Wolfe's Home: Takachiho Gorge

We had a decent night's rest on the ferry, but awoke early to the lights being turned on by the staff shortly after 5am. The ferry was to dock around 7am, so they wanted to make sure you had your belongings together and plenty of time to eat breakfast at their expensive restaurant. Again, we ate our own breakfast that we had taken on board. We love the convenience stores in Japan. Lawsons, Family Mart, and 7-11 are seemingly on every corner. You can pick up snacks, drinks, and other food about any time of day.

From the Land of the Rising Sun, a beautiful view atop our ferry as we were pulling into port.

I don't know why, but the "peace" sign is so popular when taking pictures for Japanese. Somehow my kids have gotten into this habit...I guess it makes them think they are acting appropriately. :) It's been fun to hear Michaela, Benjamin, and Johanna try to use their Japanese. They've each studied for about four years, so they have lots in their head making its way out into conversation. Johanna is especially trying to read everything she sees and is constantly asking me what something means. Elijah and Ami are picking up a few words. Chris will ask what something says, not because he's curious, but because he needs to know instructions. It's funny to me to have to explain because it seems natural to me....like doesn't everyone know that's the symbol for water? I love that it's second nature to me, but I have to remind myself that it's definitely not second nature to the rest of my family! Even though my Japanese is choppy and rusty, it's easy to use and get around my second home.

There is funny English on signs all over Japan. I'm sure I'll be posting lots of pictures like these!

So after we docked in the morning, we walked down the road just a bit to our car rental shop. Dad and Mom generously rented a 10-passenger van so that we could explore more of the island. We drove about three hours away to see a famous Gorge. The roads in Japan are narrow, to say the least, especially in a 10-passenger van. It's also very mountainous, so we were in and out of tunnels, around many hairpin turns, and not on many express ways at all. It was neat to see some countryside, the terraced rice paddies, typical Japanese farms, and cherry trees dotting the hillsides.

This isn't a great picture, but Jeremy, wouldn't it be great to have Okonomiyaki delivery?! Amy could have pizza, and you could have Okonomiyaki. :)

There are vending machines all over Japan. They sell cold and warm drinks in cans. The kids are enjoying the Calpis (yogurt drink), and Chris is enjoying the coffee. Yum! I think half of the kids' spending money is going towards Japanese drinks and snacks!

The gorge really was beautiful. It was very narrow and deep with amazing volcanic walls along the sides. We opted not to rent a row boat, but it was great entertainment to watch from above as others tried to navigate down the river. You could definitely tell the experienced from the inexperienced. Lots of laughter from us!