1st 6 months part 8

The first snow. Just like Nebraska, people can't drive during the first snow. Also, it doesn't appear to be a requirement to shovel sidewalks. It's actually quite a relief to know that you are responsible for yourself and not others. If you walk in the snow and fall, it's your fault. Maybe it seems cruel but I love the responsibility. It actually carries over to almost everything, for example, bars are not required to close until they choose, as far as I can tell. The one exception, is that Pachinko parlors must close at 11pm. Just look at the snow... Also, if you see this first, try starting at part one. It is pretty much in chronological order. There is more to come soon.

1st 6 months part 7

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has a mascot in Japan. Unfortunately, I only have a few examples, but once visiting Japan you will soon realize that this is true, even comical. Just like Disneyland, which is one reason it may be so popular in Japan.

1st 6 months part 6

More Tokyo...

1st 6 months part 5

Tokyo continued... My first visit to Tokyo was too short and even though we skipped around town I felt like I saw less than 1% of the city. 

1st 6 months part 4

Tokyo was great but extremely crowded. I will be going back at the end of December and hopefully will continue to fall in love and see more of the city. I used to think that I could convince people to visit me in Hirosaki(which you should because it's beautiful and calm) and was considering copying Andrew's offer of buying dinner for my first visitor, Rie you don't count but I bought you dinner anyway. However, I soon realized that Hirosaki is like Maine in the USA, nobody in Japan ever comes here. I don't think anyone realizes how nice it is. So, if you come to Japan I promise that I will meet you in Tokyo and show you around. You will love it, unless you are claustrophobic and you have the patience to wait in line.

1st 6 months part 3

Mount Iwaki...It's about 30 minutes from Hirosaki and is a great place to go fro hiking. It's quite beautiful even on a cloudy and foggy day. In fact, it is easy to see why people once believed there was a dragon living in the mountain. Soon, many of the mountains will be covered with snow in which I will be snowboarding.

1st 6 months part 2

Neputa...This is only a brief view of what really happened, there were some 70+ neputas, or floats(except they aren't floats). There is also some discrepancy as to who has the largest taiko drum in Japan. I was told that this one is, however, I have heard contradictions from people who are not from Hirosaki. Needless to say it is large!

1st 6 months part 1

First of all, to all my friends and family who have waited to hear from me or learn about life in Japan, I am sorry for the wait. In my defense, I have to say that I didn't have internet until late October. I went 5 months without internet and it was nice, however I am sure my parents wished they had heard from me more. 

The first question you may ask yourself(and my FAQ will be what I think you wonder, maybe not what you really care about) is Japan better than the USA? I can't definitively say yes, but many things are better and I'm sure many things are worse. At the moment, I am still in love, and as they say, "love is blind." Even the things that have bothered me I tend to look at more optimistically than other foreigners do.  Most of the things people see as faults in Japan, I see as faults in me. Not being able to use ATMs 24/7 seems like a burden but it's actually quite refreshing.  So I will begin with a few pictures and short descriptions and if you have questions feel free to ask. However, if you want to ask about my work you will have to send me an email as I cannot talk about my job in a public blog.

Enjoy...