it's not life that matters but the journey...

Hello. Isn't my new icon pretty? It was made for me by wolfpurplemoon from the pictures I took of the koinobori. Thanks Amy! Also thanks to ageless_aislynn and dawnie1970 for the cool virtual sunglasses! just in time for summer - if we ever get a break from the rain!

Anyway, on to business. I thought I'd do another picture post (aka update), since my week is starting to look pretty busy and I'm not sure when I'll have more time. I've been accumulating lots of pictures over the last couple weeks: some were taken when we went to see my husband's friend play a couple of gigs last weekend (the weekend of the 15th), and some were taken at the elementary school where I teach. I finally took my camera to school with me, and the teachers were fine with me taking pictures. so I got pictures of a couple of my school lunches (yikes!), and some of me with the kids. the kids are so adorable - but I might not say the same for me - I look so tired in these pictures! some were taken the day I was coming down with my cold - though surprisingly I look better in those than in the one I took yesterday. for today, I'll post just the 5th graders, and I'll post the 6th graders later.

So here we are, my life over the last two weeks, under cuts to save your pages, with clickable thumbnails, and separated by category (aren't I organized!?)...



We went to see M's friend Shimura-san, a fantastic piano player. Joining him were a trombone player, whose son also plays trombone - and in the first gig, the trombonist's wife played saxophone! A musical family - I love it!

The first gig was in the morning at an outdoor crafts market - a very small, local market filled with very interesting people. It was quite warm, and we sat and enjoyed the music, while I also took a few pictures of the surroundings and some of the local people!

These first pictures are of the park nearby where the crafts market was held:



Fuji-san welcomed us:


This is apparently a big pile of lava:







These are outside of the area where the crafts fair was held, just a bit beyond the park:





The road that led to the crafts fair:


And some shots of the crafts fair and Shimura-san's gig:





There was a booth set up for making your own glasses - I think you can put designs on them, and then put them into a machine which sets them. I didn't have time to try it!


But these little girls were making their own designs:


The guy on the left with the hat greeted us on our way into the crafts grounds. He was wearing something very weird and medieval looking. but he was very cheerful!


These blocks (looks like Jenga) were all nicely put together when we arrived:


but then some little boy (aka Godzilla!) knocked them all down, and the girls began to put them together all over again:




After the crafts fair gig, we went to see Shimura and the trombonist play at a big temple in Fuji. I got a couple shots inside the temple, and more outside.

Inside the temple:








Outside the temple:












Besides going to those gigs, my life has been all work, and some laying around recovering from a bad head cold and back problems! Thankfully all my health maladies are over with - for now. But with this continuously changing weather, who knows if I might get sick again!

As I said, I finally took my camera to the elementary school last week because i wanted to photograph the kids and my school lunches. You might be a bit surprised when you see the kind of lunches I eat! They're not all bad, but often quite interesting... to say the least! I'll be taking my camera to the junior high tomorrow and photographing my lunch with the 7th graders.

For now enjoy these!





This is how the kids get their lunch. the food is brought in big containers to the classrooms, and some kids serve the others, who line up to get their food. They wear hats and masks and aprons to keep germs from getting on the food.
















This was our lunch that day: rice with furikake (dried sesame and seaweed which is sprinkled on rice to add flavor), miso soup with tofu, fried egg, some kind of mix of carrots, beans, and other veggies which was actually more tasty than it looks, green tea "maccha" pudding, green tea and milk.






Since this is getting quite picture-heavy and long, I'll leave you with these and post a few more next weekend (or later this week). I have the 6th graders and our lunch from Monday, plus any I take tomorrow. and some other random shots.

This weekend should be busy - it's my birthday Saturday, and M is playing some gig in Asagiri, which is near Mt. Fuji. if the weather's nice, it should be fun - as they're doing a BBQ! But if it's raining, I might opt out! Then Sunday I'm supposed to meet Miki-san for lunch and hopefully some cake!!

Tomorrow I have a busy day - my supervisor is coming to observe my third period class, then I have my monthly meeting at city hall with the other Fuji ALT's. Then some of us are planning to go out for an early dinner after the meeting - should be fun!

So that's my life in a nutshell. HOpe you enjoyed my pics, there are plenty more to come!

happy week everyone!