I have decided to try to keep a log over my activities in Japan so that my friends and family can keep track of what is going on in my life. Also it might provide an intresting introduction to Japan and its culture for people who haven't been there. I will try to update once a week and complement the text with pictures taken with my digital camera throughout my intended year-long stay in Japan. 
March 14 2001, Kashima - The Adventurers Part 2
A family strollGoing upThis day started with a peaceful stroll with the whole family (Petri, Shinko and Anni) and me. We went towards a lookout point but on the way Petri and I went up a small steep path by the road to watch the view on the other side. Because path was so steep there was a rope to hold on to.The other side was even steeper and the view was great. I climbed down a bit, holding on to the trees that grow there, to get some fine pictures but it is really difficult to show how steep it is on a picture. Below where I was clinging on to the trees the hillside turned into cliffs so I had to be careful not to take a wrong step. After a while we went back to Shinko and Anni and proceeded towards the lookout point. After a while Shinko had to go back with Anni so we went up to the lookout point by ourselves. Some view The view was fine but of course not as great as the view from the tree yesterday.  Then we found what looked like a path between some bushes on the backside of the lookout point. It turned out to be a path even steeper than where we climbed down before, but this one had ropes almost all the way down to the water. More viewPetri coming down the ropes We climbed down but it was tough on the hands. Fortunately I had brought gloves in case it got cold (it turned out to be the hottest day yet however...) but they got a bit torn. The last bit seemed a bit too dangerous to climb down but we got pretty far down anyway. The view was great and we could see the beach where we made fire last night. Also, some large birds flew really close. I tried to take photos of them but they moved too quickly for my camera to be able to focus on them before shooting so there were no really good pictures. After we got up again we went down to some rock formations by the water and then up again to walk back to the village. I was completely worn out in my legs. After a quick look at the harbour we went back to the house.

Ann watching her favourite tv-star - herselfBack at the house we looked at the pictures we had taken and played a bit with Anni. She really loves to see herself on the screen. Especially video sequences where she can hear herself. When we showed her pictures we had taken of her she got very happy. And she was very anxious to play with my toys - the computer and the camera. She came to me all the time reaching for them. Later Petri took out some cds for me to listen to. Anni seemed to love the cds, but not so much for the music - she´d rather just play with the covers and the cd-player. Later Petri showed me a couple of dolls which Anni had gotten for Hina-matsuri (Dolls´ Festival on March 3rd). Unfortunately for Anni they are not to play with but to see at, so she can´t enjoy them yet.

Indoor hanamiWe finished the evening with some hanami (cherry blossom viewing). The sakura (cherry blossom) trees aren´t blooming yet but we put a sakuranbo (cherry fruit) tree with some flowers on the table and ate and drank under it. It was one of the trees Petri bought the other day on the mainland by the way. It was a great finish of this great visit here.

© Erik Andersson 2001