The Update.

So there really hasn't been much to blog about lately. I have been teaching nearly everyday and traveling to different parts of the city.

The other day I went to teach in a new city however. I went to the Toumyoike School in Nara. The are was as beautiful as I remembered it. There were rolling hills of grass and fields. Bamboo forests three stories high and farms scattered everywhere. I'm really glad to travel there twice a week.

Tomorrow I start my first round of regular classes. For the moment I only do FTLs but starting on the 12th I get to start teaching my kids and minikids classes as well as the Jr High classes too. I'm pretty nervous about those. The FTLs are strait forward but the kids classes will require me to establish rules and to act like an adult. I really hope the little ones don't eat me alive.

Today I journeyed to Osaka Castle. It was built  by the great Shogun Toyatomi Hideyoshi in the 1500's. It was impressive. The museum inside the castle had the very sword that Hideyoshi's Vessel used to cut off Toyatomi's head during the Seppuku ritual. SWEET!!!!

Also I was able to witness the first cherry blossoms of the season in Osaka. Even though there were hundreds or cherry blossom trees around the castle, only about five of them were in bloom. The others will all blossom in the next couple of weeks. The trees I did see were beautiful. they even had a light fragrance to them. Plus the blossoms with the historic castle in the background was almost too much for my nerdy brain to handle.

I am making reservations at a capsule Ryokan in Kyoto for next thursday night. My hope is that on thursday I will be able to see the cherry blossoms at Himeji Castle. This Castle is said to me the best and the most impressive in Japan. I'm so excited to see it!! I hope that everything works out.

!!!!!!Look for the pictures of Osaka Castle on Facebook!!!!!!