Saturday, Nov 30
- first half of day at the community center, ‘supervising’ kids while they play, but they so independent (also wearing t shirts while i shiver in 4 layers no joke), met two new kids (siblings) and the brother especially is so kind and did not retreat from me even after he realized i wasn’t fluent in japanese and actively would reach out from time to time (offering me mikan, later juice) just such a good kid like wow
- decided to cancel next stay for dif reasons, wasn’t easy choice but it’s done… now get to stay here longer too (and hopefully not get any sicker)
- community lunch and test made HK milk tea for tmr’s market! got approval from several people 🙂 and esp Yさん phew!
- finally went to see temple with Yさん (was supposed to go yesterday but because i said i was sleepy he dropped me off to nap instead lol), real peaceful and beautiful…
breakfast: milk tea and last night’s rice (with fish, sesame oil, and veg) from the kaiseki dinner! :’) 
taking pictures of the view while the kids play but don’t be fooled it COLD 
K and Sさん starting a fire to cook rice 
all the fooddd 
big pot of rice and beef stew (which i helped make but 11 year old C was the master chef) 
beef stew yum tums and rice :’) H was so seriously peeling onions and cutting the potatoes even though he had a small finger cut. I helped cut some of his potatoes but he insisted on doing the last one. Later also offered me juice and was like you can get more anytime! And just overall so welcoming and trying hard with English even after he found out I’m not fluent in Japanese whereas usually kids might retreat from shyness and fear of failing in speaking…. such good kid. 
making HK milk tea, and started talking H’s mom as she was washing the dishes. talked about dif kinds of black tea, and how she loves tea and what tea do i think she should use for chai tea? such kind people *cry later i found out she was a single mother for a long time (now has a partner) and i’m just so these people are so kind 
pretty foliage and little gardens dangling off the tree 
the old lady maintaining the grounds said we could walk inside the temple! carpety floor and cool drawings in the celing looks like from volunteers maybe! 
babies who have passed, each representing a child 😦 
teahouse/rest house on temple grounds, old lady maintaining the grounds gave us tea, and also two cool origami things when i asked about it. turned out the poles of this house are repurposed wooden telephone poles from the past!! 
nice trail walk around the temple grounds, no tourists at all, just so … peaceful, so beautiful, this small corner paying respects to different people and aspects of life, and just so maintained and beautiful and careful 
Yさん praised me for using the new grammar he just taught me when we arrived at the temple correctly, イギリスぽい！ (‘the garden is english-style) 
struggled in japanese (got there in the end tho) telling Yさん ‘look! it’s like a mini earth!’ 
we came to the temple on a recommendation from a friend of Yさん who i met and she said oh! you can bring her there! the foliage is great now! 
old lady was saying ah such a shame, autumn foliage season is over but you can see and i’m like ??? man imagine the colors when they are in season according to her! 
looked like those disney dwarves if you ask me 
cold tofu with chopped leek (no scallion ok) and ginger (no grater ok) and soy sauce while waiting for rice it’s always the rice that takes so long 
then i was like it’s too cold to eat cold tofu but didn’t want to microwave but obv this didn’t really help either 
doesn’t look great (idk what’s up with my phone camera and this yellow table they just don’t get along), but eggs were yum 🙂 with shiitake, leek, shoyu, mirin
chloe eats 
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