The weekend come and gone

Another glorious weekend in Himeji come and gone.  We have been so busy getting situated at school that we have not been on to many adventures until this weekend.  Saturday afternoon Audrey and I went Yukata shopping.  A Yukata is a summer kimono that is made out of cotton so that it isnt quite as hot.  Audrey found a beautiful one that she absolutely loves and we will post pictures of her wearing it as soon as we figure out how to tie the belt correclty.  Then we headed to the grocery store and stocked up on food for this next week as well as a mystery lunch box.  We like to buy ready made meals that look tasty and then find out what they are when we sit down to eat them.  Saturdays turned out to be quite oishii (delicious).  After we got home we showered and went to a little "Baptist"church around the corner from our house.  The sign said that there was an English service at 7:00 on Saturday nights so we were pretty excited to check it out and meet some of the locals.  Well that wasnt quite the case.  The service was lead by a German man that has lived here in Himeji for 17 years and a deacon that comes down from Osaka.  Audrey and I just so happened to be the ony ones there that night and from the sounds of it, if we return next week we will be the only ones there again!  It was a beautiful little church and the service was beautiful and the pastor shared a great message but it was much different that what we are accustomed to at the Bridge.   The service seemed to have quite the catholic influence as there was a lot of call and response... "peace be with you" "and also with you" stuff.  There were also Gregorian chant parts and we sang songs in different languages (definitely not English or Japanese), we took communion at the end, all drank out of the same cup and were surprised that it was not grape juice.  Over all it was a great experience, just not quite what we were expecting.  After church we pulled up a table between a couple of pews and had "snacks and a chat."  It was very enjoyable as the pastor and deacon are beautiful people and we had a nice time talking with them for awhile.  By the time we left it was after 9:00 and we still had not eaten dinner because we were hoping to meet some new friends and go get some food after church.  Since that didn't happen quite as expected we decided to cruise downtown to see what was open.  After about 30 minutes of searching we decided that we would rather eat at home than the 24 hour McDonalds so we headed back, ate and went to bed.  On Sunday we decided that we would go the the Gardens outside of the Castle.  We were in for about 10 minutes before the skies opened up and and it stated to downpour Himeji style.  It was so fantastic as the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and since us Arizona folk don't get to see as much rain as we would like we soaked it up (literally).  After it rained for a little bit the skies cleared up, the sun came out and we were able to finish walking through the garden in all of its splendor!  The pictures just don't do it justice.  Just imagine looking at this beautiful patch of nature, hearing the waterfall, smelling the rain and flowers, it was breathtaking.  We are also told that we should visit the garden every season because of the way the flowers and trees change throughout the year.  After walking around the garden for a couple of hours we went to a park where we played frisbee with some friends that went to the garden with us.  So, all in all it was a wonderful weekend.  The city of Himeji and its people are absolutely beautiful and we feel so blessed to have this opportunity.  The honesty and integrity of these people is pretty amazing.  Everyone tells us how safe it is here and how little crime there is but I am bound and determined to put them to the test.  Last weekend we went to the Miyuki-dori and I had our digital camera in the front basket of my bike and when we parked I locked up my bike and left the camera sitting in the basket... in the middle of the busiest shopping area in the city.  About two hours later I saw something that I wanted to take a picture of and realized that I didnt have the camera and that it was still in the basket in my bike... WELL CRAP!!!  So as we are briskly walking back to where we parked I am thinking about where we could buy a new camera, what kind of camera we should get, how big of an idiot I am for leaving it... you get the point.  All of the knowledge I had to draw on from living in Mesa and spending time in South Phoenix lead me to believe that our camera would have been pawned by time we got back to our bikes!  When we finally got to our bikes we were pleasantly surprised that is was still sitting there right where I had left it.  At least that day I locked up my bike though.  The next Wednesday when Audrey and I went to teach at the University I locked up my bike... and left the key sitting in the lock.  WELL CRAP!!!!  Unfortunately, I realized just as class was starting.  So for the next hour and a half I was wondering if I was going to be walking home that night.  Then to make matters worse, I looked out the window and it was pouring rain!  After class ended I ran out (in the rain) to find my bike still sitting there with the key still dangling in the lock.  God bless people with morals... 

Yellow bamboo...

A path through one of the gardens

Audrey loves the roof tiles...

And this yellow tree:)

Rain in the garden

The happy couple under a natural canopy of branches

Another picture of tiles

A stream...

The view when you first walk in

More trees!?

Audrey loved the pink blossoms on the tree

Waterfall

Us feeling blessed to have this experience together

My favorite picture... you would never guess we are in the middle of the city!