Erikku papa

Dad's gone back home today after his 11 day trip...it was a good time. Here's the short list of the dids...
-Karaoke and snack bar and local izakaya with local drunks and rice farmers
-fresh sushi...and by fresh i mean still alive
-brought dad to school for show-and-tell
-something like 10 onsens, including a trip up into the far reaches of Akiyamago with Lopaka
-A day in Obuse in Nagano
-hit Nikko (i love that place) complete with fancy ryokan
-dinner with yuko's family
-Tokyo for a couple days, hit Asakusa, Shibuya at night and got tickets to Kabuki theater
-a day in peaceful Kamakura (I really like that place a lot!) with Yuko too
Those were the highlights. Pics to come later.
Ely shows up on Thursday to Tokyo for some kind of Golden Week craziness! Yowza! Yooppeee!

random pics from February and March!

my students love me

Hina Matsuri dolls

An entire ski area was lit up with candles in Nakasato for the local festival. I ate rabbit there.

at the Kashiwazaki fish market

There's a little baby named Gouta down there somewhere

this is sushi

Extra green beer, extra gross beer for St. Patty's

Emura Sensei, my favorite principal, retiring

The English ladies of Minami Junior High. Ms. Kawase is moving on WAAAHHH

Junichi and Hiroko, green booger monster enthusiasts

Katsu's last night in Japan at Karaoke

Sending Katsu off to Canada, at Narita airport in Tokyo. Katsu ganbarre!

Mom at the snow fest

Mom chilling with the oyojis

Mom and a big snow monkey

Cutest green tea serving kimono girl EVER

Snow tea ceremony

tea ceremony

The sisters out in the cold

Tokamachi snow fest main stage. The top row are all my girl students dancing in Kimono, from Minami

mom rockin' the snow tunnel

The champion of the snow sculptures

snow ikebana

Me and a monkey

monkey 1 and monkey 2, baby monkey

Mom and a monkey

Susie and the leaning monkey

Clean, warm monkeys

At the kimono factory

Mom 1, Aunt Susie 0

more random pics

kampai at the ryokan

Ryokan in Shiozawa

mum skiing with Nozawa town behind

mom in the fog, weirdest skiing conditions ever

at Yuzawa station

Mom teaching at Minami!

mom doing Indigo dye workshop

My students are happy!

at Nonaka shogakko, tiny elementary in the mountains

Doggie diaper!