Family – Page 98 – d@vidb dot net

Who’s the movie star?

If you may recall, awhile back I mentioned the video shoot I was involved in. Basically, I was lucky (fortunate? unfortunate?) enough to be selected as one of the people in the new JET video which is used to advertise the program to contracting organizations here in Japan and potential participants around the world.

Basically a film crew followed me around town for a few days. It was actually a lot of fun and kind of entertaining being followed by boom mics and cameras. I think it startled the people of my town as there were more camera people than townspeople in the most of the locations we shot at.

Anyways, as promised, here are a few photos of me in action. Some of the pictures include me at work, me at school, and me on camera. Enjoy! When the video comes out I will try and edit out my parts and upload them.

On our way to Canada…

Using the magic of my computer I have somehow managed to get this post to publish itself while we are in transit from Chunan to Canada. That’s right… I am writing this the night before we leave and it is going to magically appear on Tuesday night while we are in transit!

Am I worried about someone going to our house in Chunan to rob us? No. Someone asked me about that (with all of the details I leave on this website, they were a little concerned), but the fact of the matter is a) we have no stuff, b) i have a remote video monitoring system I made that films the house when something moves and .. umm.. shoots poision, c) and our good friend will be checking in on the house very regualrily. See… I’ve thought of everything! emoticon

At any rate… we are currently on route to Canada. It is going to be quite a long flight (through Chicago) and we are a little worried about Noa. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we will report when we arrive.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures we took before we left.

Noa just sitting back, relaxing … (in his dog suit.)

This is his rockstar coat.

And finally… enjoy as Noa attempts to find the hidden supply of milk I have hidden in my breast.

and we are off!

This was supposed to be a picture showing you the small space Noa has to live for the next 14hrs. Turns out it was too small to even take a picture! We are just about to take off!

Take off!

Kappa?

I think I will let this picture speak for itself.

(On a side note, we are off to Canada tomorrow to take Noa to see the rest of his family. The site will be updated! And I am always on skype (davidbennett1979) if you want to chat!) Wish us luck!!

kappa?

He has a small container

So anyways, I had sent a new years card to my good friend Jotaro (the ones that I sent to all you guys too… most are gone… -poof-). Because so many people weren’t getting them, I was a little bit worried. I hadn’t heard from him in awhile and he was ignoring my e-mails.

I sent him a heartfelt e-mail telling him about what I have been up to and asking him to go on Skype so we could chat. Instead of sending me a reply to my comments and questions, he sent a blank mail with the following:

Although I would have prefered a mail letting me know what he was up to, I was happy that he had got our postcard and put it up on the fridge. I hadn’t even asked him whether he got it or not, so it was nice of him to show me that he had received it. (Could’ve written something though! 今度何か書けよ！).

Because I was still hoping for some words… or something, I wrote him back jokingly telling him that he didn’t have to pretend like he really put it on the fridge and he could put it back in whatever pile he usually kept it in.

He then sent me this: (again, no words!)

emoticon ホヒホヒホヒ

トホホホホホ

A good week?

Hello!

Last week was a roller coaster. Lots of ups, and many more downs. Between my computer breaking, our Ipod Nano breaking, messing up a lot of translations, getting called on the messing up… the list goes on. Suffice it to say I was not pleased and I was kind of down.

On the other hand, I also had some very good things happen. Our MythTV box is back up and running (after a lot of work), I am still loving my job here in Chunan, and <drumroll>

I got the scholarship I applied for last year!!! emoticon Although I will be very sad to be leaving Chunan, from October of this year I will be attending Gakushuin University (known for the emperor’s family and politicians kids going there) through a very big government scholarship!! I am still in shock, but there are so many people I have to thank…. Kiko, Komuro-sensei, Arntzen-sensei, Ito-sensei, Jotaro, Ishikawa-sensei, Tracy, Shane, everyone else that helped me out with the application… THANK YOU!!

Like I said, it is going to be tough to leave Chunan, we really do love it here. But I am confident that this experience will help me move close to one day getting a job as a professor back in North America, so wish us luck!

Now since there were no pictures in our last post, Kiko has asked me to upload these family pictures we took in Tanegashima. I believe we promised to have them up earlier.. sorry! These are pictures from Noa’s omiyamairi, the blessing that Japanese children get after 30 days. We took family pictures after the ceremony.

We have also had quite a few visitors for Noa. Below are pictures with Liz (Jim’s girlfriend. In case you forgot, Jim is my good friend who bashed Noa’s head into the ceiling light.) Following that are many of my good friends here in Kagawa prefecture on the JET program, and finally Yoshiko Hirao. One of my most loyal and favourite students attending my town English classes. Enjoy!

emoticon

Noa’s Ninja Training

People keep asking about how Noa is doing.

I figured I would give you a little update.

In the last month alone Noa has had the following happen to him:

His head bashed into a wall by Kiko.
His face submerged into the bath by David. (he was not amused.)
His head rammed into a light fixture by our freakishly tall friend Jim.

He’s a strong boy. emoticon

On being a new father…

I have finally gotten around to writing this entry … (again.) To be honest (well mostly honest) I had quite a large entry written up, but for some unknown reason it died. Ug.

Oh well… let’s try some recall here. I am writing this after getting back from a 2 day trip to Tokyo. Although it was only a 1 night stay, Thursday to Friday, it gave me a chance to reflect on a few important things.

What it is like to be a father
Mario Kart DS

I will begin with the first part. This is only a small point but I guess one of the biggest changes I have noticed is how much one looks forward to going home. Not that I didn’t before (Hi Kiko!), but it is quite amazing to go home after work and have Noa there and how he is clearly excited to see me. Especially now that he is smiling and attempting to fly, it really is quite a feeling. Corny? Maybe. But true.

So, suffice it to say I missed both Kiko and Noa a lot while away in Tokyo. How could you not miss this?

While we are still on the topic of choice around here (Noa!) have a look at some pictures from our new camera. I was a little skeptical about the quality of picture vs. the price of the camera, but since we got a really good deal on the Canon Kiss N (Rebel GT or something) we figured we would get it. I still am shooting on automatic (until I figure out the manual features) but the pictures are looking great! Have a look.

Another thing before I forget: Noa’s name.

In Japan after a baby is born the father is expected to write the baby’s full name on a piece of paper to signify that a name has been chosen (I made that explanation up.) Anyways, here is my attempt at Noa’s name. Not the greatest, but I went through 5 or 6 sheets of paper before coming up with this one. (A big thank you to Komuro-sensei and Arntzen-sensei.) I would be way better at writing Japanese if I were able to absorb all of their advice.

This is getting so long… exciting eh? Now on to some more exciting topics. Mario Kart DS

The new Mario Kart game for the Nintendo DS is amazing. Since it takes advzantage of the DS’s wireless abilities, you can play with up to 16 people at once (who have a DS around you.) Only one person needs a copy of the game. Even better is that if you have a wireless internet hookup, the DS will hook up the wireless internet and you can play with up to three other people from around Japan, or around the world! The game is amazing, makes use of the two screens very well, and the multiplayer is smooth. I don’t know if it is released in Canada yet, but when it does get online and let’s play.

My friend code is: (oops I don’t know it! e-mail me!!) Unfortunately I suck. Ok, that’s all for now.

I AM GETTING davidandkiko.com 2006 back on track as we speak. emoticon My other computer is still in parts but I found a partially saved backup of the work I had done before the crash. Wish me luck.

Miss you guys all. As does Kiko… Noa is doing well and we are looking forward to going back to Canada soon.
love, David, Kiko, & Noa. emoticon
ps. and just for good measure, here is a present for (from?) Tracy & Thomas: (THANK YOU!!)

dog suit and totoro bread

The title says it all.

Noa’s dog suit pyjamas and totoro bread.

… and you complain about no updates emoticon

Here is a picture of Noa looking at his favourite thing in the entire world. I mean that… he clearly loves it more than he loves us. His new mobile.

Kiko and I are having a heated discussion about who took that picture. I think it is too good for her to have taken. emoticon Clearly my work…