Halloween = a very long, exhausting yet exciting week

My youngest student doing her 'Tahitian Girl' dance.


Snow White aka Miho with some of her students. I love the boxer!

Two of my most favourite students - They make Tuesday nights HILARIOUS!!


Baseball player Takeshi and some of his students.



Miho and her difficult to photograph class. Minnie Mouse was always doing cutsie poses and Little Elmo wouldn't smile or put on her Elmo head...a sibling was throwing a tantrum and one kid kept running away!


Another of my favourite students (on the left) and her sisters.

High school students loved the costumes too!

My little troublemakers....

My kids class who refused to smile.

Her pig nose was the best - when you squeeze the nose, it oinks!


I wasn't feeling very well last week. I think a combination of a slight cold and allergies made a bad combination. After five days of being Harry Potter I was almost ready for Halloween to be over....


But on Sunday Elspeth and I headed to Okazaki to Elspeth's homestay parents' Halloween party. They are definitely two of the nicest people I've ever met (although their cats took an instant disliking to me!). Check out the sushi we made!


Elspeth in her awesome pirate costume! Check out the sword/monkey/pirate-y accessories!



Elspeth and I decorated the room. We hung balloons and tinsel everywhere!


Elspeth's "Johnny Depp" eyes! And the most electric orange oreos (see the bats on top?)

Halloween party group photo(Elspeth's homestay parents are the bird and clown)



Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Turtle Rescue

In September, Elspeth, Becky, Yu and I met up for an afternoon of sea turtle saving in Hamamatsu. Some of you might remember last year's attempt (when it rained and we wandered around the beach, terrified that we were stepping on baby turtles). This year we were prepared. Yu made reservations and the weather was perfect. Before turtle saving we stopped for some FANTASTIC and cheap Italian food at a little restaurant in the middle of some rice fields. When we were full of pasta and cheesecake, we headed out to the beach.



Oops, that was the first beach we tried....we got directions and hopped back in the car to find the right beach...

Turtle: 'Thanks little crab, for showing me the way to the ocean.'
Crab: 'No problem little turtle. Happy swimming.'
Birds: 'ZZZZzzz.'



Aaaahhh..this must be the right beach...there were a ton of kids and their parents.

We listened to the organizer talk for-ev-er about turtles, the beach, how they swim and of course, the toys and maps you could buy afterwards. Here are Elspeth, Yu and Becky showing you how baby sea turtles dig themselves out of the nest. Look at Becky's face. You can tell she wasn't impressed at me for making her do this!



Finally we all stood along a rope and waited for our turtles...The guy with the microphone said there weren't babies today and that many and we might need to share (boo) but a minute later some helpers arrived with buckets of baby turtles (the nests are protected and the babies have to dig themselves out in order to develop their muscles).


We resisted pushing all of the little kids out of the way and waited patiently for our turtles (I mean, this wasn't Harry Potter...). They were SO cute! And feisty!


Here's my little guy. His name was Kirby. Elspeth's was Todd. I can't remember Becky's...Isabella...hmmm...and Yu's was Kumiko. The sea turtle team.



Good luck Kirby! I hope you make it across the ocean (and don't get eaten by any big sea creatures)!


On the signal, we released our little turtles and watched them scurry out towards the ocean. One big wave later and all 4 of our turtles were off and swimming!


Here's some video of our turtles. Keep an eye out for when Elspeth's Todd totally crashes into Kirby and walks all over him in his rush to get to the water. Mean Todd...

I WANT IT!!!

My dad just sent me this article. I want a vending machine skirt SO much!
(click HERE to read the article!)

Thanks Dad!

Dancing in the Streets

What: Nagoya Domatsuri 2007
Where: Sakae (downtown Nagoya)
Who: Me, Elspeth and Elspeth's homestay mom
Info: Last year Elspeth and I stumbled upon the dance stage near Loft. We loved every second of the dances and were determined to see it again this year. Instead of sitting in the burning hot sun this time, we stood in the shade and watched the teams dance down the street. Very cool. I don't really have that much to say except this is possibly my favourite festival/event. Enjoy the pictures and video!


















Check out this very fancy costume change. Part one (above), then with a fancy move, the boys ripped off their shirts and the girls somehow turned the top of their yukatas down...see part two (below)


The final costume! (below) Now imagine doing this something like 7 times, while dancing down the street....




Above & Below: This was one of my favourite teams. I LOVE the hair. They were my little rebel university group...




Above: I know the lighting in this picture is bad...but I love it. I think it's the expression on that girl's face.