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Noa’s family in Canada

Sorry for the lengthy time in between updates. I know you were all excited about the "right from the airplane" and "automatic timed" updates, but now it’s time for a Canada-update…

Kiko and Noa have decided that they prefer Japan time, and have only recently started getting over their jet lag. I am not sure Noa realizes he is in Canada, but he seems to enjoy the dog’s company. Chloe (maybe some of you don’t know Chloe… I’ll get some pictures up) often tries to include Noa in her games and looks a little hurt when he doesn’t participate.

Anyways, things here are going well. We haven’t really seen all of our friends yet (which is a priority!). Chris and Lianne mde it up to Brampton which was very sweet, and we also got to spend some quality time with Trevor. Still would like to see you all, so give me a call in Brampton and get your asses over here. If not I will try and make some Toronto trips starting next week… I am rambling. (On a side note, did you know that every time I swear in a post it prevents many people from visiting the webpage because those crazy censor-internet-blockers in Japan (and elsewhere) block the website… crazy!)

Where was I? Oh yeah… since Noa hasn’t gotten a chance to see many of our friends, we have concentrated on family. My family is absolutely thrilled (I think!) to meet Noa and Noa loves them. Here are a few pictures of Noa meeting his Canadian family. (I forgot the usb-wire to hook up our camera to my labtop!!! Fortunately we went to Tracy’s house where we were able to get a few pictures up. Thank you Tracy emoticon Tracy also has a kickass tablet pc which you can see here.)

Noa also got a chance to meet his aunts and uncles…

… and his good friend Livvy.

More to come…

Setsubun and stuff that I forgot!

This may just be one of the magical/mystical posts that I make while I am still in Japan (getting ready to leave for Canada) but which appears on the site a few days later… maybe. You decide.　 emoticon

Don’t get too excited. Oh oh oh! Before I forget… Ricky Gervais is my hero. Forget the US version of the Office, take a look at the original Office, Extras, and listen to the podcast. It is really quite funny and provides me with lots of entertainment. Take a look and let me know what you think!!

At any rate, here are a few pictures that I had knocking about. Of some importance is our pictures from Setsubun. What is setsubun? And I quote…

In Japan, Setsubun (節分) is the day before the beginning of each season. The name literally means "division of season". Usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun (立春), celebrated yearly on February 3rd (associated with the Lunar New Year).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun

All I know is that Kiko made Noa and I put on scary masks and throw beans. emoticon

I think there is something about it here…

Spring Setsubun is traditionally celebrated by the head of the household throwing pan-heated soybeans out the door, while chanting "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!). The literal meaning of the words is "Demons out! Luck in!" — the beans are thought to symbolically purify the home. In the Heian era, a famous Buddhist monk was said to have driven away Oni (demons or evil spirits) by throwing beans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun

Enough with the chit-chat, here is the picture.

That was a big build up for just one picture, eh?

Here are a few other pictures I had laying around including a visit by the Kato family (one of my homestay families back when I was in highschool in Japan), Noa and me hanging out, Noa hanging out with his chair, and Noa’s first stroller ride. Enjoy!

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.

Take off!

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!

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!

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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