Week 5 - March 3-13, 2013 Visit to Mt Aso

This week Elder Koberstein and Sister Koberstein spent a lot of time learning how to read addresses, program the Garmin and find community boards to post Eidaiwa fliers on.  This is a picture of board 59.  The Eikaiwa flier is on the six spot.  There are drawings every three weeks for the free boards around Kumamoto.  There are 60 boards divided into three groups of 20.  We are able to post on the B group spots this time.  The boards we have found are in great spots i.e. by a bus stop, in front of a college, church etc.

Monday we had a surprise ice cream party at our apartment.  Elder Morris and Elder Ushiro were working on the computer as the one at church is not working. We were a little late leaving for the  Young Single Adult family home evening activity.  A large group of the Young Single adults came up to our apartment which is next to the church.  We decided to have the activity in our apartment.  It was a fun evening.

Tuesday, preparation day because of transfers, Elder Morris and Elder Ushiro drove up to Mt. Aso with us.   It was lots of fun.  We hiked up to the top from the lower parking lot.     

I enjoyed the interesting evergreen trees and unusual erosion patterns on Mt Aso on the drive to the top.  There were also beautiful tall golden grasses.

This picture is taken at a viewpoint on the way up to the top of Mt Aso.

Wednesday has been the rainiest day we have seen in Japan.  We hope it has cleared the air.  Japan gets pollution from China and it has been bad. Kumamoto is in a dish.  It has mountains all around it so the pollution stays for extended periods of time.  

We went to the International Center for our Japanese class.  It is fun to visit with our teacher Kutsuka Motoo.  He told us his name means "normal husband" in nihongo.  He is a 70 year old retired teacher who volunteers at the international center, a cancer unit for terminally ill patients and sings in a man’s choir that will be singing in the Vatican in Rome soon.