Afternoon tea

When I was about 5 years old, my family had a farm in a very remote part of Queensland. We could not see our nearest neighbour's houses from where we lived.

One afternoon, as I was playing outside by myself, I saw a car belonging to a one of the neighbouring families (Mr & Mrs Lacey) pass by at the top of the closest hill, headed in the direction of their farm. We had visited the Lacey farm a few times, and I remembered that Mrs Lacey gave us some really tasty cake each time. Suddenly, without telling my mother my plans, I decided to walk over to the Lacey place and have some cake with them. This seemed like a normal idea to me.

As I was only small, and their place was several kilometers away, it took me a long time to reach it. Meanwhile, my mother was going sick with worry, thinking I'd drowned in the river or something. When I finally got there, Mrs Lacey was surprised to see me, but she gave me a piece of cake, as I had hoped. After that, she drove me home. My mother was glad I'd returned, but also quite upset with me.

What I like about Japan

Students sometimes ask me what I like about Japan. The photo partly answers this question. I'm fond of old temples and Japanese gardens. My wife and I enjoy going to quiet, traditional inns in hot spring areas, and enjoying good meals there. Of course the restaurants in major cities are terrific too, even the cheaper ones. I like the convenience of Japan, especially the ease with which we can get around here. Although I can drive, I don't feel the need to have a car here because the train and subway system is so good. I rent a car a few times a year maybe.

I used this blog with another class last year, and have just changed the class number and student names, so you'll be able find several older posts in which I write about myself. If you're interested in any of them, feel free to ask me about something I wrote.

Anyway, how about you? What do you like about Japan? What are your favorite things, places, characteristics of the Japanese etc?