I am back in the USA and I am not too sure how I feel about that. I miss Japan a lot because the last two and half years have been awesome. As the pl…

I have a ton updating that I need to do: Ben’s trip to Japan and my quick visit to Osaka. I will get those done and the pictures posted when I get …

I am officially a tourist in Japan. Jana, Annie, and I went to Mito where Jana and I switched over our visas. I went from an instructor to a vis…

Beth planned a goodbye picnic for everyone who was leaving Japan (Annie, Andrea, Jana, and I). When we arrived we thought it was just going to be the…

Andrea, Jana, and I decided to have our last blast karaoke last night. We went to the Tsukuba Shidax and had an amazing time. We arrived and were ask…

Beth, Andrea, and I met in Ebisu, had lunch, and decided we wanted to try the onsen in Odaiba. The Ooedo-onsen Monogatari is the onsen that most fore…

The Oedo-onsen Monogatari is an onsen in Odaiba, Tokyo. If you are in Tokyo and want to go to an onsen I would recommend this one. When you enter the…

Beth had been talking about having a vegetarian dinner for the past couple of weeks and decided that it would be a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiv…

Tokyo Disneyland! Tokyo Disneyland! Jana and I have been talking about going to Tokyo Disneyland for a month or two now and we finally went to today.…

I decided to get out of the apartment and headed down to Tokyo. It was HOT but the trip was worth it. Before I left for Hokkaido, I had been searchin…

Andrea, Jana, and I consulted my Welcome to Tokyo: Tokyo: Handy Guide, yesterday and we decided to check out the Tokyo Sea of Life Park in Edogawa, T…

If you visit Japan during the summer be sure to stop by a summer festival. Most of the towns have one and they are advertised. Ami’s festival is ca…

Hiromi, Jana, and I took a trip to Yokohama yesterday. Our first stop was at the Ramen Museum in Shin Yokohama. Ramen is one of the favorite foods in…

  After the ramen musuem the rain had stopped so we decided that it we should still head over to the Yokohama Stadium and watch the baseball ga…

Himeji is one of my favorite towns to visit in Japan because it has one of the best castles in Japan. Himeji-jo (jo means castle) is a stunning examp…

Disney Sea was so much fun! Hiromi, Katie, Jana, and I left Ami at 7:00 and we got to Disney Sea at about 8:45/9:00ish. The first thing we did was bu…

At 6:05am, Brooke’s alarm went off and we got dressed and headed out to the bus stop. I think we picked the perfect time to head up the mountain be…

Brooke, Katie, and I were in Nikko on Friday and Saturday to see the fall colors. I was bit nervous about the trip because I was the one who made all…

We (meaning, Brooke, Katie, Jana, Andrea, and I) went bowling in Tsukuba at a really nice bowling alley. The cost was pretty cheap, it was $5.00 a ga…

The ALTs left for Yokohama, at nine, to go to the Beer/Food festival that was being held there. Yokohama is about two and half hours south of Ami and…

Jana and I got up, ate breakfast, and caught a bus for the top of mountain so we could do some hiking. I don’t like heights but what I hate more th…

Jana and I got on the train heading for Nikko at 8:00am and we arrived in Nikko at 1:00pm. We went to our hotel and checked in because Nikko is a tou…

I went to my second party at Hiro’s and I had a wonderful time. Hiro is a student of the company that I work for and he hosts a party at his h…

On Saturday when Jana and I left Ami for Tokyo it was beautiful day. We took the train to Ueno where we ate at the Hard Rock Café. The food there wa…

Hiromi had talked to Jana and at the end of April and we agreed to go to Kamakura to check out a couple of the temples/shrines there and to see the…

The Meji Shrine is located in Harajuku (in Tokyo). This was the first time I visited the shrine and I found it to be so odd and yet peaceful. You get…

Karaoke in Japan is an experience that no one should miss! In Japan when you go out for Karaoke you do not sing at a bar in front of people, instead …

Every spring towns across Japan have a festival when the cherry blossoms come out. People living in the town will bring huge traps to lay on the gras…

Hiromi, Jana, Beth, and I went to Mito because Jana and Beth had to go the International Office to have some paper work done. Before that, however we…

Tokyo was fun...exhausting but fun. The reason the Japanese are so health is because they walk everywhere. Andrea and I left today at about 10:00 am …

Hiromi took me to a wonderful park by Lake Kasumigaura. Lake Kasumigaura. is the second largest lake in Japan and Ami is famous for being located on …

My internet is still not hooked up; this has confirmed my theory that I am indeed addicted to the internet. So now, my addictions consist of peanut b…

I made it to Japan and I lived through the big storm that came through last night. So far I am a little overwhelmed by all of the information an…

I leave in under 24 hours. I am finally packed...talk about a pain in the butt. I had no idea what to bring and what to leave behind. I lucked out be…