Hamby Adventures in Japan
360 View Ie-Jima
Last week I posted a few pictures and a lengthy article about Okinawa but Ie-jima is about an hour ferry ride away from Okinawa. The island is tiny and the 360 video from the top of the island demonstrates just how tiny the island really is. The climb was quite steep and long but well worth the trek to the top. The views are stunning and it is a place I will never forget for having such amazing blues and greens.
Trip to Shizuoka
The church I attend in Nagoya, which is a couple of floors below my apartment, went on a one night trip to Shizuoka to visit another church within the Nippon Sei Ko Kai. We stayed at a hotel near Mt Fuji but it was so foggy you could hardly see out the window let alone Mt Fuji.
This guy showed us his ability to do some traditional Japanese martial arts.
I forgot my camera for part of the trip at the hotel but hopefully I will be able to get the photos to share Squid and squid-ink mayonnaise.
Mitsuba + Anpanman = Cuteness
A few days a week I would help with the toddlers in a class called Mitsuba. This new class arrived in late March and immediately I knew they were going to be a great group. I will miss this class dearly. A few of the youngest in the class became my projects to watch over. They speak toddler Japanese and they have no clue of how badly my own Japanese really is so they speak to me and ask me to read books to them all the time. I have the songs down really well and when asked to read a book I just describe the pictures in to them in English. The first video is my favorite song in all of Japan. It comes from the most famous cartoon character Anpanman. Anpanman is by far the most popular character in Japan for young kids and I have no clue why he has not invaded America like Pokemon.
During the Anpanman song you will see the youngest in the class. He was my main kid to look after since he was just a bit over two years old when we started in March. Every time I came into the class he would run and give me a big hug while saying “Oni-chan!” If he was not playing in the dirt he was usually right next to me and became like another little brother to me. I could not attend their last day before summer break but the teachers told me he went to my usual seat in the corner and cried while asking where I was at because he did not grasp the concept of me leaving Japan. I’ll miss the little guy and I don’t think he will forget the big ginger American anytime soon.
The next video is the “Thunder & Lightening” song. This was taken at one of the birthday parties during the summer. Usually we are sitting in a horseshoe shape and all the kids really get into this song.
Japan’s World Cup Agony
Japan made it to the round of 16 during the World Cup but they were defeated in a shoot out against Paraguay. The video below shows that last agonizing minute. I was with a group of Japanese friends watching the game at a Pub. The faces tell the tale of Japan’s World Cup 2010 campaign.
The Great Sports Day
In the middle of June all the churches in Nagoya gathered for a sports day. We were in teams with our churches and competed against one another. The above photo demonstrates my winning cry after digging out the prize out of flour using only my mouth at the end of a relay. We also played a game to see how many people we could get onto a piece of news paper that we would fold in ever smaller sizes after each successful attempt. I placed one of our smaller and older parishioners on my shoulders and a few others hung off of my body.
Nagoya Time