Pictures coming soon...
Jeremy will be a thief, and I will be a "bat princess".
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wednesday
We had a Japanese Jehovah's Witness come to our door this morning. As much as we hear about them going door to door in America, neither of us have ever seen them doing so - only in Japan. Heh. Go figure.
We're having Halloween parties in class today because there is no school next Wednesday. I'm a bat princess.
Happy birthday, Stacey!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day. We'll try to get on Skype tonight so we can wish you one "in person". :-)
And we found at school tonight that four, possibly five, of the students that joined our Open Day on Sunday are coming back for trials on Saturday! Whoo hoo!!
We're having Halloween parties in class today because there is no school next Wednesday. I'm a bat princess.
Happy birthday, Stacey!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day. We'll try to get on Skype tonight so we can wish you one "in person". :-)
And we found at school tonight that four, possibly five, of the students that joined our Open Day on Sunday are coming back for trials on Saturday! Whoo hoo!!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Akiyoshido
Update: We found out the Nagato school Open Day also went well - better than Hagi, as they had more students and more classes! Yippee!!
In other news, we all decided to go to Akiyoshido today - a plateau not far from Hagi with plentiful limestone formations, said to be from ancient coral reefs, and some 300 caves. It was somewhat a surprise for us as we didn't know (or remember?) that we had planned to go, haha. So here are some pictures:
On one of the trails through the hills. Jeremy and Carla.
One of the many sinkholes in the area (this was actually quite small to a few we saw!).
Some limestone rocks and a hint of colorful foliage - the first sign of fall!!
I tried to zoom in a little better, but this is what I got: FARM FIELDS, with real tractors!! It's the first "farm" I've seen in Japan.
A fun little waterfall near the entrance of the Akiyoshido cave - said to be the largest limestone cave in Asia.
Jeremy and I at the entrance.
A formation called "A Thousand Rice Fields".
I thought it was fun, haha.
Jeremy and I again near the "Sago Palm Tree".
A view from a high point in the cave: looking down below at the maze of bridges, pathways, waterfalls, and rock formations.
They also had a HUGE line of gift and souvenir shops leading up to the cave entrance (perhaps the only businesses in the small tourist town), that provided a large array of exotic stones, stone sculptures, and wood carvings, which we found interesting.
And another picture for fun... Jeremy and I were at the store not too long ago doing some grocery shopping when we came upon this bag of chocolate goodies. If the chocolate wasn't enough, the Engrish made it irresistible. :-)
In other news, we all decided to go to Akiyoshido today - a plateau not far from Hagi with plentiful limestone formations, said to be from ancient coral reefs, and some 300 caves. It was somewhat a surprise for us as we didn't know (or remember?) that we had planned to go, haha. So here are some pictures:
On one of the trails through the hills. Jeremy and Carla.
One of the many sinkholes in the area (this was actually quite small to a few we saw!).
Some limestone rocks and a hint of colorful foliage - the first sign of fall!!
I tried to zoom in a little better, but this is what I got: FARM FIELDS, with real tractors!! It's the first "farm" I've seen in Japan.
A fun little waterfall near the entrance of the Akiyoshido cave - said to be the largest limestone cave in Asia.
Jeremy and I at the entrance.
A formation called "A Thousand Rice Fields".
I thought it was fun, haha.
Jeremy and I again near the "Sago Palm Tree".
A view from a high point in the cave: looking down below at the maze of bridges, pathways, waterfalls, and rock formations.
They also had a HUGE line of gift and souvenir shops leading up to the cave entrance (perhaps the only businesses in the small tourist town), that provided a large array of exotic stones, stone sculptures, and wood carvings, which we found interesting.
And another picture for fun... Jeremy and I were at the store not too long ago doing some grocery shopping when we came upon this bag of chocolate goodies. If the chocolate wasn't enough, the Engrish made it irresistible. :-)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Open Day
I haven't heard from Carla or Sonomi, so I haven't heard how the Nagato Open Day went, however, I do know that four of the students that signed up were from my preschool!, and I know the Open Day in Hagi seemed to go well! I had six students in my Pre-Kindergarten class this morning (not including three parents in the back of the class, and one small girl who was too clingy to leave her mother's side). It was a little rough getting started as they're all brand new to English (and probably foreigners too), and didn't quite know what to think, but they all warmed up to me and we had a good class together. Jeremy and I saw one of the girls as we were on our way home - who ran out of the shop her mother was in and called after us, waving her hands and saying "hello!". It's nice to know we made a good impression. :-)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
TV star
I'm going to be on cable TV. Once a month I teach English at a preschool. Today was that day, and luckier yet, they had television personnel there waiting for me. Apparently, a TV station chooses a local business to advertise once a month on their program and my preschool was chosen - and they chose the date I teach English for the camera men to come. Strange. I have never been followed by a giant camera. The guy was moving all around me getting different angles of the things going on. Every time he stopped filming the camera would click off, and it made me think of the LOTR extras Jeremy and I just finished watching, where the crew would say something like "that's a wrap!". The kids loved it, of course. I tried to ignore it. It made for an interesting day though!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Lunch on our day off
My camera was acting a bit funny again... the first video was completely washed out, the second was all blurry, and this one is very dark... and my voice... it doesn't really sound like me! Haha. Jeremy even commented on that. Oh well, you get the idea anyway. :-)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Update with Pictures
Perhaps I'll come up with more interesting titles someday, haha.
I just wanted to write again and say that we now have health insurance! Jeremy says I can get sick all I want now. :-p The cough I have is almost gone, although there's still quite a bit of phlegm, and last night the pressure in my left ear let up some so I think I can hear slightly better out of it. So it's getting better! :-)
I also wanted to post MORE pictures! I know how you all get tired of them. ;-)
After being asked to make something to introduce ourselves to the parents, this is the bulletin board for September I created.
Last weekend was end of Kimono week, and in keeping with tradition, men go up into the mountains and chop down bamboo to make into lanterns, and then the lanterns are placed along the old Samurai streets - people are encouraged to wear kimonos, often by being given incentives such as free coffee or other discounts - the lanterns draw many photographers, tourists, and townspeople. I actually had a small preview of what it would be like, as I had found and old National Geographic edition that day (June 1984, if anyone is interested) tucked away in the bookshelf about the town of Hagi, Japan - and one of the pictures was of the lanterns, hehe. But I wasn't expecting the neat displays of carved bamboo lanterns that some locals and students made.
The next day, Sunday, we were finally able to go to one of the school's sports festivals. I was under the impression that we would watch for a little bit and then head to church afterward, but as I learned once we got there, we were going to stay all morning. But I didn't regret it - we had a lot of fun watching the games and seeing our students on the field! They did many games, activities, and dances - elementary school grades, 1st - 6th. I especially enjoyed watching the events with the parents involved, running alongside their kids, or being tied up in a three-legged race, haha. I also took a short video of the 1st graders doing a dance to the "Ponyo" theme from the most recent Hayao Miyazaki film (for Jeanette!). :-)
I just wanted to write again and say that we now have health insurance! Jeremy says I can get sick all I want now. :-p The cough I have is almost gone, although there's still quite a bit of phlegm, and last night the pressure in my left ear let up some so I think I can hear slightly better out of it. So it's getting better! :-)
I also wanted to post MORE pictures! I know how you all get tired of them. ;-)
After being asked to make something to introduce ourselves to the parents, this is the bulletin board for September I created.
Last weekend was end of Kimono week, and in keeping with tradition, men go up into the mountains and chop down bamboo to make into lanterns, and then the lanterns are placed along the old Samurai streets - people are encouraged to wear kimonos, often by being given incentives such as free coffee or other discounts - the lanterns draw many photographers, tourists, and townspeople. I actually had a small preview of what it would be like, as I had found and old National Geographic edition that day (June 1984, if anyone is interested) tucked away in the bookshelf about the town of Hagi, Japan - and one of the pictures was of the lanterns, hehe. But I wasn't expecting the neat displays of carved bamboo lanterns that some locals and students made.
The next day, Sunday, we were finally able to go to one of the school's sports festivals. I was under the impression that we would watch for a little bit and then head to church afterward, but as I learned once we got there, we were going to stay all morning. But I didn't regret it - we had a lot of fun watching the games and seeing our students on the field! They did many games, activities, and dances - elementary school grades, 1st - 6th. I especially enjoyed watching the events with the parents involved, running alongside their kids, or being tied up in a three-legged race, haha. I also took a short video of the 1st graders doing a dance to the "Ponyo" theme from the most recent Hayao Miyazaki film (for Jeanette!). :-)
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