Spring

So it is officially spring now. The trees are a gorgeous green, flowers are blooming everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Here are some random pictures that I've taken around the neighborhood and in and around the house.



A little random, I know, but I hope you enjoy them.

Kid's Day

In Japan May 5th is a national holiday to celebrate children. Originally it only celebrated boys, but for some reason, despite the fact that girls also acquired their own holiday (March 3rd), they changed it from boy's day to kid's day. However, they still fly the carp flags to celebrate male children. On that day my host-dad took us to a nearby river where they had strung out a few long lines of these carp flags. Here are some pictures from the river:



And afterwards we all went back home to eat a big dinner.




And here are my host-sister and host-sister-in-law puzzling over my Japanese homework.



Thanks to those of you who have continued to look at this blog!

Nomikai

Here are some of the pictures I took during the Kendo camp. They're all of the nomikai (which basically is a drinking party).



She's throwing up a peace sign, I promise!



The videos are taking a bit, so I'll do those in another post.