A pretty boring day really. The only thing worth mentioning is my visit to the dentist (which shows you I'm scraping the barrel for news!) I'd washed my hair before going and although I'd dried it, it must still have been a bit damp because after I'd been lying in the chair for nearly an hour, and then talking to not one but two dentists, I went to the toilet only to realise that it had dried 'properly' and was sticking straight up!! No wonder the receptionist was looking at me strangely. If that wasn't bad enough, all of the grey hairs were VERY visible so I decided tonight was definately time to dye it.
Tomorrow I have to go to Ka's school for the last meeting before they leave in January so it's just as well I've done it. Since I don't see them that often, they won't realise that it's not my 'normal' colour (in fact since I've done it, I haven't even looked in a mirror myself - wonder what colour it actually is).
Ka had requested a retired couple as homestay parents but got an email from her host 'sister' yesterday. She will be staying with an 8 year old boy, a 13 yo girl and a 15 yo boy. The mother is 41 and a kindergarten teacher and the father is 46 and wait for it - a sheep farmer!! They have 4 dogs, 3 cats, 3 ducks, 6 chickens, 1 rabbit and lots of sheep! At least she can talk to the animals if she feels lonely! The only thing I'm a bit worried about is the 15 yo boy as Ka will probably be in the same year at school as they go into the year below what they are in in Japan. Hopefully they will get along okay though without any romancing!! Not exactly what she wanted but hopefully it will work out okay.
Tomorrow I have to be up at 6 am to get K out to baseball so I don't know why I'm still sitting here at 11.30pm. No doubt I'll have to prise myself out of my futon in the morning!
Friday, 30 November 2007
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Thursday, 29th November
For the past couple of days, K has been coughing and said he didn't feel up to going to school (which doesn't often happen) so I took him to the Doc's to get some medicine. It's nothing serious and had it been one of the other kids I would just have let it take it's course, but with K still having a bit of asthma now and then, it's always better to catch it sooner rather than later. He is quite happily playing his games, watching TV and generally lolling around. The Doc was really surprised when he saw how much he'd grown since last time.
I also went and booked the year end party for Setsuo's company. We are going to have it at the Chinese restaurant in Juso and when I walked in, they must have thought I was booking it for the English Party because their faces fell a bit when they realised it was only going to be for 8 as opposed to over 50! Maybe next year I'll have mine there. I had one party at their restaurant before they moved to their new building and the next year when I went, they didn't appear very keen - probably because it was all new (I know the feeling!) - so I have just had them in the classroom since. If I did go the restaurant route, we would only have to have one party regardless of the numbers plus no cleaning up which would make it a lot easier. As things stand, we will have the office party on the 22nd and then the school one on the 23rd so it'll be a tiring weekend although I am finishing my lessons on the 22nd too and won't start again until Jan 7th.
Now just have to book the restaurant for Christmas day. We've been to the same one 3 years running now so maybe it's time for a change.
I also went and booked the year end party for Setsuo's company. We are going to have it at the Chinese restaurant in Juso and when I walked in, they must have thought I was booking it for the English Party because their faces fell a bit when they realised it was only going to be for 8 as opposed to over 50! Maybe next year I'll have mine there. I had one party at their restaurant before they moved to their new building and the next year when I went, they didn't appear very keen - probably because it was all new (I know the feeling!) - so I have just had them in the classroom since. If I did go the restaurant route, we would only have to have one party regardless of the numbers plus no cleaning up which would make it a lot easier. As things stand, we will have the office party on the 22nd and then the school one on the 23rd so it'll be a tiring weekend although I am finishing my lessons on the 22nd too and won't start again until Jan 7th.
Now just have to book the restaurant for Christmas day. We've been to the same one 3 years running now so maybe it's time for a change.
Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Wednesday, 28th November
I have to confess to telling a lie today. It's not something that I do very often (lie that is) but today I told one of my students that I suddenly got a sore stomach and cancelled her lesson! She always comes on her own - doesn't want to study in a class but also doesn't want to pay for a private lesson and because she is one of Setsuo's customers, I feel that I have to go 'her way'. It usually works out okay for me because she doesn't come every week and so I get a holiday then. She is supposed to phone around 9 am to let me know if she is coming or not but today didn't phone until just before 12 and I said it was okay but after thinking about it, just didn't feel like teaching her so rang her back just before 1pm with 'my ailment'. At least it gave me time to get part of the dinner prepared for tonight.
Yesterday because of lack of time and lack of ingredients to rustle something up with, I just made a sausage and vegetable soup. The veg was just what was in the fridge (a real mixture - potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, okra, cabbage, chinese cabbage) and since there was also a packet of sausages I threw the lot in with consomme and a tin of tomatoes and voila, we had soup. Oh I forgot, I also added pasta to make it a bit more filling. There was a huge big pot of it but once I got back at 9.30pm, there was just enough for me left over so the taste must have been quite good (either that or it was the lack of other dishes that kept them eating it!).
Tonight, since I have more time, we are going to have chicken and vegetable rice, soup (haven't decided what kind yet), Mountain Potato which is eaten raw, grilled mackerel, kamaboko (pressed fish cake) and tofu. All of it is easy to prepare. (I made Inari sushi at lunch time for snacking on - Ka/K are always hungry now that it's become cooler).
I really have to go out shopping after my lessons. There is almost nothing in the fridge at the moment and we are out of milk and bread too.
I also have to get S's photos from the holiday posted off too. I promised S I'd send them last week but they are still sitting where they were. Tomorrow ........
Yesterday because of lack of time and lack of ingredients to rustle something up with, I just made a sausage and vegetable soup. The veg was just what was in the fridge (a real mixture - potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, okra, cabbage, chinese cabbage) and since there was also a packet of sausages I threw the lot in with consomme and a tin of tomatoes and voila, we had soup. Oh I forgot, I also added pasta to make it a bit more filling. There was a huge big pot of it but once I got back at 9.30pm, there was just enough for me left over so the taste must have been quite good (either that or it was the lack of other dishes that kept them eating it!).
Tonight, since I have more time, we are going to have chicken and vegetable rice, soup (haven't decided what kind yet), Mountain Potato which is eaten raw, grilled mackerel, kamaboko (pressed fish cake) and tofu. All of it is easy to prepare. (I made Inari sushi at lunch time for snacking on - Ka/K are always hungry now that it's become cooler).
I really have to go out shopping after my lessons. There is almost nothing in the fridge at the moment and we are out of milk and bread too.
I also have to get S's photos from the holiday posted off too. I promised S I'd send them last week but they are still sitting where they were. Tomorrow ........
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Tuesday 27th November
I can't believe it's nearly the end of November!
All the xmas presents for the school party arrived yesterday and this year's lot looks good. It's always a hit or miss ordering from Oriental Trading Company - the prices are really really cheap but sometimes what looks good in the catalogue is just a load of rubbish and things are often broken before they leave the classroom! This year, even though they look better, I've decided to have 'Santa' hand them out as they are leaving so I won't be responsible!
This year the kids will get
1. a pen with 6 different colours of ink and a snowman dangly thing at the top
2. a squishy snowman ball on a rubber cord
3. a strip of xmas stickers
4. a charm for cell phones (you wouldn't believe how many of the kids have a phone already)
5. a xmas key chain
6. a xmas mug (ceramic from the 100 yen shop!)
7. a jelly xmas shaped sweet
8. a xmas design cotton drawstring bag to hold it all
Just hope everything is to their liking as I'm always out of pocket even though I charge 1000 yen for the party.
We will also have a few games, a magic show and cake, juice and snacks. I've ordered enough presents for up to 96 kids so can't go over that limit. Now that a lot of my students are getting older, and it's no longer 'cool' to go to the party, the numbers may be less this year so I may be donating some of the presents to the baseball club since I can't use them next year.
Must go home and get the dinner organised because I've only an hour before I need to be back for the two high school lessons. Roll on tomorrow!
Monday, 26 November 2007
Monday 26th November
Some photos from the party on Friday.
1) - K's year (his friend is on his right)
2) - All the years together
3) - All years plus coaches (K's coach is at the far left, back row) If you look closely, you'll see that there is only one coach taller than K!
4) - Mothers
The party on Friday was good although I had a really sore head until I'd had a few beers! We were home by just after 9pm so not a late night. One of my friends was doing the MC'ing and I could have killed her when she passed the mike to me to 'say something' to the coaches. I can't remember what I said but another friend said it was all ok (and no mistakes!)
Saturday was a relatively easy day although I was teaching in the morning and had the 2 new kids for 45 minutes in the afternoon. L was home from Friday until yesterday. She was going to a wedding yesterday and so I had to take her and Ka out shopping on Saturday night for something to wear. Whenever she is home, it's like a tornado has hit the house! She managed to find a dress she liked and also a coat and had a great time at the wedding party - she now wants to get married!!
Sunday was a bit more hectic. In the morning I was up early with K and then did the washing and started hoovering the 4th floor and staircases. I made the mistake of going into Setsuo's father's room and was there for the next two hours. We hadn't realised it (and neither had his father obviously) but Bingo had been going behind the father's bed and crapping on the tatami. I had all that to try to clean plus all the FIL's muck to get rid of. Luckily S came back part way through and helped. After that we went to watch K playing and were talking to the coach for a while. He was quite funny - the coach from the team that want them to join had phoned a couple of times and K's coach was getting fed up so said that 'talks' were going on with Seiryo Junior High school with the result that this coach is now falling head over heels to get them to sign up!!!
Also, K had fallen on a slope while running and has really big sores on both his hands where the skin has been taken off. I just put plasters on last night but I think he'll have to go to the doctors to get them dressed. Whenever he hurts himself, it takes twice as long as normal for him to heal so this will probably be the quickest way even if it means a daily trip to the Docs to get them done.
After watching K for a while, I came home to take my Thai friend to my friend's across the road - she is wanting a kitten - and then we went to show her the new house/classroom. Once I got home just after 5pm, Ka wanted to go to the book shop so I took her and while she was browsing, I went to the supermarket. After that, it was just a case of home, cooking, eating then sleeping!
Now that the novelty of being on our own again has worn off, I realise how hard I have to work to get everything done on my own - especially Monday and Tuesdays. If I didn't say it enough Mum, once more thank you for all the work you did while you were here.
Friday, 23 November 2007
Friday 23rd November
Today is a public holiday and because one of the elementary schools had some kind of music festival (not Ks) there was also no baseball practice so I got to sleep as long as I like. It was such a nice feeling going to bed and knowing I didn't have to get up at a certain time and was just as well too because I didn't go to bed until 1.40! I now have 2 classes to teach and then its the party for the 30th anniversary of Ks baseball team.
Last night we met with the baseball coach in my classroom and we all talked until around midnight. It turns out that the school will only accept them if there is a relative who will live with them in the area. In a way it was a disappointment, but more of a relief really. K too, has said that he didn't want to go anyway. The coach has said that for the next three years, there will be a lot of scouts watching them and if they continue the way they are going, then there is a good chance that they will be offered places not only in this school but a lot of others too so it's up to the two of them to keep practising. I think they will end up going into the local team (as opposed to the junior high school team) but we still don't have to make any decisions. The coach is going to see what other options there are. He also said that in his 19 years of coaching, he had never seen anyone with even near the ability the two of them have! You can imagine how proud Setsuo is and between the pair of us, I'm sure we are boring everyone to death talking about it - I know AL&K must be fed up of it all by now. I promise to try to limit the 'proud mother' posts from now on.
Last night we met with the baseball coach in my classroom and we all talked until around midnight. It turns out that the school will only accept them if there is a relative who will live with them in the area. In a way it was a disappointment, but more of a relief really. K too, has said that he didn't want to go anyway. The coach has said that for the next three years, there will be a lot of scouts watching them and if they continue the way they are going, then there is a good chance that they will be offered places not only in this school but a lot of others too so it's up to the two of them to keep practising. I think they will end up going into the local team (as opposed to the junior high school team) but we still don't have to make any decisions. The coach is going to see what other options there are. He also said that in his 19 years of coaching, he had never seen anyone with even near the ability the two of them have! You can imagine how proud Setsuo is and between the pair of us, I'm sure we are boring everyone to death talking about it - I know AL&K must be fed up of it all by now. I promise to try to limit the 'proud mother' posts from now on.
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Thursday, 22nd November
I'm just back from my 'hot date' with the dentist and my purse is 131,250 yen lighter for the pleasure. I now have a new ceramic tooth (I do still have a bit of my real one left but the majority is ceramic) and also a gold filling. If I ever pop off, get to my mouth first because that's where all the money will be! So that is the bottom right hand side of my mouth finished and he will start on the left side next week, probably the bottom. At least he's said that the major part of the work is now finished but there will be about 30,000 yens worth of ceramic going in the bottom. Thank goodness the kids got Setsuo's genes when it came to teeth or we'd be bankrupt!!
On Tuesday I managed to get out an buy K some long trousers, long-sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. He can still wear boy's trousers as long as they are 170 cm but he is in the L size of adults tops. He looked rather handsome all kitted out in his new gear on Wednesday. Luckily he still doesn't have set ideas of what he will/won't wear so it's not that hard to buy for him. On the other hand he is becoming more aware of himself and I often catch him looking in mirrors! He is very aware of his belly these days and quite happy that it's fast disappearing, in fact he is getting rather slim.
Ka came back from school/club last night freezing. The weather has really cooled down and she is still only wearing her sweater (although she wore that during the hot summer too) and her thin cotton blazer. When I said she should wear her school coat she said that they are only allowed to start wearing it from December - strange rule, although it's her club's rule and not the school one. Right now I'm sitting in my office with my heater on and am dreading having to go back home and out into the cold. I'm hoping that Setsuo will agree to going out for lunch since I haven't made any rice and there isn't any frozen pilaf either. There is some udon noodles but I was intending making them for tonight along with Oden. Now that it is so cold, we're going into hot stew type dishes. (I've just phoned S and he's agreed to go out - the noodles are safe!)
L said she'll be coming back either tomorrow or Saturday. Tomorrow is a public holiday but K and I have a baseball do at night. She has been invited to one of her friends weddings - it seems young to be getting married but I think they have been a couple for a while.
Tonight we will be meeting the baseball coach for our 'talk' so will post about it once it's over, either tonight or tomorrow.
On Tuesday I managed to get out an buy K some long trousers, long-sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. He can still wear boy's trousers as long as they are 170 cm but he is in the L size of adults tops. He looked rather handsome all kitted out in his new gear on Wednesday. Luckily he still doesn't have set ideas of what he will/won't wear so it's not that hard to buy for him. On the other hand he is becoming more aware of himself and I often catch him looking in mirrors! He is very aware of his belly these days and quite happy that it's fast disappearing, in fact he is getting rather slim.
Ka came back from school/club last night freezing. The weather has really cooled down and she is still only wearing her sweater (although she wore that during the hot summer too) and her thin cotton blazer. When I said she should wear her school coat she said that they are only allowed to start wearing it from December - strange rule, although it's her club's rule and not the school one. Right now I'm sitting in my office with my heater on and am dreading having to go back home and out into the cold. I'm hoping that Setsuo will agree to going out for lunch since I haven't made any rice and there isn't any frozen pilaf either. There is some udon noodles but I was intending making them for tonight along with Oden. Now that it is so cold, we're going into hot stew type dishes. (I've just phoned S and he's agreed to go out - the noodles are safe!)
L said she'll be coming back either tomorrow or Saturday. Tomorrow is a public holiday but K and I have a baseball do at night. She has been invited to one of her friends weddings - it seems young to be getting married but I think they have been a couple for a while.
Tonight we will be meeting the baseball coach for our 'talk' so will post about it once it's over, either tonight or tomorrow.
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
English Classroom
Thought I'd better post a photo of the classroom now that it's finished (at least all but the bookcases need to be sorted out properly). A lot of people have said how 'warm' it looks so maybe red was a good idea. It looks dark but isn't really. I'm also STILL waiting for the curtain tie-backs to go up - grrr!
Wednesday, 21st November
For the past two nights I have slept in my own bed. After Mum left, I stayed downstairs where I had been but after reading a book - not a frightening one - I got spooked for some reason. It's the one and only time I've ever felt uneasy in the house, so much so that I decided to go back upstairs. I had both Spike and Daisy trying to get into my bed with me and when I wouldn't let them in, Daisy barked and scratched at the covers with the result that I got very little sleep. Last night I thought it would be better, but no, it was just the same only this time she was actually biting the covers too. I had them pulled up tight around myself like a cocoon so that she couldn't find anyway in but she kept on and on. I don't know how but everyone else managed to sleep through it. Eventually either she or I must have fallen asleep but she was trying again from about 6am. Hopefully tonight will be easier or I may be downstairs again.
I also woke up this morning with a sty in my right eye. It's been coming since the end of last week but was slightly swollen today so I went to the optician and got eye drops. Hopefully it will clear up. Between dentists and opticians, all my free time is being eaten away. Ahh the joys of getting older!
I also woke up this morning with a sty in my right eye. It's been coming since the end of last week but was slightly swollen today so I went to the optician and got eye drops. Hopefully it will clear up. Between dentists and opticians, all my free time is being eaten away. Ahh the joys of getting older!
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Tuesday, 20th November
Well after writing about K yesterday, Rs mother telephoned to say that the coach wants to meet the 6 of us (parents and kids) on Thursday night. I know it'll be about the school but that's as far as I know. When I was talking to A about it last night, she said one of the people who works in the same company as she does, lives in the area where the school is and sometimes instead of having Junior High School kids board, they go on a 'homestay' type thing. After feeling quite relived about not having to make any decisions so early, I'm now dreading what he is going to say. It could be completely different of course and there is no point in inventing scenerios but.......
On a completely different note, K woke up this morning and we've just realised that he only has one pair of long trousers! I'm going to have to rush out after my nursery school lesson and try to find some or he'll be wearing shorts every second day! Poor boy, his legs must be rather chilly today!
Just now we have the electrician in the building. He fitted the intercom yesterday and I'm not sure what he's doing now but it involves all three floors. It's good that he is back at work although he says that he doesn't have a lot of strength in his right hand and if you talk long enough, you can tell that his speech isn't 100% back to normal.
Last night I ordered all the little xmas presents from Oriental Trading Co in America so they should be arriviing within a couple of weeks. I've decided to have the party on the 23rd this year and if there are a lot of kids wanting to come, we may have to have 2. Most years that's what happens so it's a pretty tiring day.
Well I suppose I should go and get ready for this lesson. I never look forward to this class although it's not so bad once I'm there. It really just depends on the mood the kids are in on that particular day. Last weeks' was good so I'm hoping today is too.
On a completely different note, K woke up this morning and we've just realised that he only has one pair of long trousers! I'm going to have to rush out after my nursery school lesson and try to find some or he'll be wearing shorts every second day! Poor boy, his legs must be rather chilly today!
Just now we have the electrician in the building. He fitted the intercom yesterday and I'm not sure what he's doing now but it involves all three floors. It's good that he is back at work although he says that he doesn't have a lot of strength in his right hand and if you talk long enough, you can tell that his speech isn't 100% back to normal.
Last night I ordered all the little xmas presents from Oriental Trading Co in America so they should be arriviing within a couple of weeks. I've decided to have the party on the 23rd this year and if there are a lot of kids wanting to come, we may have to have 2. Most years that's what happens so it's a pretty tiring day.
Well I suppose I should go and get ready for this lesson. I never look forward to this class although it's not so bad once I'm there. It really just depends on the mood the kids are in on that particular day. Last weeks' was good so I'm hoping today is too.
Monday, 19 November 2007
Monday, 19th November
Yesterday it was back to the baseball after a month 'off'. For those of you who haven't yet heard, K and his friend R (who is the catcher) have been getting watched by scouts recently and a local coach has invited them to join his team. Their coach has intimated that it would be a 'waste' and had asked the coach from a really well-known junior high school about 3.5 hrs away to take a look at them. It is famous for producing professional baseball players like Matsui but is also very academically renowned too with a lot of students going on to big-name Universities. Anyway, the coach took the pair of them to the school just to have a look at it and they also went to the Matsui museum and the school's coach's house where they got to see a lot of famous people's signed balls, bats, uniforms etc and got to pose for photos holding some of the things. I think Ks favourite was being able to hold Ichiro's bat! The coach also gave them a baseball signed by Matsui so they came home very happy. The only snag is that it was all 'hush-hush' - they took the day off school and aren't allowed to tell any of the other kids so it must be hard for them to keep quiet! We still haven't heard anything back from the school but I doubt anything will come of it anyway since they only have dormitories for high school age kids and in a way I am relieved at not having to make a choice of whether or not to allow him to board from such an early age. I know A did it, but it seems different somehow with K.
We are going to keep waiting until the last minute before deciding which team he will go into from next year (the team he is in only goes up to age 12).
From this week onwards I'm going to be busy with Christmas related events too and I really can't see us moving by the end of the year although will maybe move Ka's stuff just so she can get it the way she wants before going to NZ. Somedays she is looking forward to going, others not! I'm sure she must be feeling nervous about it all.
We are going to keep waiting until the last minute before deciding which team he will go into from next year (the team he is in only goes up to age 12).
From this week onwards I'm going to be busy with Christmas related events too and I really can't see us moving by the end of the year although will maybe move Ka's stuff just so she can get it the way she wants before going to NZ. Somedays she is looking forward to going, others not! I'm sure she must be feeling nervous about it all.
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Saturday 17th November
Well so much for keeping up with blogging!
Now that everyone has gone back home, I hope to add to this but it will have to wait a bit longer until I can get myself back into some sort of routine.
The whole holiday went well I think and we managed to keep the surprise right up until the proper time. There were so many times I had to bite my tongue and try to retract what I'd been about to say but thankfully a) Mum and Dad were both still jet-lagged and b) my English hadn't quite kicked in and so I was stuttering and stumbling anyway! I just wish that I'd had more time to spend with everyone on their own but all being together made up for it and hopefully we will see S and Co next year in New Zealand when we go to visit Ka and then C and Co have said they will be back again in the future.
I've been in my new classroom for the past two weeks now so it's time to start thinking about moving house. Not a pleasant thought but I'm sure it's going to be fun going through cupboards and finding things I'd forgotten about if nothing else. Hopefully we can get it all done smoothly.
Off home now but promise to update with some photos.
Now that everyone has gone back home, I hope to add to this but it will have to wait a bit longer until I can get myself back into some sort of routine.
The whole holiday went well I think and we managed to keep the surprise right up until the proper time. There were so many times I had to bite my tongue and try to retract what I'd been about to say but thankfully a) Mum and Dad were both still jet-lagged and b) my English hadn't quite kicked in and so I was stuttering and stumbling anyway! I just wish that I'd had more time to spend with everyone on their own but all being together made up for it and hopefully we will see S and Co next year in New Zealand when we go to visit Ka and then C and Co have said they will be back again in the future.
I've been in my new classroom for the past two weeks now so it's time to start thinking about moving house. Not a pleasant thought but I'm sure it's going to be fun going through cupboards and finding things I'd forgotten about if nothing else. Hopefully we can get it all done smoothly.
Off home now but promise to update with some photos.
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