The Dog Days of Summer-Hiking Edition

A lot has happened this month. I have gone on countless adventures and have successfully completed my first trimester here at Meysen! It is difficult to believe that I have already been in Japan for almost 6 months. Pretty unbelievable.

The first weekend in July we took a trip to a cabin out on the ocean.  The missionaries that started Meysen let teachers use the cabin if they want to rent it out for the weekend, and once a year the staff takes a trip (not mandatory) free of charge to just have fun and relax. It was absolutely beautiful, and was a great way to spend the weekend with some of my co-workers who work in the elementary program. Since their hours are from 1-7, I don't interact with them much at work because our schedules are so different. 

I did lots of cooking (which I have missed so much), making guacamole and frying up tortillas in butter for whoever wanted to make their taco a little more tasty.

 

Rainy season here has been pretty miserable. It rains on average about 4-5 days a week, but the humidity can be even worse sometimes when it is raining. I got a little sick in the middle of the month, which was a little frustrating with so many special events going on at work. I was planning on going to visit some friends I made at the Air Force base in Fussa, but cancelled and tried to get over my cold. 

In other news- I am preparing for my Mt. Fuji climb, so have been doing lots of hiking and climbing as many steps and hills as possible on my days off. Last weekend, I took one of the interns to Yamadera, but before we climbed to the mountain temple, we did about a two and a half hour hike. 

We saw beautiful waterfalls, crossed tons of little sketchy bridges, and I almost stepped on a Japanese grass snakes (which they happen to be poisonous). The train station we got off at was completely abandoned, and their was no ticket machine to take our ticket (which was so weird). We were literally in the middle of nowhere, with gorgeous scenery and the peaceful rushing of water. As you can see from the fluffy marshmallow clouds, it was the perfect day for a hike. 

I hate to bore you with more nature pictures, but yet again, today, we went hiking. This time to Mt. Izumi-gatake (If curious, go look it up on trip-advisor and read the review. Click the "translate" button and you will get some good laughs at the translations from Japanese to English) And guess what? I drove us there! I have become more confident about driving in Japan, and the new normal is driving on the left side of the right and yielding when turning right.

This time Jenny accompanied myself and Ruthie, the intern, and we had quite the pleasant time exploring and hiking on paths that we had absolutely no idea where they led to. 

The first trail wasn't really a trail...it ended up being rock climbing....like legitimately. We trekked on for awhile, but realized that the rocks were very slippery from all the rain (which made it pretty dangerous) and that if we had one slip we would tumble down the mountain very quickly. 

 

Although the picture to the above may not look steep, I assure you it was. After about 30 minutes I said, "I am okay with stopping". Meaning "For this trail, I need rock climbing equipment and a guide." Jenny and Ruthie both laughed and we all started heading very carefully back down. The good news is, I definitely got my new hiking boots worn in and they have lots of character from all the mud that is already caked on them. 

We drove a little bit down the mountain to the ski resort parking and ventured to find other trails. I can't wait to go back in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. Next week, I will be sure to post about how everything at work has been in July. HOWEVER, we have a new policy that we can no longer post pictures of our students on social media outlets (which I am not surprised that this finally happened), so I will have to get creative. I think I am up for the challenge!