Happy New Year!

しんねん、あけましておめでとうございます!
(Shinen, akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!)
aka Happy New Year!

Wow, another year has come and gone. Hello 2010! I can't believe it! I have been in Japan for 20 months now, in fact exactly 20 months tomorrow. My life here is great. Let me catch you up on my life for the past month.

I went to Nagasaki with Ryuta to visit his family. Nagasaki is a beautiful city. It reminded me much more of America than Tokyo or even Kumagaya does! You can be in downtown and still see the hills covered in trees! The first thing we did was watch people make mochi. Mochi is a rice paste kind of thing. You put rice in a ceramic bowl and repeatedly pound it with a mallet. This eventually makes a paste like substance that is delicious! It is one of my favorite foods here so it was really cool to see it made.

After that we went to Peace Park, where the A-bomb was dropped. It was a very humbling experience and I felt so sad! The horror of what happened that day is burned into my memory. The pictures from the museum will never be forgotten. Everyone should visit Peace Park. I can't write more about it, you just have to experience it.

Later that night we went to the harbor and also to Glover Garden. The harbour is beautiful! It was the only harbour open to international trade when Japan was in isolation. Glover Garden is an extraordinary garden area. There are many old homes from the late 1800's and of course, lots of plants. It is on top of a hill and there is an exceptional view of the city below.

We went to China town for dinner and it was wonderful. Local Nagasaki food is delicious!

The next day was a little calmer. We visited his grandma and she was a lot of fun to talk to. I could understand her Japanese a little bit better because she talked a little slower for me.

We were only there for 2 days but it was wonderful! I can't wait to go back there again!

For New Years I went to Mama san's house. She made an exceptional New Year's meal with lots of traditional Japanese food. We watched a singing competition that has the men versus women. It is an annual competition and it was fun to watch. This year the men won, but I think the women were actually better.

That catches you up on my life. I hope everyone had a good holiday back in America. All my love!