I'm in America, but...

I have tons of pictures from Japan I want to get up on hurr. School has started and I'm extremely busy, so thank you for being patient with me.

So...last time I posted stuff from Morioka. And after Morioka, I went to a lovely city calledHachinohe in the Aomori prefecture of northern Japan. While serving as a missionary, Hachinohe was my second area and I served there for a total of 7 months. I feel that I really grew the most in Hachinohe. I went in there hardly being able to introduce myself in Japanese and left being able to hold fairly solid conversations.

Sister Kitamura is such a kind member. She looks after the missionaries and with me, I felt we developed a certain familiarity that was deep and eternal. I was blessed to be able to spend lots of time with her in Japan. She went out of her way to help me out. She helped me find a place to stay. I stayed at Brother Ono's house, another member I grew close to. Anyway, here's some pics and vids.

Freaking sweet dolls made from paper!

Bro. Ono.

Sister Kitamura and her infamous bike.

Hachinohe

Peeing statues

We went to the beach. The crew was solid.

Tree of Life. in Japanese. Crazy.

Japanese child.

Near the beach where we took a lunch break.

great.

Morioka rock star

I have been to the city of Morioka a few number of times, but have never really been anywhere besides the restaurant that sells unholy amounts of kats curry and the church. Bro. Takako, a member I know from Kamisugi. And he's the most rockin' homebro I think I have ever met.

The first time I ever really talked with him, he was ta

lking about the movie New York Doll, which just so happens to be one of my all-time favorite films. Anyway, he frequently asks me about Led Zepplin, Queen, Aerosmith, etc. The guy knows American Rock & Roll better than any Japanese person I have ever met.

So, as I told Bro. Takako that I would be coming to Japan, he got way excited and invited me to go to a concert that his band will be playing at. I agreed and was excited because this is something I had never had the opportunity to do as a missionary. See the Japanese rockstar in action.

I arrived in Morioka about 5 hours before showtime, so I had a chance to hear the band practice a bit. They had some of their own music as well as some adaptations of some American rock and blues. I shot some footage of them rockin' around.

As I listened to them singing Rolling Stones, I didn't really notice it, but I guess I was singing along with them. Then next thing I knew, they told me I was getting on stage with them.
We had many adoring fans

I even got a flower from one the cool fans.

The BA band.

Oh Sendai the beautiful

Made it to Sendai peeps. Working on getting the blog organized and shiz. I`ve got a few posts to go.

So, I left Tokyo. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Amy and Nathan and stuff. Good peeps with good souls. I headed up north for the land of milk and honey called Tohoku. This is the area where the major earthquake of March 11th happened.

Being back in the mission is pretty insane. Frequently, I feel the urge to run up to every single person I see and tell them about the church. Entering convenience stores is always a joy and every time I think about how we couldn`t enter, I find it funny. They are really nothing exciting. Listening to music, watching TV, and even being alone while here in Japan has brought back such refreshing, nostalgic memories. It is like going home after being in at school. Stepping off the bullet train and into the Sendai eki, I felt comfortable and at home. Sendai was my home for so long. I had returned.

I met up with Monma and Kan while in Sendai and I stayed at the Satos. We went to see the fireworks and everything. Seriously, Japanese fireworks are incredible. They spit in the face and tickle the buttcheeks of any firework show I have ever seen. Ran and Rei Sato were wonderful enough to hang out with me at the firework show. As cool as that was, the highlight of the show was watching this kid dance. I have no idea what he was up to, but he looked like he had to pee the entire time. He stood up watching the fireworks and anytime they would stop, he would do a dance like he was trying to help himself from peeing his pants. It was awesome.

Anyway, met up with Monma for some kappazushi. Then, with Kan, we went to the ocean to see the quake. This video is a little long, but I think its well worth a watch for at least a few minutes.

(insert video here that refuses to upload)

Truly unbelievable, am I right? It`s one of those things that you hear about how bad the situation or damage is, but it doesn`t really hit you until you see it with your own eyes.

So videos don't like to upload for me. dang. Man, blogger sucks. I'm going to check out tumblr.

Anyway, things in Sendai were great. I had a blast. Next, Morioka!

I know its been a while.

but heres a picture after I rocked out with some japanese rockstars in morioka.So, its been really hard to post everything I have wanted to post. I have lots of neat experiences but internet usage is really strange around here. I promise as soon as I get a chance I will show you everything I have to show you. Lets see if this video will upload or not.

great it worked. I have about 15 more minutes on the computers.

Heres some pics

Thats right Amy. It is grape ぜりー

The things I do for this blog...and you people

So...turns out I couldn't upload anymore videos because I had no more memory on my picasa account. This morning I bit the bullet and paid a whopping $5 for 20 more gigs (that's gigabytes for you less tech-savvy people)

Anyway, got some more memory. Here's how the rest of the night went.

.Karaoke. is. amazing.

So basically, you walk into this place, rent a room, and sing your heart out. They have these high-tech karaoke song machines that have almost any song imaginable. We paid for 2 hours and sang our hearts out.

At the end of the day, it all ends with purikura. Such a great day.

Then after that....

Japan and it's interesting stores.
We went to Harajuku. Super fun and so many random styles and fashions. Thisis the epitomy of Japanese pop culture, I felt like.

I met up with Nagahama Hikaru, my great friend from the mission. We met up with Honda Satoru, another missionary friend and Kuwahara Sei, a friend from Aizuwakamatsu. I wasn't supposed to see Satoru or Sei, but they called Hikaru and we all ate dinner at Ootoya...

Can't post anymore. Dang. Karaoke was super good. I think I'm going to have to figure this out tomorrow. I'm too tired.

To be continued...

oyasumi nasai

Then next we went to Asakusa

<--------Taiyaki. Cream inside a fish-shaped bread cover is delicious beyond belief.

Asakusa, the largest Japanese shrine I have ever been to.

So yeah, I'm a liar. You can put up lots of vids on a single post. Whudda thought?!

Shampoo flip flops