School in Japan

Notes on going to school in Japan:

1.  we've been practicing how to write Kanji: の本がお買得 (we love Japan). 

2.  math is harder in Japan, like multiplying decimals.  

3.  we made tea in Home Economics.

4.  in gym class we've been learning how to ride a unicycle (here we are practicing in at the apartment-- that's Yukie riding with Nevin):

Every day we walk to school with our friends (and neighbors) Yukie, Yuu, and Aki.  Athletic suits are very popular in Kobe so of course we wanted to get our own...

Goodbye Grandpa

To our beloved Grandpa
We will miss you...

Van Harrison, April 16, 1921-May 10, 2011
Pearl Harbor Survivor, great father, a decent and honest man

A Night Visitor

Tonight this moth appeared at our door.  His wing span was 5 inches!  Here he landed on a lamp

Golden Week

Golden Week is a collection of 4 national holidays--Showa Day (honoring former Emperor Showa), Constitution Day, Greenery Day (dedicated to environment and nature) and Children's Day.  We decided to spend one of our vacation days in Nara, an ancient city near Kyoto that celebrated its 1300th anniversary last year.  The shrines and deities guarding the temples (left), monumental Buddha statues (below) and beautiful grounds are incomparable.

Hanging out with the Bresnihan family kids (Isiah and Michelle) in Nara

In Nara the deer come up and eat from your hand and let you pet them.  We took a lot of pictures:

  

During Golden Week we also visited Chinatown.  Here's one of the manhole covers we found:

In another part of Kobe we attended a festival and had lunch with one of our dad's colleagues: Yoko Matsuda.  Here's a float from the festival and the shoes worn by men who pushed it and a detail on the float: