Sarah returns to Japan

Tadaima~ Canada was super amazing! I ate breakfast, eggs benedict, cheese ravioli, pizza, a meatball sub, lasagna, Greek food, tacos, butter chicken, hamurgers, barbequed ribs that tasted like heaven, broccoli cheese casserole, red velvet cake, brownies, banana nut muffins and iced mochas! The food, oh the food, need I go on? And my family ,^_^, did I ever miss them. Love them so much!  I went to the movies with Nikki and the beach and shopping in Metrotown. I went go-karting and mini golfing, swam in the pool, slept on the floatie, canoed on the lake and had a bonfire. Went swiming in the lake, tubing and hung out on a boat, got a tattoo and a hair cut and felt like a million dollars and visited family! it was awesome~

I went home and it was great but now I'm also home and it has been great too! Japan is also my home. The train ride to Otsuki was long and hot but the view was pretty and the doors opened on a symphony of cicadas and i remembered why I loved it here.

The next morning I woke early, a little jet legged, and shuffled about getting myself sorted, went over to my Otsuki gaijin friends' house for some lunch and to collect Takeda Shingen the goldfish. Settled him in at home and went to a lantern festival in Kawaguchiko with Sheena, Ken and Chelsea. The lantern festival was for Obon; the time of year when we thank our ancestors and send our best wishes by writing messages to them on paper lanterns and sending them out over the water at twilight. It was very beautiful and I made mention of my three Grandpas... it was my own little funeral for them. What a gorgeous evening as the sun set and coloured Fuji in the distance over the calm like with its little floating lights... it was magical, from another world, sublime.

After we went for yakiniku and then I stayed at Chelsea's house where we shared some salad, cheese, dessert and a bottle of wine. I slept well that night. The next morning I woke early again, showered and went for a walk to my favourite little shrine in Fujiyoshida, stopping to buy some bread for my fish. It's this cute shrine with a pond and a little red bridge where I sat dangling my legs and throwing crumbs to the koi. I hurried back to Chelsea's before long, to meet up with Sheena who took us across Yamanashi to an enormous field of sunflowers! We ate sunflower ice cream and walked around a yellow painting impressed by the gorgeous flower until thunder announced a storm was rolling in. We finished up our pictures and headed to the mall in time to watch a gigantic storm of hail and lightening that struck with in meters of us as we happily ate Subway indoors.

Saturday found me lazing about most the day. I tried to do some yard work, was cut short by being attacked by angry wasps ;-; which stung me at least five times. Made taco rice, nursed my wounds, and did a bit of grocery shopping. Sunday, today, I woke up to a day that promised to be hot. Hid indoors for the morning until I finally got it together to go to Fujiyoshida to meet up with Sheena to go look a lotus flowers in a secluded pond, they were ultra lovely, and have parfaits with her in Ken, I had cheese cake crepe! It was wonderful~

 

Tonight I'm going to my Japanese parents house for dinner and tomorrow it's off to Kyushu first thing in the morning! It's the life~