Life's B-Side: 四国 Adventures in Shikoku!

今年のお正月は本当に楽しかった。ひろきと言う友達のおかげで日本のお正月の経験ができた。この経験は日本の家に始めて訪問しておもしろかった。友達の家族の家は西条にあるから大分から松山までフェリーに乗らなくちゃ行けなかった。松山に着きてともだちが迎えに来てくれた。This year New Years was really fun. Thanks to my friend Hiroki I was able to have my first New Years in Japan Japanese style! Since his house was in Saijou, I had to take a ferry from Oita to Matsuyama. As soon as I got there, Hiroki, his dad, and William came to pick me up.

松山でさいしょのところは道後温泉。千と千尋の神隠しと言う映画の温泉は道後温泉見たい。サンディエゴから来た同級生も来た。The first place we went to right away was a place called Dogo Onsen. The hotspring in the movie "Spirited Away" was apparently modeled after this one.

次の日にかんこうした。ひろきのお父さんは車でしまなみ海道に連れて行ってくれた。この所は四国と本州間に小さい島からおもしろくてきれいだ。The next day Hiroki's dad took us to the Shimanami Islands to go sight seeing. The small islands are located between the north part of Shikoku and Honshu. Its a very interesting and pretty place.

大島の店でいろいろなおみやげ食べ物を食べて見た。

At a shop in Oshima there were all sorts of good foods to sample!

伯方島で面白いお寺を見た。木戸銭は高すぎて外で遊んだり写真を取ったりした。

At Hakatajima we found a really cool temple, but it was too expensive to go in. However, we still took a bunch of pictures and played outside.

生口島ではサンセットビーチと言う所に遊びに行った。このすなはまはきれいだけど曇りだった。しかし写真がいっぱい。We went to a place on Saguchishima called Sunset Beach! This place was really nice but a little cloudy. We still took alot of pictures.

ひろきのお父さんはとっても親切！

一日中車で案内してくれた！

Hiroki's dad was really nice, he drove us around all day!

その後帰った。ひろきのお母さんは優秀なシェフ。晩ご飯はなべとさしみだった。食べ物はおいしそう！もちろんおいしかった！ After our adventure we came back home. Hirok's mom is an excellent cook! For dinner we had Nabe and some Sashimi. It looked delicious and it was!

レストランのさしみ見たいですね。

It looks just like restaurant Sashimi right!?

三日目もおもしろかった。

ウイルとひろきと松山で遊んだ。

Day three of my trip was also great.

For the day, Hiroki, William and I went to Matsuyama.

目が閉まりながらひろきは運転が好きだ！

Hiroki likes driving with his eyes closed!

大きなまちゃアイスよ。

Big matcha ice cream please!

黒ごまアイス、実は悪くないよ。

Black sesame ice cream... not bad actually.

へんなマネキンを見つけた。たぶんあの店のずぼんをはきたらお客さんはセクシー

になるよ。

Uhh.. we found some weird mannequins.

シナモンメルツとバニラアイスは一緒においしい。

Cinnamon Melts and Vanilla IceCream.. nuff said.

ウィリアムは自由人だぜ。

４２０と言う店を見つけた。店人が怒してまでサングラスと遊んだ。いろいろへんな写真を取った。

We found a nice little shop called "420"

Had a photo session with sunglasses until the lady working there got mad.

マットさんの家庭教師も会った。みなはえひめから来た。

We also met Matt's tutor! Her hometown is also in Ehime Prefecture.

夜に僕たちはひろきの車でアドベンチャーした。高い所できれい夜景も見つけた。

That night, Hiroki also took us on another crazy car adventure. Driving through almost pitch-black mountain roads with abandoned looking government facilities was pretty scary. We did find a nice romantic view at the top though!

夜はおいしい晩ご飯も食べた。真夜中前にお風呂に入って特別のお正月番組を見た。そばを食べた後で寝た。That night we also had another delicious dinner. We watched a special New Years program on tv and ate Soba noodles before going to bed.

お正月：

新年の朝僕たちはきれいな神社に行った。始めの初詣での経験ができてうれしかった。神社の建物は面白くてきれい。空気は祭り見たいだってみんなは元気。Ne w Years day was also great. We went to a nice shrine as I got to exprience my first Japanese "Hatsumoude" (Shrine visiting on New Years). All of the buildings at the shrine looked interesting and really pretty. The atmosphere was like a festival since everyone seemed so energetic.

ひろきの弟も来た。

Hiroki's younger brother also came to spend New Years with us.

誰かは馬の頭をかぶっていた。あの人はとらじゃなかったから謝った。

初詣で後でひろきの親戚の家に行った。西条の景色はすごいね。

After visiting the shrine, we headed to Hiroki's relative's place. Saijou's scenery looks pretty doesn't it?

親戚の家でひろきのおばあさんとおじいさんに会った。全部の親戚はとてもやさしい。

I also met Hiroki's grandparents! All of his relatives were really nice too.

おいしいすき焼きを作っていろいろな食べ物を食べて見た。おじいさんは酒とビールを注してくださいました。We had a huge sukiyaki dinner complete with so many foods iv'e never eaten before. It was all really good too. Hiroki's grandpa kept on pouring beer for me too!