Summer 2019

 I usually post something related to Japanese language, culture or video games, but this time, since I don't really have anything to talk about related to these things, I figured I post a little about how my summer went this year.

Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable ones for me and my family. This is the first time we went camping together. Another family with whom we are friends invited us to go out camping with them. They let us borrow everything, from the tent to the sleeping bags. We took turns cooking and watching the place.

There was lots to do. There was a nearby river in which we cooled down during the afternoon. There was a trampoline near by and the kids had fun playing on it. The camp ground had equipment we could use, such as bug catching nets and cages; the kids went out hunting for dragon flies and rhinoceros beetles.

The camp ran a fishing lake where for a small fee, one could borrow a fishing rod complete with bait and a hook. The lake is stocked with rainbow trout, it was almost guaranteed to result in a catch. The fishing experience was over in 15 minutes or after catching 3 fish, which ever came first.

It was fun going fishing with my kids and actually catching something. The camp offers to gut and clean the fish for free, so we ate the catch soon after, and we didn't even have to do the dirty work! The fish were great. Almost sweet!

It's almost obligatory that during the summer, children in Japan play with fireworks, and this camp wouldn't have been complete without it. It's just sparklers so they're not too dangerous.

It was definitely one of my most memorable summers. I hope that my kids will also look back on this as one of the best summers we had as a family.