Winter Wonderland!

Words can hardly describe how much I love this snow! I am so thankful I came back to the States last week in time for this… Probably most of the world has heard on the news how the nation’s capital got it’s biggest December snow in history this weekend. We ended up with close to 20 inches – not too shabby! J I know those of you up north think we are wimps, though J But it is so beautiful, so I thought I would take some pictures of my parents’ house and my grandfather’s farm and post them for the whole world to see… So beautiful! I just love it.

 

And, of course, Merry Christmas to you all! The One who came as a babe to bring us salvation has also washed us that we would be whiter than snow. Enjoy it today!

Just like old times...

I have so much to be thankful for! Seriously, sometimes I just stop and wonder why God has blessed me so much… certainly I have done nothing to deserve it.

First, before leaving Japan…

We went bowling with some friends and it was so much fun! And, I won. J Hillary’s bragging made me smile, too. Then we got to see Masuyuki’s iphone… and the Star Wars application he had on it. You swing it around and it makes a light saber noise. Oh, and you can turn it into a piano or drum set… I was trying to have a serious conversation, and Masuyuki was just beating away on the drums… I couldn’t help but laugh.

Another great thing was having everyone send me off, and them all sharing some very nice things about me. It was really touching to have so many nice things said J

Christmas presents make me smile too – socks and truffles and a CD, and other stuff too. And little notes to let you know someone cares. Ahhh…

 

Coming back to America, there have been tons of unexpected things to make me smile… Many of them having to do with the familiarity of returning to my parents’ farm…

On that first morning, after only 3 hours of sleep, I was wide awake and got to see the sunrise light up the leafless trees in the forest behind the open field. There were a couple of bluebirds that were just so beautiful, and then some squirrels play fighting on the porch out back. I have missed the squirrels, and snow, in Japan.

But tomorrow we get SNOW! We are supposed to get a whole foot, and I am super thrilled… My first snow in 4 years… ah, I love it!

More smiling stuff… I came across some old picture albums and was reminded of many fun times with good friends from high school and college. Sometimes a bit sad too that I’ve lost contact with some of them too, though.

 

Today at the hospital my brother Randy decided that since he’s going to lose his hair anyway, he would go ahead and cut it off. But not all of it… J The result – his very first Mohawk. Amazing. The best part… his boss was visiting and joined in the fun, and got his own hair cut into a Mohawk. And his hair isn’t going to fall out in the next few weeks! What love…

 

Finally, a special verse from a special friend… Psalm 16:8 – I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken.

 

Please let me know what has made you smile this week J

Another two weeks have passed...

Does anyone else find the security words (that aren’t quite real words) that you have to type in to post comments on blogger amusing? Sometimes I look at it and just sort of wonder what word ‘they’ were actually thinking of…

 

Had a really fun night tonight bowling and at yakuniku (the kind of place where you cook your own meet). Really liked the cow tongue, and tried intestines for the first time. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. Wouldn’t want it every day though! Bowling was fun too, but we could only get in one game before we got kicked out because the lanes were reserved for some kind of tournament or something. It was fun though. Oh yeah, and I won.

 

Yesterday was great too! Hillary and I went shopping (not too successful) and saw some Christmas lights at the station, did a few random things and then in the evening had a little surprise fondue party. So yummy – big smiles there… and lots of fun talking and playing Dutch Blitz with the Reisters, too.

 

Dutch Blitz and Spoons and other card games and ‘family’ games definitely make my ‘smile list’… Fun times with friends is always good.

People asking for help makes me smile, too (usually!)…

We all passed our Japanese tests… that gets a big smile!

Other smiles include…

A student playing on his iphone touch (or whatever that’s called) during English class. He’s 35.

Thinking about spending the first Christmas in 4 years with my family!

Warm hugs and warm drinks (it’s cold out!)…

Crossing things off the to-do list.

Friends who make to-do lists of things they’ve already done just so they can cross them all off. I wonder, do you put ‘cross of my to-do list’ on your to-do list??

Students interacting and listening well during our Bible studies. And taking books out of the church library.

 

I’ll be heading back to MD in… 10 days! Excited to spend Christmas at with my family, at the same time sad to leave people here at my second home. December 15^th is the day! I arrive at Dulles at 11:59pm! J

Hopefully I’ll see many of you soon after…

Bobby

The Amazing Smile List

This time instead of posting about random smile events (because I failed to keep a list) I’m just going to talk about two things…

First, having elementary school class photos posted on Facebook! Oh my goodness, did this bring back memories and so many smiles and laughs. So crazy! But it’s hilarious that even though it is so embarrassing, or perhaps because it is so embarrassing, everyone is commenting with all these old memories from our elementary days! I’m absolutely loving it… so much fun J

 

Second is today. Had a wonderful day, full of tons and tons of smiles. Spent the entire day with great friends – went with Hillary to Shimonoseki to visit Taka and Aki. What a blast! Cracked up making fun of Taka’s pronunciation of ‘bus’… love their little girl Mika – absolutely adorable! She wouldn’t take her eyes off me at first… and it wasn’t because she liked me! Taka randomly asked ‘What’s the stupidest thing we did in seminary?’ and I answered without a half-second hesitation, ‘Boxing!’ WHAT were we thinking?? Oh, so many good laughs.

 

What is it about reminiscing about old times that makes us feel so good – even when the memories are embarrassing?! How crazy is that? How wonderful to have such memories though. Love it. Absolutely love it.

 

I said two, but here’s a third… Unconditional love and forgiveness. Amazing that God provides them for us, and even gives people here on earth special grace to administer those to others in times of need. Absolutely amazing. I am a blessed man.

Can't keep up with all the smiles...

Somehow the days and even weeks just slip right on by, and it takes me forever to sit down and write… and even though it’s been over 2 weeks since my last smile post, I have (somewhat) been keeping a list, and so I really don’t have an excuse for not posting. In any case, I hope you find some of the following enjoyable… I sure did!

 

In the last 2+ weeks, I smiles and laughed and was just in general happy when…

 

I got to relive the old days of playful banter with Taka… oh, the joys of friendship! What a blessing from God!!

I cleaned my bathroom. I am not really crazy about the cleaning part, but the end result is absolutely worth it. This goes for the rest of the house, too. Definitely makes me happy.

Someone choked when told that I would give them a ride home. Is my driving really that bad??

I got dried persimmons as a gift from an English student… they are good!

I scratched a bunch of stuff off my to-do list at once. (I’m not one of those who writes down things that I’ve already completed, just to scratch them off, though!)

I had a picnic and a nice drive with a good friend.

 

I went on a little trip last week, and had some good laughs with my friends, Colby and Theresa…

Colby falling asleep so quickly in the car. I think it’s a gift.

Seeing Mt. Fuji made me happy… it is so cool!

Finding out a friend from seminary is having another baby!

Theresa offered me an old waffle 6+ times, seriously.

Picture of superman holding up the church… and a little boy wearing a superman shirt and camo pants.

Getting hit in the face by someone’s water when they popped open the top on their sport bottle!

 

It’s the little things in life that bring the biggest joy J

 

Don't think that pestering me will always get you what you want...

“A joyful heart is good medicine” – from the Bible

These words are so true… and recently my heart is simply full of joy.

Life is good!

 

Some of my recent smiles and laughs include…

 

Being stalked. Yes, this makes me smile. Only because it’s not real though. Real stalking is not cool. Don’t do it.

The starry night sky – it’s simply amazing! Especially when you can see fireballs flying around in every direction up there… That and looking at the vastness of the ocean reminds me of God’s power perhaps more than anything else.

Hummingbirds. I didn’t even know they lived here in Japan… but sure enough, I saw two only days apart. One of them was at my place, and I smiled and laughed at him a little when he tried to suck the sweetness out of the very colorful but wooden flower-shaped decorations I have placed around the garden. So cute. Oh yeah, and the dollar store makes me smile.

Working with people who love the Lord and desire to grow in their knowledge of and love for Him.

A certain someone (I will definitely refrain from naming names this time!) who sneezed in her hand and then licked it up, not wanting to wipe it on her pants! I laughed so hard!

Words of encouragement coming so frequently that you can actually start to believe they are true J

Fall. Love it. The weather is simply great. Love it.

And photos, too. I started to remember how much I enjoy taking pictures this week… It’s been too long!

 

I know it’s a short list! It’s not comprehensive – I’m not very good yet about writing things down so I can remember to write about them here. I will (try) to work on it though. Your patience brings me joy J

Have a blessed weekend! Love the Lord with all you have…

Bobby

Greetings!

Hi Melissa! How are you this fine day??

Things to write home about...

Okay, so I’ve sort of failed on the weekly smile list thing… I have sort of been keeping a list, but actually posting it is another story… Here are some things from the last few weeks that have made me laugh and smile… stuff to write home about…

 

Getting bugged to write a smile list. And not doing it. Haha, should being mean really make me smile?!

Being 30 but feeling like I’m 12… or 5. J

Going camping, and enjoying it enough to want to go back!

A Japanese guy pointing at a picture of me and asking “What’s this?”

Buying a five-year planner (diary) so I can write down what I do each day and see what I was doing in years past (assuming I keep it up for more than a year!)

Notes from friends that let you know they care, and are listening.

Watching a guy solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes, blindfolded!

Making middle-aged Japanese women giggle.

Leisurely dinners.

Typhoons!

The beautiful weather after a typhoon or hurricane passes!

Pictures, and gardening.

Example sentences in my Japanese book:

“I thought I couldn’t live without you; but since we got married, I realize I’m fine on my own.” (Ouch!)

“I’m not asking you to write like a calligrapher, but you at least need to write in a way that can be read!”

 

Who knew studying Japanese could be so much fun!

 

 

More Smiles

We’ll see if I can keep this going… I tried to keep a list this week of smiles, but I know there were a lot more than this… I’m going camping this week with my hilarious teammates, so maybe I’ll have plenty to report on next week J

This week’s smiles included…

Finding a lost Bible, and remembering all the unnecessary drama that came with it.

A certain teammate’s look of shock nearly any time any of the rest of us open our mouths.

An English student bringing us an electric fly swatter… a hot pink fly swatter at that!

My brother referring to the naming of my niece as a ‘fiasco’…

An English student accidentally calling ‘elementary school’ a ‘mental school’. Actually, it wasn’t really an accident; she meant it… and we were too busy trying not to laugh to correct her.

Thinking of being an uncle again.

 

What made you smile this week?

Smiles all around...

One of my friends is writing a blog where she gives highlights of the things that made her smile over the past week. I like the idea better than a plain old ‘what I’m thankful for’ list (although I like that too)… And since it makes me smile every time I read her smile list, and it’s been well over a month since I wrote on my own blog, I thought I would share some of my smiles with you tonight…

 

At the top of the list has to be making other people smile… I love it!

And the best one in there is our Japanese grandma and the way she smirks every time she walks through the door and sees my face!

 

Listening from the next room to middle-aged Japanese women babble on in Japanese like little girls during their English class (this happens several times every week)…

 

Just about everything on Japanese TV cracks me up… and sometimes I laugh at myself for thinking it’s funny in the first place.

 

Looking at the flowers I planted out front (a gift from an English student).

 

Riding my motorcycle with my helmet on and thinking that nobody knows I am a foreigner… silly, I know, but it makes me smile!

 

An English student bringing us raw steak… nearly every week.

 

Scoring well on a Japanese test.

 

Emails from friends that say they are coming to visit.

 

Watching a young Japanese man trying to act cool around a girl he likes.

 

And finally… watching my teammates laugh at each other!

 

I’ll have to start making a list through the week if I want to keep this going… As you go about your week, remember to smile, because it will make someone’s day… the gift that gives back immediately! J

 

Happy Belated Birthday to Me

Dinner at Jolly Pasta and then Baskin Robbins… happy belated birthday to me!

A few weeks ago I celebrated my 30^th birthday… only there wasn’t much celebrating, because I had a nasty one-day stomach virus. Spent a good portion of the day in bed, wishing I could just sleep through until the next morning. My wonderful teammates were planning to take me to dinner, but instead they just left me moaning on my couch and went without me. I’m not bitter.

Seriously though, they sort of caught me off-guard this evening after our worship service when they offered to take me out for a belated birthday dinner. They really are so thoughtful. After some difficulty deciding where to go (I don’t get out much), we finally chose yaki-tori (Japanese chicken)… only to find the restaurant closed on Sunday evening! So we ended up at Jolly Pasta – that’s a treat too. They have good pizza (even though it’s not pizza hut…) and the company wasn’t bad either.

Then we stopped off at Baskin Robbins for ice cream and prayer to end the evening. Last week was jam-packed, and so is this coming week… so it was nice to have a fun, relaxing evening with three great friends tonight. Happy belated birthday to me!

Upheaval in the Heavens

The last two days have been overflowing (no pun intended) with heavenly phenomena.

 

Yesterday, I awoke to heavy rains, and lightning. Never seen lightning like that before in Japan… and the rain was so heavy that the flooding seemed to start almost immediately. But it just kept raining! Nearly all day, absolute downpours… The grocery store in Hirao has a very large parking lot, and it was completely under water. The rivers were full and many of them were overflowing. As were the streets and some homes. Unfortunately, landslides are a problem here when we have heavy rains. I heard reports of a nursing home being hit by a landslide, and several people inside were buried alive. I didn’t see the news report, though, because my television only shows snow when it rains. Ironic, huh?

 

Today, on the lighter side, was the heavily talked about solar eclipse. It’s interesting that the characters for eclipse in Japanese are ‘eating the sun’… I wonder if there is some secondary meaning that I’m not aware of. Anyway, the solar eclipse happened about 11am here in Yamaguchi, and it was just as cloudy and overcast as could be. I thought there was no way we’d see it… but the English students went outside to take a look and I could hear them all get excited. So I too went outside to check it out and sure enough, you could see it pretty well! Someone brought safety glasses and we all took turns J I used my camera too… and I think the only reason it worked was because it was cloudy! J Anyway… fun times and everyone was excited!

Regrets

Stank!
I just did a little internet search on my new best friend (see previous post), and found out that his mother died less than 2 weeks ago.

Now I feel bad about my little parody... :(

My New Best Friend...

The other day I was at Nijigaoka for our classes, when a little before dinner the phone rings.
It's the Mayor.

Oh. Hello. Thanks for calling.

Mr. Mayor got right down to business... He was calling Mr. Luethy (who happens to be in America for 6 months) to have him look over a speech that Mr. Mayor would be giving in English to an iternational audience the following day.

Apparently, given Mr. Luethy's absense, just any old foreigner would do.

So, within minutes, Mr. Mayor was at my doorstep, secretary in tow.
A half hour later, we had a pretty good speech, and one very happy Mr. Mayor.

Naturally, I invited him to our BBQ Sunday night...

Ah, gotta run, phone's ringing... maybe it's the governor this time...

Unexpected Visitor

So I am sitting here on my couch, having just finished dinner, watching the news. The windows are all open, as is the front door - it was pretty hot today, and I don't think the humidity could possibly be any higher. But this afternoon the wind really picked up, and we've had a good, strong breeze ever since... makes the weather bearable. Anyway, that's why the front door is open, to let that blessed breeze make it's way through my home instead of just around it.
So here I am, minding my business and watching the news, when, much to my surprise, there is a cat in the room! First I think it's cute, then I think, "It's not mine!" but it sure is in my house... So I stand up and it heads for the door. It doesn't look like a stray, so I bend down to try to 'make friends' with my new visitor... but then it takes off. A short friendship that was! Wish I had a picture for you...
This visitor is welcome to come back anytime - unlike the spiders and lizards that have been seeking domicile here recently... But I don't think it will - I could hear its bell ring as it ran off... it's already got a home. :)

Yamaguchi FlowerLand

Several weeks ago I went to this garden for the first time. It's called Yamaguchi FlowerLand, and it's a pretty nice place. They really put a lot of work into decorating the gardens with whatever happens to be in season at the time. So here are some of the pictures I took.



The neat thing is that they have a library there, too... and air-conditioned library! So, even though I haven't taken full advantage of it yet, I plan to use it more and more as a good place to study as the summer heats up.

There of course has been plenty of other stuff happening too... just no time to sit down and write about it. English classes have been keeping us very busy... but I'm thankful for a little rest this week.

Take 2...

*This was the text that was supposed to come before those pictures from the other day...*


If you had 12 hours to do whatever you wanted, what would it be?
I took a vacation day today and went touring all over Yamaguchi prefecture. I basically did a fly-by of all the places here that I had yet to visit. Twelve hours and 400 kilometers later, I was back home, exhausted. But it was mentally relaxing; just what I was looking for.
Of the 12 hours, probably 8 of them were spent on the motorcycle... that's enough to wear you out! The weather was amazing... I couldn't have ordered it an better. Forgot my sunblock though - but long sleeves and a helmet nearly all day, the burn is minimal. Unfortunately I was about 2 days too late, because all the cherry blossoms had basically fallen to the ground. Early in the morning, though, as I was driving through the woods, they were falling all around me... that made for a pleasant ride! I also hit a bird - never thought that would happen on a motorcycle! And after dark something hit me in the chest, I think it was trying to knock me off the bike ;) It felt big, but I couldn't see it because I was looking into headlights, and it didn't leave any evidence behind... so that one remains a mystery.
So I started off heading up through the mountains to the northern coast, to Hagi and Nagato, on the way to Tsunoshima. Tsunoshima is this amazingly beautiful island off the northwest corner of Yamaguchi prefecture. The bridge across to it is fantastic! After about 3 hours wandering around the island, I headed in the direction of home, by a different route. I came upon Akiyoshidai on the way, which is a vast (for Japan) area of rolling hills covered with small rock formations. Wonderful roads to enjoy on the bike!
One of the best things about the day was that I didn't plan it all out ahead of time. I took a map, but I didn't use it... even though it was my first time going to all these places, I know he geography of Yamaguchi pretty well, so I just relied on the road signs to point me from one town to the next (very few roads here have names or numbers)... because I didn't have to be anywhere specific at any time, it was actually a lot of fun. And I got to see a lot more than if I had mapped it all out to take the fastest route...
I'll leave you with some pictures... then I'm off to bed!

You've Got 12 hours...

The pictures call for explanation...
Here's the beautiful bridge leading to Tsunoshima.










Some random flowers...










You woudn't ever expect to see this in Japan, would you?










Hold your horses... it's actually a bathroom! It used to be a wedding chapel, and was even used in a movie a while ago. It's quite a sight, even if it is a public restroom!










And the lighthouse... made of stone.










Don't forget to dry your seaweed well, or else it might not taste good...










Look at all those windmills! Crazy! (We've got 7 here in Hirao)...










And Akiyoshidai, with the rolling hills.

being sick is no fun

It's only a cold, but it's still no fun. I spent most of the day in bed... or rather on the couch, since I don't actually have a bed. It's not that bad, but the stuffy head and just overall yuckiness continues. I shouldn't complain - this is the first time I've gotten sick in the nearly two and a half years since I've come to Japan! For that I'm very thankful. I'm dreading the first time it's so bad that I need to go to the doctor though! :)

Traffic Lights and such...

So here in Japan there are definitely some things you have to be aware of when driving. Most importantly, drive on the left side of the road. I've only messed up on that once. It's easier than you'd think, actually, because the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car (versus an American car) and so the driver is still nearest the center of the road. So for the most part it's pretty natural. The hardest part to remember is which side of the car to get it! (I'm serious about that).

But there's other stuff too - crazy stuff. Like traffic lights. You know how there are left turn green arrows in America? Well, here there are (remember, opposite side) sometimes right turn arrows. Occasionally there are left turn arrows as well, because there's no allowance for a 'right on red' here (or 'left on red' as it would be). And infrequently there are green arrows pointing straight ahead, indicating the obvious; you can go straight, but you can't turn. Well, all this to say that twice now in Japan I have come to a traffic light with arrows pointing left, right and forward, with all of them green at the same time. What is that all about?!!? Isn't that just a regular green light? I wish I had taken a picture. I thought traffic signals were supposed to direct, not confuse...

And the custom of stopping at a stop light is different here, too. First, the Japanese seem to think that as long as you can enter the intersection within 5 seconds of the light turning red, then it's all good. They just don't stop for the red lights. Maybe they are colorblind and can't see yellow or something, I don't know. Craziest one yet - the other day I was driving on a road with just one lane in each direction, with two cars in front of me. The light changed as we approached and the first car stopped. The second car didn't - he gunned it and flew around the stooped car through opposing traffic just to get through the (already) red light. Keep it mind, it's not like the first car slammed on the brakes or anything... This was bold, even by Japanese standards.


So, when you come to Japan, be careful if you plan to actually stop when a light turns red; you might get hit in the tail.


On a brighter note, the Japanese (when they stop) they ALWAYS stop at the white line... never cross it. Never. They've got the Americans beat on that one!


The other day I went to Oshima (the largest island belonging to Yamaguchi prefecture). Here are some pictures from that...

Tigers?? No...

So my brother Skyped me last night and said my nephew Drew wanted to ask me a question.
The question... Do you have tigers in Japan? :)
He was apparently suddenly overcome with fear that I was going to be eaten by a tiger! How cute.
So he asked what kind of animals we have in Japan. And of course I said, "We've got big, scary tigers!" :) He said to his daddy, "See, I told you!!" and was jumping all over the room. So cute.
Seriously though, of course we don't have tigers. We do have monkeys though, which are apparently pretty dangerous. I've only seen them a couple of times, and not near my home, though I've heard they are around. They'll steal your food and anything shiny (like a camera)... so it's better just to stay clear. I've heard though that you are pretty likely to see them if you head up certain mountain roads.
So of course, I can't wait for the weather to warm up a little and take my bike up into the mountains! Surely I can outrun them if they start throwing rocks at me, right??

The Countryside...

Hirao really is country. I feel it the most when we venture to pass out fliers. Here in Japan, unlike America, it is legal to place advertisements in mailboxes. In fact, it's not abnormal to open the front door and just leave your paper sitting there on the floor! We try to stick to the mailboxes though :) Right now we are preparing to start some new English classes at the church in March, and so in addition to the ad we put in the paper, we're distributing flyers around the neighborhood.
There are 13,000 people in all of Hirao. Small, but not super small. Still, we have no train station, which is basically the marker of whether you are in the 'bush' or not. But here's the deal - and it's noticable when passing out fliers, because - there really aren't any neighborhoods. It's a house here and a house there, and one way over there. It makes passing out fliers pretty difficult. And tiring. Thankfully I am finally familiar enough with the area and all the little roads that I don't have to do too much backtracking to see if there's a house at the end of 'that' street or not... it's taken some time though. When you go out for several hours and only pass out a couple of hundred fliers, it's easy to get discouraged!
But we worked on it today, and will go back out tomorrow in the morning... before the rain comes in the afternoon. We should have a little time left next week, too. But even if just one person comes because of the fliers, it's worth it. We're praying for a bunch though - the more the better! Have to wait and see...

I think I'm in love...

I can't hardly believe how much fun I'm having on this bike! I mean, I enjoyed riding around at the driving school, but now that I'm out on the 'open road' it's just a whole different world. And seriously, it's just FUN! (Don't worry, safety always comes first...) I just wish now that I'd have taken my SRL camera instead of the dinky one...

Hirao makes up the western side of a peninsula that runs north and south. Even though I've lived here for 2 years and seen signs (well, a sign :))for the Murotsu Skyline running along the mountains down the center of the peninsula, I've never ventured out there before. You know, it's just like growing up outside of DC and not going into town to see the Smithsonian museums, the White House, the Monument or the memorials. Well, now that I have this bike, I've got a reason to run along the skyline... So that's what I did this afternoon. Man, it was so refreshing! The road winds around the mountains, up and down... and there's nobody else out there. It's mostly wooded, but there are some places where you can see out over the sea. Today it was hazy, so the view wasn't great... but it's always beautiful. I love the water here because there are so many islands everywhere. I decided to ride back along the coast... again, simply beautiful - just too quick! :) I can't believe I live less than a half hour from all these natural wonders. God is good!

The New Me

So my friend Colby saw the titles here and put a little picture together for me... I'm not sure about this one... what do you think??

Thanks Colby! See you soon :)

My New Toy

Perhaps I shouldn't call my new Honda VTR250 a toy... but I've been excited about it all week, just like I would feel in the days leading up to Christmas when I was a little boy. And it's as much fun as I was hoping for.

Last summer while in Okayama I was looking to do something a little, um, out of the ordinary. The result - I ended up going to driving school to get a motorcycle license (school is required here). It was a little expensive, and at first more stressful than fun... but in about a month's time I finished all the classes and even passed the final test. I exchanged my graduation papers for my new license when I returned to Hirao in September.

So in July I started saving up my money, and looking online and in magazines to find my bike... I decided on the Honda VTR250 pretty early on, but wasn't ready to put down the money until now. So a couple of weeks ago I went to Iwakuni with Shobu-san and we looked at the blue VTR we'd found online. No problems with the bike, and they promised to change the battery, tires, brakes, plugs, chain and just about everything else... so I bought it!

This Wednesday I hopped on the train and headed over to the bike shop to pick it up. I was a little nervous on the hour ride home, and the farther I went the more comfortable I felt, and whoa, I was having so much fun!

Each day I've gone out a bit, and I'm getting used to it. Now I've got to plan my first tour! :) There are plenty of great places to go around here with the water and all the mountains... To tell the truth, I'm just looking foward to going back and forth between here and Nijigaoka - following the water much of the way!