Okazaki Pics

I made it to Okazaki, although the transition has not been easy. In fact, there was no transition. I arrived late Saturday night, tried to recuperate on Sunday and began work on Monday morning. I met the mayor, met my host family, met my co-workers all in the same day--a lot of bowing.
I have been really busy with work and research, so I have not had a lot of time to take pics, but these pics I took when I was with the Public Relations Department. The local tourist "hotspot" was coming out with a new menu so we took pictures of the food, then we ate the food. It was good. The cherry in the picture is mochi! It was my favorite (^_^)/
The city here is definitely more "country" than Osaka. There is only ONE mall (what am I to do?) and it is really far away. But I need shorter work pants because of the heat. So I am going to venture out over the weekend and try to find it by bicycle, but it is about 5 miles away. When enjoying my pics, please remember that it is hot here and there is no air conditioning. The office air is stagnant and stuffy. That sensation is hard to capture on film. . .

Everyone here has been wonderfully nice and welcoming. My host family is great and really funny. They are an older couple and they are really laid back because they have hosted over twenty foreigners in their home. There is one native english speaker here from Australia and that's it. Trying to find an english speaking "outlet" has been my biggest challenge. There is no one here that I can really relate to and that has been a little difficult. Although my Japanese has improved by leaps and bounds since I first arrived, it still sucks and everyday conversation is still very difficult, frustrating, confusing, stressful and all that good stuff!