English, why you no easy?

If you are reading this currently, get down on your knees right now and thank the good Lord above that you are a native English speaker.

Wednesday I was working on my TEFL work, and I realized something.  English SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS.  I’m so incredibly happy that I’m a native English speaker and don’t have to learn English.  WHEW!  Learning any language is difficult, but English is supposed to be one of the most difficult languages in the world.  With all of its irregularities, awkward spellings, and words that sound the same but don’t mean the same, it’s a pretty crazy language!  My second lesson of TEFL was about grammar.  As native English speakers, we don’t often think about WHAT or WHY we say something…..it just naturally comes to us, and that’s the way it is.  (Although half the time even as native English speakers we STILL get things confused.  Who hasn’t stared at a word thinking—That doesn’t look right!  Is that word really spelled with two A’s??  For an even better example, think of those people who can’t quite grasp the concept of when to use they’re, there, and their.  Even as native English speakers, we still don’t completely understand our language!)   However, for non-native speakers they HAVE to learn WHY something is the way it is.  As I was reading through the second lesson, I was shocked at grammar point after grammar point stating that “this is the rule……except whenever it isn’t.”  There are ALWAYS exceptions to the case, and the lesson even pointed out that there’s no one easy way to remember the exceptions except through sheer brute memorization.    Oh, yay!  Who doesn’t enjoy that?!   

In addition, I suppose one could make a case and say that there are only three tenses: past, present, and future.  If one thinks about it simply, then yes, this is true.  However, there are actually twelve in all.  Think back to those dreaded middle school grammar classes.  Remember present simple vs. present perfect?  How about past continuous vs. future perfect?  You might not be able to give me an example of each of these right now, but I guarantee that you know and use them.  However, to explain each tense and when it’s used to a non-native speaker is an uphill challenge. 

I see these challenges everyday with my students.  They struggle with these concepts and so much more.  Imagine trying to be motivated enough to learn this language as a thirteen-year-old in no where Japan……as in a place where the only foreigner in sight is the one at the front of class.  I see students everyday who have the why-do-I-have-to-learn-this-I’m-never-going-to-use-it mentality.  I know there’s the same mentality at schools in the USA with regards to learning Spanish.  I’ve heard students, parents, even friends and co-workers complain “Why should I have to learn this language?  It’s not like I’m going to have to use it!”  ………….except they probably will.  We all know what’s going on with the Hispanic population growth.  Eventually, everyone in the USA will need to know Spanish.  I try to tell my kids the same thing.  The ONLY place in the world that speaks Japanese is Japan.  If they go ANYWHERE else in the world, even just on a week long vacation to the beach in Australia, they’re going to need to know English.  For a thirteen-year-old who’s never left Kumamoto and knows that he/she is going to take over the family farm and continue traditions that have been kept in the family for years, this is a little more difficult to grasp…..

*end rant*  Anyway, on to other news…..my garden.  Before I left for the States in July, my little flower bed of sunflowers were gorgeous!  I had fabulous bright yellow blooms, but whenever I came back, I was sorely disappointed.  My flowers looked dry, dead, and in the two weeks I had been gone the weeds decided to take over.  I asked Mommy what the best plan of action would be, and she said pulling everything and starting again.    Alas!  There went three months of planting, weeding, and watering…..  Instead of planting more flowers, I wanted something that would give back to me, so I planted the two cherry tomato plants that I was given earlier in the summer.  Within a few days of planting, I noticed three tiny green tomatoes growing on one of the plants!  Hurray!   I took care of the plants, making sure to water them if it didn’t rain for a couple of days and watched the green ovals grow and turn from green to orange to red (below, left).  Yesterday I decided that the tomatoes were that perfect shade of red and went to pick them: one for me, one for Ian, and one to keep for seeds.  The only downside was that bugs had gotten to one of our three.    Half of the tiny tomato was already eaten! (below, right)  Blarg!  Regardless, I enjoyed my one tiny tomato.  I’m hoping that we have a few more before winter comes.  Surely we will before it gets too cold!

         

Next year I’m saying TO HECK WITH FLOWERS! I BABIED those dang sunflowers for three dang months, and what did they do for me??? Bloomed beautifully for a week and then died. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Next year it’s going to be vegetables for sure! I just hope that I’m able to reap the bounties of my labor before I leave next July……if not that can be a welcome present for my successor!    Welcome to Japan…..have some eggplants! 

Random day-to-day events

It seems like the last couple of blogs have been lacking information about our daily lives.  Therefore, I wanted to write about a few day-to-day occurrences now.

Last week at the supermarket it was absolutely precious.  As I pulled up on my bike, one of the fourth grade girls who absolutely adores me was walking in with her mother.  She came up to me, hugged me, and her mother basically allowed her to be my personal shopper.    She followed me around the store and kept asking what I needed to get next.  I would say something like “tofu,” and she would lead me to the back of the store and show me the vast selection of tofu.  I said “carrots,” and she took me to the produce aisle.  Ha!  It was as if it was my first trip to the supermarket!  Whenever I was checking out, she was with her mother right behind me.  It just so happened that I had a couple of American dollars in my wallet, so I showed those to her, and she was utterly amazed.    I love kids!

Ian’s international driver’s permit expired exactly two weeks ago….meaning that he could no longer legally drive in this country until he got his license.  I didn’t mind driving all the time, and the only situation that we had to work out was how he was going to get to work.  Since Ian works in Nishiki, which is a good thirty minute car ride from Yunomae, it’s not exactly like he could walk or bike (Okay…he COULD technically bike, but by the time he got there, he’d be a sweaty mess!  )  We worked it out that if we dropped the bike off at Ichibu station outside of Nishiki, he could ride his bike to work from there.  This plan really worked out!  We crammed the bike into our tiny baby car, dropped it off, and later that week Ian was able to ride it to work.  The only downside was that Ian had to be gone a total of six hours for a two hour class.  He had to take the 12:42PM train from Yunomae, putting him in Ichibu around 1:15PM.  (The next train would have put him there too late.)  Since his class didn’t begin until 2:30 and it was only a fifteen minute ride to his factory, he had a lot of down time.    His class ended at 4:30, and he said that he JUST missed the 4:45 train heading back to Yunomae, so he had to wait an hour and take the next train, putting him back in Yunomae at 6:20. 

This plan worked well for us, but I’m currently happy to say that he no longer has to use it since he got his license on Monday!     !!!!  Hurray!!!!  The Reeds are officially finished with that hellish place known as the Menkyo Center.  Apparently the 5th time is indeed the charm.  Both Ian and I got our licenses on the 5th try.  In order to pass one must receive a 70% on the test, and Ian said that he got exactly a 70%.  Hurray!!  We’ll take it!  Now both of us can legally drive in Japan.  (Side note: Together we’ve spent about $1,000 in our collective ten attempts.  That’s a depressing stat, isn’t it?  That’s $1,000 that I would have liked to use for ANYTHING other than a stupid Japanese driver’s license.  Grrrrrrrr……)

In other news…..I started my TEFL (Teaching English as a Second Language) program this week.  Melissa’s back in school!  Please remember that I blogged about this back in July.  The JET Program was offering grants of $150 to selected participants who wanted to be TEFL certified.  Only a few participants were selected throughout Japan, and I just happened to be lucky enough to be one of those.  I received the announcement shortly before I went home, so I didn’t start the program then, and once we got back Mommy was here.  Things were too crazy to get it started then, so here I am doing it now.  It’s all online and only twenty lessons long.  If I complete one lesson a day, I’ll be finished within a month, and then I’ll have to take a ridiculously long six(ish) hour test (of course, it is all open book….)  So far I’ve completed two lessons, and I don’t want to jinx myself, but it seems pretty easy and straightforward.  Hopefully It’ll stay that way!  Why am I doing this, one might ask.  A lot of teaching abroad jobs require TEFL certification.  If we do any other teaching abroad jobs after this, I feel like a TEFL certification will give me a leg up.  Even if we don’t, I can put this on my resume, and it shows that I am experienced with teaching non-native speakers English…..which ups my credentials.

Last Thursday and Friday Ian and I participated in Taragi’s English Camp for 6th graders along with Rachel, Joe, and Krista.  There were about twenty kids there, and just like last year, it was a ball!  It’s so much more fun to get out and be able to play with kids instead of sitting at a desk on a computer all day.  We were broken down into groups.  Each ALT had his or her own group, and I don’t want to brag, but Group 2 was where it was at!    The first day we played Mother May I, gesture game, telephone, made fortune tellers, learned a folk dance, and other fun activities.  The second day started off with an obstacle course in which one of the kids had to be blindfolded while the others shouted directions in English.  That was fun!  We played a board game, and then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, we made butter cookies.  Our dough was too sticky to roll out and shape into cookies, so we put it in the freezer for a bit before the kids cut out every shape possible with the cookie cutters.  Each group had a heaping plateful of delicious cookies, but they went fast!  Taragi BOE provided ice cream to go along with the cookies, and it made for an awesome mid-afternoon snack!!  

One of the best things about English Camp was the benefits.  Not only was our lunch paid for, we got delicious snacks both days, it didn’t feel like work, and we got paid to do it.  That’s right!  It’s part of my contract, so it’s just another work day for me.  I did get paid “travel expenses” for driving to Taragi for the meetings and both days of camp.  I got paid about 1,300 yen for English Camp, but Ian took home the cake.  He got paid a full day’s salary for both days and ended up taking home a whopping 9,000 yen!!    That’s about $115!  Hurray!  Another of my favorite things about English Camp (other than the amazing kids) was that at the end of camp, all of the kids had to stand up and say what their favorite things were.  Most of the kids said a certain game or making cookies was their favorite, but one kid said that Ian and Melissa were his favorite.    Things like that just melt my heart!

Woo-hoo!  I’m soooooo happy to be getting back on (blog) track.  August has been a good writing month!  I haven’t written this many blogs in one month since last spring!  I’ll definitely squeeze in one more blog tomorrow before the end of the month.  Woo-hoo! 

Christmas dilemma!

Ian and I have a tough decision to make…….where do we want to spend Christmas this year?  Last year we stayed in Yunomae for Christmas, and honestly it was a little too depressing.  To be away from home on Christmas is one thing.  To sit alone in a cold house, Skype friends and family at home while watching them laugh and eat Santa shaped sugar cookies and realize that on that one day out of the year you hate your life abroad and just want to go home (wow…..am I getting just a little too personal..?) is another thing.  Last year I had to save, save, SAVE my vacation days so that I could 1) use the days to get my driver’s license, and 2) come home in July, but this year can burn through all twenty vacation days on actual VACATION.    Sweet!  We’ve never had a luxurious Christmas getaway.  So here’s our dilemma…….should we go to Australia or Thailand/Cambodia for Christmas?  We haven’t exactly researched what we want to do in either place, but we have a few ideas.  Let me break this down and give you some pros and cons for each place.

Australia:

Pros:  This may be the closest we’ll ever be to Australia.  Flights from Japan to Australia are A LOT cheaper than flights from the States to Australia.  I have always, always, ALWAYS wanted to go to Australia.  It’s a dream of mine!  Seeing the Sydney Opera House, snorkeling with Nemo in the Great Barrier Reef, and spending Christmas/New Year’s on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches…..why not?!?  What if this is the only chance I ever get to do that…..?  Plus, it’s an English speaking nation.  It would be fabulous to have a mental vacation and not have to constantly worry about what people are saying or not being able to read things.  In addition, since Australia is below the equator….Christmas falls during the summer time there!    Yes, please!

 

Cons: It’s expensive.  Island nation!  From the prices I’ve been looking at, even if we managed to stay with friends or couch surf and didn’t have the cost of housing, it would cost us probably as much as it cost us to go home last summer.  Translation: not a happy price.    Plus, it’s a HUGE country.  We both want to hit up Sydney, visit friends in Cairns, explore the Great Barrier Reef, see Ayers Rock, and to do all of that might be just too much and cost waaaaaaay more than we can budget for.

Thailand/Cambodia:

Pros: Um, HELLO!  BEAUTIFUL BEACHES!  A simple Google search produced results like this:

 

Who WOULDN’T want to spend Christmas there?  Plus, it’s cheap.  CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP to go to Thailand.  The most expensive thing for us would be the airfare….which is still cheaper than going to Australia.  There are several markets that would be fun to go to, including some that are on the canals of Bangkok.  In addition, MANY people in Thailand speak English, so once again we’d get the welcomed break of speaking English.  If Thailand is considered to be cheap, then Cambodia is ROCK BOTTOM DIRT CHEAP.  Seriously….no joke…..ridiculously cheap.  Plus, Ankor Wat, the largest Hindu temple complex in the world and one of Ian’s top places he wants to go, is in Cambodia. 

Cons:  Not to sound arrogant, but both are third world countries.  We’d have to be constantly vigilant about keeping our wits about us and clutching onto our passport and money.  I know it’s ridiculous, but a small part of me is terrified to go to Thailand because I think I’m going to be captured and sold as a sex slave a la Taken style………minus the ex-CIA dad rescue part at the end.  Plus, it’s a completely different culture and language.  Even though many people speak English, we have absolutely no language skills with either Thai or Cambodian.   

So here’s where we stand……Australia or Thailand/Cambodia for Christmas?

The last few days with Mommy

Gack!  It’s been over a week since we dropped Mommy off at the airport, yet I haven’t written about it yet.  Fail!

So how did I spend those last few days with her, you ask?  Well honestly, it was very rushed!  We got back that Wednesday, and I had two more days of work that week.  That Saturday morning, Melissa asked me to take her to the bus station by 7AM so that she could catch the bus and go home for her vacation.  After she drove me an hour and a half in the pouring rain and flood when I came home, I felt that it was the LEAST I could do for her!  Mommy woke up and went with me.  Once we got back home, both of us fell asleep for another few hours before waking up around 9:30AM.

All of our friends were going to a magical waterfall place to swim that afternoon.  I say magical because from the description I was given, it really does sound like a magical, beautiful place!  Plus….it was very difficult and complicated to get to.  I asked Mommy if she wanted to go, but she said that she’d rather stay home, write in her journal, and pack.  I was conflicted as to either stay with Mommy or go to the magical waterfall.  Since it was her last day in Yunomae, I wanted to spend time with her. Mommy reassured me that I should go swimming with my friends, so I told her that I wouldn’t stay for long and would return pronto. 

We all met at Sara’s house in Nishiki, crammed into three cars, and journeyed down the winding mountain roads until I was utterly lost.  Krista was leading the way…thank goodness!  After turning onto several different un-named one lane roads, I was wondering if I’d ever find my way back! 

Once we got to the parking area, it was still a good ten minute hike down the mountainside to the waterfall.  Even though we were hot, sweaty, and disgusting by the time we reached it, the water was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COLD!!!!  It was like……mountain spring cold!  There was no creeping into the water.  If I had crept in an inch at a time, I guarantee I never would have made it in because I wouldn’t have WANTED to go in.    I, as everyone else did, canon balled in, and screamed at how frigid it was once I surfaced.  It was a terribly beautiful waterfall, though, and it was completely isolated!  No one bothered us as we swam. 

The current coming from the waterfall was incredibly strong.  We tried to swim close to it, but there was no way we could get even remotely close.  Instead, Krista spearheaded the movement to swim alongside the waterfall and swim under it.  I was all about it, being one of the initial people to swim over to it, gearing myself up for it UNTIL I was right beside it.  Having that huge amount of water dumping on you and hearing it thundering over you is a lot different than seeing it from across the way and saying “Hey, you know what would be cool?”  I kept thinking OMG, what if I drown?  OMG, what if I drown?  Alas, I gave into peer pressure and crawled along the side of the waterfall until I was right on it.  I held my breath and kicked against the rock wall, letting the current take me under and downstream.  It was exciting but probably not something I’d want to do again!

Since the water was so cold, we didn’t spend a lot of time in it.  We laid out on the rocks for a while, and it wasn’t until we were out of the water that Ian realized he made a BIG boo-boo.  Earlier in the day, he had put his cell phone in his swim trunks pocket……and then promptly forgot about it.  He didn’t think twice about jumping in the water, so that was all she wrote for that phone.    We tried to dry it out.  Ian took it apart and dried the individual pieces, we placed it in rice, but nothing worked.  When he plugged in the phone a day later, we had a glimmer of hope when the phone lit up, but then we watched it slowly, pitifully die.     

I left from the waterfall a little earlier than everyone else so that I could get back to Mommy.  Brian said that he had an event that night, so he wanted to leave with me.  Although we tried our best to retrace our route on the crazy twisting one lane mountain roads, we couldn’t and instead of coming out in Nishiki, we came out in the outskirts of Hitoyoshi.    Regardless, we were able to make our way back!  I dropped Brian off and took the Fruity Road home, stopping at one point to pick a couple of Easter lilies for Mommy.  Here they grow wild and in bunches.  When we came by that road earlier that morning to pick up Melissa, Mommy couldn’t believe how many were growing!  Therefore I stopped to pick her a few. 

I helped Mommy tidy up and wrap up a few last minute things, and we had a nice last night together.  The rest of my friends gathered at Margo’s house for dinner and games.  Mommy told me to go, but I told her that I had a whole year to hang out with friends.  I only had one more night with her.  We watched a few shows on Hulu, called Daddy to finalize plans to pick her up at the airport, and I went to Margo’s to pick up Ian later.

The following day we made the three hour trip up to Fukuoka to drop off Mommy.  Since Ian couldn’t drive, I had to do the whole thing.  (I was actually really tired by the time we got home!)  We ate one last meal together and then took Mommy to the airport.  Ian and I helped her check in, and before we sent her through security, we sat down and went over step-by-step details of what she’d need to do about spending the night in Tokyo’s Haneda airport and what to do and say when going through passport check and security back in the States.  Whenever we finally took her to security, it was hard to say goodbye.  Both Mommy and I started crying.  She later confessed to me that she cried the whole way through security, and as we were leaving, I couldn’t help but to cry.  I was trying to rush out of the airport so that I could get back to the comfort of my own car.  Ian said that people probably thought that he had hit me and I was trying to run away from him.    I hadn’t thought of that. 

And now that Mommy’s gone, our lives have pretty much gone back to normal……..at least normal for living in Japan.  I go to school every day, Ian goes to his classes and records his voice for tutorials, we have dinner together, go out with friends on the weekends, etc.  Back to the routine.  It’s weird to know that this is my second time around.  This time last year I was brand new, terrified, and unsure of A LOT.  This year I’m so much more comfortable with my life here and feel like I can enjoy it so much better.  So……here’s to a successful second year in Japan.  With August nearly being over, that means that I only have eleven more months of contract left!  Then it’ll be back to the States for a bit…..

All around Kyushu…..part IV

…..and here it is!  The final installment of our fabulous road trip around Kyushu with Mommy.  I left off with Monday, which wasn’t such a good day for us, and it seemed almost like if it wasn’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have had any luck at all.    Our luck picked up, though, and we were able to enjoy a wonderful last few days on the road. 

Mommy and I spent the night in Joel’s enormous house.  Honestly, about two or three of my houses could fit into his.  I’m not joking!  Mommy kept saying “I just wish that you all could have something nice like this.”  We don’t, and it’s whatever.  That’s just the way the cookie crumbled, and we’re perfectly content with our lot in life here in Yunomae in our tiny little house.    Since Ian had to spend the night in Yunomae and the first train back to Kumamoto arrived at 11:33AM, we picked him up from the station there.  Then we were off to Takachiho Gorge in Miyazaki Prefecture!

Takachiho is supposed to be the birth place of Japan.  It’s kind of like their Garden of Eden.  From the city, it took us about 2.5 hours to get there because the traffic was horrendous.  It was bummer-to-bummer on the tiny two lane road outside of the city, and we lost probably forty-five minutes just idling through traffic.  Ugh!  The trip there was gorgeous.  Clouds hung low over the mountains, giving it that smoky look (below, left).  Once we got to the town of Takachiho, we missed our turn and had to turn around, getting stuck behind a bus that was in absolutely no rush to get anywhere.    Once we finally got there, we realized that everyone and their mother had the same idea that day: go to Takachiho. Since it was the Japanese holiday of Obon, a time to spend with family, big tourist attractions like Takachiho were busy.  If the hundreds of other people milling around and getting in the way of photo opportunities wasn’t enough, it started to POUR DOWN RAIN on us.  Basically as soon as we got out of the car, it started to rain and didn’t take long to gather strength and fully pour.  We tried to make the most of our time there because it’s SUCH a beautiful place (the clear blue water runs through a deep gorge, and there’s even a waterfall), but the the steady rain challenged us.    It didn’t take too long until we looked like drowned rats (below, right)!

 

The more the rain continued, the more the crowd thinned.  Not us!  We continued to wander around the area, exploring the back “shopping” section of a few restaurants.  Most remaining people were either crowded in the restaurants or huddled under the front awnings waiting out the rain.  Not us!  We continued on, exploring the pools of water where you could fish, and if you caught one, the workers at the tent on the side would cook it up for you immediately.  Ha!  I really wanted to spend more time there, but since the rain wasn’t letting up, we kind of rushed ourselves.    I was surprised at how much the water level changed in just an hour.  It went from being a gentle stream to a semi-raging river.  Water gushed off the mountainsides, and even new waterfalls were created just in that short amount of time!  I don’t have too many good pictures of the gorge yet, (Ian has yet to process the pictures from our good camera) but the best one is below.    When the weather is nice, you can rent a row boat and paddle under the waterfall.  I definitely want to go back!  Below right is a sign explaining about the gorge, but it’s the BEST Engrish I’ve seen in a while.  In case you can’t read it, it says that Takachiho “…was the tirst island to be created by the cods.”  HAHAHAHA!!!  Perfect!

 

We made our way back to Kumamoto City and ate dinner at Reef Burger with Mary and Yuusuke that night.  Mommy was introduced to the best burger in Kumamoto!!    Then it was back to Joel’s for one more night before our last day of adventure.

Wednesday was my last day of vacation and last day of our Kyushu road trip.  We packed up our little tiny car in the morning and dropped off Ian at the Menkyo Center for what we hoped would be the last time.  He successfully checked in, so Mommy and I left him to take his test and drove to Mt. Aso for more volcano-exploring.  Mt. Aso has the world’s largest caldera and gives Kumamoto its name.  Thanks to Mt. Aso, Kumamoto means “land of fire.”  Before it blew its top, Aso was the tallest mountain in Japan…..however that title is now given to Mt. Fuji. 

In July when Kumamoto was flooding so badly, Kumamoto City and the Aso area took the brunt of the flooding problems, and it was very evident.  On the way to Aso, we saw the aftermath of a giant landslide on the mountainside.  A hole chunk of the mountain was just….gone.  On the road up to Mt. Aso, it was evident that the road had suffered from the flooding.  Parts of it were down to one lane simply because the other half of the road had been washed away.  Around the gullies pockets of leftover mud, limbs, and debris still clung to the roadside.  The Aso area is known for its fertile pasture land, and something like 70% of Kumamoto’s milk product comes from Aso.  However, a lot of the pasture land was unusable.  The mountainside was riddled with eroded pockets that had broken away and slammed into fences, breaking down the wooden fences.  Without fences, the cows could roam wherever they pleased…..    Even with all of the broken fences we saw, there were still several cows on the mountain.  We stopped to photograph some of them (below, left).  I was quite intimidated by the silly cow because it kept wanting to stick its arm length tongue out and lick me.  Yuck!!

 

From the top of the mountain, we could see for miles (above, right).  It’s a gorgeous view!  Except for the actual crater, everything on Aso is SO GREEN.  It’s beautiful!  We parked in the parking lot just below the crater and walked up.  The hike up is indeed a little steep, but Mommy took it like a champ!  We had to break a couple of times, but we made it to the top.  The landscape of the crater is very different from the rest of the mountain.  There’s nothing at the top except rocks and ashy-sand.  Vast expanses of Aso look like a wasteland (below, left).  It’s very interesting to go to Aso and look in the crater.  The first time I went, I was expecting to see a liquid hot boiling pit of lava, but the only thing in Aso’s crater is a bluish sea of sulfur.  It was difficult to see the day that we went because the steam coming off of it obstructed our view (below, right).

 

The crater is a huge tourist attraction, and there were venders selling chunks of the sulfur.  I told Mommy that a chunk of sulfur would definitely be a good gift for Daddy.  We tried to buy a chunk, but the vender told us that we couldn’t because airlines don’t allow it on the planes….even in checked luggage.  Fail!   Mommy asked me what the concrete buildings all around were (below, left).  I explained to her that in the 1900s when Aso erupted, several tourists were visiting the crater and……didn’t make it.  After that, the visitor’s center built several shelters around the crater to protect tourists from the blast in case anything ever happens like that again.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to play around at the crater because Ian text me to say that he was finished with his test…..and didn’t pass.    He was in no mood to talk about it or to wait around for us, so we hurried off the mountain, stopped by the gift shop for delicious milk-flavored ice cream (below, right), and headed back to the Menkyo Center to pick him up.

Both of us were quite disappointed that he didn’t get his license.  After that day, he could no longer legally drive in Japan.    With tails tucked between our legs, we decided to head home, closing off our road trip on a not so happy note.