It's my anniversary!

Nabe Party!

Last night some co-workers and I had a nabe party. Nabe is a one-pot dish that's popular in Japan in the winter. It's boiled vegetables, meat, and other stuff cooked in a pot at a table with everyone gathered round to keep warm and help cook. My favorite is sukiyaki, which has a sweet soy sauce flavor. I love nabe!

An adventure not too far from home.

Today I had the day of off work because of Culture Day and I went on a little adventure with Kathi, a really cool woman from church. We are both beach people, so we decided to head toward the ocean, and made a few leisurely stops for photos along the way.

Winter is coming, which means a much clearer view of Mt. Fuji (the summer is usually too hazy to see it).

This view of Fuji-san is from Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport, a new airport that was just completed this summer. And since it seems that people in Japan love any opportunity for touristy-type things, the airport today was filled with tourists. Just tourists. No travelers. People anxious to see the new attraction, even if it is just an airport...

...like these people admiring the view of Fuji-san from the observation deck. Although, I guess I don't have much room to talk, since I was also at the airport today with no intention of flying anywhere, just to see what the new airport looked like. Sigh.

One of those, "Yep, I'm definitely living in Japan" moments...

Me (pointing at a small cooler on the floor in front of a student): "What's that?"
Student: "It's a pig's tongue. For dinner tonight."

Yep. He works as a meat inspector and apparently, the tongue was a "gift" from his co-workers.
Maybe his co-workers don't like him very much. Or maybe I'm just a foreigner living in Japan.

Birthday Party!

On Sunday I celebrated my 24th year on earth with a party. I decided to have it at the Ale House, an English pub-like bar that one of our students owns. Lots of friends, co-workers, and student came and it was a good time.

me and my co-workers in from of the Ale House

Not only was the party great, but I got some wonderful presents, too, like some beautiful chopsticks, Mameshiba memorabilia, gloves and some homemade scones (from the Ale House - I always order a scone when I go there).

It was great celebrating my birthday in Japan with the incredible people I've met and befriended over the past year!

Halloween Party!

After work on Saturday we had a Halloween party for school - and of course, it was a costume party. The teachers all dressed up (I was a black cat) and we brought different little costumes for the students to wear if they didn't have their own. It was such a good time and there were plenty of photo opportunities!

me and Yu, one of my co-teachers (dressed as a girl and wearing all my clothes)

Noriko (representing Michigan as Grant Hill), me and Aya (a famous character from Japanese comics)

Random Festival in Fujieda - Sunday.

The festival continued today - I heard it as I rode my bike home from church. Apparently it made its way throughout Fujieda, because I ran into it again when I went grocery shopping this evening.