Mike, me, and Dan Hannon (a fellow English teacher for another school) enjoy the inland sea and the small beach.
Seto Ohashi
Here we are with Elders Braun and Sato when we took them out for dinner at a local okonomiyaki shop. It was our first time eating okonomiyaki, which is pretty much a cabbage pancake with your choice of vegetables and meat, sometimes noodles, and topped with mayonaise and okonomiyaki sauce. We weren't big fans of it right away, but we grew accustomed to it, and actually began to crave it.
When we first got to Japan, we had a difficult time with the food. Within a few weeks we met an Indian man named Chugh who took us to an Indian restaurant in Marugame. It was absolutely delicious and we immediately fell in love with their curry and naan. We ate there at least once a week. Eventually we began to like Japanese food and didn't feel the need to eat out at the Indian restaurant as often.
These are the workers at Kahna Peena. They got to know us very well over the course of our stay in Japan.
This is our friend N.K. Chugh. He is from Bombay, India and had a job building ships in Japan. He is the person who introduced us to the best restaurant in our city.
This is our former boss Fumi (center) with her son Kenjiro and her husband Shigeyoshi (a.k.a. Shibucho-san, which means branch president.)
We told them to make silly faces, and surprisingly they did. Even Shibucho-san humored us.
Fumiyo-san and her mother 
Shigeyoshi-san and his mother
Mike and Me
Mike and a waterfall.
Kazurabashi vine bridge. People pay about 500 yen to cross it. Our friend Matt started jumping on the bridge and some of the Japanese people pretty much soiled themselves because they were so freaked out. Wouldn't you? The bridge is made of vines.
Kazurabashi bridge from the other side. 
Mike and me on a rock in the middle of the emerald green river going through the canyon.
Mike with the beautiful canyon behind him.
Me, the professional rock climber, obviously. 
Here we are with our friends. From right: Mike, me, Twila, Matt, Jonas, Jason, Claire, Annika, and Jake.
Jake, Annnika, Twila, and Matt about to cross the bridge. It looks like something taken out of an Indiana Jones movie.
After the bridge there was a little shop that sold whole fish on a stick. Not something we were willing to try...
Mike's adult students Nobuko, Yagi-san, Mayumi, Seiko, and me with a sweet ass mustache this time.
Fumi with some of her students, along with me and my student Miyabi (to my right.)
Our students and Japanese friends loved the American tradition of making jack-o-lanterns.
Fumi as a famous Kabuki actor, Twila as a bunny, and me as a bad ass looking pirate.
Nobuko, me, Mike, Jason, Fumi, and Mayumi.
Me with Elder Fowler and Elder Morita
The part of Japan we lived in rarely got snow. Here at the park they had a snow maker machine, and the boys got into a snowball fight.
Here I am in the "fake" snow of Japan.
Claire, Mike, and I rode inflated cars around the park.
Me, Claire (7 months pregnant), Jason, Annika, and Jake. (Mike was taking the picture.)
Mike standing in front of the Christmas stockings we made with our names written in Japanese.
Our humble tree and presents. We stuck it in the little outlet built in most Japanese homes for worshipping. 
At the Christmas program at the church.
I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this cute little girl in her kimono.
Here I am with a young lady in kimono and geta sandals.
Giant sand coin in Kanonji.
The most famous temple in Tokushima.
People throw thousands of coins into the temple to pay homage. They do this in hopes of reaping blessings for the new year.
Jason dipping into the "holy water." :)
Shorenji Kenpo tower in Tadotsu.
At Zentsuji temple to ring in the new year.
Tako (octopus) anyone?
Here you could buy little clay stones and transfer any bad thoughts, worries, stress, negative feelings, or whatever you wanted into the stone and then throw it off the side of the mountain. I loved the concept of just "letting go" of your worries and troubles. 
Here's Mike about to throw his worries off the side of the mountain. 
Here we are with the Raus with the blue ocean behind us. 
The beach at Yashima. Here we found all kinds of sea life including jellyfish, turtles, slugs, and sand dollars. We also found sea shells and other "treasures!" 