The charm and mystery of Japanese culture. . . something that attracts me to this country as I'm drawn into traditions and history that stretch back many, many generations. In particular, Nara, as the first permanent capital of Japan established in 710, is a city that maintains an area of many older homes, and boasts an impressive collection of temples (including the largest wooden building in the world), and shrines (one of which the road leading towards it is lined with thousands of stone lanterns, lit once during the O'Bon festival in August). The city also offers (for a price) "people-driven" carriage rides, along with narration of the area, through it's historical streets.  

What is summer without. . . "Aisu"?!? You definitely have to look for the right places to find ice cream here, but in a "tourist town" like Karuizawa, that wasn't a problem. Not eating too much was. . . Taken with Doris (left -- the teacher I I "filled in" for last year when she was studying Japanese), and Andrea (who just arrived in Osaka this February). We had a great time together during the conference; shopping at the outlet mall, studying Japanese at the Christian language school there, and, as you can see, treating ourselves! 

my room in "the house" -- ok, so obviously I didn't get a good enough camera to show up those cobwebs. . . just don't look up! :-s 

Welcome to the ultimate in "meet & greet" social events. . . As missionaries attending the annual Karuizawa Summer Missionary Conference (in a city that has been greatly impacted by the presence of missionaries -- could I use that word any more?!), we were also given the "privilege" (??) of invitation to the big summer gala (along with all the important figures / big wigs in the area). Having not understood this before leaving for our trek out to the mountains, I can fairly say I was "underdressed" for the occassion, not to mention just slightly younger than about 95% of the guests (the 5% being the Hiebert kids), and not quite feeling like I "blended in". Although, upon encouragement from one of the conference leaders urging us to initiate conversation with business people as a great way to share about why we are here in Japan, I did manage to "target" and strike up conversations with a couple of people. On an interesting note, I learned from the website designer for Karuizawa that they hold a curling tournament here every year in February -- "mezurashii!!" (I can't imagine that happens too many other places in this country) So, that was his first connection to Canada -- what can I say, just doing my job as an ambassador for my country?!  

the OLD house -- felt like we were competing with the bugs / spiders / mice for occupancy of the place during the week I slept here. . . So, it was definitely an adventure -- guess we missionaries in Japan can't really complain about our "living situation", since we're pretty spoiled here!! This place is definitely a welcome "escape" from the mugginess that engulfs most of the mainland throughout July and August -- wanna come visit next summer?? 

One big happy family. . . out in Karuizawa (near Nagano in the Japanese alps). Yes, I can definitely say we all enjoyed the huge veranda out in front of the house -- for playing ping pong (so I realized I'm a little out of practice since my dad and I used to rally down in our basement when I was younger -- I kept blaming it on the net being too high. . . :-b), spending quiet time on the porch swing (how can you not enjoy God's awesomeness in such a beautiful place?!), or for enjoying a pancake breakfast (blueberry ones!!!) with the Hiebert family, Doris (holding pancake) and Andrea (with braided hair).  

Relay races under the sun in the park nearby. . . the water balloons (and staff members drenching each other with buckets of water!!) were pretty popular! 

That's right -- Summer Kids' Club 2005!! The team from Canada "thoughtfully" brought along hats to go with our creation theme for the 3 days ;-)  

Definitely the place to hang out on a hot summer's night. . . and pull that "yukata" (light summer kimono) out of the closet. (Still looking for one that's long enough. . .) 

Some of the dancers at Oiden -- watch out for the "Toyota Church" entry next year!! 

It's Matsuri (festival) season in Japan - Toyota's "Oiden" was held in the end of July; downtown streets were filled with dancers, each performing their own interpretation of the festival music!