Hey there!
So its been a while since my last blog. Almost a month now. What have I been up to since I went surfing? Well, its definitely starting to get nippy. I no longer sleep with my windows open and last night, I had an amazing dream about skiing! Laur, you and I were living together, here in japan, in my house, except my house was literally at the base of the most amazing mountain ever! Waking up this morning was not the easiest thing to do.
Work has been extremely busy. This past weekend was my middle school's festival. It's a two day long celebration displaying what the kids have been up to this past year. Yesterday, the day started out with the opening ceremony. It amazing how much effort they put into their skits. Everything ran so smoothly. Kanpeki! Then there were several japanese speaches. As far as I could understand, two were about global warming, and another was about everyday activites. Ahhh I want to speak Japanese! Following the speaches was two hours of fun filled activities. Each grade was competing against each other. Sadly, due to the weather, we were stuck in the gym, but it was still a great time. The first activity was a massive "three-legged" race competition. Each grade (one at a time) stood in a line and tied their legs together, thus a disaster in the making. See video. The second activity looked like so much fun. Basically an extreme version of tug of war. Blood, guts and all....
..... Okay so I started this blog entry and never finished it about 5 weeks ago. I am bad, gomen.
Let me see if I can pick up where I left off...
After the tug of war, there was an x treme jump roping competition. Each grade had one long rope and they had to see how many rotations/jumps they could get together in a row. The first graders won by a landslide with about 24 jumps. They are smaller and more sprite. My rationalization of their victory. All together the festival was a great experience and I am hoping to get more involved next year.
So that was five weeks ago, what has happened since then?
My third grader, Lisa, who I was helping out with the english speaking competition did very well but did not move onto the national level competition, which would have been held in Tokyo. Im very proud of her. (see picture)Everyday I love my students more and more. I am starting to make some real connections with them, especially the second and third graders. The other day two third graders asked if they could come over my house after school. So next wednesday I am going to have them over for dinner and we can listen to american music and watch a movie in English! They are soooo cute. Right now Wakasa, Misaki, Miku, and Natsu are coming over. Who knows how much the word will spread by next week, it could end up being a party. Any suggestions on good food to cook? I'm already planning on making some guacamole!
Last Friday was sports day here at Seinan Junior High School. The students spent the whole day playing volleyball. I was on the red team and decked myself out in all the red that I owned (Eric- including the scarf you gave me for xmas). Unfortunately I didnt get to play. Just made myself look like a fool on the sidelines yelling things that no one understood. I did learn some lingo for cheering in Japanese, such as, oshi oshi and i pon/ mo i pon. Oshioshi means that was close. They say this even when it wasnt close at all. To make their teammates feel better. Kazuki, slightly clumsy thrid year starting getting pissed toward the end when he wasnt close at all and people were saying oshioshi. 'i pon' and 'mo i pon' literally mean 'once' and 'once more'. As in you only have to think about this one serve. And if they do well the first time, you say do it once more... 'mo i pon'. All together each team played 7 games. The red team did not win one. Dead last. But its all good. We had a great time not really caring.
I will finally be able to drive my car this weekend! Yatta! So excited to have the freedom to come and go as I please. My house really isnt in a bad location. The train is easily accessible, but it is still a hinderance. My baby is a 1994 Suzuki Wide Wagon. Little white tub. My first car that I purchased by myself. I feel accomplished!
I think fall is a little delayed here, because the leaves are just starting to change colors, and if my memory serves me correctly, the leaves should be falling off the trees back home in boat loads by now. Next big purchase is a pair a nar skis. One of the JETs here is a professional skiier from New Zealand. And she knows everything there is to know about shredding, so she is going to help me out and match me up with some babies. Can't wait to cuddle up with them in bed!
Three weekends ago I participated in a Inter-prefectural ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) Soccer Tourney. That is held twice a year in of all places but NAGANO!!! And teams from all over Japan and beyond come to participate, there was even a team from Canada! I was a ton of fun. Its a two day event. Boys and Girls have seperate brackets and its all just a bunch of fun. They guys bracket is a bit more competitive. I was soo sore the next monday, it was pathetic. My students and teachers made fun of me as I hobbled down the corridors, wincing everytime I was greeted by a change in elevation. Good times.
Sorry it took me so long to update my blog, I will try to be more consistent. Each of these short recaps of my happenings here I could write pages about. But do you really want to read that? Hmmmm?
Much Love!
Mere
awn's crack was seen, and hopped in the car so we could get to the beach by 6:30ish because thats when the swells were prime. It was a breathe taking car ride as we drove through the mountains the sun was rising and the mist was lifting. At that moment I understood the inspiration behind traditional Japanese paintings... It really was mystical. After driving for 50 minutes, the mountains opened to a larger valley and the ocean could be seen in the distance. As the sun rose the water got bluer and bluer. It almost felt like we were in the tropics. I wasn't expecting to get a chance to ride but at about 9 30, dave took a break and offered to teach me how to catch a wave on his new board (pictured). It was a lot of fun and definitely want to try it again.