop, that every town has here, and eat some ice cream. While we were at the roadstop, we bought this booklet that has all of the roadstops in Hokkaido, and you can put each roadstops rubber stamp in your booklet, it will be fun trying to collect all of the stamps, and visit all of the roadstops in each town in Hokkaido, One down and many more to go.

After the roadstop we came home and watched TV for a bit until bedtime.

Busy Days

2008-05-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a beautiful warm day with the sun shining bright and the skies blue, but the mountain view is a bit hazy, it is still early though. Evan ate cereal and a banana for breakfast and I had toast and coffee and a banana.

Koby gets out of school at 2:30 pm today to start his "Golden Week" vacation, and Yasuko will be home at 11:00 am and will not have to return today. I think Evan and I are going to go to a local park for a while, so I can walk around and he can play on the slides and swings.

The park visit was lots of fun, Evan had a great time on the rope and pulley slide, after he played we walked around the park and enjoyed the cherry blossom trees in full bloom. We rested a while and had some drinks and watched the other kids playing, drinks in the vending machines cost $1.20 each here, I had cold coffee which is very popular here and Evan had Peach Nectar.

We came home and ate lunch with Yasuko and then we went shopping while Koby finished school. When we got back we all went to the same park that Evan and I went earlier and took a loot of pictures, after that we went out to eat Ramen. The Ramen was some of the best I have ever had, it is much different than the Top Ramen that we think of in America.

After Ramen it was about 7:00 pm and we decided to drive to Biei which is a town close to us, that was having a pre festival party at the Dam and looking at cherry blossoms at night. They had lights set up, and it was so beautiful, but a little cool.

After that we came back home and everyone fell asleep on the couch watching TV, except for me, I was the one who had to carry everyone to bed.

Shika Deer

2008-05-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Koby has a short day at school today, I think the school is gearing up for the Japanese Holiday called "Golden Week" where everyone is off for a week. We have a lot of plans, including 2 picnics, a shopping trip, and some park stops for the kids. We are also going to try and find a new terminal adapter so we can finally get Internet access.

My friend snowman invited me to go on a trip with him one day, but I refused, since Yasuko and the kids would be stuck at home by themselves. Hopefully I will be able to go with him on Summer Vacation. Also next week the village we live in will be selling vegetables to the tourists that travel the road through our town on the way to visit the Asahidake mountains. I will be helping out packing vegetables.

After breakfast, I got the clean clothes folded and put away, and straightened up the house a bit, I bought a 20 liter water container yesterday at the store, and cleaned it out real good, now we have a larger container to collect spring water in.

The cherry blossoms are looking beautiful, and I am going to get some more pictures today, I will try and take pictures everyday to show the change in them, I cannot miss this opportunity since they bloom so quickly and then fall off. In Tokyo they have already bloomed and fell off about a month ago, we are late here in Hokkaido because of the higher elevation and cooler weather.

It is very warm today, short sleeve weather, but the wind is really blowing hard, the skies are a little hazy but the sun is out and shining. After Koby got off of school he had homework to finish, and all of the school kids had planned a picnic under the cherry blossom trees. Koby took a 2 liter drink and some snacks, and a blanket to put on the ground.

I decided to go get some spring water in my new 20 liter container I bought. This time the parking lot was not full so I quickly collected my 20 liter container and 4 other 2 liter bottles, after that I decided to drive up Asahidake mountain, it is a breathtaking view and I stopped many times to take pictures. Snow is still deep on the mountain and I saw many skiers and snow boarders still enjoying the deep powder.

It was a hot day in Shibinai today, but on the mountain it was still very cool, it felt great. At the end of the road on the mountain you are over 800 meters above sea level. On the way down I was just looking at the beautiful scenery and say 4 Japanese Shikah Deer grazing on the side of the road, luckily there was a driveway right where they were at and I quickly pulled in. They didn't even run, and looked as if they wanted to come closer, I got some great pictures.

Later that evening we went into Asahikawa to an electronics store and looked around at all of the gadgets, after that we were going to go eat dinner at a Ramen restaurant, but we were too late and they were closed, the kids were unhappy, but we can try again tomorrow. Tomorrow starts Koby's week long vacation.

Fox Encounter

2008-04-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Koby and Yasuko left for school at the regular time this morning, while Evan and I ate breakfast and watched kid shows on TV, I took a hot bath and Yasuko showed up from school for a short visit, she has to go back for about an hour and then should be home for the rest of the day.

We have a meeting with Koby's teacher today at 3:00 pm, it is just your normal parent teachers talk to see how he is doing. Here in Japan the teachers come to your house.

I need to take the car into town and get gas, the prices are rising tomorrow. Gas is much more expensive here in Japan than America at 130 yen per liter, thats about $1.30 per liter. But the prices are consistent and don't change every day like in America, when the prices change it is usually announced before hand. We filled up our car and also bought kerosene, which we use to heat the bath and the heater for the house.

After school we went to the local store to get a few things and then had to rush back to make the meeting with Koby's teacher. We didn't really talk about Koby too much since Yasuko is with him and the teacher on a daily basis, so we just chatted in general. I think Yasuko is going to start leaving Koby alone a little more so he can quit depending on her so much, if it gets too difficult for him we can always change plans.

The teacher says he is doing well in all of his subjects, so no problems except language. But more and more everyday he is speaking Japanese and communicating with the neighborhood kids. You also have to keep in mind that we have only been here one month, so I think h is doing exceptionally well. Even though I know more Japanese than he does, I think he will pass me soon and it will be hard for me to catch up.

In the evening Yasuko was making dinner and I went for a walk with Koby and 2 other boys following me on their bikes. We saw a fox, and played near the river on the way back until it started to get dark.

BBQ's and Cherry Blossoms

2008-04-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

Koby is off of school today, so we all slept in a bit. After everyone had breakfast, we were informed that there is a BBQ today near the Shibinai meeting hall, so Yasuko prepared some rice to take and drinks, and I took a trip up the mountains to collect some spring water, along the way I stopped and took some pictures, and Sumi-san the Shibinai police officer stopped and talked with me a little while, he was happy that we finally got a car.

I continued up the mountain on my water collecting trip, and when I got there the parking lot was completely full, so I decided I would return another time. I got back just as the BBQ was starting and realized this was basically for women and children, but I was told no problem and to join in, Yoshitake-san, another man showed up and then Ueo-san showed up, so again it turned into a drinking party as usual and we ended up at Ueo-sans house until about 9:30 pm.

The BBQ was great, they were cooking lamb, beef, pork, chicken, salmon, asparagus, cabbage, and peppers. Later at Ueo-sans house he made fresh noodles right in front of us. It was a long process, but well worth the wait, it was some of the best noodles I have ever eaten, we also had tempura sweet potatoes, gobo, which is a root vegetable, and some local wild vegetables collected in the mountains here. If something was ever to happen with food supply, we have all we need here that you can just find growing wild.

The cherry blossoms are starting to open and I need to get some pictures tomorrow, they only last about a week before they start falling off. People are stopping off from their sightseeing trips up the mountain to take pictures of the cherry blossoms here at the school. I was also told that another BBQ will be taking place on Monday.

Bad Weather

2008-04-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Koby and Yasuko was off to school at 8:00 am this morning, while Evan and I ate breakfast and got dressed, Evan is watching kids shows on TV and I am at the computer updating this journal.

Yasuko will be coming home early today at around 10:00 am, Koby has music and PE and art after lunch and will not need Yasuko. We have to go to the Post Office and exchange some more Traveler Checks, we still have to transfer our money in the bank in America to a bank here in Hokkaido, the exchange rate has went up a little from 96 yen to the dollar to 104 yen to the dollar, we need to get all of our money here before the dollar tanks. My friend Norman has already took all of his American money and exchanged it into Yen.

The weather is dreary again today, with dark clouds filling the sky and very windy. Out my window the Taisetsu mountain range is obscured by clouds. After we got back from running errands, Yasuko decided to go to the school and check on Koby, she came back shortly after leaving. The rest of the day was spent doing not much of nothing because of the weather.

Neighborly Visits

2008-04-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

We all slept late today, waking up at 8:30 am, the kids had cereal for breakfast and Yasuko and I had coffee and toast. The kids went outside to play. The weather is cloudy and windy with the sun trying to peek through, the temperature feels to be about high 40's low 50's.. not too bad.

Maskawa-san our neighbor stopped by and told us that her oldest daughter Yu (10) is away with her Dad in Otaru, which is about a 3 hour drive from here, and will not be back until Tuesday, she thought she was going to be off of work, but was unexpectedly called in, and asked if we could keep an eye on Ibuki (8) and Mu (6), she will not get home until 9:30 pm. They live in the other half of the duplex we live in.

We took them and our kids to the natural spring nearby and collected some fresh water, the water in our tap is good also, but you get the metallic taste sometimes because of the pipes, but the spring water is so good, and is great to make rice and coffee with. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the nearby river, and the mountains were just beautiful, of course I forgot my camera again, but we live only 5 minutes away so I will go back to take some pictures. We need to buy a bigger container to hold more water, right now we are using 2 liter drink containers that we have emptied.

After lunch we took a trip into town and made sure the other neighbors knew about Ibuki and Mu, we went to a combination dollar store, grocery store and clothes store and book store, it is in a 3 story building, one stop shopping at it's finest. It was raining when we got finished and the wind is blowing like crazy.

We got back around 7:00 pm, and called our neighbor Fujita who is going to help us with our Internet connection, they came over and talked over coffee while the kids played with legos, apparently the second terminal adapter is also very old, and we cannot find drivers for it, so it looks like we are going to have to shell out the $100 to buy a new one, Oh Well, we sure gave it a good shot to try and get on for Free.

In another week is the Japanese Holiday "Golden Week" and we are going to go with Fujita -san on a picnic with both family's to a park where the kids can have fun and the adults can have fun also. Fujita-san is also going to take us to an electronic store where we can buy a new terminal adapter, so the Internet is going to have to wait another couple of weeks.

The Fujita family went home at 9:00 pm and we quickly had dinner and got the kids into bed, it was a late night for all of us.

Car Finally

2008-04-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

We were up at 8:00 am to get the kids ready and breakfast done. The car dealer will be here at 10:00 am to pick us up to go get our car. Today was also recycle garbage pick up, so Yasuko and myself walked to the corner to take the plastic bottles, general plastics, aluminum cans, and cardboard to the pickup area, while the kids stayed at home and got ready.

The weather is much better today, with clear blue skies and the sun shining, although the temperature feels like it is in the high 50's right now. It will get warmer as the sun gets high in the sky.

Today is exactly one month that we have been in Hokkaido and we are all loving it, I can't imagine any other place I would rather live, it is absolutely beautiful here and safe.

The car dealer was right on time, the Japanese tend to be very punctual, we left to go to Asahikawa with me at the wheel all of the way there, on the way we stopped at a ice cream shop and was treated to soft serve Hokkaido famous ice cream by the man that sold us the car, he also bought us some grilled pork on a stick, what service for buying a used car that only costs $2000 dollars.

After we did all of the paperwork he led us to our Buddhist church in Asahikawa. When we lived in Houston, the closest one was in San Antonio, and we only made it there once, now we will be able to go frequently since it is so close. After the church visit we went to Snowman's (Norman) classroom and used his Internet connection to check email and to update my Blog and try and find drivers for our terminal adapter we have so we can get Internet access. Ikuko his wife came home, while Norman and the kids were at the park, we all talked a little while and Norman came back about 15 minutes later.

After we visited for a bit, Yasuko the kids and myself went and ate Sushi. We headed back home before it started getting dark so I could see to drive our first time alone trying to find our way back home. We made it back with no problems whatsoever, and even decided to try to come back a back way through the mountains, and had no mis-turns at all. It is pretty easy to drive here if I can remember to stay on the left side of the road and that my blinker is on the right side of the steering wheel instead of the left.

It is supposed to get in the high 20's tonight, a nice little cool night, and tomorrow it is supposed to be rainy. Finally we are mobile Yipee!

Flower Planting

2008-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off to school at the normal time today, the kids are going to be planting flowers all around the school today at about 10:00 am, so Evan and myself are going to go outside and watch and help if we can.

After breakfast we walked outside, it is very cold today, probably around the mid 40's, and we just thought it was going to stay warm ha ha. We helped plant flowers and I took some pictures of the kids planting flowers, afterwards they let us take some home, in which I put in my garden.

We are still deciding what we are going to have in our garden, so far we are thinking potatoes, green onions, hot peppers, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, maybe asparagus, we still have until June to decide. I hurt my back yesterday in the garden and have been taking it easy today, probably pulled a muscle, it should be ok in a few days.

When we were watching the kids plant flowers, one of the ladies that was helping asked if we had bicycles, and I told her we all had them except Evan, and she said that she had an extra one for him. Now we all will have bikes, but Yasuko needs a mountain bike, the one she has is not very good for riding off road.

Yasuko came home at lunch time and doesn't need to go back today, Koby has Art, Music, and PE left to do, he really only needs her for Japanese, Math, Science and Social Studies. We are going to walk over to get our vegetables around 4:30 pm this afternoon.

We walked over to the gas station to inquire about getting some more kerosene in our tank, they said we should be ok for another 2 weeks, we don't want to fill it up because we don't know how long we will be in this house.

At 415 we walked over to Fujita-sans house to get some more vegetables, we went straight to the greenhouse and picked what we needed, we came home with red radishes, white radishes, turnips with the greens, spinach, Chinese cabbage, and other assorted leafy vegetables. It sure helps not to have to buy any vegetables at the store, so our grocery shopping is mainly bread, milk, eggs, and fish. We stayed and talked while the kids played, and walked home as it was getting dark.

Busy Phone Day

2008-04-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off to school at the usual time this morning, Koby usually goes about 7:50 to 8:00 so he has time to play with the other kids until school starts at 8:15, Yasuko usually leaves around 8:10. Evan slept late today waking up at 8:45, I guess he was tired from last night.

Evan ate cereal for breakfast and I had an egg and toast and coffee. The weather today is a little cooler than it has been lately, and is overcast. Only 2-3 more days until we have a car, It will be nice to be mobile, where we live, a car is a must, unlike Tokyo where a car is not needed. We are the last village and group of houses before the mountains, so I guess you can say we are the farthest village from the city, although it is only a 20 minute car ride away. We have the best of both worlds, country living, and not to far from the city if we need it. In fact we are even closer to the city, than we were when we lived in Houston, although here there is nothing in between except farm lands.

Our phone rang so many times today, I had called a local English school to inquire about a job, and they called me back requesting that I send my resume, they only hire part time, but it is a way to get some teaching experience. Also the lady who Koby and I are going to take a Japanese class from called, then my friend Norman called. A neighbor called telling us to come by tomorrow to pick up some more Free vegetables. And then I got a call from a guy I contacted off of MySpace over 2 years ago that lives in Asahikawa, the thing that totally floored me is that he lives in the very same building that Norman lives in, how big of a coincidence is that?

We also got a call from the car dealer saying that we will be able to get our car on Saturday. Yipee, finally getting some wheels.

Neighborly Fun

2008-04-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off to school at 8:00 am, Evan was watching kids shows, and I got up late at 8:30 am, and fixed breakfast for Evan and myself. After eating Evan changed his clothes and went outside to play, it is kind of boring for him because all of the kids are in school, and the ones his age go to daycare close by, Evan wants to go to the daycare also, but we cannot pay for it right now especially since I can watch him for free.

Once I start working then maybe he can attend, it is only $60 a month, compare that to the $100 a week in America. I don't know what the day will turn out like, the only thing I have planned is to work in the garden some more, spreading fertilizer and getting the ground ready for planting in about a month.

Masani-san said he had a small green house to donate to me, that will be awesome because it will allow me to extend the growing season here with the long winters. We were told that one of the teachers from Koby's school that just left had left as bike for him in their storage shed, so Yasuko and I walked over there to check it out. It was a almost new boys bike with a basket on the front lights and a bike lock, we are so lucky to get this bike for him. He was very happy after school and did his homework fast and went to ride it for a while, him and I took a little ride towards the mountain, and then to the river.

We were invited to dinner with the family that shares our duplex, it was grilled meat and salad and fried potatoes. We brought some red wine and some plum wine both which had been given to us as gifts from Masani-san. It was a great dinner and the kids had fun playing with the three kids that live there. They are Yu-chan (10), Ibuki-kun (8), and Mu-chan (6). There Mom is divorced and works from noon until about 9:30 pm at a local resort hotel.

When we made the 6 steps to our house, the kids were already in their pajamas and brushed their teeth and went to bed, Yasuko and myself followed not too far behind them.

Another Busy Day

2008-04-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby left for school this morning and Evan had already ate cereal as I got out of bed. I made a egg, ham and cheese omelet and toast for breakfast.

The local PTA guy Yoshitake-san who has been helping us to get a car came by and said that the car dealer would be here at 10:00am, so after I ate breakfast I walked over to the school to get Yasuko. Everybody showed up on time as usual and Yasuko sat down and did the paperwork that was required to buy the car, we also paid for the car. So either the 26th or 27th we will have a car finally.

While Yasuko was talking with the car dealer, I hung up a curtain rod for our living room window, so we can finally take down the blanket that was held up with thumb tacks. Yasuko has to go back to the school after lunch, and I am going to go also so I can check email and other Internet stuff, hopefully we will get Internet access very soon also, we are just waiting for the software for the modem that we have.

I was able to check email at Koby's school today and had over 200 messages to sift through, when Koby came home, he did his homework and then a lady who is going to be giving Koby and myself Japanese lessons came over to talk about when and where we should do the lessons, we are still undecided if our classes will be together because Japanese for kids and Japanese for adults is a little different in how you say words, even though we are pretty much at the same level, the lessons are only $3 a week for a one and a half hour class that happens once a week.

After the meeting I worked in the garden to be a little while, and then played a few rounds of park golf with Kitayama grandpa. Yasuko has Yoga tonight, so I will be getting dinner ready and the kids prepared for bedtime.

Business

2008-04-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today we have to go to town hall and register my Inkan (Japanese rubber stamp) so that we can start on the process of purchasing a car. As we were walking out to go catch the bus, a local town dignitary was here to till the land next to our house that the school uses for a garden, so he did mine also which saved me probably 3 weeks of work.

We left on the bus shortly afterwards and went to the town hall. After we got our business done, we stopped by the post office and then walked around Higashi Kagura a little. We stopped by the grocery store and got a few things before it was time to catch the bus back home.

When I got back home I spread my garden dirt into rows, but later was told that here in Hokkaido where it doesn't rain much that it was not good to do that, so tomorrow I will go flatten it back out.

I played park golf today with a elderly man who lives right across from us, park golf is like a cross between croquet, regular golf, and miniature golf, it was real fun and I look forward to doing it again.

Tonight Yasuko has a town meeting and I am going to stay home with the kids and get them ready for bed. Yasuko has to go at 7:00pm and should be home around 10:00pm, they are going to discuss the housing problem here in Shibinai, our living accommodations are still up in the air after 6 months from now, but I am not worried, the boss of this town announced to the people here in Shibinai that have empty houses (there are about 5) to please consider renting to us in 6 months.

Gardening

2008-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

We were all up early and the kids were quick to get dressed after breakfast and get out and play with the other kids. I worked on the spot that is going to be our garden, I was told that another person that used to live in this house had a garden in the same spot, so the soil should be good. I have just been tilling up the hard ground, and removing the rocks, the soil here is very rocky.

Norman arrived right on time and we chatted for a while. Ueo-san came over and wanted to fix the brakes on the bikes that were given to us. Norman had a chance to get to know Ueo-san a little. After the bikes were fixed, Norman used my bike and I used Koby to take a ride to the Chubetsu river, we threw sticks in and watched them go over the water fall and also skipped rocks, one of the local neighborhood kids Ibuki-kun followed us.

After we got back we chatted some more and drank some ice tea. Norman brought an extra DVD player he had for us to use for as long as we needed it, we hooked it up and got everything to working. Shortly after that Norman left and I worked on the garden until dark.

Country Living

2008-04-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

We all woke up about 8:00 am this morning and had breakfast, Yasuko's friend was supposed to come over today with her family and visit, but her husband had to work so they canceled, she asked Yasuko if she wanted to go into town with her, but unfortunately there is not enough room for all of us, so we stayed home.

I can't wait until we get a car, so we wont have to depend on others for simple things like the grocery store, it would also be nice to explore the local towns, but that will have to wait for now.

The weather is very nice and warm, it was short sleeve shirts during the day yesterday and looks like it will be the same today.

I gave my English teaching friend Norman a call and asked if he could come out and visit tomorrow, and he said he would be here around 1:00 pm. The rest of the day was spent playing with the local neighborhood kids.

Playing With The Kids

2008-04-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today Yasuko and Koby were off to school at 8:05am and Evan and myself had breakfast of egg and cheese omelet and toast. Evan and I are going to take the bus into town today and walk around and bring back a few groceries. The bus is free for Evan and only costs 100 yen ($1) for me, it is the same one Koby rode the other day into town, but Koby costs 50 yen (50 cents).

Evan and myself had fun in town, the first thing we did was go to the playground, but I think all of the things that were there were a little too big for Evan's age, he was scared to get on most of the things there. After the playground we walked around a little while and just explored until Evan started complaining that he was tired.

We went to a local temple and rested on the benches and enjoyed the view from the top of a hill. After that we went to the library for a bit, since our bust didn't leave to go back home for an hour. Evan and myself looked for Waldo in one of the wheres Waldo books. When it was 40 minutes until the bus left, we went to the grocery store and bought a few things that we needed. We arrived at the bust stop with about 15 minutes left until the bus came, so we drank some grape juice while we waited. On the ride back Evan fell asleep, as he usually does when he rides in a vehicle.

When we arrived home Yasuko was already home, but had to go back for about an hour, Koby gets out of school at 2:15 pm today to start his weekend. After Koby came home from school, him and about 4 others went to Ian's House to play, I stayed around the house and played with all of the neighborhood kids.

I also took a long bike ride up a pretty steep hill to the next town with one of the 1st graders here at the Shibinai school, we went to where the local daycare was and found all of the parents waiting for their kids to get finished cleaning. We stopped and talked for a while, with the parents including the boys parents that rode bikes with me. We went back after about 30 minutes, boy was my legs tired, after that I played ball with Koby and all of the other kids until dark, talk about getting some exercise.....Whew!

Enjoying Shibinai

2008-04-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby left for school about 8:00am, Koby had to take his bike today because they have a bicycle and general safety class with Sumi-san the local policeman. Evan and I had breakfast and I got him cleaned up and dressed, and he just went out to play.

Yasuko said that Koby's class should be outside today looking for bugs, for science class. I think I will go outside and see if I can see them. Evan and myself just returned from the playground at the school, Koby learned pedestrian safety and how to cross the street, and also bicycle safety and crossing the street with a bike, after that they had a short time to play for recess.

When they were done, Evan and myself came home, Yasuko returned home shortly afterwards and didn't have to go back for the rest of the day. A neighbor Ueo-san came over and asked if I would like to ride with him into Asahikawa today, he is planning on opening his own Sushi and Tempura restaurant and was meeting with the carpenter and real estate agent and also getting measurements of the entire restaurant, It was a fun ride and I got to see some things that I have not seen before.

Ueo-san showed me a ski resort that he goes to in the Winter, it is one of the cheaper ski places and costs $16 for a 11 time lift ticket. The reason it is cheaper is because the mountain is not that tall, the larger ones are more expensive, like $60 for a one day lift ticket, not to mention ski rental if you don't have your own. We also stopped at a grocery store on the way back, I just got a drink and Ueo-san bought beer and clams. When we arrive home in the Evening he gave me one of the packages of clams, and we had them for dinner, they were real good. I am going to help Ueo-san another day move some stuff to his new restaurant, he will need to do some fixing on the building but I think he is going to get a good price on the rent.

The rest of the day was spent playing with the kids and talking to the neighbors.

Awesome Day

2008-04-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby was off to school at 8:00am this morning, I got up and said by to them and watched TV until Evan woke up. I fixed Evan breakfast of cereal, cheese bread and an apple, while I had coffee an apple and cheese bread also.

Koby gets out of school early today. Yasuko should be home at lunch, while Koby will be home around 1:00pm. It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day today, although it's a bit hazier out compared to yesterdays clear blue skies. Koby is having trouble with Japanese class, so Yasuko talked to the teacher and asked if he could attend the first grade Japanese class, so he could start from the beginning, they all agreed, including Koby that it would be a good idea. Other than Japanese he is doing well with all of the other subjects, he really enjoys this school.

Yesterday the class got to go outside and walk around the town using a map for social study class. Yasuko came home around lunchtime, and Koby gets out of school at 1:15pm. When Koby came home he immediately got out his new bike and started riding it, we need to get him a helmet, since the kids are required to have them. I decided to take the other bike out for an exploration towards the mountains. I rode for about 2 miles until the road started going up the mountain, that would be a hard climb so I took another road that went off to the left that was more flat.

On the way I saw a fox walking along the levy of the Chubetsu river, but he was about 75 yards away. I kept riding until the road ended at the Chubetsu River Dam, this Dam is huge, and I was disappointed that I didn't bring the camera, next time I will. I set and listened to the water for a short time then decided to come back riding along the levy this time. It was a bumpy ride but well worth it. On the way back I saw a KingFisher, and 3 Shikah Deer, which is a Japanese Deer that has a shorter snout than the whitetail deer I am accustomed to. The deer kind of startled me at first because I didn't know what they were when I first saw them moving.

Next I caught up with the fox I had saw earlier, the wind was blowing in both of our faces and he did not here me coming up behind him until I was right next to him. We were about 25 yards from each other, so I made a noise, and he looked at me and laid down and just looked. It was so beautiful, I am so lucky to live here.

When I arrived home Koby and I rode together down by the river and threw rocks and sticks in. He likes to watch the sticks go down the little water falls. When we came back, most of the neighborhood kids were going to take the bus into town and go to the library, Koby said he wanted to go, so me and Yasuko said it would be a good experience to go on a long trip without Mom and Dad into town. We felt OK doing this since there was about 10 kids in total, from 2nd graders to 6th graders, Yasuko gave Koby $4 to pay for the bus and get a snack. They all returned as it was getting dark. He said he had fun, the town he went to is the same place where we went to sign up for my ID card, it is a small city, but has crosswalks with lights at every corner, so is easy for the kids to cross and be safe.

Later on we got a telephone call from Ian's Mom, her last name is Brooks, and she said she had a present for us. When she arrived she gave us a terminal adapter that we needed for the Internet access, her brother is a computer technician and had one that he didn't need, so that save us about $100. Now we have to get the software for Yasuko's and my computer then we can get the Internet hooked up finally.

Beautiful Day

2008-04-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were up early to go to school, I got up at 9:00am and I woke up Evan at 9:30am, I made ham and cheese omelets and toast for breakfast, and then we went for a walk, I took off my hoodie a little ways into the walk and enjoyed the cool air in a short sleeve shirt, it is beautiful today, blue skies and not a cloud to be found.

Yasuko got home for lunch at 12:15 pm and took the clothes outside to dry, she has to go back at 1:30 pm. Evan and myself played with Legos until the kids got out of school, and then we all went out and played until dark, these Japanese kids love me here, probably because I play with them.

A neighbor gave us 2 bicycles that he no longer needed, we offered to pay, but he denied it, in Japan you have to pay to get rid of large items, so we are actually doing him a favor by taking them. One bike is a mountain bike perfect for me, and the other is a bike that is popular here that folds up, and will be just right for Koby. There is another neighbor that has a bike that he is wanting to get rid of that Yasuko can have, then we will all have bikes, except Evan, although Evan needs to practice more with training wheels.

Yasuko prepared dinner and then left to go to Yoga tonight. The boys and myself ate dinner and got ready for bed, so Yasuko would not have anything to do when she got home except eat.

Day Off

2008-04-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

All of the kids are out of school today since they had to attend yesterday. We had kids knocking on the door ready to play with Koby and Evan at 8:45am, so we all got up and ate breakfast.

Around lunchtime Fujita San's grandpa picked us up to take us into town, I have to pick up my foreigners ID card today, which all non Japanese residents must carry with them. It basically is like a National ID card (Green Card).

We did some banking and mailed some bills off. We also returned some library books and bought a few groceries. We ordered the inkan which is an official rubber stamp that Japanese use like Americans use their signature, I will need this to buy a car. It will be mailed to us in about a week. Not to much longer and we will finally have a car.

Internet is still not connected, we still need to buy a new terminal adapter, hopefully we can get it soon. Fujita san mom came over and talked with Yasuko for a bit, they are the same age so they have a lot in common. Koby's friend ate dinner with us and took a bath at our house, the kids thought it was fun, but it is very normal for community bathing here.

The weather is getting warmer and warmer, and the snow is almost all gone, you still need a light jacket during the day and a heavy jacket at night.

Parents Day

2008-04-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

Today is a special day at Koby's school, normally they have off on Saturday and Sunday, but today is the day for the parents to visit the school and sit in on a class to watch how the kids study. We also get to eat lunch with them and listen to a few speeches from the principle and PTA personnel.

Yasuko and Koby had to be there at the regular time 8:00am and Evan and myself will go there at 11:15am till about 3:00. After that a Welcome party is planned for the Hamel family which is scheduled to go on until about 8:00pm. Whew it has been a busy last couple of days. The day at school ended a little late, at about 3:45pm, the lunch was great, we had egg soup with vegetables, sauteed cabbage, white rice and a piece of boneless chicken breast fried. I normally don't eat chicken, but for Koby's sake, I finished all of my lunch and it was really tasty, much different than the American school lunch of hamburgers, pizza and hot dogs.

After the school meeting we had only about 20 minutes to rest before they were calling us to the community center for the party. The party turned out to be a welcoming for more than just us, but a couple of other families also. It seemed like almost the whole town was there, we had brownies, cake, cheese cake, jello, all types of candies, and Japanese snacks. We all introduced ourselves and said a little bit to everyone, I thanked everyone for being so kind to us and explained that I had never experienced a place where there was such a sense of community.

There were probably 30 or more kids running around playing. After it got a little late the men stuck around and started drinking draft beer, there was about 12 of us including Koby's principle, drinking talking, playing guitar and singing. I had a great time, and was glad to get to know everyone a little better. We got home about 9:30pm and went to bed shortly afterward.

Car Shopping

2008-04-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a dreary day, it is very cold today and has been snowing for about 5 hours, it is very small flakes but since it has been snowing for so long it is collecting in the trees and on the ground.

We had to take our garbage to the recycle center today. Here in Japan they are very strict on waste disposal. You have to separate plastics, metals and paper.

Our neighbor picked us up and took us into town to look at cars. We found one I think we are going to get. It is a Toyota starlet, 4 wheel drive for Hokkaido weather, 5 door and will not need an inspection for 2 years which is very expensive here (about $600) every 2 years. It is an old car, but the people who are selling it are very trustworthy and respected by citizens of Shibinai. It costs $2000 and should be a good car for a starter vehicle in Japan.

After I get a job and start bringing in some money we can get more selective on a newer vehicle. Hopefully in a couple of more weeks we will have it, there is a lot of paperwork that needs to be done before we can drive it home.

After lunch we are going to a rice planting ceremony which is a important event for this farming community. The rice planting ceremony turned into a late night party, we started just talking and drinking coffee while the kids (6 in total) played. It eventually turned into drinking beer and then eating dinner with the family of about 16 of us in total. It was a great time and the people are so kind. We got home late and went to bed soon afterwards.

Easy Days

2008-04-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby were off to school this morning while Evan and I ate breakfast. I cleaned the dishes while he was at the playground playing. After I finished I went to check on Evan and pushed him on the swing for awhile. After swinging we walked along the river for a bit and threw rocks and sticks in the water.

We saw our first snake today, I showed Evan and told him if he ever sees a snake to run away from it. I am not sure if it was a poisonous snake or not, but we just kept our distance, I came home to get the camera so I could take a picture of the snake, but by the time we went back it was gone.

After school I played with the neighborhood kids for a couple of hours. It was a cold day today and we came home to get warm. Ian came to our house to play with Koby today, they like to play the Nintendo DS game together (Pokemon). Yasuko chatted with Ian's mom for a while, she speaks English very well.

Later Yasuko went to the little store here in town to get some drinks, It amazes me at the honesty of the Japanese people in this town. The little store is connected to the owners house, and the owner was away, but the store was open, so you can walk in but no one is there to ring up your purchase. In America, there would be nothing left in the store if it was left unattended.

Loving Japan

2008-04-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 7:45am to say goodbye to Koby. Today at the breakfast table, he stretched and said "another good day of Japanese school", I am getting the feeling that he really likes it here. I mentioned last night "So are you ready to go back to Texas, in which he quickly responded NO".

I got the beds put up, and the clothes that had dried folded, nothing much else to do until lunch, maybe Evan and me will go for a walk in a little while. We found out that the Internet adapter that someone had gave us was too old and we would have to buy a newer model, I think they cost around $100.. Yikes! But if we want Internet access, then we have to get it.

Evan is watching kids shows on TV. Yasuko came home at lunch today and stayed home the rest of the day. Koby's remaining classes didn't require her to be there. After school Koby went to Ian's house (the boy who speaks English real well) he lives about a mile away and the boys walked there by themselves, It's nice to live in the country.

Yasuko, Evan and myself walked to the dairy to get some more milk, but the main guy was not there, so we wasn't able to get some. On the way back we were stopped by a neighbor who was going to the grocery store and asked if she could get anything for us, Yep Milk.

We all walked to Ian's house to get Koby and we talked with his grandma for awhile, while the boys tried to throw snowballs over the power lines. After arriving home, our neighbor brought us the milk and had also bought the boys some marshmallows.

For dinner we had fried shrimp, a type of green onion/garlic the neighbors gave us which is called "Nira", the potatoes we were given, and rice.

Chubetsu River

2008-04-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yasuko and Koby left for school today at 7:50am, while Evan and I had breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. After we got the clothes hung up to dry (dryers are a luxury here and most people hang things up to dry) we went for a walk near the Chubetsu river.

The big river is about a half mile walk away and is full of rainbow trout. No fishing license required here, the government is not like America, always trying to find a way to extract money from you at every given moment.

I am looking forward to learning how to fly fish. Free vegetables, Free Fish... What a great place to live. We listened to the nice sounds of the river flowing against the river rocks, and threw rocks into the water.

Yasuko came home for lunch and has to go back at 1:30pm, Evan and the neighbors girl are playing together, she is in first grade this year. Koby will get home around 3:00pm today.

After school Koby went to one of his classmates house to play, when Yasuko went to pick him up, she came back with 2 large bags filled with potatoes, cabbage, green onions, radishes, and fresh horseradish, straight out of the garden.

For dinner we had fried noodles with vegetables and gravy.

New School

2008-04-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Koby's first day of real school, he studied Japanese, and learned how to ride a unicycle. He had a great lunch of noodles in broth with vegetables, baked rice balls, broccoli and milk. At the end of the day the kids have to clean the school.

Mr Abe a policeman in Higashikawa stopped by today to see if we needed to go shopping. He speaks English very well after growing up near an American missionary and his family. He speaks English better than anyone I have met here so far.

Yasuko, Evan, Myself and Mr Abe went to the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store and bought all of the supplies that Koby will need for school.

It was a busy day, and we finished up with a dinner of salmon, greens, and fried rice with vegetables. Yasuko started Yoga class at 6:30pm and got home at 8:30pm

First Day of School

2008-04-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today was Koby's first day of school ceremony where he found out who his teacher would be. His teacher turned out to be a female and is the assistant principle. Koby had to get in front of the whole school and tell everyone his name.

In this school it has so few students that they combine 1&2 grade, 3&4 grade and 5&6 grade. Koby has (4) 3rd graders and (2) 4th graders for a total of 6 kids in his class.

He did good, and kind of just watched the other kids and followed their lead, it was a short day and basically only the first day ceremony and a lot of speeches.

Last Day of Vacation

2008-04-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day of school, All of the kids were outside playing today getting the most out of the last day of vacation.

We visited with the local policeman and his family today. Yasuko is becoming fast friends with all of the women of the town. Even though we don't know everyone here, everyone sure knows or has heard of us.

The only foreigners in town!

Feeling ill

2008-04-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

We got our phone installed today, now we will not feel so isolated. Yasuko was busy calling everyone and giving them our new telephone number, we also got our terminal adapter for the Internet service connected also, but still need to choose a provider before we can get online.

The weather is getting steadily warmer and the snow is melting fast. Snowman came over today and visited again, he brought me some books to read, including a couple learning to speak Japanese books, a novel and Conspiracy and UFO book, that will keep me busy for a while.

We drove about 10 minutes from here where there is a natural spring that ice cold water comes up from the ground. We collected (2) 2 liter bottles, the water tastes great, with no taste at all, just like water should. (no taste no smell), No chlorine, no fluoride and no heavy metals.

The kids and myself were sick at our stomachs today, but Yasuko was un-affected. Koby and Evan both threw up, while I went to bed early. It must have been something that we ate, but I cannot figure out what it could have been. We all felt better the next day.

Fox

2008-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

We borrowed a truck today to go get some groceries that we needed, it was my first time to drive in Japan in more than 12 years. I have to keep reminding myself left side, left side. Since we drive on the left side of the road here.

The kids stayed at a neighbors house and played with their kids, and ended up eating dinner with them also. We saw our first red fox crossing the road as we were coming back from the store, it looked like he had a hurt leg and was limping.

As far as bears, there are no worries, Mr. Ikeno was born and raised here and says he has only seen one his entire life and that was five years ago.

It was another beautiful day getting warmer and warmer.

Normal Schedules

2008-04-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day, we are finally into a normal sleep and waking schedule. The kids usually go to bed between 9:30 and 10pm and wake up between 7:30 and 8:00am, while Yasuko and I are in bed around 10:30pm and up at 7:00am.

Koby has to be at school at 8:00am so waking up at 7:00 will be plenty of time to get ready and make it to school. It helps when you can throw a rock and hit his school from our house.

Exercise

2008-04-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

The weather during the day is nice, no jacket needed but a long sleeved shirt is advised. The snow is melting fast and soon there will be none to see except on the mountain tops.

We are still working on getting Internet access and a vehicle. It is a very nice place here, but without a vehicle, you are kind of stuck to a very small area.

We went for a long walk up a mountain today, and got a great view of the town we live in. Stupid me forgot to bring the camera, but I will go back again and get some pictures.

Evan and Koby had a good time, but Evan's little legs get tired fast.

Higashikagura

2008-04-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

We learned today that there is a dairy right up the road from our house (walking distance) where we can buy fresh cow milk straight out of the cow. We can buy 2 liters for about $3 but we have to heat it up before we drink it to kill any germs there might be lurking in it. You have to remember this is straight out of the cow, not homogenized or pasteurized. So we pasteurize it ourself and then refrigerate it, the only drawback is it has to be used within a few days or it goes bad.

We had large snowflakes coming down today, but the weather is getting so warm that it is melting faster than it is sticking. Koby's school playground used to be covered with snow when we first got here, but now it is almost clear.

We took a bus into town today, it costs $3 for all of us. We visited the library and checked out some books for the kids, I looked through the very small english written section and got 2 of the thickest ones I could find. I will be able to read all of the english books in the library in about 3 months haha.