Tag: david

Lots of Good News!

It looks like we will be getting back (semi)hi-speed Internet in April. It is not nearly as fast as what we were using, but is much faster than the ISDN line we have now. The website will be updated, and our VOIP (416) phone will be back in operation… so now you have no excuse for not calling

Kiko’s older brother, Takao, father of the super cute Hina and Kana:

Our nieces, Hina and Kana

(Takao) just had another baby. His name is Shuichiro! We haven’t got pictures yet,but when we do we will post them!

In other, less exciting news, Graduation photos came in from one of my other schools, along with another small write up in the Shikoku Newspaper. Have a look.

East Elementary SchoolEast Elementary School

Article about me in the newspaper

School Photos

We are in the process of redesigning and updating the main page, so updates have been few and far between. (Well, big updates anyways!) But we visit everyday, and Kiko is always excited when someone leaves a message or a note in the guestbook. Comments on the pictures are always nice too!

Here are some pictures from one of the schools that I teach at, and where Kiko has her part time job. This job ends in April and we are on the hunt for her next job!

Picture from North-Chunan Elementary School Picture from North-Chunan Elementary School

Next is a picture of the children that are in the tea ceremony club. Look at them in their gear!

Picture of the kids in the tea ceremony club

Below is a picture from our towns sejinshiki (Coming of Age Ceremony). This is when all the children turning 20 dress up in kimonos and become adults. I thought someone somewhere might find it interesting.

Picture from the Coming of Age Ceremony

(Chris: Convenience store pictures are coming!!)

Kiko’s Random “keitai” images

This link is cool so I am posting it again:

keitai denwa is the Japanese word for “mobile phone.” Keitai meaning “to be able to carry” (or something like that.)

These are a bunch of pictures that Kiko has taken with her cell phone. Maybe she will write something interesting beside them soon… I’m just the uploading boy.

Kikos picture Kikos picture Kikos picture Kikos picture Kikos picture Kikos picture

Random “keitai” Images

keitai denwa is the Japanese word for “mobile phone.” Keitai meaning “to be able to carry” (or something like that.)

This is an assortment of random pictures I have taken over the last few weeks with my cell phone. Of particular note are my two Japanese nieces, the really cute little girl who lives next door, and… the child shopping cart.

And as promised to Chris, pictures from Japanese convenience stores are coming soon…

Our nience, Hina Our nience, Kana Shane at my old workplace The cute neighbour nextdoor, Reira

The child cart

The Gingerbread House Project

I am off to Tokyo for a 5 day business conference and will then be heading back to Canada! (Yeah!)

But I am super thrilled to say that the Gingerbread House Project is finished! 274 Houses were built, and none of them collapsed. Every child in my town got to make (and bring home!) their house. I am their god.

These are my ingredients and my lovely assistant:

Gingerbread house picture #1 Gingerbread house picture #2

These are my disciples and their constructs:

Gingerbread house picture #3 Gingerbread house picture #4

This is the little girl who I have a crush on because she is so cute.

Gingerbread house picture #5

-That’s it for now. Expect updates from Canada, a christmas edition, and a massive overhaul when I am not so lazy.

What have I got myself into?

I have one week of work left before we go to Canada!

Next Monday I will be going to Tokyo for a 3 day business trip/conference. I hope to see Shane there. After that I take the long trip back to Chunan-cho, and then off to Canada.

So in my last week of work, what do I go and plan?

A picture of a graham cracker house

Well, that’s what it should look like anyways…

That’s right. Despite the fact that I am horrible when it comes to crafts, and I can’t cook anything, I have to make 259 gingerbread houses with every elementary aged child in my town. I am very excited. Mind you, I brought this upon myself so I can’t complain too much. I have had to order everything, plan everything and starting this Tuesday carry it out. I am freaking out. I will let you know how it goes at the end of the week with pictures etc… wish me luck!

What else have I been up to recently?

Remember how I said I was a terrible cook? That didn’t stop me from organizing banana bread day (Thanks Nikki!) for the “Wives Club” in my town. It actually went pretty well… Take a look:

Banana Bread Picture #1 Banana Bread Picture #2

Banana Bread Picture #3 Banana Bread Picture #4

Japanese Castle Visiting!

Kiko and I recently went to the big city of Marugame.　As some of you may know, I think Japanese Castles are super, so we had a chance to visit the Castle that stands in the center of the town.

Marugame Castle #1 Marugame Castle #2

Japanese Chess and Ping Pong

I have been meaning to write an entry about the Japanese game of “shogi” or chess. It is absolutely fantastic. It is similar to Chess but you can capture your opponents pieces and drop them anywhere on the board, and your pieces can also be promoted in enemy territory (kind of like a pawn.) At any rate, I will write more about that soon. The important part of this entry is my good friend Jim. He tries very hard, but he still can’t stop me from destroying him in anything we do. (This includes ping pong and shogi.) I might be exaggerating, but you aren’t here so you will never know. 🙂

Ping Pong Picture Shogi Picture

That’s it for now… don’t get too excited, but I am planning another huge update for the site. Hopefuly I can get it done before I go to Canada, if not, expect it in early 2005 🙂 (And I know you will still be visitng the site daily then… right!?)

Japanese Hiking Season.

The Fall Foliage in Chunan

Yes, I am a photo taking genius.

Well, no one told me, but apparently it’s Hiking Season here in Japan.

Their tend to be many opportunities to go out and see nature at various times throughout the year. For instance, you can see the Cherry Blossoms in April, and here in Chunan, the Sun Flowers in June. As Fall approaches Japan goes out to see kouyou, the fall foliage.

So in the past three days I have been hiking twice (turned one down) and have been invited to many more.　My first hike was quite exciting.

I was invited to go with the Senior’s Club. So 18 older people and me climbed up a fairly steep mountain to the site of a castle that once existed in the area where we live (Fujime Castle). We sat on top, heard a lecture about the castle, sang town songs (!!??), drank wine and looked at the foliage. I also got to eat rice from chopsticks that I made out of a bamboo tree, and see the lone cherry blossom tree that is atop this mountain. The highlight however was when a balloon was strapped to my arm, I was given a rubber sword and told to beat the hell out of the old people. Apparently we were recreating the battles that were fought in this area. It was complete with coloured smoke bombs and old people.

My Chunan Hike #1 My Chunan Hike #2 My Chunan Hike #3

My next hiking trip (Kiko was tired… boo…) was with a bunch of JET friends. We went to Kotonami, the neighbouring town where Nicole is the leader. She took us on a hike to see red and yellow colours. She built it up to be spectacular, but forgot to mention the hike was crazy long, hard, and all the trees were finished blooming (or whatever they do in fall. Turning?). (I’m just joking Nicole!) It was actually a lot of fun and very pretty. Here, see for yourself:

My Kotonami Hike #1 My Kotonami Hike #2

I should preface this by saying two things.

1) I will be updating the site a lot more (ie. every 2 or 3 days) so if you are bored and need something to look at, come visit. Besides, it’s about david and kiko. We’re super.

2) I just went and saw Howl’s Moving Castle, the latest release by famous anime director Hayao Miyazaki. He has also done: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and a number of other famous movies that have all won various awards. It was fantastic. When it comes out, take a look. Here is a picture below!

Howls Moving Castle

What I’ve been up to.

It’s not that I haven’t been doing anything. Actually, I’ve been slowly plodding along at work while trying to make time to roll out the latest changes to the website (coming soon!). I’ve also been doing my best to help Shane settle in (he’s fine). I was side-tracked by a killer fever (39.5!). I went to the hospital and it was exciting. Take a look:

A picture of me dying

See? Well I am feeling a little better now, but I will be off work until I have fully recovered which means hardly any e-mail, no website updates, and me catching up on a lot of movies. I just watched House of Flying Daggers and Ghost in the Shell 2. They were both pretty fantastic.

OK. Back to bed. At any rate, enjoy some pictures from Shodoshima Day (it’s a small island in our prefecture that we went to with some other JET‘s this weekend!). If you want to see more, check the gallery.

A picture from ShodoshimaAnother picture from Shodoshima

A great picture from Shodoshima

The Birthday Boy

My birthday is over. 誕生日でした。

Being in Japan this year I wasn’t expecting much in the way of presents or phone calls. (For those of you who did call/write, thank you very much! And for those who couldn’t, no worries! I know how it is. I’m terrible at correspondence, but I still love ya!)

I was surprised by Kiko though! We had planned to go to (the one) restaurant in town (actually I beleive it is in the neighbouring town!) and call it a night. She surprised me with a cake!

So without further ado…

The Birthday Cake that Kiko got me

Me and the cake (The cake and I?)