Tag: kiko

Not that big of an update. (baby wise anyways…) But it did take me a hell of a long time to get everything ready. So you best be reading this.

First of all, quite a few people have noted that this website has turned into a baby-watch. It’s true. Our visitors are up by about 8 times what they usually are. This will definitely be the first place pictures are posted (don’t get too excited!). I will be e-mailing in photos from the hospital and they should automatically get displayed online so you will know right around the same time I do.

Secondly, some of you may be seeing some weird crazy pages when you visit. Sorry! I’m trying to get 4.0 online so that when the baby comes it’s all ready to show you tons of pictures… ‘cuz that’s what you want to see… maybe. That’s what I want to see anyways. Besides, I figure that if you are actually visiting this site you have a vested interest in what Kiko and I are doing.. right? I suspect the baby will be a big part of what we are doing so you get to look at the billion pictures that I take (with our crappy camera. thanks everyone! )  

At any rate, the reason this is a big update is because I am going to be sending up pictures that have been sitting here for ages. I have also updated some of the photo galleries. Expect all of this to be re-done in time for the baby … (lots of pictures, easy to read entries and other fun stuff!)

By the way, thanks for all of those who called/wrote to wish me a happy birthday.   It meant a lot to me. (That’s the closest happy face I could find to a birthday hat…) to those who didn’t…. I’m not naming the baby after you.

So here goes…

Recenetly, in Takamatsu, at the  Kagawa International Festa (weird, no homepage… but look here.) my Tug of War team took first place in all of Kagawa. Yes, I have a tug of war team. Yes, I was clearly the deciding factor in the win (laugh now, but I was the anchor and had some good skill. I beat other anchors who were three times my size.) We also destroyed the girl-scout team in the semi-finals. It was exciting…

 

 

 

Can’t get enough of all that Tug of War action? Getting excited by that Tug of War pose I have? Look here for more pictures.

Last (maybe) but not least, remember the Halloween Party? (Of course you do.) Well I also had a Halloween event in my town on November 6th (the greatest day to have a Halloween party.) With the help of my good friends Nikki and Jim (thanks Jim!) we took 25 elementary kids (only 10 signed up) and got them to cut tiny ass little green Japanese pumpkins into something resembling a jack’o’lantern. It also marked the first time in my life where I have ever made my own pumpkin (all by myself.) … Here are a few choice scenes. Go here for the entire album (my pumpkin is the one on the chair with the candles in it!) 

 

Damn it! I knew I was forgetting something…. in one of my kindergarten classes I recently received a love note. It was really really cute. A little 4 year old girl (named Madoka) came up to me after class and handed it to me. I was going to read it but then she said I should put it in my pocket and read it when I was alone…   crazy…

 

I will translate:

 David-sensei (teacher): I love you. Let’s keep studying English together.

Please make note that she went to the extra special effort to write from left to right instead of right to left (so that my white brain could understand…)

That is all… maybe the next update will be baby news? 

10 months!??! Those advanced Japanese people. Babies in Japan gestate (??) for 10 months.

Not really … I bet you believed me for a 2nd, right??! (I actually thought this was the case when I was first told about this 10 month deal.) No, actually they start counting from an earlier date and the baby is said to be in the womb for 10 months.

Backwards little yellow people? Advanced future overlords? I’ll leave it to you to decide.

At any rate, here is the beautiful Kiko at 10 months (or 2 weeks from the due date.) See how nice she looks?   (I’m happy by the way.. that’s my picture face.)

This entry was actually entitled "Update on Kiko" but she didn’t like the photo I was going to upload. She promised I could post one tomorrow, so expect an update tomorrow. She looks… umm… big. But cute…

Anyways… yes, it’s the Potato Party. Remember how Kiko used to work at one of my schools? Well they invited us back for a Potato Party. The actual translation was "The Honourable Potato Party"… but well… umm… that’s stupid.

Now what do you do at a potato party you ask?

Well, first you take cut-up sweet potato, put them on Ritz crackers with whip cream, add some more whip cream and sprinkle liberally with chocolate chips and sprinkles 

         

Then what do you do? (Do you really have to ask?) You have a potato quiz, sing the potato song and talk about potatoes. (He is pointing at a sign that says "Potato Quiz" by the way.

 

   

 

You’re jealous right? And why shouldn’t you be. 

David and I went to parenting school last weekend. David doesn’t know much about Japanese parenting, so I think it was good study for him. Now I will soon be 8 months and my stomach is very heavy. David had to wear a suit and see how hard it is for me and my stomach. 

  先週末、初めて両親学級なるものに行ってきました！Davidにとっては初めての事ばかりで「ほほ～」なんて感心したり納得したり・・・いい勉強になりま した。妊婦体験スーツを着て床に落ちている物を拾ったり寝転がったりして、８ヶ月の大きいお腹がいかに大変かを実感したようです。

         

(edited by David) Here is another one for good measure!

ps. Why the hell did they have to add breasts to the suit? I feel and look and am retarded.

 

Well, it was actually yesterday, but I had a pretty crazy day. Not only was there a killer typhoon, but a number of other … stuff … happened. Here is a quick summary.

 The Good 

Look at my new printer? It is an Epson PM-A870. It is a copier/scanner/printer all in one. It specializes in photos and also has a negative scanner as well as memory card inputs to print your photos directly. The thing is a beast!!

    in more ways than one. It’s friggin huge. Here, take a look:

 

It prints fantastic pictures by the way!! Super friggin excited. 

  What the fuck?  

So there was a typhoon yesterday, right? Anyways, I wish I had taken a picture, but there is this dog that is always locked up outside of his house. (like every other dog in Japan.) He always barks but is super lazy so just kind of wanders around his little house barking at people half-assedly if hes not too tired to get up. Because my computer broke I was depressed and decided to head out in to the typhoon for some lemon coke. A little part of me expected to not see the dog there, the day of one of the biggest typhoons to hit Japan in a long time.

… he was there alright, but don’t think his owners didn’t care. In front of his little house they had nailed up a peace of light wood. So this poor dog was locked in his house and nailed shut by a flimsy peace of wood that didn’t cover the entire door.

Nice…

Anyways… on a brighter note here are some more exciting pictures. (Yes, I am trying to draw my readers back with bribes of pictures.. bastards.) 😉

A big congratulations to our good friends Mike and Tomoko who recently added "Kaito" in to the mix. Look at how cute he is? When my baby is older he is going to wrestle Kaito… or something.

How about a picture of Kiko’s little garden pre-typhoon? She loves it.. most of the plants blew away though.

 

 

And finally… since I’m all about giving the people what they want, here is what everyone needs. A giant kiko. (photo by Greg!) Thanks!

 

That is all.Love David & Kiko

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, Japan to up and move to the-middle-of-nowhere, PEI. (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.

 

               

What made this experience absolutely fantastic was the hardcoredness 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…)