Holidays

We decided since our prefecture if most famous for its udon, we'd eat some. There are udon restaurants on almost every corner it seems. Udon is a thick noodle, sort of like ramen except (I think) way better. There was even a movie called "Udon" which came out earlier this year, and during that time some of the talk shows had our prefecture featured as the hosts went around eating udon.
This shop looked nicer than some, and was near a park we were visiting. Udon's great beause it's only a few bucks per bowl.
I posted a video of Colette playing with one of her Christmas toys, if the link doesn't work it will soon, just check back later.
And for old time's sake, remember this song from last year? Colette's voice has changed a lot since then.
Our friends Rick and Aileena have graciously offered us their last stamp on their train passes, so looks like we'll be taking a trip out of town, probably to Osaka. We're excited to see a big city, partly to eat Brazilian and/or Latin food, there are many restaurants there.

Its cold inside

Our bedroom sits in a corner that is exposed to the wind but not the sun. On days like today it sounds like a hurricane is going on outside. We try to huddle together to warm up but when it is 50 degrees in the house it is easier said than done.
I wanted to share some interesting tidbits that I learned about this last week. We learned that the color of the license plate tells the other drivers whether the car is considered a large car or a small car. Why would you need to know that? Well it turns out that they determine who is at fault for the accident based on who has the larger vehicle based on the assumption that the larger vehicle does more damage so they should pay more. We thought that was pretty silly, until we realized we have a small car:) Also we think about the states and other countries where the big cars bully the small ones, but that doesn't happen here, plus it is an extra incentive to have small fuel efficient cars instead of big gas guzzling ones.
I had also noticed some cars have some stickers that I assumed meant somthing like biodiesel run or hydrogen run or something but it turns out that one means that the driver is a new driver and the other that the driver is a senior citizen driver. I will have to get pictures of the stickers later. Just a few interesting things about driving in Japan.

Christmas Pictures

We had a fun Christmas, but we missed our families very much.

Christmas in Japan

Opening presents . . .
Sunday afternoon, Christmas eve. . .
Making pies. Colette loves to help but often gets carried away. In the time it took for me to run and put the camera away, she'd flung 1/2 cup of flour around the room.
Lots of friends . . .
Colette opening presents.

Christmas

Colette and Annie were Shepherds in the little nativity at the school's christmas party.

The Japanese love to dress up in costumes, every holiday is like Halloween I guess. There's a wide selection of santa costumes, including "Mannish Santa Girl" and "Pixie Food Santa".
I think the shepherd was a little lost herself. . .
Don't forget Rudolf.

A grim look into the future . . .

Colette the politician

Colette the actress, with Keira Knightly-style lip pouting.

baby pictures

Who needs a lazy boy when you have an obliging daddy to watch movies and eat from.












Here's a bad picture of a picture of the baby last week. I had to go to the appointment without Rob because he had to teach, luckily Lori took me and watched Colette while they were drawing blood and doing the ultrasound. The baby is moving a lot and actually had the hiccups during the ultrasound, it made the doctor laugh to see the baby jump, especially since she was trying to take pictures of the baby's tiny heart.














Arg, sorry again for picking one that wasn't turned...She just looks so cute.













This picture is actually from three weeks ago but I think the baby looks really cute and human like, plus this way you can see the progression. I have another visit next week. The baby, as of last week was 8.14 cm, so a little longer than my middle finger, actually that is the Crown to Rump Length, so it doesn't include the legs. We should find out the sex of the baby by late January.

some more of the park...

While we were at the park there was a a family taking wedding pictures. Rob had the camera at that moment so I asked him to take a picture, he was embarrassed so he tried to be sneaky. He took the picture and turned off the camera, but later when I looked at the picture it was obvious that our little family doesn't go unnoticed no matter how hard we try. I especially like how they are staring right at the camera, and yes we were the only ones over there. I actually cropped this picture so that it was easier to see since we were pretty far away. One of our students said that the reason that they walk so slowly and elegantly is because the wig with all of the stuff in is is really heavy and uncomfortable. It looks cool in any case.





We tried to time our visit to this park to see all of the fall colors. Some of the trees had already lost all of their leaves but there were still some brilliantly colored ones in some places. This park is right up against a big hill, there are more pictures of it further down..









It was really chilly but Colette wanted an ice cream cone. As usual Rob was a good sport and helped her finish, and even helped clean her up after wards. It was like watching a lion clean off a cub after eating, only funnier. She kind of looks like a clown with her chocolate nose and mouth.










Colette had just given me a kiss. She even does the kiss sound now. She is such a sweetie. You can kind of see the big hill in the background. There are beautifully forested hills right next to terribly scarred mountainsides and bustling cities. It is really strange.















Oh sorry I thought I turned this one. Anyway this is the entry way to a ceremonial tea house that is in the park. I just love to see Rob standing next to these tiny doors. He makes them look like playhouses. Colette was awake but she was cold so she just cuddled with her daddy. This was near the end of the visit to the park so we were all pretty pooped.

make-up time

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to the park...of course they are all out of order so bear with me.
This is at a pond near the entrance, you can actually see this spot in the background on the next picture where Colette is pointing. One of my students was telling me that Koi (carp) are actually really expensive, especially the big ones so it is a sign of wealth and prosperity to have some in your pond. My student was actually complaining because she had finally convinced her husband to buy her some little ones but the cats and birds kept eating them. When we went to the karaoke place a couple months ago they had some little ones in a tiny pond and it was covered with chicken coup wire. It wasn't very pretty but since I knew how expensive they were and how hard it is to keep them alive I knew that I was supposed to be impressed. Rob still recoils at the thought of Koi, he says that they are the nastiest fish and that most American fishermen hate them because they ruin the water. Here they only eat they black ones because they supposedly have medicinal qualities.
Colette still can't say her f's so she says pissh, she recognizes them because of her obsession with Nemo. It was hard to tear her away from the fish ponds. She just loves to stand there and point them out for us.









Rob loved these trees. He took a bunch of pictures of them but Colette thought they were pretty boring, especially when she could be looking at...pebbles or as she says kak (rock).
She could play with rocks for hours if we let her. Actually almost all of the pathways just had pebbles so Colette was in heaven. We would walk away from her and say bye-bye trying to get her to come after us, but she would just wave bye-bye over her shoulder and keep on playing with the rocks. Hence the next picture....



She gets so preoccupied about what she is doing that she either doesn't notice or care about the draft of cold air on her bumm and back. Which reminds me Rob taught her the word bumm, so if you say where is your bumm she will smile and pat her bumm and say bumm. I couldn't resist this shot, sorry if this offends anyone:)










These are the fish she's pointing at in the second picture. At one point she actually started to throw her little leg over the curb which really freaked us out so we were sure to not let her get out of arms reach, especially around the fish. It is so much fun to go to places like this with her, she gets so excited.

Sunset

Cold weather and tough decisions

Colette and Annie go crazy when they are around each other. It will be sad when theWatanabes go home and Colette won't have a playmate her age, we'll miss them too; they've been great friends.
Colette dictates from her throne directly behind my head as I drive. She has quite the voice and can really project when she wants to.
We went on a walk for the first time since it's gotten cold, Colette was very happy.
More pictures sharing a seat.
Nicolle and I are trying to decide when exactly to go home to the states, whether in May or July. Both have their risks, since the baby could be born early before we can get good health coverage if we go home early, and the baby could be born so late as to make us stay extra time to wait for its passport. We are looking for jobs all over the States, but also in Spain and Brazil as usual. . . This week we started considering another option which would be to stay in Japan for another bit to save money. we've been able to save more here than in the States for some reason, I guess cause there are relatively few expenses. Of course we'de go home for the wedding, but anyway we're trying to figure things out. congrats Dad on the Dialogue article.