Boxes Arrived

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.