a new year.

As I have probably said for every post on my blog, it's been a long time since I've had any activity here.  With that said, there are probably many moments for me to write about and many pictures to share, but strangely, I didn't find much photos in the album or on my phone.  It's already the last day of January here in Japan and I'm surprised that 2016 is already a 12th over.

I suppose they say time flies when you're having fun and I guess that would be an accurate statement to describe my past few months here in Japan.

To highlight the things I've done since the last post...
I went to Tokyo to watch the FIFA Club World Cup, went home for nearly 3 weeks, and have returned to some of the coldest days in Fukuoka (and I assume more places in Asia for that matter) in many years.



I know that I have posted about my music room in the past, but I think, that I have finally finished the room.


Toho is a small village up in the mountains of Fukuoka, nearly bordering Oita Prefecture.  The ALT from the area hosted a large BBQ.  Although, it was extremely cold, good times were had with good people and good food.



Fukuoka is home to the now J1 League team,  Avispa Fukuoka.  Luckily we were able to score tickets to watch their J2 Playoff game for promotion.  In the end, Avispa got the last promotion spot for J1 and we look forward to watching more games later this year.







My mother and great grandparents came to Fukuoka to visit me and also see their former place of residence.  I learned a lot about their life story and had an incredible opportunity to get a small glimpse of their past when they had lived in Japan for a few years.  The timing of their visit was great as the colors of fall were on display.  It was by chance, as the changing of colors happened much later than what is typical.  It was also nice to play tourist just for a day or two, giving me a re-found interest in the city.



I had a day trip to Kumamoto with wonderful friends and their family.  Kumamoto Castle was the first castle I had visited back in 2003, my first trip to Japan.  Though I was only able to recall a few details of the castle itself, it was nice to travel back to the place where it all started.


A "Hawaiian" store in Yokohama's chinatown.  Strangely, when I went home during the holiday season, the local newspaper had a picture of this same store.




I paid way too much money to see a game from seats that were way too far from the field.  However, it was an experience like none other as I got to see one of the greatest teams play in FC Barcelona.  There was a bit of a scare as the availability of both Neymar and Messi were in question, but in the end, the two, along with Suarez, played and played great.


















I'm sure that being able to go home during the holidays helps keep you sane when living in a foreign country.  From the food, to the people, to the land and community itself, nothing can replace Hawaii. While obviously the best part about going home is seeing family again, this trip home was special in that i was able to purchase a new bike.  It has been brought back to Japan and will definitely see much more of the road as the temperatures rise.







I was invited to a wedding from a friend that we play futsal with.  All I can say was that it was wonderful, elaborate, and I wish all the best to the bride and groom.







Finally, the snow.  Lots of snow. Too cold.  But at least we were able to play in the snow and have good times.


Hopefully my next post will happen soon.

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