Alive and Kickin'

Hi Everyone-

I have been without internet for the past few weeks, so sorry for not posting! I have been very busy- my Mom came to visit for 10 days! Last weekend we drove to Hiroshima and Kyoto and did lots of sightseeing. Hiroshima was a 2 hour drive from where I live, and Kyoto was another 4 hours- so not bad. But Japanese people think that we are crazy for driving there- they would take the train. Their highways are very, very nice and smooth- and hardly any traffic at all. It's a shame that they don't use them more. And we probably drove through about 50 tunnels during the trip. Their highway tolls are a little expensive though- it cost us 17,000 Yen rountrip (which is about $170). I got a new, nicer car too- still small, but it drives alot smoother than my old one- I will post a pic soon.

Kyoto was awesome- we visited Nijo castle that was built in 1601, the Golden Temple, and the Imperial Palace - where the emperor of Kyoto lived until 1861, when the capital of Japan changed to Tokyo. It was amazing.

Good news- I bought a digital camera today. It is a Nikon 5600 and I bought it for 23,800 Yen, about $238 USD. Pretty much the sweetest camera in the world. I am taking mad pictures and will post them soon. Bad news- I still don't have internet hooked up at my new house. I am posting from Jamie and Joe's computer- but we have yet to figure out how to setup our router. The cd that came with the router is in Japanese- so it's a problem. So either I have to learn to read Kanji soon, or find some Japanese person who will setup my router (the former is not likely).

I miss all of you and am already missing summertime in Oregon. Drink one for me!