Tsukasa View Hotel Matsuyama

... together and ended up all taking the stairs the last bit up, which, by this time, was not easy.<br><br>Finally at the top of the second highest point, Misen at 1974m, we all stopped for some much needed rest and food. Interestingly enough, right up on the top at 1974m, there was a temple, an inn and a restaurant. Very strange.<br><br>Despite the chains being ice cold, nearly vertical and quite high, you felt relatively secure, nestled in against the cliff, surrounded ...

... There was also a stand that sold the most amazing fried chicken ever!<br><br>Another interesting point ( though once again not conducive of sleeping ) was that one of these giant shrines was being built right below our balcony. It should be mentioned that they also drum constantly the entire time the shrine is at home in the makeshift garage they built for it.<br><br>Anyway, despite all the noise and lack of sleep it was a very enjoyable weekend.<br>

So many things to tell, and so little time!<br><br>My first week of teaching in Hojo has been very very busy, and very interesting. I have come home everyday too tired to even check email (so sorry for lack of communication, guys!). That being said, I am hoping to become used to the teaching routine and get my energy ...

When leaving Edmonton, I decided it was finally time to retire my 15 year old norco bush pilot. I left it unlocked in the bike rack at my apartment the day I moved out and hopefully by now someone is getting deteriorated black rubber handle grip all over their hands and cursing at the stuck pedal. Or maybe they have already gotten sick of it and thrown it in the river valley.<br><br>Anyway, in Japan everyone rides bikes. Go to any train ...

... we were a group of twelve we got our own boat!<br><br>We all met up in the afternoon at the Matsuyama JR ( JR stands for Japan Railways if you hadn't guessed ) Station and caught a train to Ozu, a really old city with many many historic buildings. We plan to return in the day sometime and explore the city a little better.<br><br>Once in Ozu, we had to walk, quite a long ways to the meeting place and then again to river where our boat was. We hopped on the boat and we were ...

... For once luck was in my favour. Everything went beautifully. The JAL staff were very friendly and helpful and I was on the plane in no time.<br><br>The JAL planes were very cool! They had a control console on the armrest like most planes, but this one came out and was like a remote control. But wait, there's more! If you flip it over it is a phone and there is even a slot in the side for your credit card. Then on your personal seat-back LCD monitor, you can select ...

... to "help" a little, each student coming up one at a time to scoop out a handful of pumpkin "guts" (new vocab word for the kids ;-D). We saved the biggest ones for the older classes, and somehow I ended up with the gigantic one on my table to carve for my fives! My kids were super-impressed (though I was a little worried :-P), and they voted to give it a scary face. In the end, it was definitely the most spectacular ...

... out, we ate fast and moved onto the sand next to a restaurant. It was there that we sat and watched the fireworks. The fireworks were the longest and most impressive that I've seen. Better than Uwajima and bigger. They went on for 40 mins, and had some neat fireworks that I've never seen before. The Pikachu, Anpanman, and Hello Kitty ones were the most amazing, and some of the biggest ones filled up the entire sky.

... to our table with his beer and we resumed talking about stuff. Five minutes later, she sat down right next to Glen and started talking to both of us. I was a little surprised at this, but she was friendly and I didn't object to meeting someone new, so we all talked and drank for a while. After 20 mins of talking, Ashleigh, who was sitting at a different table right next to us leans over and asked me something. I answered back and talked to Ashleigh for ...

... practice this, and since they're 5 years old, they have better discipline than American 10 year olds. It's amazing to see them during assemblies, and she says classes are so well-behaved. In other employment news, I spoke with my "future" boss from the English Academy. I have an interview with her on Tuesday to secure the job in June. She also wants to meet me face-to-face to talk about some other options regarding part-time work once I'm done with Aiko in May. Wish me luck!