Happy New Year!

A quick note from the cross country road trip to say Happy New Year! We spent Christmas in Virginia with my family and New Year's in Memphis with Dave's family. We hit the road tomorrow, making a break for California. We're stopping in Amarillo to check out the Big Texan restaurant ( featured on the Travel channel's Man vs. Food for its 72oz steak plus side salad, dinner roll, and cocktail shrimp), Winslow, AZ, ( Canyon Diablo Crater and Rt 66 Diner), the Grand Canyon, and hopefully some intriguing roadside attractions.

Hi Annie!

Annie,
This is what happens when you don't log out of Blogger on my computer. Japan misses you already!I don't recall exactly why we were sad in the photo, but I like to think it is because you are leaving.

I hope you are getting settled in Cali!

Kelly

Cali.

25% of my family is now in California: Me. Dave, Mav and Slider are still not here. Dave arrives on Thursday or Friday.We'll be picking up Mav and Slider in Virginia in 9 days.

I went to look at the house we re renting for the next two years. It's great! It's the perfect size for us. And we will still have a guest room, so any one is welcome to visit! Pictures soon.

Stress.

Let's talk about stress. I think Dave and I are prime examples of it. Luckily, it hits us at different times, so we are able to balance and support each other.

Basically, even though everyone has known about this for months and months and months, it's as if someone just decided everything two weeks ago. Everything is last minute. Everything.

You mean we're going to have to schedule plane tickets for all the dependents to exit the country? Well, we'll just put them on the military freedom flights. Oh, those flights are open to all military personnel, and we can't just charter them for our needs... hmmm, we'll just wait until 12 hours before any given flight to issue a ticket.

It's really quite ridiculous.

And then there's the car debacle... We all - all 200 or so families - have 10 days to sell their cars or junk them. We aren't supposed to get a Power of Attorney for someone else to sell it for us. Ugh.

And then there's just everything that goes into moving to or from overseas... I have to return my cable box, pick up my "lost" medical records, find my dental records, close my bank account, find out how to get my deposit back from my housing agency....Oh and clean my house so it's spotless...Meanwhile, we are trying to finish deal on the house we've rented in Lemoore.

And I'm trying not to deal with the fact I'm super depressed to be leaving the friends I've made here. Ugh!

about time~

We finally got our HPC (home port change) letter, and now things appear to be moving smoothly forward. The letter came out on Monday, and on tuesday I scheduled the movers to arrive on monday, dec 7. I've faxed in information to begin my Honda's voyage from storage in South Carolina to Richmond CA. I'll be reactivating my state-side cellphone next week. All this and Dave and I attended the squadron Christmas party on Tuesday night! busy busy times...It will be hard to leave the life we've made in Japan, the friends, the experiences, the Japanese in general. But I've been waiting for months to move forward, and now I am! Lots to do.

I will probably fly to Lemoore on the 13th or 14th of December, quickly sign a lease on a house, camp out at Cam and Lauren's. Dave will arrive on the 18th or 19th. Then we have Christmas leave! On the 22nd we are flying to DC, where we will spend Christmas! On the 26th, we plan to purchase a new-to-us car: 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. I want the dealer to put a big bow on top, as it's our christmas gift to each other. On the 27th we'll hit the road, with all the animals in tow, and stop for the night in Nashville, visiting Dave's sister Sarah. Then on the 28th we will arrive in Olive Branch until Jan. 1st or 2nd. Then we'll pack up our family and head west: Lemoore or Bust! We plan on stopping by the Grand Canyon! If you have any places you think we should visit on our road trip, please let me know!

This of course is the PLAN. We'll see what actually happens.

Thanksgiving

A Gift

Yesterday, we received a going-away gift from our Landlord, Ai Ijima-san. In her perfect handwriting, her card says:

Dave and Annie-san,
Thank you so much for living in Casa Jardin (C) for about eight months.
You are a good family!
We were lucky to see you.

This is a small good-by gift as a token of our gratitude. Please enjoy!

We hope you will arrive in America safely.
Good health and happiness to your family!

Sincerely,

Koichi and Ai Iijima

(P.S. Please excuse me for my poor card.)

I will upload a photo of the gift once Blogger deals with its internal issues.

Dave's Home!

We interrupt this Parisian reminiscence to tell you that Dave is home! For good! Or at least until he flies a jet over the ocean... but he won't deploy for a long while, so that's nice. It's nice not to have an empty house any more! I refused to clean which made his homecoming easier -why bother cleaning when we're just going to tear it apart in the next week or so anyway? (Still no orders, btw....)

Missed you, boo!!

PARIS.

Since we stayed up until 1am playing dress up and finishing packing, our 6am departure time did not occur. We were finally piled in to the car and on the road by 1030. The kids were very good on the 7 hour car ride, entertained either by Sponge Bob, Looney Tunes, or their respective books. We pulled into Paris proper, bypassing EuroDisney, around 5pm and drove right past Notre Dame on our way to the hotel, Hotel du Champ de Mars. This hotel, recommended by Rick Steve, was ideally situated. We dumped out stuff, and found some place to feed us quickly, as we were trying to get to the Arc de Trioumphe. I'd only been on the streets of Paris 10 minutes before I was grabbed and kissed on both cheeks by a drunk man in the take-out restaurant. Ooh la France...We did make it to the Arc, but not up it. John almost ran into the flame in remembrance of the tomb of the unknown soldiers at the base of the monument. With bedtime fully expired, we made it back to the hotel and promptly put everyone to bed and departed to the restaurant next door, leaving Tristan in charge, to reward Scott for his day of safe driving. That glass of wine was probably one of the best I've had, either because I earned it or because it was really that good.

The next morning did not make for an early departure. By 1030 we were out roaming the streets trying to find a certain crepe vendor. After locating the vendor, understanding that he didn't open for another 15 minutes, we found a baguette or two to feed hungry boys, and then waited for the shop to open. It was definitely worth the wait. The boys all got hot chocolate - which was marvelous - and our cafe au laits were superb. The actual crepe maker didn't speak English, but one of his wait staff did, which was helpful. I had an egg and cheese crepe, and the boys all enjoyed banana-chocolate, or strawberry-chocolate. Delish! After brunch, we ditched Scott with the kids at the hotel while Diane and I made a run to the Carrefor, the local grocery store. We picked up wine and cheese - choosing whatever was almost gone deciding that that must be what people like - and other preserves like meat, bread, and Bon Maman snacks. (Bon Maman's chocolate mousse is aaaahmazing.) After packign backpacks, we took the metro over to the Musee de l'Orangerie, famous for Money's lily panels. The panels were very breathtakine to see. Under new renovation, they were able to be viewed with almost natural light and photographing was completely ok. After the museum, we had a brief snack outside - for the kids baguette, salami, and cheese; for the adults - baguette, salami, cheese and wine. Yum! How very Parisian of us... After l'Orangerie, we treked over towards the Hotel de Ville to find the Modern Art Museum, in hopes of entertaining the kids somewhat. After a fun photoshoot in front of the Hotel de Ville and a 6level escalade ride to the top of the Modern Art Museum, we thoroughly scarred the kids. Modern art, I find, is one of two things: stupid or graphic, but many times both. Fake flowers pinned to a wall, I call stupid. A close up of... intercourse, I call graphic. A video of a naked women hula-hooping with barbed-wire is stupid and graphic. We then made a hasty exit.

Arriving back at the hotel, we fed the kids a dinner of baguette, salami, and cheese, put them to sleep, left Tristan in charge, and dashed out to our grown-up Night Out. Diane and I wore black dresses and Scott wore a tie - we all looked nice. Unfortunately, our choice of restaurant, another Rick Steve recommendation, didn't met our expectations...over-priced and not delicious. Not bad, but not quintessential Parisian oolala. We then strutted around the Eiffel Tour for a mini photoshoot, stopped by the hotel to make sure everyone was ok (which they were, Connor sleeping on the bed, and Tristan on the floor next to him - apparently in refusal to share a bed...?), and then found an Irish bar within which to satisfy Scott's need for his favorite beer, Kilkenny Red Creme Ale. Very difficult to find, I challenge you.

Our last day in Paris, we marched passed Napoleon's tomb/shrine on our way to Musee de Rodin, where were walked around the garden looking at the THINKER and GATES OF HELL. We had our traditional lunch while the boys played Indiana Jones. We then had our own death march to the Musee d'Orsay...with John/Napoleon crying "CARRRYYY MEEE" the entire way, and Nathan and Connor kicking leaves the whole march. We made it to the Orsay with 20 minutes left before closing. After a breif tour of the first floor, including Scott's favorite painting, and my favorite Monet, we were hastily shooed out. As I spent some time in the gift shop, the boys hung out in the lobby. By the time i emerged, John was a sleep. I bought a small book called "The Designs of William Morris" and "The Best Places to Kiss in Paris." The second is incentive for Dave.

The next morning was a departure from Paris. It was sad. The drive home seemed to take twice as long.

The Curse of the Flat Cookies is Broken!

Yes! The Curse of the Flat Cookies is broken! Mary and I have made flat cookies our entire lives. Whereas Diane makes full-bodied cookies.Tonight, in preparation for Dave's return, I made cookies. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. And after everything was stirred in, i sat and ate some of it. This is Diane's hypothesis: you have to eat the dough, or it won't rise. (The science behind this being that it allows the active ingredients to mix well.)

And Voila! non-flat cookies!

So, it's been a while!

So It's been a long while since my last post. Lots has happened.

I flew to Hong Kong to meet Dave. We had 5 days together in a nice hotel and near lots of restuarants. Laura and Tyler's friend lives in Hong Kong, so Barry became tour guide and restaurant connoisseur. In truth, I didn't particularly like Hong Kong; it smelled bad and I always felt like i was about to get cheated (either by a cabbie or a vendor). I didn't buy any novelty items because I knew they would just break. The restaurants were great and about everyone spoke English. It was more like being in a Chinatown of some large city than in a large city of China. Also, I think Chinese sounds funny. My Japanese students were very excited when I told them I prefer Japan to Hong Kong, China. We had a little role reversal as Dave dropped me off at the airport to say goodbye. I'll admit, it was very nice to be the one leaving instead of being the one left!

I made it to Germany (from Hong Kong) without any trouble - I took a Tylenol PM and slept 9 out of 11 hours of my flight. It was an over night flight (departing at 1150pm and arriving at 0530am) so when I arrived I did feel rather refreshed. After being interigated by immigration (I made the mistake of saying I'd been to germany several times, while my new passport only shows one visit ... "Quick, investigate!") , I hopped on the train and made it to Ansbach at 11am. Scott met me at the train station, dropped me off at a quiet house, and went back to work. All the kids were at school and Diane had a meeting in Nurenberg. That evening, Scott, the kids, and I met Diane at Illeshime where she was photographing families in front of an Apache Helicopter. That's one intimidating aircraft! It also made me appreciate the fact that my husband's aircraft has an ejection seat.

The next day, little time was wasted, and Diane and I jumped into a 3 day photo shoot. We got set up in the Brigade Headquarters building to shoot family photos for Christmas cards. The event was a fundraiser for the FRG and 10% went back to them. Some of the wives even recognized me from my help at last year's Brigade Ball, fun times! It was a long few days, photos, edition, talking to families, me entertaining the children while Diane photographed Mom and Dad, planning for Paris, and planning Connor's sleep-over birthday.

Connor turned TEN on Nov. 2, and his birthday party was on Nov. 5 - a slumber party. I hand-stamped invitations for him to take to school and give to all his friends. We didn't get many RSVP's, but come 5pm on Friday, 7 or 8 of his friends showed up, sleeping bags in hand. Scott was able to greet everyone, and Tristan had instructions to make queso dip. Diane and I got home around 630, just in time for pizza! We made the Wrigley recipe, and Connor helped me make the sauce. He really enjoyed creating the sauce... some more of this, some more of that... Scott managed to get the dough rolled out, sauced, cheesed, and served by the time Diane and I got home, Kudos, Scott! This kids ran around crazy all night, with Nathan and John never far behind. I managed to throw together a scavenger hunt as an evening activity, which went over really well.

Saturday consisted of one last photo shoot - a family came dressed up in full Bavarian costume, leiderhosen, dirndl, two blonde-blue-eyed kids, and a dog. Saturday evening was spent preparing everyone for Paris. After the kid's bags were packed, and said children were in bed, Diane and I had a fashion-show to decide what to bring to Paris. We can't just wear anything to Paris, they might tell us to go home the minute we step out of the car! (And with my dealings with the hotel owner over the phone, this was not an entirely crazy thought.) So we had to find just the right shoes and just the right accessories, and ignore the fact it was going to be very very cold.

Threats of Violence...

I'm beginning to consider resorting to threats of violence ... I just know that letter is sitting on a desk. Under a paperweight. Dusty. Probably a coffee stain or two. Just pick up that pen to your right, and SIGN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tokyo for Kelly's Birthday

On Friday, Kelly, Laura, Gizelle and I made the trip up to Tokyo to celebrate Kelly's birthday. We had a room at the New Sanno, and an awesomely fancy dinner at Wellington's, a restaurant located in the four-star hotel. We shared a romantic bottle of wine gorged ourselves on tomato bread. I was highly impressed with Wellington's: I'd completely underestimated it! Now, if only I can get Dave up there with me at some point....They had these great red velvet couple's booths, so posh! Our meal lasted two whole hours!!


All dressed up with someplace to go! Annie, Kelly, Gizelle and Laura in front of the fireplace at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo


Afterwards, we jumped in a cab and hunted for Feria, a club scene that was recommended to us: it has four levels each with a different theme: wine cave, dace floor, crystal floor, and rooftop bar. After being ID'ed at the door - first time that's happened in Japan! - the bouncers directed us upstairs to a club called Midas.... it was 10:30 and we were the first people there! And the music was not to our taste.... after a drink there we decided this was not the place for us. Descending the stairs we realized the bouncers had directed us to the Right, and if we'd gone to the Left, we'd have been were we wanted to be! After a cover charge of $20 - which included two drink tickets - we found ourselves lost. Just leave it to Japan. We couldn't find the button for the elevator - couldn't find stairs as an alternative - we were duped by the waitstaff who told us to follow him, where he proceeded to the kitchen, or someplace not a bar....! Bah! We knew this place had four levels but couldn't find them! Eventually we figured it out, after many laughs.

The downstairs club was interesting. It was playing retro music, but that was fun because it was like karaoke, we knew the words, woot! The age group there was a little interesting, anywhere from us twenty-somethings to women in their 40's, and men in their 50's or 60's?! We are pretty sure we saw some kind of "for hire" couple.... this girl was young and was allllll over this old guy... "all over" in terms that we were all pretty disgusted by their behavior! It'd be one thing if we'd discovered the couple in a darkly lit corner, but in the middle of the bar?! Not ok.

Another interesting aspect to the bar were the reserved tables. The bar area was a free-for-all, but if you wanted to sit somewhere other than a bar stool, you had to pay per person. for 1,000Yen a person you could have a seat around the bar; 2,000Y per person AND two BOTTLES of alcohol you could have a large booth, and for who knows how much you could enter the glass box overlooking the dance floor. Yes, that was two bottles of alcohol - not two drinks per person. Given that a bottle of house wine was 10,000Y, we were not about to use that option. Crazy!

The rooftop bar was fun. With heated tents, it was comfortable to be up there. Ont he rooftop, as we exited the elevator some french persons referred to us as "magnifique!" Yaaay! Also on the rooftop we encountered our soon-to-be-Italian-friends, Leonardo and Raphael. No joke. Leonardo claims to have worked for Ferrari.....which i'd believe if i saw it. The bar seemed to be mostly europeans. We're pretty sure there was a group of models, all perfectly skinny and wearing black. Over the course of the night, we heard French and met Italians.


The Tokyo club scene is pretty unique, partially because it doesn't pick up until almost midnight and lasts until 5am, when the trains start running again. As we all made it back to the hotel around 4am, we'd agree it was a fun time and worth the experience, but not something we'd do over and over and over.

Disney Sea

Yesterday, Laura, Kelly and I went to Disney Sea for Kelly's birthday. It's in the same spirit as Disneyland, but with completely different attractions - including Aladdin's castle, Mermaid Lagoon, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Indiana Jones. It was interesting - I can't remember the last time I went to a theme park and didn't know what to expect. I'm sure I'll get some photos from Kelly soon, but by far the best part of the day was Kelly's birthday sticker: as the Japanese workers noticed her Happy birthday sticker, they would say Happy Birthday in Japanese or English and then clap for her. Hahah... Oh Japan.



A quatrefoil spotting in Agrabah.




Aladdin and Jasmine!!!!!! They were both European, not Asian, and were speaking English. Jasmine was definitely spray tanned, and Aladdin was flllllllllllaaaaaaaammmmming... As they were trying to get away from the throng of Japanese tourists, he said, "Ok, we've gotta go have tea with the Sultan, byyye!"



Infront of the lamest rollercoster, though it looked cool from the outside.




Getting in line for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. (Terrible movie, but the ride exceeded my expectations.)

An Unexpected Lunch Date

Last night I received an urgent email from Dave - with the subject PLEASE CHECK THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Jenny, you will appreciate the extreme use of exclamation points AND capital letters as it conveys the emotion behind the comment.) Dave's important news: Can I meet you for lunch tomorrow? Heck Yes! So I this morning I wore heels for the first time in months, and picked up some McDonalds (hey, he didn't say four-star lunch, just a quick bite).



While I only got to see him for 40 minutes, I'll take what I can get. How do we feel about his boat-stache? Dave flew in on a C-2 (as a passenger) to fly one of 192's remaining jets out to the boat.

UPDATE: Dave's plane broke so he gets to spend the night at home! Yayyyy!!

UPDATE #2: Dave gets to spend ANOTHER night at home. Woot!!!

An Update

1. On Sunday Dave left for Fall cruise, aka Part 2 of the 2009 deployment schedule. It's not as long this time, but is never fun.

2. We are in TCORR 2 - extreme wind is expected within the next 12 hours due to Typhoon Melor. Although it will probably end up being another blustery Winnie-the-Pooh type day, all base activities will be closed tomorrow, school is cancelled, and it will be rainy and windy.

3. I now have a pretty full teaching schedule and will have to give it up in 3 weeks. Awesome. I've got at least one class every day - except Friday. Unfortunately, we're scheduled to be leaving soon, so I'm already looking for someone to take over the classes. Lame.

4. Still no letter telling us we can move. Quadruple Lame.

5. On Sunday I ordered eight Jane-Austen films. I could really use them tonight and tomorrow since I can't do anything tomorrow!

6. I've bought a plane ticket to visit my sister in Germany! Exciting! I'll be there November 3-18. While it will be fun sharing Scott's birthday, it will be sad that I'm missing Dave's birthday and our wedding anniversary. I'm beginning to think it was quite amazing that Dave made it to our wedding in the first place.... Dave and Scott share the same birthday, though different years.

7. It's officially fall. I wore my first fall sweater today.

8. Today I received "gomensai" money. Last week I went to meet my conversation student, as scheduled. Except he didn't show. I called him at 12:15 - 15 minutes after our scheduled meeting time - and he was sleeping and very confused. So this week he kept apologizing and saying how ashamed he was. At the end of our lesson he insisted on paying me for last week. I let him pay me for last week in the hopes that I won't have to keep hearing about how sorry he is! (Gomenasai means Sorry.)

9. I disliked the movie "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past."

10. I accidently saw Glen Beck's "interview" with Michael Moore today and it made my brain hurt.

Finally...

Some pictures from Dave's first deployment! Yaaay!

Dave took the nice camera to Iwo Jima this weekend. So I took the opportunity to upload the photos from the "pocket" camera, which Dave took with him on deployment. Unfortunately, there weren't many photos.



Iwo Jima.



Dave's view flying




Obligatory self portrait





Fellow JO (Junior Officer) golfing off the back of the carrier... Dave couldn't golf because no one brought left handed clubs... I see a future gift in the making...




View from their hotel suite in Singapore. Unfortunately, this was basically the only photo from Singapore because the battery died, and Dave had left the charger onboard the ship.



Wine that finally made its way back to us! Dave could bring up to three bottles of wine on to the boat from Australia. Unfortunately, it was confiscated, and saved until they returned. They took each bottle, carefully wrapped it in duct tape, and legibly wrote the name of the shipmate. When they returned to port in Yokohama, the guy who had only the wine was only available to pick up wine from 0700-0800 each morning. What great hours... regardless, it's great that the wine made it back to us, especially since they're from Dave and I's favorite vineyard.....

Sumo in Tokyo

More Kyoto

Shinkan-sen photos - Dave was as excited as Sam to ride it and photograph it.




My favorite, Nijo Castle!!




Kinkaku-ji Temple - The Golden Pavillion




Dave enjoying a Kinkakuji treat. It was red bean paste (sweet) with a single salted soy bean inside. It has real gold on the outside and is the official snack of the Golden Pavillion.



Kiyomizu water fountain. The three different streams represent three different things: (Right to Left) Good Luck in Study, Good Luck in Love, Good Luck in Long Life. Most students drank from Study to assist in their up coming exams.





Dave drinking from Kiyomizu Temple's special water. Dave chose Long Life. I chose Long Life too, since I'd already found Love and graduated from University.



Me and my Nija husband!



Maiko photo: )




The best part about Kiyomizu were our guides. As we were walking up to the temple, four japanese students asked us if they could practice English with us and give us a tour of the temple. They were univeristy students from Tokyo. They were in an club where they practice English by giving tours of tourist spots. We didn't take many pictures because we were so involved with them. This was our group picture at the end. They wanted to pose as "BOLT"... we also posed as James Bond. Haha.


Waiting for our departing train, we ate at Very Berry - little restaurant that sold all sorts of fruit-based pies. Delish!

Kyoto Vacation

A few pictures from the highlight of our visit to the ancient capital city of Kyoto. Dave and I found a place to dress up as a Maiko (a Geisha in training) and a Samurai. It was kind of expensive, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and a great souvenir.



Kneeling with a fan.




Iconic red parasol in hand.




I got to choose my kimono. Obviously I would choose some variation on pink. Dave helped choose the Obi - the blue and gold tie-around section. There are multiple layers, many ties, and it's rather uncomfortable, and hot, I would imagine, in the summer time. Unfortunately we didn't get to walk around outside because it was raining.




Dave as a Samurai. This is the only picture he would let me put on the internet. :)

Remiss

Hello friends. I apologize for my lack of attention to the blog. However, with Dave safely home now, I's rather spend time with him! Also, we just purchased a new computer, an iMac, so I'm learning the Apple way of life....

This week dave has been spoiled with a 3 day work week. Luckily for him, we've taken leave for the upcoming week. I've pawned off classes, he's not allowed to go anywhere near the squadron. We'll be spending two-nights-three-days in the old capital city of Kyoto, attempting to climb Mt. Fuji, participating in a Yokohama baseball game, and attending a Sumo tournament in Tokyo. We'll be sure to bring the camera.

Love to all,
Annie AND Dave!

VIP Treatment

So, I hope you don’t mind a little VIP treatment. I got selected to do the narration for the Airshow portion of FAG day, so you’ll get to be up in the Tower watching the airshow instead of in the hot sun on the flight deck with the huddled masses. The reason I got picked? Because of my performance as the news anchor in our Fo’c’sle Follies video. I think it’s funny. Hope you don’t mind. Love you! Did my last flight of cruise tonight.

Woot Woot!!!

Two Letters

The first is from my Japanese conversation student, Osami. He and his family are going to Orlando, FL, Disney World next month. He's told me that he and his family will practice long walking to prepare for it.

Thank you for the mail.



I’m so happy I could tell you that we have been walking for a long time for that!



…..Sorry I’ve told a lie….anyway,, Monday would be good for me.

Hahahahah. Too funny.


The second one is from Dave. He had chocolate cake this week.

I’m tired again. Waving takes a lot out of you. I had a delicious piece of cake on the boat today, however. In fact, it may have been the most delicious piece of cake I’ve ever had on the boat. It was chocolate cake with chocolate icing and syrupy strawberries on top. Very delish. Sweet, but with a hint of tartness from the strawberries. That was the 2nd high point of my day. The first was doing badass things. Love you.

He keeps alluding to this "badass" thing he did, but he can't tell me about it for operational security reasons. I have some ideas, but nothing can be confirmed until he gets back, which is SOON! This will be a VERY long week!

Bazaar finds

Another Camp Zama Bazaar always produces something interesting. Maybe I'm just jaded and accustomed to Japan now, but i thought this bazaar was a little disappointing from my first bazaar here in May. The furniture section had some tempting offers, if i had a couple thousand to throw around, like an oak dining room table with 6 chairs (including two armed-chairs), and matching buffet table...... temppppppppppting....


My newest teaching aide - for $40, including years 2009-2014.


John's future birthday present - authentic "Kung Fu" outfit. Just like Kung Fu Panda!




My attempt at being trendy, a nifty little bracelet.

Summer Party

A few weeks ago I was hired to plan an American-style party in celebration of summer for Japanese students aged8-12 who are learning English. After two weeks of planning and crafting the day arrived. It began with presentations by the students in English.


Toyoma made "Fish Shaped pancake Stuffed with bean jam." I think these are made for Boy's Day, when fish are all around us. He gave the presentation in English, made two of the delicious treats, and everyone played rock-paper-scissors for who would get to eat it.




Yuri, assisted by Miyoko-san, read from the book "Swimmy."




The older kids presented a shortened book version of Peter pan.





My friend! I don't know her name, but she was sooo eager to spend time with me. Sitting next to me in every game, cupcaking, and all other times.





The youngest kids sang Doe-A-Deer from Sound of Music, their teacher played piano and led. It was suuuuper cute.


After their presentations, we played games (that's what i was in charge of planning). We played Musical Chairs, Hot Potato, Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Simon Says. Then it was noon, definitely time for some sugar. I'd baked 3 dozen cupcakes. The students each got one, and were able to frost it and decorate it. It was interesting. I put the icing on the table, and they just stared at me. American kids would be fighting over who gets the chocolate frosting before the icing was even on the table... They sat there and looked at me until i demonstrated.


One boy's cupcake - took all the different color gel icings and mixed them on.





Then it was time for outdoor activities. We had a waterballoon toss. But the balloons were childproof! They wouldn't pop! So this game lasted along time as all the balloons rolled around the ground. Then it was Pinata. I made the pinata myself...that's why it looks like a balloon, because I papier-mached over a balloon. They had a great time. As I was getting ready to walk to the train station, Miyoko - the lead teacher - asked if I would be interested in doing a regular bi-monthly conversation class for some high schoolers and their parents. So we'll see if that materializes. It was a lot of fun.