The best in the world?

Minika and I were at the supermarket today when I spotted an apple that was priced at 780yen which is about 4 pounds. Thinking it must be a mistake I wandered over but no it was correct. The label said that it was the best apple in the world which it should be considering the price.

She told me to buy it but I refused point blank. Micchan though can always be gently persuaded and with me half teasing, half coaxing her she ended up leaving the store 10 minutes later with said apple in her bag.
Was it good?
Sure!
Was it the best apple in the world?
Probably not.

I wonder what I can get her to buy next time we’re out!?!?!

An easy week!

Because my students have tests this week I have been out at elementary school. I really do miss working with the little kids because 99.9% of them just want to have fun and English hasn’t become something they dread learning.
My classes were great and today I had the 6 year olds who were so cute!

Another reason why elementary is good is that I usually get out earlier. Yesterday the school had a meeting of it’s own and so I left school at 11:30am and was finished for the day.

This gave me lots of free time to study for the JLPT test that is next week. I had a practice paper today and passed so they may be hope yet ;)

I am thankful for......

So apparently the Americans have a special festival called Thanksgiving; something about being thankful for stuff and had something to do with a big dinner between the Native Americans and the white people?!?!?!

Ha ha just kidding! I always get asked to teach the kids about thanksgiving and the teachers suddenly remember I’m from England, look embarrassed and run away!

We decided we wanted to do things properly this year and so Elyse and Kittie offered the use of their apartments and Dawn was in charge of inviting all of the Kumamoto City ALT’s and organizing exactly who was bringing what!

We even took a car down up to Costco today to buy whole freshly cooked chickens and real American pumpkin pie! Things were a bit hectic as traffic was bad on the way back and I had about an hour to get ready and make 3 different types of mashed potatoes.

After a few hiccups everyone had arrived, the food was laid out and Minika said a wonderful grace before we all tucked in. Chicken, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, vegetables and real gravy made by moi! It was a huge success but we had no time to relax as it was soon off to Kittie’s for dessert.
I had my first taste of pumpkin pie (delicious) and we passed the time by playing a rather dated (therefore hilarious) game of Taboo. By midnight I was out after thoroughly enjoying my third (and best) Thanksgiving in Japan.

Ageing Population

The Japanese society is changing rapidly. It is sad to think that the country that has been my home for over two years now, will have so many problems in the future. The graph speaks for itself.

In other news, winter is finally here. It is cold and dark in the morning which just makes me want to stay under the covers! It is getting colder in school and I rarely finish work before it’s pitch black outside. Winter Wonderful Winter!

Happy Birthday Micchan!

The day started with a pancake breakfast cooked by Elyse. Minika had sent me an email a few weeks ago with birthday requests and one of them was lots of birthday kisses! Everyone thought it would be good fun to blindfold her and then each take a turn kissing her on the cheek to see if she could guess who we were! She was so scared as she had no idea what was going on but, once she’d guessed everyone, she said it was a great idea.

Once breakfast was over and everyone was ready we set off to another onsen. Allen had booked a private room for us so we could all have a quick bath (very relaxing and they even had an outside bath which was great as the autumn leaves were falling in the water) and then eat lunch together.

After such a relaxing start the big finale was always going to be hectic and so around 5pm it was time to blindfold Minika again, load up the cars with supplies and set off. We had bought her a cake and instead of just eating it and someone’s apartment we wanted to make it special so we all drove to the top of Mt. Kimpo (the highest in the city). It was freezing cold but the view of the city was amazing. The candles stayed alight just long enough for us to sing Happy Birthday and then we all tucked in. And then, after so much planning the weekend was over! I hope you had a wonderful birthday Micchan and I am so sad that next year you won’t be here : (

Onsen Onsen Onsen!

Hooray – day one was a big success!

Anthony and I took Minika to Kagoshima for the day. She had no idea what I had planned but I’m sure she enjoyed herself and it was nice to have just our original gang together even if there are only three of us left!

First stop was Ibusuki home to the famous sand baths. It is just as it sounds; you have a bath in hot sand. There is a group of old ladies waiting to bury you and when you’ve had enough (a mere 15 minutes for us amateurs) you dig yourself out and enjoy a hot water bath.

The town of Ibusuki came as a bit of a shock to us because it seemed deserted. Even the main street had no shoppers and we passed hardly anyone. The most exciting part of the town was a car accident that happened just before we got there. I only joke about it as it was apparent no-one got hut and the driver appeared to have lost control and bumped into a lamppost.

Next we headed for Sakurajima; an island home to an active volcano and hundreds of homes and businesses. The volcano spews smoke and ash over the city on a regular basis. We headed to the Furusato onsen: a famous onsen over looking the sea. It is a shared onsen so everyone wears a robe in the water. We arrived just after sunset (perfect timing) and enjoyed the warm water as the skies got darker.
After all that bathing we thought it was time Anthony got to choose what we did next and of course he chose a hike up a hill to get night view pictures of the city. If Anthony was paid just a penny for every photo he took he would be a very rich man. He assured us he knew where he was going and we followed. 20 minutes later I was regretting my decision as we were stumbling in the dark, half-way up a hill, surrounded by trees and being followed by an evil cat.

The view was nice when we reached the top but we were all cursing Anthony when we also found a fully paved, well lit path on the opposite side!
After all that excitement we just had time for dinner and purikura before catching the last train home. One down – one to go!

Anything you can do.....

What a busy week! I have been running around like crazy organizing Minika’s birthday weekend. I hope it all works out as I have to try and out-do her : )

We have sort of a birthday competition going on and always have to do better each year. I have never looked forward to my birthday so much before but that also means I have make it work this weekend.

It is now 2:30am (technically the 17th but I’m sure I’ll have lots to write tomorrow anyway) and I have just finished making her present and writing her card. I have to be up at 7am tomorrow when the madness will commence – wish me luck!

Volleyball World Cup 2007

The Volleyball World Cup has been in town all weekend and we have been lucky enough to get free tickets for the entire weekend. Being foreigners in town can be handy sometimes! I always liked volleyball but was never that good. Netball will always be my first love even though no one here knows what it is!

It was great to go to an event like this and see how things are done “the Japanese way”. First of all we have these great inventions

To save your hands you purchase these noise makers (for want of a better phrase), blow them up with a straw and bang them together – genius!


Cheerleaders The Mascot The Cleaners

We watched quite a few games but I was more obsessed with trying to take a good action shot on my camera. It has so many setting I doubt I’ll ever use them all but I thought I’d give it go. This was my best attempt

Not exactly newspaper worthy is it?

After the games we made our way out of the centre and noticed hundreds of people crowded around the team coaches. I always thought the Japanese people were quite shy and quiet but I now know they are mean autograph hunters!
They all had their pens and paper (or in some cases shirts, bags, body parts) ready just in case one player decided to stop at sign.

I was surprised to hear my name being called and turn around to see some old students of mine from Tenmei. She handed me her pen and notepad and yelled “Sign please!” Wow I am a celebrity after all, or so I thought! It turns out she thought I would have a better chance of getting a signature (being foreign and all) so she gave me her stuff and urged me towards the front!

By this time we were pushed against the glass windows of the sports centre and could see the American team inside. Dawn was just as excited as the kids as she could see the player from Hawaii and was dying to say hello.

It was then that I had my stroke of genius. I tore a piece of paper from a notepad and wrote “Robin, Hawaii is here” on it. Then I held it up to the glass and as soon as Dawn realized what I was doing she jumped up and down to tried and get someone to read it.

I’m sure they all thought we were very enthusiastic volleyball supporters but finally one of the players came over, read it and then called Robin over! She wanted to get us inside but the security guard wouldn’t let her so she came out and posed for a photo.

Needless to say my student and Dawn were very happy!

Bashculture

My friend Anthony has joined a band. They had their first show two weeks ago but as I was locked up in my apartment being miserable with earache I missed it.
Tonight was their second show and I wasn’t going to miss it. I didn’t tell Anthony we were coming and when Minika, Lauren, Dawn and I walked in he was very shocked. It was so strange to see the cocky Texan all nervous!

They were playing in a salon bar which seemed to have a Harley Davidson meets Wild West cowboys theme going on. The bar is also famous for its homemade burgers which are great but make sure you order one before you’re hungry as they take a long time to arrive!

The show was great and Anthony played really well. You could tell he was nervous but he did a great job. The other members of the band are Edwin (great song writer and piano/drum/guitar player) and Austin who I can only assume has never been nervous in his life. He is definitely the energy in the band.

The boys are doing well and even plan to release an album sometime next year. I will keep this picture just in case they hit the big time. For more info about Bashculture visit

Crash & Burn

I feel like I’m going to crash and burn this week. I don’t know why but little things get turned into huge issues and after a particularly hard lesson when the kids seemed more concerned with their hair than their English I felt like saying bugger it all!

Luckily the girls were up for a night out tonight and by 11pm after lots of ume-shu, a few hours karaoke and a trip to Jeff’s I was as right as rain!

Red Cross Meeting

Last week my teacher invited me to a Junior Red Cross International Meeting that was taking place today. She wasn’t going herself but asked if I would like to. I don’t mind going and actually it was a great day but I do get confused when Japanese people ask you to attend something as if they’re going themselves and then it turns out you’re on your own!

There were about 50 kids from various high schools in the area and about 12 “guests” (mostly ALT’s ) had been invited to take part in the fun. Three girls from Hitsuyukan were there and some kids that I went to the summer camp with in August. They screamed when they saw me and it was nice to see them again!

We were put into groups and spent the morning making our assigned dish and saying hello to everyone. Our group made yakisoba which is a mixture of noodles, vegetables and meat covered in sauce. Other groups made burgers, soup, vegetable rice and fruit salad. The kids did most of the work as the professionals (Japanese grandma’s and grandpa’s) looked on.

Lunch time was great as not only did we get to eat all the delicious food but we also got to talk to the kids and get to know them. After lunch an afternoon of entertainment was provided for us that included calligraphy, a mandolin concert and taiko drumming.

I love random days like this where I can interact with various members of the community. I never see them coming and I always enjoy them! The best part of the day was meeting a group of deaf students. They started to panic when I went to say hello and frantically pointed to their ears to tell me they were deaf. By the end of the day we were communicating in English, Japanese and our own range of gestures. :)

Happy Halloween!

OK so I know Halloween was 2 days ago but Friday is fun day at English club so we had the Halloween party today.

It went even better than I was expecting and Lana helped me decorate the table and arrange the food. I bought lots of Halloween candy and made black punch using juice and food colouring.

We also had Halloween games including apple bobbing, candies in a jar and pin the nose on the pumpkin. The best thing was the ice I made for the punch. Last night I filled rubber gloves with water and froze them giving me creepy, hand shaped chunks of ice for the bowls. It worked a treat!
Everything was eaten, games were played and punch was drunk so I think a good time was had by all!



I took this photo on my camera phone on the way home. Merry Christmas!