Well it’s hard to believe, but I’m half way through my one year in Japan. I don’t know whether I feel like its been a really long 6 months or a really short 6 months, but I’ve had a great time. This month I took a few interesting trips, check out my posts on 若草山の山焼き：The Wakakusa Mountain Yamayaki, 白浜への旅行：Trip to Shirahama, and 今宮戎神社の十日戎：Tōka Ebisu at Imamiya Ebisu Shine more more on those.

In January, I also did a bit of hiking with a group, which was a lot of fun. Plus, I really need the exercise! I nearly saw the eclipse, which was really clear up until the moon was about 80% eclipsed, then some clouds rolled in and it became too hard to make out. I got my JLPT N2 test results back in from the test I took in December, and I passed by a decent margin, Woohoo! And I also had a fun Monopoly board game party where I made some Udon for the first time. And to top things off, I had the fun experience of Japanese bureaucracy, as I had to renew my visa for another 6 months.

This month, I hope to do a little more hiking. I’m also going bowling with some of my friends from べっぴんさん. My friend Kazuki from Hiroshima is also stopping by for a weekend later this month, and I’m really looking forward to that. And lastly, I have to start getting prepared for my March trip back to Canada for a bachelor party. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again…. and pizza.