We went to the Jogosaki Coast, which is located right here in the Ito area. It involves some big cliffs, rock outcroppings and a bridge...
^ Some cliffs ^
^ Me on the bridge ^
^Ken on the bridge ^
After walking around at the coast for a little while, we went on a boat ride. It was a nice view, but just about 5 minutes too long -- just long enough for me to get a little bit boat sick. Unfortunately, it was just a normal, white boat, and not one of the colorful cartoon-decorated boats that, as my dad has seen online, often sail around Ito.
^ Jogosaki Coast from the boat ^
We also swung by what's really a fairly large zoo in Ito. It's called a "cactus park." I'm not sure why, but instead of just being a normal zoo, they also have some rooms with cacti on display, occasional Mayan-inspired statues scattered around, mariachi music blasting, and some of the poor staff members have to wear colorful ponchos and sombreros. (I didn't photograph them because I felt kind of sorry for them.)
^ Bad llama impression ^
In January, I made another trip to Nagoya and got to see crazy New Year's shopping crowds. Apparently, Japanese are crazy for clothing grab bags -- they're sold in high end department stores around New Year's, and people will literally line up outside the stores for a chance to buy one.
Later in the month, we went to Yokohama China town for some delicious niku-man and also dropped by Tokyo to eat at Outback Steakhouse and meet up with one of Ken's friends.
^ A temple in China town ^
The third semester is very short, so I've found that classes wound down really rapidly after the New Year holiday. Next week I have just one class, my last of this school year, on Tuesday. Then it's test time, and the new students will start classes in April. This also means that many of my co-workers will be transferred to new schools, although we still don't know who will stay and who will go.
^ A last picture of my graduating night school students. Note: these students are not exactly representative of my uniform-wearing regular students. ^
On to February!
I was able to take a day off this week and make a very, very short trip up to Nagoya. However, we managed to squeeze in some nice sightseeing. Ken and I finally went to Inuyama Castle, which is in a little town right by Nagoya. It's the oldest original (not completely re-built) castle in Japan, I think? Maybe? It's also the only one that's individually owned.
^ What a cute castle! ^
^ The view from the top of the castle ^
We then went to "Little World," also in Inuyama. It consists of a bunch of buildings meant to represent traditional buildings from cultures all over the world. It was pretty interesting to see the German architecture and such, although, like many outdoor museums and the like, a lot of it seemed a bit dusty and shabby. Still, though, they had some foreign foods for sale -- we bought a taco kit! It's nice to get to eat some Mexican food....
^I'm not entirely sure which culture the sheep were supposed to represent. ^
^It's... Italy! I realized I apparently don't know what traditional Italian architecture looks like....^
^Northern Japan^
That's all for now. I'm hoping to get my hands on a new camera in March, so perhaps posts will increase. I may also get a little time off to see something new....
