Hakone: round 2

I was invited to go on a leaf viewing and onsen (hot springs) trip with Suda Sensei (my first grade teacher!), her mother, her sister, and her sister's three year old boy. The last time I saw them was roughly 10 years ago when I stayed with them for a summer. They couldn't believe how 'grown up' I've become but at the same time I couldn't really grasp the idea that Aki (the sister) is now a mother and pregnant! I met with Suda Sensei at Shibuya station on Thursday afternoon around 3:30, I went directly after school. From Shibuya we went to Shinjuku station where we caught a Limited Express Romance Car. It's technically a normal train, but it's so fancy! All the seats are reserved and there is a woman who comes down the aisle and offers water and snacks for sale. We definitely didn't travel this nicely when I first went to Hakone on my school trip.  We arrived at the hotel around 6:00pm, got settled in and hung out until dinner at 7:30.  (I think I wrote the name of the hotel down somewhere so I will look it up later - it was one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in)

This is the view from one of the balconies from our room. yep, we had two balconies.

This is an awkward solo shot of me and the pretty foliage. My hair is wet because we went to the onsen right before. Most westerners seem to be uncomfortable with the concept of the onsen, but I think I was more afraid of doing something wrong that I didn't have time to think about the fact that I was stark naked in front of strangers. There is certain process that you have to go through before you even enter the hot springs. First you have to rinse yourself, then wash with soap, then once you're clean you can enter the bath, then after the bath you have to rinse and wash again.  The  next day we took our time in the morning and went to a glass museum in Hakone before making our way to Suda sensei's parents house.

This is Suda sensei's sister Aki, nephew Keitaro, and mom.

A glass sculpture hidden in the trees!

Another awkward solo shot of me and the changing leaves. and the glass sculpture in the background.

It was really fun to be able to visit Suda sensei and her family again. I admit going to her house was a little bit weird since the last time I was there was in 2001 (I was only 10..) The Japanese word 夏貸し　（なつかし) it's hard to translate, it basically means nostalgic but the way it is used in Japanese is not exactly the same. It can mean to miss something, to yearn for, etc. When we went to Suda Sensei's parents house I received help with my Japanese homework, which definitely took me back, with me and my teacher sitting down at the kitchen table going over my kanji and grammar. After dinner her brother Daisuke and her grandmother stopped by to say hello so it was nice to be able to see them as well. It was a full family reunion!