Lots and lots of rain…
Just barely made it up and out …
now look at us before… (when we were full of hope!)
Tag: adam
The end of an era…
I’ve decided to take a break from the regular Noa reporting to talk about me for a little bit. 😉
Don’t get too excited…
Today marked the end of my two year contract with Manno (formerly Chunan) Town, and as a CIR on the JET Program. It was quite sad for me to leave my office for the last time as it has been an excellent experience. Living in Kagawa Prefecture taught me a lot about Japan. My other experiences as a high school and university exchange student saw me living in Tokyo and Yokohama, and gave me the false impression that I had even the slightest clue of what Japan was like. 90% of Japan is rural farmland (and mountains) and it took 2 years living here to learn about what that was like.
(I know this is getting corny, but forgive me for just this post.)
During our time in Chunan/Manno (仲南町/まんのう町) we got to meet many kind people, grow vegetables, have a baby, buy a car, live in a super fantastic house, receive vegetables on a daily basis, and just get the brunt of the generosity that the people here have to offer.
As a CIR on the JET program I was fortunate enough to be put in a town that supported me in whatever I chose to do, and allowed me to work at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo, work as a prefectural PA councillor, star in the JET PR video, act as vice president for the regional AJET group, and have a whole lot of interaction with the Tokyo office of the JET program through the organization of orientations etc.
My actual duties here included numerous things such as school visits (elementary, kindergarten) [where we did tons of stuff like play games and make gingerbread houses, etc… remember!?], visit community groups, organize activities (cooking, speeches, whatever), town english classes (with really dedicated people, old and young), write articles in the local newsletter and papers, a weekly radio segment, and a whole bunch more.
Why am I writing all of this? I just needed to put it somewhere so that I wouldn’t forget and I can look back and remember. This is where Noa was born, and Kiko and I have had a great time living here for the past 2 years. We are going to miss our house, our gardens (except the watermellon-killing dogs), the nice people, the beautiful mountains and scenery, and all of the friends we have made.)
No worries, we will be back to reporting on Noa tomorrow, not to mention what we will be up to now that we are leaving Kagawa… don’t get too excited.
Chunan and Manno, thank you!
仲南町、まんのう町、ありがとう！
(okokok. i give in)
davidandkiko.com Challenge #1
The World’s Longest Monkeybars
Watch as we tackle the World’s Largest Monkey Bars (110m, located in Kochi.) (never mind the fact that it looked like no one had been there in many years and that the “park” it was located in consisted of a strip of green surrounded by nothing and an ocean.)
The Contenders:
David
Kiko
Adam & Lee
The Results
In the end Adam managed to make it to the halfway point, and managed to wreck his hands doing it. Lee made it just past the 10m mark. I made it to the 5m mark. and Kiko made it about as far as she did in the picture. 😉
ps. It’s waaay harder than it looks!
Noa Update #6
I have decided to start posting more about what Kiko and I have been up to. Considering our move to Tokyo (and me to Gakushuin University!) very soon, we should have quite a few things to say about our trip back to Canada, our move to Tokyo, our new apartment, and our new lives living in poverty.
In the meantime, here are some more pictures of Noa!
This is Noa (in full team uniform!) with Ayano-san, our very good friend and dental assistant. She is currently looking for Noa’s teeth, without any luck. Noa has a part time job as a stripper.
A little bit of sad news… but one of my best friends here in Kagawa over the past 2 years, Nikki, has left back to America. We had a going away party for her with a few of our good friends. (Sorry about the picture Lee! Our little camera is on the fritz… damn fritzes.)
And finally this:
We like to dress Noa up in pink so it hurts less when everyone accuses him of looking like a girl.
My Birthday Excitement & Soccer Death
The Kiko Report:
T minus -2 and counting. No baby. A very big and heavy Kiko (who seems to want the baby on the outside.) Stay tuned. 
- The Good News
My birthday!! 
Remember? November 9th… 26 years old… right!? (most people thought I was 25 this year for some reason. Anyways, Kiko and I celebrated together. We found a nice Itallian place in Utazu (a nearby city!) and went out. We also had cake. Kiko gave me a super wallet, and I also got some clothes and a Shogi set from my friends. Here, look at the pictures.
Look!! See?? That is a card I got from Goggy and pictures of my birthday cake. It has soccer balls on it… get it? … note how it also ties in to my next subject:
- The Bad News aka. Soccer Death
Now this may be a little bit hard to grasp…. but… I injured my hand playing soccer. It isn’t broken but it’s really swollen and quite painful. I also got a ball to the face which left swelling and a bruise…exciting? Here’s the background:
See that guy to my right, your left? Mark. He’s from England. Really nice guy and top-notch footballer. He also has a super hard shot. That hit me. From 2 feet away. When a volley would have sufficed. I thought I was going to die. Fortunately I did not.
This is a team picture we took last weekend. We played the Tadotsu Town Office team (again!). Instead of a 2-2 tie, we beat them 4-0 (or that was the score when I went to the hospital.) Nice.
Here is some photos of my pain. Empathize.
See that swelling??? I know you do. 
More soccer pictures here.
That is all.
Kagawa Halloween Party
I was debating about putting Kiko’s picture up, or putting up pictures from Halloween. Halloween won.
Here are some pictures from the annual Kagawa AJET (JET Council, of which I am vice-president??) Halloween Party. Everyone looked pretty good. Especially Greg in his saran-wrap costume, and Jim as spiderman. In case you didn’t notice, I was dressed up as a disgruntled Canadian. Kiko was the wife of a disgruntled Canadian.
If you want to see bigger (more?) of these Halloween Pictures, look here.
Kiko and I are now off to watch "It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" for Halloween.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 
Where is Kiko??
I’m all alone here in Kagawa…. and it sucks. Kiko left to visit her island about 3 days ago. I will be joining her on Tuesday, but until then I have been home alone. 😉 (not a pretty sight! I thought I would enjoy the time alone, but that is not the case!)
I would have gone with her, but I have to work this weekend at this years Sport’s Festival. (See here for pictures from last years!)
Anyways, I guess I am just writing this because I have nothing else to do. Lonely? I leave on Tuesday for Kiko’s island of Tanegashima. 1 week of beaches, kiko’s family, vacation, a new cell phone and (hopefully!) baby presents. We should be able to update the site.. (but don’t expect any more maternity suit pictures…)
Wow… I thought this would have been a little more inspired. If you want to be inspired, GET ON SKYPE! It’s like an instant messenger (think MSN/ICQ/AIM) but for voice. Microphones are like $5. Go buy one, its pretty amazing. Google Talk is also really good. My name on skype is davidbennett1979, and my google talk e-mail is davidbennett1979 (at mark) gmail (dot) com.
In the meantime look at my green peppers. I grew them myself.
… yeah… I’m not sure why they are red. They were supposed to be green. I think they were at one point… apparently they are edible though….
Take a look at this: This was the Kagawa Soccer team (formerly known as the Sanuki Udons, currently known as nothing). We kicked the crap out of junior high school students. … well, actually we won 3-2 (thanks Jim!) But it’s good to have a team back…
that is all.
Sorry, I lied. I can’t say enough good things about this book. It was great! Get it. In fact, click on it and add it to your Amazon cart, NOW!
