All around the town

This past weekend sure was a busy one!

I had a good time doing some of my usual weekend activities with my friends who are visiting. Together we went to a preschool, Mayla's house, a volunteer English class, karaoke and a party. And that was just Saturday alone!

I just knew they'd looove volunteering at a preschool with me because the kids are just so darn cute. :)

After preschool, we walked around an outside market in the neighborhood. Sites like this next one have become common to me...

...but to the gals this is a bit odd. Octopus legs, anyone?

Every other weekend, I spend an hour teaching basic English to a group of elementary school students. This week, we had a couple of guest teachers!

Jennifer wrote all of the letters on the board for the students to copy.

On Sunday, the gals joined me for an eikawa -- English conversation class. Once a month, I meet with a group of adults in Kuji who want to practice their English. We talk about anything they want to discuss for an hour, and then we cook/eat together during the second hour.

This week, we made what has become my specialty -- takoyaki, the fried dough balls with octopus meat inside. So yes, I do actually buy octopus!

Jennifer and Sato using my spiffy takoyaki maker at the eikawa. Besides takoyaki, there were also sushi rolls for lunch.

Group eikawa picture

Sunday also included a hike in the woods near my apartment and a trip to an onsen. An onsen is a public, natural hot springs bath, which are very common in Japan.

So we had some good, cultural experiences during the weekend, and there are still three more weeks of good, cultural experiences to come for the gals!