風がありませ

I discovered why it got so hot here all of a sudden this week. The normally brisk wind of Shikaoi disappeared. But I think it is only temporary. Throughout the winter the wind hallows, ranging from a breeze to a gale daily. I never wore scarfs in Canada, but since moved to Shikaoi I have seen their clear advantages; mainly stopping the wind from entering around one's neck and in the process keeping you a heck of a lot warmer. Turning to summer again, I thing everyone can agree that a gentle breeze is always welcomed. But on Tuesday and Wednesday the wind was dead calm and the air very still. It immediately felt hot and humid, inside and out. Today the sky looks quite threatening, but since I brought my umbrella I don't expect it to rain.

Wednesday Update

Not too much to share about my world today. A day in the office was welcomed as I wrote on and off all day. Now it's after four and I am losing my motivation for anything. I will probably go for a run after work but I feel so bored, lazy and lethargic that every atom in my body feels like it wants to lose molecular cohesion which would turn me into a puddle. That feels like the most desirous position at the moment. Had a great day at badminton last night, still lost every game but I was fearsome. Smashing and digging! Grrr. What fun. My smash is all wonky too. People keep telling me I will hurt my elbow. I should work on that. I also kept hitting everything out the back of the court; which if I am looking on the bright side means I am powerful, if I'm looking to the bad side it means I have no control. Oh well. It was fun. I will be out on Thrusday night too. Also, since yesterday the humidity has shot up. Maybe that is another reason I keep losing focus? I think to myself; why can't I be wearing shorts now?

I'm A Writing Machine!

I have an office day today with my classes getting cancelled at the last minute. I am taking full advance of the day in the office free of interruptions to keep writing. I say free of interruptions because Monday is generally busier than Friday and thus today no one has time to speak to me. I'm just trying to keep my head down and stay out of peoples way. I also made a very nice phonics worksheet. I'm only taking a break now from writing because I got frustrated when I couldn't spell "guarantee." I'm definitely not a spelling machine. In any case, I have tea and will soon be writing again.

Warning: The following contains comments on politics and the environment.

Listening to Canada's honorable Prime Minster Stephen Harper sometimes boarders on the absurd and he really cracked me up this week. I think he needs more pre-school aged advisors because then he wouldn't come off as seemingly disconnected from reality so often. This week the honorable Prime Minster is going the G8 summit in Germany. I don't really have an opinion on the summit other than the protesters are acting like cry babies. The environment is on the agenda. Again, I don't really have an opinion on that. However, it was released that the Prime Minster plans to ask the other G8 counties for special treatment for Canada. Despite Canada having arguably the worst environment record in the G8, the honorable Prime Minster feels that Canada should be exempt from any targets because of our growing population and gas industry. Probably surprising to the readers, I don't have any problem with Prime Minster Stephen Harper holding this opinion. However, when he asks other nations for an exception the whole situation looks absurd. I'm surprised he can ask with a straight face. He is asking the other G8 countries to clean up Canada's share of the mess. The reality is - that the Prime Minster seems to be ignoring - is that these countries have their own problems. They are not waiting by the phone, waiting for Canada's call, to please clean up our mess.

The analogy is this: I have been to many craft days at various kindergartens. A situation that rarely happens is that Kid A makes a mess, turns to the other kids and asks "please clean up my mess." It happens rarely because even young children understand responiblity and they understand the underlying logic that one should clean up their own mess. Why is something basic in a pre-school classroom lost on Prime Minster Stephen Harper's advisors? (Yes, I know the whole issue it more complicated than that, the poor guy has to be re-elected someday.)

Sunday in the Sun

Nothing too much to report this weekend so I will keep this short. Saturday I rushed around until 3:00 PM getting every conceivable chore done, then a run, then pesto pasta, then out for drinks. This left Sunday empty for me to be lazy and write (hence the lack of a quality blog update). I'm elated to repot I ran a total of 30km Saturday and Sunday. We had such nice weather that as soon as I got outside I felt like I could run forever. I did have a pitful run Friday night after work but I was definately dragging. (After eating I was in bed by 9:30PM.) Still got my hour and five minutes though.

Friday/It's not fog!

Happy Friday to everyone out there in cyberland. I was dreaming/hoping for a really nice/sunny day but to no avail. Just west of my house is a plateau, on which one of my schools is located. It's hard to call it "fog" when I can see from my front door just how low the cloud cover is. Driving through this rather intense/surreal soup, I was left wondering if I would even be able to spot my school located a mere 50 meters off the side of the road. The kids were mezmerized by it but sadly, as magic rarely last forever in this world, by eleven o'clock things had returned to a more mundane overcast day.

Why is the office so busy today?

I feel a bit like venting today. Last Novmeber it was a nasty sinus infection, one of the most painful things I have ever gone through, and today it's a debilitating - at least for a elementary school teacher - throat inflection. It has been getting worst for a week and I had been waiting for it to turn into a full blown cold but it never did. Today I woke up and it felt like I swallowed an irrate cat and I had had enough. I feel discourged because I eat so many vegetables I feel like a grazing cow somedays; I am forever washing my hands up to the elbows but I still get sick. I guess that is the price one pays when working in close contact with so many kids. I want some chicken soup so bad (most days it's pizza). I should also add that I have already been to the doctor and at this point am well on the path to recovery.

It's all just so normal

I have found myself getting settled into a daily routine of work that I will diligently serve until I go home for two weeks in August. I have many goals but since they are basically boring and routine, they are probably best left to myself. I do have many commitments during this period, but they are sort of the decorations put over the facade, not the structure. This doesn't make me sad in the slightest, I really am a robot at heart. However, this all makes for poor blogging fodder. I guess one blip that stands out is the Stony Plain delegation arrive in July which I hope to help with. I am unaware at this point as to what degree it will upset my routine. I'm getting not much. Running, badminton and writing are all things I plan to make a habit of during this time and since I have already written today (besides this blog post) running will be next to cross off my list. I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday and profusely apologize to those expecting something remotely Japanese.

Morning Rush

My classes were cancelled today. Needless to say this was something I learned only once I arrived at school. I dedicated the morning to finishing up some pressing emails and working on a phonics worksheet. Now I move to update my blog which will leave the afternoon free to write. The only problem being that its Monday and there's not exactly a lot going on. One thing of note is that we have opened up all windows in the building which are numerous and big. This has brought the outdoors in and with it a slight breeze. I have my sweater on. Other than that, after three days of rain, it's nice to have the sun and fresh air inside. This is a practice I plan to bring back to Canada with me.

Not on the tour....

Yesterday after talking to my parents the phone immediately rang again inviting me to an event which I could have sworn was planned for the next day (today, not Saturday). In any event, I was told to be be ready in exactly an hour by the Kobayashi's and then escorted to a remote park in a hilly area. The event was of great interest to me, focusing on mountain vegetables (Sansai), which are plentiful around Shikaoi this time of year. Sadly the weather was uncooperative, ranging from complete downpour to faint misting. The original plan of picking vegetables ourselves was scraped in favor of just eating under the protection of long hut made for Yaki niku barbecue (because we had a lot of school kids - my students - in the group). A group of adults had graciously gone earlier and collected the vegetables we would use. With the arrival of Spring comes one of my favorite Japanese foods, Sansai ("san" meaning mountain and "sai" sort for vegetables). These are early vegetables - the first green of the season really - and are picked when they are still very young. They don't look like your average corn or broccoli. Being young plants they are packed with all the nutrients they will need to grow; add to this the soft edible meat owing to their early harvesting and you have one of my favorite foods. Anything with sansai is good but my favorite method is tempura with just a touch of sea salt. I have made sure to include a picture of its production. The grilling was no less tempting with yakisoba, flavorful BBQ'd lamb, and grilled wild mushrooms and onions (ainu negi). Japanese cuisine at its finest and the perfect excuse to skip my run at short notice. The one awkward picture of Mitagaku-san (very nice man that organized everything) explaining the different wild plants we were going to eat was due to me holding one edge of the paper and taking the picture at the same time and a spider crawling near my hand.





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