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Friday, October 24, 2008

The most active 24 hours EVER!

These wonderful people, Ken and Raiko, took me into their home for a little more than 24 hours.  All I can say is, WOW!  
I was on a wild ride around Iida.  
The hospitality of the Japanese people is indescribable.
Thank you Ken and Raiko!

We visited Raiko's parents' house.  They have an apple orchard.  

Then off on a "leisurely" walk to the temple.  The path was beautiful.  
You could hear the water from the river near by.

These statues were all along the path. 
We made it to the Temple.  The Temple is not locked.  
According to Ken, even the worst thieves would not steal from the Temple.

We then headed to an orchid garden.  I felt like I was in Florida.  
It was a huge greenhouse with fountains, ponds, and all sorts of plants.
A puppet museum
This is the floor of a 100 year old schoolhouse.
Chrysanthemums..

Iida High School Rugby Game
Ken is a teacher at Iida Senior High.  
This was their semi-final game.  They won 54-10!!
Ken and Raiko's wonderful family.

Sushi in a bird cage.  This was the first course to a 7 course meal.

Raiko is very crafty, so she was teaching me a complicated beading activity.
She speaks very little English, but  I thought we did well together.
Gondola ride in the rain to the top of a mountain, above the clouds.

I tried to eat everything put in front of me but I couldn't eat this fish.  
The skewer is going through the tongue!
Tea Ceremony #2
Lion Dance Celebration in Downtown Iida.
Our dinner for JFMF.  Very nice.

We literally crashed a Japanese party because they had Karoke.
We sang Sweet Child of Mine from GnR and YMCA.  
Everyone was yelling and cheering for us.  We are so cool!
This is Jessica calling me a Loser from across the room.
Thanks Jessica!




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Monica, Kevin.
I hope this works. Ive been trying to leave a message for a couple of weeks now and it never works...Now that I said that it will work. If so, Love the pics and I hope you are staying safe in Japan. Chinese, Japanese, Dirty knees...LOOK AT THESE! YES...YES...YES

The Sants said...

She will be so excited!! And did you get my comment about the ones you posted the picture of. Kenyan loves those!! If you have any extra room could you bring a couple boxes of those! We'll pay you back!

Anonymous said...

Monica,
I don't think I would have eaten that fish either!! Some things are just too hard to get past the old brain! Looks like you continue to have a wonderful time. I'm still very jealous!
Colleen

James Sheehan said...

Ask my mom when you get back about how people do steal from the Temples.. Seems when I lived there as a child I would take the fruit they were making offering with. They all freaked out when it was missing.