Everyday life in Japan

I haven't been doing much lately. I am in a small town called Ritto near the largest lake in Japan. I am staying with Kosuke and his family, the same family I stayed with for the summer of 2006, they are extremely nice people and I am enjoying my time here. I thought I would go through a typical day in Ritto so I took a few pictures, unfortunately a few days ago I accidentally deleted all of my pictures of Osaka and Kyoto and a few from here. Too bad, but I have these so enjoy!

Welcome to the house! Hanging out the second floor window is a futon. I sleep on a futon every night.

Come on in!
Oh, but take off your shoes like this first :)

Hey Okaasan(Mother)! She is setting the table for lunch. Can't wait to see what we're having!
Oh, there is Obaasan(Grandmother). Notice the tatami mats on the floor, the low table, and of course the big golden chest, this room is a Japanese style room.
This is the refrigerator, four levels. The bottom two are freezers. The next level is for vegetables. Go ahead and take a look inside the main door, mmmhmmm gotta love the food.

Now it is time to cook it, there is the stove and the oven....
Oops, just kidding, no oven! This is for fish only. The oven is a separate piece, it looks like a microwave and can function as one too.
This is my seat at the table, best view of the TV which is on during most meals. There is Einstein on the television.
Alright, now that is a dinner! Counterclockwise from the fish. Yes, a whole fish.

This is some vegetable similar to a potato, I find them very delicious.

This dish contains a block of tofu. We pour soy sauce on the tofu and a bit of something similar to wasabe.

A glass of cold tea.

This dish includes corn on the cob, peeled tomatoes, and sliced cabbage.

Here we have grapes. To be eaten at the end of the meal. The Japanese do not eat the skin of the grapes, so you have to either peel the grapes or suck the insides out of the skin.

This last bowl is actually empty, but right after taking it it was filled with white rice, the main course of every meal.
Alright, let's check on Kosuke!

Yep, hard at work studying for the big College Entrance Exam coming up.

So Kosuke is studying, what should I do?
I have many options, I could help Okaasan teach English to some kids.
I could take the dogs for a walk. Shown here is Lily, Candy is inside.
I could go to a different city by taking the train. Here I am in Otsu checking out a lake boat Michigan.
Here you can read the name in red.




Or I could take a trip to Kosuke's school and take pictures with the cute girls. Peace!

Osaka to Kyoto

Hey, I don't have a lot of time so I'll keep this one short. I am in Kyoto now. After Tokyo I took an overnight bus to Osaka and arrived Friday morning at the station in Osaka. I found a cheap hotel dropped my bags there and visited the city. I spent three nights in Osaka, every night in a different hotel. The Hostels were booked and were expensive thus the hotel choice. I am staying in a hostel in Kyoto, K's House Kyoto, great place. I've been here for a two days, leaving tomorrow for Kosuke's house.