Something to offer

This is just a quick story, in lue of a more detailed update, from today's open class with the grade twos. I was surprised how subversive a group of 7 year olds can be. The focus was on foods but whenever we came to the word "Bread" they said "Blair," (which sounds very smiler if you are saying it with a lazy Japanese accent). Needless to say, I was biting my tongue because it really was quite funny. The kids knew exactly what there were doing. And the homeroom teacher, also trying to hold back his laughter, fought a losing battle in front of the kid's parents. "Say it properly please." The other English teachers were getting teary-eye'd watching the struggle. Other than that, the kids should be proud of what they presented at the end of class; I know I was impressed.

Busy Week Turning into a Wreck

Things are a bit strange this week with my being out of the office for business for the first time. For two days straight to boot. Wednesday is an open class for grade two where the parents will watch. I think it's a normal class but kids can act unpredictably when their parents are watching; sometimes in a better-behaved, under-heavy-sedatives kind-of-way. But whereas we use a game that has had a great reaction all year, all of a sudden the same game is like asking them to play with bits of string and knit-knacks.

Thursday, I am in Sapporo to visit Immigration Japan to finish what is needed to get my work visa transfered over to my new passport. Also, I received my new passport on Monday. It came without any problems and probably wasn't worth the worry. And on Friday I am going on to a nearby town, near the ocean actually, to observe elementary classes. Thus, there are lots and lots of little things that need to get done before I leave, including filing paperwork in Japanese and endless emails to sort out details.

A dollar short

I am getting a bit behind in updates. This is the last thing I do before I go to bed. Why I am I so sleepy for a Sunday night? To continue, these images are from yesterday's smallish snow festival at Kamihoronai Elementary School put on by the PTA in honor of JICA visitors from overseas. It was great fun last year but I think more people came this year. JICA is a Japanese organization that hosts people from developing countries in an effort to share agricultural techniques. The funniest thing for me during the day is seeing all of these people freak out at winter. While it was cold at the beginning because of the wind, once it stopped, I thought it was very pleasant out. Still it was shockingly cold for some (especially if you got snow in your boots). They are all well educated but that there are places on earth that necessitated the invention of the snowmobile is mind boggling to some. This year I didn't get to take as many picture because the planned activities revolved around team games that needed my full concentration; obstacle course, snow tunneling etc.

神さま's gift of Sandwiches

I made a delicious sandwich Friday night before badminton. I had saved up several special ingredients to ease out of the long work week. Sandwiches are easily my favorite food; simple, healthy and delicious. I can’t really remember a day going by where I didn’t eat a sandwich. Sure Italian food and pizza are good, but sandwiches are something I could happily survive on. In the reality TV show Big Brother the losing team has to eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches for a week; where do I sign up? My dad instilled in me a strong habit of enjoying peanut butter and banana sandwiches on weekends. Coldcut sandwiches for lunch are energizing and even tomato and cheese sandwiches for an evening snack are a great comfort food. I’m not in to the different salad sandwiches or modern restaurants’ take on sandwiches that stuff food between bread that is better left on the plate and eaten with a fork. I prefer to make my own sandwiches.

I saved a dab of pesto from last weeks pesto pasta to use. The shredded cheese is all local from Tokachi. The tomato was a perfect $4 hot house tomato. This is important because most of the normal tomatoes I use are of the tasteless Japanese variety (an Italians nightmare). The mini-tomatoes do have more taste but it looks absurd to slice up 10 small mini-tomatoes for a sandwich (this is from experience). Normally I go without meat in them because there are really no quality coldcuts to speak of—just unknown Japanese processed meat—and using bacon all the time is unhealthy. However, I just happen to be in A-Coop the other day and there was great sliced coldcut ham just sitting on the shelf, just like you find in Safeway and I ate all through high school. I bought some on the spot. All of this is grilled to perfection in a normal frying pan.

I have an alternative motivation to sharing this picture because I’m using the image in a small presentation next week of my favorite things. Also included in the list: Badminton, Kendama, and the Shinkensen.

Telephone game

We played a fun activity with the grade 5/6 class today. We can do such high-concept/high-prep games when there are only four students in the class and two teachers. We spent previous weeks' classes building up vocabulary and practicing sentence structures and today we used them in a telephone skit. It was fun because the teacher built a string and tin can system throughout the classroom. The kids were thrilled and it was a good illustration at how high a level the kids are at. There's lots of trouble to get into when such a novelty is strung around the classroom. I have no idea why, but something was funny enough to one of the grade fives for him to fall off his chair. I call the activity a qualified success.

Also, in the pass thirty minutes a small storm cloud passed over and blunted the otherwise fine day. For a while, it was a strange mixture of the biggest snowflakes I have every seen, really like small loose-packed snowballs when they hit you, and rain. Not a good combination either. Luckily it's staying above zero as I will have to spend the afternoon outside tomorrow.

Sunny Day #5

Every afternoon it has been really sunny lately, possibly surpassing 0C by 9 AM. Sometimes in the evenings it gets windy and miserable again but I have enjoyed the spring-like weather recently. The lack of any large dumps of snow has allowed the town crews to focus on removing huge patches of ice that kept on melting during the day and freezing at night. Now the streets are Shikaoi are perfectly dry. But what a racket to remove the ice that close to the road surface. I was told by a badminton friend that from now on the snow will be very heavy when it falls. That is something I am not looking forward too. I went to bed very early last night and don't feel like I am dragging at all today. A very sharp move on my part. Tonight, left over pesto pasta and then badminton.

タイテルがきらい

Well, it ended up I did go for a run. Whenever I make rice in the rice cooker it takes at least 45 min so I always feel obliged to go for a run because the timing is so prefect. Really nothing to report except that I quit a bit early on the account that I was so tired. 45 min. Now it is time for a nice early bedtime.

Shikaoi Sho Snow Festival

I'm so tired as I write this. I was outside for two hours this morning supervising. All the grades were outside participating in games. The weather was really nice, thankfully with a warm sun high in the sky. Still, after two hours, sometimes in deep snow, the body expends a lot of energy to keep warm. I tried to wake up by eating something when I got back to the office but I don't think it helped. I might just stay home tonight instead of going for a run, especially if the weather keeps deteriorating; several hours ago it was sunny, but now it's snowing with these big flakes. I played badminton on Saturday and ran uber-long Sunday, so maybe it's time for a rest today. Theres so much cleaning I could do instead, plus read. I feel like I could good to bed at 9 PM tonight. I'll call it how I see it when I get home.

Images for the Day