Being Onii-chan! Growing up I was always the little brother to my wonderful brother Richard. From what I understand from him now I was an absolute pain. Though, despite how big of a pain I was he always cared about me and was overall a great big brother. Before I came to Japan I always wondered how he ever dealt with me.  For three months I lived with my previous host family, which consisted of my three little brothers Shoji, Seiji, Takeshi, and my host mother and father, Nene and Takuji. When I first moved in with them it was a completely different experience that I was used to as my host family before had no small children. Then here I was, with three of the most Genki children known to man.  I very quickly learned how to say the Japanese words you must need to be able to live with three small boys; Yamete (Don't do that!), Abunai (That's dangerous!), and Kyoskete (Please be Careful!). I probably ended up saying these words each about twenty ti...

¡Es la primavera! It's spring, and the cherry blossoms have been working on their peaceful domination of Japan. There's a good amount of updates waiting in the wings, but for this post I think I'd like to let the flowers speak for a little bit.  Of course, it's always beautiful to see the branches swaying pink and white, but my personal favourite blossoms are the ones that poke their way straight out of the trunk, as if they couldn't possibly wait to clamber out. Whenever I see them I always think,  "あぁ、良く頑張ってるなー！" They're all doing their best, so I should too! Happy Spring everyone!