Bedroom Shot #1 - This is the bedroom I occupied while staying with Shibata Ayuko-san. The room happens to belong to her son, who like me, is 23. He's currently attending University in Tokyo.

Bedroom Shot #2 - I made heavy use of this desk, predominantly in letter-writing and kanji practice.

This is my host mother, Ayuko-san, standing in front of her house located in the Kitamihara area of Hakodate. Kitamihara=Northern Mihara area. Funny, that. ;) That would 90 to 120 minute walks to and from school on the days I didn't want to ride the bike or grab a bus. :)

Just another shot of the house, mostly the upstairs window on the front.

A rather beautiful sight found near the Hokkaido University of Education's genkan.

This taken, showing the actual entrance/drive leading onto University Grounds.

Thanks to the fact these thumbnails lead to larger pictures, you should be able to read the sign itself (at least those of you who read Hiragana/Katakana). The location is Goryogaku Koen (Park) during a 'Sakura Viewing' party. Sadly, most of the Sakura had already fallen in this area, though the school's Sakura Trees remained in full bloom for the month of May.

This picture, taken at the Minami (Sakura Viewing) party, is of Ben. Ben is a student at Saint Mary's University, much like myself, only he hails from Taiwan. He had an easier time fitting into a niche in Japan for obvious reasons. Everyone thought he was Japanese. :P

Kasumi, Motoko, Yuu, and Kate are in this picture. Kate was one of the four Calgarians who were there for the first month of our stay. Kasumi, Motoko, and Yuu, and I actively became fast friends. :) They were the ones I spent time with, as well as the other Meghan from SMU, as opposed to the rest of the crowd.

This picture is of me, my tutor Yuuko (middle) and one of her friends on the far right. I never really had to make use of Yuuko's skills, and sadly, her friend's name escapes me.

Kate, Ericka, Tyler, and Trena were the students from Calgary. They only had a month there, however. During our first month there, Tyler and Trena really seemed to go out of there way to make sure people enjoyed themselves. And, hehe, if you guys get the link to the site and I've made errors in spelling your names? Drop me a line so I can fix it. :)

Simon, pictured here, was a foreign exchange student -to- Saint Mary's University from Switzerland. He had little to no experience with the language before going with us, but tried his best to learn.

The Sakura had almost completely fallen at the park where the Minami viewing was held. On campus, was another matter entirely, as seen here.

Another shot of the beautiful Sakura on HUE's campus.

And yet another shot of the cherry blossoms. Really enjoyed taking these pictures.

Unlike other areas of the campus, the back entrance (used by those of us coming from the girls' dorm and host families) wasn't nearly as scenic. Here we were exposed to knee to waistlength grass. :P

Another shot of the back of the school. The large metal house-like frame, covers the pool which is empty and looks like it hasn't seen use for quite some time.

Did I mention that I had the coolest host family? Though extended (her brother the cake-shop owner lived elsewhere, sister next door), they really put an amazing dinner and cake together for my birthday. :)

This is a picture of Junko (Jun-san), Ayuko-san's sister. She and her husband lived next door. Jun-san has a kind heart and wonderful personality. She doesn't think she has much of a sense of humor, but as I told her, I disagreed. She's amazing in telling stories and jokes, and her laughter is contagious. Brings a smile to everyone's face. :)

This picture, taken before twelve of us went to the Karaoke Song park for my birthday, is of Kasumi and Motoko. They are wonderful friends, and I miss them!