Still catching up- End of August party

At the end of August with the pretext of my birthday (about 3 weeks late though)we had over Ritsy's old friends to our house- Manami, Tet-chan, Eiho and Shogo for the first time ever. As they have hosted us a number of times, we were more than happy to have them over and cook for them for a change.
The true challenge was to find things to entertain the little ones, as adults are easily entertained with conversation. We thought the Wii would satisfy them, but the batteries on both remotes were zapped, and we didn't have enough batteries to get them back up and running. Eventually we managed to find movies were a good solution, they both enjoyed Star Wars episode 3 while we were able to relax and chat.
Don't be fooled by this picture they had a great time...
Another popular draw for the children and the adults alike was the cats (Tet-chan had never touched a cat before, he liked them). Even though Eiho was having an allergic reaction, he enjoyed chasing Lanny and Santa around. Lanma was scared to death and hid and meowed at the kids all night. Santa, as usual, was oblivious to it all...
Much fun was had and everyone earned themselves a good nap! (okay this picture is from 2 weeks later, but I wanted to tie it into the blog somehow- Ritsy and Lanma napping together)

After all was said and done...

After all was said and done, I actually had a pretty nice last few days.
Going back a few days I finally managed to get in touch with my old buddy Alex. I was glad I finally got about to doing that and I am reminded that I should definitely take some more time and call some more of my old friends!
Last year in November I went to visit Alex and take part in his wedding celebration in Chihuahua Mexico. I managed to sandwich the Mexico trip with a couple of brief stints in Vancouver, so I was able to visit everyone but it was quite a tight schedule. The day I took off to Mexico, I got up at 6 am and took a bus to Seattle where I caught a plane to Dallas Fort Worth Airport then I waited a bit and flew to "Dog town" as I like to call it. It was a total of 12 hours travel time. But the times there were really fun and well worth all the traveling.
A few other guys came out to celebrate with us, so it was cool to have some familiar faces to chat with. Pictured here are Me, Alex, Mike Ko and Jesse. Our pal Raf and his wife Yvonne also came. Jesse and I capped the night by walking to Denny's about 20 minutes away. Good idea walking in the middle of night in Mexico on your own! Naturally, we survived to talk about it so there is no harm done! It was all a fun time considering this was the location of the wedding...
Actually, not really- I just wanted to throw that picture in there. Alex's new wife is living with him in Vancouver (Richmond) now and they are struggling through the waiting game of getting her Permanent Residence. Gosh, that reminds me of 3.5 years ago (can you believe it's been 3.5 years already?) when we had to do the same for Ritsy's permanent residence- it's a tough time to wait it out, but it sounds like there has been no complications, so that is a good sign! Anyway it was great to chat with Al and I felt bad I had to cut the conversation short because the Skype connection was crappy. Next time I won't be so cheap and I will use a real phone!
My birthday actually was pretty good. I was surprised to find the Mailman at my door when I came home from my class. I had received a birthday gift from my sister- good timing! I got all sorts of little goodies for me and Ritsy- so I was very pleasantly surprised. When I came home from another class, there was another delivery person leaving, we had received a response to my application for Permanent Residence in Japan. They had rejected my application- with the reason that I my reason wasn't good enough. Later Ritsy researched and we basically have to be married for 3 years before it becomes easy to get the PR. Yes, we have been married for 3 years- but I remembered I made a mistake when filling out the application ( I said it was 2 years) - what a dunderhead I am! I have a 3 year Visa right now anyway, so might as well let that ride out before applying again. When we have the baby it should be easier, too, I think. The day before, Chris and Hisano and Akemi had chipped in to buy us some Hokkaido fresh crab. So that night when my classes were done, we had a nice Crab hotpot. It was delicious! In the end it was a productive and fun day! (except for the immigration thing....)
In the end it was all Lifetime Happy Everyday Thank you!

A Concert

On the weekend, my student Josh (shown above) had invited Ritsy and I to take in a small private concert put on featuring two members that live and play music in Vienna and Yuka-chan (his niece?!?!) who lives in Gifu. The seating capacity was rather limited but we were invited as Josh thought it would be good for the baby to listen to some live classical music.
Kouji-san and his wife brought their baby too, but he was a little overwhelmed by the loud noise. He however was very good at brushing his teeth.
The trio had to adapt some of the musical choices to be played by only three people. They played a lot of Strauss and my favorite was a haunting rendition of Schubert's Ave Maria.
The two band members from Vienna brought their son with them, that could speak not only English, German,and Japanese but he will soon be studying Latin ! He was 14 years old and had a great head on his young shoulders! Above is Taro, with my wife.
Afterwards we had a great bbq with fresh fish from nearby Yaizu! Also Kouji's wife made her world famous Thai Curry to which everyone scream- karai! which means hot. Of course we know that she probably only made it half as spicy as it would be back in Thailand!
To end the night we had a cup of beer and listened to the performance again, to which the musicians all took turns grimacing- not sure why- it sounded beautiful!

It was a very special and unique night with great music and an opportunity for meeting some fantastic people! A great way to spend a weekend.

Typhoons, Nuclear Reactors, Drivers Licences, Dainenbutsu, Dinner and Drinks with Some Students!

I wanted to continue reflecting on the visit from my family in April, this time looking at my Aunt's pictures, but there are a few stray topics hanging around that I wanted to address.

Weather and Nuclear power: Last week some nasty weather blew through the region. It actually started on Thursday- before the typhoon hit we had a nasty dumping of rain that seemed to coincide exactly with my class finishing and my entire drive home. The rain was so hard that on the dark road I could barely make anything out. The picture above is a fairly accurate view of what I could see while driving home. Just nasty. The rain seemed to be a little reminder that one of the biggest typhoons in recent memory was paying a visit soon to Japan. Man-yi when it hit Okinawa was a category 4 typhoon and was cutting a direct path through mainland Japan up through Hamamatsu and up to Tokyo. Thankfully by the time it hit here it was category 1 and the winds were a manageable 100 km/hour. Honestly the damage looked minimal in the area- I cleared a few branches that fell off the big tree across the street, but it actually seemed a little anti-climactic.

The next day came news of the big earthquake in Niigata. There were a few concerned e-mails to me as the news characterized it as being central Japan- but it is actually northern central Japan- while I am in Southern Central Japan. The point of interest to me actually is the Nuclear power facility. Japan largely relies on nuclear power- I am sure that you can imagine with such a large population and such small land, the need for efficient cheap power is extreme. Well we aren't too far from a nuclear power plant here in Hamakita- okay it is probably about 40-50kms away, but sometimes that doesn't seem far enough. With the spillage into the sea and the knocking over of the nuclear waste barrels, it seems to me that we haven't heard the last of the damage caused by such a disaster. Well it just strikes a chord with me and I hope that the power plant is better setup to withstand the big earthquake that is overdue to hit here.

Drivers Licence: I went to renew my drivers license on Tuesday with my trusty translator Ritsy (and apparently my wife...). The process includes sitting down for a 2 hour video and lecture. The video is pretty good, at least through the campy acting I can get the point it is trying to make. If I drink with my colleagues they will convince me to drink more than I wanted then I will drive home and fall asleep at the wheel, then hit and inevitably kill a girl riding her bike. I will then be sent to prison and my wife will be forced to work so she will eventually lose the baby that she is carrying due to the extra stress. Okay- all sarcasm aside- I actually like the idea of the video it is presented as a drama which is quite popular in Japan so it will hold people's attention and the message it carries is a good one- don't drink and drive. I hope that it has made some people re-evaluate their habits and saved a life or two! The rest of the session is a throw away- even if I could understand what the man was talking about for the last hour and a half he would have put me to sleep. He was not an interesting public speaker and indeed, looking around I could see some people nodding off. After that was completed, I had my new license- I am now no longer a beginner in Japan (yes, despite my 10 years driving in Canada, I had to start as a beginner).
Dainenbutsu: On Sunday, at the tail end of my class, my students and I went over to the Cultural center in Hamakita and checked out the museum. As we had talked about the Dainenbutsu, they wanted to show it to me as there is a lot of information about the ceremony there. Pictured above are two masks that are used in the ceremony- the characters Hyotoko and Okame. The museum was small but surprisingly nice- I wish a few more foreigners might come out to Hamakita, as there was no English materials made at all! Incidentally about Dainenbutsu, the ceremony was actually last weekend, and that would have meant that the people doing the cermony that night would have had to be out in the typhoon conditions! I hope that they were able to cut the evening short!
Dinner: That night (after my usual Sunday basketball session with Chris and Peter) I met up with the same students again and we went out for a nice night of drinks and food! Kazuo and Atsuko are a couple of real nice people that tried out one of my group lessons and asked me to teach them privately as the class was too hard for them. They both have a great energy and we always have a great chat every class. For dinner we chose a local Izakaya called Iso de Raku that featured some amazing fish dishes.
After some great food, some beer and some laughs, we of course had to have the typical capper- a trip to karaoke!
It was a great night and they were both very generous and very fun to hang out with!

Bentenjima hanabi

Yesterday, my wife and I had been invited by one of my coworkers out to Bentenjima to
watch the fireworks they display out there. My coworker, his name is Warwick, here he is with the children of one of my students, has a place with a great view there.
That's right - I said the children of one of my students. Warwick's wife and my student's wife happen to be sisters so they are brothers-in-law. So here is Warwick, Shun (my student) and I enjoying some wine.
Well Warwick and I seem to have a fair bit in common. We are foreigners, we are both hansom, we both work for the same company, we know Shun, he is building a house right now ( I built a house), and he just had a baby(Ritsy is due in November)-okay well his wife just had the baby. His baby is very new and is so tiny- very cute though...
Warwick's pad was pretty nice, they have a great view of the water and the bridge in Bentenjima (you can find an old picture of the water gate at Benten in this old post). Unfortunately some greedy jerks built some condos across the way that partly blocked the view(you can see the building in the picture below)- doesn't matter it was a fantastic venue! This was also the last chance to see the fireworks at his place as he will be moving into his new home in about 3 months time.
Great to enjoy the fireworks and a beer a chuckle or two all at the same time. Everyone was so nice, and my wife enjoyed talking to Warwick's wife as their situations are very similar ( I guess that means having to put up with stinky gaijin?). Unfortunately Shun couldn't keep up with us and we found him passed out in the upstairs room.
All in all, the night was a great success and very fun for both of us, I hope to do something similar again in the future!

The weekend

Yesterday Ritsy and I had a nice little get together with Ritsy's girlhood friend and her family. Manami and Ritsuko have been good friends since they were quite young and went to school together through high school .
Her husband actually went to school with them as well- though he was a couple of years older. "Tet-chan", has always been a great host to me, enjoying beers with me and chatting in English!
Their family were the first people I met in Hamamatsu on my first trip out here 4 years back and they have always graciously hosted us making tonnes of great food and, of course, drinking until late with me! Actually here is a picture from my earliest visit...
Their two kids are great too! Shogo ( center in the picture with the orange shirt) and Eiho (strapped to Manami's back in the picture), have grown a tonne and are not only really friendly and fun, but they have a great memory! They really remember me well and they always want me to stay over the night and play with them! Very cute.
Shogo is 8 years old now and he is a soccer star. He showed me his MVP trophy from his soccer team and he is just an all around good kid. Except he wants to take a bath with me for some reason...
Eiho is 6 now ( he was but a year old the first time I met him) and he is also a soccer maniac. He has some championship trophies and he was showing me pictures of him 'owning' his classmates in the Sports Day for his Kindergarten. He also is really quite funny- he was teaching me kanji when I took the above picture.

We, as usual, had a lot of great food and some great laughs together. Unfortunately this morning my head was in pain, but it was worth it! I hope that we have more opportunities to visit with them!

Gone and a wee party (or is that Wii party?)

Well, Suzuki's house is all but a memory now. They have left standing a single wall as you can see in this picture and there is a little single room 'house' still standing a bit to the left of this picture. I am still not too sure what the overall plan is with the property but it could mean a whole of new neighbors or something equally interesting...
Last night, Chris and Hisano threw a "yippee we have a week off in June" party for some of ESL College's students. I went down a little bit early armed with my blender, prepared to dazzle the masses with my fruit smoothie and awamori drinks (affectionately known as girly drinks).
As we awaited the students arrival we had a surprise visit from the man himself, Adam. He was filling us in on an exciting sounding meeting about some English teaching nonsense. I excused myself and headed upstairs to enjoy some of the delicious bbq'ed meat that OjiOji had cooked.
I had met Chris' student Yeni before but it was great to meet Simon (her boyfriend) and Sara (my new Facebook buddy) both very nice people.
Simon bore a bit of a resemblance to Harry Potter.
Our friends Taeko and Ayako came out and had a good laugh together between Cat Stevens songs.
Meanwhile Chris had brought his Wii which was quite a success at the party.
Thanks again to Chris for a good time at the party!

Party at Josh's crib

It's been a long while since I have posted, I am really sorry! I have been quite busy over the last week and a half with my mother and aunt being in town, and naturally I will blog about it soon, lord knows I have about 400 pictures to sift through to pick my highlights, but I will get back to that in the next post.

My last post was about the Hime sama doucho festival in Kiga, and I wanted to further post about the history of the festival but was having a tough time digging up the true story, I will keep my eyes open though, and maybe I can tell the story next year! I have uploaded these two videos from the festival though-- one and two. One is about 3 years old from the first time I went to the festival- it includes me trying to be funny with the camera- the second video is just a few clips I took with my camera- I especially like the monks with the basket heads.

On the 8th of April, I had a great little get together with my Tuesday evening Eigo 4 class. One student that has taken my course for 3 terms now and always is not only a great contributor in class, but also contributes to my blog sometimes- Josh- had a little bbq at his house. Unfortunately he only ended up in one of my pictures, this one where I was taking a picture of Harry taking a picture of me(he is in the back with the cap and the grey sweatshirt).
We were also all glad to finally meet Kouji's wife and see his new baby that we have all heard so much about! His wife made some delicious Thai curry that had Ritsy and I humbled in our past attempts to make Thai curry... Kouji also brought some excellent coffee and was hand filtering cups of coffee- it was naturally sweet and delicious! I later learned that it would be impossible for me to buy the coffee as the man who ran the shop in Hiroshima closed his shop.
One of the stars of the bbq was also Takayasu's daughter Yuri, who was shy but absolutely charming!
We also were really impressed with Josh's home in Miyakoda which looked like a log cabin that could have been in Whistler. We later learned that the home was designed and largely imported from Bellingham Washington, just across the border from Vancouver. Ritsy was scaring me talking about making a second home that looked like his.
It was a great BBQ and I look forward to next one there!