The past couple days with my host family have been lovely! I arrived at Aizu Wakamatsu station Tuesday afternoon and was greeted by a crying Keiko. She was so surprised to hear that I was back in Japan and happy to see me. Haruna was a little shy...for about 10 minutes. Such a genki little girl! Unfortunately I had to come during the week so Haruna had to go to elementary school (which afterwards I was grateful for since she would have wiped me out!).
Our first full day we went to tsurugajo, or Aizu castle, in central Aizu Wakamatsu. The castle is beautiful in the spring surrounded by green grass and bright flowers, a contrast to it's bleached white walls. Today the kindergarteners were having picnics on the front castle lawn. We had a friendly Japanese tour guide who was very knowledgable about the history of Aizu castle. We probably spent 30 minutes listening to him explain the construction of the rock walls before we even entered the castle. Of course he only spoke Japanese so my understanding was limited. I took pictures from the top where you can see all of Aizu. It looks like a plate. Flat rice paddies filled with water reflecting the sun in the center and magestic forest-covered mountains encircling the valley. It's probably one of my favorite places in Japan. We also walked through a tea garden and drank matcha with potato manju sweets. Here I saw the biggest bee in my entire life!! It was bigger than my thumb! The Japanese call it the kumahati or "bear bee". It's dangerous and deserving of it's name.
Later that evening we had a BBQ at the Ishikawa house. Last time Kirby and I were in Aizu we had a similar BBQ by the river and the same guests came this time as well. They even all asked about Kirby and kept repeating that he is a "good guy". Whether the meaning of the phrase is the same in Japanese as it is in English, I don't know. I took it as a compliment. Again, I was the kids entertainer and they kept me busy until dark when we could light the hanabi, fireworks! It was nice to know that they hadn't forgotten us. They even asked if I would come back next year to visit.
The next day, Keiko and her father took my high into the mountains to Ouchijuku, an old village with traditional-style Japanese home. The drive to get there was gorgeous by itself but the village was quaint. All the roofs are made with straw and little obaa-chans sit outside and shout their wares. We wandered the town, admiring the scenery, and ate lunch. We had negisoba and ankomochi. With the soba, instead of using chopsticks, you eat the noodles with a negi or long onion (kind of like a giant chive). It was quite an experience. Afterwards we continued into the mountains to the river where an old wooden bridge spans across it. It was a little unnerving to walk across because the bridge moved but the view was stunning! It reminded me of the Willamette River in Oregon (but cleaner). There were small stores along the bank selling roasted chestnuts and ice cream, even liquor made from those giant bees!
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