On February 19th I will be leaving beautiful Pacific Grove and heading back to Japan to teach English to children, this time in a town called Hikone in Shiga Prefecture. It will be a harder transition than last time I think, since I've been living in a 'share house' with the company of good friends, lots of dogs and cats, and an incredible view of Monterey Bay with whales, dolphins, etc. outside my window. It will be difficult adjusting to a solitary life again... more incentive to make friends quickly.

Aside from that, I'm very excited and can't wait to explore my new town. Hikone sits on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa - the largest freshwater lake in Japan and one of the oldest lakes in the world. It is also home to one of only 4 original castles left in Japan.  All castles have loads of cherry trees, so in a couple of months I will be picnicking under the blossoms! I've read that the fall is absolutely beautiful as well, with lots of autumn color.  The towns around Lake Biwa (Biwako) are small tourist towns (mostly 100,000 people or less, which is very small as Japanese towns go, but still a big city for me coming from Pacific Grove, pop. 15,000!).  I think there will be many interesting sites, activities (especially water activities - yeah), festivals and nice looking areas to explore. The lake is about 236 kilometers around - 36 miles long and 14 miles wide. There are biking paths in some areas, and roads all the way around, so I plan on doing a lot of biking - something I've really missed since I returned to the US.

From what I can tell, thanks to googlemaps, the school where I will be working is less than a 10 minute walk from my apartment, the same for a supermarket. I think the castle and main station are about 2 miles away (in different directions). There seem to be many nice areas to investigate near the castle. And the distance of the main station is important because....

Hikone is less than an hour away from Kyoto by train!!!! And there are a number of trains each hour! So I can decide that day (based on weather or free time) to hop on a train and visit Kyoto!!!! What could be better - there is so much to see in Kyoto that one could spend years and not see all the temples, shrines, gardens, festivals, etc. but I'll give it a go.

I love company and I will have an extra room for anyone who wants to visit. If you can't visit, but would like to live vicariously through my adventures, please subscribe to this blog. There will be loads of pictures and informal, diary-like entries (for myself and you). I will leave the U.S. on Feb. 19, stay overnight in S. Korea where I will get to try some authentic Korean food and take a short tour sponsored by the airport visitor's bureau.  (I'm totally hooked on Korean TV dramas so I'm very excited about this short stay). Then I will visit some friends in Tokushima (where I lived last time) for a few days and I'll arrive in Hikone at night on Feb. 25. I'll have 4 days to get acclimated, furnish my apartment, etc. and I will start work on March 2. I am not sure when I will have internet service in my apartment, or how easy it will be to do this blog on my tablet but I will start posting as soon as I can.

I am looking forward to sharing my explorations with you!