The last weekend before Canada

The end of rainy season greeted the first long weekend in a long time. Saturday was still a bit dreary but braving the potential for rain I ventured back to the Izu peninsula with Chelsea, Sheena and Ken in tow to go visit the waterfalls and play at the beach. The morning was a long affair featuring traffic, mochi strawberries and shouts of joy every time the sun peaked through the clouds. But eventually, we finally broke free of the rush hour and took the windy highway through brilliant green hills, around this loopty loop bridge that corkscrewed us down to the valley below and the seven waterfalls. They were as beautiful as last time, perhaps more so because there was so much water from rainy season and we didn't have to sneak to the famous one with the dancer because it was closed last time Rhee and I went due to a typhoon. Had a play along the river side, and then headed on to the beach praying for sun.

 

Perhaps, it wasn't completely sunny at the beach, but it didn't rain and being at the beach was enjoyable enough for me! The water was lovely but a bit too cold for my American friends not used to cool waters like Canada, all and all we just frolicked about in the waves. Then Chelsea and I went on my Indiana Jonese adventure over these cliffs above several sea caves, across a sketchy wood bride, past sea anemones, crabs and fishermen and down these stairs carved out of the sandy cliffside to this little beach with the most fantastic shells I had ever collected. We gathered our souvenirs and made our way back only to return to snap pictures as the sun began to sink behind us. Then Chelsea and I switched off guard duty to let Sheena and Ken have a romantic walk as we built a sand castle. As it turned, so said this adorable boy who came to flirt, it did not look like a castle at all but more of a mountain, so Chelsea and I proceeded to build Fuji instead. We were then approached by two boys holding a quarter of a watermelon.

Boys: This is a watermelon.
Chelsea: Yeah.
Boys: (oh no that's all the English we know!)  Tabemasen ka? (Won't you eat it?) *after long awkward silence*
Me: Ah! Hai, suika ga daisuki desu! (Yeah, I love watermelon)

So then they scurried off and Chelsea and I giggled about out awesome prize only to look up from our treat to discover we were surrounded by cute boys who wanted to hang out! ^_^ Yay for beach side flirting and one guy spoke impeccable English! They took our picture with us and our Mt. Fuji (which was conquered by the first Australian kangaroo, a little toy Chelsea had found later) and they were on their way as we packed up to leave. So much fun!

 

The drive home was much faster without the traffic and we stopped for dinner before retiring to our beds somewhere around midnight. The next day I mostly lounged about and waited for evening when I met up with Lena and Stuart, our new gaijin friends, to go to a little local festival. Lena and I dressed in our yukata and we wandered over to the Saruhashi (as in the monkey bridge) at dusk to check out the river and then play at the festival. It was wonderful because our shopkeeper friends were there and gave us ice cream, it was very very hot, and so many of my students were about and eager to talk with me and tell me how cute my yukata was! Last year, I didn't teach at a school in Saruhashi so the children were all Tony's but this year anyone under twelve was my student! ^_^ It was so much fun and we got to dance and wave clackers around and eat karage, sausage, potato fries and taiyaki! Afterwards they paraded the floats around all lit up in lanterns (as they did last year for I attended the same festival this year except without climbing Fuji first) and beat the taiko drums, it was pretty cool!

On Monday, it was the first real day that felt like summer! They sky was brilliantly clear for the first time in ages and they suppressive humidity was gone so I took a drive out to Kofu. But first I stopped at one of my favourite places on the way to Hatsukari and took a picture of the rice fields and my local train. In the Kofu area I went up this little highway into a new valley to check out the temple that Tokugawa Ieyasu built for the Takeda clan (more specifically Takeda Katsuyori) after they were defeated in the Sengoku period around the early 1600s. It was a pretty temple off on it's own with the hydrangeas all in full bloom and with the sun streaming down through these tall trees that lined the stone stairs up to the main building. There was a beautiful gate under a willow tree and beyond that the bell tower and the temple itself where I prayed and then explored the area and little garden tucked in behind it. After I just sat in the grass and meditated a bit because I was all alone save the warm afternoon breeze and bird, it was wonderful!

Nothing else much exciting happened that day, except mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, so I'll skip to the following Saturday, which is today and the day before I leave for Canada! Last night we had a little party in Fujiyoshida to celebrate Mershon's completed two years teaching in Japan with dinner and drinks and then karaoke! We slept over at Chelsea's, experienced her always lovely hospitality of breakfast and tea, and then i headed out for a little adventure of my own as Kevin helped Mershon run some last errands. I went to the Fuji Sengen shrine, one of my favourites, to pray, buy a new charm (mine just broke ;_;) for happiness and take some pictures because it's always so amazing there!

Now I have just spent the rest of the day packing and cleaning and getting ready to go tomorrow! Long long flight which takes me to Vancouver via Taiwan, so I may have a few hours to explore Taipei, and then Tim Hortons!!! Itekimasu!