A weekend of walking and discovering

Recently, you accompanied me while I drove 'round the mountains to three different schools. But this time (since it's the weekend, and there's no school), I thought we could get some exercise and go on a stroll around Kuji together. Sound good?

You might want to grab a jacket since the breeze makes it a little cool. It's feeling like fall now, after all. Let's turn right out of my apartment and walk that way, with no particular destination in mind. You never know what we could discover.

As we get closer to Amber Hall, there seems to be a lot more cars and people around than usual. What in the world is going on around here? We see several tents, and oh look! There's a firetruck for some reason, and we can't help but notice this guy....

It's not every day that you see a giant inflated bear outside of Amber Hall. We learn that we've just entered the "Industrial Festival," where several different organizations and companies are represented. Interesting. I had no idea this was going on this weekend. Those mountain-climbing ALT's don't know what they're missing!

Since I have a nose for food, I've already noticed the tents to the left, where all kinds of different "goodies" are being sold. Let's go over there and see if they're giving out samples. :)

"Konnichiwa!!" It's my friend who sells fish right outside my apartment! *Smile for the camera.*

Looks like she's brought her business to the industrial festival. I really need to practice my Japanese so I can talk to her more. She's such a sweet lady.

And just a few booths down from my friend the fish lady is...mushroom juice!?!

They're giving samples, so I'm going to try it (even though I'm not a big fungi fan). Hmmm...not wonderful, but not horrible, either. My dad would like this!

Now that we've been moseying around all the booths for over an hour, let's head out and explore some new territory in the countryside.

Whoa, it's an American-looking house! And right next door to it is this house...

...which looks like a typical Japanese home, complete with a garden and bicycle.

How are your legs? We've walked for quite a while. The good news is that it's all been flat ground! Isn't it nice walking out in the country, by the rice fields? Now that it's harvest season, sights like these are very common...

Now we're very close to my apartment, but I'm not done exploring yet. I wonder where this staircase leads...

Well what do you know, there's a park up here! What a neat discovery! And there's this cool playground with a funky airplane jungle gym. I also see a couple of my students from Okawame Jr. High School, so I'll go over and attempt to talk with them. :)

Thanks for joining me on my walk; we made some fun discoveries! When I go on walks by myself, I like to listen to my iPod. Just for fun, I'm going to share some of my new favorite songs that I enjoy listening to while I'm strolling. (You can click on the song title to see the music video if you want.)

Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K -- I appreciate the clever lyrics, and I really like the tune. This song makes me smile.

Would You Go With Me? by Josh Turner -- YES, Mr. Good-Looking Amazing Voice Turner, I will gladly go with you! I wouldn't normally consider myself a big fan of country music, but you, sir, are an exception. :)

Proud by Heather Small -- It starts out slow, but it really gets going! "I can feel my sprit rising!" What an uplifting song! Gives me something to think about, too: "What have I done today to make me feel proud?"

Answer = Made some discoveries and got some good exercise by walking!