More Snow @ School...2011

Let the snow continue! And yes, it did. I was hoping to go to bed and wake up to a snow-less morning, but alas, it was not to be. Monday came and the snow was still on the ground. Of course I was waiting for the call informing me that the kindergarten I work at on Mondays was closed, and it came...only to say that...it was OPEN >_< So, I packed on the layers and trudged out to work. This is what I was greeted with...


Cute aren't they? Meet Konoka and Nonoka (no relation :p)

Needless to say, we were all late for class this afternoon!

She wouldn't...would she??

She DID! But he deserved it, he initiated combat.

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Needless to say, I was hit by the odd snowball or 12, but I didn't hold it against them...

Monday came and went, but the snow didn't! By Tuesday, the snow on the grounds of the kindy were no more than dirty slush, but the roofs were still decorated. Wednesday is when I start work at the elementary school, Tobishima. I live in the city, and there, there was NO snow. But in Tobishima village, WAY out in the boonies (1.5hr commute), the cold white stuff still lingered. Yes, it was pretty, but COME ON! You have overstayed your welcome frozen rainy drops!
*Breathes*
On the last leg of my commute (a 5min walk to the school), I couldn't resist the urge to take out my camera. My fingers on the other hand put up a mighty protest! Before I gave in to their demands here are some shots I took as I hurried along to get to work on time:



Yes, it's early in the morning (about 8:20ish) That's the school in the distance.

A sea of white where the sea of rice used to be.

Tobishima Academy, basking in the morning sun.

SNOW 2011!

Last Sunday, I woke up to a nasty surprise; SNOW! If you really knew me then you would know that I really don't like snow. I may even go so far as to say that I hate snow. Why you ask? Well, IT'S COLD! My name is Summer (just in case you forgot) and I really live up to my name in that I don't do too well in cold weather. Granted, the weather actually warmed up a bit while it snowed because before then, it was too cold for it. Anyways, I of course had to take a pic of the disaster.

Little did I know that this was only the beginning.

Later that day, I was supposed to go over to the Brits' place for some fun and video games. I thought, "self, it's not going to snow all day. I can just go over later when it lets up a bit." Boy was I wrong. But never to be thwarted by the elements, I wrapped up and prepared myself for the journey. When I walked outside, I was greeted by a mini winter wonderland! I have to admit, it was beautiful, but that did little in the efforts of making feel all warm inside.

Yes, cars were out and about. In winter, most people put snow tires on their cars whether it snows or not; they are always prepared.

This little on was outside just having a blast!

The trees dressed up in their winter best.

I continued my walk up to the main road. It wasn't fun slipping and sliding all over the place, but I was determined; I was going to get to the doughnut shop :p Just for the record, I wasn't just going for me, it was my task to bring the snacks; Lauren was going to cook dinner, and Paul was in charge of the video games and ice cream. We were going to get fat that night (^o^)! Anyways, while on my epic adventure through the blizzard of deadly snow, I did manage to take some more pics it's beauty.

I'm SO glad I have indoor parking for my bike Orenji-kun O_O

Do you see what's behind the trees?

How about now?

There it is! The house that winter forgot :p

Finally, I made it to Mister Donuts and promptly got a taxi from there to the Brits' apartment. It's not that far but I didn't mind paying the $10 to get there. However, the ride there was TERRIFYING! How dare he drive at normal speed in the slush?! I almost peed myself in fright! TERRIFYING!
*Breathes* But, I did make it there in one piece. I even received a bit of help along the way from my friends :-)

By the end of the day, I wasn't too worse for wear. I survived the day of snow...but I wasn't out of the woods yet...

To be continued....

Green Ramen

On the same day of the fire drill, the other teachers and I got the chance to go out for lunch. It was still the beginning of the term and school lunch hadn't started yet. This time however, we didn't have a long time to drive around looking for a good place to eat. So, we went to a ramen shop not too far from the school called Takura Ramen (Treasure Ramen). I'm usually NOT a big fan of ramen shop ramen because it NEVER tastes the same from shop to shop, but being that I like to try new things, I say sure let's go. When we got there it was packed. Luckily, with it being a ramen shop, seat open up quickly. We sat down and ordered something I figured I would like. When we got our bowls, boy was I in for a bit surprise. My shouyu (soy sauce) ramen noodles were GREEN! Apparently, they are made of or with spinach and nori (seaweed). I like those 2 ingredients separately, but as a noodles...not so much. Additionally, I was in for another surprise when I saw the "treasure" that was waiting for me in my bowl O.O Needless to say, I will NEVER be going back there again!!!



The spread. Looks normal enough...

Wait! What's this??

GREEN!

SURPRISE! I'm watching you!! I HATE SHRIMP!

Just couldn't finish it after that...

Moutain View

Last week, my school had a fire drill. I had no idea it was going to happen because I missed the morning meeting in the staff room say so. Nevertheless, me not knowing didn't stop it from happening. I usually don't mind them, but the location of my school (at the bottom of several mountains) means high winds and in winter, that means near death for me. It. Was. So. COLD!! Yes, I did manage to put on my coat and bundle up, DAMN! The wind just wouldn't let up. The elementary kids were alright; most of them had on coats, but the poor junior high kids only had their uniform jackets on. Moving on, as we stood out there waiting for everyone to evacuate the building, I got a good look at the beautiful mountains that surround our school. I knew they were there, but now that they have a snow-cap, they are more noticeable. So, I decided to take some pics. First, I had to wait for the announcements or whatever from the staff to end before we could go back inside.

I would have taken more, but my fingers were starting to freeze to the camera so I gave up. I will eventually snap a few more shots (better shots) when they are really covered!

One Piece Pizza

So, I was over at the Brits' place watching some Shrek 4 and we decided to order pizza. My personal favorite Pizza Hut doesn't deliver over there so we had Domino's. The burden of ordering for 4 people fell on me. I called and was DELIGHTED to hear that the One Piece (my favorite anime) special was still going on and was good with any pizza ordered. So, I ordered a large pizza, chicken wings (4 in a box), some potato wedges, potato smiles for Lauren, and ice cream. Needless to say, all that was EXPENSIVE (about $70) but I got a cool One Piece pizza box AND a super cute mug. Put that together with my iphone cover, you can see just how big of a One Piece fan I am :-)

New Year's Celebration 2010-2011

The New Year has come and gone and I'm posting about it 3 weeks late! That's just how I roll :p

My friends and I decided to keep the celebration small and simple this year. So, we got together and did all night karaoke!! We started at 11pm and finished around 5am. I've done all night singing I think 3 or 4 times, but this was Paul and Lauren and MAYBE Simone's first time. What babies :p We started off as a group of 4, then it went to 6 and then back down to 4 as they Rob and Mie left, then down to about 2 as Paul and Lauren ran out of juice. It was one of the best times I've had during New Years. We sang, danced, drank, and just had a blast. What we love about this place (Joy Joy) is the all you can drink bar and cheap food. Nothing beats Japanese karaoke!

One of the pics in our room...What do you see??