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

So I cleaned out a cupboard this weekend - I was keeping some bottles and jars which we took to the recycling center.

I wasn't sure what to do with the empty cupboard:



Thankfully, ( Paddington solved that dilemma right away )

And here are some more recent pictures of Paddington, ( being cute )

I can't believe we already have 79 views on our video tribute to Leo on Youtube. how cool is that?

this weekend was a bit more positive than last - but it was really dull. We didn't end up going anywhere or doing anything. The weather was no good, anyway. Thank goodness we have something to do next weekend - Saturday we're going to Seattle for a wedding of our friends, and M will be playing music for the reception. Then Sunday we'll hang out with the sister's family and he plays another gig Sunday night. We'll drive back early Monday and I'll get a late start for work.

I'm working really long days lately - this week to make up for Wednesday's holiday (Independence Day) and then next week to make up for missing some hours on Monday. so I'z tired!

But I've been meaning to post some pictures that I've taken over the last few weeks. Mostly they're just nature - me practicing how to use my new camera. So I hope you enjoy!

( picture time )

Hi and welcome to my newest friends! I must do a Friendzy of my own one of these days - I just love adding new friends:) but in the meantime, I look forward to getting to know my friends better. and I'll start with posting some pictures today.

Our weather was really yucky for about a week, with non-stop rain and clouds and cold. But yesterday it was gloriously sunny - though still chilly - so we decided to go out and see a little bit of our beautiful Olympic Peninsula, which is so close but which we hardly ever take advantage of. My mom and her friend Harry had gone out on Friday afternoon to the Lyre River, which is about 20 miles west of where we live, out in the direction of Neah Bay and the coast. Along that west-bound Highway 112, there are endless parks, with campsites, picnic grounds, overlooks to the Juan de Fuca Strait, and of course trees and rivers and views of the beautiful Olympic Mountains. So yesterday after lunch, Masahiko and I went out to see the Lyre River for ourselves. And it was just beautiful. The majestic old trees are all covered in moss, and the river was sparkling in the late-afternoon sun.

Here are some pictures I took of the trees, the river, and also of the mountains on our drive back home. As always, I put pictures in clickable thumbnails to save your pages, and under a cut:

( Lyre River, Clallam Co, Washington )

Also, I thought I'd share with you some pictures of the beautiful land surrounding my mom's friend Harry's house. He lives out on Freshwater Bay, only about 10 miles west of here. He has a house nestled amongst trees, overlooking the Strait. And there is a path, which if followed carefully, goes all the way down to the water. About a month ago, Masahiko and I took that path down as far as we could go (the tide was out), and I took a few pictures. It's just breathtaking:

( Harry's Place )

It's late Sunday morning and I'm approaching the end of my freedom. Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., I will begin my first day of online and on-the-phone training with my new job! I got my equipment last week and got it all set up downstairs in my new "office" (which also doubles as our bedroom, though we've been sleeping upstairs in the guest room to stay warm). I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I hope I can stay focused and make lots of money!

I hope you enjoyed my pictures. Have a wonderful Sunday - it's sunny here again, with the threat of more rainy days ahead, so I Plan to out out and enjoy the day!

Yes, I changed my layout again. the other one was having issues with the title words smishing up. And now this one may have to go, because I can't get the spacing just right because the commenter's user pics were overlapping with my sidebar and tags. There's just no winning.

Anyway, as promised, here are the pictures I took at the Sengen Shrine on Monday. It's a big post, mostly because I wanted to give lots of explanation for the Japanese New Year's traditions for you all (and especially for nekosensei who requested some photos of Japanese people celebrating the New Year.)

It's all behind a cut, and in clickable thumbnails. Enjoy!! I'm off to get many things done on my last day of vacation before I return to work tomorrow...

( Fujisan Hongu Sengentaisha - January 2011 )

I just received a letter from my company stating that as of March of 2011, Fuji city (where I'm currently living and working) will no longer be utilizing private ALT supply companies for their foreign English teachers. So that means that even if I had wanted to stay here in Fuji (i.e. if my husband got a job here and we decided to stay in Japan for awhile to make money), I will no longer have a job as of March 28th of 2011. So we will need to either move to a city like Tokyo or Osaka, or move back to the U.S. Because there really are no other options for me in this small city, and without my employment, my husband and I will have no income at all.

Wow! In a way at least it has given us a definite direction for our future. But it's kind of scary to know that the cities in Japan are cutting back on the money they are spending on English education. I don't know if this means they are going to discontinue the foreign teachers altogether, but how sad for the students! And it’s going to make the jobs out there (for teachers) more in demand – harder for me to get a new job! But in a place like Tokyo, perhaps there will be more options. Tokyo!?!!!? Or it’s back to the U.S., which seems to have been taken over by Republicans after the latest elections… kind of a scary option at the moment too.

My future is a bit shaky…but what else is new??

Anyway - on that note, happy almost-the-end-of-the-week! well, at least it's almost the end of the week for me:) And my week was broken up by a mid-week holiday - I had yesterday (Wednesday) off, which was very nice! It's almost like having two short work weeks - though I'd much prefer a whole week off, to be honest! I've been super tired lately, which seems to often manifest itself in dizziness and general lethargy - and I'm not really sure why. Ever since I returned to work (at the end of September), I've been working like crazy, and I hardly seem to have any time to just do stuff of my own - except on weekends and occasional days off. And even then, I still seem to be thinking about stuff related to my job. When I'm at my schools, I'm teaching 4-5 classes a day on average, and I've had so many new lessons that I'm spending my evenings making lessons and searching online for activities to make the classes interesting. And when I teach at one of my elementary schools, I usually have to prepare 4 separate plans, since I'm teaching two lessons per class per day! I've said it before, but I'm really starting to feel that this job is for someone much younger and more energetic! I love teaching, but this constantly having to prepare activities and lessons is exhausting! Plus I have this new private student once a week, and I'm spending time getting her lessons prepared too! Perhaps I need to start taking vitamins, or just exercising more - or maybe my eyes are tired and I need to start wearing my glasses. Who knows... but I'm ready for my winter holidays!

And speaking of winter… after a couple weeks of rain and storms, the weather has been very nice this week - sunny and cool, very fall-like with a hint of warmth during the day. Basically it's sweater weather - no jacket is needed after 9 a.m. But as soon as the sun goes down, the temperatures drop, and it's been very cold at night and in the mornings. Luckily the air conditioner/heater we installed in the second floor room works really well, and the room heats up in just minutes! So, I've been using this room as my dressing area since it began to get cold. With the onset of fall and colder temperatures, Fuji-san is just starting to show some snow at the very tip top, and it's so pretty! I need to get some pictures taken, but I keep forgetting to take my camera when I go out. Forgetfulness is my middle name lately! (I hope this isn't some form of early-onset dementia!!!!)

Before I go and take my shower and prepare tomorrow’s lesson, I thought I'd post a few pictures for your viewing pleasure - a few of an outing I took about two or three weeks ago (to a local park), as well as some pictures of our pets. Most of you know Leo, my 11-year-old cat. But my husband's parents also have this adorable little bird that my father-in-law found in a nearby field about four years ago. Her name is Piko – and while I haven't always been a big fan of birds, this one is special - she's just so cute and has so much personality! She always comes to the side of the cage and lets me rub her stomach when I go down for dinner, and sometimes I feed her lettuce or cabbage! and she's a total ham for the camera!

( smile and say lettuce )

and a couple pics of Leo when I was stuck in bed for 3 weeks - he was sitting under my legs!

( hello handsome )

and here's a few pics I took at this park about 10 minutes drive from my house. it's really quite pretty there, and on a cloudy day it was kind of quiet and peaceful.

( Marubi Shizen Koen (Nature Park )

ok - it's time for my shower and relaxing time. bye for now!!

It's time for more pictures!

I had a fairly busy weekend. I know - you're saying it's already Wednesday, what the heck have you been doing? Well to be honest, not much! and that's all I want to be doing. But there have been a few outings since I last posted...

After being done with school (yay!) last Thursday, Masahiko was kind enough to take me out to Fujikawa River on Friday afternoon to meet up with some of the other ALT's for a BBQ/swim. Of course we did neither BBQ nor swim, though I wish I'd taken something to swim in, because the water turned out to be much nicer than I imagined. M didn't want to go at all, because it was a very hot day and we thought we'd be standing in the sun, melting! But as it turns out, the place was very shady, and being near the water, it was significantly cooler.
One of the ALT's, an American named Elton, lives very near the river in a town called Fujikawa (just about 30 minutes from where we live), and he has a little swimming spot where he takes his 5-year-old son Louie. I thought the water would be dirty or that it would be crowded, but the spot was just gorgeous, and the water was the perfect temperature and not dirty at all. Plus, there was only just our group there - no other people around, except a rafting party came through at one point, but they were on the other side of the river. Since I was wearing a skirt, I just waded into the water and got my feet wet, and we enjoyed the scenery for about an hour or so.
Here's some pics of the swimming spot, which I plan to visit again in the future:

( Fujikawa River )

Saturday I stayed home all day and as a treat to myself, I watched New Moon . Twilight haters, don't say a word - but I loved that movie even more the second time around.
I can't wait to see Eclipse - I plan on going when I get to Port Angeles next week! It's only fitting I see it in the pacific Northwest, right? Anyway - after M got back from his music gig, he reluctantly took me out again, this time to meet my friends in Fujikawa for a fireworks display. We drove to M's friend's house, and his friend drove us to the train station - we then got to the very crowded destination around 7 p.m. and after about 20 minutes, managed to meet my friend Fiona. She had run into a friend of hers, another ALT living in Fuji (but working for the JET Programme), and this friend was lucky enough to have a spot inside these gates right underneath the place where the fireworks would be held. It cost 5000 yen (about $50) per person to get in, but we didn't have to pay at all, since Fiona's friend had a VIP spot - apparently paid for by some friend's company. So we got in there, ate some food and watched the fireworks which started a little after 8 p.m. I couldn't get good pictures, sorry! But they were pretty amazing! We started making our way back to the train station just before the fireworks finished, but it was still really crowded, and it took us forever to get into the train station and back to Yoshiwara station. Fiona and her boyfriend missed their train, so they walked to our car with us (about a 30-minute walk) and we drove them back to their bikes. It was still unbelievably muggy and hot even at 10 p.m., and I was hot and sweaty and tired when we got home! But it was really fun - probably the only fireworks I'll see this summer in Japan since I'll be in the U.S. for three weeks in August.

Sunday I stayed home all day in the air conditioning and didn't go out at all. I don't remember much of what I did - just studied Japanese and watched stuff online. I'm trying to step up my Japanese study, and recently ordered an electronic Japanese-English dictionary and a subscription to Hiragana Times magazine, which has online audio files that you can download to accompany the text. So I hope to improve my Japanese soon!!

Anyway - on to Monday. I had planned to go into Shizuoka this day to get my re-entry permit from the Immigration office (the very important stamp I need so that I can get back into Japan with my spouse visa after going to the U.S. for three weeks in August). So M was nice enough to go with me, but since we were already going that direction, we were cajoled into taking Daiki, our 13-year-old nephew to see the Giant Gundam Robot that is stationed at Higashi-Shizuoka station (just one stop east of Shizuoka station, where I would go for my re-entry permit) from now until March. Daiki couldn't wait to see the robot, so we agreed to take him after I went into Shizuoka to get my re-entry permit. We left the house around 9 a.m. and M's dad took the three of us to the train station. We got to Shizuoka around 10-ish, got to the immigration office, handed my paperwork and waited about 30 minutes. The immigration office wasn't incredibly crowded, but there were tons of little undisciplined kids running around making noise - so it wasn't really fun! Anyway, we were out of there by 11:15 or so, then went to the department store inside the train station and had some ramen for lunch. It was delicious, but sadly it ended up causing me stomach problems for the next 24 hours or so! After lunch, we took the train one station back, to Higashi-Shizuoka, and braved the heat to see the giant, 18-meter Gundam statue! We got some photos, then stood in line (thankfully it was shaded by a tent) to get into the plastic model store, where Daiki and Masahiko bought a bunch of models - then we went to the plastic model museum, which housed a whole bunch of really amazing, classic plastic models made by the Japanese company Bandai (which makes Gundam models), going all the way back to the '50s! I took a bunch of pictures inside the museum, and I wish I could show them to my dad - he used to collect airplane models and at one point, he had several hundred (or more) very rare, very cool plastic models made by the Japanese company! I think he sold them all years ago, but I'm hoping that there are one or two remaining at my mom's house so I can give them to Masahiko.

anyway, even though it was hot, we had a good time, and Daiki especially was happy - he got to see a giant Gundam (which he's loved since he was really young), and got a bunch of great plastic models, and a good memory.

Here are the pictures from our day:

( Look! It's a Giant Robot! )

Tomorrow I have my second to last work-related commitment before my real vacation begins - 3 hours at city hall editing and voice recording Japanese junior high schooler's English speeches! *sigh* I have no plans on Friday, but Saturday evening I've been invited to a BBQ at my friend Naomi's house - that should be fun! Then no plans until next Wednesday when I have my last work-related commitment - this stupid teaching training demonstration that I'm for some reason very nervous about. I'm not really prepared, and don't really know what to expect - but I guess I'll just grin and bear it, as the next day, Thursday the 5th, I'll be on that plane for America!!!!!

and sadly I really wish I didn't have to come back here at the end of August! Sometimes I just really want to run away from this crazy place, run away from learning Japanese and dealing with Japanese people - and just run back home to my mom.
Thank goodness I can do that at least for three weeks...

So I taught my last four classes of the school term today - which means that I'm just one step closer to being free for the summer! Tomorrow I have to spend a whole day sitting inside the hot, stifling teacher's room (I have no classes), and will probably spend my time planning my teaching demo lessons for August 4th and maybe studying Japanese. It will be a long (and very hot!) day... but it's my last until September!!!

We also had our last monthly City Hall meeting until September - and afterwards, I made some plans for this weekend. Friday I've been invited to a BBQ at the Fujikawa River with the other ALT's - and I might be able to convince my husband to go with me. And Saturday I've been invited by Fiona, the ALT who's returning to New Zealand in August, to see some fireworks by the river. So I've got a full weekend!

And now, it's time for a picture post. I hadn't gone out and about for so long since I was sick for most of June, but luckily I had a chance to finally go out during the last two weekends, and I snapped some nice pictures of a garden, and a cute little mountain town.

( Shizuoka outing, and the Sumpu Castle Gardens )


I was supposed to visit the onsen last weekend with my friend Miki, but she canceled and we ended up going this Saturday, three days ago.

It turned out to be a really lovely day, and the drive over to the onsen from Fuji was about
1 1/2 hours through some very pretty scenery. We went to a little town called Nambu, which is situated amongst mountains on the edge of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the onsen, but i took some pictures of the surrounding area. There was some very pretty yellow wildflowers which I thought looked like mini sunflowers, and a very long, very red bridge.

( Nambu-cho )

So that's about it. I haven't heard from lots of you lately, so I hope that everyone is fine, and not melting in the summer heat quite as much as I have been. Please do stop by and say hi!!!

Happy Wednesday (or Thursday depending on where you are in the world)!

I can't remember when I've had a virus that hung on as desperately as this one is. I've now been sick for 8 days, and though I'm able to get up and walk around, and I still don't have a fever, I feel like death warmed over. I went to work Thursday even though my body was telling me to stay home and rest - and as a result, I ended up feeling much worse that night. So I called my supervisor asking him if I could just teach my classes Friday morning and go home before lunch. He suggested I just stay home for the whole day - so I stayed home all day Friday and rested. Saturday morning I thought I was starting to feel better, but I think it was just an illusion. Still I stayed home all day yesterday and all day today, with the exception of going out to the grocery store for about 30 minutes this morning. I've done nothing but sleep and watch movies (I finally watched that adorable movie Up ) and episodes of Supernatural (from Season 3) and True Blood (I re-watched the first two episodes from season 1)... Yet, even with all that resting, this nasty cold virus won't relent. Thankfully my nose congestion has cleared up a bit - so that I can actually breathe through my nose. But now the virus has moved into my lungs, and I've got that heavy feeling in my chest. And every once in awhile, I get a tickle in my throat, which starts me on a coughing spasm that won't let up for about 3 minutes. Then that causes me to have a headache - from all the coughing! Can someone please tell this virus I don't want to play anymore? I'm not having fun!

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to teach this week unless I start to feel a whole lot better by tomorrow morning. I've been taking vitamins, and a handful of medications given to me by the doctor I saw Wednesday. But this thing seems determined NOT to let go! Still I felt bad enough missing work Friday - so I'm planning to go tomorrow and see how things go. Sadly I still have lessons to plan for this week, so I can't really relax much tonight. But I'll try to get to bed early...

so, sadly that's all that's been going on in my life for the last week. Hopefully, once I feel better, I can get out and about again. Though with this consistent rain, there's not much to do anyway. Today was at least a bit cooler, and there was a mist covering the whole area this morning that made everything look quite mysterious - and that kind of mist causes such a stillness. It's eerily quiet during this kind of weather. But who's complaining about quiet? certainly not me...

here's a couple of pics of the mist we had a couple weeks ago - today's mist was even heavier than this, ( but just to give you an idea )

But before I bore you to tears with weather reports and more thoughts on my love/hate relationship with Japan... I'll leave you with some pictures that I took two weeks ago at the local Gion Matsuri in Yoshiwara, very near my home. It's a street festival - they close off the street to traffic and have floats and food and other stuff. Here's a little description I found on a Shizuoka guide online: Yoshiwara Gion Matsuri (Fuji City) Early June
Yoshiwara Gion Matsuri -- "Gion Matsuri is an event originated in Gion, Kyoto to quieten down evil spirits that cause disease and disaster and it spread out all over the country. The gorgeous and dynamic festival features a parade of Mikoshi (portable shrine) carried by children and youngsters and 21 decorated floats pulled around the area."

( pictures are here )

So that's it for now. I'm off to finish a few things for my lessons. Wish me luck getting through a week of classes... luck and a little hand sanitizer is what I need!

I'm getting behind on posting pictures - some of these are from more than two weeks ago! I've also got more pictures from Saturday's local festival, but I'm going to post them later in the week.

For now, enjoy these pictures I have taken at my schools over the last couple of weeks. As always under a cut, and in clickable thumbnails. You can also peruse more of my photobucket pics, if you'd like...

( bunnies, and frog bread ahead )

And for those of you who might be interested, here's a picture of me with my new haircut. It's hard to tell from the front how much was cut - it's very very short in the back.

( the new me? )

So I'm off to make some lesson plans for elementary kids, and maybe watch the new True Blood - season 3 has begun...

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!?)...

( two music concerts on a Sunday in May )

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!

( my lovely 5th graders, and the lunch we shared )

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!