Hikage Homestay!

This is Hikage's home. It was magnificent! Hard wood floors throughout, except all of the tatami bedrooms. The vaulted ceilings and quiet household made it so relaxing and offered opportunities for reflection and meditation (things I never made time for back in the States!)

This was my bedroom. Lovely tatami-room. Interesting decor isn't it?

Barbeque nite--all sorts of spooky foods were consumed that nite, but the beverages helped everything go down well. Japanese shugoy is a new favorite--its a vodka made with rice. As you can see, everyone is sporting the deuce, which in this case means: we survived the meal! Only kidding....

Fireworks are the Japanese 2nd love (food comes first!)

Careful Akida-your hand looks like it's on fire!

We played lots of card games. Go Fish was really fun, our rules were: they had to speak English and I had to speak Japanese! Go Fish has never been so tricky!

One big happy family! See the scallops being grilled...we had to dissect them to eat them. I am a bit sketchy on regular scallops served in nice bowls...but to have to peel them outta there and disconnect its circulatory system-whoa, that is just too much for me!

Hikage loves fishing so this MN fishing shirt was most appropriate omiyage.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delayed posting-I haven`t had a moment to myself in over a WEEK! As some of you may have heard, we lived through both an earthquake AND a typhoon!
I arrived in Taneichi yesterday, and was greeted by a surprise homestay opportunity! My family has been MOST wonderful! They are pictured above--Hikage and his wife Yuriko, and their children Auka and Akida. They are super people (willing to work on their english!)and are very hospitable! Their objective was to give me a very "traditional Japanese experience"--complete with new foods (squid, octopus and chicken hearts), new customs (Japanese bathing etiquette) and new ways of life (7:00 AM stretches at the bus stop each morning). Hikage's electronic dictionary proved particularly useful! Their house is so lovely and Yuriko is such an amazing cook! I will be with them for the rest of the week and will move into my new home at that time. I have been living out of my carry-on for almost 10 days now...unreal. I miss the Hikages graciousness, but I am excited to settle into my place as well! Thank you Hikage-san and family!