Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Halloween

This is our house at Halloween. I have never seen such a celebration!! We passed out more that 1500 peices of candy. Our entire street was packed with Halloweeners. We had the Ison's (moved to Tokyo from Atlanta, but "from" Seattle") and the Cohen's (from Baltimore, Maryland) come over to our house and enjoy the fun. We all had chili and sat on our balcony watching the crowds, with our Monster Mash Mix blarring, and the kids handing out the candy...what could be better??

This is not downtown Tokyo's night life. This is from our front balcony looking onto the street! Quite an neighborhood event....
I have never seen a Halloween Celebration like this one before!!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Tara-Grace's Birthday


Happy 5th Birthday Tara Grace!! For her birthday Tara Grace wanted to eat sushi. We went to one of these conveyor belt places. In the center the "chefs" made the sushi. Whenever we saw something that looked interesting, we just pulled it off the moving belt and began to enjoy. It was fun!!
A better view of the sushi conveyor belt.

Taiko Drumming Show....I am up there on stage in the back...it was really fun.. This was a class I took done through the Tokyo American Club (TAC). It is a three day class about living in Tokyo.

In Japan....EVERYONE is soo clean. This is a lady I saw (very common sight everywhere) on my way from dropping Tara Grace off at school. They sweep and wash the sidewalks in front of the houses and shops each morning.
Regular traffic--yes it is crowded!!!!!!!!!!!!






Thursday, October 4, 2007

Cabin in Nagano - Continued


Cloe, Jacob and Nathan Frazier out on the lake...
Some of our new Tokyo friends...Erika Treharn, her son Sam, on the left of Aaron and Jacob and on the right is Amie Frazier holding another friends' baby.
Snuggle-y in our cabin. This was the upstairs loft...

Cabin in Nagano

Finally at our destination.... Clorisa and Tara Grace in front of our Cabin...it has no heat! We decided next year we would bring a space heater...
It was too dry to have a real fire so we made due with a little bucket fire. Here is Preston, Cloe and Tara Grace enjoying a little warmth.
Our cabin was right by the lake...it was so nice!
We went on a hike
And found this shrine...

More Castle pics

This picture, because Aaron kept hitting his head..
Posing inside the castle:Clorisa, Tara Grace, Wendy, Preston and Jacob

Matsumoto Castle pictures

Before going into the castle, in traditional Japanese style, we all had to take off our shoes...!!
From the bridge outside the castle. I love the red bridges.

Cabin out of Town (Mt Fuji and Matsumoto Castle)

After a couple of months of crowds and city life, we had to see some nature and beauty. We went camping with several of our neighbors. They go every year. This is a photo of Mt. Fugi from the car. AWWW I felt like I could breath again!!!

This is a stop at a gas station/rest area. We got some Japanese snacks and stretched our legs
Matsumoto Jo~ our first Japanese Castle...It looks like we will continue our castle viewing in Asia

Tokyo Trains

This is our local train station...It is called Yoyogi Uehara. We SUPPOSEDLY live "out" a bit?? We have a Tokyo address, but it is in a more "residential area."
The people getting on the train....or I should say squeezing on the train.
Here the guy is actually maneuvering the people and the doors because of how crowded it is. I have only personally been on a train this crowded once. I thought I was just going to laugh out loud. It is so crowded you are literal full body pressed against the next person. When people get on and off they just "politely" push others out of the way. It is unbelievible SILENT on the trains normally. So me holding my breath to not laugh at the akwardness of it all makes more sence maybe?? I don't think if I live here 100 years that I would ever stop being in awe of how crowded and squished the trains can be....and it is just normal and fine.........
I wish you could tell in this picture how smashed the people are on this train....crazy!!! That man on the left, his face is pressed up against the window door....not for the claustrophobic!!!