People arrived about 12:00 and while the Turkey was cooking, everyone headed outside to play some football. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast! It felt so cool to be playing football in the middle of rural Japan!

Thanksgiving:

Mike was kind enough to host a fabulous Thanksgiving party. Thanks so much, Mike! Mike found a place that had turkeys in one of the bigger towns in our area and although people rarely use conventional ovens here in Japan, Mike was lucky enough to have a microwave/convection oven. People pitched in and we had all the fixings of a great meal. The only thing we couldn’t find was StoveTop Stuffing. But otherwise, we had mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, salad, rolls, yams, and pumpkin pie. I was highly impressed at the quality of food and how “down home” it felt. You know when you’re camping out in the woods, and you’ve had a long day of exploring and you get back and make a simple meal that just tastes SO GOOD because you’re out in the woods? Well Thanksgiving dinner was like that- it just tasted so good because we were 7,000 miles away from home on a little island out in the sea… I was very Thankful indeed.

Here's Andy, fresh off the viking ship, Okagstad. The night before he pulled an all nighter with Leif Erikson and their buddy, Kroll.

Jenny knows blondes have waaaay more fun!

Michelle- is this what "Dumb blondes" look like? Thanks a lot.

Here's Chris, birthday boy. Spinal Tap stunt double.

Even the waiter got in on the wig action!

By the end of the night we had all tried on the wig, and we all dreamed of a wig party sometime in the months to come. The next time I had talked to Chris and Laura they had confirmed that they were now the proud owners of a pair of wigs. Let the tradition begin. Look out Sendai, and look out Japan!

Above: Laura Monroe

Chris, of Laura and Chris, my Sendai amigos had a birthday last month… wait… no it was October! Man how time flies! Anyway, we had a great dinner and then did some bowling and karaoke-it was a fun night and it felt good to give CP some warmth and love. He deserves it! Just for fun, and since it was around Halloween, I picked up a super cheap wig at Loft, a popular dept store which is a lot like Ikea. Immediately after putting it on in the station the Japanese people around us were smiling and staring. People who HADN’T seen me put it on were floored and there was even one guy who stood not 6 feet from me and stared until I gave him the snake-eye and he left… slowly backing away… staring, staring. They thought it was my real hair. With such a reaction I decided to wear the wig all night, and holey goldilocks Batman was it hilarious to see everyone staring at me! Some tried to disguise it but it was just too obvious, others outright laughed as I walked by, and a surprising number of people stared in ENVY! Here are some pics:

The main part of our journey had passed but before heading home, we decided to walk along a river trail that was known for it’s beauty, and as a top spot for catching the koyou (leaf-watching) season. We were a couple weeks late for the brilliant leaf colors in this northern part of Japan, but there was still some color on the branches, and of course, the river was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Oregon.

Here's a great view from the top. Mike and I made friends with a pair of Ravens who frequent the place to see what scraps the hikers left. I made friends with one of these guys and threw some food at its feet. I have always thought Ravens to be curious and fascinating creatures!

It doesn’t look like much of a mountain, but it was a longer and steeper hike than I thought it would be. When I’m at the bottom, I’m always thinking I can just run up little mountains like this. It’s only when I’m about halfway up that I truly understand the scale and just how small I am. Silly American. Supposedly Hakkoda-san is THE top spot for powder skiing in Aomori Prefecture, but you need a guide to access the back country because they don’t avalanche bomb and I hear it’s very easy to get lost.

Here’s the ryokan in full view. The peak in the distance is called Hakkoda-san. We spent about 3 hrs climbing up and 2.5 down. It was a beautiful day. Above are some pics from that hike.

These rooms only have a small table, that’s it. In the closet you’ll always find the bedding: futons, pillows, and thick, fluffy comforters. There were 4 futons, so mike and I doubled up and slept like kings.

The unique thing about this particular inn was its onsen. This onsen is nicknamed “The 1,000 person onsen” because of its immensity. Obviously no cameras are allowed inside, but basically it had 2 very large rectangular soaking tubs filled with hot mineral water. This water was a beautiful teal green- opaque with minerals after only a few inches. Have you ever seen pictures of high glacier lakes, well that’s what this water looked like, only it was piping hot. There were two features that made this onsen my favorite yet. One was how old it was: Mike said the inn was built around 300 years ago, and the intricate wood of the place definitely made it feel that way. The whole place was old, grey wood, up to the doors, walls, windows, slats on the floor… it really had a neat, ancient feel. The other features were the onsen waterfalls. Maybe 20 feet up on one of the walls were 8 thick bamboo tubes spaced maybe 4 or 5 feet apart. Out of each tube poured a powerful thick, hot stream of this same healing onsen water. With the added gravity the effect was incredible: a virtual water massage. You could stand or sit underneath one of the streams for as long as your heart desired. I saw a few Japanese men on all fours, moving so that the stream would massage their calves, back, and shoulders. Placing your courtesy towel over your head and closing your eyes you were transported into another time and place, mind drifting into a time of samurais and feudal lords. The best thing was that the onsen was open all night for the guests of the inn and Mike and I took full advantage of this. There was even a women only hour every morning from 8 to 9. It was truly a spectacular place. The picture attached is the inn’s claim to fame that 1,000 people could actually fit in the onsen, but Mike and I guessed it could really hold more like 300.

Aomori:
Mike’s a super cool, outoorsy ALT in the onsen town to the south called Naruko (see past onsen post). We play hoops every Wednesday now and so we’ve been getting to know each other a bit better. We had a 3 day holiday one weekend so decided to take a trip to the northern most prefecture on the Honshu island… Aomori. Like virually all of Japan, Aomori is very mountainous, and for Mike and I, this provided the perfect environment to do some exploring and have some fun. Mike checked the map and picked one of Japan’s many mountains to climb. We headed north on the Tohoku Expressway on Friday after work. I drove this time and it felt great to be able to get the car up to US speeds once again! Or, “Open ‘er up!” as my Gresham friends say. Mike checked the Japan guide and found that there was an incredible ryokan, or, Japanese Inn just at the base of Hakkoda-san, the peak we picked to climb. Sukayu Inn was incredible! Even though it doesn’t look it in the pictures, it was huge and spacious inside, with ancient hardwood floors worn smooth by bare feet and regular cleaning. The rooms were small, but nice spaces with tatami floors. The fall temps brought a chill to the air and the rooms were crisp upon entering. But the small gas heater in the corner of the room brought the temp up to 80 degrees or so in a matter of minutes, and the warmth also brings out the sweet, dry tatami mat smell, which, to me, is the quintessential “Japan” aroma.

These rooms only have a small table, that’s it. In the closet you’ll always find the bedding: futons, pillows, and thick, fluffy comforters. There were 4 futons, so mike and I doubled up and slept like kings.

Much has happened since my last update. Here’s some pics and text to give you a recap:

Sorry it’s been so long everybody! As you can see, I grew my hair out a bit. For the past few weeks I’ve been incredibly busy. I have judo on Mondays and Fridays, and on Wednesdays I play hoops. For the last month I’ve been teaching an adult English course on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9 PM and that has taken a lot of preparation. These classes end this week. I think I’m going to quit judo because the lang barrier is making it too difficult to learn, and I found a gym not too far away that will get me in better shape. I feel bad quitting, but alas, I need get back in to shape to feel healthy and the gym will help me accomplish that better. As a result of me quitting judo and the eikaiwa (adult English) class ending, I will have time once again to update my blog. With that said, let’s get started!