Well my spring vacation will soon be over with my not having accomplished nearly as much as I had planned. It's so hard to get everything done. Of course I've still been teaching privates.
Yesyerday was the farewell ceremony at my (former) school for teachers who are leaving. When I first got to the school, the vice-principal told me to go to a special room, as I was now "considered a guest". When the time came for the ceremony to begin, they had us line up single file in a certain order (retiring teachers first, then transfers) and we walked into the gym where all of the students were waiting for us. (And clapping when we entered!) Then we had to go up on the stage and sit in our assigned order. The vice-principal gave a little speech about each of us, then we were all given a basket of flowers, and then it was our turn to say something. Let me just say that even lining up, I started to feel nervous. Sitting on the stage in front of everyone, trying to remember when to bow, thinking about what to say, trying to concentrate on not losing it, too many things at once...I was shivering the whole time, between the cold wind blowing into the gym and nerves, I was a wreck. My heart was pounding so hard I thought for sure that everyone would be able to hear it! I honestly have no idea what the VP said about me. But got through it.
When we were finished the teachers who were leaving all got taken out to a family restaurant. That was the best part. Everyone was a lot more relaxed, including me. (Although I did think I was hallucinating when I heard my name being called, and it was even in English!-turned out to be another ALT at the same school board who was being taken out in the same fashion)
It was sad saying goodbye to many of the teachers while others I don't really care if I see again or not. The next school I'm going to is much, much bigger, I hope I'll be able to remember people's names. And I get to do another ceremony when I go to the next school, I have to talk to everyone on stage again. Oh boy.
Nuff 4 now.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
My Turn to be an Aunty!
I got word from my tin brother earlier this week that his girlfriend gave birth to a little girl, Clara Audrey Joy. Her name is bigger than she is-she was a bit early and actually ended up being almost the same birth weight as my little guy was (read pretty small- he was about 2650g or about 5lbs 13 oz) They are both well-good news!
I have so much more I want to write about and have been neglectful this past week, but I neeeeeed to sleep, so good night!
I have so much more I want to write about and have been neglectful this past week, but I neeeeeed to sleep, so good night!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
another cold morning
It was almost 5 this morning when I got up. I have to make myself a lunch for the rest of this week. Yuck.
The heater said 7 degrees this morning when I turned it on. I hope that it's going to get warmer this week. The kids have a graduation ceremony in the gym on Friday. The gym is amazing to me-the coldest place in the school in the winter and the hottest in the summer. No idea how that can be, but it is true.
Last week at our weekly meeting (ALT/foreigners) I thinkI was given a strong hint as to where I will be teaching next year. If it's true, I wonder about who I'll be teaching with. One of the teachers was at my school the first year I was here. She's, um, challenging to work with. I think her mental balance is a little off. I told one of the other teachers last year that she wasn't talking to me. He said something like,"How do you know?" and my answer was-she doesn't talk to me! But at least I know to expect this year. I was thinking the worst case would be the male teacher who I am teaching with now (and quite uncomfortable with-he was talking about me and the way I teach in front of all of the other Japanese teachers-I think if he had a problem he should have talked to me first)gets moved to that school and I end up teaching with the same 2 teachers I started with. But I don't think it will happen as he has kids that will be going to that school soon, so they generally don't do that. (Going to be teaching his kids though)
Anyway, time to stop fooling around and get my lunch made!
Have a good day/night!
The heater said 7 degrees this morning when I turned it on. I hope that it's going to get warmer this week. The kids have a graduation ceremony in the gym on Friday. The gym is amazing to me-the coldest place in the school in the winter and the hottest in the summer. No idea how that can be, but it is true.
Last week at our weekly meeting (ALT/foreigners) I thinkI was given a strong hint as to where I will be teaching next year. If it's true, I wonder about who I'll be teaching with. One of the teachers was at my school the first year I was here. She's, um, challenging to work with. I think her mental balance is a little off. I told one of the other teachers last year that she wasn't talking to me. He said something like,"How do you know?" and my answer was-she doesn't talk to me! But at least I know to expect this year. I was thinking the worst case would be the male teacher who I am teaching with now (and quite uncomfortable with-he was talking about me and the way I teach in front of all of the other Japanese teachers-I think if he had a problem he should have talked to me first)gets moved to that school and I end up teaching with the same 2 teachers I started with. But I don't think it will happen as he has kids that will be going to that school soon, so they generally don't do that. (Going to be teaching his kids though)
Anyway, time to stop fooling around and get my lunch made!
Have a good day/night!
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
my little helper
It's 5 something in the morning again. Got up really early to make my lunch for school today. There's no more school lunches this year so that means I have to get up early for the rest of the week. It's very cold this morning (the heater said 8 when I turned it on, not very warm for the inside of the house). We've been getting the beginning of spring weather (some warm days followed by cold days) and I will be glad when it's over. I hate the temperature changes and think that it has a lot to do with people getting sick. I also feel like the weather tricks me into thinking it's getting warmer and then goes cold again. Hee hee.
So last night I decided to make some Indian bread to bring for my lunch today. (I love my bread machine!) Hiroki helped out-and he was good at it, too! I was surprised by how much he could actually do! After getting the dough out of the machine he really enjoyed touching it, and he helped me put flour on it so it wasn't too gooey. I broke it into six balls and he rolled them in flour. After we let it rise for a bit, he wanted to help me roll them out. He did really well (totally unbiased opinion here :P). My MIL says it's because he plays with play-dough at school -I don't know, but it was good. After that he proceeded to wipe his face, getting flour all over it. Hee hee.
On Sunday, too, he helped me make some granola bar type of things. We got to use the electric mixer this time. He enjoyed that! (I enjoyed the eating the most!) It was good and I am glad that he is interested in food and making stuff.
Gotta go and get ready for work-more later.
So last night I decided to make some Indian bread to bring for my lunch today. (I love my bread machine!) Hiroki helped out-and he was good at it, too! I was surprised by how much he could actually do! After getting the dough out of the machine he really enjoyed touching it, and he helped me put flour on it so it wasn't too gooey. I broke it into six balls and he rolled them in flour. After we let it rise for a bit, he wanted to help me roll them out. He did really well (totally unbiased opinion here :P). My MIL says it's because he plays with play-dough at school -I don't know, but it was good. After that he proceeded to wipe his face, getting flour all over it. Hee hee.
On Sunday, too, he helped me make some granola bar type of things. We got to use the electric mixer this time. He enjoyed that! (I enjoyed the eating the most!) It was good and I am glad that he is interested in food and making stuff.
Gotta go and get ready for work-more later.
Friday, March 10, 2006
strawberrysandwich
I saw these nutritious sandwiches in the convenience store yesterday-strawberries and whipped cream!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
the waiting game
Well, Hiroki and I went to picnic on Sunday. We were invited there by someone I met through the internet. (Hi Jean!) And we got to meet other families with non-Japanese parents. And I got to meet Andrea, whose blog I always read. (Hi Andrea!) It was pretty cool! It was a beautiful day and so nice to talk to people in English. I was thinking that it had been a long time since I talked to people in
English, but I do have a meeting with the other ALTs in my district once a week (which is really nice-it let's all of us blow off some steam.) Also, I met some people on an international thing-but it was different-they were younger than I am with no kids, and hadn't been in Japan long, so they were telling the Japanese people we were with about themselves and their lives in the States. I remember being like that, too. But now this time I felt like the Japanese people we were with probably already knew most of the stuff they were talking about (ie-differences in culture etc) and didn't contribute much to the conversation. On Sunday, the conversation was more about stuff I am thinking about, like putting kids into daycare and child-rearing type of stuff. It was great!
The other ALTs and I are waiting to find out where we'll be teaching in April. We'll most likely be changing schools (but don't know for sure) and I find it really annoying. I don't like the idea that we have to get transferred but it's quite a common thing here so I suppose I should get used to it. The most annoying thing for me is that they have already decided but their not letting us know yet because...? I think they are just trying to show us that they have some control over us, personally. I feel they are just being mean. I can't think of any other reason not to tell us. THe students shouldn't know yet, I understand that, but otherr teachers are starting to find out where they are going, so ???!! Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens. (Though I think that I am already at the best school, so I'm not really looking forward to a change.) Have a good day/ night!
English, but I do have a meeting with the other ALTs in my district once a week (which is really nice-it let's all of us blow off some steam.) Also, I met some people on an international thing-but it was different-they were younger than I am with no kids, and hadn't been in Japan long, so they were telling the Japanese people we were with about themselves and their lives in the States. I remember being like that, too. But now this time I felt like the Japanese people we were with probably already knew most of the stuff they were talking about (ie-differences in culture etc) and didn't contribute much to the conversation. On Sunday, the conversation was more about stuff I am thinking about, like putting kids into daycare and child-rearing type of stuff. It was great!
The other ALTs and I are waiting to find out where we'll be teaching in April. We'll most likely be changing schools (but don't know for sure) and I find it really annoying. I don't like the idea that we have to get transferred but it's quite a common thing here so I suppose I should get used to it. The most annoying thing for me is that they have already decided but their not letting us know yet because...? I think they are just trying to show us that they have some control over us, personally. I feel they are just being mean. I can't think of any other reason not to tell us. THe students shouldn't know yet, I understand that, but otherr teachers are starting to find out where they are going, so ???!! Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens. (Though I think that I am already at the best school, so I'm not really looking forward to a change.) Have a good day/ night!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
argh
Well, I got my haircut again this week. I know that I'm not particularly goodat getting it cut, but this time it really sucked. I went to the same place I have been to a couple of times. I explained that I was still trying to grow out my hair and please just cut a little. She asked me if it was okay to cut, and I said it was. She started cutting the back, more like thinning it out. I hate this because I'm always worried that the hairdresser will do too much and my hair will go weird(er) again. Then she started cutting the front and she must have cut about 3 cm off! I was trying not to worry (doing lots of squirming!!!) She finished and, guess what, it's a longer version of the same haircut that I keep getting (and hating!) I was not in a good mood! Still not very pleased with it.
I feel like I'm always writing negative stuff here, so I'll end this with some positive thoughts-I was thinking this week about living in Japan, and I really enjoyed a couple of things. I love how I can hot drinks in a can and in vending machines here. I enjoyed a nice hot can of corn potage soup- yummy! I also love baths in Japan. Soaking up to your neck just has to be a good thing!
I have to go as Hiroki needs some attention-Have a great day/night!
I feel like I'm always writing negative stuff here, so I'll end this with some positive thoughts-I was thinking this week about living in Japan, and I really enjoyed a couple of things. I love how I can hot drinks in a can and in vending machines here. I enjoyed a nice hot can of corn potage soup- yummy! I also love baths in Japan. Soaking up to your neck just has to be a good thing!
I have to go as Hiroki needs some attention-Have a great day/night!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
here it is
Good morning! It's 5 something in the morning, unfortunately one of the few uninerrupted times I have to write here. If things are incomprehensible, sorry....
Rice pudding (taken from Christine Cushing?-not sure about the last name-anyway, it came from the milk calendar 2 or 3 years back.)
3 cups of milk (in Japan I mixed whole milk with low fat)
1 cup of cream (in Canada I used the stuff to put in coffee 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 cup of short-grain rice (Arborio or Italian, japanese rice works well)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (it says packed, but I like a little less, so I don't pack it in too much)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of raisins
1 Tbsp of vanilla
1. Bring milk, cream, rice, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a boil over medium heat, stiring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally.
3. Add raisins. Cover and simmer for another 5-10 min, (until the rice is tender)stirring occasionally.
4. Add vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Medea, I'm not sure if you were asking for a perogy recipe, my students said that they liked them. Perogies are a bit of a hassle to make put I love them and potatoes, so they are worth it! I don't have quantities here, as I just kind of fool around with them- microwave potatoes until they are soft. Mash them and add salt, butter and milk. Add chives (I think they are called asatsuki here) and cheese, (a whole bunch) Then I use gyoza wraps to wrap them in. I wrap them all first, then I boil them, about 7 or 8 at a time. Boil them until they float (2 min?) Fry them with bacon, onions, mushrooms, maitake, whatever you like. I top them with plain yogurt in Japan as sour cream here is too hard and the consistency of jello.
I think Hiroki is going through a hard time lately. I actually can't leave the house in the morning. He says he wants Mommy and holds on to my legs. (He even said "Stay here" in English!) I'm a little surprised, actually. He has never been really good in the morning but he hasn't been this clingy for quite a while. I don't know what's up with him. He has become like a little dictator about -of all things- tissue. He makes us get a box of tissue that is the colour we like-I get blue, his grandmother gets red, and he gets green. He then tells us that he'll let us that tissue, ie I can use the ones from the blue box. And in the morning, I need alot of tissue! God help me if I should use one from a different coloured box (or even if he just thinks I've used one from a different colour!) It sounds cute, but it results in a screaming, crying, thrashing on the floor type of tantrum, which in the morning, when one tends to be in a bit of a hurry, is not the least bit cute! It took me quite a bit of time to convince him once that the box I used a tissue from was light blue and therefore a colour I like quite a bit! (It was evening, had some time to explain to him)
Enough for now, time to go get ready for work!
Rice pudding (taken from Christine Cushing?-not sure about the last name-anyway, it came from the milk calendar 2 or 3 years back.)
3 cups of milk (in Japan I mixed whole milk with low fat)
1 cup of cream (in Canada I used the stuff to put in coffee 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 cup of short-grain rice (Arborio or Italian, japanese rice works well)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (it says packed, but I like a little less, so I don't pack it in too much)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of raisins
1 Tbsp of vanilla
1. Bring milk, cream, rice, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a boil over medium heat, stiring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally.
3. Add raisins. Cover and simmer for another 5-10 min, (until the rice is tender)stirring occasionally.
4. Add vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Medea, I'm not sure if you were asking for a perogy recipe, my students said that they liked them. Perogies are a bit of a hassle to make put I love them and potatoes, so they are worth it! I don't have quantities here, as I just kind of fool around with them- microwave potatoes until they are soft. Mash them and add salt, butter and milk. Add chives (I think they are called asatsuki here) and cheese, (a whole bunch) Then I use gyoza wraps to wrap them in. I wrap them all first, then I boil them, about 7 or 8 at a time. Boil them until they float (2 min?) Fry them with bacon, onions, mushrooms, maitake, whatever you like. I top them with plain yogurt in Japan as sour cream here is too hard and the consistency of jello.
I think Hiroki is going through a hard time lately. I actually can't leave the house in the morning. He says he wants Mommy and holds on to my legs. (He even said "Stay here" in English!) I'm a little surprised, actually. He has never been really good in the morning but he hasn't been this clingy for quite a while. I don't know what's up with him. He has become like a little dictator about -of all things- tissue. He makes us get a box of tissue that is the colour we like-I get blue, his grandmother gets red, and he gets green. He then tells us that he'll let us that tissue, ie I can use the ones from the blue box. And in the morning, I need alot of tissue! God help me if I should use one from a different coloured box (or even if he just thinks I've used one from a different colour!) It sounds cute, but it results in a screaming, crying, thrashing on the floor type of tantrum, which in the morning, when one tends to be in a bit of a hurry, is not the least bit cute! It took me quite a bit of time to convince him once that the box I used a tissue from was light blue and therefore a colour I like quite a bit! (It was evening, had some time to explain to him)
Enough for now, time to go get ready for work!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Woohoo!
Thanks to Andrea, I have got the blog roll up and running. Yay! Caro, can I link you?
THanks for all of the comments on the last blog and I will post recipes soon! Thanks, Jean, for stopping by and making a comment!
Caro, I know, too weird (and gross!)
Have a good night/day!
THanks for all of the comments on the last blog and I will post recipes soon! Thanks, Jean, for stopping by and making a comment!
Caro, I know, too weird (and gross!)
Have a good night/day!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
yummy
Well, I made us a yummy dessert tonight (if I do say so myself!) We had rice pudding. HMMMM! I haven't had it for about 3 years. I haven't made it since moving here as my MIL always had a puzzled look on her face whenever I mentioned it (rice, in a dessert? Huh?) But I decided to make it for my 3 lady students tomorrow night. They are quite a low level but everybody likes talking about food, and they do their best to talk in English whe we talk about food. So at the end of the month, I ask them to bring a recipe to share with everyone. Some of them are beyond their comprehension, so I sometimes bring samples. They've had perogies, pumpkin pie, a variety of cookies, and tomorrow night rice pudding. I hope they like it as much as I do!
I'm quite tired today and my throat is really sore from teaching. I taught around 135 elementary school kids today, all in grade 2. I had 4 consecutive classes. We were doing body parts, so we sang Head & Shoulders, played Simon Says, and then sang a couple more songs that I had taught them last year. It was really fun but my throat is paying for it now. They are pretty funny-every time I talked about singing a song with them, two or three of them would say, "I know this song." or "I've heard this song." and and I'm thinking all of you should know this song, I taught it to all of you last year? I can't believe how well some of them did with Simon Says. I was speaking pretty fast and they managed to keep up. It was great!
Going to turn in early tonight but I'll leave you with this- it explains alot to me about why there are so many weird looking people on tv /in magazines.
I'm quite tired today and my throat is really sore from teaching. I taught around 135 elementary school kids today, all in grade 2. I had 4 consecutive classes. We were doing body parts, so we sang Head & Shoulders, played Simon Says, and then sang a couple more songs that I had taught them last year. It was really fun but my throat is paying for it now. They are pretty funny-every time I talked about singing a song with them, two or three of them would say, "I know this song." or "I've heard this song." and and I'm thinking all of you should know this song, I taught it to all of you last year? I can't believe how well some of them did with Simon Says. I was speaking pretty fast and they managed to keep up. It was great!
Going to turn in early tonight but I'll leave you with this- it explains alot to me about why there are so many weird looking people on tv /in magazines.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
blogging for dummies
Okay, I don't know how to do this and would appreciate any advice-how do I put a blog roll on my blog? I tried inserting them before my links, under my links, under my flicker badge but to no avail-Anyone?
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