kNEE

Im sorry you all have to look at this. Cummo and Grossy Request!!! Did its to myself in Nagoya o our last night of training after the exam. Was walking back from little men's room and a chair was pushed out, off course I fell over it. Apparently 23yrs of walking practice is not enough to stay upright. To my defence I had been drinking for a while. Hey... Tanya fell out of a bus!!

Anyway thanks to the help of Darnell, Big Al and Tan, I made it home and got Patched up. That took effort as finding medical supplies at 1am in Japan while drunk is not tat easy of a task. All good now, Just another scar to add to my collection.

CHEERS!

HANAMI FESTIVAL

Hello all, well this festival was like 3 months ago now but we think the photos are worth a look. A hanami festival translates to a Flower festival. In this case it was of the Sakura (cherry blossom) We went to a festival in Okazaki with the rest of the Tokai south Teachers. It was a great day out. Meeting at the local Mr Donuts and after stocking up on essential supplies of Beer and food we headed for the festival.

The festival went all day with food stands, beer stands, a Samurai fight reenactment, parade and fireworks. As you can see in the photos people everywhere!!

Here's a challenge for you. Find Me in this Photo. This was taken walking between the river and Castle, took forever to get there but allot of fun. Howard and I found Okonomiyaki and Chocolate covered Bananas on a stick! Only 300 yen, Bonus!!

The cherry blossoms are only out for around three to four weeks and during this period the Japanese go crazy with cherry blossom fever. Japan turns pink, ice dream and chocolate, gimmicks, toys etc are all cherry blossom taste or theme, restaurants have specials and the streets are also pink with the flowers. It really was spectacular. Japanese people spend allot of time sitting under the trees drinking and enjoying the season. It is believed that if a blossom falls on you it is good luck.

Any way enjoy and we will post another blog soon of more up to date pictures. We haven't really done allot here in Kainan yet as we are still getting things right at the apartment and exploring the local sights.

ANPANMAN EXIBITION

Well for those of you familiar with Japan and their children's cartoons you would all know Anpanman. For those who don't he is basically a super hero that is made of a bread like substance that saves the day from the evil Baikinman (bacteria man) Any way him and his friends, a cook, and other hero's made from "good" food fight evil etc.

Anpanman is my favorite character and the students find it funny that you actually know a Japanese cartoon.

I made him my identity to my younger classes and draw pictures etc. The young students love it and older ones think im an idiot.

Anyway there was an exhibition at the Wakayama marina and I couldn't resist going in. It was so much fun, heaps of people and Anpanman stuff to see. Kids going crazy everywhere!!

If you can remember mother, Sayori gave me a Anpanman figure however many years ago it was. Its the Anpanman 30th Anniversary this year so he is huge. Here is a picture of Tanya with Baikinman, he is the bad one made from Bacteria. Need I say anymore. Thats payback for Tanya mentioning our training exam results!!

We made a Anpanman magnet now prominently feature on our fridge. Got some funny looks as it was in a kids craft area but there were other adults there also. We think they may of been making it for their kids however whilst they were running a muck inside the exhibit

Anyway we had a blast, its been one of the many highlights so far in Wakayama so we hope you enjoy.

Talk soon!!! Love u all!!!

KAINAN APARTMENT

This is our cosy little home in Japan. Its nothing to special but its been made very home like by us and the people before us. No as modern as our apartment in Japan or as big, but we like it.

It has the tradition Tatami mat floor which is good and bad, its cool cos its the Japanese way but sux because if you dont spray them with bug killer, flees, ticks, and all those little nastys grow inside and bite your feet. We just spray regularly.

We have a couch and a kitchen table, you have no idea how rare that is, Japanese people love the floor tway too much. As you know we also now have pet turtles the Internet and a home telephone.

Our Kitchen had a microwave but I blew it up, our next addition a rice cooker, Yumy...RICE!!! We actually feel weird if not eating it. its like our Potato back home, always makes an appearance.

Our bathroom is tiny, toilet shower bath and sink all together. Ah well im over it.

We have a great view of the mountains in the morning out our window and the beach is near by so good for summer.

We like it here, everything is close, not that much like Creswick after all!!! Come here and visit us and see it for yourself. We are an hour and bit from Osaka and have plenty of spare bedding.

HELLO FROM JAPAN

Hi Everyone,

We have been in touch with everyone while we have been in Japan and you all know what we been upto through emails and telephone but i will fill you in anyway.

We have been in Japan for 3 months now and we spent our first 2 months in Nagoya doing our training and we meet so many great people that we are still in touch with. We finish successfully of course and note Tanya bet Mark on the exam haha.

After finishing training we got into working with Peppy Kids Club and got to hang out with the Tokia South area group and did a lot of team teaching and hung out a lot with them, we also went to the Cherry Blossom festival with them.

Mark and myself got to know some great people in the Tokai South group such as Heather, Lisa, Eunice, Al and Vince, which we miss heaps.

This photo wa at a beach day in Hamamatsu, there was sun sand and beer. The 2 gilrs are Eunice(left) and Heather (middle). The guy, Brent. Ex teacher!!!

Well after Nagoya we came to Kainan which is where we will be now for 15 months now. We have been here for 3 weeks and i think we have settled into the apartment and Kainan city itself. It is very small compared to Nagoya but we are getting used to it. We are getting to know other Peppy teachers in the area there names are Sundeep, Jeff, Rob & Katrina.

We have also meet a wonderful Japanese lady her name is Kyoko, she is our Japanese Tutor and our Japanese mum. She has been helping us to get settled in to Kainan and she has helped us if we ever have any problems especially with the language barrier. We are so greatful and lucky to have her here with us.

TURTLES

These are the new addition to our family. Crush and Donny. We got them from a local pet store after our 3 gold fish died. They help us feel a little more at home here in Japan. We hope they survive the Journey.

Our biggest issue is what happens when we go home, we may have to smuggle them with us through customs, wonder if they will mind. Our Japanese Mum Kyoko (picture soon) said she would take good care of them for us if we cant get them home. Poor little guys!!

We are not sure what breed they are but they are cute all the same. Our hero's in a half shell!!

Oh yeah, Welcome to our page, there hopefully will be regular up to date pictures and stories about our journeys and adventures in the land of the rising sun.

Next post is our apartment and our town Kainan in the greater prefecture of Wakayama