Haidee`s music

婚約しましたよ！We got engaged!

2009-09-26T03:13:00.007+09:00

長い間何も書いてないけど人生が順調に進んでいて、毎日忙しくて面白いです。
恋人がいることと、勉強が興味深いことが原因でしょう！（笑）

春の一日目にロブ君が結婚をプロポーズしました：Will you marry me?

わぁぁ～なんと嬉しいことでした。やっと婚約だ！実は二人だけではなく、学校の皆の前で彼がプロポーズしました。びっくり！

ということで、２月５日に結婚する予定です。結婚日まで勉強やら、用意やら、いろいろなことが続きます。しかし、もちろんとても楽しみです。

It's been a long time since I wrote, but life has continued on. Studying and spending time with Rob is probably why. On the 1st day of Spring, Rob asked the pivotal question, "will you marry me?" woohoo, so happy, finally we are engaged! Actually it wasn't just the two of us, he asked me in front of the entire school! We plan to get married on the 5th February, so until then my studies continue. We are very excited.

生徒生活

2009-03-16T15:01:00.003+09:00

４週間前１学期が始まりました。　早い！授業は毎日大変面白い、聖書やクリストや歴史などを勉強しています。　毎日読まなければならない本やジャーナルが待ている。　帰国してから新しいボーイフレンドに出会った。実は８年前に出会ってけど今だけ関係が暑くなりました。幸いです。写真を添付します。Rob君は優しい人です。

4 weeks in Akld have flown by very fast! Everyday classes here at Laidlaw College are very interesting. I am learning about the bible, Jesus Christ and the history and spirituality of the church from all over the world. Everyday I have heaps of reading to do from books and journals, its hard to keep up! Since returning to NZ I have been blessed with a boyfriend! very exciting! Above is a photo of super kind, gourmet chef, japanese speaking, lovely Rob.

ニュージーランド２００９

2009-01-31T07:25:00.004+09:00

久しぶりブログを書くことなんだ、日本語は最近話してないから日本人友のためにこのブログを続くことにした。
家族と一緒にのんびり夏生活を楽しんでいます。先週末Parachute Music Festivalに行きました。４日間キャンプで音楽と神様のことを聞たり、ダンスをしたり、すごく楽しかった。新しい友達もむかしから友達も会って良かった。
今Wellingtonに住んでいるけど２月１９日からAucklandに引っ越する予定です。あそこで聖書学校に入学します。楽しみです。
家族は皆元気、弟Joshua（末っ子）はまだ１４歳！私の年は彼の年よりちょうど２倍です！笑！
ある日弟と一緒に水泳競争に行きまして私は横から見ると応援だけで面白いことになった。彼の友達が来て”彼女はだれ？”って、””ガールフレンドですか。”　って聞いた！びっくりしました、お母さんよりガールフレンドほうが良いかもけど！私は２８歳で、弟は１４際で...内は１４際に見えるかな。。。写真は妹弟私Tongariro Crossing, North Island, NZ。

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T17:22:00.003+09:00

The wonder of light

2008-10-26T08:05:00.007+09:00

Imagine a lifetime without light, or a dark night without a light to see your way and around you, then one day you pick up an object and while feeling it and wondering what it is- LIGHT flicks on! woah amazing!
Now you can use the `torch` to see around you and go forward to a better place. Thats what TRUTH is like, when you find it you can see your surroundings with more definition, more insight. You can find the WAY that is good to travel in your life! What a discovery! The bible is the light to my path and Jesus is my truth and life.

*"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" Psalm 119:105

"Jesus said, I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes the the Father except through me." John 14:6

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,'
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6

*Above quotes are taken from the Bible (NIV)
** Photo of Annupuri mountains - Hokkaido Japan

Sapporo 札幌

2008-10-12T15:33:00.002+09:00

Settled and living in Sapporo now. Autumn is here, 13-16 degrees mmm chilly, orange, red, yellow autumn colours displaying a small glimpse of God`s glory on the trees, there are lots of parks and country areas on this edge of Sapporo - its a nice place to live. Only 1.5 hours drive from Niseko so i can visit friends there from time to time and enjoy the autumn harvest veges and fruit that abound as blessings received from friends. I am teaching english part time at a small Christian english kindergarten which is a lot of fun-the kids are cute and well behaved, and so blessed to be learning about Jesus from a young age. The rest of my time is used commuting and studying at the OMF Japanese language centre across town. My teacher is a gem, so good. I am going to pass the level 2 Japanese proficiency exam this year. So to achieve that I am studying and living a student lifestyle in a very small 1 room apartment. If my room is not tidy its dangerous - fall over and bang into stuff (we are talking very compact here). Going along to a dancing jumping church called ICF - its bilingual and full of young fun christians living out their faith and so into prayer. We pray for revival in Japan and the church does heaps of outreach events - its challenging and inspirational. I am so blessed to praise God in this fellowship. I finally have internet at home (putting my study time at risk) and have discovered God TV - free online streaming of conferences and events around the globe giving glory to the Creator and Saviour Jesus Christ. search and find!
Flights booked for 21 Dec return to Aotearoa NZ, praying about a 3 month turn around or a 2 year study time in NZ... Trusting God to make the decision clear in his good timing. God is good!

[`For I know the plans i have for you`, declares the Lord, `plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future`. Jeremiah 29:11]

Earth Celebration with Kodo 皷童

2008-08-31T19:58:00.003+09:00

Just got back from spending the last 10 days in Sado hanging with Mel T and Mel S! the main event was Earth Celebration, I volunteered to help and perform. It was a fantastic time-got to spend time with many special people involved with Kodo. I played a set on the first day at the Fringe stage and also did the English MCing there. There were heaps of fabulous acts on the fringe stage my favourites were Cocon (offshoot female group from KODO) and Comugi (singer songwriter on ukulele). The evening concerts were impressive with Kodo and Olodum from Brazil performing, I danced the most I have in months to the Samba reggae grooves of Olodum. After EC was over I could say `Abrigado`we had cleanup, bbq etc. Went denki biking with Mel around the Ogi Peninsula, walked a 7km tourist trail in Mano, saw the gold mining area, indulged in delicious cakes, enjoyed swimming in Sobama and Mano beaches (first salt water swim for me in 2 years!).
Caught the overnight ferry back again from Niigata to Otaru, long ride but cheap and convenient. Now back at home packing for the move to Sapporo tomorrow. New studies and job start on Tuesday, 頑張ります。

Shiretoko 知床

2008-08-16T11:10:00.005+09:00

Shiretoko is a World Natural Heritage site in Eastern Hokkaido. Yuki and I had 4 days to enjoy it.
Day 1. Niseko-Chitose-Takinoue -saw deer on side of road, met horse farm family on the way (biggest horses I`ve ever seen!) (missed a turn off and instead of staying at Kitami decided to stay at Takinoue which turned out to be a really good decision. Hotel Keikoku was fantastic and the local herb/flower garden and tea cafe were superb.
Day 2.Takinoue-Saroma Lake-Abashiri-Shari-Shiretoko-5 lakes(fantastic views, Tofutsu ko with horses hiding in the long grasses, eating jaga dango and local melon juice at roadside cafe, waterfalls, deer and foxes, stayed at Ezobetsu YH.
Day 3. Kayaking in Okhotsk Sea, saw Fureppu waterfall and 男の涙滝, drove to Mashu ko intense mist saw nothing, Kawayu onsen, Lake Kussharo-fantastic camping ground and swimming lake-it was too cold to swim (18degrees), Akanko View Hotel.
Day 4. Akanko morimo island and ainu cotan, heaps of ainu woodwork in the shops, highway to Sapporo via Hidaka and Yubari melons, Sapporo Chisan Hotel.
Day 5. Sapporo Tokeidai, Prefectural hall for interesting hokkaido history, hitsugigaoka hill William Clark statue *boys be ambitious. Some of the early hokkaido developers were Japanese Christians! back home to Shimonseki and Kutchan respectively.
1,350KM driven, phew so tired, also looked at sapporo apt on way home - deciding where to live is difficult

Life

2008-08-10T08:03:00.002+09:00

The live nights went really well last week in Niseko - big ups to all who came and enjoyed with us! i can now put on yukata by myself! the last week has been a lot of fun hanging with friends and studying a bit of japanese in the quiet moments. highlights were a picnic with Murata family in Makkari- such cute kids and lovely parents, Junko`s birthday party at Rin, recording with Fukamachi san at his self made log house in the forest with his beautiful wife and adorable black labradors, lunch at Kamimura Restaurant - mmm sooo good - Yuichi Kamimura is the best chef and such a kind, gentle person. In other news we have been visited in swarms by moths! at first i thought they were cute with their furry heads however there are way too many and furthermore they have started laying eggs - first in our bathroom, then on my car, and this morning on my bedroom curtains - not cute-yuck. Today is big drive day. Niseko - Chitose - Kitami (9 hours maybe?) Yuki (teaching friend from Yanai who now lives in hometown Shimonseki, also came for Christmas with my family in NZ 2006) Yuki is flying up from Shimonseki and i will meet her at Chitose airport, then we drive to East Hokkaido - Shiretoko - world heritage national park! bears, deer, owls, whales - bring on the fun and of course onsen = )

29 July Kanronomori 甘露の森

2008-07-30T08:02:00.003+09:00

2008-07-23T08:48:00.000+09:00

Friday, August 1
Northern Fox, Hirafu, Kutchan
1st set 18:30, second set 20:30

Singer/Songwriter Haidee Rich from New Zealand, accompanied by Japanese pianist Emi Kikuchi, violinist Shiori Araya, and fellow New Zealander Jon Barlow on drums, with special guest Fukamachi Kazuhiko on double bass.

A fusion of international influences, the arrangement creates a unique and beautiful soundscape.

This group of locals has come together especially for this occasion; a summer concert at the classy Northern Fox venue.

Please come and hear songs unique to this area of international culture and development. This is a once off event not to be missed.

8月1日（金）　1st ステージ18:30　2nd ステージ20:30

シンガーソングライター／ヘイディー・リッチ（ニュージーランド）、ピアノ/ 菊地恵美, ヴァイオリン／新谷志織、ドラムス／ジョン・バーロー（ニュージーランド）　スペシャルゲスト　ベース／深町かずひこ

ニセコ在住、日本とニュージーランドのミュージシャン達が集ってできたグループ。地域について唄った曲や、日常の生活に密接したポップスなど、インターナショナルで個性的なサウンドをお届けします。この日のための一夜限りのバンドなので是非お見逃しなく♫

Change

2008-07-10T13:39:00.002+09:00

Change is just around the corner. I am excited about the future. As of August life will be different. I am leaving my current job in search on new horizons.

Back to work

2008-06-27T09:04:00.002+09:00

I`ve been back in Japan for over 1 month now and am beginning to feel settled again-travelling/holiday feelings continue on return to normal life so getting a routine of study, exercise, quiet times and waking up on time have taken some adjustment time. We finally have internet at home so i might be more regular with this blog maybe = ) I`ve been cycling to work recently initially because my license expired but now for exercise and when that is not motivation enough i think about how fast my car guzzles petrol and how expensive it is to fill the tank! then i get on my bike! Yesterday I went on a whim to Otaru shopping for gifts for my bro Josh, Dad and Shiori-birthdays in the next 2 weeks. there was a stunning sunset on the way home.

Aotearoa

2008-05-03T17:49:00.002+09:00

I am enjoying 5 weeks in NZ with damily and friends. They have kept me busy with a spectacular tramp on the Nydia track thru the Pelourus Sound with Dad and Nathan, family wknd at windy, wet, Tora surf beach (I went out once with my brothers wearing 8ml worth of wetsuit!enjoyed frying up field mushrooms picked in the grassy dunes, Taupo with Mum & Kylee for NZ style hot springs and autumn colours, Purely Girls camp at El Rancho to remind me of my roots & love.
Tonight Mum made pavlova-it was sooo good = ) tomorrow is Grandads 80th birthday party so the house will be overflowing with extended family.

Snowshoeing and Saki chan

2008-03-07T19:43:00.003+09:00

2 weeks ago Saki chan & I walked across a local lake using snowshoes! frozen lake hangetsuko covered in snow! freaky fun times. This week I am visitin her in hospital-shes a bit of a spinner on the snowboard and tried a new jump landing with a broken back! scary stuff but Praise God she can move her limbs and it seems that after 2 months in hospital she might be healed up-I pray. Spring is here with a week of sunshine with no snow forecast-we can see the roads again now that the ice and snow have melted away-everything else it still covered in snow and ice. Work has also become quieter quite suddenly, which is nice!

Overtime Routine

2008-02-11T21:11:00.001+09:00

I wrote a new song which I played last night at Java Bar, its called `Overtime Routine` its about my job. Every day over time! Chinese New Year is probably one of the busiest times of the year, with the most demanding guests. I am fortunate to get 2 days off a week-most people in this resort only get 1 day off a week, however I work the hours of 7days in 5!
Last week on Monday i went to Sapporo and met up with Jenny from Tokyo-we saw the beginnings of the NZ sculpture, and today I returned to see the end result. Surprisingly good after a slow start! I am dreaming about visiting my whanau in NZ in April...

On a clear day

2007-12-30T17:51:00.000+09:00

On occasional days we have beautiful clear views of Mt Youtei from our house in the snow. But on good snow days its all clouded over and the beauty is found in the snow loaded trees and falling snow as I drive to work. Life has been absolutely hectic with work recently taking up over 12 hours of my day! Need more staff, need to reduce my hours! I am so grateful for 2 days off...I miss my family a lot at this time of year, for the last 2 years I have gone home to NZ for Christmas but this year I am in Japan until at least March and missing all the festivities at home-not that it is not festive here its just not the same without family. On the snowboard front I am now able to turn both sides when its not too steep and I enjoy it except for the occassional bounce on my head!

Celebrating 27 years under the sun!

2007-12-19T21:00:00.000+09:00

16 Dec was my 27th birthday, started with clearing a whole lot of snow from my car and the deck, then going to church.
In the afternoon I went to a community storytelling event at the local museum and I performed 3 songs there. Met some very interesting and friendly people and received gifts-they had a 2nd hand gift exchange and when you won bingo you could choose a wrapped up gift-groovy earth friendly idea!

We had a vege potluck party at our home in the evening. It was a feast. My potato soup was warmly recieved as people arrived to warm and Saoka and Shiori made tempura-very yummy and my favourite inarichan with a special hijiki twist.
I had a wonderful day and I am so grateful for all the friends and collegues God has blessed me with in the short 8 months since I moved to Niseko.

Last day age 26

2007-12-15T23:03:00.000+09:00

Today I am 26 but tomorrow I will be 27. It has a nice ring to it, seven rhymes with heaven= )
Snow is falling and all the holiday makers are flooding into Hirafu for the powder action of Mt Annupuri!
I am learning to snowboard this season and have been out twice already, recovered and ready for some professional instruction on Monday and maybe a helmet to protect my precious locks & head. Some pics of the area as requested by Mum.

2007-11-20T14:19:00.000+09:00

its snowing-pic of our new house with Shiori our flatmate clearing the snow
Last night we had an unplanned nabe party - fun times even though i should be studying for the japanese test on dec 2!

Woodpeckers & bees nests

2007-11-10T13:33:00.000+09:00

We have moved house-but this week both my flatmates are not home so
I am living in a wooden house and there are large woodpeckers (the size of the crows!) who are very beautiful and native and they like to hammer at the house to make nests etc
not sure what to do about it - if i go outside they fly away, but then come back! there is one hole already! and i notice sadly that there are several squares of wood that look like they have been added to block holes previously made! this morning i saw 4-5 woodpeckers!
also there is a perfect huge bees nest!!! hanging from our neighbours roof! amazing - living with nature! I met the neighbour the other day outside and showed her the bees nest hanging from her roof-she hadn't noticed!

Autumn

2007-10-27T13:13:00.000+09:00

The leaves are falling from the trees and our little cottage doesn`t seem so isolated anymore-we can see our neighbours houses now that the leaves have gone! Recently Shiori and I took a weekend off to visit Taisetsusan (biggest national park), Asahikawa and Furano - very beautiful and cold-we saw a wild deer with big antlers-but he ran away when I cruised up with the window down and the camera aimed! Shiori will be moving with Saoka and I into a 3 bdrm house as of 3 Nov! very exciting-I`m gonna have my own room yay! Winter is fast approaching-daunting and exciting all in one...work will be mega busy and our quiet little resort will turn into an Aussie picnic.

Tomoko & Adams Wedding

2007-10-06T21:35:00.000+09:00

Today I went to my first (friends) wedding in Japan. An Australian man marrying a Japanese woman. The ceremonies were a mix of Aussie/Japanese traditions and styles. The service was in a Chapel with a Japanese priest, then lunch was at a local cafe, there were speeches and the couple broke a Sake barrel (Japanese alcohol) and cut a
chu-cream cake! The bride had not only made her own dress but also her grooms suit! A builder marries a designer! reminded me of Rowland and Alicia a little bit!

2007-09-23T15:20:00.000+09:00

Recently I've been practicing a lot with these girls, we performed last week at an open mike night and this saturday we will be performing again at a candle light night. Last night we went to see another group perform - I'm turning all classical with a splash of Irish! Violins are on constant replay in my mind....da da da da da

Camping at Shikotsuko 支笏湖キャンピング

2007-08-25T13:31:00.000+09:00

In the last wee while Caitlin & I went camping at the beautiful Lake Shikotsuko-its a national park complete with bears! and motor boats are not allowed in the water to keep it wonderfully clear with many fish. Our borrowed tent was a bit small for two so we slept under the stars. The weather was excellent and we enjoyed lots of swimming and beach life-being the Obon holiday season the camping beach was packed and we were lucky to get a good spot on the shore.

Jen comes to visit-my first visitor from afar!

2007-08-12T13:12:00.000+09:00

Jennifer came to visit me last weekend and I managed to get the wknd off to show her around my patch of hokkaido.
The 2 themes of our trip were Bears and Rain. At lake shikotsuko there were many signs warning of bears and we even decided not to visit a waterfall as there were no others there and a huge bears beware sign in front of the unused looking track!
Jen got to take part in a potato grab as part of Kutchans jyagaimo festival-yum tum new tatties.

Our Cabin in the woods

2007-07-16T11:32:00.000+09:00

This is where Saoka and I live. Its a simple cabin in the woods, with a deck the size of the house for delightful breakfasts in the sun listening to the birds, and bbqs under the stars. There is another house going up close by so the peace ends about 8am every morning surrendering to the sound of chainsaws and hammering etc Check out my photos link on the right for a few more pics of potato flowers, lakes etc

Distant Relatives in Japan!

2007-07-10T11:34:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I met Richard, Connie and Joy Goodall-distant relatives from my Mothers 'Rout' lineage! They live in Japan and have lived here for many many years! Their children have grown up in Japan and had their children in Japan! wow! It was very exciting to finally meet them. They live in Muroran which is about a 2-3 hour drive from Niseko. Yesterday Richard was performing 2 weddings at the prestigous Lake Toya Windsor Hotel (where the G8 summit is to be held next year) so I attended the weddings-I had never been to a wedding in Japan so it was interesting-the very small numbers of guests surprised me, apparently its an expense thing...Lake Toya was looking stunning but up on the hill where the hotel is located it was engulfed in a mysterious mist all day-the view on a clear day is supposed to be excellent. Later we drove round the Lake and onto to the industrial city of Muroran where they pastor a church in the ground floor of their house. It was wonderful to meet Connie and Joy and we all had dinner together before I drove home via Lake Toyas onsens-which made me rather sleepy for the rest of the drive-but I did get to see fireworks over the Lake. They have a 20 min display every night of summer! It was a fantastic day and I look forward to meeting my relatives again soon.

Moving

2007-06-24T09:05:00.000+09:00

Today I am moving out of my luxurious house into a very "compact" cottage with my new friend Saoka. We will be sharing a room sleeping in the loft of our minature cottage-the deck is as big as the floor space inside! good for summer BBQs. On Fri night I went to a candlenight musical evening at a local cafe. I met lots of new people who love music and many who will be my new neighbours! I played a couple of songs which were enjoyed and I enjoyed listening and particpating in a very fine evening. (I went by myself and I was the only foreigner there! very unusual for Hirafu!) Yesterday I had a crazy day at work finishing at 8pm!
I feel like I just wanna sleep and sleep but there is so much to do and think about....

The weekend

2007-06-18T18:00:00.000+09:00

Worked on Saturday but had friends over for dinner on Sat night, Caitlin stayed over and we went to church in Kutchan on a very sunny Sunday morning. There were 5 people there and they were very friendly, we stayed for lunch and got to see the nice kindergarten that is run by the church. Played park golf in the afternoon at Kyogoku. Its like real but with extra large balls and clubs and shorter fairways fun times, then filled up our water bottles at a beautiful natural spring where some people looked like they were stocking up on water for the week. According to my car it was 27degrees outside on Sunday and we packed out togs just in case. Then had them all over for pizza and wierd as rubbish russian dvd-not my choice. Today started reading Francine River's Atonement Child and the morning hours disappeared with lots of tears and eventually I forced my self to put the book down and do something with my day off-visited some local tourist spots and shops and popped by the cottage Saoka and I are considering renting for summer-its compact! (that is actually its name and it lives up to it easy)

Mt Youtei 羊蹄山

2007-06-13T22:02:00.000+09:00

We climbed the Volcano that I see from the window everyday on Monday. Together with others from the village we started at 7am and climbed 4 hours to the top, it was a brilliant day and we were sweating and puffing by 8:30am-it was hot! At the top there was still some snow to walk through and after eating lunch on the crater edge, we slid down into the crater in the snow which was loads of fun-most people stood and kindof skiied down on their feet-but dragging behind to finish my lunch I caught up by sliding down on my bum and actually passed some and beat them to the frozen and melting crater lake. Climbing out of the crater up the slippery snow was well difficult but we made it and then rock jumped round the circumference of the crater before descending (to the shock of our knees) back to the cars and awaiting onsen to rest our tired muscles.

Rusutsu & Lake Toya

2007-06-10T21:02:00.000+09:00

Yesterday at work I had to pretend to be in love with Jon for a magazine photo shoot to advertise the Niseko area. So next month we might have our pics in a glossy mag in Tokyo! Enjoyed Yugokoro onsen last night with Caitlin-we could see the stars from the big outdoor hotspring and the bright green of the forest against the dark blue of the night sky was spectacular. Today I followed Brother Iwata and his family to Church in Rusutsu, the first big drive for my car and the tank was empty, I stopped in twice at the same petrol station to their amusement = ) Checked out the resort area after church and then drove to Lake Toya since it was only another 30km away. Wow what a place-it looks like its been cut and pasted here from NZ! I wanna go back there soon to camp with some friends. Tomorrow we climb Mt Yotei, the snow is almost all gone and I am looking forward to the chance to meet some more people while getting some nature time in too.

Subaru Forrester!

2007-06-05T18:18:00.000+09:00

Yeah new wheels! It arrived on Saturday after work and I could only gaze at it on Sunday as the insurance company wasn't open for business, however enjoyed the wknd locally with a BBQ on Fri, work and friends over for Pirates 2 (I got the order all mixedup) on Sat and a long walk for local homemade icecream with Torie on Sun after watching church on the internet! I had Mon off but insurance actually kicks in today so I had to drive carefully to Kutchan to transfer the money to start the insurance-and since the shops were there I checked them out also, as you do = )

Sapporo

2007-05-27T21:21:00.000+09:00

Week 2 and all is well. I'm enjoying work and people are friendly which makes settling in so easy. Yesterday I went to Sapporo with 3 friends and we saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and went shopping. I confess I have not seen the 1st two movies as I thought they looked scary but I really enjoyed no. 3 and now plan to see the previous 2. Today we went bowling with people from work in Iwanai! (funny name-it means rocks inside but also sounds like 'don`t say', which makes it a place open to teasing)-and after had dinner at Reiko's house. Fun times. This week I am expecting....some wheels hehe so excited!
Also JesusLifeHouse in Tokyo puts videos of their sermons on the web so you can hear the message in english and japanese even when not in Tokyo-woohoo for the girl in the inaka

JesusLifeHouse Tokyo

Hokkaido, Niseko

2007-05-19T11:14:00.000+09:00

Here I am after my first week in my new job in Hokkaido, so far so good. The job (Front Desk) seems quite similar to other work I have done in the past and its just a matter of learning the systems, area and peoples names etc. I am determined to continue to improve my Japanese ability so I can do my job better and pass Level 2 proficiency in December. Everyone is friendly and I am enjoying the mix of people here. The world is a small place, there is a guy who went to the same Tawa College as me here and another guy who knows people I worked with at Expo. There is also a friend of a friend living here who I have yet to meet. I'm looking for a place to live-people flat together here like in NZ so I'd like to move in with others. I also need to find myself some wheels as the local supermarket and shops are 15 mins drive away. The snow has mostly melted away and only remains on the peaks so when the sun comes out it can be quite warm-it was 24 degrees the other day but today is rainy and more like 10degrees!

Wales

2007-05-15T20:54:00.000+09:00

We enjoyed climbing the Back Mountains and eating Pat's gourmet meals and picnics. Drinking English Cider, playing 'scum', soccer, frisbee, plaiting hair, foraging for firewood, going to a lean to historic St Martins Church, watching the boys play tug-a-war, Chepstow Castle, Bootcar sale, Tintern Abbey and more PICNICs! yay for good food! sooo gonna miss the houmus, olives, bread, fudge...Returned to London and then to Tokyo. Recovered and refreshed at Jenny's and this time she introduced me to `Grey's Anatomy' and 'Prison Break'. I've been away from TV for so long but Jenny has possibly helped me catch up on all I missed. We cooked yum yum meals together at her place and now I am missing her company as I sit alone in my new home in Hokkaido.

Wales

2007-05-15T20:45:00.000+09:00

Well after a crazy day without Pip we got into the cars with Pat and Dave to be driven in circles finally making it to our camping spot in Wales at 12:30midnight. Pitching the new never been pitched before tent in the dark-no moon = ( was a good team effort and the tent was fantastic. Then we discovered no shower, no running water, 1 long drop-gulp...unexpected by all. But totally fun cooking over the campfire, stinking together, knocking on doors for water, talking and entertaining old fashioned ways we even had a make shift 'tea party' where the boys were quite shocked at the make believe fun of 4 women pretending to be 'proper posh ladies'. Story, Dare or ...?!

Missing in Herfordshire

2007-05-15T20:40:00.000+09:00

I stayed with Pip one night and being a busy Lawyer she had to go into work even though she took the day off to spend with me. So she dropped me at the Hertfordshire shops while she went to work and we said we'd call when she was done. Short story she called but my silly Japanese phone refused to allow her through so I assumed she was really busy while she started searching for me. Even called the Police to report me missing! after 5 hours of waiting around I decided enough was enough and found my way back to her work and called her to discover for 4 hours she had been looking for me! crikey and I was killing time hanging in the Castle gardens boo hoo = ( No Cambridge day trip for us! But we hoofed it back to London and met my Bro and Sis and Sarah & Tom and off we chugged to Bristol for a camping trip to Wales!

London again

2007-05-15T20:33:00.000+09:00

Back in London Alicia and Rowland re-taught me how to ride a mountain bike-you have to get off the seat before you stop! I have been used to Japanese shopping bikes that ride so low you have sit on your seat with feet on the ground at the lights that on my first test ride on the 'discarded by the last flatmate' mountain bike that I fell off! ha! so off we rode to Richmond Park to see the deer and eat Alicia's yummy dinner picnic. We rode through a golf course at one stage and a golf ball came within a metre of flooring me! not joking! scary stuff. So safely home decided the next day belonged to sight seeing with Alicia-went to the Design Museum-way too much stuff to see. Enjoyed the Theatre with Rowland and Pip also in the evening. Saw 'Dancing in the Streets' musical with no story line! but really good Motown covers!

Bath

2007-05-15T20:24:00.000+09:00

After Leicester came Bath. I love Bath. The city is so romantic with gorgeous old buildings, canals and History. I visited the Cathedral that looks over the Baths. The English must be accustomed to it but I feel disrespectful walking on peoples graves as I walk through a Cathedral, is it just me who finds this strange?
Joining a free 2 hour walking tour of the city was my best choice while there we saw and heard about the stories behind the architecture from a nice man and saw a lot of city I would not have ventured to by myself.

Leicester with Anna

2007-05-09T18:43:00.000+09:00

After a cancelled flight and associated hassle I flew from Glasgow to Manchester and we got a coach to take us the final bit to Birmingham. Moral of the story is trains are more reliable than domestic flights. Anna picked me up and we enjoyed the rest of the day at Warrick Castle. The sun was out and we enjoyed cornish pasties and caramel slice on the lawn and caught up on life since Kyrgyzstan (we roomed together there). The castle was fabulous and a popular family place, we saw a trebuchet demo where a large fire ball was hurled at the walls of an imaginary castle. Later we had a go at the age old game of Skittles, throw the cheese and hit down as many chunks as possible-they were really old heavy woodchunks and very dangerous when thrown by excited older players, enjoyed my first and only mushy peas and chips in England with Anna's parents and friends before heading off to meet Anna's friends at another pub.

Scotland

2007-04-28T06:00:00.000+09:00

The last week has been in Scotland. Went on a Macbackpacker tour of the Highlands and Skye Island. It was well worth it. The Highlands are so beautiful, parts reminding me of the desert road and green pasture lands of NZ. It rained as reputed and changed to sunshine just as quickly. Our guide Neil told us about the history of the Highlands and clans and relations with England. He told us about fairies, mermaids, giants and haggis. The difference between truth and fable was well blurred for this naive learner. Got me really interested in my family history. Seems all the Mc's such as McKenzie and more come from the Highlands. Our immediate family names are Rich, Rout, McKenzie and Brewerton. So we have some roots in Scotland which is nice since I felt really at home and romantic in the Highlands. Back in Edinburgh and Glasgow I was reminded that the romance is all but gone-the saving note is a lively music scene-so much live music opportunities if I were to return. Discovered that Scotland and England have different versions of the Pound money and apparently I can't use Scottish pounds in England!
P.S. Click on the orange box on the side panel to listen to Keryn & Simon's wedding song-Congratulations on their 4th year wedding anniversary!

Hokkaido

2007-04-23T01:20:00.000+09:00

This blog is becoming very retrospective. Anyways when Mum and Dad left I went to stay in Tokyo with Jenny. I love staying with Jenny, she has the best bachelorette pad in Shibuya and is always welcoming of homeless travellers like me = )
Shes getting me hooked on the Lost TV series.
I flew to Hokkaido (northern island of Japan) for a job interview with Hokkaido Tracks. Met their team of Aussies, Kiwis, Japanese and others-they seem like a good bunch. The location is Niseko-Hirafu, its beautiful and really different to the rest of Japan. Its basically a ski resort with great adventure sport and nature viewing during the warmer months. I even got in a spot of spring skiing! Now I'm in Scotland staying with Keryn and Simon!

Nagasaki

2007-04-13T12:18:00.000+09:00

The last part of our trip took us to Nagasaki via train, bus and ferry! Dad and I spotted dolphins as we came into the Shimabara harbour, so cool! From Shimabara to Nagasaki we got to experience possibly the oldest and the newest trains on the tracks. Dad almost lost his hand when the window slammed down after trying to prise it open on the old train, and then he was reluctant to get off the new train with its leather seats, auto glass doors and neon lights. We stayed at the Catholic Centre YHA across the road from Urakami Cathedral. We saw the old part of Nagasaki enjoying the Museum of History and Culture-with lots of info on early int'l trade thru Nagasaki port and Dejima- the island of isolation for int'l traders during the Edo period of Japan's isolation policy from the world. By the end of the day Dad said we had had information-overload-I agreed.
The next day we looked at Nagasakis more recent history at the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum. The sakura petals were falling gracefully as we walked thru many monuments offered by other countries in tribute to world peace. NZ Aotearoa also donated a monument of a kowhai cloak in silver-it was nice to see our country's tribute to peace here in Japan.
After another night in Fukuoka I sent them off home to NZ. It was Easter Sunday so Fukuoka Int'l church had a service and picnic where I got to meet lots of lovely people and enjoy another hanami picnic complete with an easter egg hunt!

Journey Onwards to Matsyama and Mt Aso

2007-04-10T15:39:00.000+09:00

After leaving my life in Yanai we landed in Matsuyama where the sakura blossoms were in full bloom, we saw Matsuyama castle and enjoyed a picnic on a park bench under the cherry blossoms overlooking the river. Dogo Onsen was not too hot to get into and we quite enjoyed the 3000 year old baths and decor. Matsuyama youth hostel was nice but the kitchen has much to be desired or not desired aka cockroaches ugh..
We ferried, trained and bussed to Mt Aso via Beppu. Mt Aso is a town built atop an ancient volcano crater and has lots of volcanic activity bursting out of more active volcanoes within the larger crater area. It was much older there as it is higher but the blossoms were still showing us their best petals at the Mt Aso YHA-recommended, cosy and friendly camp like atmosphere.
Up Mt Nakadake the temp. was a biting -1C with occasional snow. Dad led us on a chilling 1 hour walk to craters and random volcanic ash lands before we convinced him of the need to descend before our noses fell off with frostbite = )
The onsen Yume no Yu was also really good complete with outdoor pool rotembo.

Mum and Dad

2007-04-07T20:45:00.000+09:00

Well for the last 2 weeks my folks have been in Japan with me = )
We met at Fukuoka Airport, stayed at Khaosan Hostel in Fukuoka-cheap and convenient. Caught the highway bus to Yufuin-stayed at the cosy and welcoming Yufuin Youth Hostel-wandered the shops and enjoyed the onsens continuing on to Beppu we stayed at the very cheap Beppu Guesthouse in front of the Station-it rained the whole day-saw Umi Jigoku (boiling blue pool) then enjoyed the beautiful Kannawa en onsen with its garden pool and sky blue waters, of course we went to Hiroshima and saw the museum and ate Okonomoyaki (Mum and Dad liked it!-previously when I took Kylee we made an embarrassing exit after she had picked it apart with distaste!) After nearly a week on the road we returned to my home in Yanai. My parents were really helpful as I packed out of my apartment and said goodbyes. They came to our last bible class where we studied John 3-Nicodemus and faith in the Son giving life to the believer. My parents got to experience a Japanese home as we stayed the last night in Ichikawas Mothers home-so grateful for the hospitality of my friends. The last day at church was a celebration and sad to say goodbyes. Ichikawa saw us off on the ferry to Matsuyama and kept waving until we could see her no more-wow! I`ll miss my friends in Yanai-after a year and 6 months it had become like home because of my wonderful friends there. They loaded me up with gifts to remember them-I will remember.

My students are amazing!

2007-03-22T21:49:00.000+09:00

Today was my last class and it was at Shinjo Elementary School. I have taught the 4th grade once a week for the past year. Today they held a `Thankyou party' for me in the hall! Confetti fell as I walked in and the beginning was reminiscent of graduations here. We played several of the games I have played with them over the year using English I taught them-but instead of leading I was participating-the students were in charge (8-9year olds) they performed an instrumental and sung a song and made small communal speeches thanking me. It was overwhelming, they are so lovely and I will miss them greatly. The only thing I was asked to do today was play the song I wrote about Yanai which I also played to the staff as we enjoyed cake afterwards. All the photos that had been taken almost every class reappeared on a slideshow and also in a proffesionally made book that they gave me to remember them with-so special-

Last night Kaori and her Mother taught me how to make gyoza-yum yum and we had our last tennis group time together-I'm not sure that I have improved much since autumn but I definitely enjoy it, lots of laughter last night. Tonight we had our bible study group-discussed how Jesus not only healed a paralytic but also forgave his sins! Wow only God can do that. Mark 2:1-12

Singing

2007-03-18T20:50:00.000+09:00

Over the last week or so I have been revamping my CV and spent sooo long doing research and writing answers for 1 particular job in Wgtn and tonight I sent it - whooppee now I can think about other stuff.
On Fri had dinner at Kocho sensei's house, his wife and daughters cook so well and all vego = ) they surprised me with multiple gifts to remember them by and Obachan was way cute having written down facts about NZ from a TV show the other day so she could have good conversation with the New Zealander! Last night I sung at a styley restaurant in between sets of 2 very talented musicians, it was hooked up a few weeks back when I met them through a friend at an Orchestral Concert from Holland. They would be keen to do concerts with me if I were staying but alas...I'm going -just when opportunities arise. Mum and Dad are coming to visit for 2 weeks as of Saturday! its hard to believe the next 2 weeks are going to go so fast and then I will be without home or job...I'm praying that God will show the way from here...we had our last kids english class at church today-celebrated with a massive game of BINGO = )

Saying Goodbye

2007-03-08T18:20:00.000+09:00

Its official as of March 31 I will be moving on, my contract with Interac will end, which means so will my job teaching in the elementary schools in Yanai. The last lessons are well under way with many goodbyes already said and more to come. Saying goodbye is a long drawn out process when you have 11 schools to farewell. Today the 4th graders sung me a beautiful rendition of 青空 Blue sky with the line 忘れないでね don`t forget us, almost cried-again saved it for the car, the thankyou cards and photos are piling up-my students and teachers are so sweet-I`m so sad to be saying goodbye.

Live at Gotcha Yanai ライブ

2007-02-18T20:35:00.000+09:00

Last night I performed at a `live` night at our local night cafe. With 2 other soloists playing and 2 bands playing it was a fun night, complete with a dancing cocktail spinning man!
The audience was very supportive and I really enjoyed singing my songs for them. I wrote a song especially for Yanai last week and now people want recordings of it! I was stoked at the turn out of friends from schools and my company. Today Kaori took me with her friends to a private log house cafe, it was so stylely all decked out in American stuff and hand made cakes were so yum yum. Performed a few songs for them too which was fun and intimate. Yay 2 lives (live performances) in 1 weekend-long time.

Japanese Test 日本語能力試験三級

2007-02-07T16:06:00.000+09:00

本当に嬉しいです。日本語試験三級に合格しました。やった。９１％を取った。
Yay I passed the Japanese Proficiency Test Level 3 with 91%, Praising God!

2007-02-04T21:39:00.000+09:00

My sister Kylee is in Japan! Last week she lived with me, though I had work during the day we hung out in the evenings. Just got back from a weekend at Miyajima and Hiroshima with her. When I learnt about Hiroshima in school I never dreamed I`d ever go there, let alone live in the area and show many friends the famous city. Life is so what I don`t expect. So Kylee went off on her own today to Kyoto and later this week Tokyo, where she`ll stay with my friend Jenny. Thank you Jennifer you`re so kind!

Volunteer Matsuri/festival

2007-01-21T15:37:00.000+09:00

Yay we did it! Today our sunday english group sung 3 songs (Joy Joy Joy in my heart, Amazing Grace and Our God is an Awesome God) at the community festival. We were all really nervous and my heart surprised me by pounding very hard and fast-but Praise God for blessing our performance-it was fun and we were able to share a bit about God`s love and joy and forgiveness through Jesus and some Word-John 3:16 and Phillipians 4:4-8 Afterwards I was told I can`t leave Yanai! haha! we`ll see. Now I have to start practising for the Otomatsuri (Feb 17 @ Gotcha Yanai) where I will sing solo some of my original songs. Its been sooo long since I have performed-so I am looking forward to it. Also Kylee my sister is coming to visit me this coming Sunday-Whooppee!

Singapore with Kylee

2007-01-14T14:42:00.000+09:00

What can you do in Singapore in less than 2 days? Heaps!
Kylee met me at the airport and wasted no time taking me to the famous shopping mecca
Orchard Road-department stores and sales! That was followed by searching for the MRT - I expected big signs but surprisingly they were few and far between and tiny! Finally caught the MRT to her friends place for Dinner-lots of it yum yum Singaporean
hospitality. Stayed at her host familys place. Next day 8am communion service at St Georges Anglican-beautiful building and at that time in the morning a fresh feeling with the breeze flowing through the wide open walls! Then Botanical gardens, Little India for lunch(Indian part of the city), Cable car to Satosa Island-great views of the City, Siloso beach-dont use the lockers! dollar swallowers! Country Club for a swim and sunset then dinner with extended family-wow then off to the airport for home!
So much fun in so little time, Singapore is fantastic = )

Melbourne with Michelle

2007-01-11T15:21:00.000+09:00

After a 24 hours with my family in Wgtn after the South Island trip, they dropped me off at the airport as they were on their way to go camping in Castlepoint in the cold wind and rain-crazy family! I love them = )
And I got on a plane to see the New Year in with my good friend Michelle in Melbourne-her adopted home.
The summer I missed in NZ I got in OZ. It was hot. We enjoyed the Dandenong Forest and were blessed to see Wallabies, Lyre Birds, Echidnea and many colorful Parrots native to Australia in the wild as we walked a track for 2 hours. The rest of the week was spent praising God at the Planetshakers conference.

Planetshakers Conference

It was huge, the worship, the word, the joy-but that should be expected with the Creator of the World who loves us more than we understand! I was challenged to get more into Gods word so that His words replace mine-I`ve been lazy recently-so it was a wake up call. I also realised how thirsty I am for God and that I`ve been starving myself by not spending enough time in prayer. So theres my goals for the New Year. More Word more prayer more time.

NZ South Island Road Trip

2007-01-09T13:03:00.000+09:00

On the 26th with Yuki, Yoko and Xiaoying I flew South, landed in Christchurch, hired a vehicle and drove = )
Checked out the Cathedral in Christchurch, ate Christmas left over chick pea salad for lunch with lots of squashed apricots and peaches (from travel) in car-too cold for outdoor picnic!

Then onwards to Lake Tekapo-stoked at free coffee emergency stop for drivers-keeping us awake! Amazed at all the foxglove flowers growing on the side of the road-smelt so good! Looked like someone had planted them to impress tourists! but Mum reckons its a troublesome weed for farmers...

Stayed at Lake Tekapo YHA very good-stunning view. Next day onwards to Mt Cook for helicopter view of Mt Cook, then onto Wanaka checked out the old Chinese gold mining remains and Bungy over Kawarau river on the way. Stayed at BBH Purple Cow backpackers-very busy. The clouds loomed over the mountains around the Lake most of our time there, but we did catch a glimpse of their splendour in the early morning.
Drove through endless vineyards to get to Queenstown where is was hot and sunny!
Good for walking round the Kiwi & Bird park-where a Pukeko screamed passionately and disturbing over my shoes and tried to follow me around the park...I allowed it close and it stood on my foot! My shoes were a navy colour similar to the Pukeko and I had to wonder whether He/She had lost its mate and thought I made my shoes out of it? Great wildlife show there that had Kereru and Kakariki swooping over our heads and landing on some lucky ones = ) The Gondola and Luge were fun and the view was magnificent from the top. Xiaoying wondered if its called Queenstown-cause its like its made for royal pleasure...very beautiful! God did a good job with Queenstown. Lakefront YHA was fantastic and still walking distance from the centre.

Next day early ups for Dunedin, drove through a year worth of weather-torrential large as rain that brought many cars to a halt through to sun in Dunedin-just when we wished it-God is good! Lanarch Castle was a lot smaller than I expected, we saw a wide view of Dunedin from the top. Penguin Place was a highlight-seeing the endangered yellow eyed penguin up close feeding its young, and also a Sealion giving a poor penguin terrible scares by pretending to go after it then flopping down lazily in the sand and just when we all thought it was safe the Sealion would get up again and chase it-I believe he was only teasing and it all ended well. Apparently the Sealion is endangered too.

Christmas in NZ

2007-01-09T12:39:00.000+09:00

Was it summer? My winter clothes from Japan came in handy! Wellington was cold which was great, everyone could stay in inside and enjoy the warmth of family and friends. Caught up with Rachel & Luke, Ruth, Jovanae and Pritika as well as my wonderful family and PGC family over 5 days. Christmas was in Tawa with Mum, Dad, Nathan, Josh, Grandma and Grandad, Andy & Mark, Jackson and Amos and my friends Yuki and Yoko from Yanai! We went to PGCs carols by candlelight service on Christmas Eve. On Jesus` birthday we enjoyed the traditional dinner at lunch and dessert for dinner, exchanged gifts and ate and talked all day.
Christmas cakes made by Grandma and Mum. Yoko and Yuki enjoyed playing games with the kids-who needs language to communicate when you can play = ) It was so lovely to be in the company of loved ones. I love you guys!

26 years old!

2006-12-17T22:26:00.000+09:00

Wow the year has whisked by and I am in my 26th year on the Planet, whoop whoop!
My wonderful friend Kaori treated me to dinner at her friends cow farm! all vego, we patted the brown cows and watched Grandma feed the pushy hungry calf, eyes so big and cute = )
Wasn`t sure if Kaori had forgotten it was my birthday so I kept hinting we should buy cake-so wanted to eat cake on my Bday but she refused. Then to my delight she produced her own hand made birthday cake along with singing children to make my 26th year day very special-Yay for friends who remember and bake yummy cake!

Good job!

2006-12-03T20:08:00.000+09:00

Just sat the Japanese test level 3 today-I feel positive about it, I asked God to help me do my best, and I think we achieved that.
Yay such a joyful feeling to have it completed, now I have time to upload some recent pics for y`all.
On Sat went to a festival at one of my schools and the kids had a mini version of my english classes running complete with a Haidee & NZ introduction! Last wknd enjoyed Miyajima in full Momiji/maple autumn oranges reds and yellows-the trees were amazing in their autumn leaves.

A vegetarian fishing

2006-11-18T16:32:00.000+09:00

Should this vegetarian go fishing? This morning I boarded a japanese fishing boat with teachers I work with and we motored out to not far from the wharf. As I sat on the chilli bin and looked closer at some red frozen blocks I realised I was looking at very small frozen fish that we were to use as bait, ugh. Then one of the guys chipped away at a block and splashed some of the red on me aghhhh!
So we got out our lines 5 hooks on one line weighted down with a basket of red bait to attract the little silvery fish. Some were able to bring in 4 fish at a time! my record was 3. But I am squeamish and was unable to bring myself to touch the fish or the bait. The whole time I spent trying to catch the least fish possible, but whenever I was seen putting my unbaited line in-it was baited for me. I felt sorry for the fish and concerned not to get fish blood etc on me. What a party pooper, never again. I wanna hang with workmates but activities that hurt fish or animals are to be avoided in the future-not enjoyable for this vego.

Another 3 years?

2006-11-09T22:47:00.000+09:00

Haidee`s musicToday I got my visa to work in Japan extended, another 3 years! wow! that would boost my current 2 years up to 5. Not sure if my Mother would approve...My contract`s up for renewal in March so we`ll see = )
Test countdown is getting lower everyday and I am excited to announce I have a very generous offer by a friend to coach me an hour almost every night leading up to the test! woah! Decided to look through some old word learning cards to see if I could throw them away and I was surprised at my ability to not learn! ha! some words appeared 3 times on different card sets and I still dont know them! its the words that I dont get to use in real conversation that I have trouble remembering. Practise is so important for learning new words and grammar. So can I throw them away? well not quite yet, I`m gonna store them just in case-often there are memories associated with the words-who taught me them and the situation etc I`m not ready to lose the keys to those memories yet. Its fun looking at some of the mistakes I made and the improvement in my writing.

Today I managed to leave my cash card in the ATM, grateful to the good Post Office staff who called to let me know they had it-I hadnt even noticed I had left it. Then I forgot my car! I was walking all day and then used the car at the end of the day and dropped into the convenience store close to home on return and after leaving the shop I walked past my car and almost all the way home until I remembered I`d forgotten the car! daft huh

Haidee`s music

2006-11-06T20:15:00.000+09:00

Brrrr...the carpet is down and today was officially rather cold-15 degrees.
Had an interesting weekend studying Japanese and procrastinating, watching a friend Flamenco dance-very feminine and beautiful. Had Jazz band practise where I tried out my 1989 Japanese jazz voice and groove-lots of fun = )
One month to go till I sit the Japanese proficiency test level 3! aghh
time flies and I have to get down to some serious study, went for a swim tonight to prep myself or procrastinate? then i decided to blog...

River wading

2006-10-29T15:48:00.000+09:00

Haidee RichWent to the river the wknd before last with a couple of Japanese friends, it was 26 degrees and they laughed when I said that 26 degrees is swimming temperature in NZ, there was no way they would even take their shoes off to paddle. So they enjoyed taking photos of their crazy foreign friend wading in the river during autumn! It was a beautiful river. Yuki, Yoko, Xiaoying and I have now booked our tickets for a NZ summer whirlwind tour, I wonder if my friends will swim with me in our 25 degree NZ summer = ) I hope so. Looking forward to Christmas with my family in Wellington, minus Rowland, Alicia and possibly Kylee waaaa = (
I`m gonna perform live officially on Jan 13 at Gotcha in Yanai. All welcome, come on thats enough time to book your flights and trains to Yanai, Japan!
おいで、おいで
Thursday night this week will be our second adult english bible study, last time we studied the creation of the world by the Creator, it was really interesting getting into the text and meaning behind it real deeply with Japanese readers. Does God look like us since we are created in His image?
This week we will study Psalm 139-God knew us before we were, He knows everything about us and still loves us! wow! To me that is incredible.

Song for Rowland & Alicia

2006-10-08T15:50:00.000+09:00

...Finally its in a form you can listen to. I wrote this song especially for my brother Rowland and his beautful wife Alicia, and sung it as they signed the register at their wedding 2 April 2005.
----------------------------
I`m stepping out for possiblity
I`m stepping up for the future you and me
Today we bask in the sun of love
together lets ride the waves of life

We`ll live and paddle in unity
the Spirit will guide us if we believe
Hold my hand, We`ll enjoy this trip
Following behind our love and guide

When times get rough I`ll be there for you
encouraging through the breakers beyond
to the calm deep blue
Today I`ve promised my loyalty to you

Lets live in love and have no fear
Lets pray for God`s will
and know He is here
He`s given us this love
lets make it last
hold my hand, we`ll go together

click on the garageband link below to listen to it

Rice 米

2006-10-04T21:22:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was my one year anniversary of moving to Yanai! I`ve watched and marveled at how the rice fields turn from large mirrors of water to small green seedlings, then grow almost tall enough for the heron to hide in (however the white heron is easily discovered in the fields of green, much to my delight) and now the golden fields are ready for harvest. We even enjoyed some new rice on Sunday courtesy of a Grandfathers hardwork in the fields. Praise God for the harvest!

Sports festival 運動会

2006-09-25T14:35:00.000+09:00

Sports day is a community event, parents and others come to watch the students compete as 2 teams (white) (red) in running and crazy fun races, they also dance and have cheering competitions, its a day of fun for all = )

Sunday was a big day, went to 3 schools sports days and church inbetween, then met a new teacher from my company who is moving to my city! yay!

I`m ok= )

2006-09-18T09:50:00.000+09:00

The sun is shining this morning, I slept in the cupboard until about 5am when the winds died down a bit. The apartment seems ok. So PRAISE GOD! yay for the public holiday today so we can all recover and keep an eye on Typhoon no.14s path.

Hiding from the Typhoon!

2006-09-17T21:13:00.000+09:00

Outside there`s a Typhoon raging-no. 13 for the season named Shanshan.
Following my sisters advice I am camped out in my cupboard! Why? To be away from the large windows that flying objects might come flying through! Its pretty cosy actually and I do feel safer! The cupboard is long and wide enough to sleep in, so I moved my futon into the cupboard along with my iBook and am enjoying the experience! (praying that all will end well) I`ve never had to prepare for a typhoon before and no one at church today gave me any advice, not that I asked, just told me to be careful. It was only this afternoon when the wind started to blow and all the shops rolled down their iron doors that I realised I was unprepared and too late to buy things such as masking tape to crisscross my windows with (used a thinner version and some decoration sticky wallpaper stuff instead) to stop shattering. And no extra water bottles etc if the water gets cut = ( whoops, praying it all ends well, and I`ll be better prepared for the next one, until then-over and out from the cupboard in Yanai-Haidee Rich

2 weeks with my family

2006-09-03T13:57:00.000+09:00

In the last 2 weeks in August I was blessed to be able to spend time with my family in Bali. It was relaxing and enjoyable to share their company and explore a new place together. We played in the surf, the pool, read books, ate lots of Gado Gado and Nasi Goreng, drunk lots of freshlypulped fruit juices, got sick, ran away from overly eager sales people and hand fed monkeys on the side of the road!

Travel highlight was the Hello Kitty flight from Japan to Taiwan! all decked out in Helly Kitty from toothpicks to the exterior paintjob! felt sorry for the males boarding who may have been feeling a loss of masculinity!

Poppa bear, Mamma bear, Kylee bear, Nathan bear, Joshua bear and Haidee bear had fun but they missed Rowland bear and Alicia bear who are catching waves in Sri Lanka before flying to the UK-when will we see you bears next?

Place of Illusions-new song

2006-08-12T12:11:00.000+09:00

Hey all
I`ve just uploaded a new song to Garageband for you to listen to and download if you like.
Wrote it in 2002 after graduating and moving to Franz Josef Glacier resort village where the scenery was
beautiful but the lives around me were still dirtied by the problems found common in people anywhere.
I felt alone and was missing home when I wrote this song-recorded it this morning in my apartment = )
Enjoy

Place of Illusions

Peace Camp

2006-08-10T20:32:00.000+09:00

Haidee`s music
Tonight I returned home after 4 days at a Lutheran Kids Camp in Hiroshima, so tired. Camp was held at a church which is on the 3rd floor of a tall business block building, we slept on the floor (marae style) in a large meeting room of a business on the 5th floor! A bit different to NZ kids camps = )

The last few days have been a humbling experience realising the difficulties in communicating my heart in a 2nd language and culture. The whole camp was in japanese, I was a counsellor responsible for four 10-11yr old girls. We visited the memorials to the victims of the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima, and as we walked it became obvious that 3 of the girls had rejected the 4th! an aweful situation especially considering our focus was on peace which starts between individuals and works into nations right? So we struggled through the day trying to heal the gap, but kids can be so mean when they try, I felt so helpless in this situation, what can you say? and then everything is so undercover and nonconfrontational here that I couldn`t say anything.

Anyway I felt brought down to size and as a result reliant on God to help me, probably just what I needed, but didn`t want. We endured 37degrees plus XXXhumidity that day! Hiroshima is HOT! The camp ended today with a group concert time where we shared our impressions about Peace. My group came together for this which was wonderful, we each shared an impression of peace, sung a song and recited John 15:17 This is my command, love each other`
ヨハネ１５．１７互いに愛し合いなさい、これが私の命令である
of course all in Japanese, it was a challenging last few days and I am now exhausted, but looking forward to writing letters to my four new young friends amoung others.

Big cave 秋吉台、山口

2006-08-05T10:13:00.000+09:00

Chika & I explored a 1 km long cave (Akiyoshidai) the other day, its the biggest cave I ever experienced, we walked through it seeing bats and a river running through it and special natural plates that collect water and look cool, but were hard to catch with the camera because it was so dark and misty. It was a cool place to go 18degrees which was a nice change from the 34degrees in the world above. Afterwards went for my first ever river swim in Japan-more of a sit and splash but it was refreshing all the same and then went to the best onsen-it had so many varieties of pools (wing garden).

I taken to hanging out in the library to study and enjoy the airconditioning, its the coolest place to hang in town, and yesterday I couldnt find a seat! but fortunately found a study room for students so used that instead, I might have looked out of place with all the high school kids but I was studying (Japanese test in Dec).

Matsuyama wknd

2006-08-02T19:08:00.000+09:00

In the weekend I caught the ferry (2hoursish) to Matsuyama

Mel dressed us up in Yukata and we enjoyed a girls night out of yum korean and japanese food, the night market and karaoke!

Next day we visited Mels old village in the mountains and were treated to Somen Nagashi, the water up there is beautiful and you can drink it straight from the source, after spliting a bamboo pole and cutting ourselves cups from the bamboo, we enjoying trying to catch the cold thin noodles with chopsticks as they flowed down the bamboo shoot! Thats got to be the most fun and yummy meal I can remember! It didnt stop there and progressed into BBQ eggplant!
The baby was the centre attention but only woke at the end of the day! Slept through everything!

The day was finished off with the fireworks summer festival in Matsuyama-I take back my previous comment about fireworks, in Matsuyama it was done so creatively and was well spaced, the wind was blowing the smoke away which helped ease the visible pollution they were creating and we had comfy seats in a special area with live music so it was much enjoyed.

Camp in Genkai Machi

2006-08-01T12:21:00.000+09:00

My first experience of a kids camp in Japan was in Genkai Machi last week. We packed a lot into a day and a half, english games, stone collecting at the beach and painting them! rowing on `cutter ` boats in the sea, more english games, a camp concert and of course...photos = ) The kids were fun and excited, the sun was hot, got burnt despite 3 layers of sunscreen! Because it was an English activities camp there were lots of other foreign teachers helping, so it was nice to be able to talk english with them and hear their various stories.

Kaminoseki Matsuri

2006-07-23T15:24:00.000+09:00

Last night I went with some friends to a summer festival at Kaminoseki Peninsula, good place to catch squid apparently!
And discovered my married friends had had their first date-fishing for squid there! Didn`t catch any squid but caught each other. We enjoyed the view and festival food, and joined the crowd to watch some famous comedians in their hot pink underwear? Apparently they`re really popular! The fireworks were bright and some almost too bright, and went on forever to the point where the smoke cloud they created was so thick that we couldn`t see the fireworks anymore, only hear them! The more I see fireworks the more I dislike them, the pollution, the expense, give me a clear night sky with the shining stars that God created anyday over fireworks, still its a social event and no Japanese summer festival is complete without the fire flowers aka fireworks. Today we made butterflies at Church English and learnt that God made the world. Getting creative with paints and glitter was fun for all = )

Background to Lebanon

2006-07-20T15:24:00.000+09:00

I woke up this morning thinking I would like to learn more about the background behind the conflict in the Middle East.
Then the Barnabus Fund sent me an email detailing the background! Its interesting if you also want to learn more

The Barnabas Fund

Garageband

2006-07-15T17:16:00.000+09:00

I`ve been experimenting with my laptops musical abilities, once I get started time seems to disappear but it feels so rewarding to come out with a song people can listen to after the effort. There is a website where I have loaded a couple of songs for people to listen to, please have a listen by clicking in the link below. Rowland and Alicia your song is next = )

Green cake is for adults

2006-07-10T16:56:00.000+09:00

We used to make easy microwave cake in my family and to be funny sometimes make its strange colors such as green or blue! That was for kids! In Japan green tea cake is what I call an adult flavour and the cake is green! Thats what we ate for Yukis birthday on Sunday. Mel has convinced me to drink coffee without sugar and appreciate its good properties without the unhealthy additive of sugar, I used to say that I had coffee with my sugar-Coffee is an adults drink and if you can drink it without the sugar I think you are a grown up! and now I can! So eating my green cake and drinking my un-sweetened coffee I feel like a real grown up!
Last night I used the air con., then went into the next room and it felt like I was stepping into a sauna! aahhh too humid and hot-not easy to sleep.
Today I took the scenic route home and was surprised to be driving through swarms of large dragonflies! must be their season!
The rice fields and bamboo groves were a stunning green and the birds were singing- I felt full of joy to be able to appreciate the environment.

Summer Saturday

2006-07-02T17:55:00.000+09:00

Mel Taylor came over to play from Shikoku and the rain cleared just in time for us to enjoy a wonder full day. After strolling the famous whitewalled street we drove to Katazoegahama beach on Oshima Island and swam with sand like fish that swarmed and nibbled our toes, that was alright but as we swam the length of the beach in the shallows my hand hit something big, solid and slimy! That was it, we were out like a shot and squealing! But the temperature was too good to give up and we ventured back in bravely to rapidly doggy paddle the length of the beach, fun times. Then onsened and drove the wrong way to Sanzoku Mountain with its beautiful restaurants etc.
Sorry Mel, I`ll remember the way next time!

Pip+Haidee+Yanai=FUN!

2006-06-18T23:01:00.000+09:00

This weekend my dear friend Philippa McKenzie (Pip) came to visit me on her way to the UK. We met up and saw the sights in Hiroshima, photographed baby deer and waterfalls on Miyajima Island, talked till the wee hours reminiscing about our mispent youth, enjoyed the first swim of summer and Pip had her first ever onsen and survived! even liked it a bit!
Yay what fun times, shes off to Kyoto tomorrow and me to work...apartment will feel empty without her chatter and laughter. In other news Yamori chan seems to have disappeared...hopefully he`ll reappear after the competition has left.

Learning the Lifestyle

2006-06-15T17:27:00.000+09:00

I wrote an article you can read it at

Interserve-Learning the Lifestyle

Pet Gecko

2006-06-13T20:18:00.000+09:00

Enter Yamori chan, my new pet = )
He/She? appeared a few nights ago on the outside of my window-I thought cool!
This morning the gecko frightened me by appearing on the inside of my window! It squiggled through the gap between the mosquito net and the window I think...so I shut my windows...not wanting to discover it in my bed or on the floor later on. Thinking about the gecko consumed a lot of my thought and cosequently talk time today. Fellow teachers assured me that it is a good thing to have a house lizard and considered a good omen! as is having a large albino snake in your home! crikey!
So now I like my gecko and his name is Yamori chan (Yamori means gecko in Japanese, chan is a term of endearment) Tonight he is still on the inside of my mosquito nets and he got a fright when I turned on the light, hopefully he`ll squiggle back to the outside of the window and be able to catch and eat lots of bugs-anything that gobbles up mosquitos is my friend!

Summer Memories

2006-06-11T16:02:00.000+09:00

I downloaded some pics from my phone from summer in NZ.
Yay such fun warm fuzzy memories = )
Catching up with Jovanae

New Years Eve with Michelle

Stranger in the world

2006-06-10T10:37:00.000+09:00

Sometimes I feel like I don`t belong, which is natural I guess because I could never be Japanese, but then I think of living in NZ and I think I would still have the occasional feeling of "I don`t seem to fit here either"...
But whoever said I `should` belong? There are moments of joy, there are moments of sorrow but in all I am thankful for God`s love which is always with me.

Rainy Season 梅雨

2006-06-08T19:14:00.000+09:00

Its raining a day early, I got quite wet and cold coming home in the intervals between car and buildings.
The rain has really cooled off the heat and made me feel sleepy...
Thinking about buying gumboot shoes...
Classes were big and noisy today, the students get so excited in the schools where they see me only once a month
and todays school had 5 classes averaging about 45 students, maybe thats why I`m sleepy now...

Fireflies ほたる

2006-06-05T16:12:00.000+09:00

On Saturday night after making yummy pasta and chickpea salad for my friend Yuki we went to check out the Fire flies, they can only be seen at this time of year at night close to clean waterways. Small green lights slowly flying in the night, reminding me of christmas lights, they are so cool. On Sunday my interpretation of what the speaker said was that when we have the Holy Spirit with us we are like fireflies glowing in the darkness-I like that analogy. I like them so much that I`m going to check them out tonight in a different spot with another friend and this time she is cooking yum yum!

Giant BEEs (Giant Asian Hornet)

2006-05-31T18:51:00.000+09:00

There are BEEs the size of your hand in Japan!
I thought I`d seen big, but then today an absolutely HUGE BEE or wasp...no HORNET
flew through the open windows into our staffroom.
The bigger they are the more dangerous if you get stung...
It`s possible to die from a sting from one of these incredible creatures!
I wanted to take a photo but was told resolutely to stay well away from it...
I never knew such a massive BEE could be!

"The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), the world's largest hornet, is a native of temperate and tropical Eastern Asia. Its body length is between 27 mm (1.1 inches) and 45 mm (1.8 inches), with a wingspan of about 76 mm (3 inches). Queens may reach a length of 55 mm (2.2 inches)."

"The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about a quarter-inch (6 mm) in length, and injects an especially potent venom that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail through my leg."
If a person is stung by the giant hornet and does not receive prompt medical treatment, he or she may die from a reaction to the venom. About 40 people die each year after being stung by giant hornets, mainly as a result of an allergic reaction to the venom."

Giant Asian Hornet

War & Peace

2006-05-27T16:13:00.000+09:00

出来た I did it! This morning I finished reading War & Peace, took me 4 months! But I read in bursts and long pauses, especially in the epilogues at the end where Tolstoy gets real deep and hard to focus on. But most of the book is real fun reading, better than a soap opera anyday. It follows the lives of several aristocratic families and their loves, ambitions and dramas through the period of 1805-1812 with the wars and invasion by the French with Napolean of Europe and Russia. Actually I might read it again if I find time! The end is about free will vs. inevitability Tolstoy seems to conclude one cannot exist without the other. We have free will in some choices but in others we are compelled by external factors other than our own will.

`Prince Andrew could not have explained how or why it was, but after that interview with Kutuzov he went back to his regiment reassured as to the general course of affairs and as to the man to whom it had been entrusted. The more he realised the absense of all personal motive in that old man-in whom there seemed to remain only the habit of passions, and in place of an intellect (grouping events and drawing conclusions) only the capacity calmly to contemplate the course of events-the more reassured he was that everything would be as it should. `He will not bring in any plan of his own. He will not devise or undertake anything`, thought Prince Andrew, `but he will hear everything, remember everything, and put everything in its place. He will not hinder anything useful nor allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more important than his own will-the inevitable course of events and he can see them and grasp their significance, and seeing that significance can refrain from meddling and renounce his personal wish directed to something else.` p.590

`He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.`Ecclesiastes 3:11

Cars in Japan

2006-05-22T20:31:00.000+09:00

Finally I think I`ve worked it out. Cars are cheap to buy but expensive to use.
In Japan cars lose their value real fast, 2nd hand market is very cheap.
BUT every 2 years car owners have to pay a tax and get a warrant which costs around $2000NZD!!! That is about what I paid for my car, so I was paying the tax and the value of the car is $0, despite being a reasonably good wee car!
Its so different to NZ which I think is why I`ve taken this long to understand the looming cost associated with my car. Its like re-buying the car all over again, except this time my company won`t pay for it...The deal with my employer seems to get sadder and sadder (the reason I have a car is because they said I needed one and therefore gave it to me).

Going for walks in long grass or such like areas is dangerous now, poisonous vipers are likely to bite you in such areas or so I`m told. I am grateful the landlord mowed the grass today - now I can fetch my dropped clothes pegs from the grass below my windows = )
Its such little things that bring me joy.

White Herons and wee Swallows

2006-05-19T09:22:00.000+09:00

Last night on the way home from the pool I was delighted to see 4 white herons looking for dinner together in the flooded rice fields, they are such intriguing birds, so white and graceful, quiet and shy. As I sat in my car and watched them many energetic little swallows were zooming up then dive bombing down into the water channel, I like them but they are never slow or still enough to get a good look at them. I really enjoy watching birds-its so peaceful, relaxing and interesting.

Rejoice in the Lord always.
I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable
-if anything is praiseworthy
-think about such things.
Philippians 4:4-8

Happy Mothers Day!

2006-05-14T15:29:00.000+09:00

Happy Mothers Day!
My Mum is fantastic, I wish I could give her a big cuddle today.
She is good at writing emails and telling me all the things going on at home that I miss and sending packages full of neccessities such as easter eggs and my favourite summer clothes. Where would I be without my Mum?
On Friday I played with kids at lunchtime that previously I have not had time to hang out with-consequently they were over excited and all wanting to hold my hand and talk. One girl holding my hand gave me un unexpected gift-SNOT!-gross! I guess Mothers get that all the time! yuk-my respect. Dodge ball time no more holding hands-phew.
Today at church english our new song was `I`ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart, where? So much fun-I associate this song with large mouthed puppets and holiday programs-good memories. Amazing to think new fun memories for other kids are being created with the same song hehehe

Singing in the paddy fields!

2006-05-03T21:14:00.000+09:00

Its Golden week (holiday week for most people in Japan). Today I climbed a small mountain with a friend, my favourite new word is `Chouchou` meaning Butterfly and there were lots out today along with flowering trees of purple and red. The weather was a stunner and the view at the top was beautiful. After lunch at my friends home and playing guitar and singing together for her Mother. My friend asked if I would like to visit her neighbourhood friend and see his paintings, `sure`. `Bring your guitar he wants to hear you sing.` this visit turned into visiting several neighbourhood friends and playing to all of them. Later as we walked through the paddy fields the last request was yielded to and we played to the resting farmers as they sat enjoying the late afternoon sun. What a fun and interesting day, Praise God!

English in Church

2006-05-01T19:55:00.000+09:00

On Sunday after the worship service and lunch we had our first english conversation and song time. I was amazed that we had an influx of 5 kids complete with mothers on our usual 2! it seems the word spread fast. So our little church felt very full and festive. As the only english speaker the role of teacher falls on me, and we had a lot of fun from Grandads to 4 year olds playing games and singing `Our God is an awesome God` in english. Someone said I reminded them of Maria from the Sound of Music with my guitar and teaching etc!

Back to School

2006-04-27T11:33:00.000+09:00

My lessons have started again and I am enjoying seeing the kids again, playing games and singing in class. Its so much fun. Japan has an interesting teacher system where all the teachers are employed by the ministry of education and they dont get to choose where they teach but they know they will have a job until retirement. So every 3 years give or take the teachers have to change schools and they dont get to choose where they go or what grade they will teach.
So now I am meeting new teachers and seeing old ones in different schools which can be a bit confusing, but I am making sure this year to write down all the teachers names so I can remember them-i really struggled last year to remember names.

Junior High School vs. Elementary School

2006-04-22T15:09:00.000+09:00

Home sweet home, I returned last night after a week in Fukuoka at a Junior High School (JHS). Teaching in JHS is sooo different to teaching in Elementary Schools.
The impression I got from a week at the JHS was that the ALT is viewed as a tool for teaching rather than a teacher. I was not consulted in the planning of lessons and in class the Japanese teacher would tell me what to say. Maybe it would be better use of resources to have a CD Player-push play for the native English speaker`s voice. Now I appreciate my job as a teacher in the Elementary Schools a lot more, there I have the responsibility to plan the lessons and direct the classes-and its a whole lot more fun = ) So thats my next task to plan this weeks lessons, yay...I`ve been procrastinating all morning...

Easter

2006-04-15T12:43:00.000+09:00

Easter reminds me to reflect on Jesus` death and love for me and everyone.
This morning I`ve been reading through the different accounts of Jesus` trial and execution given in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (in the Bible).
Trying to compare them has been a heavy task, 2 years ago I did a similar comparison for the birth of Jesus at Christmas time, that was easier maybe because only Matthew and Luke give accounts of it and it is happy reading.
Jesus death and resurrection are really important to Christians like me
-it is our faith.
`That if you confess with your mouth, `Jesus is Lord`, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.` Romans 10:9

I am filled with sorrow when I read how Jesus was abused, taunted and killed, his reaction to this however was beautiful
-silence, submission and forgiveness.
He knew that his execution was God`s will and that He would see life again.
And that eternal life would become a free gift to those who believed and followed Him.
`For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.`
John 3:16

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.`
1 John 4:10

Endless holidays?

2006-04-13T10:41:00.000+09:00

Reading this blog you could get the impression I am on forever holidays! Well this week I was expecting work, but my schedule never arrived and after calling my company discovered my classes dont start for another 2 weeks? however my company is being so good as to send me somewhere in the meantime to make good use of my time, so next week I will do a 1 week stint in Fukuoka at a Junior High School! first time for me, I normally teach in elementary schools-exciting.

Last night I went to the pool for my weekly session, and was stoked that there are now 5 metre flags...2 weeks ago I backstroked into the wall-scratching up my hand pretty good-so showed my grazed and bleeding hand to the pool guard and suggested 5 metre flags (most pools have them in NZ anyway)-so Yay! they took up the suggestion-makes the pool a bit safer for the backstrokers = )

Shimonoseki

2006-04-10T12:38:00.000+09:00

Arrriving in Shimonseki I was met by my friends mother at the train station who walked me back to their HUGE old Japanese house, it is about 60 years old and so many little rooms and sliding paper window doors etc its also right on the beach! Good swimming in summer apparently. Yuki, arrived later as she had to finish up some work at school and we enjoyed her mothers cooking. Their family own a puffer fish 'Fuku' factory. It is a delicacy served raw in Japan and fish can be up to 20,000 yen a kilo! thats over $250NZD! On Saturday we visited the aquarium (aquariums are really popular in Japan, theres one in almost every city! complete with dolphin shows etc) We saw lots of live `fuku` pretty cute.
Earlier that morning 2:30am! (every weekday) Yukis father went to the fish market and brought home 2 fuku for his wife to prepare for dinner, she showed them to me before we left for the aquarium, couldn`t help but feel sorry for them and a bit squimish).
After the aquarium we caught the ferry (5 mins) to Kokura and went shopping! yay!
I love shopping, theres no interesting shops where I live, so its exciting when I get to go to the city.

The next day we had Hanami (picnic under the cherry blossom trees) with her family and the factorys chinese employees-lovely girls.

Kumamoto

2006-04-09T20:45:00.000+09:00

Kumamoto is famous for Suizenji garden and Kumamoto Castle. The garden was beautiful in the morning with few people, singing birds and falliing cherry blossom petals (reminds me of snow falling). Theres a shrine where people worship the historical ruling family of the province. After pondering the concept, I thought that over time the roots are a little forgotten but its been in place for so long that who has the guts to divert to a different path than the one everyone has been and is following? The singer Ginny Owens sings that we must follow someone and listen to someone-who are we following/listening too?

Ginny Owens

`Have you noticed how much you fear
all those voices you choose to hear
who are you listening to?
who tells you what to do?
who rules your thoughts at night?
whose rules define your life?
you know its up to you so who are you listening to?
this is your life, you have no choice
you will rely on someones voice
its alright to question who
who are you listening to?
Do the words that you believe
set your soul and spirit free?
-Ginny Owens

Kumamoto castle was a huge fortress with mutiple walls and moat sections in its time. However it was burnt down during a civil war in the 1800s, very sad so it is being reconstructed, the grounds of the castle are magnificent with huge trees and cherry blossoms. After enjoying the sites I took a looong train ride to Shimonoseki to stay with friends.

Mt Unzen

2006-04-09T20:28:00.000+09:00

In Shimabara I visited Mt Unzen volcano. Christians were tortured here in the 1600s using the boiling water and mud in attempt to convince them to relinquish their faith.
I met a Polish woman (Suzana) at my hostel and we left early in the morning to climb Mt Unzen/ Fugen together. Lots of interesting conversation on the way.

After exerting the legs on the hike they enjoyed the local foot spa (free). Locals seem to use it as a community chat spot, it was fun talking with them and soaking my tired feet, then I caught the ferry (30mins) across to Kumamoto.