It's time to resurrect this blog and catch up on the last six weeks of spring break, which were fantastic but also very tiring. Winter quarter finished up around the end of February and then the day after finals, Sean and I flew home to Michigan for some Hope College alumni workshops and also to enjoy two weeks visiting with family and friends. Highlights of the trip home included eating at our favorite restaurants and stocking up on our favorite foods to bring back to Tokyo, Sean hosting the Kit Kat Challenge for his friends, teaching Jon and Susie how to make sushi, enjoying fires in the fireplace at my parents' house, and hanging out one-on-one with friends I haven't seen in about two years. The trip home was fantastic but the jet lag and long plane rides were brutal.

Sean's Kit Kat Challenge - friends worked in teams of two to guess the flavor of 14 Japanese Kit Kats during three challenge rounds. Competition was intense.

Getting ready for the Hope College alumni banquet

When we arrived back in Tokyo we had just a few days to recuperate and unpack. I spent a day meeting with the members of my MA thesis committee who reviewed my outline and then Sean and I did a Japanese homestay with a local Japanese family. Even though we live in Japan, it can be quite difficult to actually enter a Japanese home and see how a family lives. Living intimately with a family in a tiny apartment for three days was an interesting experience, to say the least, and I'm glad we gave it a try!

Posing with Miki and Saki (Ryoji, the dad, is taking the picture)

The day after our homestay our first visitor, Becky, a friend from high school, arrived and we immediately headed to Tokyo Disney to spend a few days at the parks. This was our first and only visit to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea and we had an awesome time. Although Disneyland was fun, my favorite was definitely Disney Sea as the park is unique to Japan and doesn't exist anywhere else in the world! After two jam-packed days at theme parks, we headed back to our apartment and explored neighboring Kamakura one day and Tokyo during the rest of Becky's visit.

Meeting Mickey Mouse - he speaks Japanese!

Visiting Kamakura

The day after Becky left for the States, my friend from childhood, Linde, and her husband, Joe, arrived for a visit. After they landed, we hopped on a bullet train to Osaka and spent the next week exploring Osaka and Kyoto. This was my and Sean's first time to Kyoto as well and we enjoyed being tourists and hitting up all of the spots that had been on our list to see since arriving in Japan. Kyoto was busy since it was cherry blossom season and the weather didn't always cooperate, but we had a really good time anyway. Some of the highlights included visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine (red gates), exploring Himeji Castle, strolling through gardens and bamboo forests and catching glimpses of geishas in the evening. It was a magical trip!

Arashiyama bamboo forest - just a few people there that day (photo by Joe)

Kyoto at night (photo by Joe)

Fushimi Inari Shrine (photo by Joe)

Himeji Castle (photo by Joe)

Selfie at the Golden Pavilion

After Joe and Linde returned home, I had a three-day Rotary Peace Fellow training called The Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations and then spring term began the next day. During this first week of class the cherry blossoms reached their peak and were spectacular even amidst many rainy and chilly days. Sean skipped the flowers in favor of spending the week in Boracay, Philippines at an international ultimate frisbee tournament.

Weeping cherries on a rare sunny day

Puddles of petals

Petals litter the road to campus under the tunnel of cherry trees

Sean with his team in Boracay

As we're heading into the second week of class, I'm trying to stay disciplined in writing my thesis while balancing time with Sean and spending time outside in the beautiful weather. The thesis is due May 15 and Sean leaves May 1 for a month of training and then a backcountry guiding job in Alaska starting in June. I'm still not sure what my summer holds or what we'll be doing/where we'll be next year but we're working on it and I'll keep you posted. Although two years in Japan have been incredible, I'm content with closing out my time here during the next two months and returning home at the end of June. Thanks for following along and Sean and I are looking forward to catching up in person with you this summer.

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