Lake Shikaribetsu

Orin and I took a trip to Lake Shikaribetsu. We took a short snowshoe walk, looked at the ice buildings, and took a bath in the outdoor onsen. I love looking at ice and snow sculptures – I think it’s amazing that we can make something so beautiful out of ice! Here is a picture of Orin and me in the onsen.

The Outdoor Onsen

Coming home, we took pictures of the mountains around us. I really liked looking at the mountains with bare trees. In Seattle, all the forests are evergreen forests, so you will never see so many naked trees on a mountain. I think it is very beautiful.

Naked Trees

This weekend, Orin and I will try to see the ice floes in Monbetsu. We want to ride on an ice cutting boat. Do you think we can see the ice? I hope so!

Also, our last concert is on March 12th. If you want one more chance to see us perform, you should sign up soon! Spaces are filling quickly, so you’d better hurry! Have a good weekend!

Hi everyone! How do you like the new website? This is my first time to try to make a blog on the new system. I hope it works!

It’s already February – can you believe it? That means Orin and I will leave soon.
Have you heard this expression? “Time flies when you’re having fun!”

Hello! As I promised last week, here are some photos from our trip during winter vacation.
First, here’s a picture from Chinatown in Yokohama.

We also went to Kamakura. Here is a picture of the Big Buddha at dusk.

We went to Tokyo Ice Bar again. This year, it was designed by two guys from Sweden. It’s a little blurry, but I like this picture of the Swedish and Japanese flags on mountains.

For my birthday, we ate Indian food. I talked about the restaurant last week in my blog. I loved it SO much! Here is a picture of one of the things we ate. I think it’s called a dosa. It’s a flat bread, and this one has cheese and onions. It also came with a few different sauces. I want to eat it again!

Finally, here is a really funny sign for a hamburger shop. Actually, Orin and I ate at this place, and the hamburgers were delicious. However, can you imagine why I would not want to eat here?

Well, we’re back from the JOY Winter Vacation – did you study English?? Ha ha! I did not study any Japanese. Orin and I went to Tokyo to visit my friend Kimberly from Seattle. We celebrated Christmas, our birthdays, and New Year’s together. It was so much fun!
In Tokyo, we ate Indian food on my birthday. No, I don’t mean Indian Curry in Obihiro! I mean real Indian food. It was so delicious! The restaurant is called “Dhaba India,” and you can check out their menu here.
When I have a chance, I will post a few pictures from our trip. Goodbye for now!

Hello, everyone!
It’s been very busy here at JOY recently. That’s why I forgot to put up a blog post last week! We’re getting ready for the holiday season. We have some exciting events at JOY that I want to tell you about.
The first one is on Saturday the 18th. Manami Hino, the Olympic bobsledder, will be giving a talk here at 4:00 PM. She just published a book about her journey to become an Olympic athlete. It sounds really interesting! This event is open to everyone, so if you have a friend who might be interested, they can come, too!
Our other event is the JOY party. That’s on December 22nd, starting at 7:00 PM. There will be food, drinks, a game, and some members from JICA will attend. It’s a great chance to practice your English, and have some fun, too!

Do you like building snowmen? I know that usually children are the ones that build them, but how about adults? In Seattle, it hardly ever snows. So, if it does, then everyone plays outside! I think you’re never too old to have fun in the snow.
In America – and maybe other English speaking countries? – we build snowmen with three balls. If we make snowmen with two balls, then maybe they are snowchildren! I was surprised to learn that in Japan, everyone only uses two balls. In the same way, many of my students were surprised to hear that we use three snowballs in the U.S.! Some of them said, “What’s the third ball for?” But my answer is: Who cares?
How do you make the snowman’s face in Japan? In the U.S., we use rocks for the eyes and mouth, and a sometimes a carrot for the nose.
Here are a couple of snowmen – maybe they can be friends.

Hi everyone! Well, tomorrow is Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan. If I am correct, that means that we should give thanks to all of the people who work hard every day to make good lives for everyone and their families.
Did you know that in America, this week is also Thanksgiving Day in America? It’s always on the last Thursday of every month. Thanksgiving Day is a day to remember how lucky we all are, and to be happy with the life we have.
Sometimes, the American Thanksgiving Day is on the 23rd of November, the same day as the holiday in Japan! The 23rd is also my mother’s birthday. Wow!
You probably already know that in America, we eat a big turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. What do you do on Labor Thanksgiving Day?
Finally, please enjoy these pictures of Sapporo in the fall.

Happy Friday, everyone! Do you know “TGIF?” It stands for “Thank God It’s Friday.” You can say it at the end of the work week, when you’re happy that the weekend is near. Is there a similar expression in Japanese? What is it?
This weekend, I am going to Sapporo with Orin. We will go shopping, and meet Joe. We will probably go to karaoke! ^__^
What are your weekend plans?

On Wednesday, Orin and I went to the Nakasatsunai Art Village for the first time. I had been wanting to go there for a long time, and we finally did it! Shinobu told me that November 3rd was the last day open, so it’s good we had that day off!
I love looking at art, and I was really curious to see some local work. I thought it was very beautiful. Some of the Tokachi art reminded me of some art in Washington State, in a place called Skagit Valley.
Here is a painting I saw in Nakasatsunai:

Here’s one from Skagit Valley:

What do you think?
I was very impressed with both galleries I saw in Nakasatsunai. Too bad I won’t have a chance to go there again before I leave!