Hotel Green Plaza Hamanako Hamamatsu

I finally understand where the expression "like rabbits" comes from.

Now before any of you 'jump the gun' on where I'm going with this, I just wanted to clarify that it doesn't involve me and animals, although I do feel pretty bad with the way I left them.

Just another day at Tomiyama, playing Kinball with some of the locals in the area (since they talked me ...

... to the secretary waiting on us (only 30 mins instead of an hour late). I felt terrible, but I was happy I brought Business cards, at least I had something to give them. I left the meeting early because they all realized how pointless it was for me trying to understand them. If only they included pictures in their memos....
Well, once you arrive in Tomiyama, however, you can see why the trip was worth it. The town overlooks a wide chasm between the lake in these parts. The ...

This took place about a month ago, so I'm going to do my best to recollect this and finally finish my entries for August.
I was rather tired for the event that day because I think I spent the night before with Derek, probably sampling some sake. But I made it on time, and ready to spend a Saturday (for which I was reimbursed with the following Monday off) taking part in the community activity of cleaning our school.
First off, I think this is one of the greatest accomplishments ...

... vegetables from their garden, and of course, freshly BBQd Ayu. I turned down an offer to go again this weekend, mainly because I was out of town and just exhausted. But this man's house is amazing: it's at least 100 years old, made completely of wood, and smelled great. He lives with his parents, wife, and kids (most whom have taken off for university already, I think).
All in all, an amazing time.

... but coming back is scary).
What is interesting about this day, and probably one of the main reasons why I got out of the house, was because I woke up earlier that morning, around 5AM, to what I thought was a vibrating bed. Well, the bed was vibrating, but so was everything else. Because I had been lying in bed for about 30 minutes drifting in and out, I was wide awake when the place started shaking. It was a weird kind of shake. Like there was no regularity with which ...

... we ended our tour. It was odd, since Derek had mentioned how he runs into someone he knows every time he comes into Toyohashi or Nagoya, and less than 5 minutes later, we run into Andrew and his lovely wife Julie. I've been wanting to meet this couple for quite some time, since I've heard of all the work they put into organizing musical events for us Rural buck-toothed ALTs. They were everything and more than what I expected (if you know Andrew and Julie, you'll know what I ...

... Armed with our fishing-pole, a scuba-mask and swimming trunks, we cast went in with left and rights hooks, coming out with nothing but a large minnow (that Derek caught).
Sadly, the only fish I caught that day was stuck in one of the nets. I didn't have the Japanese (nor the heart) to tell my gym teacher that I cheated. I'm sure he knew anyways, but I'd never know that he did. Once you'd exhaust a location by catching them all, being unsuccesful in finding their hiding places between all ...

... draw me maps indicating different landmarks, but the best was the one gas station where this grubby looking mechanic gave me a huge handful of "maple candies". They were just caramel (a Canadian could tell the diff), but they were delicious and appreciated nonetheless. I didn't eat for another hour. Eventually I found the grocery store, and some cool farmer's market that had some deep-fried potato nugget things (called after the French Croquette), bought a bunch of ...

... with optimism...you couldn`t see it! Likewise when we stopped at a service station on the way, I was surprised when Yumi pointed to where it was...it had disappeared! Actually I wasn`t too despondant because I`d seen it on the train journey down, and I`ll probably go and stay near it for a few days before I leave Japan... Cloudy skies apart, we had a great day beginning with a trip to some lovely waterfalls, with Yumi making fun of the number of waterfall photographs I ...

... myself hauling things around and reaching high things in the back room, so I didn't bother to shave. Yes, I DO shave. I don't grow much aside from the goatee, but I do get pretty scraggly after a week or two. It's not sexy-stubbly, it's more like "you've got dirt on your... oh, wait, that's hair." Welp, I show up and the first thing that I'm asked to do (by various ladies at the church) is to stand at the door and greet people with "Ohayo gozaimasu" (Good morning) and "arigato ...