Spanish Moss

フロリダにスパニッシュモスという樹がある。
不思議な樹。
日本では見かけない樹だから余計に見入ってしまう。

Kenの家族に会ってきた！
Kenも個性豊かだけど、彼の姪たちもとっても個性が豊かで面白い。
日本の漫画が好きな子、ボーイッシュでクールな子、
おませでスポーツ大好きな子、シャイで怒りっぽい子、
寂しがり屋でしっかりしてる子、、、
それでいてみんな優しい。

Kenのお兄さんはとっても良いパパ。子供達はみんなパパの事が大好き！と言う。
パパは幸せだ〜。

私は今までアメリカはNYくらいしか知らなかったから、アメリカの違う地域に来てみて、アメリカのイメージが良い意味で変わった。

でもやっぱり外国に来てみると、日本って凄いなといつも改めて思う。
食べ物は美味しいし、みんなしっかり仕事をこなす。トイレはきれい。

どんな国にも良い所と悪い所があるけれど、
今回はアメリカの良い所をたくさん経験させてもらっているよ

Amanda

She is my new best buddy. She weighs more than 300 pounds, and loves the hot spring waters here at Homosasa Springs in Florida.
Any guesses to what kind of animal is she!
Good guess!
She is a Florida Manatee and as I said before she makes her home at the lovely state park in Homosassa Springs along with some of the other laid back residents there.
Meet Lou for example the 48 year old Hippo.He enjoys making a splash with all the visitors here.

Kyojin-Gun (base ball team) gives annual visit here

Aoshima sea

seki-no-o waterfall

Beautiful nature^^

Aoshima shrine

Ocean View from Kodomono-Kuni

lantern beer garden

Yesterday one of my friend said to me, " I am thinking of visiting Miyazaki. Do you know any good place to visit there?"

Of course! I am from Miyazaki. I recommended some place to him.
And I came with the idea that I upload fabulous Miyazaki photos here, so I just do.

Even though things are gradually changing, most of my friends and students are not big American football fans. They remain hardcore soccer or baseball fans.I was pretty hardcore about American football growing up back in the states. It wasn't uncommon for me to spend countless hours in front of the tube watching millionaires subject themselves to immense bodily injury chasing after the oval shaped pigskin. Now I have scaled back my TV viewing time but do still like to follow the sport.

Until recently I had never been a big Karaoke fan.
Something , although I can't quite put my finger on it, has changed inside of me. I think I finally get it. Maybe it comes from having witnessed the magic of karaoke. I saw first hand how the right song coupled with the right group of folks can transcend the atmosphere into something filled with extreme possibility.

Magical karaoke moment

Chanson Cafe teacher and two of her students

Taiko no tatsujin!

Purikura: it says "we love our hometown!"

In my hometown Miyazaki, I met some of my old friends. It was August 10th.

Many of them are not in Miyazaki, they are working or going to school around Tokyo.
However, some are back in Miyazaki after they finished university.

This day, I had lunch with them, went to karaoke, and took purikura!^^

Depending on the regions of the world's waters they're churning through, they are sometimes called typhoons, cyclones, or Hurricanes.
Unlike Japan, in other regions of the world hurricanes get names.
Growing up in Florida it was only girls names at first but now it's both girls and boys as boys are getting into the act as well.

After 16 days of non-stop Olympic coverage on the TV things felt pretty quiet today. I almost didn't know what to do with my self. No medal standings to check in the morning newspaper, no reruns of the highlights to watch and no settings for the DVD recorder. Basically it's all about trying to find my normal life again that I had before the Olympics started. I'm somewhat relieved that summer Olympics happens only every four years, but then again
wouldn't it be kind of cool to try to attend the games at least once in my lifetime.