Hotel Le Mondo 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 ...

... and explanations of what this senior-dominated yet hilariously fun sport (can I call it that?) is all about.
The pictures I am showing you is just a walk I took during a work-day to scout out the town and get familiar with it. There's one restaurant (they make a *****in beef-curry), and the usual mix: police-box, town-hall, post-office/bank, and a whole wack of closely bunched together farms. I'm not really sure what else there is, but I found an abandoned watermill, and some ...

... the sun too long that day. There was no panic, but there was a lot of concern, and she was quickly brought back to consciousness and taken care of.
The whole thing was sort of ceremonial, where the principals had all the students form neat lines in front of our field, and addressed the families and the students and thanked them for coming and working hard. This sort of address happens all the time, for the Japanese are meticulously attentive to formality, something that has its ...

... br>A funny thing happened that night, in which the video explains everything. I repeat the caption: Beware "Linda Linda" when playing in Japan. Jesus....
Was a little tired the next day for what was to be my first successful experience with Hikkake, Japan's traditional river-fishing. This time, I met my vice-principal outside his house and we got changed at his place into wet suits. A few other things ...

... had before I arrived. The older road as about 40 minutes longer, and almost as scary. In contrast, this road offers some beautiful views. In a later entry (maybe today), I'll include the videos of me attempting to navigate safely through them.
A beautiful area, Toyone and Tomiyama. The next entry on Tomiyama will be well worth the visit, as this is probably the most beautiful place I've seen in Japan thus far. I almost can't wait for Fall, if it wouldn't get so cold.

... 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 ...

... of water-washing before you enter the shrines/temples. Once you do this, you approach the temple or shrine, pay a minimum of 10-yen into a small deposit box, ring the bell attached to by rope (if applicable) to wake the spirits up, clap twice or three times (to also wake their lazy butts up), and think or mumble a few words of prayer after bowing with your hands in prayer. Bow again, and leave.
The festival that night was amazing. It's hard to believe where all the money came from to ...

... the rate these balls fall. anyways, I'm no Ojisan (grandpa), and I don't have money nor time to waste perfecting it, so having that under my belt of experiences I left b4 things got ugly. The man who helped me looked very disappointed.
The rest of that evening was spent on a short bike-ride around town. I didn't go as far as I've gone more recently, due to the murky weather. but some of the shots I took give you an idea of the area close to my vicinity.

... Badly! I`ll definitely be returning to Nagano later in the year when the snow arrives, as Yusuke said that he`d give me some snowboarding lessons, so I`m looking forward to that... In the meantime, I embarked on a seven hour train journey down to Hamamatsu, where I was to stay with the lovely Yumi for a couple of nights. It had been well over two months since I last saw her, so it was great to meet her again at the train station, and she immediately drove me to ...

... skin, brown eyes, similar height. They even dress the same! (most of the time on purpose) I'd never thought of the concept of people-watching in other countries. Cali is definitely cool for that - everyone looks/acts/dresses really different. Well, mostly different. Not the barbie dolls or frat boys that are rampant in SB.. Anyways, i'm curious if people watching is really that odd here. I'll have to survey and get back to you. And go to bed. it's super late. Oyasumi!