In which Sarah gets her exercise

This weekend gave me a little reprieve from the rain. The week ended on an amazing note. I was on fire in school! All my lesson went great and the kids were full of giggles and enthusiasm and we all had a great time, even the teachers had fun! And, I got invited to a tea ceremony with the my sixth year class this Saturday! Awesome! So after my amazing day, I met up with some friends in Fujiyoshida for the onsen. We had the nicest evening weather and it was just cool enough to enjoy the hot out door bath and we could see Fuji through the trees. Man this is the life! So after the onsen, we decided to head back to Otsuki for Indian curry but on the way I had to stop to see the amazing sunset over the volcano!

Alright so when does the exercise began you may be wondering after a lovely evening or hot springs and dinner with friends. Well the next day dawned beautiful and not wanting to risk missing out on the sun, Rhee and I hit the mountains in Otsuki. The area is known for it's gorgeous hikes, and did not disappoint. It took a while to find the trail head but eventually we parked by a shrine and went exploring. The path followed a river that was more of a waterfall in the way it fell over the rocks in a series of pools, and almost the entire walk was in the shade of the trees with a cool breeze off the water. It was perfect. We hiked to one peak that was 800 meters high and then crossed the ridge to a second one at 980 meters. It was hard work but very rewarding. The hike back down was really steep and we definitely felt it later but it was so well worth it!

 

After our amazing hike, we had to go back to my place and shower because we were disgusting and sweaty and dirty and even a little bloody lol. Then it was out for dinner with Tommy san who surprised us by taking us to a temple where his friend lived. His firned was a monk and invited us into his temple to have tea with his wife and show us around. It was so hospitable and beautiful I was nearly moved to tears. He took us right into the main hall where we got to see the shrine (which in a buddhist temple is only opened on special days) and he let us cross the threshold because it was a special day. When pressed to answer what special day it was he replied that it was because he had foreign guests. SO HONOURED!!!! I actually believed it was because of a holiday or something I can't believe how he let us in like that. I wish I had pictures but I didn't take my camera and it was almost so special I didn't want to see it through a viewfinder I wanted to experience it with my own eyes. After we had green tea overlooking the temples gardens while Tommy san translated what he told us of the temple. It was lovely! Dinner was almost as good! We went to an Italian place for pizza and amazing dessert!

The next day was off to Yamanashi city for the English teacher's undokai, which is sports day for crazy gaijin (foreigners!)! It was just as crazy as it sounds! I was team red and we wiped the ground with the other teams! Had a super fun time but I'll let the pics do the talking!

Needless to say, it was a great weekend but I woke up bitterly sore on Monday... Oh well, it was worth it. Next weekend is the tea ceremony and a search for fireflies!