Category: Family

Flying Noodles

Not so much to everyone in Canada, but to our friends and neighbours in Japan, I often get asked to explain why we choose to live in Chunan, Kagawa Prefecture. (and don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a choice to come here, rather, it was a choice to remain here.) For those of you back in Canada, it would be like a Japanese family coming from Tokyo, Japanemoticon to up and move to the-middle-of-nowhere, PEI. emoticon(think Milton, but smaller and in PEI.)

 Why!?

Well, for one, my farming. Couldn’t exactly be doing that in Tokyo… and it’s cool. Secondly, flying noodles. nagashi somen is a dish where noodles are placed in a water pipe and fly down the ramp. You have to grab them from this water slide and eat them. Chris Houston and Trevor had the experience when they visited me in Japan in 2002, but I have never been lucky enough to do so… until now.

 here, take a look.

 

Flying Somen   Flying Somen   Flying Somen   Flying Somen   Flying Somen   Flying Somen

What made this experience absolutely fantastic was the hardcorednessemoticon of it all. One of the teachers at one of the elementary schools I go to (who’s house this was held at) went to the forest, cut his own bamboo ramp, smoothed it out, set it up, and then proceeded to make enough glasses and sauce containers for all of us. He apologized for not having enough bamboo left over to make the chopsticks, but suffice it to say it was pretty cool. Everything was homemade, and it was a lot of fun. (That and I was amazing at catching the flying noodles…)

Kiko is a knitting machine

Before we left for Tokyo, Kiko has been knitting like crazy for Baby Awesome. She asked me to put them up so everyone can see what she has been up to, but I am an idiot (emphasis added by Kiko) and forgot. So here it is… crazy good eh? emoticon (don’t mention to her that Baby Awesome now has more knitted clothes than any baby will ever need though…) emoticon

Kikos knitting   Kikos knitting   Kikos knitting   Kikos knitting   Kikos knitting

Jasper Fforde

The Big Over Easy : A Nursery Crime

Jasper FForde – he is super. I have recommended the Thursday Next series (absolutely fantastic. click and buy it [amazon.ca], you won’t regret it!) to a number of my friends, and I have just finished reading the above: The Big Over Easy. A lot of fun…

that is all. 

 Note: This has been edited to make note of the fact that it was FRANZ that introduced me to Jasper Fforde. Sort of.

Earthquakes & The Embassy

emoticonEarthquakes

 

That was a crazy earthquake today. It wasn’t particularly strong where we were, but it was long. About 2 minutes exactly. I was actually sitting in a McDonalds reading my book when it started. Nice and gentle, and then slowly getting stronger. Everything was ok at first, no one seemed to notice or care, but after a minute of it not stopping people started to freak out a little. Man, Tokyo is going to sink one of these days. 

Here is a picture of me at the embassy. Yes. Yes, I am aware that I look like an old man. Many people have pointed it out. I like to think it’s just the business clothes… sigh. I don’t suppose anyone has any advice on how to look cool and still buisnessy at the same time? 

daveembassy.JPG 

Life in the Canadian Embassy

I know how much you guys like the pretty pictures, so I was hoping to wait until I had some photos to upload before I posted this… but my fans have spoken and I shalt deliver.

Two entries without pictures… in a row! Can you handle it? emoticon

I have also been doing a lot of thinking about what kind of posts I should be making here. Not only is this website a place to see pictures of us, but I have decided to expand a little bit on what goes on in my everyday life (rather than the really terribly spelling ungrammatical inane non-sequitor posts that I usually put up…) .. not a good a start, I know.

At any rate, the embassy is pretty fantastic. (I will post a picture soon!) I am working in the public affairs section of the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. The building is fantastic (now that I am inside!… see below) and I find myself actually doing something of consequence. I am compiling a report on the Educational Promotion efforts of the 5 other English speaking countries with embassies in Japan. (UK, US, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.) Basically I get to visit each embassy, learn about what they are doing to promote Japanese students to study in their country, and write a report making suggestions on what Canada can do to improve our own efforts. Cool eh? I thought so.

Other than that, Kiko is sitting at home… (nothing new)… in Tokyo. We are staying at a friends house. It is actually one of our very few couple friends (Japanese guy and a French woman) with a 1 year old son. So I am getting a taste of what my life will be like in 3 months. emoticon Excitement… let me tell you.

On another cool note, my very good friend the one and only Brian Chapman recently had a review published in the Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan’s leading English newspapers. It was none other than the review for the new Harry Potter book. Take a look… it’s super.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) [Adult Edition]

Read the review here.

The Canadian Embassy

I don’t think I have had a chance to tell everyone, but for the month of August I will be working at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo as an intern. emoticonTake a look at it, the building is super fantastic.

… or it would have been if I wasn’t the biggest dumbass in the world.

So, after securing a place to stay with our good friends Dave & Eri (who read this everyday… right?), I was supposed to begin work this morning. So I get to the embassy at 9am in my suit. I call my supervisor down. She gives me a little lecture about what I should expect during my stay at the embassy and then we start to go upstairs… until I get stopped at the door and asked for my picture id.

 … oh yeah. I guess at a government building ID would be required. I left mine back in Kagawa with Kiko. "What about your foreigner ID card that you have to carry with you at all times??"

".. umm… yeah, well you see, i don’t really have that either."

"so let get this straight. You came to your first day of an embassy job without any form of ID??"

emoticonThat’s pretty much how that conversation went.

So anyways, apparently I have a really nice office in a really competitive job that I should be greatful for getting. I somehow managed to swing the time off work for free, and was gratiously put up by my friends in Tokyo with the super pregnant Kiko.

 I guess I will let you know about the embassy when they let me in.

that is all. 

 

I, Mac?

I am so clever. emoticon

Now, let’s get something straight. I am the last person in the world that would have ever considered buying an I-Book. I hate MAC’s. There silly little buttons confuse me, and I remember getting my disks stuck in the drive. Don’t let me get started on the 1-button mouse. Here’s the story though… My Sharp Mebius (a fantastic slim labtop) broke. It was hurtin’. Now, since I have a desktop (and 2 if you count my Linux/MythTV server!! It’s cool!) I only used my labtop for school work. All I needed was simple:

  1. Internet
  2. Word
  3. Portability

 I was faced with two choices. Pay 150,000 yen for a new Sharp, or pay 100,000 yen for a new I-book. After looking at the costs, and a good talking too from Greg, I decided to go ahead with the Mac. I figure I needed something portable, something that can do simple things, and I had never before used a MAC and wanted to learn. To be honest it is a little heavy (I figured a little weight was worth the $600 in savings) but other than that…

Best Purchase Ever 

Seriously… no joke. The things is amazing. It looks good, is fast, is intuitive and does everything I want it to. The presentation is amazing, sounds is fantastic, even the packaging was cool. Crap… I used to hate listening to MAC people whine… fact is it was (for the most part) deserved.

It’s not going to replace my desktop anytime soon, but considering that it met my criteria for a substantial amount less than other computers would, it was well worth it.

Here is a picture of my new baby, and the cool Japanese Apple Hanko (<- read what a Hanko is about there.)

 

 imac.jpg

 

 

Also, look at this swell picture that my good friend Toru drew up. Anyone remember Popeye? Thanks Tommy!!! emoticon

 

popeye-toru.jpg 

7/29 – My Bad Day

7/29 – My Bad Day

 I wish I could provide photographic evidence (maybe I will), but after a few days of not visiting the vegetable field, I went to find all 8 of my remaining watermelons have been destroyed / eaten. I don’t just mean like a little messed up, I mean like inside out, completely gone. All 8 of them. Small ones and big ones alike. Kiko thought it was birds, but I am convinced it was dogs. emoticon

 

That wasn’t the worst of it. I have been doing translating on the side and I haven’t been getting much work in the last few weeks after a supervisor change. Anyways, he decides to give me another job without actually getting my confirmation that I will do it. (long story…) well a long story that ends up with him calling me and berating me for not doing it. I point out that I never said I would, and then he accuses me of ignoring the confirmation e-mail he sent … which I didn’t receive.

Alas, I am on my way to Tokyo for the JET Tokyo Orientation. I will be leaving pregnant Kiko alone, I have to do that translation (or I’m in "more" trouble) and I don’t have any watermelons to look forward to.

Woe is me. (is the spelling right?) emoticon