belly picture..kind of

Colette likes giving my belly hugs and kisses, so cute. It is a good thing that we took these pictures yesterday, today I feel so huge and uncomfortable that there is no way I could pose or smile. I tried publishing it like 4 times yesterday but it never worked so it seems a little out of place but I think it was too cute to not post so sorry all of you that don't like "cute" fluff on the blog, it is mandatory for lots of other people:)

Silly pictures

Our branch had a fitness activity on Wednesday because it was a national holiday so Rob got to play softball and soccer. Here he is as the catcher. As a side note I should mention that his team won at softball but lost at soccer.
Next we have some pictures of the three of us, I want to give pictures of us to our friends here so that we can try to keep in touch. You might notice how good of a poser Colette is (just like daddy:)

Here's our little totem pole. Colette loved running back and forth while Rob set up the timer on the camera.



Colette is always the center of attention when we go to eat cheap udon. We also discovered that she likes the onions that they put on top of the udon, further proof that she is a Bennion.

I am going to miss this crazy place...

You know you never realize how much you like a place until you are going to leave it. The first picture is of one of my baby classes. The little kids there are so sweet, the do everything I do and they give me lots of hugs and high-fives. The teachers are also really nice and have even come to some of the MIA activities. I hope that I can keep in touch with them. The second picture is of the same kids, but the always rush up to me as soon as we sing the goodbye song to help me get my bag and to give me hugs and stuff. Some of them are super smart too.
The last picture is of Colette on this weird bouncy thing at a park at the end of the ship-factory row. She kept banging her face on the handles when she was trying to make it bounce.
I know I have talked a lot about the healthcare here in Japan but I just can't praise it enough. I am really bummed to be going back to the US to have the baby, if only we could afford all of the other stuff then we would stay.
Rob doesn't believe me but I would like to come back to live in Japan, sometime down the road, maybe in a bigger city, after I have graduated. Who knows maybe we could even come back and have a baby:) If I decide to have another one that is;)

Spirited Away

Yesterday I had a long break so Colette and I braved the semi-warm weather to bike to nearby New Reomo world, a theme park 5-10 km away. Here's Colette in front of the popular "Anpan man", Anpan is a bread filled with sweet bean paste. I haven't really been able to develope a taste for it the few times I've tried it, it's too strange I guess to eat sweet beans.
An ominous figure guards the gate to a roller coaster.
The place reminded me of "Spirited Away" because it was nearly empty and felt kindof eery. There were restaurants lining the entryways and the main gate after the restaurants was just over this bridge over a river. I kept expecting to see "No Face" (the black cloaked character with a white face mask) to appear at any moment. . . "Uh . . . Uh Uhn . . "
Colette rings a bell.
There was an enormous escalator leading up to the zoo part of New Reomo World. I thought it was interesting to ride an escalator cutting through a forest.

Yesterday morning I had the privilege to witness a Japanese kindergarten graduation. It was amazing . . . from the presentation you'd think that practicing for this day was all the kids did all year, they were very talented, but also robot-like. They played drums, pianos, keyboards, xylophones, cymbals, sang, chanted, danced, all with near-perfect unity. At certain times during the very formal ceremony (I was told to wear a suit, everyone there was wearing either suits or kimonos) the kids, dressed in their little graduation caps and school uniforms, would respond and bow all together "a-ri-gato goz-ai-masu!" very slowly and loudly. The graduation lasted over two hours, with many songs, speeches, and presentations, as well as the main school principle awarding each student with individualized diplomas.
When I walked in a man asked me if I spoke Spanish (of course nobody spoke any English) and it turns out that he and his wife (the main principle lady) both lived in Spain for many years. He gave me his card and we talked for a long time. Funny how many times Spanish or Portuguese has been the lingua franca which we communicate in here.
Later while driving home from my last class I heard clips from the graduation ceremony on the news. Apparently Kogaku kindergarten is known for its music program. I couldn't believe what these 4, 5 and 6 year old kids were doing in sinc, sometimes they sounded better than my old high school marching band!

no epic journies yet

We feel like life has returned to the definition of boredom since the Bennions left, but we just have to remember that just being here is an adventure and that even though it seems a little mundane to us you can't get much more foreign than rural Japan. We hope that is what you all think anyway.

This is our sweet loaner car that we got from the shop when our car died. It had Rob at 4-wheel drive. Things just haven't been the same without it.
Occasionally Rob convinces me to leave the house on short excursions to the nearby castle. Colette of course loves it and doesn't seem to mind the cold, even when her lips are slightly blue.
One of the swans at the castle obliged Colette with a free show of how swans bathe, Colette was more entranced by that than she is by tv, I guess it is a sign that real life is better, duh
Here we are on another day that was sunny, walking around our neighborhood. Our house is the one with the blue roof way in the distance, just a stone's throw from the Gunge-cho's (Gunge is the name of our neighborhood) temple. This is actually on the way back but Colette decided to sit on only one of daddy's shoulders and then she gave his head a little hug. So sweet.
This is inside the temple. There were no monks to be found so I took this picture without permission but no one has ever told me I couldn't before so I just hope that it is ok. Anyway, this was quite a large room but I didn't get the impression that it is full very often, there were only three kneeling pillows and two little heaters next to them. I don't know if the doors infront of the actual "altar" (is that what it is called?) open but I assume they do. The craftsmanship on the ceiling and altar are breathtaking.