Sorry it has been so long since we updated this thing! June was a very busy month as we were constantly on the go and trying to spend as much time with our before we head back to the US of A. We cant begin to tell you how much we are going to miss these beautiful people and amazing country. Here is a rundown or some of the highlights!
Hotaru shoshite Kaeru (Fireflies and Frogs)
For a couple of weeks in June the fireflies come out. Its the thing to do just before the rainy season so many of our friends wanted to take us to some of the best spots for viewing. I had never seen a firefly before so I was pretty excited to see what these things are all about. I was definitely not disappointed as they were so beautiful. I am in awe of how living creatures glow the way that they do. One of our friends daughter has a net and we had a blast trying to catch them. I really felt like a kid again. Out in the country side there were miles and miles of rice fields too. In these rice fields there are millions of frogs and they make so much noise. So we had to check them out also. As you can see in one of the pictures, I caught one. After catching it a couple of our friends wanted to play paper rock scissors to see who had to kiss it. Japanese people are the masters of paper rock scissors so I didn't stand a chance. Needless to say that frog got the thrill of a lifetime that night and my wife refused to kiss me until I washed my mouth and brushed my teeth.
Bowling Bonanza
We also had the treat of bowling with the Yamane's. Takako taught English with Audrey at Kotogaoka and her husband Michihiro teaches math at Himeji High School with me. We had a wonderful afternoon of bowling and Sushi with our good friends. I have to brag, I did come out victorious but I was also the only one not to bowl a strike in either of the games that we played.
Kotogaoka High School Sports Day
Audrey's school also had sports day this month. She had a great time spending time with the kids and cheering them on. For those of you who don't know, Audrey is an amazing dancer. She has a passion for it was so excited to choreograph a dance for some of her students for the dance contest. She was so proud when they won first place. Its going to be hard for Audrey to leave this school as she built some very strong relationships with her students.
Shogai BBQ
Some of my Shogai students wanted to have a BBQ for us before we left. It just so happened one of my students lived on a beautiful piece of land out in the country side that was the perfect setting for such an event. They had huge BBQ pits and we ate everything from hot dogs to octopus, steak to squid... it was awesome! The best part was spend time with my wonderful students... Oh how I will miss them.
Fathers Day Celebration at HBC
Our church had a picnic for fathers day, and whats a fathers day picnic without sports. They love their soccer over here in Japan so we played for a good 2 and a half hours. Lets just say my face was about as red as my shirt after a long hot day in the sun, but it was totally worth it. Again, we are so blessed to have made such wonderful friends who have made us feel so loved and welcome in their country.
Himeji High Schools Culture Festival
My school also had our culture festival this month. My ESS students learned a couple of songs in English and performed them on stage for the whole school. The sang "Wake up" by Hilary Duff and "Country Road" by John Denver. I had no idea how big John Denver is over here but everyone knew the words. Audrey also came down to my school and helped choreograph a dance to the Hilary Duff song and my ESS girls were just giddy about it. Each class also made and sold different foods from around the world so we were well fed during this two day festival. I also got a chance to see many of my students who had graduated last year and it was nice to catch up with them. Overall it was a great weekend that left me wishing we did something like this back in America.
