slooow cooommputa

Colette in the cubby hole with a friend.
Making salt. Looks like hard work.
Beautiful and delicious japanese food.
Look at those orchids! We had lunch here today to celebrate. It was so cool.

Funny things....

These two were too cool for school today during story time, they decided it was more comfortable to sit in the cubby holes.

Japanese food is always beautiful, although I must admit that I usually don't like the taste. This lunch was delicious. Everything about this cafe was cool. The owner is a young woman that is helping Rob get some gigs. He's pretty stoked.

Yesterday, my 15 year old student announced that we would listen to a cd later on in the lesson. He is one of my favorite students because he plans the lessons for me, all I have to do is show up and explain things a little. He studies at home and at school so he is actually improving all the time. Anyway, so we get to the cd's and the first one is the cheesiest english cd I have heard. It had bad synthesized pop in the background and uberreverbed vocals. The lyrics went something like "what do you do? (man's voice) "I'm a super gymnist" (female voice) "where are you from?" "I'm from Shanghai". I can't even begin to describe how cheesy it was. It was soooo hard to not laugh. I looked up at him and he was grooving to it. He asked me if I like it and I just try to keep a straight face as he tells me how he first heard it when he was 13 and how he listens to it every day. Then he pops in the second one and it is a catchy jingle with English words sprinkled throughout. He has painstakingly written out the words to it for me to sing along. We listen to it once and then sing along with it 3 more times. I figure it must be a pop song or something, until he tells me that it is the jingle for an electrical company. I don't know what to think, then he shows me that the entire cd is electric company jingles. He said that it was his favorite song ever. I guess it is not that funny, but to me it was hilarious because of how strange it was.

The baby in disguise

Sneaky sneaky!

Yesterday morning about 7 am we were awaken by a small earthquake. I thought it was a car hitting our house, or someone banging on the walls, until I realized the bed was shaking too, back and forth violently. It only lasted a few seconds and nothing was broken (or even moved that I can tell), but I was amazed at the power and strength that would move the whole house like that.
Looks like I'm going to start babysitting at the school for about 4 hours a day now. It'll be good because Colette will be able to play with kids instead of just ride around or be bored with me. Also the extra money will be nice. Since I bought a guitar (just like Mom's) for $30 from a second hand store, I've been playing guitar more, and I found a great kids songbook (with My Favorite Things, the Rainbow Collection, etc) whilch has guitar tabs in it, so I can play guitar to the kids all day.
The nights have been getting colder, but days are still nice, maybe 70s. Many of the rice fields are ready for harvest and the Japanese farmers go on their little miniature hobbit-like tractors to collect it.
There is an opening in December for a couple to come and teach in the place of our friends Darron and Lori who's contract is up then. If anyone knows of a couple who's interested, or even a single person possibly, please have them send me an email or respond in the blog. The position would be one full-time teacher and one part-time teacher, and one of the teachers must at least have an associates degree. This is unique opportunity for someone with kids, because since the part-time teacher only teaches at the bilingual kindergarten, the kids can come as well. Most ESL jobs require 2 full-time teachers with no kids.

More from the Park . . .

This was a giant field with big rubber balls for the kids to play with.
She took a nap for a while.
Attack-kissing her friend Annie. I think Annie was nervous because Colette kisses by opening her big fangy mouth and assaulting the kiss-ee.
Lori, Annie, Nicolle and Colette swimming.
Overlook of Mannou reservour. It looked like it would be a lot of fun to kayak or canoo in.
We were able to go on a Saturday because it was a Japanese Holiday, so neither of us had to work. Normally our days off don't coincide with Darron and Lori's, the only other American couple with kids here, but because of the holiday we were able to hang out. Annie is almost a year now so only a few months younger than Colette, but since she's already walking well then the two of them get along fine.
WE miss you all and wish you could have come to enjoy the park with us!

Mannou Reservour Park

Yesterday we went to a great park about a half hour away, adjacent to a huge reservour. It was perfect for kids and would have been heaven to be about 5 years old there, second only to being a parent there and seeing how much fun your kid has . . . swimming . . .
walking on the grass . . .
Petting a dog(gie) . . .
Not posing for the picture . . .
Riding down a slide with Daddy. These slides are made up of rollers like an assembly line, and go very fast. I went down the slide about 5 times with Colette, and this morning I had blisters on my . . . well anyway they rub your tailbone pretty good while you slide down.

Biking with the baby

Colette and I go on epic bike rides at least once a week. This week we found a great park no far from our house. Colette poses for this picture, she's learned how to do it well.
In Zentzuji, a neighboring town, there is a large temple and shrines. This old tree is important somehow I'm sure, but since I don't read Japanese I have no idea why . . .
These rows of statues stretched on in front and behind me for a few hundred meters, each individual and distinct.
We climbed to the top of a shrine here. I was tired by the time we got there, but curious to see what it was. Biking up to the base took most of my energy, but had I known how hard the climb was I probably would have turned back. The trail was very steep, and long. But the view from the top was great. This bell here is significant to the buddhist shrine, most of them have one. Each person who made it to the top rang the bell, a beautiful lingering gong. I didn't ring it because I have no idea of its significance. The bell is rung by swinging back the hanging log and releasing.
Here is the last of the trail before reaching the shrine.

Marugame Castle Part II

The three of us went to the castle again, before it was just Colette and I. We were waiting until the weather cooled off a bit, no sense climbing up a 45% angled path in 100 degree waether. Here's a picture of the front door of the castle, just beyond the moat. You can see the small door inset is only about 4' high.
Here is the top of floor of the actual castle. The structure is one of two remaining buildings out of about 10 when it was being used.
Colette sits on a fence posing with a bird. The pidgeon was tagged, we're not sure by whom or what for.
Just outside the castle, Colette loves riding on my shoulders.
She walks ok like this, but it's slow going.

Trip to Tokushima

This picture is from the top of the world, or at least what felt like it. I took this while we were winding up this mountain, trying to find gas. As you can see from the picture we are in the middle of nowhere. Once we got down on the other side we found out that the road had been washed away so we needed to go back the way we came, only we didn't have any gas! Some kind people came through and once they heard of our situation they called the nearest gas station (only 2 km away, but across the section of washed out road) and got us enough gas to get us to another gas station. It was so wonderful of them to be so helpful. Because of them we made it home safely.

Colette likes to wear my shoes















Colette hates to ride in strollers, or shopping carts, but she loves to push them. She goes pretty fast, trouble is she isn't so good at steering, especially since she can't really see. From the front it looks like a possessed stroller ramming into people and walls. She won't let us help her either, she looks up and scowls and says "dant" (don't). Here we are on the walkway over the "whirlpools" near Tokushima. It didn't phase Colette to be walking over swirling water.

Back in Business

Colette at the beach!
Colette at the papaer factory. In the background are hanging herbs and paper lanterns.
The little vampire.
We went out of town a while back to this waterfall. I swam in it and everyone was very suprised.
We're glad to have our internet up and running!