Only one more week until Golden Week! I can’t wait. I think I am going to go hiking every day during Golden Week. This last weekend I didn’t get a chance to go hiking because I was still feeling a little bit sick from my cold. Holy Cow, was I ever sick last week. I totally lost my voice, and I could barely talk. It was so difficult teaching, because I could hardly say anything at all!

Anyway, this weekend I didn’t go hiking, but I still had a good time. I went to the Osaka Aquarium on Saturday, and I think this is one of the best aquariums I have ever been to. The huge Pacific Ocean tank was just amazing, and I was fascinated by the sun fish. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as a sun fish. However, I felt a little bit sad for the sun fish, because he looked kind of sad and lonely in his tank. He was separated from all the other fish, and he was kept in a kind of plastic cage inside of the fish tank. I guess sun fish are almost blind, and if he wasn’t kept in a separate plastic cage, he could hurt himself on the glass walls of the tank. I felt really bad for him.

After the aquarium, I went on the Ferris Wheel. I guess the Ferris Wheel is the largest Ferris Wheel in the world, or something like that. I was really lucky because it was a clear blue day, and I could see for miles. The view was just amazing.

After hanging out in Osaka port for a while (that’s where the aquarium and the Ferris Wheel are), I took the subway to Umeda. In Umeda I had probably some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten in my life! I went to a Miyazaki Restaurant where I had the “Kuruma” dinner. Everything was made with chicken. I even had chicken sashimi and chicken sushi. I was a little bit scared eating raw chicken, I mean, if I ate raw chicken in Canada I think I would immediately die of salmonella poisoning, but I was okay. In fact, it was really delicious.

Anyhow, I didn’t die after eating raw chicken, and I am ready to teach for another week at Kansai Gaidai University.

The weekend is over and I am back at work. It is eight o’clock in the morning, and I am already feeling hot. I am amazed at how hot it is already. My thermometer in my room read 23 degrees this morning! The funny thing is that while I walk around in short sleeve shirts, everyone else around me in Japan is wearing wool hats and coats. One in a while I will see another person wearing a t-shirt, and that person is almost always a gaijin!

However, despite the fact that I already feel hot, I had a really great weekend. It started out early on Saturday morning when I met one of my friends in the Hankyu Station in Umeda. We then went to the JR station and took the Fukuchiyama line to Namaze. Our plan was to walk along the old JR Fukuchiyama line to Takedao. It was a really great hike. The trail is an old railway line that runs along the Muko River. The really great part about this hike is that you hike through the old railway tunnels. Luckly, my friend Taka brought a flashlight so that we could see where were going in the tunnels. Some of the tunnels were pretty dark, and we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces! Half way through the hike we scrambled down the side of a cliff to have our lunch beside the river. I made rice balls, and Taka brought careage (fried chicken). All in all, it was a really great hike. I can’t wait to go hiking again next weekend. Soon I will be ready to climb Mt. Fuji!

Hello everyone,

Classes have started, and I hope that not everyone is too freaked out at this point! Just remember, keep up with your homework, do all of your assignments, and come to class, and you are going to be just fine.

I hope you all had a great weekend this past weekend. I had a really good weekend myself. Today (Sunday) I didn’t really do anything, but yesterday I climbed to the top of Atago-san with a friend of mine. It was really great!! I love hiking in Japan! I took the bus from the Keihan Sanjo station in Kyoto and went to Kiyotaki. From Kiyotaki I climbed up 924 metres to the top of Atago-san. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and I saw some amazing views of Kyoto while I was hiking. On top of Atago-san, there is a shrine. I thought the shrine was very interesting, especially the wood carvings of wild boar. I also had lunch on top of Atago-san while I was looking out over the beautiful views of the Japanese countryside. I made some tuna onigiri, and the sure tasted delicious after all the hard work of climbing to the top of the mountain!

After I had lunch and I looked around on top of the mountain, I started to hike towards Takao. However, I missed the short hiking trail to Takao!! I actually took a different trail that was much longer. However, the trail I took was really beautiful, and there were no people around at all. In the end I was very lucky because I got to see some beautiful flowers that I had never seen before. They were large white blossoms almost five centimetres wide. I also heard some really cool birds while I was hiking. It sounded like the same bird followed me during the entire hike. Also, if my friend and I had never taken the wrong trail, we would never have seen an ancient jizo with no head. It was a little bit scary, but I left a couple of coins beside the statue to bring me good luck. I hope it works.

Anyway, by the time I got to Takao, I was really tired. My friend and I caught the bus back to Kyoto and had supper at my favourite restaurant in the word – Kappa Sushi! Then I went home and immediately fell asleep. All in all, it was a great day.

Study hard, and I’ll see you all in class,

Scott.

Hi guys,

It's almost time for the first day of class. I have just created our official website . . . . I'll give you the address soon!

Cheers,
Scott