Kyoto Temples and Shrines Kyoto is a beautiful city and one of my favorite places I've visited so far in Japan. It has an amazing amount of traditional culture and over 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines (according to the Lonely Planet guide). Of course we didn't see them all, but we did get to visit many eautiful places,  and I decided that the pictures were worthy of their own post.  Kinkaku-ji: the Golden Pavilion Ginkaku-ji: the Silver Pavilion My host sister having a snowball fight (Japanese sized!) with my brother and me.  Entrance to the Kiyomizu-dera temple  The water from the natural springs at the Kiyomuzu-dera temple is thought to be sacred and have therapeutic properties. Visitors drinking sacred water from the waterfall at Kiyomizu-dera. Burning incense inside the temple I have seen these stone statues with colored bibs all over Japan and when I asked my host family about them, th...

My Two Families in Japan On January 2nd my mom and brother from Wisconsin arrived in Japan to visit me! It was really great to be able to spend time with them and for them to be able to see and experience a lot of the things that I have experienced here. It was their first time in Japan and my host family graciously invited them to come with us on vacation over the New Year's holiday, so together all 6 of us packed in a Japanese-sized car and drove to Kyoto and Kagawa to go sightseeing and visit friends of my host family. Ready for Kyoto! Just kidding, we definitely took a car. This is right outside my host family's apartment with some neighbors. Since my host dad is in the Japanese Self Defense Force, he was excited to take us to the local military museum to see the tanks he used to drive. すごいい！ At a traditional style restaurant in Kyoto My brother really liked trying all the different food, especially things like squid and fish eggs. This was a new one f...

New Year If Christmas isn't as big in Japan as it is in the U.S., the reverse is true for the New Year. A lot of people go to visit their families at this time, since there is a break from work and school for the holiday. I went with my host family to Sendai, a more northern area of Japan, to visit my host father's mother and brother who live there and we stayed with them four days.  On New Year's Eve, we had an amazing traditional Japanese meal with lots of sushi and assorted obento items: shrimp, lobster, snails, Japanese mame or sweet black beans with gold flakes, salmon roe, and roasted chestnuts to name a few. すごいおいしいかった (It was super delicious)! We also had a chance to practice some foreign languages together at dinner since my host dad's brother bought an assortment of foreign beers for everyone to sample. Cheers! Nazdorovie! Kanpai! Prohst!   The Japanese make the most beautiful little cakes I have ever seen! My host mom...

Christmas Mochiyori Party I've finally uploaded all the pictures from the Christmas and New Years holidays, so here are some images to go along with my last post. These are from the Christmas party we had with some neighbors and friends in the community center that is part of the apartment complex we live in.  Even though I didn't have a big American style Christmas celebration with lots of family like we usually have in the U.S., it was kind of like we created a big family with neighbors and friends of all ages coming together to celebrate, so it was really nice. We all helped decorate the community center to make it more festive for the occasion. We even had a little fiber optic Christmas tree that my host mom borrowed from a friend. Everyone brought a different dish to share at the mochiyori, or potluck party. I made eggnog (my first attempt!), which turned out pretty well and was something new for everyone. My host sister made this cake in the sh...