Firefly squid, a once in a lifetime thing -kinda like Mt. Fuji

Sounded fun at the time, but getting up at 1:30 is not something I'd make a habit of. On Tuesday K, Johnny, Chika and I packed in the Chika's car and drove to Namerikawa to catch a glimpse at the firefly squid that come to the surface to lay their eggs at this time of year. We boarded a boat that took us out to where the fisherman were taking in their catch and watched as they pulled in thousands of glowing squid about the size of a man's thumb. It was fun, but I would have rather been in bed...

Early birds.


See the blue glow? No?


Too early for breakfast!!

Wedding fun in Kanazawa

Last weekend 11 of us boarded a bus to Kanazawa and helped our friend Yuko celebrate her wedding. It's not very often you see all of us so spiffed up so it was a real treat for everyone to spend the day in our Sunday best.



K and I looking fab!!



Naomi and Mihoko waiting for the bride.



Hanging out before the second party.



K and I with the bride.



Nothing but love.



Lee and I taking one for the team.
(thanks for the pic K)


The bus ride home.

Tulip tragedy

It's tulip season in Nyuzen - the bulbs are harvested and sold but the flowers are just picked and tossed into the fields for compost.

They still make for a nice pic in the setting sun.

Counting Down Again

I'm going home in 3 weeks, can hardly wait even though it will only be for 3 days. The best part about weddings is that you can see so many people all at one time!

Cherry Blossom Fun

Pictures of Deslyn

She's perfect! Congrats again to Thip and Lambert!

More Easter Fun

The Easter weekend was pretty miserable in terms of weather...we tried to enjoy the cherry blossoms near Funagawa -had a potluck picnic near the river, but it quickly turned to rain, so we ran to the nearest public bath for a soak and then went to my soon-to-be apartment for some easter coloring fun!

I had boiled eggs and brought dye not knowing whether or not anyone would like to join me -I have yet to miss a year of egg coloring. But once the dyes were out, the creative minds of Toyama shone through. I had only prepared 10 eggs, thinking I would have do color most of them myself, but I think we could have had fun had there been more!

Fav Aunt in Toyama

Makin' okonomiyaki





Enjoying tea in my adult English class

Sumo dinner

Unazuki foot hotspring

The big Buddha in Takaoka

Tea ceremony at Chika-chan's

Easter Class!

This is the third year I've don't an Easter lesson for my friend in Kamiichi town. She runs private English Conversation Classes from her home on the weekends and often asks me to come and do special holiday classes with her. Here are some photos from this year.

The posts are coming, I promise

In the mean time:

A belated Happy Birthday to my Grandmother. She turned 80 this year and it sounds like I missed out on a great party.

Congratulations to Thip and Lambert on the birth of their baby girl Deslyn, I will post pics as soon as I get permission.

And also congratulations to my friend Yuko on her marriage. The wedding was yesterday in Kanazawa - details and photos to come.