反省会-End of the Year Staff Party

Well, another school year has come and gone. Graduation was nice and now it's time for the teaching staff to go out and celebrate their success of teaching the upcoming generation of salary men, nurses, housewives, law makers, athletes, and many many more. I of course was invited to celebrate with them as their very own celebrity (English teacher). Here are some pics of what was served. Just to let everyone know, I HATE JAPANESE FOOD! So, knowing that, the place of choice was yes, a Japanese banquet hall serving Japanese food. All in all, it was a good night of barely eating, fellow shipping with my fellow colleagues and coughing up over $100 per person for the tab.

Enjoy!!

ps. this time, the captions are below the pic :-p



How I was greeted when I arrived at my seat. This is NOT going to be an appetizing evening.


Very pretty-yes. Very tasty-no. And yes, I did try it.


Course 2 - sashimi. All types of raw fish with raw octopus and shrimp. I did eat the fish. It wasn't that bad.


3rd course-baked salmon, egg, some kind of sweet potatoe and slimy stuff in the pretty bowl.


My co-workers!! (only one side of the banquet room-forgot to take pics of the other side)


What I have eaten so far. And for some reason, the staff won't take my plates away. So, I just push them back as more food arrives.


The Ever-full-glass-of-beer. Everyone likes to take turns going around the table pouring beer and having little chats and such. Even if your glass is full, somehow more beer will be poured in without spilling!!


4th course - something wrapped in a leaf. At the point, I had drank abut 3 peach sours and was not feelin' the mystery food.


5th course - MEAT!! This was beef for shabu-shabu. Talk about super happy-food I can eat.


Will someone please take my plates!! Geez!


How to shabu-shabu. 1st, take the meat and place it in the boiling water. (the water is seasoned with stuff-I couldn't tell you what)


Then, move the meat around to cook it in the boiling water.


Wait until it is cooked-about 20 secs, remove, dip in sauce, and eat.


Welcome to meat heaven!! Oh so delicious. This was my first time doing shabu-shabu and it was awesome!!


I even ate some of the green stuff. I did however leave the nasty parts-mushrooms.


Ah come on!! Just take the plates away!! I'm running out of room here!


6th course - sushi and miso soup.


Look! I tried to eat it. I ate some of the tuna sushi. By now, the mixture of cocktails and raw fish is not going to well in my tummy. Oh, that plus some beer-ewww I hate beer.


My plate of Sushi thanks to Hiraide Sensei. Looks as if the shrimp tried to escape, but didn't make it. LOL!


7th course - dessert-terimisu and coffee pudding.


The principal and secretary. He is being promoted to be on the board of education in another district. I'm really going to miss him. He gave me private calligraphy lessons sometimes.


Everyone had a great time eating and getting drunk!! It's always fun to watch them free from stress and having a good time.

卒業式-Graduation 2009

Well, this was my official last day of working for the school year of 2008-2009-graduation day. As you will see, a Japanese graduation ceremony is pretty different from a U.S. event. Here, it is done in pretty much all silence. The kids practice before, then make their procession into the gym and sit down. Those in attendance are the parents (usually the mother), the 4th and 5th graders, members of the board of education and other school officials, and the teaching staff of the school. It is very small. Here are just a few of the 200 pics I took at the event. This was my second graduation ceremony, but I still enjoyed myself. This class was pretty cool and I really enjoyed teaching them, sitting in class with them as we learned math and calligraphy together, and just hanging out with each other during our free time. I will really miss them.
Oh well, enjoy the pics.

ps. the captions for each picture is on top of the pic.

*Translation-Congratulations on graduating*

My good buddy Chihiro-chan.

Preparing and practicing for the big ceremony.

Got to make sure things are in place.

The mothers and a couple of fathers who attended the ceremony. Some were dressed in lovely kimono. Unlike in the U.S. usually only 1 parent will attend-the mother. The fathers are too busy working.

The Principal dawned his tails for the event.

The graduating class sitting upright and in perfect silence.

Bowing after accepting his diploma (?) On the side is his mother waiting to receive his graduating documents.

Yuya-kun accepting his document.

The Vice-Principal giving his words of wisdom.

The after-ceremony dvd viewing of their past school years.


The 2 girls who have taught me just as much as I have taught them. Chihiro (grey) and Shizuka. I will truly miss them.

My boys!! What a great bunch!

Me and my "little brother" Masahiro. He is a up coming 5th grader and just cute as a button.

Leaving the school for the last time.


My latest 6th grade husband-Seiya.

Hello Mitsuru-ku-always has a big smile on his face.

This is one of my 6th grader husbands, Ryunosuke (one with the flower). Great kid. He taught me a lot in both sports and Japanese.

Look at me and my little husband. Why he is giving the camera the evil eye I have no idea. But he is precious. He always answers to "honey" or "husband". Too cute.

Me, my current little husband (with the flower), Yuto (blue jacket), and Harumichi (in the black). They are the new 6th graders.

Presenting to you the Tobishima Elementary School graduating class of 2009.

Don't we look good. This is me and the 6th grade teacher Hiraide Sensei. He is a great teacher and I always have fun teaching English with him and his class.

More of Mia

So, I have started watching season 3 of "So you think you can dance" and of the first performances done by the top 20,only 1 stood out and kept me watching over and over and over again. Oh, I almost cried from the beauty and rawness of it. I LOVE MIA MICHAELS!! I love the way she forces her dancers to break their bodies in order to create the visual impact the desires. I love the way she makes her dancers to go beyond what they hear in the music or see in the steps and she pushes them to dance from the depths of their soul. It's just art to me and it gives me chills every time.
So, here is my favorite piece so far in season 3. The song "Dancing" is by Elisa and it too is now one of my favorite songs.
Enjoy!

True Dancing!

So, I have been doing "So you think you can dance" marathons and I just finished season 2. I know, I am super late and far behind-but hey, I live in Japan. Anyways, this has to be one my favorite routines. It was choreographed by my favorite creator, Mia Michaels. If I ever get back into dance the way I was before, I would be willing to do almost anything to just be in the same room with her, let alone work with her. LOVE IT!!
Enjoy.

Let's go fly a kite

Look at me!!! I'm flying a kite!! Talk about a great time. I flew kites with my 1st graders last week and it was sooooo much fun. And to think that I actually get paid to do stuff like this. I haven't flown a kite in over 10 years...and to think of all of the good fun I have been missing out on. WOW!! The whole time, the Mary Poppins song of "Let's go fly a kite" was stuck in my head. I love my job!!