Shizuoka Town Hotel

... had baths with views of Mount Fuji- oh yea, we managed to get one of the 100/365 days when you can get a clear view of the Fuje- but it also had a proper outdoor bit with a bubbly spa pool, hot lake pool, ceramic bathtub pool and bamboo bath pool- spoilt for choice really and absolutely gorgeous after a long day hiking! We also got their taster dinner one ...

... by the crowds we were whooshed out after grabbing a few fingerfuls of peanut butter and a few sips of sports drink. Then it was on to the hut where you can buy beer but we settled for something in a can that had been placed in boiling water and was called Royal Milk Tea. That was the beginning of the end of the agony. We passed the can between us like a hot potato and eventually opened it. It was a surprisingly good drink – sweet but not syrupy with ...

... copias de las fotos ("my precious"). Al cabo de un rato, me entere que se estaba jugando la final de Wimbledon con Federer y Roddick, asi que me puse la tele. El ultimo set acabo 15 juegos a 14. Este set fue Interminable. Gano Federer, mi favorito. Roddick ni se quito la gorra para recoger su bandeja de segundon. Estos americanos...

Al dia siguiente habia que subir Fuji y ya era tarde, asi que me fui a dormir.

... meter deep cave but only 400 meters is open to the public. There were lots of neat things to look at in the cave. A small turtle waterfall, a rock formation that looked like an alligator, a mirror pond and a 30 meter waterfall were just a few of the things to look at! There was also a coooooold spring that you could put your feet in to relax them. I would have but I wore sneakers that day and didn't bring anything to dry my feet with.

After the cave we ...

... habia fuegos artificiales en el Lago Kawaguchi, para celebrar el comienzo de la temporada de escalada del Monte Fuji, asi que nos fuimos para alla.

Por el camino compramos pasteles de arroz para cenar y nos dimos una vuelta por el lago. Me recordo al Lake District en Inglaterra. Habia muchos botes de recreo y patines en forma de pato, para adentrarse al lago. Nosotras nos sentamos en un banquito a la orilla, cenamos y nos pusimos a disfrutar de las vistas, hasta que nos dimos ...

... cake that had been dipped in soy sauce and then grilled. It was pretty tasty although not what we were initially expecting.

After that we went to the Sengen Shrine which was very peaceful. On the way in Mickey told us that deer were very important and brought the message of God. However we all thought she had said ...

... of busy stuff. A friend named Derrek has been the major help in this move and arranged for me to stay with some guys he works with. They had a spare room and let me stay until i found somewhere to live. Zach is Australian and is from Tasmania, Corey is American and from Philly, and Shingo is Japanese and believe it or not he's from Japan. These 3 dudes are way cool and chilling with them while i found a place was so much ...

... holiday, but as a couples holiday- think more Valentine's Dayish. It is common for young men in Japan, for example, to book hotel rooms up to 6 months prior to Christmas with the hope that they will have a date to spend the holiday with there. Another unusual part of Christmas here is the Japanese-created tradition of the "Christmas Cake." This cake is a special cake that apparently the Japanese ...

"I mean, I've played Rock, Paper, Scissors before as a kid, but it was never a binding contract!" - a fellow ALT So I eat lunch every day with a different class in my school- I rotate around to all the classrooms. (There is no school cafeteria; students eat in their individual classrooms. Select students are chosen as monitors and they go down to the kitchen, pick up the appropriate amount of food, bring it up to their classroom, and serve ...

... food?" What instrument can I play?") And I placed the answers on cards that were posted on the walls around the room. I probably should have explained what a "scavenger hunt" was exactly... because when I collected and reviewed the papers, about 30% of the kids answered the question "What is my name?" with- "Your name is Carrie Scavenger."- I guess this is what they assumed from the title of the activity as written on their page. Anyhow, after the ...