This is a view facing east from the West side of Marugame castle, one of only 8 existing castles in Japan. I climbed to the top while Nicolle was teaching nearby in the downtown school. Although overcast, it was a hot day and Colette was fast asleep in my arms, so I was dripping by the time we made it to the top. For 100 yen (about a buck) you can go inside, but I saved that for another day when someone else was there with me who'd appreciate it. The castle mound has many tiers and levels, I imagined as I climbed up that the peasants lived outside the moat, the nobles on the upper levels, and various grades in between. I doubt the royals ever actually had to climb this for themselves, probably people carried them to the top. Here I saw a huge bird of prey with big feathery legs with monster sized talons soaring just above the other side of the castle.

These are some tombstones along the bank of one of the many irrigation lakes in our area. The backs open up to place the urns of deceased loved ones, many urns can be placed in the same monument. If you look closely at this sign, you'll see a warning to would-be-frogcatchers that there are boy-eating fish in the lakes, pictured is a boy with a net splashing around on lilypads trying to catch a little frog, with a large fish with sharp teeth about to grab him. On the other side of the lake is a similar sign, with the boy after a butterfly. I thought it must be to scare the kids because of how dirty the water must be or the risk of drowning, but when I was walking around the reservour Sunday morning, I hear a large splash, and looked over just in time to see something really big, not like big for a trout big; more like big for a dog big. I thought must have been one of the huge herons something but nothing ever surfaced again. I walked over to the area and saw a hole about the size of a car door in the thick cover of lilypad-like plants. Whatever it was I'm not going to be dangling my feet in the water anytime soon.

The lake was surrounded by huge birds of prey as well. They would swoop down and grab things out of the water, making shrill cries. For how tame the Japanese seem, there sure are a lot of wild things around them.
These mirrors are set up at every corner and most intersections. They are the only way to be able to tell if a car is coming around the corner, and since in many places only one car fits, they are absolutley necessary. The roads are impossibly narrow, they seem more like back alleys. Downtown there are two lanes going each way, but out in the country where we live there are some stretches where you have to go one at a time with oncoming traffic, waiting your turn and backing out when necessary to let someone past. usually you can find a driveway to help fit more than one car through. Since there are no curbs between the road and the few feet down into the rice paddies, it's very important to slow down when attempting to pass someone, not that anyone does.
This is some of the rice growing near our house. It is a beautiful shade of green, and planted in perfect rows evenly spaced. The bases are completely submerged, and tadpoles and mosquitoes breed in the water.
I must admit I feel a bit like the main character on "Spirited Away" as she gets put to work in a strange and magical new place. This picture was taken in a passageway beneath some fountains, a hidden passageway under a waterfall leading into another part of a meticulously-cared-for park. On the other side was a large dragon head carved from a stone the size of a car, set atop a stone column surrounded by perfectly pruned hedges.

This was our dinner sunday. Very tasty, you fry up all your food on the grill sitting in the center of the table. The only downside to it was sitting on your knees for over an hour, something I'm still not used to. The polite way to sit here is on your knees with your feet straight back and the tops of your feet flat on the floor, nothing crossed. Joey and Melissa are in the picture as well, they were about the nicest people we've ever met. They opened their home to us and showed us all around town, going with us to classes and even making dinner for us. They are on their way to Hawaii right now, I hope they have a great vacation before diving back into school at BYU this fall.
I can't believe it's only 10 pm, Nicolle and Colette went to bed hours ago. Our jet lag worked out well for us and we've been getting up now at about 6:30 am. When we got back this evening I unpacked the rest of our stuff and cleaned the house, it feels like our home now. I like the hardwood floors and the sliding wooden doors. I have yet to experiemnt with the remote-controlled toilet, Joey translated the buttons for me before he left. One feature is an adjustable stream of water, you control the direction and strength with arrows on the remote. There are two types of jets, a water-massage for your heiney, and hot air afterwards. There's also a heat option for the winter. I don't understand the need for a remote since the buttons are right there. Maybe to get things going those cars you can start from inside your house or something.

Tomorrow will be another busy day, and since our days off are Monday and Sunday, it's not really the weekend until Saturday night. After August our hectic schedule will slow down into the normal routine, right now there are many extra "summer special" classes at a discounted rate to get kids interested and promote the school. Our boss Fumiyo works morning till night every day except Sunday, I think she loves to be busy all the time. The typical Japanese worker is scheduled to until 5pm but all are expected to stay until 7, if someone were to leave early they would be ostersized at work and people would speak badly of them. It was only 20 years ago that the normal workweek was reduced to 5 days rather than 6, and although labor laws say there shouldn't be unpaid overtime they aren't enforced. We were teaching a 59 year old man who will retire next year, and I asked him about his retirement. He said that he will used this years and last years' paid vacation time just before he retires. That didn't seem abnormal, until we asked him how often he'd used his vacation time during his lifetime working for his company. They get 20 days per year, and what they don't use goes into the next year, but if not used by the third year they're gone. He said he's never used more than 1 or 2 days per year, and only for sick leave, not vacation. He said that few if any use their paid vacation time, to use the full 20 days would be disgracefull, he said they'd think he was lazy. He's a manager in an engineering company. It's ok for those retiring to use their vacation days just before they leave though, so he plans on using all 40.

The past two days have been very hot and muggy. Colette and I got a little sunburned today on a walk while Nicolle was teaching in a nearby town. Colette still refuses to entertain herself, and must be either carried or led along as she walks around in search of a ball or a stuffed animal, preferably a doggie. Her hair is supercurly and the longer it gets the more it sticks out in the sides and back. Somehow the top stays straight, it looks like my hair di after wearing a hat all day, but much cuter of course. I hear "Kawai", the Japanese word for cute everywhere I take the baby. It's about the only Japanese I understand.