This is just what we did last weekend. Had a little day out at the department store with Aya’s family, and then also went to the immigration office to change my Visa over to a Spouse one.
This is Kai playing with what could have been considered his first girlfriend. This cute little girl ran right up to him and was playing with him the whole time we were at the Immigration office. At one point Kai went to lean in and kiss her (with a little encouragement from mom and dad), but she was embarrassed and ran off.
This other video is Kai just laughing and playing again with the cute little girl.
Okay here are the pictures that I promised a couple weeks ago. I hope you are sitting down cause there is a lot of them. The first part is from Nagoya Castle, during the cherry blossom season. We went with Aya’s friend who has a cute little son named Yuka.
The second bit is from a festival we went to in Aya’s old hometown, where she was born: Inuyama aka Dog Mountain. And the last part is of the cherry blossoms and parks that are around our house.
Well it has been a good couple weeks since I gave you all an update. I guess I should start off with the new school.
I just started working at a new school, as of Monday, and it has been going well. The teachers are nice and I get to do most of my teaching in the new computer room, with a projector, internet, video, whatever I can mange to use (here right now). It is pretty sweet, plus all the students have their own computers to use as well, and I guess I can monitor them and do some high tech stuff, but we haven’t learned about all that yet.
I have only done my self-intro so far, but was able to show them pictures off flickr and videos off youtube, as well as make an online quiz about myself to make sure they were listening. The new school is a technical high school, so the kids here are studying to become mechanics, engineers, electricians, etc.. This is great because I might be able to check out some of the computer classes, or auto classes and learn so really useful stuff; but on the other hand the students aren’t to pumped about learning English-this makes for some noisy classes sometimes.
Kinda been looking forward to this day for about a year now.
We are packing up the bags and taking off early tomorrow morning for the country side of Nihon. We are going to an onsen, which is a natural hot spring created from the volcanic waters that populate Japan. This is only a 2days/1night trip (and we’ll be dropping about 5-hundo) but trust me it is worth it. Everything is taken care off all we need to do is eat and relax.
These places treat their customers like demi-gods, and the service, food and atmosphere is unparalleled. We will be able to soak our weary bones in the naturally heated waters of old, and then eat a traditional 15 course Japanese dinner, complete with the wildest food creations. Half the time I don’t even know what I am eating, but it doesn’t matter because it tastes amazing. You can see why I have been looking forward to this, ever since the plans to go last year fell through.
We’ll be traveling with our good friends The Hignett’s who also have a little bundle of Joy named Kuga. I’ll be sure to take some pictures of us basking in the nude hangging out at the onsen, and maybe even a video or two. In the meantime peep the new hot-ish of Kai and me dancing, albeit rather poorly.
A winter has come.
I need a hot chocolate,
to shake off the cold.
I was looking for something to keep me occupied before taking off from work and decided a haiku would be interesting.
Anyone who wishes to express themselves in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, feel free to give it a whirl. It is strangely catartic and immediately woke me up from my daily stupor. You might surprise yourself.
Some other Haikus I like:
Snow in my shoe
Abandoned
Sparrow’s nest
–Jack Kerouac (collected in Book of Haikus, Penguin Books, 2003)
I had some great pics from the festival we went to last weekend and just wanted to throw them up for everyone to peep. This festival was located in Tsushima, which means “Island Bay,” and actually was one of the more fun parades I have been too. We had a good time watching all the drunk Japanese men carry the floats and dance around like oompa-loompas. They put on a good show, but remember never to play the carnie games; they are all rigged (even in Japan).
(Make sure you click the little “i” that pops up in the center at first. This will give you the “information” or descriptions that I wrote for all the pictures. Some things needed explaining.) Slideshow HERE
This weekend was packed full of adventures for the Monticello-fam. On Friday we made our bi-monthly visit to Babies ‘R Us. While we were there we picked up some bedtime books, a few small things, and a crib protector (thing-a-ma-jig). I had to get home early so I could rest up for my trip the next day.
Saturday, I was up at 5:30am and off to Kyoto with a few of my friends here. We took the train from Nagoya Station and arrived in Nara at about 8am. (more…)
The summer dates have been nailed down, bought on paper and carved in stone. Mark your calendars for the arrival of Kai (and Aya and I, definitely second to the man) as we make land fall on July 15th via JFK. Our vacation will be extended this year (can you hear me yelling “Whooooooo” just like an Oakland whistle tip?) and we will be staying a full 4 weeks till August 11th. This give us plenty of time to do….well a whole lot of laying around and lounging with you all back home.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that this flight has been booked, FINALLY! It was hanging over my head for awhile now; and I thought it was never going to get done, but I sat down Monday night and hammered it out. I do hope you all will be around during those dates. Anyone for Saltspings? Also since I will be arriving and departing via JFK I should be able to visit with some peeps who live in that area. It’s times like these when the Beatles song Back in the U.S.S.R.runs through my head on a loop, just anticipating the trip home and not worrying much about anything else.
P.S. Today Kai is a half a year old! Kan you believe it’s here already??
I just made a new page on this blog here. You can find the link right above this post, called Videos and it contains all the movies from the past in one neat and tidy place. Go have a look-see and enjoy a lost Kai episode when you have some time. When you’re done, let me know which one is your favorite. I’d love to get more feedback from everyone out there, then I will know what needs to be done to make the next video better.
From here on out all new videos will be placed there as well. No more searching through the old cobwebs to find that video you were looking for.
…Kai has pooed lately. Actually he has been up to a lot of new activities. First and foremost, Kai can now recognize his name. This is huge, I mean let’s say you’re Kai. Suddenly you understand this sound is for you. From now on he will forever know this word to mean “I” and that is quite the accomplishment in that little noggin of his. Of course he won’t remember the transition from no-name to name, and how it changed the way he looks at the world, but it’s a good thing it happened in the Grand Scheme of things. (Sorry to get all philosophical on you there, just feeling rather enlightened today).
In case you were wondering how exactly I learned that Kai could recognize his name, (more…)
