Okay, I know it's been too long since we last posted!! Not too much new. Fall is almost in full swing around here. So, I'm sure that we will go back to Miyajima sometime next month. It's been a really nice change from the heat of the summer and is actually very chilly in the mornings. Phil and I are going to judge a speech contest next weekend for a local high school and then I'm judging another one on the 20th. I've been helping a girl get ready for it and am very pleased because all of the phonics cards I had to memorize in my education classes are paying off. It's hard for Japanese people to pronounce "x," so I told the girl I was helping to picture opening a can of cola and how it makes that "kssss" sound and she seemed to get it...but then later I realized that i don't think I've ever seen a can of pop here, so we'll see. I feel really bad though being critical of students who are actually eager to speak English. The weekend before last there was a food festival in Hiroshima and it was really neat with a lot of good food and samples. We had fried potatoes (yes that's different than french fries) they were like big chunks of potatoes fried, and then skewered. Also we had Indian food of all things from a stand with about four Japanese women taking orders while one Indian man cooked and made the pita bread. Around five, we saw a crowd gathering around a stage so we sat down, and then these women came out and talked forever, it looked like they were advertising for a travel agency, and we were really feeling stupid after a while, but finally there was Kagura dancing for about three hours...it was really cool (sugoi!). Last weekend I went to a sewing class at Sonia's (upstairs from us). We are making "happy bags" made from scraps of kimono, but we didn't finish so we have to plan another sewing day. Oh and we have another rugby tournament coming up!! This time we'll be heading to Hyogo prefecture. Well I think that should bring everyone to speed. He're some pics from the food festival:)