In at the Deep End

2010-06-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

June 1 is officially summer time. school uniform becomes so much easier. Just a polo shirt and gray shorts. Kei took this photo. He has finally finished turfing the front garden. Hmmm a bit brown you might be thinking... but K apparently got the turf half price because it was dying off so a bargain in his eyes....time will tell.

Tao

2010-05-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

We saw Tao last night. The tickets were my Mother's Day present. It was fantastic. Apparently they are touring Europe from June so if you are get chance, go ! Lili and Toma were spellbound. I found a clip on YouTube but you need to fast forward over the documentary bits.

TAO

2010-05-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

new haircuts

2010-05-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

New haircuts in preparation for the hot summer to come! They go to a hair salon just down the road all by themselves-how grown up they have become. The lady is a former student's mum.She is really good with them and Lili always comes back flicking her hair around like some super model. Toma is under the impression that the shorter his hair is the less he will have to wash it. Although this is long compared to the haircut he got when grandad took him to his barber last summer !

gardening update

2010-05-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

The little veg garden has asparagus (doing really badly though I shouldn't have harvested any last year..)onions(overflow from the main veg garden) strawberries (new plants so not much on them this year.) rocket , shiso and baby lettuce seedlings and 2 spicy red pepper plants. The pots have tomatoes in and a courgette plant. The plan is too move them out of the rain during the rainy season and see if that brings any more success.

The main veg plot has snap peas(thought they were finished but they have loads of flowers on again so maybe not) 5 okra seedlings, a courgette plant, an eggplant , 1 red, 1 green and 1 yellow sweet pepper plant, onions ready to be harvested too oh and the remnants of the beetroot I harvested last week to make apple, beetroot and ginger chutney. Once the onions and snap peas are up we are going to sow black sesame seeds,basil and maybe carrots.

Look how bad the soil is and this so much better than a few years ago. The rhubarb on the left was grown by seed last year it disappeared during the summer but popped up again in March so I have moved it next to the compost bin with the one I bought at the garden centre last month.

The other side of the compost bin is an artichoke plant. I pulled up the one that was in my little veg garden because it was huge, ugly, had thorns and was loved by really gross caterpillars so this one is probably on borrowed time but if it does flower it would be great to eat artichoke hearts again. (I haven't had them since I lived in France...)

Kei is putting more turf down. The alternative was patio or decking but we face the street so we rarely sit out on this side of the house anyway and grass has a more cooling effect in our never ending summer.

The wind thing is our anti mole device. K swears by it but I am not so sure. If anyone knows a fail safe way to get rid of moles please let me know. The more time and effort I put into the garden the harder it is to 'live and let live'.

Nothing much happening here. I am still learning alot about flowers, soil, shade , sun etc and things have been planted all over the place just to see what happens! A classic example are the cornflowers below. I love them but when I sowed the seeds I just didn't think. They are way to tall to be at the front of the bed.

The yellow chrysanthemums are gorgeous this year. You can't tell that I moved them twice and nearly killed them off once!

I was really worried about the blackberries but it looks like we will have a bumper crop again. I cut them right back to make room for some raspberry canes though so we won't have quite as many as last year.

The back of the house is still a mess but the Christmas tree lives on. Despite being hacked at 2 years in a row, dragged inside and placed on underfloor heating for a month before being chucked back into the cold on Dec 31st there are new shoots!

The soil back here is totally waterlogged. North facing nothing much grows well (except the Christmas tree!) Weeds have never ending roots and seeds blow over from the embankment all year round. But little by little it is improving.

The best thing around the back is that container under the bay tree. It contains bluebell seeds planted 2 years ago and they are starting to grow! Amazing. Well,amazing that I managed to leave them alone for 2 years!

comments

2010-05-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

hmmm....I seem to have lost a whole load of comments. I have no idea what happened. Sorry to everyone who took the time to post! If anyone has any idea what happened let me know.

2010-05-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

I finally worked out how to convert the DVD into an uploadable file so.... here is Lili doing her Bluebird variation for the Japan Ballet Association's regional heat. Under all that ridiculous make up is Lili. She wobbles a bit at the end and doesn't quite get her legs up high enough but anyone who remembers just how shy Lili was will be impressed, I think. Solo in front of a panel of judges- way to go Lili!!!

2010-05-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

2009 Piano Recital

2010-05-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

Golden Week in pictures

2010-05-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

very yummy noodles discovered by accident

playing in the river at the campsite

the view

breakfast cooling in the river

the men doing their thing

cooking the rice

beer and barbecue

pot noodles for breakfast at 7am - ugh

an amazing talking bird at one of the potteries we visited

at the potteries

On the phone to Grandma and Grandad.

2010-05-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

This is what the kids are doing while they are on the phone. They can set up skype themselves now so hopefully they can start phoning while I am at work.(Although Toma phoned America by mistake the other day!)

Toma's first football match

2010-05-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

We were busy with ballet so the boys went to see a Kumamoto play.

April Update

2010-05-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

April was all about school. Toma had a brand new school to get used to and Lili had a new class of friends and a teacher to get acquainted with.

Toma first. Teacher- female, went to school with Kei and has a daughter in Lili's class. Thank god she seems a really good teacher. Very calm, experienced and organised. During the first couple of days Toma was getting a little frustrated with the 'are you a foreigner? speak English!' comments. Nothing nasty just a lot of curiosity but we decided to ask the teacher to keep an eye out for it and she did. Immediately. As soon as she read the letter. She led a class discussion on it and there hasn't been a murmur since!

Lili's year group was mixed up again (it happens every 2 years) but she stayed with some of her best friends and was quite pleased with her new classmates. Her teacher is new to the school. He was a junior high school sports teacher for the last seven years but obviously the Board of Education decided it was time for a change! 35 rather good looking and apparently he can move his eyebrows up and down. Lili may well be on the way to her first crush!

Toma loves school. He is up before everyone else. Raring to go. He walks to school with Lili and Ciara who invariably end up carrying something for him. When he gets to school he has to change into his indoor shoes and go to his classroom. 1st graders aren't allowed to play outside yet.(6 year olds can walk to school on their own though??) The 6th graders go to the 1st graders rooms in the morning and play with them, help them learn the school song and generally police them until the teachers arrive. So far they haven't really studied much and he has already covered most of the basics at Kindy so it shouldn't be too difficult. He walks back halfway with 2 kids from his class and the rest on his own. He absolutely refuses to let me meet him! He has grown up sooo much in this last month. long may this enthusiasm continue!

Both the kids had class observation and home visits this month. Kei and I had to split up and observe half a class each for observation day. I know lots of the mums in Lili's class so it was quite hard to tear myself away to watch toma's class (I am one of those Mum's chatting away during the lesson....)but the 1st graders were very cute giving little self introductions one at a time at the front of the class.

Home visit. Both teachers stayed for about an hour.(should have been 15mins tops!) Toma's was killing time before the next students time slot and we chatted about various things like what Kei was like in elementary school! With Lili's teacher we had the last visit of the day and he just stayed and stayed..Saying that I am not sure many parents sat down with a checklist of things they wanted to discuss! (Kei came back to meet Lili's maybe first crush but not his old classmate )

So all in all school is good. Lili's math is almost beyond me. Multiplying decimals and fractions..math...I hate it. Japanese Language is almost beyond me! I knew this would happen but not this early..

PikaPika!

2010-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Oi oi!! Carry your own satchel, Toma!

Hmmm... K hates his hair and I am not taller than him really... but apart from that a nice photo, maybe...

So cute and I am not biased at all!

Congratulations Toma on entering Elementary School!

Shimonoseki trip

2010-04-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

The only photo from a really good aquarium with underwater tunnels so you had fish and penguins swimming all around you. With loads of hands on stuff as well as faaar too many blowfish..

Toma's lunch 'mother and baby bowl'

Moji port with quite a big English influence on the architecture.

why???

A huge concrete octopus shaped slide. Again, why?

The train museum with a simulator so Toma got to drive a train and make it arrive at the station on time etc.

The bridge.

I had two days in the spring holidays that were totally free, no work, no ballet and no school. I figured that if we stayed home I would either spend the whole time cleaning or cooking so we took a little road trip. K was busy (year end, month end and new customers) but me,Lilli and Toma headed north for the bridge that connects Kyushu and Honshu. I booked a hotel and straight after swimming on Thursday we set off. The weather forecast was awful but it turned out to be ok just a little cloudy. The hotel was within walking distance of all the sights and after we had a look around we went to kurukurusushi. The fish market was right next door and the fish was REALLY fresh, yum. The restaurant was heaving so we ended up ordering nearly all the dishes as nothing stayed on the conveyor belt long enough. Afterwards we made our way back to the hotel for Uno and bath and bed.

Next day we were up early to go to the fish market but the smell didn't agree with Toma who has a ridiculously sensitive nose! The kids opted to buy bread at the convenience store and eat it on the harbour. Toma chose a bread with a custard cream filling and carefully ate all the surrounding bread leaving the yummy cream centre which he was examining carefully when a hawk swooped down and took it out of his hand. The bird's wing was right next to my face!!! Toma was hysterical! We looked up to see the bird swallowing the custard cream. Since when do birds of prey eat custard cream? We grabbed our stuff and ran back to our room to finish breakfast. Toma is probably traumatised for life.

The rest of the day was spent at a train museum, on a tram, playing on a giant octopus slide(only in Japan!), on ferry boats and at an amazing aquarium.

It was really nice to get away even if it was just for a couple of days.

A long month...

2010-04-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

soccer tournament for the top class.One of the many events in the last term of kindergarden. I am not sure you could really call it a match but Toma fell in love with the game all over again and has been bugging K about joining a soccer club..

My 39th birthday! The kids made me a cake which K baked at 300c (because the oven didn't go up to 350c??) the cookbook was American and K didn't know about the whole Fahrenheit /Celsius thing... apparently the cake was black within 5mins! They had to do the whole thing again and i wasn't allowed to get up until it was done! Tasted delicious though!

Lili had her 'half way towards being an adult ' ceremony at school. We had to write a letter to her way back in November telling her how proud we were of her and talk about her good points and our hopes　for her future. I was more than skeptical at first because I think we do a pretty good job of telling her how much we love her on a daily basis but actually when we sat down and wrote it it was quite an emotional roller coaster.Kei wrote half and i wrote half .K's was lovely and brought a lump to my throat.Anyway... the ceremony was a BIG deal. The kids had corsages, we had a concert violinist serenade us as we waited for it to start. The headmaster gave a lovely speech about the importance of having a dream. The kids sang and a group speech thanking Mums and Dad for everything they do. Then we went to the classroom and each child gave a speech about their dreams , sang and gave us a picture.

Lili's said 'thank you for buying me my pointe shoes and for bringing me up!?'

And Toma graduated! No more kindergarden for me!! He was a star! He had a special little role to play and he managed to keep it a secret from us. I cried buckets, the teachers cried, the bus drivers cried...

Farewell to some friends, others will be at the same elementary school.

Lili had her second ballet competition on the 25th .I am going to try to put the video up.

the speech at the 'half way to adulthood' ceremony.

The cutest monkey ever!

2010-02-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

The very last kindergarden show ever !

Kei,Lili and Toma doing their best!

2010-02-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

Way back in December there was a piano recital. Kei took part under duress and pulled it off fantastically although not unsurprisingly since he only had 2 notes to play.(teacher having learnt her lesson 2 years ago when Kei froze in the middle of Jingle Bells)

It is very short ... unlike the kindergarden show one that has yet to come.....

10 at last.

2010-02-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Lili wanted a party for her birthday.For ten with a ten cake. OK easily done.

The party was a huge success. I definitely throw the best party in town! (Not hard since birthday parties UK style don't exist !) The girls all played outside at first and then came in for a nail painting contest. I bought a load of nail varnish, stickers, rhinestones put them on the table, divided the girls into pairs and gave them 15 minutes each to paint their partner's nails. They loved it! I think it was a first for most of them and they really got into it. Of course I couldn't pick a winning pair in the end but no one cared! Then we had the cake. They ate the whole thing, wolfed it down .I thought we would be eating cake for a week but they didn't even leave a slice for K!

After that it was the hat, scarf , dice smarties and chopsticks game. A great game -takes ages ,loads of suspense,no winners or losers and you only need to buy a tube or two of smarties.

The finale was a game where each child ties a balloon to their ankle with a long string and then on a count of 3 everyone tries to burst everyone elses balloon whilst trying to protect their own. Loads of screaming and lasts about 30 secs but great fun!

And that was it -party over! All the girls asked Lili to invite them next year even if they change classes which was cute and 3 of them are coming over next weekend for another nail painting session!!

yum! (or not?)

2010-01-27T03:02:00.000-08:00

I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I saw the ear to ear smile on K's face and it was. K came home Saturday night carrying bags of 'stuff'. The huge bag of fruit from MIL was gratefully received . The tuber? root? potato? less exciting. K on the other hand was well impressed. 'top grade, high quality, expensive, a real treat' were just a few of the exclamations as he opened the box. Actually it is a rather slimy vegetable that makes your hands itch and has the consistency of wallpaper paste but whatever, as long as i didn't have to deal with it.

Sunday, K was talking about lunch by breakfast. He got Lili on board and the two of them cooked(?) lunch.

Mmmmmm! Ground up tuber.

Placed on white rice and topped with soyasauce certainly not something I would choose to eat but I didn't have to cook and we had fish pie and apple and blackberry crumble for tea the night before so I shut up and ate while the rest of the family heaped praise on the tuber and ate copious amounts of the stuff.

They then decided to make takoyaki (batter with octopus) with the rest of it for dinner. Dh and Lili bickered the whole way through it. They wind each other up really badly at the moment it is worse than any sibling stuff. It is very funny to listen to though!

You pour the batter into the moulds add octopus chunks wait for it too start setting and then keep turning the batter over until it is a round shape. Toma and Lili did most of the cooking , K supervised and I drank beer! Perfect.

The next day I phoned the lady who gave us the yamaimo and thanked her. She was so pleased that we liked it that she has promised to drop more off in the very near future....on the upside at least I won't have to cook!

Wash my nose!

2010-01-18T01:13:00.000-08:00

You know you are fighting a losing battle culturally when your 9 year old asks you to take her to the doctors so she can get her nose washed.

Lili was really bunged up with cold on Sunday. Her head and eyes hurt and what with that and a hack of a cough she barely slept last night. (Actually we both hardly slept as she came in crying at 2:30am and asked me to sleep in her bed... and since the humidifier was in her room .. I did)

So this morning she asked if she could go to the doctor get her snot sucked out with the nose vaccuum cleaner then have water pushed up one nostril and come out the other one. Yuck!

(Just to keep the cultures even she is now sat with a vicks soaked towel over her head in the bath! )

I have to say her nose is loads better and fingers crossed she will sleep like a baby tonight.

Spring?

2010-01-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

We had glorious weather on Sunday. It was definitely warmer outside than inside. So using the fact that Lili was full of cold and therefore housebound I dragged Kei outside to sort out the garden. We cleared up all the leaves, twigs and branches (left where they dropped on our end of year pruning session) I weeded the flower beds and K dealt with the veg plot. There are actually some bulbs blooming already and the primroses are beautiful. shh , don't say it too loudly but spring is around the corner.

No socks

2010-01-14T05:31:00.000-08:00

Lili left for school in the snow this morning. It wasn't settling but it was coming down thick and fast. She had no coat on just a thin blazer and a scarf and gloves. Fast forward to 3:30pm and she comes home with no socks on. In January.In the freezing cold. Why? Because they got wet while she was playing football in second period. Yep, second period. She has had no socks on since 10am and only flimsy indoor shoe things on her feet.In a school with no heating where they think it is invigorating to open all the windows after every lesson.
I mention this to Kei and his response is 'What's the problem ? She should count herself lucky, in my day we weren't allowed to wear trousers..'
What is it about enduring the cold that so amazingly character building? I just don't get it. I had to fight every step of the way to get my underfloor heating (3 rooms not the whole house) because Kei felt that you should be able to feel the passing of the seasons. Er... step into the garden.. Here ends the rant.

6 today!

2010-01-13T05:33:00.000-08:00

The requested birthday breakfast: egg and soldiers.Spot THE best birthday present this year. Thanks Malina!

Snow especially for the boy who wanted to build a snowman for his birthday. How cool is that?

(I was rudely awaken by the kindergarden phone tree at 6:36am letting me know that the school buses weren't running and we don't even use the bus. Argg! I then had to rudely awaken the next mum.)

We had the snowman done by 7:40 Lili even got to help before she headed off to her freezing cold-we don't believe in heating-elementary school.(She had to be persuaded to wear a wind breaker style jacket-she was worried the teacher would tell her off.Argg again!)

I know it doesn't look much but it never snows here.

12:30 and it has nearly all gone. K is home on and off all the time at the moment. The shop is always really quiet this time of year. He suddenly decided to fix something I have been asking him to do for ages.On the coldest day in years with no preparation or tools. Why?I have no idea but I am not complaining.

I went to get Toma and saw that they were getting ready for the Dondoya ceremony tomorrow. They burn all the old New Year decorations and roast mochi in the fire. He has such a good week this week. Monday was a holiday, Tuesday was the monthly birthday party,today is his birthday, tomorrow is Dondoya and Friday is 'casual day' - a once a month chance to dump the school uniform and wear your own clothes.

The cake. A bit of a cop out this year but Toma was impressed!

Happy birthday Toma! We went out for dinner after this because he wanted pizza that 'isn't made by mummy'. The cheek!

2010-01-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

Toma is 6 on Wednesday! He wanted to make a snowman for his birthday but Kei gently persuaded him that ice skating would be even better. (No snow around here.. not like the UK)He found an outside rink on Ebino Plateau on the kumamoto/Miyazaki border. The road up the mountain was deserted and absolutely breathtaking beautiful. There were even deer at the side of the road.

Then we turned a corner and there were 3 car parks full of cars,souvenir shops, restaurants, hot springs and the ice rink.. only in Japan.

Toma was so excited. Lili has been skating a few times and was off in no time but Toma was all over the place. This was him standing on his own for the first time!

Snow!!

Wobble....wobble

Almost....

Off on his own at last.

Lili skated almost nonstop. Her feet were killing her when she finally took off her skates.

Ahh! A foot spa ....perfect for aching bones

Nothing like ice cream when you can hardly feel your fingers because you are so cold .

That is more like it! Nothing like an onsen for warming you up!

And what a view.

Ballet- The Fukuoka Ballet Competition

2010-01-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

Last year Lili persuaded me to let her take part in ballet competitions. It was quite a big decision because it meant committing to ballet 4/5 times week and quite abit more money being spent on tutus, entry fees, extra lessons etc but she was determined to do it and I eventually caved in..
Since September she has been going to special ballet lessons on a Sunday morning to learn a 'variation' . This is her solo. Lili's is a typical beginners one:' The Bluebird' from the ballet 'Sleeping Beauty' . She dances on point for exactly 1minute and 8 seconds.
I had to find her a costume and thought I had lucked out when a friends mum offered to lend us one. Unfortunately it was a little too long in the body for Lili and was eventually vetoed by the ballet teacher. We ended up borrowing an older one that had seen better days but was still gorgeous.( The tutu's netting was too soft though and i spent night upon night trying to sort it out. I cried tears of frustration more than once and the costume became the bane of my life)
She also needed a tiara, stage make up, new tights, point shoes the list goes on..
From December 25th (what?) she had special lessons everyday of winter vacation. Her session started at 11:oo so they needed to be there at 10am to warm up and do their barre lesson. The studio is 30mins away and we decide to let them take the train there as the studio is really near the train station and there were some older girls going too. So Lili went off on the train at 9:37 everyday and came back at 2:48. She loved the train journey. 6 of them travelled together feeling very grown up! I was spared the commute and Toma was spared being dragged here and there-a deal for everyone!
Lili had New Years Day off then 2 more days to practice and finally on January 3rd we headed off to Fukuoka for the competition. The 4th panned out like this.;

4am- rudely awoken by alarm and set about putting Lili's hair into a bun helped by half a tube of gel
4:30 A friend and her daughter Michika arrive. Kids set about doing their face make up base. Mothers complain about the early start and make themselves as comfy as they
can in the very small business hotel room.
5am-Kids go across the corridor to the teachers rooms to get their makeup done. Mothers gather in my room to gossip and moan about the early start.
5:30-8am Kids start coming out with full face make up on and false eye lashes (really! on a 9 year old?)
8-9am bags are packed and double checked. earrings stuck on , arms and backs covered in make up. Costumes put on and the backs sewn up.(to stop the hooks coming undone in that loooong 1minute 8secs solo.)
9am We bundle into taxis and head to Sun Palace theatre. Pop concerts are put on here and it looks pretty daunting as we head to the backstage.
10am.Lili goes through to the dressing rooms. I wasn't asked to help out backstage so I don't have a pass.(hurray-Lili is nervous but only pissy with me, well that is what mums are for i suppose, so glad to hand her over to someone else)
10-11am Mums wait for the competition to begin. Kids have their ballet shoes ribbons sewn together and final touches done.Then they go in groups to the rehearsal rooms to warm up.
11am Lili is number 15 and in the first group of 30 to come onto the stage to accustom themselves to the size and floor. Lili looks happy and confident as she spins around trying not to bump into the other 29 girls spinning around on the floor. Mother is a nervous wreck with symptoms very similar to morning sickness as she tries to find daughter amongst all the other 'bluebirds' on stage.
11:05 : 5 judges come in and the automatic scoreboard is activated. Mother is beyond nervous.Of the first 15 dances 10 are 'bluebird' .Some are so-so some are absolutely bloody amazing. I just hope Lili can complete the routine... and she does!! Her legs could have been higher , she wobbled a few times and finished 2 seconds too soon but she did it!!! After what seemed like an age her score flashed up...96... not bad at all for her first time. She probably needed at least a hundred to qualify for the next round but no one was expecting her to do that this time. I am so proud of her what a star!
12pm Whilst daughter is still backstage taking off her make up I realise I haven't eaten anything yet today( too early, too nervous!) and watching other peoples daughters dance is actually quite boring and I sneak out of the theatre..

By 5pm we are back at home watching the DVD of her performance too tired to move but very pleased with ourselves .
Obviously this isn't going to end at one competition Lili is already asking if she can take part in a competition in March but it isn't as daunting anymore and you never know I might even master the whole sewing thing!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

OMG! Where has the year gone? I had all these big plans for 2009 including blogging at least twice a week. Ha! September to December just flew by packed with 'events'. I had letters i wanted to write, people i wanted to see and things I wanted to do... The garden is much improved but still nowhere near finished. We still haven't bought bedside lamps for our bedroom and it will be 4 years in April since we moved in! I need a list of things to do in 2010.
We had a lovely Christmas in the end. I roasted a huge turkey that we ate for 5 days in a row! The kids opened their stockings and presents from father Christmas first thing in the morning then we had a cooked breakfast and Lili went to ballet and K went to work .When K came back at 6 (very early for him!) we had the table laid and turkey cooked and the kids were desperate to open all those other presents waiting under the tree!K and I got nicely drunk and we had a long conversation with everyone at home in England. Not quite the same as Christmas in the UK but lovely all the same! (the trick is to not venture into the real world where life is going on as normal but cocoon yourself in your own little world at home!)
Preparations for the New Year are now in full swing. Alot of work places have been off since the 28th. The shops are heaving with people buying the new year food. (freezing cold food that would traditionally last for 3 days but these days it is soon replaced by sukiyaki and curry rice)
Cars are supposed to be filled with petrol and clean. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom. All outstanding debts paid . End of year gifts bought. New Year cards written. Hair cut. Houses decorated. The list goes on and on... Of course K is working. This is THE busiest time of the year for him. Lots of parties and end of year gifts. The shop will be closed on the 1st but busy again on the 2nd as people head to relatives homes armed with sake.(fingers crossed!) This is a good thing for me! The PIL's house is freezing coupled with cold food and bad TV and one day is enough!
So Happy New Year everyone ! I will be (theoretically) posting more in the new year!

Summer 2009

2009-10-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

We love Singapore Airport. It is the most traveller friendly airport I have ever been too.

I am also very pleased Lili persuaded me we had to go to the pool again. We spent nearly 4 hours there just chilling and it was bliss.

Then we wandered around doing free arts and crafts, exploring the butterfly park and adventure playgrounds before heading for our UK flight.

After a few days at home getting over the inevitable jetlag we headed to my sisters. She was pretty run off her feet the whole time with PTA and end of term stuff but she still made us feel really at home and it was lovely to catch up with my niece and nephews! Amelie in particular had grown so much...

While Lili was at ballet school from 9 to 4 everyday Toma played with his cousins.

Lili had a great time again at dance school but wants to stay in residences next time because it was quite hard to make friends. (compared to the following week in Peterborough where she made friends within seconds of arriving at day camp!)

My sister and Amelie

My Mum doesn't inspire me to start running half marathons but she does inspire me in many, many other things!!!

A family BBQ in our back garden. Organised with military precision and enjoyed by all.

In Japan the boys rough house constantly. They play power ranger type games all the time . Sometimes the fighting gets abit too real, there are a few tears and then it starts all over again. Poor Toma had a hard time coping with the whole PC thing in England. (sorry to anyone who was thumped, karate kicked or just caught totally unexpectedly with Toma coming at them full force!)

The kids love being able to ride their bikes when they are at grandma's house. They don't get chance to cycle much here so they had the bikes out almost everyday!

Disneyland in Paris

Mum and Dad came with us to Disneyland. We all had a really good time . The kids want to go again next year... I was still pretty ill but putting on a brave face (well almost always!) and in full leader mode. A necessary evil as it was really busy! So glad we ended up at a 3 star hotel instead of the 2 star(non air conditioned) hotel i had originally chosen as I think it might have pushed Dad over the edge!

The kids were the perfect age for it and mum and dad impressed me by doing some pretty hair raising rides.

It was definitely worth staying at the resort even if the hotel was mediocre being 10mins away from the hotel meant we could watch the parade and fireworks until 11pm and be back in the park at 8am the next day for queue free rides until the park opened to the general public at 10am

It was so nice to catch up with some friends. Tyler and her family are really settled in the UK now . We left the kids to it and chatted for 48 hours straight. I really miss Tyler .... We also got to see Karen and her gorgeous baby Oliver but only briefly as Toma got suspected swine flu and Mum had to come rescue us! Will definitely be back again next year. And last but not least Emma and Emily who I hadn't seen for ages! (hello there!!)

Did I mention how much I love Singapore airport? Free bouncy castle- unlimited usage while mother sleeps in corner near by.

Ballet and more ballet

2009-10-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Toma's sports day was sandwiched between two ballet shows for Lili. Nothing big just appearing in a couple of dance festivals but they still needed all the make up done etc. Lili was really excited because she got to wear points for both of them and it is always fun for them to have a performance and wear the tutus and costumes

I will see if I can get some video up later...

Halloween Party

2009-10-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

The smallest party. There are 8 altogether. Most have about 20 kids attending...

Toma loves his skeleton costume

Mother spreads flu around zoo.

2009-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well I hope it was worth it! Toma certainly had a good time.
After assuring the staff at kindergarden that I couldn't possibly have flu because we had all had it in England we got on a coach with all the kids , mothers and a scattering of fathers from Toma's class and headed for the zoo. We had the obligatory group picture, then free time, lunch and a couple more hours free time. The highlight was the amusement rides and the animals only got a cursory glance but the boys were sooo excited it was pretty infectious.
For the mums the highlight had to be watching them in the mirror maze. They went running in and were screaming and laughing as one by one they hit their heads on the glass (we could hear the thuds from outside!) after about 15 minutes there was alot less conversation and still no sign of anyone being able to make it out! -very good value for money. Finally Toma made it out first (the star!) and started screaming instructions to the others and after a further 5 mins everyone was out. They threw themselves on the grass in exhaustion.. 100yen well spent!

That evening Lili developed a fever and had to miss her field trip the next day. Alarm bells started ringing as her BF from ballet had flu so I took her to the doctors to be screened. Doctor thought my hack of a cough was suspicious and tested me too- we both have swine flu! So not only did I do two Halloween parties with flu but I went on a coach trip too- how popular am I going to be?

Finally..

2009-07-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

Every summer Toma's Kindergarden has a stag beetle hunt and every summer we have missed it. Luckily they moved it forward this year and Toma has been looking forward to it for weeks. The rain has been terrible all week .(The rainy season started late this year and is dragging on.. yuck) but but this morning was sunshine thank god.

I didn't go but here are some of K's photos. ( The kindergarden has huge grounds , with a wood and a farm garden as well as a playground and track. ) They bred the beetles at school and then put up all this netting and let the beetles go. Toma brought home 5! I am so happy we are going to the UK in 3 days and I won't be responsible for keeping them alive!

Beetles and Bugs

2009-07-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend K finally got around to cutting back the grass on the embankment between our house and the neighbours.

Not much fun at the best of times but in 90% humidity pretty horrific.

Toma spends most of the summer with a net in his hand catching grasshoppers,frogs and beetles .The overgrown bank was his favourite spot!

One last try!

One for Grandma!

2009-07-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Lili doing her piano practice- honestly doting Grandmas only!

Another one for grandma!

2009-07-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Toma after 7 lessons and a very patient teacher.

Elementary School

2009-07-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the 3rd time I taught at Lili's school. I am loving it. They are pretty disorganised and it is sooo hard for me to go with the flow but I am. It is entirely voluntary but the headmaster is trying to get some funding and you never know.
More than the money I love being back in a real classroom. I have been going in twice a month to read picture books , part of a PTA thing and of course being the only caucasian Mum most of the kids know me but now I get to go to the staffroom and talk to people who work for a living quite unusual in my day to day life!

I also get to see Lili's teacher who is lovely and always gives me titbits of information about her school life which I wouldn't normally hear. Unfortunately I also get to teach with some teachers who might end up teaching Lili next year and I can't help critiquing them. One guy was Mr. Condescending and I was plotting to out him for the rest of the afternoon. I can't stand condescending teachers there is just no need to put kids down to make yourself look good.

Luckily the teachers today were really good. The first one is 23 (first year of teaching) and called Keisuke. How can you not like someone with the same name as your husband! The second one is a bit of a legend around here being a shit hot handball coach and an amazing teacher. You only need to walk into his class to feel the respect the kids have for him. (oh and he went to this school himself just like K but 2 years above him - so we are connected in a hundred different ways.)

So that is what I am doing Wednesday mornings just in case you wondered.

The Good Life!

2009-07-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday I was handed a huge bag of very ripe tomatoes by a students mum. (This is one of the reasons we don't grow tomatoes- we receive ridiculous amounts of them in the summer. The other reason is we are crap at growing tomatoes..) Since we have a load of basil in the garden I made fresh tomato sauce and froze it.

K often cooks on Sundays and this week he decided to make pesto with some more of that basil. (Pesto can be found here but it is rare and quite expensive) It was yum but really garlicky . We also had our first batch of blackberries so I made a crumble. K wondered out loud if you can make anything else with blackberries so if anyone has anymore ideas let me know. Although ,I can throw together a crumble in 15 mins so it would have to be good to replace the crumble!

That was it for culinary delights but we also got plums off the tree, 2 okra and some peppers.

I am well and truly hooked!

The ballerina's broken toe?

2009-07-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Fridays are beyond hectic. I send Lili off to school at 7:30 am and I don't see her again until around 11pm. Kei picks the kids up from school and takes them to the shop/baachan,jiichans (PIL) . I finish work around 9:30pm but the kids like to hang out at the shop until daddy finishes and Friday is one of his busiest days.
Anyway last Friday Lili limped into the house. A 6th grader had stepped on her foot and it had swollen right up. Arg! No one had thought to put ice on it which is strange because obaachan loves to put ice on bumps. I sorted her out and sent her off to bath and bed but the next day it was no better so we popped to the doctor to check it wasn't broken. The doctor took an x-ray and declared it ok but bruised. She was banned from walking to school (yeah!) and from points at ballet until we are back from the UK. Obviously Lili was devastated but she has been hamming it up and limping around for days now so I think she is secretly enjoying herself.
Keep your fingers crossed that T and L are getting all injuries and sickness out of the way this week and that our flight to the uk will be ok.

Measles...

2009-06-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Toma had measles and yes he did have his jabs! Apparently you can still get it. It was pretty mild but he has been ill since last Thursday, diagnosed with tonsillitis on Saturday, woke up with a rash on Sunday and was finally back at Kindergarden this morning.
I was rather put out about missing my book club meeting on Saturday night which led to a melt down on Saturday along the lines of: 'Why the hell does my life come to a standstill when the kids are ill but you get to carry as normal !' K was of course working but all the same.. Still I was shocked when the doctor said measles and rather glad I had stayed home.

Earthquake!

2009-06-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

I was just sat reading the comments mum posted on here when the room shook. Not alot but enough to make my tummy turn over. I feel a whole lot safer now we are in our house and not our old apartment. Of course the first thing we did was switch on the TV to see how strong it was. Only a 3 so not too bad but it has been a while since we had an earthquake. It reminds me that we should really be more prepared. I know what we are supposed to have but we never get around to doing it.

Not a great start to the day!

2009-06-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

The view from the back of my house about 2 weeks ago.

This evening. The far right hand fields have been planted with rice already.

I swear the farmer who owns the fields behind our house started ploughing at 4am. Ugh. I know it is cooler in the morning. I know he takes time off from his real job to farm the family field. But 4am. Luckily we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning last night so at least all the windows were closed.

It would seem that the son comes and prepares the paddy field and then the parents (in their 80's?) sow the rice plants. They only got half of it done today so I bet I am in for another early morning tomorrow. The highlight will be in September when the use a model helicopter to spray their crop and my garden with toxic chemicals. Even so I would much rather have rice fields to look onto than some apartment building or worse. I always sigh with relief when I see them out in the field in June, free from developers for one more year.

Ok, Toma is out bowling with K and now I have to go pick up Lili from ballet, bye!

Ballet

2009-06-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

I am now officially a 'ballet mum' . Lili does ballet 5 times a week. Yes, five times a week! Sat, Sun,Mon, Tues, Wed. Saturday and Tuesday are in Tamana so no problem there. K can help out and we just drop her off and come home. The other days the studio is 20 mins away. Alot more hassle. Everything requires careful planning. We normally have an hour to get her changed, hair done, homework done and dinner eaten. No mean feat. On Mondays there is piano to squeeze in as well.
Why do I let her do it? She loves it. She shines when she is dancing. Lili was pretty shy when she was younger and even now she hates standing out. (And she certainly stands out!) But dancing is different she has alot more confidence now and is on a natural high after every lesson.
Homework gets done in a snap and the idea of having to quit ballet if her school work suffers has kept her very focused.

So what is there to moan about?

1. The ballet mums are a nightmare. They have far to much free time on their hands and like nothing better than to bitch.
2. Ballet teachers are a breed onto their own. Classes always run over. NOTHING is more important than ballet.
3. Sewing now plays a bigger part in my life than was ever meant to be.
4. My days off are busier than my work days..
5. It costs a bloody fortune!

33.6 degrees!

2009-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today was hot. Really hot. 33.6 c Far too hot to do much if you didn't have too. Unfortunately for Kei he was working. The rest of us put the air conditioner on (first time this summer) and slumped in front of the T.V. Apparently it is going to rain for a week starting tomorrow so it should be a bit cooler but a lot more humid. Still, there is something about the evenings on really hot days, balmy evenings with light wind and the sound of cicada or, in our case, frogs that I love.
Happy Fathers Day Dad! will phone I promise.
Oh and I changed the comments setting so that everyone can post without a google id etc.

Pottery day at Kindergarden

2009-06-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had a thing at kindergarden. Every year the top class make the appropriate animal for the Chinese new year for the year they graduate. 2010 is the year of the Tiger. Lilli's was a Dog- so much easier. (can you see the decorated bamboo in the photo above? that is for Tanabata festival on the 7th of July. The kids hang up wishes on the tree. Toma wants to be a action hero, no surprises there!)

Toma with his friends

All the mums and kids in the main hall getting ready to make our tigers

The finished thing. We have to go back again to paint them. Unfortunately Mummy forgot to write our name on it. Hope it can find its way back to us...

Learning to ride his bicycle

2009-06-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

After we dropped Lili off at ballet Toma and I popped to the local beach to practise riding his bike. He is not at all interested but there are so many more opportunities to ride when we are in England so I really want him to master it before we go. After a very trying 30mins using up every ounce of patience I own this is Toma holding up 9 fingers to show how many seconds he rode his bike before braking. Take my word for it , he is no where near riding yet but I promised we would go home if he stayed on for more than 5 seconds without braking!

down and out

2009-06-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

Lili is ill. Actually she was pretty ill yesterday too but refused to miss ballet so I figured she couldn't be that ill, right?

Turns out she has a nasty bout of tonsillitis. I know it is nasty because the doctor insisted on showing me her tonsils. Huge with white spots all over them. I obviously didn't realise what she would put up with in order to not miss her beloved ballet. Infact despite having a really high fever this morning and not being able to speak or eat she still cried her eyes out about missing swimming at school(dilapidated outside pool that the students clean themselves...) and ballet tonight.

The doctor recommended an IV. Yes, thats right, an IV. The japanese love them. I usually just say thanks but no thanks but since Lili is desperate to go to school tomorrow I agreed. 30 mins later we were home and Lili was already perking up. By noon her fever was gone and her throat much better. She is sure she will be ok for school tomorrow, we'll see....

Saturday night

2009-06-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

Gina (so cute and never without her glittery purse)

Toma, Kei, Lili and Emma watching HSM 3.

Fiona, Anne Marie and Charmaine

Had a lovely weekend.

2009-06-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend was very busy but lots of fun. On Saturday morning Lili had a school thing. Once a year there is an event organised by the PTA for the year group and their families. Last year we had a P.E. specialist come in and do a session which was really fun. This year Kyuden (the regional power company) came in and did a hands on talk on hydro electricity. The speakers brought in huge balls filled with different gases and the kids had a great time trying to work out the differences. They then made a static electricity powered light each. The highlight was kakikori tabehodai (as much as you can eat crushed ice drink) lots of kids walking around with green, red and blue tongues

We rushed back home for a quick tidy up and to make a couple of salads and 2 blackberry and apple crumbles before our guests arrived. Charmaine and co were first to arrive. Lili was delighted to see Emma again. They disappeared into her room almost straight away only to come down later covered in makeup. Then Fiona arrived with Gina. Aiden is 11 and decided he would rather go fishing than hang out with a group of girls, understandable! And lastly Anne Marie arrived. Everyone is so busy these days it is really hard to get everyone together but it is soooo nice when we do.

The highlight of the evening was probably cranium played while drinking copious amounts of alcohol and eating far too much Swiss chocolate supplied by Anne Marie's cousin who had just been over for a visit. My face ached from laughing and humming !

The next day we had a leisurely breakfast and lots of caffeine before I kicked everyone out around noon so that I could nurse my headache. K obviously realised I wouldn't be up for much and took the kids out for the afternoon returning with dinner, thankyou!

Struck down with a tummy bug!

2009-06-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry the blog has been so quiet this week. I woke up in the middle of the night on Tuesday and promptly threw up. Continued to do so all day Tuesday. I had to cancel work which I rarely do because phoning all the mums is so much hassle it is easier to work but had a fever so I figured the mums wouldn't really want me near their kids anyway.
K was a star and took over all the school runs, ballet runs etc but he didn't get many points for throwing a bottle of Pocari Sweat (think lucazade (sp)- lovely name for a drink though Pocari Sweat don't you think!) in my direction and fleeing the scene. Lost 3 kilos though so not all bad!!
I was back to normal by Wednesday afternoon but spent the rest of the week chasing my tail trying to catch up on all the stuff that should have been done when I was hiding out under my duvet on Tuesday.
No sign of anyone else getting it yet although K had psychosomatic symptons from the moment I threw up .... getting more like his father everyday LOL...

our sunday

2009-06-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yep, we harvested those potatoes. loads more than last year. I don't know who enjoyed themselves more the kids or K

This is the only smile Toma can do at the moment- but isn't it cute!

While I was doing the ballet run K and Toma were playing shogi . Don't ask me how it works but it is Tomas favourite thing to do at the moment.

The 'I've won' victory smile apparently.

We decided to have a BBQ and Lili was on rice ball duty.

Did we really need every piece of camping equipment out for a family BBQ?

Can you see the metal box and blue bin? That is the reason for the BBQ. K brought home the left over beer from the festival the night before.The blue bin was full of ice.(which ended up down T-shirts and in pants later of course!)

and of course we finished with fireworks ,well, sparklers really!

We had a really lovely Sunday but I am suffering today AND I didn't get to speak to my nephew Charlie on his birthday- sorry!

the veg plot

2009-06-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

The two veg plots. In the little one in the forefront we have asparagus, butternut squash, strawberries , basil and we are attempting to grow rhubarb from seed! Oh and a artichoke seedling. (Look Dad someone bought that house!)

At the back we have okra (ladies fingers) planted a couple of weeks ago. We had no success with these at all last year.

Potatoes. Ready for harvesting tomorrow afternoon with the kids

Peppers. Green, red and yellow

blackberries are beginning to ripen

plum tree had flowers for the first time this year and we even have some fruit

4 cucumber plants this year (Toma's preferred salad item)

I am probably the only one who likes courgettes but I have 3 plants...

Busy in the garden

2009-06-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

toma was particularly proud of his all shades of red fashion choice.. hmm seem to remember doing exactly the same myself...

one for Grandma!

2009-06-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

Lili has a new leotard!

It's official- summer is here

2009-06-02T17:30:00.001-07:00

From June 1st Toma is in his summer uniform! (take my word for it the straw hat is a vast improvement on the winter uniforms beret.)

sports festival is over!!

2009-05-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Lili's Sport Festival at Elementary school. If that conjures up ideas of egg and spoon races on freshly mowed grass, think again! Lili spent a month practicing for this. PE every school day for a month. (just the washing logistics are enough to put me in a tailspin) Usually the bento (picnic lunch) is the biggest hurdle of the day but this year I think Kei wins the 'taihen' trophy.
Kei joined the PTA committee in April . He is no newcomer to PTA duties (He was chairman of The kindergarden PTA for 2 years) but Elementary school is a whole new ball game! He was on carpark duty. Easy enough? He was at school at 5:30 am guarding the grounds so that people wouldn't go and stake out their places before 6am! (best photo opps, best picnic place) He then came back home at 7 only to head back out at 7:30 to greet the 3 guardsmen (read 3 pensioners in fake police uniforms with batons to stop parents from parking where they are not wanted.) back at 7:45 to help me get the stuff ready and then we were all out the door at 8:20 to watch the sports festival..At which Kei was chief cameraman having been instructed by Lili to video everything she was in! 7 hours later it was over and we all headed home except Kei who had to help put down all the tents etc with the rest of the PTA. He finally came home at 5pm only to leave again at 7 for the end of sports day drinking party with all the teachers and the PTA. So I don't really feel I can complain about making the picnic lunch this year!

Lili really enjoyed herself and I will try and post abit of video when I learn how to. The highlight of the day (low light?) has to be Toma falling bottom first into the school turtle pond which is basically slimy stagnant water. He let out such a scream and was drenched from top to tail thank god it was as we were waiting for Lili to take her home! Apparently he was the third child to do so that day and where was his Mum you ask. Deep in conversation ...

yummy apricot jam

2009-05-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night as I was finishing my last class one of the mums thrust a warm jar of apricot jam into my hand. She gave me a jar last year too and it is divine so I started drooling and telling her how pleased I was. She then said she had another 7 kilos to get through and would I like some apricots so that I can make my own jam? I should have taken the jam and run!

Several hours later ( 1amish) , 1 burnt pan and 5 jars of unset jam and I was ready to drop!

Turns out I had mixed up the imperial and metric weights so no where near enough sugar. Dumped it all back in the pan in the morning added loads of sugar and finally success!

Baked some rye and yogurt bread in the bread machine and da da.... a very yummy breakfast!

(Also got to give jam to a few people who are constantly giving us stuff...lessening the guilt of forever receiving and never giving!)

Packed Lunch

2009-05-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Toma has a kindergarden excursion today. A trip to the port , 10 mins away, to look at the ferry, lunch at the park and back to school. So A picnic lunch was needed. Making the bento is not really such a big deal but thinking about making the bento puts me in a bad mood! It disrupts my morning routine and on top of that today was my turn for 'flag duty' ( standing at the nearest pedestrian crossing waving my flag at cars unwilling to stop- think lollipop lady)
Strangely Kei was very keen to do my flag duty for me this morning, first time ever he has done it! Turns out he has golf all day today and then a shochu party in the evening.... so he was buttering me up since I will have to do all the ferrying around of kids tonight!
Anyway in true blogging in japan tradition... here is Toma's lunch! Don't know if you can tell but the sausages are shaped like crabs! He insists on having a two tier box which is really for adults so it is a bugger to fill.

Packed Lunch

2009-05-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

First fireworks of the year

2009-05-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

One minute we were watching TV the next minute Kei had us all outside playing with sparklers. there is nothing like the smell of fireworks !

blackberries galore

2009-05-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

OK.. These are the blackberries . Rather a lot of them. I blame Rachel's mum for telling me how to prune them and Dad for using a whole tube of rooting hormone in the soil where they are planted! I will obviously be making A LOT of jam.

After the rain.

2009-05-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it rained and rained and rained. It felt like the rainy season had come early. I was drenched twice doing my traffic directing between classes. I wanted to take some pictures of my garden looking fabulous but this morning it is just waterlogged with all the flowers looking quite pitiful.
My office lady came to work this morning in a frenzy. Apparently masks are selling out even here in Tamana. She saw people with shopping baskets full of the things yesterday and her husband who works at the post office said they were inundated with people sending boxes of masks to relatives in Osaka! (where there are no masks left whatsoever.) The whole country is in panic mode whipped up by a media with nothing else to report on. We will have to prepare a letter next week with details of what will happen if the schools close, argh!
Keep your fingers crossed everyone that it peaks soon and I won't have to cancel my trip home to the UK. Apparently it is a group responsibility thing- if I bring it back with me and Lilis' school has to close I will be cast out , gain a reputation for irresponsibility and lose students! Last night a headmaster of a high school broke down on TV apologising for having let his students go abroad- madness!