December fun and family visit!

 December was a super fun month! Here are some highlights------>

Early December was full of beautiful fall leaves!

Newbies!

I was able to volunteer with Newbies again this month, which is a program that teaches children between the ages of 1-5 English. We had a Christmas themed class, complete with one of the members dressed as Santa Claus. 

The kids were a little scared of Santa Claus at first, but most of them warmed up to him in the end!

Cafes!

  I obviously cannot help myself from cafe-hopping in Kyoto, because my blogs always have pictures of cafes I've visited. I went with my friend Pann to eat at a Cafe near our university.

I had some delicious scones, which I haven't been able to find since coming to Japan!

More Food!

I also continued trying different types of Nepali/Indian restaurants in Kyoto. I went with my friend Mattea, and tried a different type of curry and pan. 

This next place is called Stone Bar and Grill. It is a Filipino restaurant and karaoke bar. I have no idea what what I ate was called, but it was scrumptious. 

The most exciting thing that happened this month was my family coming to visit! 

Our dinner for Christmas Eve was at Shoyo Ramen, my favorite local ramen place! 

My dad had a bit of trouble fitting at the table! 

On Christmas day, after I finished my last class, I took my family to the Kitano Hakubaicho Flea Market. 

My dad also had a hard time fitting at the table at the sushi place we went to for lunch, so they had to give him a tiny chair.

We met up with the Newbill's at the market and got lunch with them!

On Christmas night we had a reservation at Shibata Wagyu Grill, and had a very delicious 5 course meal!

The jet lag really hit Garrett hard during dinner

Nara

The next day we went to Nara, and my favorite thing was seeing my family's reactions to everything. Here are some pictures I took of them. 

We saw lots of temples and deer!

Osaka

The next day I took them to Osaka! Osaka is the second largest city in Japan, with more people in its metropolitan area than New York!

The Glico Running man is a famous attraction in Osaka. This area of Osaka is comparable to Times Square especially at night time when all of the signs are lit up. 

We did some thrifting and other shopping around Osaka.

The next day we took it easy because we were tired from all of the walking in Nara and Osaka. My sister and I got a massage in the morning and then we visited a temple in Kyoto.  I also took my brother and dad to see my university. We ended the night at a wonderful Chinese restaurant that I unfortunately do not have a picture of. 

Garrett and I at Ritsumeikan

Skiing in Nagano!

This was the view we woke up to in the morning in Nagano from our Ryokan (Japanese style inn). 

The snow was super fresh and powdery. Skiing was a blast!

While going down one of the ski runs Garrett and I stopped to take a picture with this Buddha on the mountain. 

We got lunch at a cafeteria for skiers to take a break and eat on the mountain,

We saw a beautiful sunset from a cafe we got appetizers from that night. 

Both nights we were in Nagano we took a bus to where the Newbills were staying to get dinner and drinks with them and some of their friends. The ski resort they were at was way more developed and about 90% of the skiers were Australian. 

We got back from Nagano on New Years Day, and met up with Nick and Matt for dinner. We are so grateful that the timing of my family's trip worked out where we could all meet up for dinner the night before my family all went back to America. 

After dropping my family at the Airport in Osaka the next day, there was a beautiful sunset that I was able to watch on my way back to Kyoto. I am so grateful that my family was able to come and see me in Japan for Christmas break. It was so nice seeing them and it was really fun for me to show them around.