From Now, I Have Decided To Blog in Japanese (A Translation)

For some reason today, for the first time, i feel like writing in japanese. I went again to my host family's house yesterday and the day before. Saturday, we went to the Meiji Mura (village), which a kind of theme park/historical monument. What they have done is taken all kinds of buidings built in the Meiji Era (around the industrial evolution, just after japan was opened to the West) and moved them to this one village. It was a pretty impressive undertaking. From all over japan they have been dismantled, transported, and rebuilt exactly as before (with typical japanese attention to minutia.) Banks and hotels and Post offices and libraries and a steam engine train and station and churches and barber shops and theatres and and lighthouses and fish markets etc etc. Typically japanese to move all of these historical treasures to a place for convenient sightseeing. The Grandfather actually happened to be doing some carpentry work there. We found him working alone, apparently building a house with no help. The mother asked him about 5 times whether he was seriously working all alone. In other news, the house of the author of the famous japanese novel "i am a cat" was there too. Any way, it was really interesting and quite fun.
The next day we went to Ohanami. There were five families and the two of us gaijin (myself and a british bloke named Ollie.) About 18 people all together. We ate barbeque pretty much the whole time from an hour after we got there. The japanese have quite remarkable appetites. (and yet they are so small...) Anyway, in addition to viewing the sakura blossoms, the five families were gathered to bid farewell to the Yagyu family, who went to America for a expected stay of 5 years two days after the goodbye party. After the picnic, we returned to the T home. I passed out my america souvenirs. Everyone seemed very very very pleased with them, and my host mother was very embarrassed that i had bothered to get them anything. (as if they don't deserve those small things and more besides! They let me stay in a hotel with them! on their anniversary! In a three bedroom room!) Then, after everyone had had a little break after the day long barbeque, we went out to eat dinner at Misen, a delicious place i have been to now about 5 times. Taiwan ramen.... yum.... But Lord can they eat. Then they drove me back to i house. It was a fun weekend. I bet you are jealous. Until next time!