Melissa's Dad Visits Japan!

Being away from home for 7 months now, we were definitely ready to have our first visitor! Melissa's dad, Steve, arrived on March 25 and was here for a week. This was especially an exciting trip because this was his first time traveling outside of America. We were really impressed with how easily he adapted to a completely different culture... using chopsticks, bowing, sitting and sleeping on the floor, and most of all, not being able to speak the language!

The first day was beautiful outside, so we took a bike ride to Gifu Park, which is a really pretty park about 10 minutes away from our apartment. We walked around the park for a while, then traveled up Kinka Mountain on a cable car to see Gifu Castle and a view of the city.

On the top of the mountain, we also went to a squirrel park. The squirrels were adorable and apparently very hungry. We each wore a glove and each time we put food in our hand, it was only seconds before a squirrel would hop on to have a snack! Below is a video of Daddy feeding the squirrels.

The next day we rented a car and drove to a large mall about 30 minutes away from our apartment. Melissa's dad was very surprised how similar it looked to the malls in America. All the signs were in English and there was a McDonald's, Starbucks, and Baskin Robins. We also found a great music store that had some high-tech pianos he was interested in. The pianos had computer screens that allowed you to download sheet music from your computer.

The next three days we spent in Tokyo! See the next blog about our trip.

After returning from Tokyo, we spent the next couple days exploring more of Gifu. We rode our bikes around some neighborhoods. Below is a picture of what a Japanese house looks like. It is usually 3 stories and quite large, but usually 3 generations live together in the same house.

Melissa's dad was very surprised how close most of the houses are together! Sometimes there is literally a 4-5 inch space between homes.

On the last day of his visit, Melissa's dad got to meet some of our Japanese friends and students! Every Sunday, Melissa has a private English lesson with four children at our apartment. The children and their mothers were all very excited to meet him and came bearing gifts...homemade banana cake and 2 bottles of Japanese Sake! After the lesson, we took pictures and played with the kids! Everyone enjoyed this very much!

Our week came to an end on April 2. It was very hard to say goodbye, but we're thankful we got to have such a great time together! We love and miss you Daddy!