Sight seeing in my backyard

The other day we had a group of Canadian University students stay with us for a few days. It was a lot of fun having them around. Although I originally feared that their Japanese would make me look like a horrible under-achiever. Those fears were put aside when I realized they would all be speaking English anyway. We acted as some sort of tour guide to them, well, Asuka did. I tagged along and saw some sights myself.
  One place in particular we went to was Usui Pass Scenic Viewpoint. It lies on the border of both Nagano and Gunma Prefecture and offers a simply amazing view of the mountains and Annaka City. The trees here have such a lush green colour and some are lighter then others. It makes for a beautiful collage type effect. Best of all, it was free and only about a ten minute drive from the Pension Hotel.

Golden Week

Wow has it ever been busy lately. Golden Week, as Asuka explained it to me, is basically two three day weekends back to back, crammed full of festivals. So needless to say we've been running at full or near to full capacity the last few days.

The language barrier has been rearing it's head again. One thing in particular I have trouble with is telling the difference between the sound my wife makes for "no" and the word for "yes". As you can imagine, that can lead to some awkward or difficult situations.
日本語は難しいね？
(Nihongo wa muzukashii ne?)
(Japanese is difficult eh?)

But I am having a lot of fun too. Just today, after we finished serving our guests delicious steak and hamburg steak dinners, my mother in law taught me how to make apple, raisin, cinnamon bread. Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds, if not better. I can't wait to eat it for breakfast tomorrow!  If it turns out OK, I will try to make other kinds of bread in the future. We also make delicious Pigs in a Blanket and even bacon and cheese bread. So I hope I can graduate to making that.

Oh, I almost forgot my favourite part! A guest we had for dinner tonight requested to take a picture with me, himself and his girlfriend.(possibly wife) Apparently, they saw my picture on the website and wanted to see me in person. (Don't ask me why. Lol) They even went so far as to ask if I would be there when they called to book their room. That information left a big smile on my face that is still lingering as I type.

But, I should get to sleep and rest up. Tomorrow is another busy day of Golden Week. I'll leave you all with a few pictures of me with my mother in law as I try to master a new skill.

おやすみなさい。
(Oyasuminasai.)
(Good night.)

-B.