Goodbyes!

August

August is the month of Goodbyes as the American teachers contracts are finished and if they choose to only stay one year it is time for them to leave Japan. This month I had to say goodbye to two wonderful girls Sianna and Jane. I only knew them for a year but I will miss them and am looking forward to seeing them again in the future!

Jane at her goodbye dinner


Sianna and I

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA! 2009

15th August

It was Emily and Kimi's birthday so we had a party for them at our apartment building but it was a toga party - the first time I have ever been to one! It was a great night and after we changed out of our togas we went to Tropicana for some dancing!

The cakes - Kimi loves Sex and the City and Emily loves The Little Mermaid!


Kyosuke and I


Kimi and Emily


The girls - Rachel, Emily and I


Nipple boys - Pat and Kyosuke


Emily, Rachel, Sianna and I


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Summer Sonic!!

7th August

It was a hot summer's day when we headed to Osaka with plenty of suncream, water and tickets to Summer Sonic! Summer Sonic is a huge 3 day music festival similar to the Big Day Out with a huge range of performers. I only bought a ticket for the Friday because Beyonce and Ne-Yo were playing! It was a great day and Beyonce is possibly the best performer I have ever seen!

Solange - Beyonce's sister


Rachel and I with our tornado potatoes!


Beyonce water :-)


The shade area


Jane, Rachel, Me and Emily enjoying the festival


Lady Gaga


Ne-Yo was amazing!


Beyonce was amazing!


Beyonce in the audience!

A day trip to Kyoto!

3rd August

Today I headed to Kyoto for a day trip by myself to see some new sights! It was a really hot day but I went to the Heian shrine which I have been to before but I visited the garden which was new for me. It was a hot summers day but the garden was cool and shady and at times it felt like I was the only one there. I then went to Yasaka shrine and wandered the backstreets behind it before doing some shopping. I love days like this in Japan where you can hop on a train for an hour and a half and see new things in a whole different city!

The huge torii leading to the Heian shrine


Heian shrine


The garden


Beautiful lotus flowers


Me in the garden


View across the pond


Yasaka shrine

Summer Festival in Himeji!

2nd August

Every summer there is a 3 day festival in Himeji for the castle. There is a parade, many dances and lanterns. This year I saw parts of the festival but there was also a dance music festival on at the castle at the same time which is where I spent most of my time. It is a really nice time of year - the days are hot but it is nice to go into the city at night and it is just bustling and so much is going on. And of course there is festival food - yum!

The parade - shakuhachi players


A shrine in the parade


This is the festival mascot - it is the castle - so cute!


Me, Rachel and Emily at the music festival enjoying shaved ice!


This guy was doing all sorts of cool moves with the wooden instrument and then he took his shirt off . . . Rachel commented that she liked his tattoos and he then proceeded to show us that they also went down his thigh - yes he was a yakuza (Japanese mafia!)!!


Lanterns lining the main street


The castle and the DJ tent at the music festival - there were even laser beams pointed at the castle!

Food!! Glorious Food!! July

July

Once again I have eaten many delicious and some strange foods this month!

Richard taught us how to make tortillas!


I made these banana cakes for the 4th of July beach party


Rachel's homemade apple pie


American dogs!


Boiled eel with ginger which we made as part of our cooking lesson


Lettuce, tofu and fried chirimentaiko (small whole fish) which we made as part of our cooking lesson


Fried burdock and carrot


Our meal we made in our cooking lesson


Fried chicken in a box from a vending machine!


Yakinikku (grilled meat and vegetables) at my teachers house


Yakinikku


Passionfruit flavoured alcohol!

Summer days at the beach!

31st July

We spent another wonderful day at the beach this month. A small group of us went to Matsue Kaigan beach for an afternoon of relaxing, swimming and eating delicious food! I love my summer holidays!

The beach - beautiful blue skies and amazing friends!


My Hello Kitty floatie's maiden voyage! So cute!


The girls and I at the beach


Our little set up on the beach

Shikama Hanabi Festival!

25th July

Every summer there are fireworks festivals all around Japan. People usually wear their summer kimonos (yukatas) and go and enjoy the fireworks while eating festival food! This year I only went to one festival - the Shikama Hanabi Matsuri with Kyosuke and his friends. All the girls including me wore our yukatas and watched the beautiful fireworks over the port.

Food stalls


Fireworks!


Kyosuke and I at the fireworks!


More fireworks!


Kyosuke, Makoto and I


Stephanie, Megumi and I in our Yukatas!