Week 70: Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas dinner was a mini Thanksgiving, so we spent a lot of time making pies (and the rest of the important stuff) and it was very good.  To work some of it off, Dani, Katie and I went for a walk.  In the new fallen snow.  I think my favorite part was the snowman we found.

THEY TRIED.

But it could also be all the Christmas songs we sang, or the car we helped push out of a drift. :)

Monday, we had family pictures taken. And it was COLD, so the poor photographer kept asking the kids to sit up instead of huddle. :)  I think everyone's favorite part there was when a certain 4 year old wouldn't smile so their mom said "If you smile for this, you can play on the I-pad" and suddenly they were laughing and happy!  :D  we all had to laugh at that!

After that, we went our separate ways and...

were busy.

Tuesday was fun! We went skiing!

snow bunnies!

Oh, yeah, this was our second day skiing, the first day was Friday. Yes. The Friday just after I had gotten in. Jet lag didn't stand a CHANCE. (I wasn't giving up SKIING)

Because it was right after Christmas, of course the lines were long, but well worth it, and just SO fun to ski!  Katie is the dedicated snowboarder of the family, and together we did pretty darn well!

Wednesday was when people started leaving. We had to clean out the house we rented and people went to the airport and ran errands and I tell you, just about everything went wrong!  (car batteries dying, missed turns, forgotten stuff, etc)  Those of us not running around found other ways to entertain ourselves.

like torturing the dog. No chocolate for YOU

(this dog is convinced whatever you're eating is meant for him, be it carrots or bread.)

I had to leave early Thursday morning, so of course I put off errands and packing until the last moment.  Got it done though!  And the parents were kind enough to pick me up and take me to the Airport. (way too early to be awake, I tell you)  And Dani and Katie saw me off! :)  I was sad to see everyone go and split up! It was fantastic to see everyone, and finally meet my nephews and niece!  All of them are just SO adorable, yes, even the grumpy butt. :)  It was just a FANTASTIC Christmas week that I wish could have been two.

The flight back was entertaining in itself.  First of all, the plane out of Salt Lake City was delayed!  I arrived in Denver about 5 minutes before I was supposed to be boarding the flight to Tokyo!  Of course, changing from domestic to international also meant the gate was WAAAAAAAAAY down the terminal, so I started jogging.  After only a minute or two, I came upon an airport cart trundling along the same direction as me. "I don't suppose I can catch a ride?"

Well, I'm glad I did, because I swear that gate was at LEAST 2 miles away!  And while I could jog slightly faster than the cart, it had better endurance. :P

When I got there, they were barely starting loading, and I managed to change my window seat for an aisle seat!  And even better!

THREE SEATS! AN EMPTY ROW!

Well, they moved someone from a full row, but it STILL meant there was an empty seat between us, and we were NOT shy about using the extra space!  It made things much more bearable.  Not to say the flight was nice, because I'm not sure a 10 hour flight CAN be, but it was better. :P

When I got into Tokyo, I didn't have a long layover, but enough time to get through customs. Only at the luggage belt, there was a sign saying I should talk to a representative.  Turns out while *I* barely made the connection in Denver, my luggage definitely didn't.

I hear you going "Oh no!"  But see it from my view.

I don't have to drag my luggage through customs.  I don't have to stand in line to re-check it. When I get to Osaka, I don't have to drag it through public transportation.  I just have to wait for it to be DELIVERED to my HOUSE.

There was nothing of immediate need in my luggage. I was FINE with this set up.

So I made the last jump to Osaka, went home (through public transportation) and DIED.  Thanks to the international date line, it was Friday night.

Saturday I did NOTHING.  I got out of bed, I made it to my computer, I took a shower, and around 5:30, I went to the grocery store and made dinner.  I finally went to bed at 9:00, completely exhausted.

Jet-lag is STUPID.

So no, I did NOT stay awake for New Year's midnight, I did NOT go to a temple to ring the bell, I was ASLEEP.

I did get to see the new year sunrise though.

which seems to be the important part here in Japan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Week 69: Merry Christmas!

Christmas!  I did not write this last week because I was in the States. Yes, there was internet, no there was no time.  We were very busy.

busy busy

It was an interesting week though!

Classes were Monday through Wednesday.  I made sure to get gifts to the co-teachers.

I made it myself!

(gave me something to do during down time at school)

And I enjoyed the Christmas decorations around town.

oooookay?

I taught the Christmas lessons, and on Wednesday, it was only a half day, so the lessons were REALLY short. :)  Then, around lunch, the vice principal said "as a Christmas present, you can go home after lunch."  I went home 3 hours early!  WOOO!

Best Christmas present EVER.

Especially since I hadn't packed yet.

So I spent all Wednesday afternoon packing.

Thursday was no school for the kids, but we had a half office day.

This was especially entertaining, because....Ok, you know what, I'll give you a blow by blow of Thursday.

First of all, I had two big suitcases to haul around, so I called a taxi.  (because I'm lazy) and the forecast called for rain.  So I got them up to the train platform, my two big suitcases and my little carry on, and the doors open and I remember, It's rush hour.  The train is PACKED.  And I'm like "oh well, next one won't be any better. So I haul them on!  When I get to Osaka, I'm glad to see it's not raining, but there's no time to drop my suitcases in a locker, so I drag them to the office day. (everyone's like "well, KIM'S ready to go!")

Officially, the office day is supposed to stop at 12:30, but last year it ended at 10:30, so I banked on that and had my flight out leaving at 2:30.  (which is cutting it close if we stay until 12:30, because both airports are a good distance away)

We met, we talked, we had a good time (it's so fun to get to talk shop!)  And...they let us go at 10:30! woo!

We're all ready to go.

Really nice, the airport limo bus left from the same building complex the office is in. :)  So I didn't have to haul my bags far at ALL.

I flew out of Itami airport this time, I just prefer it in general.

with a mascot like that, who wouldn't?

And I took the chance to walk around the airport and get Pokemon.

seasonal Pikachu!

And then the flying started.

ladies and gentlemen, please turn off your brains for the next few hours.

I do like Tokyo airport, it's entertaining.

kimono trying for those with the layover time

nice, big, dimly lit lounge area with various couches

organized.

flying on a double-decker plane!

Ok, I will admit, I wasn't impressed with the double decker plane.

WHERE'S MY IN-FLIGHT MOVIE?!

Thankfully they have an app that lets you watch the movies on your device.  If you have the latest app.  (which I did)  but STILL.  This meant they had a main movie screen they played a movie on anyhow, at all hours of the night.  :p

I FINALLY made it over to San Francisco, (remembering that even though I have been traveling for HOURS, thanks to the international date line, it is still Thursday.)

 And through customs.  (there were 14 booths, but only 4 people working our section. I was NOT impressed.)

AND TO MY GATE. (place is a maze)

I curled up on my carry on and fell asleep, knowing I had about 4 hours layover. (I was so tired)

I rolled over and changed position a few times, each time looking up enough to check the time.  Finally, feeling a little better, I opened my eyes and asked the girl next to me "what time is it?"

"It's 2:25"

I think "oh, well, I think I leave at 4:30, but I should check."

I looked at my ticket.  It did not say 4:30.  It said 14:30.  (2:30, for those not in the know)

WELL I'M GLAD I WOKE UP.

But...this flight that is loading is not mine. did I get delayed?

Went to a giant screen...I was at the wrong GATE.  in almost the wrong TERMINAL.

Thank you adrenaline, I feel awake now.

I got there in time for my section to board. :)

By the time I got to SLC, I was SO GLAD to stop traveling.

And see family!

(David/Rachel section)
THEY'RE SO CUTE

ALL WEEK I was misplacing my phone, so I did NOT get as many pictures as I wanted.  Very disappointing.

We did some Christmas crafts!

They did so well!

And we had outings!

LEATHERBYS

this is off the kid's menue

so is this.

And we played around

Dani and Jared

And we had a white Christmas!

very white

brrrr.

We were fairly surprised, as Christmas eve, it had been raining pretty hard. :)

AND IT WAS A GOOD TIME. :)

i'm still impressed the kids held back on the presents until after Church. :)

Week 68: CHRISTMAS IS COMING

(Me, excited for Christmas? Nah, what gave you that idea?)

This week was fun!  In Wednesday school, the 5th graders had their Flea Market!

they had fun!

This is a really fun thing. We take about a month and practice buying and selling phrases, and the kids take the second half of the class to plan and execute a shop!  They decide what they're selling, how much to charge for it, which items can be discounted (and by how much) and prep things to sell!  They can make these items via origami, drawing pictures, or some of them cut items out of advertisements.  Then on flea market day, they set up their store, and half go out to buy and half stay with their store. 10 minutes later they change places!  

There were all kinds of shops!

Ice cream store!

shoe shop

fashion shop

My Origami shop!

Of course I joined in! What fun!  I had a limited selection, if for no other reason than that I had to cover 4 classes.  The kids really liked it though!  The last group bought out EVERYTHING, no matter how much I charged for it!  I was completely sold out, put my sign down, waiting for the last three minutes to go out, and a kid came up and bought the fish I was idly folding before it was even done!  I went after and gathered some of the leftover stuff as examples of what some of them sold.

traded a fish for that dress!

But yeah! It was a lot of fun!

It was also a tiring week!  My schools had me working an extra class almost every day, so it wasn't overwhelming, but just a little more tiring than normal.  

I did Christmas lessons with Thursday and Friday school!  Thursday school did reindeer!  This is, for some reason, a hilarious lesson for me to do.  SO! The idea is to make THIS.

only I used paper for the eyes and nose too.

If you can't tell, the antlers are hands and the head is a foot.

So I start by having them trace their hands. I have them repeat "trace 2 hands and cut" (making sure they know what I'm saying through a bunch of miming and demonstrating)  

This is where it starts getting funny. Because more than once, I had to convince a child that if they put their hand in the MIDDLE of the paper, they couldn't fit two hands on there. (and no, I was not giving them another paper. One was plenty) The kids with bigger hands, I often had to show that they could fit it if they inverted one hand. And some of them got the idea to fold it in half and cut out two in one go. Those, I was proud of.  

Then, so often, they'd sit there staring at it, like "wow. I drew a great hand. This looks fantastic. I wonder if I was supposed to do anything else?  Those other students cutting out the hands aren't cluing me in at all. Maybe I should distract them by showing them these beautiful hands."  

Sometimes they'd cut out one hand and start playing with it. Fanning themselves, high fiving, measuring it against other students, and I'm sitting there going "HURRY UP."

After ONE student finishes with the hands, I tell them what to do for the head. "Trace 1 foot!" and to make sure they know what I"m talking about, I hold up my foot.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh??!!"

Utter confusion.  I'm not sure if it's "but feet or dirty" but I'm pretty sure it was more "how am I supposed to get my foot on my desk to trace it?"  

One teacher had to TELL the students to put the paper on the floor or on their chair, because some of the students were TRYING to put their foot on the desk.  It did not COMPUTE that the paper could go elsewhere.  One girl, I was watching for a little, because she put the paper on her chair, but was having trouble getting her foot onto it, because she HADN'T STOOD UP YET.  She kept scooting back farther to fit both herself and her foot on the chair and I kept wondering if she was gonna pull it off or if she was gonna fall over backwards!    The teacher told her to stand up.  :P

Friday school, the 5th graders did snowflakes!  They love snowflakes, and they did very well.  One of them obviously had some experience, as he made snowmen and trees... :)

Wednesday I went to see lights with a friend!  Weren't quite as cool as Kobe, but still very pretty.

there was music too!

They had some mapping too! I'm not sure what it's called. Projection mapping?  

It projects onto a building and uses the architecture in the show.

It was pretty darn cool. :)

We wandered back and checked out the displays in some of the store windows.

they were...actually kinda creepy when looked at closer.

Saturday was fun!   It was the ward Christmas party, and the person they asked to be Mary couldn't make it, so I was asked to take over.  Then when I got there, they went to pick up the first Mary, so I was, instead, asked to be a Wise Man.  TALK ABOUT MISCASTING.

Darn shawl kept falling off.

It was for the best, really, because the one who ended up playing Mary was also the mom of "Jesus", the youngest member of our ward. :)  And I carried the kid when the Mom was busy with other stuff in the show.  It all went well, and they didn't ask me to say anything.

After the Nativity, we had some activities.

I'm not sure what it is, but it involves cake

Well, turns out it was cake decorating!

We had the kids in our group.

I looked and was like "well, if I were decorating it, I'd do a radiating pattern varying the different decorating items with some geometric patterns. But what would be easier and more likely to be noticed is a picture"

I said "Let's make a snowman"

We won.

our competition.

In their defense, they didn't have the setup for pictures.

I'm gonna be honest, mostly we did the basics and stood back and let the kids have fun. :)

Then we ate

and sang.

In all, a very good party!

I made a flan!

OOOOOOO

Every time I make it, I'm reminded of how easy it is.  Didn't stop me from almost ruining the first one, of course.  Yes. This is my second.

So, my first one, I wanted the sugar dark.  Well, I let it get a little TOO dark. (It's like as soon as I turned off the heat, it decided to speed cook!)  THEN, I put the custard in and put it into the oven for and hour!  When I went back downstairs to check on it 30 minutes later, the timer said 55 min.

This oven is different. When you open it, it pauses, and won't re-start until you close the door and press the re-start button.  So someone had come in 5 minutes after I started it, opened the door, and had NOT PRESSED the re-start button!  Which mean that the oven had KINDA cooked some of my flan while it was cooling off for 30 minutes.  (what I said at this point is un-printable. mostly because the weren't actual syllables)

So I was like "FINE." and set it to 50 minutes anyhow, because it was gonna have to heat up again!  Well, I ended up burning some of the top.  The next night, when I finally got to try it out, the sugar wasn't too burnt, and the burned part of the custard could be taken off, so it was actually kinda tasty, but not something I could take to the party and it is TOTALLY possible to eat an entire flan on your own.

The flan I took to the party I made that same day and no one opened the oven, so that was a relief. :)

Hope you're all having a great time!

Week 67: A week of little adventures

First of all, I finished decorating my tree.

I know, finally, right?

I did not put any lights on it because I can't find any at the local dollar store. I'm sure there were some before, but I think they're gone now.

Sunday, a friend gave me a Persimmon from one of her students, fresh off a tree!  So I got to google "how to eat a persimmon".  Turns out it's simply wash, cut, eat!

and poison test on unsuspecting house mates.

It was very tasty.  The girls tell me it was "very sweet", probably due to being straight off a tree, but it definitely had less flavor than I'm used to from a fruit. Ah well.

The week went normally, and then Thursday, the students did their marathon!  And I got to go!
First we walked over.

and it was a lovely day

And when we got there, they started!

STAMPEDE!

Yes, that's a teacher in front. They pace them for a little, so they don't burn out quick.  Then the teacher drops to the back and plays "make sure they don't drop out"

They did really well!  The 5-6th graders ran 2.4 km! (mile and a half).  3-4th ran 1.6 km (a mile) and first and second ran .8 km! (yes, a half mile)  I mean...WOW.  They asked if I was going to join in and I pointed to my shoes "wrong shoes today. Otherwise I TOTALLY would. yup."  Then I laughed, because no one actually believes that.

Girls ran first, and after, they were the cheering squad for the boys.

they were very enthusiastic

And then we all walked back!  Gotta say, it made the students a little more subdued the rest of the day...maybe they should do it more often. ;)

It's winter, which means it's time for illuminations!  Most illuminations last all winter (and some into spring-ish) but the Kobe illumination (very famous) only lasts a week. And I can understand why.  See, it's to commemorate the great Kobe Earthquake, which took place downtown. So they set up these lights in the middle of downtown. And it's so popular that every night, they have to SHUT DOWN Kobe's main streets so people can walk through them to see these lights.  And on weekends they gotta shut down even more street, because in order to stop crowding, they snake the line of people through the streets like the rides at Disney.  When I went last year, I swear I walked 3 miles.  This year I went on a week day, so it was a much shorter walk (and line)

still crowded.

Eventually we got to the lights.

Can you see why they're so popular?

People kept stopping for pictures, and I can't blame them.

Inside the tunnel.

The lights were donated by the Italian Government

you can kinda tell.

I mean, it just...LOOKS Italian...ish.

For some reason, the post office always has a large presence

mascots!

And we went to one section (Yes, WE, I was SOCIAL) and all the sudden, the lights turned off!  We waited for a moment (each of us saying "I didn't do it!") When suddenly...

PRETTY!

It was a nice night out with friends.  We kept getting split in the crowd, so any time I noticed I lost someone, I would step out of the crowd a little, and raise my hand over my head.  And they'd find me. :)

Friday was interesting, because during recess, they had a jump rope jumping rally.  No, no idea why.

they warmed up

they did individual jumping

they did group jumping. (yes, those are 1st graders)

I mean, it's very impressive!

Then they go around the other side and go back through in a figure 8!  The goal is to see how many in a row they can do.  I, of course, joined a group. (all my other schools do it too, so I've had practice)  My group won for the class! :D

There was a bit of argument going on in my Friday school.  Last week they told me the students were going to make "New Year's" cards for a sister school they have in the states, and I was like "Ok, cool. How do you want me to work this?  5 minutes for English phrases? Christmas lesson? What?"  Well, I went in this week, prepared for any eventuality, and it turns out they wanted the FULL 45 minutes for these cards. I'm like "Ok, but FIRST..." So I gave my Christmas lesson, (slightly abbreviated) and then they had 25 minutes for their cards!  It was perfect timing.  (some students didn't finish because they're lazy butts)

The argument came after, when they were like "great! So next week is the Christmas lesson?"  And I said "No. THIS was the Christmas lesson.  NEXT week is normal lesson."  "But this was cards?"  "no. This was the Christmas lesson. They don't get two."

I think I finally got through to them.   :P

Then I went home and died.

I've been tired after school lately!  I'm not entirely sure why.  I mean, sure, I exercise, but I do nearly the same amount of exercise every week day!  You think I'd get used to it.  At least I'm feeling better (energetic) during work hours.

So Saturday wasn't a festival...well, specially.  So I cleaned my room and wandered into Osaka where there was a German village going on!

with carousel this year!

gingerbread stand!

giant tree!

DRESSED UP DOGGIES I GOT TO PET

It was fairly cold.

I feel ya kid.

But I had fun looking around, enjoying the people and eating a treat.

baby donuts

And there was a magician!

favorite kind of magic.

And I checked out Umeda station, where they had Ice skating last year, and they did this year too!

this time with real ice!

Since it was REAL ice this year, I was REALLY tempted.  (last year was a special plastic that made it difficult)  I did not though.  It was 15$, and the rink was small, and it doesn't look like it here, but it was crowded.  A lot of them were kids who I kept watching fall down.  I mean, I'm not terrible, but I would TOTALLY skate over a kid on accident.

I couldn't risk it.

So that was Saturday!

fairly calm and enjoyable. :)  Hope all is going well for you!

Oh! And before I forget, I found a job with an INTERESTING hat.

at least they're warm?