Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
oh boy!
I have some unexpected time to myself-the boy is passed out-didn't sleep all day and just had it around seven.
So I have been quite busy lately and even at school I have had lots to do. One thing I was doing was interviewing the students in grade seven. ALL of them. It was fun but time consuming. I prepared some phrases for them to think about while they were talking to me as their level is QUITE low and lots of they need help. One of the questions that they can ask and answer is What do you want now?
Ohhh, what a question-so many possibilies running through my head-Let's see, on a personal level, I want my family to be happy and healthy, I want to not have to worry about anything but especially my little boy being hurt by someone, I want him to never have to worry about money, I want to spend more time with myself but I want more time to myself, I want to be younger, slimmer, energetic, beautiful, bigger boobs, smaller bum, a car, another kid, countless cds, books, clothes...For a bigger outlook, I want the American government or any other government for, that matter to stop bombing the shit out of defenceless people, world peace, to stop world hunger...hmmm, I guess that covers it for now.
So then I just smiled at them and said, "Uh, I want a car." and asked what they wanted now, and it was always something like a new pencil case.
;P
So I have been quite busy lately and even at school I have had lots to do. One thing I was doing was interviewing the students in grade seven. ALL of them. It was fun but time consuming. I prepared some phrases for them to think about while they were talking to me as their level is QUITE low and lots of they need help. One of the questions that they can ask and answer is What do you want now?
Ohhh, what a question-so many possibilies running through my head-Let's see, on a personal level, I want my family to be happy and healthy, I want to not have to worry about anything but especially my little boy being hurt by someone, I want him to never have to worry about money, I want to spend more time with myself but I want more time to myself, I want to be younger, slimmer, energetic, beautiful, bigger boobs, smaller bum, a car, another kid, countless cds, books, clothes...For a bigger outlook, I want the American government or any other government for, that matter to stop bombing the shit out of defenceless people, world peace, to stop world hunger...hmmm, I guess that covers it for now.
So then I just smiled at them and said, "Uh, I want a car." and asked what they wanted now, and it was always something like a new pencil case.
;P
typical?
Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts, I just can't seem to get out of bed after lying down for what seems like hours to put Hiroki to sleep. He currently has ANOTHER cold (and fever) though and he actually went to sleep quite quickly:P
So I was at yoga class this weekend (still feeling the pain) and some of the other yoga-ees were talking about foreigners. As in me. But not me, because they weren't talking about me or to me, just about foreigners.
Sometimes even though a foreigner comes and speaks to me in Japanese, I just answer in English, because I am just expecting to speak English
Me thinking, yes, I've experienced that many times.
Then someone else says
Well, when a foreigner come up to me or near me , you know, I just, well, get all nervous
Me thinking WTF? Sitting right here? Can't see me?
I just can't understand this way of thinking, mostly because I was born in Canada and we just don't know (or care?) who's foreign or not. Also, MOST PEOPLE I KNOW WOULDN"T TALK LIKE THAT!
It bugs me because even if they weren't intending for me to feel isolated, separating people into us and them just makes me feel even more that I won't be part of us.
Even more good news. The Japanese government in its infinite wisdom has decided that all foreigners coming to Japan will have to be fingerprinted to prevent terrorism. (Again WTF?)(The only terrorism that has happened in Japan has been by a Japanse cult) The only exceptions to this will be Special permanent residents (Korean and Chinese) who were actually born here. That's pretty forward thinking, way to go guys!
Have to end this post for now as I can't see anymore. Need sleep!
So I was at yoga class this weekend (still feeling the pain) and some of the other yoga-ees were talking about foreigners. As in me. But not me, because they weren't talking about me or to me, just about foreigners.
Sometimes even though a foreigner comes and speaks to me in Japanese, I just answer in English, because I am just expecting to speak English
Me thinking, yes, I've experienced that many times.
Then someone else says
Well, when a foreigner come up to me or near me , you know, I just, well, get all nervous
Me thinking WTF? Sitting right here? Can't see me?
I just can't understand this way of thinking, mostly because I was born in Canada and we just don't know (or care?) who's foreign or not. Also, MOST PEOPLE I KNOW WOULDN"T TALK LIKE THAT!
It bugs me because even if they weren't intending for me to feel isolated, separating people into us and them just makes me feel even more that I won't be part of us.
Even more good news. The Japanese government in its infinite wisdom has decided that all foreigners coming to Japan will have to be fingerprinted to prevent terrorism. (Again WTF?)(The only terrorism that has happened in Japan has been by a Japanse cult) The only exceptions to this will be Special permanent residents (Korean and Chinese) who were actually born here. That's pretty forward thinking, way to go guys!
Have to end this post for now as I can't see anymore. Need sleep!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
um
Well I've been meaning to write for a couple of days again. This working 4 evenings a week is really getting to me...The weeks go by soooo fast! I can't get anything done, the house looks pretty bad!:P
So my brother brought me some music and some of it I just can't get out of my head!
Warren Zevon and some of his songs done by other people, and Rilo Kiley. I really like some of their lyrics, too.
I should find someone better for me but Mom says we're born that way in a song named Glendora
and
You're just image control for a walking corpse like mein Portions for Foxes.
I don't really know who they are and if I can I'll set up a link for you (but it's not working right now, no emoticon for speaking through gritted teeth!)
I took the day off on Thursday (so nice!) but still didn't end up getting much done. I went to Shizuoka city by train to get my new spouse visa and apply for my permanent residence visa here. Since I had already applied for my spouse visa, I didn't need to add much more paperwork. Now I just have to wait for it to be processed.
I think there's another wave of influenza going around. One of the teachers at the school has it, and I've heard that my nephew has gotten it. I hate this season.
Take care everyone!
So my brother brought me some music and some of it I just can't get out of my head!
Warren Zevon and some of his songs done by other people, and Rilo Kiley. I really like some of their lyrics, too.
I should find someone better for me but Mom says we're born that way in a song named Glendora
and
You're just image control for a walking corpse like mein Portions for Foxes.
I don't really know who they are and if I can I'll set up a link for you (but it's not working right now, no emoticon for speaking through gritted teeth!)
I took the day off on Thursday (so nice!) but still didn't end up getting much done. I went to Shizuoka city by train to get my new spouse visa and apply for my permanent residence visa here. Since I had already applied for my spouse visa, I didn't need to add much more paperwork. Now I just have to wait for it to be processed.
I think there's another wave of influenza going around. One of the teachers at the school has it, and I've heard that my nephew has gotten it. I hate this season.
Take care everyone!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
overheard
So this is a conversation I heard between a couple of teachers at my school last week...
Teacher A: I was standing outside smoking this morning and one of the parents who dropped their kid off asked me if I thought it was a good idea to be smoking and greeting the students.
Teacher B: Really? You should have said to him that he shouldn't be dropping his kid off. He's spoiling her.
Teacher A: Yeah, it takes all kinds of people.
Teacher B: Yeah.
Meanwhile I'm thinking uh, (WTF?) you shouldn't be smoking in front of the students
I have issues with Japanese school boards as they feel that dropping your kid off teaches your kids to be dependent (or something?) Even at the elementary school level, when kids start grade 1, parents are not supposed to walk their kids to school. GRADE 1! They feel that the kids will be safe because they are asssigned groups to walk in. After the latest incidents here (2 separate incidents of grade 1 girls being taken and killed in less than a week last November)the only thing that changed was there are some more adults on the streets as part of a patrol. But the thing I don't get is even in groups, I don't think it's much safer. Especially the last part of the group-the kid walk together until they get home, so the group gets smaller and smaller, until there's only 1 kid left. So when there's only a couple of kids, what's to stop someone from trying to take them? And if your kid is the last kid, what happens? I don't like it and I live in a small town. I can't imagine living in a big city and not being able to walk my kid to school.
That's it for now.:)
Teacher A: I was standing outside smoking this morning and one of the parents who dropped their kid off asked me if I thought it was a good idea to be smoking and greeting the students.
Teacher B: Really? You should have said to him that he shouldn't be dropping his kid off. He's spoiling her.
Teacher A: Yeah, it takes all kinds of people.
Teacher B: Yeah.
Meanwhile I'm thinking uh, (WTF?) you shouldn't be smoking in front of the students
I have issues with Japanese school boards as they feel that dropping your kid off teaches your kids to be dependent (or something?) Even at the elementary school level, when kids start grade 1, parents are not supposed to walk their kids to school. GRADE 1! They feel that the kids will be safe because they are asssigned groups to walk in. After the latest incidents here (2 separate incidents of grade 1 girls being taken and killed in less than a week last November)the only thing that changed was there are some more adults on the streets as part of a patrol. But the thing I don't get is even in groups, I don't think it's much safer. Especially the last part of the group-the kid walk together until they get home, so the group gets smaller and smaller, until there's only 1 kid left. So when there's only a couple of kids, what's to stop someone from trying to take them? And if your kid is the last kid, what happens? I don't like it and I live in a small town. I can't imagine living in a big city and not being able to walk my kid to school.
That's it for now.:)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
keep your fingers crossed
Oh I am just saying that because I am sooooo superstitious...but I haven't been laid out flat with the flu this week so I think? I'm ok. Having written that I'll probably get struck with something, some way, some how.....
I have to say that I am soooo very disappointed with the election and the (freak)new PM in Canada. Anybody who agrees with Bush and what he is doing should have his head examined, IMO. I sincerely hope that because he is in a minority government that he won't be able to reverse the laws that he said he was going to.
My brother Mike came for a visit and brought me some goodies that I'm enjoying-especially music! It has been fun listening to bunch of new music. Also peanut butter cups (huge box of them) and my sister in law (thanks Jackie, you are so smart!)made him bring a people magazine about the 20 years of sexist men. Nice.
Ok I don't have much more to say and everything I was thinking about writing has simply disappeared? so that's it for now.
xoxox
I have to say that I am soooo very disappointed with the election and the (freak)new PM in Canada. Anybody who agrees with Bush and what he is doing should have his head examined, IMO. I sincerely hope that because he is in a minority government that he won't be able to reverse the laws that he said he was going to.
My brother Mike came for a visit and brought me some goodies that I'm enjoying-especially music! It has been fun listening to bunch of new music. Also peanut butter cups (huge box of them) and my sister in law (thanks Jackie, you are so smart!)made him bring a people magazine about the 20 years of sexist men. Nice.
Ok I don't have much more to say and everything I was thinking about writing has simply disappeared? so that's it for now.
xoxox
Saturday, January 21, 2006
oh sh*t
Well, I've spent the last couple of days at home with Hiroki as he has Type A Influenza. What?! I said to the doctor, amazed when she told me as I had just been at her office twice in December to get him vaccinated against the flu. She said that that's why he had such light symptoms. Great.
Weds night he woke and his cough was an eerie sounding whooping type of cough. That and his breathing really freaked me out so I checked his temp and it was 39 degrees. Thankfully I still had some medicine Mom sent to me.
Thursday morning I went to school for the morning and came home to take him to the dr. We were there for about 2 hours, waiting with a whole bunch of people who looked really sick. (I was just hoping that we didn't get something from everyone else - I HATE going to the drs)
Hiroki didn't sleep all day Thursday (after having been up for a couple of hours the night before) and didn't go to bed until about 8:30. He as running around and playing, he did NOT look like a sick boy!
Yesterday all of his not sleeping caught up with him and he took a 2 hour nap in the morning. But that's it. He didn't sleep until after 9:30 again last night!
I hope he's feeling better, I have yet to take his temperature today (was still 38 yesterday)
Atsunobu's mom and I have been even wearing face masks to try to avoid getting sick. She just came and told me that she has a sore throat and a fever. Shit! Shit!She also was vaccinated. I was NOT! (sick when I was planning on going)ARGH!
I am hoping that it won't get to me (I am supposed to make treats with the grade 8s on Monday, and then I'm supposed to go to 2 kindergartens next week!) Also hoping that we won't pass it on to my brother who's coming for a visit today!
Argh!
Weds night he woke and his cough was an eerie sounding whooping type of cough. That and his breathing really freaked me out so I checked his temp and it was 39 degrees. Thankfully I still had some medicine Mom sent to me.
Thursday morning I went to school for the morning and came home to take him to the dr. We were there for about 2 hours, waiting with a whole bunch of people who looked really sick. (I was just hoping that we didn't get something from everyone else - I HATE going to the drs)
Hiroki didn't sleep all day Thursday (after having been up for a couple of hours the night before) and didn't go to bed until about 8:30. He as running around and playing, he did NOT look like a sick boy!
Yesterday all of his not sleeping caught up with him and he took a 2 hour nap in the morning. But that's it. He didn't sleep until after 9:30 again last night!
I hope he's feeling better, I have yet to take his temperature today (was still 38 yesterday)
Atsunobu's mom and I have been even wearing face masks to try to avoid getting sick. She just came and told me that she has a sore throat and a fever. Shit! Shit!She also was vaccinated. I was NOT! (sick when I was planning on going)ARGH!
I am hoping that it won't get to me (I am supposed to make treats with the grade 8s on Monday, and then I'm supposed to go to 2 kindergartens next week!) Also hoping that we won't pass it on to my brother who's coming for a visit today!
Argh!
Friday, January 20, 2006
I knew it
| You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut |
 A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image. On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex. You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time. Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence. |
Monday, January 16, 2006
nothing really
Well, here I am at school, adding to my blog. I am taking some advice from another blogger, Andrea (thanks!) who says she updates her blog between classes and uses Word while at school. So I decided to give it a try, too. I tried once before only to find out that I didn’t have a floppy disk drive on my computer at home. (heh heh) I need some reburnable cds.
It’s not terribly cold now but last week was a first for me. It’s the first time I have seen snow here (not that much but still it was snow) and also the first time I have taught in a classroom with absolutely no heating in it while it was snowing outside. The high for one of the days last week was (brrrrr) 3 degrees. 3!! I know that that sounds warm for many people who may be reading this, but the whole no heater thing makes it very uncomfortable. I had 3 classes in a row, no stops to the heated teacher’s room (and even that could be warmer!) and so I absolutely froze!!! All of my muscles were sore from trying to stop shivering while in class. At least I could hold a couple of Hotshot type of things in my hands while I was walking around the class to get warm. I felt worse for the students, who are not allowed to walk around in class. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I also have a hard time getting what used to be my feet and are now just blocks of ice warm. I have gotten chillblains from the cold weather. Don’t know what that is? I didn’t know either. It started last year, my toes started to really hurt and it felt like my shoes were too small. Parts of my toes went red and hurt and got itchy whenever they were warm (means in the bath). It sucked. But this year I know that I can use a cream to stop them from being itchy (got red hot peppers in it) and now I have figured out that if I change my socks 2, 3 times a day, my feet aren’t as cold. (But feels strange, sitting in the staff room, changing my socks, too lazy to go to another (unheated) room to change ha ha). Ok, finished my whining about the weather.
I think influenza is going around here. Last week I was at 2 elementary schools. I didn’t ask about the flu at the first school but unfortunately at the second school I was at there were some students away due to the flu. Actually it happened to be the class I ate lunch with. I washed my hands a lot and hope that nothing will come out of it. Here at the jr hi, there are so far only 3 official cases of the flu but there is one homeroom with 9 students away!
Hiroki is growing up so much and is enjoying life. He would rather stay with us than go to school but I think he likes going to school and playing with his friends and teachers. He especially enjoyed the snow (even though he thought that it was dust hee hee) because his grandmother was worried about driving in the snow and he ended up having another day off.
Right now his thing he wants us to jump out (yelling BAAA!, the Japanese version of boo!)and scare him after he's gone to the bathroom. Don't know why it's such a thrill for him but it is. He knows we are there and waiting for him and still gets scared. (hee hee)
So now I am even busier than before in the evenings-I teach Mon, Tues, Weds, and Fri nights. I used to teach on Sat but I moved those classes to during the week so now I truly have weekends. I think that I’m going to try and start going to yoga again. I have been doing nothing fitness wise and that and my winter weight gain has led to me feeling extremely blob-like. I hate it. I think the only way I could exercise is to get up at around 5 (yah, like that’s going to happen) but Hiroki goes swimming every Sat morning and Atsunobu tries to be the one to take him there, so that frees me up for yoga. 1 class lasts about 2 hours! It’s not very aerobic or strenuous or anything but at least I would be moving and stretching which feels good.
I’m really looking forward to Mike’s visit here. Not really sure what we will do yet but it should be fun anyway. Hiroki was delighted yesterday when we moved the bed upstairs for Uncle Mike but for some reason he kept talking about ‘Banpa’ (Grandpa) sleeping there. I think he’s got it straight now.
Well I think that’s a long enough post about nothing! Hope you are all well!
xoxo
(ha ha now you really are updated on my exciting life!)
EDIT: Typing at school was good as I had lots of time to write what I wanted but the only worry is if I can stay awake long enough after putting Hiroki to sleep to add to the blog! My neck has a permanent crink in it as I'm trying not to put my head down on the pillow (but still end up nodding off!)
It’s not terribly cold now but last week was a first for me. It’s the first time I have seen snow here (not that much but still it was snow) and also the first time I have taught in a classroom with absolutely no heating in it while it was snowing outside. The high for one of the days last week was (brrrrr) 3 degrees. 3!! I know that that sounds warm for many people who may be reading this, but the whole no heater thing makes it very uncomfortable. I had 3 classes in a row, no stops to the heated teacher’s room (and even that could be warmer!) and so I absolutely froze!!! All of my muscles were sore from trying to stop shivering while in class. At least I could hold a couple of Hotshot type of things in my hands while I was walking around the class to get warm. I felt worse for the students, who are not allowed to walk around in class. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I also have a hard time getting what used to be my feet and are now just blocks of ice warm. I have gotten chillblains from the cold weather. Don’t know what that is? I didn’t know either. It started last year, my toes started to really hurt and it felt like my shoes were too small. Parts of my toes went red and hurt and got itchy whenever they were warm (means in the bath). It sucked. But this year I know that I can use a cream to stop them from being itchy (got red hot peppers in it) and now I have figured out that if I change my socks 2, 3 times a day, my feet aren’t as cold. (But feels strange, sitting in the staff room, changing my socks, too lazy to go to another (unheated) room to change ha ha). Ok, finished my whining about the weather.
I think influenza is going around here. Last week I was at 2 elementary schools. I didn’t ask about the flu at the first school but unfortunately at the second school I was at there were some students away due to the flu. Actually it happened to be the class I ate lunch with. I washed my hands a lot and hope that nothing will come out of it. Here at the jr hi, there are so far only 3 official cases of the flu but there is one homeroom with 9 students away!
Hiroki is growing up so much and is enjoying life. He would rather stay with us than go to school but I think he likes going to school and playing with his friends and teachers. He especially enjoyed the snow (even though he thought that it was dust hee hee) because his grandmother was worried about driving in the snow and he ended up having another day off.
Right now his thing he wants us to jump out (yelling BAAA!, the Japanese version of boo!)and scare him after he's gone to the bathroom. Don't know why it's such a thrill for him but it is. He knows we are there and waiting for him and still gets scared. (hee hee)
So now I am even busier than before in the evenings-I teach Mon, Tues, Weds, and Fri nights. I used to teach on Sat but I moved those classes to during the week so now I truly have weekends. I think that I’m going to try and start going to yoga again. I have been doing nothing fitness wise and that and my winter weight gain has led to me feeling extremely blob-like. I hate it. I think the only way I could exercise is to get up at around 5 (yah, like that’s going to happen) but Hiroki goes swimming every Sat morning and Atsunobu tries to be the one to take him there, so that frees me up for yoga. 1 class lasts about 2 hours! It’s not very aerobic or strenuous or anything but at least I would be moving and stretching which feels good.
I’m really looking forward to Mike’s visit here. Not really sure what we will do yet but it should be fun anyway. Hiroki was delighted yesterday when we moved the bed upstairs for Uncle Mike but for some reason he kept talking about ‘Banpa’ (Grandpa) sleeping there. I think he’s got it straight now.
Well I think that’s a long enough post about nothing! Hope you are all well!
xoxo
(ha ha now you really are updated on my exciting life!)
EDIT: Typing at school was good as I had lots of time to write what I wanted but the only worry is if I can stay awake long enough after putting Hiroki to sleep to add to the blog! My neck has a permanent crink in it as I'm trying not to put my head down on the pillow (but still end up nodding off!)
Saturday, January 14, 2006
hihair
We bought an electric hair-cutter thingy and used it on him. We started it before New Year's but he cried so much we had to stop (about halfway!) Last week I was able to finish it without to much trauma!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
what can i say?
I have been wanting to write again for such a long time. First of all, Happy New Year! I wish everyone all the best in 2006! (2006!!)
Winter vacation was , well, busy. We had a lot of cleaning to do for the end of the year. We made o-mochi, and we also went to the shrine for hatsumode. Good but waaay too many people. Hiroki and I got our own mikuji (kind of like fortune-telling or advice for the upcoming year) and they were exactly the same which seemed to be a rarity.
Hiroki has been growing so much, both physically and mentally. (I miss my baby-sniff!) He had to get a flu shot (2 actually) and was quite unhappy about the first one. For the second one, tho, he told the doctor "I'm not going to cry." and then didn't! I was so surprised!
He has been saying and doing so much other cute stuff that I couldn't possibly list them all (that could also read as-so sleepy, can't type much more.)
He gets weighed every month at school and for most of last year he was 11 kgs to about 12.5 kgs, but from Nov to Dec he gained a whole kg and was 13.5! (He still weighs less than most of the other kids we know.)
Ok can't write anymore, but I'll put in some pix. You should check flickr for other shots of Hiroki's sport day and also his Christmas Pageant (not what it's called but you can figure out what it is.)
love to all
Winter vacation was , well, busy. We had a lot of cleaning to do for the end of the year. We made o-mochi, and we also went to the shrine for hatsumode. Good but waaay too many people. Hiroki and I got our own mikuji (kind of like fortune-telling or advice for the upcoming year) and they were exactly the same which seemed to be a rarity.
Hiroki has been growing so much, both physically and mentally. (I miss my baby-sniff!) He had to get a flu shot (2 actually) and was quite unhappy about the first one. For the second one, tho, he told the doctor "I'm not going to cry." and then didn't! I was so surprised!
He has been saying and doing so much other cute stuff that I couldn't possibly list them all (that could also read as-so sleepy, can't type much more.)
He gets weighed every month at school and for most of last year he was 11 kgs to about 12.5 kgs, but from Nov to Dec he gained a whole kg and was 13.5! (He still weighs less than most of the other kids we know.)
Ok can't write anymore, but I'll put in some pix. You should check flickr for other shots of Hiroki's sport day and also his Christmas Pageant (not what it's called but you can figure out what it is.)
love to all
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Again
it's been too long between posts and I have a whole litany of excuses but anyway. I can't really hook up to the internet at work anymore so I thought I was so clever the other day when I typed it on word, saved it on to a floppy disk and brought it home only to remember THEN that I don't have a floppy disk drive. Of course, was my most profound writing in my life, ha ha.
Hiroki is doing well. I am trying to teach him that he can't ALWAYS get something, for example, when we go out shopping, so lately I have been tlling him that Christmas is coming and that he has to wait until then for something. So now he has a Christmas list. It's pretty funny. He wants (obvious ones) anything to do with trains or bullet trains. But some of his other choices are funny-like berries. Yes, berries. Not to eat or anything, he just likes round things, especially small round things. Berries, seeds from fruits, stuff like that he'll carry around all day, and want to sleep with them at night, only to wake up in the middle of the night to ask me where it is. We've gone to sleep with unripe mini tomatoes, because he loves green. Thankfully they've never squished! Other kids sleep with teddy bears, but not my kid. He sleeps with whatever strikes his fancy that day. Trains (big hard metal ones) books about trains, papers, pamphlets, ads of trains, the aforementioned berries, or anything round, and tonight he said he wanted to sleep with a huge bucket of Duplo blocks. I told him no way and we comprised on just some of the blocks (the ones used to make a train!) Anyway, back to his x-mas list - tonight he was remembering when we went camping this summer. Apparently the bunk bed ladders made quite an impression on him because he wants me to buy him a BIG ladder. Uh, yeah, I'll get right on that. I can't remember the rest of his list but it's all stuff like that.
I, on the other hand, am not so well. I have caught a cold 3 times this month (I don't even know how that's possible!) And last weekend I got me a big ass bruise, uh, well on my big ass. I was going down the stairs and slipped, taking the fast way down. Between that and coughing, my ribs on 1 side aren't terribly pleased with me.
Anyway, please take a look at this documentary. It's pretty funny (and lengthy! 8 min-but worth it!)
Good night!
Hiroki is doing well. I am trying to teach him that he can't ALWAYS get something, for example, when we go out shopping, so lately I have been tlling him that Christmas is coming and that he has to wait until then for something. So now he has a Christmas list. It's pretty funny. He wants (obvious ones) anything to do with trains or bullet trains. But some of his other choices are funny-like berries. Yes, berries. Not to eat or anything, he just likes round things, especially small round things. Berries, seeds from fruits, stuff like that he'll carry around all day, and want to sleep with them at night, only to wake up in the middle of the night to ask me where it is. We've gone to sleep with unripe mini tomatoes, because he loves green. Thankfully they've never squished! Other kids sleep with teddy bears, but not my kid. He sleeps with whatever strikes his fancy that day. Trains (big hard metal ones) books about trains, papers, pamphlets, ads of trains, the aforementioned berries, or anything round, and tonight he said he wanted to sleep with a huge bucket of Duplo blocks. I told him no way and we comprised on just some of the blocks (the ones used to make a train!) Anyway, back to his x-mas list - tonight he was remembering when we went camping this summer. Apparently the bunk bed ladders made quite an impression on him because he wants me to buy him a BIG ladder. Uh, yeah, I'll get right on that. I can't remember the rest of his list but it's all stuff like that.
I, on the other hand, am not so well. I have caught a cold 3 times this month (I don't even know how that's possible!) And last weekend I got me a big ass bruise, uh, well on my big ass. I was going down the stairs and slipped, taking the fast way down. Between that and coughing, my ribs on 1 side aren't terribly pleased with me.
Anyway, please take a look at this documentary. It's pretty funny (and lengthy! 8 min-but worth it!)
Good night!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
long time no post
Well, I haven't been very good at updating, even tho there's so many things I have wanted to say. I wanted to talk about so many things, like the still moving fish that my mother-in-law ended up ordering at a restaurant, thankfully it was her and not me, I couldn't possibly have eaten it. Also, I wanted to talk about how I'm reading some English books to kids once a month now. I talked to somebody in the library in August about volunteering to read Eng books to little kids. The librarian told me that some committee was taking care of it but that she would happily pass my name along to that committee. Someone phoned me later that week and said that they were interested but the head of the committee wanted to check me out first and that they would be meeting in September sometime and could I please come then. Okay. Sometime in October they give me a call and say they're meeting. So I show up to the meeting, and basically get ignored while they do their business. (A couple of members were saying that maybe they should talk to me first but the head decided that I would have to wait.) They talked to me a little bit and then say okay, get up and show us what you do. I was thinking a little notice would have been nice, but okay, whatever. Anyway, they decided that they liked me well enough to let me volunteer with them and now I'm a committee member! I did my first reading in October, and my second one today. I'm also doing something for the Christmas party, too. I will be reading something on the second Saturday of every month. (They put it in the local newspaper to get more people to come.)
Well, that's it for now.
Well, that's it for now.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Monday, October 31, 2005
Anpanman_1
He watches anpanman at school-he was so happy to have his picture with him! (A Japanese cartoon hero-sweet bean paste bread man who apparently throws his bits of his face at his enemy, Germ-man!)
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
pix for Mike
Well you asked, so here they are...Hard to get pix of myself but my cell phone has a function that lets me take pix of myself.
flippyhAIR1
I tried to get a picture of my hair that does whatever it wants to do, especially at the ends!
Saturday, October 15, 2005
proof that I'm still alive
Oh boy, I have been a bad bad blogger. I have wanted update this for so long (so many things I've wanted to write about)but ...
okay, so now we are in the 5th week of having our house renovated to ummm, cough, make it stronger in the event of an earthquake. It's not the most fun. Trying to figure out where everything is as the whole house was moved temporarily into 2 rooms (ok maybe not the whole house but it sure felt like it!)Dealing with the dust unearthed by taking apart the walls that have stood for 26, 27 years was um, horrible.
To top it off, Hiroki has decided that he doesn't need to sleep until 10 or 11 at night, often meaning that I fall asleep before he does leaves very little time to blog. SOORRYY!
o boy, gotta get some sleep. Check out flickr for more pix.
okay, so now we are in the 5th week of having our house renovated to ummm, cough, make it stronger in the event of an earthquake. It's not the most fun. Trying to figure out where everything is as the whole house was moved temporarily into 2 rooms (ok maybe not the whole house but it sure felt like it!)Dealing with the dust unearthed by taking apart the walls that have stood for 26, 27 years was um, horrible.
To top it off, Hiroki has decided that he doesn't need to sleep until 10 or 11 at night, often meaning that I fall asleep before he does leaves very little time to blog. SOORRYY!
o boy, gotta get some sleep. Check out flickr for more pix.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
pantsonhead
He was complaining about having to put his pants back on after using the bathroom, so I put them on his head...
Sunday, September 25, 2005
kyuushoku
These potatoes showed up twice last week-like them a lot-not sure of nutritional value-taste like Hickory Sticks.
chickadee
He won't let me call him anything else. Today I said he was a stinky boy and he looked sad and said "chickadee".
Thursday, September 22, 2005
I feel bad
for anybody who has to cut my hair. I so do not like getting my hair cut. I guess it's not so much the cut part as the what they do with it afterwards. (OK, the cut part is important too) I went yesterday and got my hair cut. I'm trying to grow out my hair (after a couple of cuts I did not like at all) so I have been avoiding getting it cut, but it had just gotten too big and heavy to do anything with, so I decided to bite the bullet and just go. I don't know what it's like in Canada, but here they like to thin out your hair or put layers in that just made my hair look weird. It also doesn't help that no matter what I do with my hair, the bottom part just ends up flipping out. I do not know when this started or where it came from, but that's what it has become.
Anyway, yesterday, the hairdresser and I talked about thinning out my hair to make it lighter. I nodded in agreement, but just like other times when they have brought out their special scissors to do the trick, I could feel the anxiety starting in the bottom of my stomach. I kept telling myself to keep calm and plastered my best fake smile on. After leaving a substantial amount of hair on the floor, I was brought back to the sink to wash my hair again (get rid of all of the hairs that had been cut). Ok. Then back to the chair for drying. I don't remember what it's like in Canada (I usually don't get that far, I think, I tend to tell them that I'll style it at home.) but here they like to blow dry the shit out of your hair. She's drying and drying (and drying and drying!) my hair and the whole time it is getting frizzier and frizzier. This is always the worst part of the haircut for me. They dry my hair, leave it hanging in my face and it always looks so weird to me that I usually end up sitting on my hands to try not to touch my hair (put it behind my ears, whatever!) The hairdresser yesterday decided to use a straightening iron on my hair next. I was thinking-too much heat from hair dryer=frizzy hair so add more heat??? But it didn't look as bad as I thought. And then, like every other time, I just lose it and put my hair behind my ears (which really seems to bother most hairdressers or maybe I'm too sensitive?)
By this time I am soooo antsy and just want to get the hell out of there when she brings out the scissors again! I was not happy. When it was over, I practically ran out of the shop, found the first bathroom and wet my hair.
But, in the end, I think she did a good job. (I don't have to tie my hair back anymore) and even tho she thinned it out alot, it doesn't look weird like it has before (or maybe I've just gotten used to the weird flip it does?)
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Carolyn, who had a baby girl (Ella Fern) on Sept 13. I expect we won't be hearing too much from you for a while!
Love Sheri xoxo
Anyway, yesterday, the hairdresser and I talked about thinning out my hair to make it lighter. I nodded in agreement, but just like other times when they have brought out their special scissors to do the trick, I could feel the anxiety starting in the bottom of my stomach. I kept telling myself to keep calm and plastered my best fake smile on. After leaving a substantial amount of hair on the floor, I was brought back to the sink to wash my hair again (get rid of all of the hairs that had been cut). Ok. Then back to the chair for drying. I don't remember what it's like in Canada (I usually don't get that far, I think, I tend to tell them that I'll style it at home.) but here they like to blow dry the shit out of your hair. She's drying and drying (and drying and drying!) my hair and the whole time it is getting frizzier and frizzier. This is always the worst part of the haircut for me. They dry my hair, leave it hanging in my face and it always looks so weird to me that I usually end up sitting on my hands to try not to touch my hair (put it behind my ears, whatever!) The hairdresser yesterday decided to use a straightening iron on my hair next. I was thinking-too much heat from hair dryer=frizzy hair so add more heat??? But it didn't look as bad as I thought. And then, like every other time, I just lose it and put my hair behind my ears (which really seems to bother most hairdressers or maybe I'm too sensitive?)
By this time I am soooo antsy and just want to get the hell out of there when she brings out the scissors again! I was not happy. When it was over, I practically ran out of the shop, found the first bathroom and wet my hair.
But, in the end, I think she did a good job. (I don't have to tie my hair back anymore) and even tho she thinned it out alot, it doesn't look weird like it has before (or maybe I've just gotten used to the weird flip it does?)
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Carolyn, who had a baby girl (Ella Fern) on Sept 13. I expect we won't be hearing too much from you for a while!
Love Sheri xoxo
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Saturday, September 10, 2005
joke from Caro
Here it is:
For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.
For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.
Monday, September 05, 2005
typhoon13-1
This is leftover debris from the last (slow-moving) typhoon. It was either blown there or more likely it ended up there from all of the water that was flowing.
typhoon 14
is on its way. Great, another slow moving typhoon which means another how many days of rain and wind while we wait for this to blow over. I saw a carp swimming on the streets of in Tokyo on the news, so I guess they have lots of rain there. In either case, we aren't doing as badly as everyone in the US. I can't believe Bush.
I just wanted to drop a quick note. I thought about writing more but should probably go to bed as Hiroki has a fever and tends to sleep less at night when he gets like this.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo
I just wanted to drop a quick note. I thought about writing more but should probably go to bed as Hiroki has a fever and tends to sleep less at night when he gets like this.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo
Thursday, September 01, 2005
tek updates
I'm having fun with my camera/cell phone. At first I didn't think that I would use the camera aspect much, but it's easier to get the photos into my computer (mail them) and then into flickr and then blog. I think the digital camera photos are much clearer, so I want to use them, too.
Also, got a microphone. My skype id is chichi711. If you have an id can you send it to me and we can try to arrange a time to talk!
Should really go to bed soon. Hugs and kisses to you all!
Also, got a microphone. My skype id is chichi711. If you have an id can you send it to me and we can try to arrange a time to talk!
Should really go to bed soon. Hugs and kisses to you all!
desk
Isn't it beautiful? All of the desks in all of the schools I go to are circa 1950s. (Just love the gray!)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
hiroki-overalls
We went shopping together (Hiroki & I) and he decided that he absolutely needed these overalls and even agreed to go into the change room to try them on! I was shocked!
Monday, August 29, 2005
have a look
at this-especially if you have seen Lost in Translation. (I actually have seen it!)
Tired. love to all.
Tired. love to all.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
download this
With this, we can talk for free, using the computer. (It'll work for me once I get a mic!) I'd love to be able to talk to you -free!
In other news, I have joined the whole rest of the world and gotten myself a cell phone. It's one of those jobbies with a camera included, so of course I have already taken a bunch of pix of Hiroki. I was unhappy to see that it won't send pix to this blog, though. :(
It was free, so the price was right. I'll be able to mail on it-Atsunobu's mom can mail me at school if Hiroki gets sick or something. I can mail in English and Japanese. Cool.
We had a nasty typhoon here last Thursday. It was a slow moving one, so it took hours to go thru here. It was pissing down when I had to go to work in the morning, around 9:30, and the eye of the storm hit at around 9:00pm. With the heavy rain all day, the river in front of the house flooded up on to the street and even came up our hill about halfway. Scary shit.
Today we took Hiroki's cousin to a pool about an hour's drive from here. It's Sunday, so I knew it would be crowded, but holy crap! The parking lot was full and we ended up having to park in a different lot (along with everyone else!) I think it took us about 20 min to walk to the pool. When we got there, we got into the pool along with probably hundreds of people. It only costs about 5 bucks to get in (adults), and it had water slides , a kids pool, a tiny wave pool, and a pool that went all the way around all of the other pools. Kind of like a walking pool? I got hit I don't know how many times. It was amazing to me that that many people were allowed to be in there at the same time. And then there were these breaks that we had to take. All of the lifeguards announced that it was time to get out of the pool and take a 10 min break. Then announcement came over the loudspeaker, telling us to take enough care with our bodies and to rest. Uh-huh.
Anyway, we had a good time. Just bought a bathing suit last week (big enough to cover my fat ass- it's 4 pieces!) I'm going to try and sign Hiroki up for a Moms and Tots class in the fall. :)
Will post pix once I've downloaded them!
xoxoxo
In other news, I have joined the whole rest of the world and gotten myself a cell phone. It's one of those jobbies with a camera included, so of course I have already taken a bunch of pix of Hiroki. I was unhappy to see that it won't send pix to this blog, though. :(
It was free, so the price was right. I'll be able to mail on it-Atsunobu's mom can mail me at school if Hiroki gets sick or something. I can mail in English and Japanese. Cool.
We had a nasty typhoon here last Thursday. It was a slow moving one, so it took hours to go thru here. It was pissing down when I had to go to work in the morning, around 9:30, and the eye of the storm hit at around 9:00pm. With the heavy rain all day, the river in front of the house flooded up on to the street and even came up our hill about halfway. Scary shit.
Today we took Hiroki's cousin to a pool about an hour's drive from here. It's Sunday, so I knew it would be crowded, but holy crap! The parking lot was full and we ended up having to park in a different lot (along with everyone else!) I think it took us about 20 min to walk to the pool. When we got there, we got into the pool along with probably hundreds of people. It only costs about 5 bucks to get in (adults), and it had water slides , a kids pool, a tiny wave pool, and a pool that went all the way around all of the other pools. Kind of like a walking pool? I got hit I don't know how many times. It was amazing to me that that many people were allowed to be in there at the same time. And then there were these breaks that we had to take. All of the lifeguards announced that it was time to get out of the pool and take a 10 min break. Then announcement came over the loudspeaker, telling us to take enough care with our bodies and to rest. Uh-huh.
Anyway, we had a good time. Just bought a bathing suit last week (big enough to cover my fat ass- it's 4 pieces!) I'm going to try and sign Hiroki up for a Moms and Tots class in the fall. :)
Will post pix once I've downloaded them!
xoxoxo
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
weather cock
was the T-shirt I saw yesterday. No pix. :) Different.
Okay, I have figured out a little more about flickr. If I actually take the time to resize the photos I upload I can put so many more pix on it. I am so stupid sometimes. Hopefully that means more pix here, too.
It's so hot here. I took 3 showers yeasterday and could have easily taken 3 more. I'm sure Atsunobu's mom is surprised that I don't always turn on the hot water heater when I shgower, sometimes leading to pretty cool showers. I think it's more refreshing that way, tho.
Hope everyone's healthy!
Okay, I have figured out a little more about flickr. If I actually take the time to resize the photos I upload I can put so many more pix on it. I am so stupid sometimes. Hopefully that means more pix here, too.
It's so hot here. I took 3 showers yeasterday and could have easily taken 3 more. I'm sure Atsunobu's mom is surprised that I don't always turn on the hot water heater when I shgower, sometimes leading to pretty cool showers. I think it's more refreshing that way, tho.
Hope everyone's healthy!
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
potatopancakes
This was lunch/dinner a while back (can't remember which). I made potato pancakes and the pink and green stuff is called konnyaku, made from some type of root plant. It's supposed to fill you up but has no calories.
maitake
Does anyone know what these mushrooms are called in English? I love them and could eat them everyday (I know, weird coming from me.)
Friday, July 29, 2005
strong donger
Don't ask me what it means, I have no idea. Saw it printed on a kid's shirt today. No pictures or characters (rare) or anything. Sounds sexual to me, but I have such a juvenile sense of humour that pretty much everything sounds sexual to me ;0
Carolyn, thanks for the comments. Maybe I should just address these to you as I think you're probably my sole readership. Glad to hear that things are getting together. I hope that the baby doesn't come early, too. (I won't mention here that Hiroki was born more than 2 weeks early-thought I had time to get some stuff together then-oops.) (sorry, I mentioned it;)
One thing I did before he was born was make and freeze some meals as I knew I wouldn't have time to cook after.
So yesterday I went to my first yoga class. It was 2 hours long. Did stuff that I didn't think I'd be able to ie back bridge, head stand. Guess those years in gymnastics paid off. I liked it cause it was a lot of stretching and didn't feel too strenuous. But now, am I ever in pain! Can't breathe too deeply or sneeze (doing lots of now, somethings bugging me)
Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. There's so many I want to put up but my flickr account has been used up for this month. I might have to splurge and buy an account.
Oh yeah, Carolyn, I think you have the right idea about typhoons and hurricanes.
Here's something to look at if you have time.
Carolyn, thanks for the comments. Maybe I should just address these to you as I think you're probably my sole readership. Glad to hear that things are getting together. I hope that the baby doesn't come early, too. (I won't mention here that Hiroki was born more than 2 weeks early-thought I had time to get some stuff together then-oops.) (sorry, I mentioned it;)
One thing I did before he was born was make and freeze some meals as I knew I wouldn't have time to cook after.
So yesterday I went to my first yoga class. It was 2 hours long. Did stuff that I didn't think I'd be able to ie back bridge, head stand. Guess those years in gymnastics paid off. I liked it cause it was a lot of stretching and didn't feel too strenuous. But now, am I ever in pain! Can't breathe too deeply or sneeze (doing lots of now, somethings bugging me)
Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. There's so many I want to put up but my flickr account has been used up for this month. I might have to splurge and buy an account.
Oh yeah, Carolyn, I think you have the right idea about typhoons and hurricanes.
Here's something to look at if you have time.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
blame it on the rain
Unfortunately, this is the song I can't get out of my head now due to the fact that a typhoon is coming. f@*k, I can't think of weather I dislike more than typhoons. It's sooo hot and humid, but we have to close all of our windows cause the wind blows the rain in, or cause like last night, if I leave the window open I wake up from the noise of rain pouring down. It also takes days to get here and go through. I hate not having the window open as I feel like I'm suffocating.
We had an earthquake here last Saturday, too. It wasn't really big (at least not here) but still the trains were delayed for hours in Tokyo. To be fair, it was bigger there, but there were so many people stranded at stations in Tokyo, trying to get home or whatever. Atsunobu was on a train, waiting to leave. He ended up waiting on the train for a couple of hours until he could finally catch a train to another station and then wait in line with hundreds of other people to get
shinkansen or bullet train tickets. (I know so much about the shinkansen now as Hiroki looves any train- including the shinkansen.)
I have to go check the water level of the river in front of the house! ;)
We had an earthquake here last Saturday, too. It wasn't really big (at least not here) but still the trains were delayed for hours in Tokyo. To be fair, it was bigger there, but there were so many people stranded at stations in Tokyo, trying to get home or whatever. Atsunobu was on a train, waiting to leave. He ended up waiting on the train for a couple of hours until he could finally catch a train to another station and then wait in line with hundreds of other people to get
shinkansen or bullet train tickets. (I know so much about the shinkansen now as Hiroki looves any train- including the shinkansen.)
I have to go check the water level of the river in front of the house! ;)
Sunday, July 24, 2005
New pix
Well, as you can see, I finally got a chance to add some more photos. The problem is the limit on flickr-once I upload some photos, I basically reach my monthly limit, which means I can't upload for another month. I guess I could post in between pic uploading, but that would require updating more :) Sorry!
We went to Okinawa and had a great time there. It was such a beautiful place and people there have a totally different attitude-they are not all in a hurry and it seemed like they liked kids (I don't often feel that way in Japan.) Hiroki enjoyed playing on the beach, in the ocean, on the streets. It was really cool in Taketomi Island, the streets were made from the white sand on the beach. All of the houses were surrounded by fossilised coral reef. There were seashells and coral reef fossils every where. Every morning, people swept the streets. It was a great experience. Gotta go for now!
PS- Carolyn-we got your birthday card-thank you very much! Sorry I didn't say anything earlier;)
We went to Okinawa and had a great time there. It was such a beautiful place and people there have a totally different attitude-they are not all in a hurry and it seemed like they liked kids (I don't often feel that way in Japan.) Hiroki enjoyed playing on the beach, in the ocean, on the streets. It was really cool in Taketomi Island, the streets were made from the white sand on the beach. All of the houses were surrounded by fossilised coral reef. There were seashells and coral reef fossils every where. Every morning, people swept the streets. It was a great experience. Gotta go for now!
PS- Carolyn-we got your birthday card-thank you very much! Sorry I didn't say anything earlier;)
2005_0704Okinawa0130
Breakfast is served-fresh tropical fruit, yogurt, home-made bread! We stayed in a bungalow and everyone in the hotel (3 cabins) ate together.
2005_0704Okinawa0100
The streets in Taketomi Island were made of white sand brought from the beach-full of seashells and coral reef too! Hiroki loved it.
2005_0704Okinawa0067
This was taken on our trip to Okinawa. It was great-blue, blue, sky, beautiful ocean, tropical weather (and fruit!) It was soo nice!
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
notice
some changes? I have finally got a way to send pics to this and now it's starting to look more like I want it to. I have joined an online group? or way of uploading my photos so that you can go and have a look if you want. It's called flickr, and I can automatically send my pix here. I will probably send an invite to you...I think if you join we can share pictures and stuff. It would be cool if we could all share-course I thought that about this blog, too, and the only other person contributing is thatmikeguy (where are you?). If anybody else wants to contribute, I'm waiting.:) (Caro gets honorable mention for the comments)
love love love sheri
summer oranges
these are called summer oranges, and they are the sourest fruit I have EVER eaten-you have to put loads of sugar or honey on them to eat and they are STILL sour!
futons
this was taken more than a couple of months ago-but it's just to show you what we do when it's sunny out-we air out the futons. When we bring them in, they are nice and fluffy again!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
alive and you know the rest
Hey all.
Not much new happenin here. Workin. Spendin time with Hiroki. He's mostly toilet trained now. Wakes me up in the middle of the night to go pee. Not fun. Pooping in the toilet. WAAAAAYYYY WAAAAAYYYYY better than in diapers!! Cool. He's got a new habit lately of not wanting to see me when I get home from work. He tells me to go back to work, he wants to spend time with his obaachan (japanese word for grandma). Not nice. Feel like I'm getting kicked in the nuts.
Work has been fun lately. Went to 2 kindergartens this week. Taught 5 year olds who were soooooo happy to see me. They all came up to try and hold my hands, coupla girls were kissing my hands! (Japanese people don't kiss!) The kids were really sweet. The kids at yesterday's kindergarten practiced a dance to show me and then sang a song to me. So cute. 22 5-year olds doing their best to dance. Nice.
Today when I went to the junior hi school (first and only time this week) I found out that our whole school was walking (pissing rain) to another jhs to see a shamisen concert. Sweet!
It was very exciting to watch and the players were really interesting! Most of the teachers (including the music one at my school) haven't ever seen a live shamisen concert. It was great! Lasted all morning, too (including the walking to and from the other school, following the gr 7s who weren't watching too carefully for cars--narrow streets, lots of kids-oh no....) Anyway no mishaps..
Going to go for now. Love to all.
Not much new happenin here. Workin. Spendin time with Hiroki. He's mostly toilet trained now. Wakes me up in the middle of the night to go pee. Not fun. Pooping in the toilet. WAAAAAYYYY WAAAAAYYYYY better than in diapers!! Cool. He's got a new habit lately of not wanting to see me when I get home from work. He tells me to go back to work, he wants to spend time with his obaachan (japanese word for grandma). Not nice. Feel like I'm getting kicked in the nuts.
Work has been fun lately. Went to 2 kindergartens this week. Taught 5 year olds who were soooooo happy to see me. They all came up to try and hold my hands, coupla girls were kissing my hands! (Japanese people don't kiss!) The kids were really sweet. The kids at yesterday's kindergarten practiced a dance to show me and then sang a song to me. So cute. 22 5-year olds doing their best to dance. Nice.
Today when I went to the junior hi school (first and only time this week) I found out that our whole school was walking (pissing rain) to another jhs to see a shamisen concert. Sweet!
It was very exciting to watch and the players were really interesting! Most of the teachers (including the music one at my school) haven't ever seen a live shamisen concert. It was great! Lasted all morning, too (including the walking to and from the other school, following the gr 7s who weren't watching too carefully for cars--narrow streets, lots of kids-oh no....) Anyway no mishaps..
Going to go for now. Love to all.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
hi again
Well, last night I was a wee bit tired at the end of a long day, I guess... This morning after a couple of hours of sleep (ok, 4 Hiroki got up earlier than I expected) I'm feeling a bit better.
The rainy season hasn't officially begun but it might as well have. We've had crappy weather all week. I think that the rainy season is supposed to begin next week...This is the time of year when we put stuff in the closets and drawers and anywhere, really, to keep them dry. The wallpaper on my closet doors are already wrinkling from the humidity. Last year a pair of my shoes got mouldy. We have to air them out when the weather is good.
This weather is hard on the laundry. We don't have a dryer, so hanging the clothes up in the morning to dry and leaving them out all day is the way we usually dry them. But as you'd expect, with 6 weeks of rainy weather, the clothes don't dry well. We end up going to the laundromat to dry them. Because we do the laundry every day here, it gets really to be a pain. I used to wonder what would happen if we didn't do the laundry every day, but I have realized that we have to do it every day as we run out of space to dry clothes. I'm not looking forard to the rainy season....Up until now it has been a little bit cool when it rains, but it's going to get hotter and it's just so yucky. It makes my hair go even weirder now, too. I have come to the realization that I have a wave/curl thing going on with my hair. Doesn't matter what I do or how much/little I style it, it pretty much ends up looking the same in the end. sigh
This computer is really pissing me off now, so I'm going to go for now. Love to all.
Oh yeah-Carolyn-no worries about boring me with baby stuff, I really want to hear how you're doing! I've been thinking about you and wondering how it's all going! xo
The rainy season hasn't officially begun but it might as well have. We've had crappy weather all week. I think that the rainy season is supposed to begin next week...This is the time of year when we put stuff in the closets and drawers and anywhere, really, to keep them dry. The wallpaper on my closet doors are already wrinkling from the humidity. Last year a pair of my shoes got mouldy. We have to air them out when the weather is good.
This weather is hard on the laundry. We don't have a dryer, so hanging the clothes up in the morning to dry and leaving them out all day is the way we usually dry them. But as you'd expect, with 6 weeks of rainy weather, the clothes don't dry well. We end up going to the laundromat to dry them. Because we do the laundry every day here, it gets really to be a pain. I used to wonder what would happen if we didn't do the laundry every day, but I have realized that we have to do it every day as we run out of space to dry clothes. I'm not looking forard to the rainy season....Up until now it has been a little bit cool when it rains, but it's going to get hotter and it's just so yucky. It makes my hair go even weirder now, too. I have come to the realization that I have a wave/curl thing going on with my hair. Doesn't matter what I do or how much/little I style it, it pretty much ends up looking the same in the end. sigh
This computer is really pissing me off now, so I'm going to go for now. Love to all.
Oh yeah-Carolyn-no worries about boring me with baby stuff, I really want to hear how you're doing! I've been thinking about you and wondering how it's all going! xo
hi there
How is everyone these days? (If anyone's there) Feeling like I have little time to myself these days, and feeling isolated from people. Doesn't make sense, does it? I'm always with people at work but I think I could spend a day without talking to anybody, besides the usual good morning and such greetings. Don't know if it's because of the language thing or if it's just me...:) Friday night now so don't care too much.
This post is sounds depressing and it's taking me waaaayy too long to type this so I'll go for now. Love to you all.
This post is sounds depressing and it's taking me waaaayy too long to type this so I'll go for now. Love to you all.
Friday, May 27, 2005
posted a new link
over there, on the right, that you should have a look at if you have time.
It's late at and I'm feeling not at all witty so I'll go for now.
It's late at and I'm feeling not at all witty so I'll go for now.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
got the link
working-don't know why, but the top one doesn't work. Skip it and go to the next one.
Hiroki is getting (I hope) his last teeth. This leads to the inevitable putting things into his mouth to scratch or to try and stop the pain or whatever but this last week I've constantly had The Snit (I believe it was called) going through my mind (this plus the music). Instead of stop shaking your eyes or stop sawing the furniture, it's been "Stop chewing on the furniture!" I guess that the kitchen table and his wooden chair are just the right height for him to gnaw on...
I should go wake him up as he has been asleep for a record 21/2 hours now, and I want to be able to sleep tonight.
Talk more later!
Hiroki is getting (I hope) his last teeth. This leads to the inevitable putting things into his mouth to scratch or to try and stop the pain or whatever but this last week I've constantly had The Snit (I believe it was called) going through my mind (this plus the music). Instead of stop shaking your eyes or stop sawing the furniture, it's been "Stop chewing on the furniture!" I guess that the kitchen table and his wooden chair are just the right height for him to gnaw on...
I should go wake him up as he has been asleep for a record 21/2 hours now, and I want to be able to sleep tonight.
Talk more later!
Friday, May 13, 2005
today's soundtrack
features Paul Simon and I believe the Greg Kihn Band. Keep the customers satisified and something about they don't write songs like that any more. Really makes me wonder where the hell that comes from. I'm not going to try and fix the link for today. Shitty day, glad it's the weekend. write more later. xox
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
f#@*in computers
ok, I'm having problems with the linking here. It's really pissing me off because it worked before. I think I'm going to have to make this short as I'm typing with 1 eye closed getting sleepy. Ball of Confusion or whatever it's called had some lyrics along the lines of Ball of confusion (x2) That's what the world is today hey hey. At some point it says something like and the band plays on or and the beat goes on. I think it came out when I was in high school. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Duran Duran. I just checked the all music guide-It's called Ball of Confusion-That's what the world is today. Maybe it is L&R?
Hiroki and I got shot yesterday. He for chicken pox and me for mumps. I don't think I've had the mumps yet, and seeing as I go to elementary schools & kindys, I thought better safe than sorry. Also, one of the other ALTs got the mumps earlier this year. Unfortunately, neither of them were free, so I ended up paying more than 14,000 yen for that. Nice. Oh well.
I'm waiting to see if anyone wants to join me in posting here. I thought we could all post a little or even put articles of stuff we are reading. I think it would be interesting.
Here is some info about where I live...ok the other eye is closing now gotta go
Hiroki and I got shot yesterday. He for chicken pox and me for mumps. I don't think I've had the mumps yet, and seeing as I go to elementary schools & kindys, I thought better safe than sorry. Also, one of the other ALTs got the mumps earlier this year. Unfortunately, neither of them were free, so I ended up paying more than 14,000 yen for that. Nice. Oh well.
I'm waiting to see if anyone wants to join me in posting here. I thought we could all post a little or even put articles of stuff we are reading. I think it would be interesting.
Here is some info about where I live...ok the other eye is closing now gotta go
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Shock
Wow, eh? Altho I'm sure that nobody will be reading this as it has been so long since I updated you've probably all given up in disgust, right? Well, anyway...
I have had so many things goingg thru my mind lately, including songs. So many songs go thru my mind in a day, it's unbelievable. Just today, I had The Pursuit of Happiness' Beautiful White, Ball/ World of Confusion by ?(I want to say Love&Rockets but I don't think that's right) and John Prine's Picture Show going thru my head. It's not like I've listened to any of them recently(like within the last 5 years...) Mystifying. And these are only songs that I notice. Of course, there are the songs that I don't know the words to, or even the songs that aren't in English, even more mystifying.
Well we had holidays this week-Golden Week. It's not actually a week of holidays, but it started last Friday, Green Day. (You can read about it here ) I ended up having 2 days off before that as I had lost my voice, and when your job is to be the human tape recorder, it just doesn't work if you can't speak.) This week I went to work on Monday and Friday. Nice!
We spent alot of time with Hiroki's cousins during the break. We took care of Luna on Wednesday. She is about 5 months older than Hiroki. They took a bath together and afterwards, when I was drying them off, we had a talk about various body parts. Luna made sure that Hiroki still had a "tail" and Hiroki, for his part, was pulling on his tail, saying, "Luna, you don't have one of these?" I thought it was pretty funny.
That's enuff.
I have had so many things goingg thru my mind lately, including songs. So many songs go thru my mind in a day, it's unbelievable. Just today, I had The Pursuit of Happiness' Beautiful White, Ball/ World of Confusion by ?(I want to say Love&Rockets but I don't think that's right) and John Prine's Picture Show going thru my head. It's not like I've listened to any of them recently(like within the last 5 years...) Mystifying. And these are only songs that I notice. Of course, there are the songs that I don't know the words to, or even the songs that aren't in English, even more mystifying.
Well we had holidays this week-Golden Week. It's not actually a week of holidays, but it started last Friday, Green Day. (You can read about it here ) I ended up having 2 days off before that as I had lost my voice, and when your job is to be the human tape recorder, it just doesn't work if you can't speak.) This week I went to work on Monday and Friday. Nice!
We spent alot of time with Hiroki's cousins during the break. We took care of Luna on Wednesday. She is about 5 months older than Hiroki. They took a bath together and afterwards, when I was drying them off, we had a talk about various body parts. Luna made sure that Hiroki still had a "tail" and Hiroki, for his part, was pulling on his tail, saying, "Luna, you don't have one of these?" I thought it was pretty funny.
That's enuff.
Friday, May 06, 2005
i suk
I really suck at keeping this updated, don’t I? There’s so much I want to do and write about but in the end nothing gets done. (read too tired at the end of the day to sit down and do this.) I have recently been checking out other blogs of people who live in Japan, and they are much better than I am at keeping it up to date as well as linking things, etc. I’m going to try and write more. I also will try and put more pix in as it would be more interesting.
For those of you who don’t know, I am at the same schools as last year. This was a total surprise to all of the foreign teachers as well as the Japanese teachers. I think it’s the first time that we didn’t get moved around. I still haven’t figured out if it’s a good thing or not, as a lot of teachers got moved and the atmosphere has changed quite a bit. I haven’t been very happy so far this year but I remember feeling the same way at the beginning of the year last year. It’s good that I can stay with some of the same students but now I feel even worse when I don’t know my students names. We have over 300 students at the junior high school and I’m lucky if I get to teach them once a week. (I’m supposed to go to every class once a week, but if I am away at an elementary school or kindergarten that day, or the schedule changes due to something –happens a lot- then I miss teaching them for the week. Also, they have their names on their desks written in kanji, so I mostly can’t read them. Do these all sound like the excuses they are?
For those of you who don’t know, I am at the same schools as last year. This was a total surprise to all of the foreign teachers as well as the Japanese teachers. I think it’s the first time that we didn’t get moved around. I still haven’t figured out if it’s a good thing or not, as a lot of teachers got moved and the atmosphere has changed quite a bit. I haven’t been very happy so far this year but I remember feeling the same way at the beginning of the year last year. It’s good that I can stay with some of the same students but now I feel even worse when I don’t know my students names. We have over 300 students at the junior high school and I’m lucky if I get to teach them once a week. (I’m supposed to go to every class once a week, but if I am away at an elementary school or kindergarten that day, or the schedule changes due to something –happens a lot- then I miss teaching them for the week. Also, they have their names on their desks written in kanji, so I mostly can’t read them. Do these all sound like the excuses they are?
Monday, February 14, 2005
purple? haze
I have been feeling like my time is being stretched to the limit these days which may explain my lack of up to datedness here. I hope that you all had great holidays.
Lately I have been noticing my own mental block…One day last week as I was walking to school, I realized that I never really pay attention to buildings or signs or anything like that. (This leads to a great deal of not knowing where/what anything is.) I have also noticed that whenever I get any papers or anything with writing on it, I basically close down. I think, I can’t read this, and then I just don’t bother with it. Because I feel like I can’t read anything, it’s not worth it for me to even look at. So I’m now trying to be more open-minded and maybe just try looking at the paper first to see if there are any words on it that I can understand. I also tried to really take notice of where I was going and my surroundings the next time I walked to school. I think (ok, I know) that I can read more than I expect, so I’m doing my utmost to try and be more aware of things.
On a connected note, I am studying Japanese again. My goal is to (try to!) pass the Level 2 test in Japanese Proficiency. There are 4 different tests, with Level 4 being the easiest and Level 1 being the hardest test. (People who pass Level 1 usually have some sort of Asian background, which helps in knowing the kanji, or Chinese characters. I think you have to know about 1500 – 2000 of them to pass Level 1.) The problem with studying (or remembering) kanji is that each one has 2 or 3 different ways of reading them as well, leading to a lot of variations. I took the Level 3 and 4 tests a long time ago, and they weren’t very difficult, but the gap between the Level 2 and 3 test is phenomenal. I think for the Level 3 test you need to know about 165 kanji, while I need to know about 1000 for Level 2. I have a long way to go towards that goal, but I think that if I am able to reach that level, life here will be easier. (Think of going from being literate to illiterate to junior high school level literacy.) The test can be taken once a year (in December) and I hope that if I study enough, I can pass it, but at this point I don’t have much confidence.
The school year will be finished at the end of March here. I will be teaching at a new school in April, and going to new elementary schools, too. There are 7 foreign teachers hired by the Mishima School Board (the closest big town to where I am) and 7 junior high schools. Apparently we get switched around every year. We should find out around the beginning of March where we’ll be going to in April. I’m feeling a little anxious about it as I feel like I have just come to know this school and its system and teachers etc, but I guess it’ll give me the chance to meet more people this way. I think I’ll be able to get around Mishima more, too, which is probably a good thing. I basically only know the area around the schools I go to now.
Anyway, I think that’s enough for now.
Lately I have been noticing my own mental block…One day last week as I was walking to school, I realized that I never really pay attention to buildings or signs or anything like that. (This leads to a great deal of not knowing where/what anything is.) I have also noticed that whenever I get any papers or anything with writing on it, I basically close down. I think, I can’t read this, and then I just don’t bother with it. Because I feel like I can’t read anything, it’s not worth it for me to even look at. So I’m now trying to be more open-minded and maybe just try looking at the paper first to see if there are any words on it that I can understand. I also tried to really take notice of where I was going and my surroundings the next time I walked to school. I think (ok, I know) that I can read more than I expect, so I’m doing my utmost to try and be more aware of things.
On a connected note, I am studying Japanese again. My goal is to (try to!) pass the Level 2 test in Japanese Proficiency. There are 4 different tests, with Level 4 being the easiest and Level 1 being the hardest test. (People who pass Level 1 usually have some sort of Asian background, which helps in knowing the kanji, or Chinese characters. I think you have to know about 1500 – 2000 of them to pass Level 1.) The problem with studying (or remembering) kanji is that each one has 2 or 3 different ways of reading them as well, leading to a lot of variations. I took the Level 3 and 4 tests a long time ago, and they weren’t very difficult, but the gap between the Level 2 and 3 test is phenomenal. I think for the Level 3 test you need to know about 165 kanji, while I need to know about 1000 for Level 2. I have a long way to go towards that goal, but I think that if I am able to reach that level, life here will be easier. (Think of going from being literate to illiterate to junior high school level literacy.) The test can be taken once a year (in December) and I hope that if I study enough, I can pass it, but at this point I don’t have much confidence.
The school year will be finished at the end of March here. I will be teaching at a new school in April, and going to new elementary schools, too. There are 7 foreign teachers hired by the Mishima School Board (the closest big town to where I am) and 7 junior high schools. Apparently we get switched around every year. We should find out around the beginning of March where we’ll be going to in April. I’m feeling a little anxious about it as I feel like I have just come to know this school and its system and teachers etc, but I guess it’ll give me the chance to meet more people this way. I think I’ll be able to get around Mishima more, too, which is probably a good thing. I basically only know the area around the schools I go to now.
Anyway, I think that’s enough for now.
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