Japanese fun fact

So I learned something from my wife the other day that made me stop and think a moment. I even had to stifle a laugh for fear of making her upset with me. As it turns out, Japanese people don't have thumbs or toes.
The thumb thing I can understand, as many of us North Americans will say we have 10 fingers, where as I believe I have 8 fingers and two thumbs. ( if thumbs were fingers they would be called fingers and not thumbs. )
But what I don't understand, is how Japanese people refer to their toes. As Asuka explains it to me, the word for toes literally translates to "leg fingers". Seriously, leg fingers. I don't know what else to say except the name conjures up some pretty silly images.
So there you have it. The Japanese have 20 fingers, no thumbs and no toes. Awkward.

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.

Time flies.

So much for posting once a week. Been kind of hectic getting ready for all the visitors coming for Golden Week and also for the numerous curling tournaments. We actually had a group from Canada come and stay with us for a couple days even.

Last week though, the wife and I, along with friends Garry and his wife Wei-ling traveled 30 minutes up the road to nearby Ueda Castle to view the sakura blossoms. I had never seen them before so I didn't know what to expect. I was blown away by how colourful and just how beautiful and delicate they really were.

Below are some examples of the sakura blossoms plus as promised a few pictures of me at my finest. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! We came upon a monkey preforming tricks for a crowd.

I can't wait for next year to go again.

not a real update

Greetings all, It's Bryan again. Finally got my own name and user rights to the blog so no more relying on Asuka to show me what to do. I'm sure she's happy about that.

 We've not been very busy lately (it's usually a little slower in the winter here anyway) but we've been cleaning the rooms and getting everything ready for the next batch of guests. It keeps snowing here off and on but not enough to accumulate to anything.

I'm getting a little excited about going skiing for the first time in a few days. So as long as I don't break any part of my body I will post some pictures of the mountain and maybe of me looking like a doofus. (there's usually a lot of those type)

Meanwhile, Sora is going crazy. I better stop her before she hurts herself, or me.


-　

New snow!

We got new snow!

Last week we have got quite a lot...some are still on the road around our buildings.

Today i felt a bit warmer when i went out to take some pics.

Hopefully it wont be too cold next day... :P

A

Hi everyone! This is Bryan here, (or just B,) in Karuizawa finally! It took me a while to get here from Kelowna, B.C. Canada, but at long last I have arrived here at Hoshinoko Pension Hotel with my beautiful wife Asuka (you've heard from her before) and my wonderfully patient in-laws!

I'm not sure what to write just yet, (been kind of busy getting settled in) so I think this time around I will just introduce myself to everyone.

As you can tell, my name is Bryan. I'm 29 year old and come from a small town in British Columbia Canada called Squamish. I love to play guitar, read books and watch movies. My biggest passion in life right now is hockey of course (Canadian, remember?)  I live and breath Vancouver Canucks hockey, sometimes so much it annoys my wife.

My goal with this blog is to help explain what it's like here in Karuizawa to people outside of Japan and draw as many people here as I possibly can! Asuka will still be posting here periodically but it will mostly be myself now taking care of this blog. (poor bloｇ!) Between Asuka, our cat Sora, and working for my in-laws I don't know for sure how often I can post but I hope to at least make one post a week. Maybe more if some extra interesting stuff happens.

 But for now I must rest.

Oyasuminasai!

B