Saturday, August 22, 2009

We're Back!

Well....we made it back...and just a warning...this will be a long post!

In my last post I said that I was jet lagged....turned out I was wrong! For the first time I wasn't jet lagged! I did get up early but I never crashed! As I stated though, my honey was hit hard by it! But now that we are home, we are both jet lagged! I got up at 5 am and can barely keep my eyes open at 7pm. I keep looking at the clock thinking it must be late and it is only 1 pm!

Well...the trip was fabulous!! We did lots but also had lots of down time. We ate many things that were on our list....subway subs, whoppers -both on hubby's list-Chinese food, Vietnamese food, barbecues etc. I was SHOCKED at the size of the food!!! And whenever I said that everyone said "it is worse in the States". Seriously, how do people eat that much?! At many restaurants, hubby and I would share 2 appetizers and that was all we could handle! Hubby took MANY pics of food to show people.....here are 2 that were very delicious! The hamburger was a specialty at one place we went.



Hubby really enjoyed trying some Canadian beer....here is a pic of him ...um...very...happy! This pic is of my hubby and my student who now lives in Cambridge Ontario and works at Toyota.

Here are some pics of my student's kids....so cute!!! When we were at the restaurant together and I was speaking Japanese...boy did we get looks and lots of questions!

We went to Niagara Falls....it was the first time I have ever gotten absolutely soaked from the mist...it was terrible but fun at the same time!



We also went to the casino and it was a first for both of us and I won $25!! Woohoo!
Then we went up to my mom's house in Southampton. I LOVE it there! Here are some pics.



Here are some pics of the main street.

While at mom's we barbecued, went to see the windmill farms and sat in the hot tub! One night it was perfect-58 degrees out-perfect for the hot tub and while we were in it there was a meteor shower!! Don't have pics of that but here are some others.

OH and I fell in love with my mom's little dog. I am NOT an animal person but she melts my heart...especially when she danced for me!!



When we went back to my dad's for the last day we went to a restaurant where they asked us if we were celebrating something due to all the picture taking and when we told our waitress that it was my hubby's first time in Canada she devised a plan. She came out and announced to everyone that it was his first time here and they made him wear moose antlers and gave him free ice cream. He was soooo happy. Oh and they made him where the moose antlers because the restaurant is called Moose Winooski's - a Canadian restaurant.


We took over 1000 pics! Basically my honey was in charge of the camera and he took pics of things I would never have but he had a great time and he kept telling me " you married Japanese....deal with it". But I did take some pictures for my students...pics of the supermarket and food they have never seen, great deals on fruit etc. It was fun!

I have to say that for the first time, I didn't want to come back to Japan. I really enjoyed being there not just with my family but I LOVE Southampton so much! And, I knew the weather would be crappy here in Japan and sure enough, once we got to Tokyo all we did was sweat!

Being away and taking a break was a great thing. We have some new ideas and feel refreshed and ready to go....well....once we get over the jet lag!

13 comments:

Jennifer Rose said...

" you married Japanese....deal with it"

lol :D

glad you guys had a good time. seeing the pictures makes me want to go back for a visit

Orchid64 said...

"Seriously, how do people eat that much?!"

I have said this many times to students who have traveled abroad and the answer is, you don't.

Restaurants offer doggy bags for a reason. The main problem is that people are inclined to overindulge if the food is there, but not everyone does so. Eat half, take the rest home. That's what people used to do, and at least some people, still do.

FromJapanWithLove said...

Orchid64-I saw a friend eat a salad that could feed 2-3 people and then order dessert! Everywhere we went people were just eating....I saw few doggie bags though I think they are a great idea (they don't do doggie bags in Japan). I probably used to eat that much....or close to it as I'm sure the sizes have gotten bigger since I left Canada. I just don't get why the sizes have to be that big!

maoiliosa said...

i'm so glad you both had a great visit! your husband looks so happy, heehee. i'm glad he had a good time in a place so different from his home country. and i'm glad you got to visit home and your family!

oh and i have got to agree with you on the food in restaurants thing. i eat about 1/4 of an entre when i go out, and the waitress always looks at me strangely. sometimes i get "you eat like a bird!", and i always get hounded to take the food home in a doggy bag... no thanks! usually it's not good once you get it home. i wish they would offer smaller portions.

Grace said...

Welcome back!

Funny you mention about the portion sizes! When hubs was in Japan he too was saying how small their serving sizes were, especially beverages! He said he'd take on little sip (gulp) and gone.... the coffee cups were super small too and needed to call on the server to refill it every 3 minutes LoL!!

What great pictures!!!

Alison Arif said...

Sounds like you had an amazing time and some great pictures to keep the memory of it alive, after my holiday this year I felt abit sad to be back in the UK and working etc but looking back at the photos always cheers me up. Luckily here though the weather has been pretty nice on the most part anyway.
I really enjoy reading about your life in Japan - it is somewhere my husband and I definitely want to visit sometime.

Lost Mitten said...

Sounds like you had an amazing time! I love all of the pics of Southampton - been there so many times and that's where my mom lives also, I always love it up there. So quiet and peaceful, especially in the Spring, Fall, and Winter when there aren't any tourists up there. A beautiful place!

I would love to travel to Japan someday and I'm actually starting to take Japanese lessons in September as a night class! How long did it take for you to learn Japanese? Any recommendations for me?

FromJapanWithLove said...

Hey Melissa-I like doggy bags...depending on the food-I just hate to waste any of it!

Grace-I had the same reaction when I came here. I would order something and when it came I kept looking for the waitress-expecting there would be more!

HI Alison-You should come to Japan-just NOT in the summer!!

Hey Lost mitten-small world! When I left my mom's to go to my dad's in Cambridge I felt sad as I hate Cambridge and both hubby and I still miss Southampton! As for Japanaese...I still am not fluent after 11 years. Just remember that probably what they teach you in class won't be exactly what is spoken on the streets for example...they will probably teach you "wakarimasen" (I don't understand) but, at least where I live, they say "wakaran". Still...it will help a lot! I came here with NOTHING! If you go to Tokyo though you won't really even need it. My sister lived there for 3 years and she couldn't speak it all and when I went to visit her people spoke to me in Enlgish (at restuarants etc). Good luck with your class!

Mekkan said...

Great pictures. I've never been to Canada. Well, some day I'll make it.

Sara at Soap Rehab said...

Beautiful scenery!! I enjoyed reading about your travels and experiences. I agree that portion sizes are out of control. It's so hard to eat reasonably when you get so much food put in front of you.

Agent Ada Kennedy aka Nina said...

Glad to hear you guys are back and had a good time! :) I love reading your blog and I look forward to hearing other stories about life in Japan. I'm taking a japanese class and we have hiragana quizzes everyday! It's quite a challenge haha.

RK CLOTHING DESIGNS said...

Thanks for post. It’s really imformative stuff.
I really like to read.Hope to learn a lot and have a nice experience here! my best regards guys!
seo--seo

catwrangler said...

I absolutely love the Moose hat photo. And as someone who has spent a lot of time in Canada (dated a Canadian) the portions in America are EXACTLY the same as in Canada. :-) Obviously compared to Japan - the food could feed an entire family. But did you go to Taco Bell?

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