The test!

So Last week after we got back from our short weekend trip, Lane realized something very important that I totally forgot about. His international Driver's permit was just about to expire. This meant that in just two weeks he could no longer legally drive in Japan unless he got a Japanese drivers license. So we both started emailing people to figure out what needed to be done in order to get one. We had already heard that it was very hard to pass the actually driving test and so we were getting really worried. I also decided I had better switch my license over as well since my permit was going to expire in October. The first thing that we needed to do was have our Utah license translate into Japanese. So we did that last Wednesday. That was all taken care of. All we needed to do was go to the Japanese DMV and apply to get a Japanese license. The next day we did that and to our surprise we they told us we could come back the next day and take the driving test. We were both happy and worried at the same time because we were not prepared to take the test the next day. We didn't have a babysitter for the girls and I didn't know the directions in Japanese. I was very stressed out. We called on the missionaries to see if they would help us out to watch the girls and help translate. They accepted the challenge and the next day we all met up at the DMV. I was so nervous and sick feeling that I didn't eat. Lane was a cool at a bug in the winter. We took the written test and past (that was the easy part) and so we were now all set to do the driving test. As we waited for our turn I got more and more worried and nervous. You see in Japan 85% of people do not pass on the first time. You have to get a perfect score in order to pass. I had not met a single person who passed the first time around. I was just expecting to fail. It was our turn and Lane got to go first. As he was driving I just new he was going to fail because he did what I thought were wrong things. To both of our surprise he passed. We were in shock. Then it was my turn. I was so nervous I had to drive a stick shift car. In Japan you have a license for a stick shift or automatic and you can't drive a stick shift with an automatic license. We just got a stick shift car that I have only been driving for a month with no prior experience to driving stick shift. So you see I was so scared of driving this new car for a very important test. In the end I passed. I could not believe it. I feel like I can now drive anywhere in the world. Lane and I can now legally drive in Japan. Yahoo! Oh we are truly grateful for the missionaries.

Hakkaido Trip!

Last weekend we had the opportunity of traveling to the northern island of Hokkaido. It was a quick trip and wish we could have stayed longer, but we know now that we defiantly want to go back. Hokkaido is considered Japan’s backyard. With only two major cities on the Island it is virtually unspoiled territory. It was such a beautiful place. We only made it to the southern end of the island to the small town of Hakodate. It was here in Hakodate that the first international trading took place some 150 years ago so the city was full of old western history. It was refreshing for us to see western culture because no where else in Japan does it exist.

At the last minute we decided to take the train instead of driving and taking a ferry. We took the Shinkansen (the Bullet train) to Aomori and then a train that goes under the ocean all the way to Hakodate. The whole trip took five hours from Sendai.
Lane with the girls on the Shinkansen. The girls really loved the train becasue they could get up and walk around.


Here was a cool house that was coverd in Ivy. I love homes like this. Here is us making our serious Japanese face inside the old Hakodate ward office hall. With a fake picture of the actual building in the background.


We were with our friends on the trip and when we got to Hakodate we could not find our hotel. So we wandered the city till about 8pm until we found a hotel with room for six of us. The next morning we picked up our rental car and toured all the old churches and Embassies. The Japanese call Hakodate the San Francisco of Japan because it sits next to the bay and sits on a hill. It was one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in Japan.




Before heading to our next point of interest we drove out to cape Hakodate. It was a really pretty view. On our drive out there Coco Chan feel asleep in the car so we looked around the park while she slept in the car.



After touring all of Hakodate we head out to Onuma National Park. Again we could not find out hotel and this time we didn’t have the option of finding a different hotel. It was so funny because we went were the travel book told us to go, but all that we could find was a really run down place that looked awful. To our surprise we read the book wrong and it was really located at the previous station and we found a nice hostel type hotel.


Here the girls getting Jiggy with it at the Hostel we stayed in. I was a cool Hostel cause it was just run by this old man and we were the only ones staying there that night so it was like we had this giant house all to ourselves. The Old man also made a us a really good breakfest in the morning. It was well worth the 40$.




The next morning we went hiking around the lake. This picture with Coco chan reminded us of the Monet painting. It was really pretty with the lilly pads and the bridge in the background. After hiking for a couple of hours we decided that there wasn't much more to do at the national park so we headed back to Hakodate to catch our train home. Before heading back home we ate some sea food and drove up Hakodate Mountain to look at the view of the ocean and the city. It was a brilliant view.


I only wish we could have stayed longer, but at least we got to go at all. I can only wait for our next adventure. But for now we have to go back to our normal routine. Grace stated school today and our house really needs a good cleaning. Sayonara!

Osaka Trip Continued....

Ok So I just spent forever on this blog and then some how I deleted it all. I am horrible at this. I need to brush on my skills better. So we made it back from Osaka safely. We had lots of fun and saw lots of cool sights. After we visited with our friends in Yokohama we drove the 500km down to Osaka to pick up Lane. Instead of the drive taking four hours it took eight hours. There was so much traffic on the expressway I could not believe it. In Japan they have normal roads and then expressway which you have to pay a hefty price to use. I would have taken normal roads had I known it would take so long. The girls did great too. They just entertained themselves. After picked up Lane we went to the Osaka Aquarium. It was very cool.



Here is a picture of the giant Whale shark that they have in the tank.


While we were in Osaka we got to ride on the world’s largest Ferris wheel. It was amazing. We could see all of Osaka and the surrounding area. The girls loved this and it was a nice break for mom and dad because the girls couldn’t run around. It was also so hot that day and the Ferris wheel had A.C.










While we were in Osaka we met some Ninjas. The girls were afraid even though we told them that they were nice ninjas.



After spending the day in Osaka we drove north up to the city of Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan before Tokyo. It has lots of ancient history and was probably one of the only places in Japan that wasn’t bombed in WWII. We visited the golden Pavilion of Kinkakuji. Yes it is made out of Gold, out it is only plated gold and not solid. It is not the original (which was built in 1600A.D.) In 1950 some crazy monk burnt it down and they have since built a new one. It is still a really neat building.





We then went to the Nijo-jo( a castle for the shoguns) It was a really neat sight.




After the Nijo-jo we went to To-ji a temple from long ago. It is home to japans tallest pagoda. It was a really neat sight. They also had some very beautiful gardens full of turtles and koi fish. It was getting so hot that we then went back to our hotel for the evening.






The next morning we went to the famous shrine of Fushumi Inari. This where the filmed parts of the movie memoirs of a geisha. This temple is for the Shinto god Inari who is keeper over all the rice that is why this is a very important shrine. We were just excited to see all the torii gates.





From there we drove to Nara which was the capital of Japan before Kyoto and has a much older history. While we were there we encountered hundreds of wild deer that just roam threw the town. At one point the attacked lane as he was trying to feed him. It was funny and the girls even enjoyed petting the deer too.





After visiting with the deer we went to see Todai- ji which is the largest wooden building in the world. It also houses Japan’s largest Buddha which was an amazing sight to see.





We finally left Nara after spending the day there to head up to our next destination of Nagoya. While in Nagoya we met with our friends for a brief tour of a museum and a miso making factory. While in the museum CoCo chan got to try on a samurai outfit she looked so cute in it.





We then headed back to Yokohama to spend the night with our friends again. I got to take Lane to the Mexican restaurant and we even got to go shopping at the Costco in Tokyo. That was a blast. As we were finally leaving Tokyo we caught a glimpse of the thing I wanted to see the most. Mt. Fuji. We saw it way off into the distance, but it was well worth it. We hope to climb it next summer. Well our trip has come to close. It was a great vacation and we can’t wait for our next trip. Oh wait its just next weekend. We are going to the north island of Hokkaido. Talk to you soon and I hope you enjoyed the pictures from our trip.

Our trip to Osaka

This Last week we had the opportunity to visit southern Japan. We live in Northern Japan so it was a very exciting trip. Lane was down in Osaka for a two week language coarse and so the girls and I wanted to make a trip out of it and pick him up. We left the week before he finished so that we could make a slow and leisure trip down there. It is about a 10 hour drive to Osaka. Along the way we stopped in Yokohama to visit our friends who live down there. Yokohama is the city just south of Tokyo and about four hours from our house. We arrived Sunday night and stayed until Wednesday. While we were there we ate out at American restaurants like TGI Fridays and El toritos. It was very good food. We don't get American restaurants in Sendai. We also took the kids to children's museum and the Ramen Museum. Our friends have kids my girls age so it was a lot of fun for the kids to all get together.

the princesses

Here we go!

So everyone out there and their dog has a blog so I tried to sign up for one a couple of months ago and well being in Japan- the blogger website was all in Japanese. Try navigating that one. Well I managed to and I switched everything to english. Yeah english. Well most of you know we are in Japan and we are staying another year. Why you ask yourselves well it is because we love to travel and this is the only way to do it. When you've got two kids who no longer fly for free you have to do something. So we came to Japan and I think in the two years that we are here we can see most of this amazing country. Next week we are going down south to see the south side of the island. I will post pictures when we get home. Sayonara.