I Survived!!

...MINAMI-UONUMA CITY, NIIGATA, JAPAN...this is where chieko is from, where her parents live and farm, and where we spent the last two days...i dare say this is one of the most beautiful, natural places i have visited so far here in japan...perhaps it was the fact that chieko's family had been showering me with beer and food for 4 hours before i took this picture, or it might have been the way the clouds were kind of filling crevice in the side of the mountains, but i was taken by the place...


...and this is chieko's (and i suppose mine now, too) extended family, who were responsible for the aforementioned showering of beer and food...i was undoubtably nervous going into this weekend, but these folks did nothing but welcome me and make me feel at home, as well as individually ask me where massachusetts is, how many brothers i have, can i eat japanese food, and am i christian...a majority also suggested i move to niigata (not an idea i'm opposed to) and that i don't move to america with chieko!!


...the reason we were visiting her hometown was to attend a ceremony marking the one year anniversary of chieko's grandmother's death...that's a mouthful...so this morning a monk came to her parent's house, along with a whole bunch of family members, and read a long buddhist prayer which i couldn't understand, but chieko claims she couldn't understand it either...after the ceremony we piled into a rented bus and drove a few blocks to a restaurant for lunch...chieko and i spent the majority of time going around the room introducing me to the various family members and the monk...we then returned home and trecked up a hillside near the house to visit the gravestone of chieko's grandmother and grandfather...we left for the drive home shortly thereafter, but stopped at chieko's uncle and aunt's house on our way out of town...the drive took about 4 hours and i'm glad we won't have to be doing it again soon, even though the sites were beautiful...i guess i'll be praying for 4 hour drives after my upcoming flight to america though...speaking of which, this may be my last blog post from japan...tomorrow is looking crazy, then off to tokyo on tuesday for a few days before flying out on thursday...i'll be moving this blog stateside for a month after that...so look forward to more pics and always inspirational commentary on life by me!