Temples and fire festivals in kyoto...

During Obon Leah and I took an afternoon trip to Kyoto and visited Kiyomizu temple which was first built in 798 but now consists of reconstructed buildings dating form 1633.

Otawa-no-taki...waterfall...the waters are believed to have therapeutic powers?

August the 16th was also the night of the Daimonji Yaki fire festival...when huge fires are lit on 5 mountains in the form of Chinese characters...the fires are lit to bid farewell to the souls of ancestors. The fire above was the first one to be lit...at about 8pm and is the Chinese character for dai (great). Leah and i watched it from the banks of the Kamo-gawa, we arrived sometime after 7pm and people had already staked out the best spots...by the time 8pm rolled around the place was packed!

Sayonnara singalong...

On the night of July 20th...Masa, Vivienne and Paul, Aris, Kaori, Benjamin, Miki, Mary, Marie, Ross and myself...got together for a farewell night of food and karaoke. Mary, Ross, Aris and Marie were to leave Japan in the coming days and as i was about to fly to America...it was Goodbye from me. The rainy season had arrived a little later than usual and it had pured down all week...so our "picnic in the park"...became a four hour rock and roll and food extravaganza in a karaoke stall with bright lights, hot tunes, hotter dance moves and plenty of hilarity and acting it up. It was a great night and a grand way to say goodbye to good friends who have made the past year one to remember and been a real blessing in times good and bad. It was sad to say goodbye...but at the same time we had smiles on our faces...I think because we knew it may be goodbye in this world but we will meet again sometime...somewhere.

Marie and Aris in full voice...Kaori in support..

Move over Elvis...here comes Masa...

Aris, mary and Vivienne...its a girl thang!

Ross made a late cameo appearance...due to a farewell enkai....a stirling effort boyo!

and finally...some more holiday photo's...

The Shy family. Mum and Dad in front (Kathy and Jeff)..Kara..top left next to Husband Tom..Erin & Leah.

in front of the Capitol

they paid me...

What the heck! I am the most releived man on the planet..my first loop the loop coaster...thrilling and terrifying...eyes wide shut!

Nice hat Love...

tucking in to good ole Southern grub...

waiting for a seat...

They sell these...

spot the Amish...

Holiday photo's cntd..

The highlight of the Hershey Chocolate tour...

Overlooking Gettysburg..

The "Enola Gay"...

Space Shuttle "Enterprise"..

Blackbird...

Kara and Amelia...

another famous plane...

some famous plane...

Holiday photo's continued.....

Smithsonian air and space...

So where did MLK stand Love?

Kathy and Jeff Shy in front of the Capitol..

The man himself..

The Lincoln memorial..

Hey Beautiful...and the Washington monument..

The Vietnam memorial...a very long list...

FDR memorial...

My holiday in photo's...

The Supreme court...behind the scaffold...

mmm...who's the odd one out?

The F.D Roosevelt memorial.....

Hey Beautiful! Thomas Jefferson memorial in the background.


The Library of Congress....Hey George Wasssuppp?....show me the money!

Colonial Williamsburg has some charming characters and is a lovely place to wander around...

America...the land of........

CHOICE and BIG things........more of that later.

My trip to meet America got off to a slow start due to my flight to Chicago being delayed and one of my bags being left behind in the chaos of O'hare airport. But after XYZ hours I was blissfully re-united with my Dearest Leah and on my way to Williamsburg, Virginia. 'Meeting the Parents' for the first time, I guess, is always slightly nerve-wracking....but the warmth of the welcome quickly overcame any nerves I may of had and it was a wonderful two weeks getting to know Leah's family and spending time with Leah in her own backyard. So good to be able to relax and hang-out without the pressure of work or the need to catch a ferry or train. Jeff and Kathy were wonderful hosts and a BIG Thank-you goes out to them for all they did for me over the two weeks to make my stay a warm and memorable one.

Okay so in America...everything is BIG.....Big wide open spaces....Big cars...Big houses...Big helpings...Big roads...Big churches...Big parks....

actually.....whilst things in general may be big in America...it is of course accentuated by me currently living in Japan...where things are geanerally SMALL...and having grown up in a small town in New Zealand....enough said.

Now Choice....soooo much choice.....on the menu....on the TV....in the shops....soo much to see and do......

I loved my time in America...I loved the differences...I loved the open spaces...I loved the choices...I loved the diversity........

Highlights:

Meeting Leah's family and friends
Decent air conditioning
A really comfy bed
Blueberry pancakes
Smithsonians
Gettysburg...the movie and the place....
Amish country
The Cheesecake factory
Dairy Cream..
Water Country USA
Busch Gardens
Southern tucker (food)
Colonial Williamsburg
German food
The funny waitresses..
The sights of DC..

mmmm pretty much everything.......

Before I went...my only previous experience of America was of Los Angeles....9 years before...and much has changed in the world since then! Also I guess the media in all its forms can give false impressions....and whilst i tend not to put too much faith in these impressions...until one can experience a place for oneself, that is all one knows....

So it is with happy memories that I left America and with much hope that one day soon i would be able to return.

Elementary school visits.....fun..fun..fun!

I have had the chance to visit and teach at two elementary schools this past semester, in Murotsu and Nojima. It has been a lot of fun and been a welcome change of classroom scenery. The kids are soo much fun...soo responsive and "into it", as well as being little cuties. I only get to go twice to each school per semester...during test time...so am keen to put a lot into it and give it heaps! All the kids have kindly...and very cutely sent me a thank-you note and one class even drew pictures of me...well...at least they got the glasses right! it is gorgeous. I have done a singing activity, alphabet and animal picture activities, balloon and movement games, animal noise activities and number games....plus others...as well as have lolly scrambles! It is all about enjoyment and introducing English in a fun way.....as well as getting sweaty in the classroom!

The Classroom....2006.....

The highlight of the classroom in 2006 is definitely the Ichi Nensei (first year students). They are....."soooooo cute".........as Mrs Kawakami (my new classroom teacher as of April 06) constantly reminds me. And they are...some look like they are just out of nappies and they have energy, zest and a sense of wonder....that seems to get beaten out of Japanese students the further they move on down the conveyer belt of the Japanese education system. I look forward to my 2 classes of Ichi Nensei every week and hope we can have as much fun for the rest of the year as we have had in the first semester.

More India photo's.....

from the top.........bus fire in 40 degree heat in Delhi......the intrepid traveller.......Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi......cows out walking.......school visit.......busy working........checkin the hair........night-time swim Indian style.......