Our first fruits...

Some of you may remember our first post from here in Japan included some photos of my little infant vegetable plants.  Where here they are now, all grown up.  I've just harvested the first fruits today, some BIG, yummy cucumbers!!

They must really like the heat...

As a mama, I'm quite proud of this little fella...

Another open practice for the Lake Stars

Thought you guys might want to see some more video of Ray at practice. He's been playing so well lately that it's been hard to pick and choose which videos to add!  These are a couple vids of him playing 4 on 4 and 2 on 2 at an open practice for the public.  

A kindergarden teacher??!!

I had my official first day of teaching english on Wednesday.  I had two classes, one of 4 year olds and one class of 5 year olds.  Even though they usually don't invite parents and family for your first day, they did for me!  I was a bit nervous but it went great, despite sweating like crazy because of the intense heat!  I love this picture, especially the little kid on the far left with his hand in his pants!  hee hee....

Next week, the business I am working for is sending me on a 3 day camping trip with 9 and 10 year olds- my kind of thing!  I am so blessed by being able to have this sort of opportunity here in Japan.  I will write all about it when I return!

More pics from Fukui

Tryin' to bring home the bacon...

This pics says so much, doesn't it??

We got to do some fun rock scampering and not so safe cliff climbing.  It was great!

Ray, scaring the locals again...

Oh and I see fields of green, and I see clouds of white...

A weekend at the coast

We headed out to Fukui Beach for a long weekend, located on the northwestern side of Japan.  It took us about 2 hours by train.  I found a little backpacker's hostel to stay in which was very nice, aside from the lack of needed air conditioning, loud hostel-mates, and the thick cigarette smoke inside.  The beaches were GORGEOUS, like Hawaii, though sadly littered badly with trash.  Ray woke up Monday morning at 4:30am, and for four hours went down to the beach and cleaned it up.  What a guy.  I love that little fella.

The first day, we swam a little, but just got stung by jellyfish!  Plus, the main beach was SO crowded!!  The second day we branched out and hiked along the coastline, discovering the most amazing private inlets.  This was much better.

We also were a little envious of all the snorkelers but didnt know where to find gear (the town we were in didnt have any rental places, restaurants OR stores!!).  To our delight, we found amidst the rubble on the beach, not only 1 set of snorkel gear, but 3, including an extra large set of flippers for Ray!!  The underwater world was outstandingly gorgeous with many pufferfish, beautiful plant life, amazing sea slugs and clams and huge schools of fish.  We just had to look out for those jellies!

Ray even found not only 1, but 2 tridents to practice spear fishing.  The little guy REALLY wants to be a hunter and gatherer!!

At night, we went to nearby "Obama City" to get some groceries.  Obviously, the city is very much capitalizing on it's name.  Rumor has it, Mr. Obama himself is planning a visit. Hmmmm....:)

The Kyoto Zoo

What a day of lions and tigers and bears.  So much fun!  We started our morning by making sushi at the house to pack for lunch, then jumped on a train to Kyoto to go to the zoo.  The highlights were the awesome monkey habitat, the cheetahs and big cats, the tall giraffe that wore the faintest resemblance to Ray, the penguins and owls, and the condor who kept trying to compare wingspan to Ray...  Wish we could somehow see these animals without bars and fences in the way...

Ray and I in Kyoto

On thursday, we said goodbye to our wonderful visitor Heidi.  We spent the morning with her in Kyoto before she had to leave for the airport, and then Ray and I enjoyed the rest of the day sightseeing - our first free day in Kyoto together!  We had a very nice time walking the "Path of Philosophy" and enjoying our free time together.  Among the highlights were the largest wooden structure in the world (a shrine located not even a block from the Kyoto train station), a beautiful zen garden, and many short roofs.  We always love to laugh at the tall guy!!

SHIGA LAKE STARS!!!

Ray finally has a TEAM!  There are a total of 10 players here, with a possible two more arriving within the next month.  Again, the season doesn't begin until October, so until then the athletes are spending their time practicing, lifting and promoting the team.

Last Friday night, the Shiga Lake Stars invited the public to an open practice.  So many people showed up that every seat was taken!  It was so cool to see Ray enjoying the game, and truly bonding with his teammates.  And more than anything, Ray is really, really good!!  The greatest blessing has been to see Ray finally come back to excelling in what he does best.  I am very eager to get the season on the way!

Just for the record:

A note to all: 

WE REALLY WANT VISITORS!!

Don't think this would be putting us out.  We have a spare room, and are not even 10 minutes from historical Kyoto.  We would love to share our life with you!!

Kyoto and Sushi-the perfect match??

After returning from a day of exploring in Kyoto, we returned home and spent an evening making our own sushi - absolutely delicious.  We all ate until we were stuffed!

Our First VISITOR!!

On Tuesday, my friend and Iceaxemen student from Eugene, Heidi Ma, came to visit.  Yesterday, she and I went to Kyoto and spent an incredible day exploring the old castles and shrines.  Kyoto is a phenomenal city, rich in history.  One of the monuments we went to was built to honor the fallen foreign soldiers of WWII.  Another, Kiyomizu Temple, was shockingly beautiful.  It was built in 700 A.D..  Mind you, all of these temples were built without the use of nails...

To close our day, we visited the Geisha district.  Wonderful narrow, winding streets and quaint tea houses, pottery houses, cafes and shops...

Japan is charming!

The TEAM

(Most) of Ray's team has now arrived, and as a result, we have the privilege of enjoying many gatherings and lots of food.  On Tuesday night, the team members and families, and team staff, headed out to "Japanese BBQ".  DELICIOUS!!  They came out with huge platters of veggies, lean lamb meat and noodles.  We sat around a huge grill and grilled our own meals.  This also gave us an awesome opportunity to get to know Ray's teammates and their families.  I had a particularly good time trying to communicate with the wives and female staff- lots of sign language!!

A (needed!) Day Off

Ray and I grabbed his new teammate, Bobby, and headed up the lake for a day of swimming!  The water was so refreshing.  I was beginning to go crazy imagining the cool water of Oregon streams and lakes this time of year!  So wonderful...

When we got home, I treated Ray to some good country cookin' by presenting him with some steak and potatoes.  As we know, the way to a man's heart....

conveyor belt sushi

A fun night with Bob, Sanae and Joy, our friends who live down the street.  They took us out to an exciting evening of sushi.  And instead of paying nearly $5-8 per plate like in the states, this place was only $1 per plate. Ray and I stretched our comfort levels with some new tastes, but everything was OYSHI (tasty)!!!

We gotta eat!

More FOOD!

                           

I am having a blast experimenting with new dishes.  If anyone knows Ray, you would know that the way to his heart... well... is through his stomach.  So, I have been trying to be as creative as possible in the kitchen to give him something good to enjoy after practice.  With no oven and limited ingredients this can be tough.

The dish with the prawns was a favorite.  They have incredible seafood here.

And alas, we could not curb our craving for Mexican food any longer.  You can not find ANYTHING Mexican or latin here to eat or to cook with.  Using a little creativity, I cooked up a dynamite meal of fajitas/tacos last night.  They hit the spot!  The homemade tortillas were especially good.  It always tastes better when made at home!! (Notice the awesome apron Aunt Laurie made me!!)