Oy! It's been a while!

We've been having a busy and very emotional time here. It's not really an excuse but I'm hoping with all the new photos I've added that you'll all be distracted enough to forgive the long silence. Joisan and I have had a bad bout of homesickness. The Steps Ahead Dance show at the end of May made us both feel at loose ends. This is the first time in many years that we have not been part of the show and it was really tough.
In May we said goodbye to Rianna, the Date AET, and they have not replaced her yet. We went to raid the bookshelf in her appartment before she left and while we were there we went for a lovely walk along the river in Date. Joisan and Taran decided they'd rather impersonate fruit so they hung around in a tree while Ian and I walked.
Joisan's ballet teacher had her birthday at the end of the month. She has an interesting story because she was actually born on May 28th but her father did not file the paperwork until June 1st so that is her official birthday! I understand that there are now proceedures for dealing with this type of situation but she's probably 55 or 60 and at the time that's just the way it was. Joisan decided to make her some cookies for her birthday.

On our way home from Date after ballet one day we caught the volcano with the sun setting behind it... very pretty!

There is a lovely walk near the Chugakko that leads to "Ootaki Niagara". Clearly the falls don't have the height that you'd expect but they are very wide and when the river is full they are very impressive!


One of our friends, Natsumi, regularly has volunteers come to stay and help at her organic farm through a program called "woofer". The most recent two helpers, Kira from Germany, and Mai from Taiwan, were able to take a day off to do some touring. We went to nearby Lake Toya and ventured out onto the lake in a swan boat. We also took a bit of a walk along the lake before we went to check out the Information Centre.



It was cool to see the real swans right out there with the swan boats! We got mighty close to them too!


The information centre was quite spectacular. It had a lot of displays about the formation and various incarnations of the lake (due to volcanic activity) as well as information about local wildlife. From the second floor you can see that the first floor is actually a map of the area... There was also a volcanic museum that I think we'll pay to check out another time.

Joisan's class has been helping on the farm again. It was actually a different farm this time - owned by the same company. They planted Kabocha (pumpkin) and Jagaimo (potato). It's quite a beautiful place - and amazingly big!!! I don't think we have anything like this kind of spread on Vancouver Island. And all of it was growing yummy food! I can easily eat a 100 mile diet here!
Somewhere in the last few weeks I grew older. Ian and the kids treated me royally - right down to a delicious ice creme cake from Baskin Robbins!
Last weekend Joisan had a track and field meet in Muroran. She competed in the 200m and was happy with her results for her first meet. The stadium is quite impressive and fully equipped - complete with a water pit for the steeplechase! She's got another meet in a few weeks and she's hoping to try to add long jump for that.


After the track meet and ballet, Joisan and Ian and I went to a 130th anniversary celebration for one of the oldest temples in the area. We saw yosakoi dancing and a Dixieland Jazz band!




Well, that pretty much catches us up... we're enjoying the sunshine and some nice warm weather. It seems to have warmed up pretty fast! None of the public buildings are air conditioned so it's pretty uncomfortable when it gets hot! I have made a new photo share - May and June photos - enjoy!