Carl and Denise's Wedding

Well, they finally did it. After dating for 12 years, Carl and Denise got married on Saturday at a gorgeous winery just outside of Napier. The theme of the night seemed to be "Good things take time" which seemed fitting being at a winery. The weather was great and it didn't start raining until we were inside for dinner. Denise was gorgeous and reminded me of Snow White with her jet-black hair and red lips. Really, she was stunning.
Bryce looked very handsome too, as Best Man and gave a very good speech. It was a great night and it was fun to catch up with everyone. I really like the pic of Bryce and I when the photographer Anita, caught us laughing in between poses.

Tour of Waikanae 2007

So Bryce completed his 100KM mountain bike race in good form last weekend. He was dry retching at the 65km mark but came right after some food and some good distraction from some friends. This weekend he competed in a team relay called the Motu Challenge and completed a 70ish mountain bike ride. So his training is going well.
Today I did the Tour of Waikanae which was a lap race of 25km and you had your choice of doing 1, 2, 3 or 4. I did 4 and completed 100km in 3hr:46:46. I even had a sprint finish with another guy so I definitely had some energy at the end. I think I have sorted out how to eat properly for these long races and that made a huge difference. For Robyn and any other racing geeks out there, I spent 3 hours above 80% of my max heart rate, my average was 27.1 km/hr, (but was 27.6 for the first 50km) and I burnt about 3000 kcal! I am thrilled with my ride and pretty happy with the amount of training I have been doing, so it makes it all worth it. The only problem is that the Taupo race is 60km longer and has many, many, many more hills (considering the race today had only 1 hill). The results showed that I came 8th female overall for the 100km and 6th in my age category. Pretty happy really!
It was a massively windy day so it was nice to have the tailwinds at times to rest in (even though the crosswinds and headwinds were pretty exhausting). Mark and Rachel each did 50km and they enjoyed the challenge as a good prep for the Taupo race. We still have over a month to go before the ride so I better get moving. More training to do!
Next weekend, Carl and Denise's wedding!!

I think he might be missing a few screws.....

Well, we are off this weekend to Rotorua yet again, to "challenge the forest" to Bryce's endurance, or the other way around..... This is a crucial part of Bryce's training for the 2 laps of Lake Taupo at the end of next month (320km on the road). Like I said, a few screws might be missing.....Truthfully, I am very proud of him and think he'll be thrilled at the end of this season with all he has accomplished with his body this season. It will make him ready for a Canadian winter full of lethargy and eating!!
So here is a link to the copy of the map of the race course for Sunday, 100km on mountainbike trails. It won't mean much to many of you, except for the fact that it is obviously very long. Wish him luck!! Not looking for a place....just to finish!

http://www.n-duro.co.nz/series/evcmaps.php

P.S. For those of you who were worried....it's warmer here today!

CK is cold!

I am sometimes reminded that New Zealand is not the tropical set of islands that many Canadians think of when I tell them where I live. And today is one of those days. I am not sure exactly how cold it is outside, and its not nearly as cold as a Canadian winter.....but when you are expecting it to be Spring and you were wearing flip flops and t-shirts the other day, you don;t expect to have frozen fingers while typing at a computer! I think its worse knowing that my friends and family back home are experiencing an unusually long summer with gorgeous highs of 30 most days.... At least summer is around the bend. However, Bryce and I will be back in the full of winter since we are going home to Canada for Christmas! Ah well, the things you do for family!

Pirate Party

One of our friends had a birthday party and said it was a Pirate Party, so here is our attempt at looking like pirates and wenches. Personally, I am still impressed with my tinfoil swords...
From left: John, Kim, me, Bryce and Clare.
Bryce was an "All-Black" pirate since the AllBlacks game was on from the World Cup that night too.

Never run with a fork....

A classic....Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell

An Eruption!!

This picture shows the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park. On the right, the cone shaped volcano is Mt Ngauruhoe, and the bigger one on the right is Mount Ruapehu.

I have been saying since I got to NZ that I wish I had seen Mount Ruapehu erupt. It erupted in style in 1995 and was still steaming in 1996. Since then nothing, but Bryce and others mention how cool it looked back in the day. I say this all with the hope that if another one occurred I would hope it wasn't massive and devastating. I just think seeing evidence at how the earth is alive would be cool. We attempted to see lava in Hawaii, but poor planning (like not a lot of water or sandals with no socks on glass-like rock) and hot hot weather just didn't make it happen.
So anyway, last night Ruapehu came through for me, even if it was just a little burst. It erupted with some steam and ash that was sent straight up. Some debris actually landed on a tramper who got trapped and was in a serious condition. He seems to be the only one that got hurt from anything though. There were two lahars (massive mudslides mixed with rock) down the mountain but nothing that got in anyone's way. A little bit of excitement. At least I can say that I have been here while Ruapehu erupted!

Flight of the Conchordes

We have heard that our favourite folk duo from NZ is making it big in the US but not sure how much my fellow Canadians have heard. Enjoy, and if you like them, check out more of their songs on Youtube.

some more pics...

These are some pics from the half marathon I did in Taupo at the beginning of August. It was a cold, day, right by the lake with some yucky winds at times. I had two massive bursts of energy and adrenalin during the race but they were around halfway and 15km, not so much near the end. The end was miserable and very difficult to finish!! Lucky they were giving out massive Chocolate Fish (marshmallow yummy bars) at the finish line. Thats the only reason I do these things: the edible rewards!

10 Km run, last Sunday

So, I did another running race. Yep, my family keeps telling me (or more like I over hear them telling others) that I am weird to be doing this racing stuff. I like it though. It keeps me fit, or at least it allows me to eat what I want and not feel guilty about it. Plus, I like seeing what else my body "the machine" (he he) is able to accomplish. Don't see myself trying to climb Everest anytime soon, nor do I even think a full marathon appeals to me at this stage, but I do like seeing if I can keep running faster. So I am busy training for the big bike race around Lake Taupo (160km) again, which is in late November but had decided to try a 10km running race in the midst of the training. Did that in Petone on Sunday and did my personal best time for a 10km. Mind you, most of the time when I do 10km its only being in the halfway of a half-marathon, so its not like I am going "full-out" at that point anyway. I really enjoyed the race though, because it was shorter and therefore I DID feel like I could give it heaps and not worry about "lasting" the distance. I aimed for 55 minutes to try to beat Robyn's PB but achieved 57 minutes instead. I was passing lots of ladies and 1 man at the end though, so I felt like a winner on the day. Biggest frustration though was that the prizegiving was at 1:30 and I finished my race at 9:30 and wasn't keen on hanging around for 4 hours to maybe get a prize. Turns out I should have. I heard from 2 friends later that my name was called out for one of the major spot prizes! They were giving away portable DVD players and weekend getaways and all sorts of stuff and this is the ONE prizegiving I didn't go to. Sucks. Ah well. But it would have been cool....

This guy that I live with....

Yep, so Bryce has kicked my butt into gear and says that I need to update this more often, so tonight is a tribute to him. I will aim to get the most recent photos and stories on the blog to catch y'all up with Ckdownunder.
First up, we had a wicked lunar eclipse view a few weeks ago and it was a stellar night here so in between the times we got too cold to stay outside, Bryce and I nestled in our down jackets under the stars and watched the moon turn red. It was very cool. They say that back in the day, the ancient chinese thought that when the moon went red it was the "big dragon" coming to Earth, or something like that. I can imagine though, if you set all your timing, your planting crops, etc..etc, by the moon cycles and then one day the moon goes all red and eery, you might be thinking something random is happening. Not sure why they went the route of "dragon worry".....

How cute. I know I put more pics up of nieces and nephews but.....

This is Abby at a waterpark in London. You can't disguise that excitement!

Too funny

Another race result....

So, I ran another half marathon on the weekend. Did 2:13. Two minutes slower than in Wellington in June, but a different course (this one had hills!). Denise did really well and ran it in under 2 hours, which is my ultimate goal, but not achieved....yet! Will not give up until I can get there! May be next year though before I give it another go!

You have to check out this website and listen to Becky, an 8 year old Irish girl, who does prank calls to businesses. Very funny and a good laugh at the end of a long day of work.
http://www.johntedwards.com/2006/10/15/little-irish-girl-prank-calls/

Will have some shots (or maybe even videos) from the race up soon.

Max is 1!

I just love this picture. Your first birthday cake is always a good photo op, isn't it?

Bryce's MTBike trip to Colorado

Here is just one of the many photos Bryce took on his fabulous trip to Colorado and Utah for some great mountain biking. I was happy to see this picture when he was sitting in front of me, showing me the photos. Had he sent this picture to me while he was still in the U.S., I would not have been thrilled. Must be the worrier in me. Happy to say its not Bryce in the photo. He wasn't super keen on getting that close to the edge either!

Update...

These are the latest photos from a tramp we did before Bryce's trip to the US and Canada. Kirsten (Bryce's childhood friend), her boyfriend Ant, Bryce and I walked one of the "great walks" of New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing. We didn't do the whole walk as you needed crampons because of all the snow and ice, but we did get to see some great sights. It was an awesome day and the weather held out pretty well for us. If you are on facebook, I have an album with more pics from this trip.
Bryce is now back safe and sound from his business/visit with my family/mountain bike holiday in Colorado and Utah trip. He was gone for over 3 weeks. HE just adored mountain biking everyday though and not having to worry about how to get to all the fabulous trails. The guides sorted out all the transport. He met some good friends on the trip too who are all kiwis and I'm sure future riding buddies here.
I go back to school on Monday for Term 3. These holidays have been pretty busy. I ran a Volleyball Workshop for some primary and early highschool aged children to try to get more skills being developed in this region. It was a success and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. I was pretty impressed with how much improvement the kids went through in just two days! Lets hope they come to our College now!
Yesterday I sent home a massive package with gifts for all the family birthday that have happened this summer. So Happy Birthday to Asher (Sept) Abby (July), Kristie (July), Maire (June), Raelen (June, I think...he was JUST born this year), Max (July) and Robbie (August).
And a big Happy Birthday to all my girls who are turning 30 this year. Wow. It doesn't sound as old as it used to, eh?

I did it!

This is a picture of me finishing my half marathon in 2003 when I walked the whole thing. The next year I did 2hr35min. In 2005, Bryce and I got our car towed after registering, and since my shoes were still in the car, we had to abandon the race. Then last year I finally got under 2& 1/2 hours with 2hr22min. Well, today I dropped 11 minutes and ran 21km in 2hr11 minutes. So I think the next challenge is to get under 2hours. I think I could do it. I felt good today and only had some knee pain in parts of the run. I passed the halfway mark under 1 hour, so it "could be done". Problem today was partially due to the 7o km/hr winds at my face the whole way back.

We had a great weekend. Carl and Denise came for a visit. We headed down to Wellington to pre-register for the race (Denise did the 10Km). Then had a nice walk through the Botanic Gardens and took the Cable car down into the city. Caught up with Donal and bought a new wool winter jacket.
It's so weird buying a winter jacket when Bryce is away in the "summer" of Denver on his mountain bike holiday, seriously sweating it up. Looks like he had a great time in Canada though. Including being the recipient of the International Distributor award for his company at his conference. He was very humble but its a huge achievement! I spoke to him over the webcam with the family in the background, including the babies. Hard to watch all my favourite people be together and not try to jump through the screen! Especially when they held up the "party pack size" of Clamato. Unfair....

My knees are very sore tonight as I sit and vedge in front of the fire and eat chocolate. I have some wicked blisters from the run, so I am hobbling around the house a bit. All good. The accomplishment feels well worth the pain. Question is: What to train for next?

Enough is enough....

Okay, this is New Zealand. An island in the Pacific. So what's the deal with frost on the grass this morning? This was not in the contract I signed when I decided to move to an "island nation". It was supposed to be flip flops and tank tops all year round!!

Truthfully, its nice to sit in front of the fire each night, but with Bryce away, it IS a bit chilly around the house. 20 nights left and he'll be back. And truly fit. He's away on business for a week, then a BBQ with Robyn and some of my ladies in Toronto, then with my parents and Rob and Kathy for a night, and then he flies to Denver to play MTBikes with a group who will be riding trails throughout Colorado and Utah for 14 days. How great for him!

I bought heaps of seafood which is something B does not enjoy so much so although the house is a bit stinky now, I'm eating like a star!

Half marathon is on Sunday, and although the week started off with some serious shin splints, I think I am on track for Sunday. Carl and Denise are coming for the weekend too. Then one more week of school.
Plans for the holidays are: Volleyball Coaching Course, Volleyball Workshop that I am running for 10-15 year olds, Computers course (not so excited about this one, but figured I should go), a visit with Pam and Sam, a night out at a play in the "cultural megacentre" of Levin with Mark and Rachel, and maybe a spa day in there somewhere. There were some plans for a trip to Fiji, but they didn't eventuate. All good. I am going home to Canada for Christmas, so thrilled about that! Only 6 months to go!!

check this out

http://bebo.com/watch/4179383135

It doesn't seem to link right away, so just cut and paste to see this. The Flight of the Conchordes are a musical comedy duo who are from New Zealand. Always good value. Would love to see them live.

Abby

Cute pic for her birthday invite. I can't believe she is almost a year old. I was with her in BC last year when she was born. How cool. Crazy thing is Bryce will be with the family next week as part of his business trip/mountain bike holiday. He is going to have a great time. Fun with the fam and then 12 days of mountain biking in Utah/Colorado.
I have the half-marathon in two weeks. A bit nervous; more about weather than anything else.
Yesterday, Bryce and I drove up to the mountains/volcanoes to see Kirsten and Ant. Kirsten is Bryce's best friend from childhood and we haven't seen her in about 4 years so it was great to catch up and meet Ant, her boyfriend. We went on a 7 hour tramp along the Tongariro Crossing, which is a NZ classic walk. I will get the pics on here soon for sure. It was an awesome day! A bit of a sore bum today though....

Im becoming nerdier each day....its great!

Finally discovered how to input videos onto my blog. Enjoy! I loved this one of the soccer ball!

Baby Max

Need to update this blog and get some new pics of Nisha up as well, but had to show this very cute new pic of Max (Tim and Kristie's son).

My niece Abby and nephew Asher

Bryce the photographer

So here is our house, on a night with a full moon, and Bryce using some of his fancy techniques to write on the picture. But he didn't do any of this on a computer. I think it was just a slow shutter speed and then he stood in front of the camera with a little LED light and wrote HOME (like you would with a sparkler). I like it.

Easter tramping

We had a fantastic time over Easter going hiking/tramping with Mark and Rachel. Two nights, three days, in 2 different back country huts, 17 hours walking. Mark and Rachel surprised us by being the serious gourmets and preparing a cheesecake (from scratch) to serve us "in the bush". What a treat! Along with wine and everything. The wine was great, but not something I would have wanted to carry in my pack for 7 hours!

gross

Check out this massive spider that was hanging on the wall just beside the bed. I freaked out and jumped on the bed and did a little yelp. Bryce called out and said, "is it a big one?" I said, "uh huh."
As Bryce walked casually into the room, carrying Eddie (the cat) he saw the thing and freaked out equally. Both of us were packing for our tramp/hike the next day, but couldn't deal with this thing being in our house, having been in the room!!
It was dealt to.

Blogg webcam attempt

Movie Night

This is our own outdoor movie set-up. I borrowed the screen and projector from work and Bryce hooked up the surround sound, and we had some friends over to eat yummy homemade popcorn and watch Tom Cruise under the stars. It was great!
The last month has been a whirlwind, with school dean-ing, assistant HOD PE stuff, and of course volleyball. We travelled 8 hours to Tauranga with 20 students and 4 adults, for a week of volleyball. It was fun but tiring!
Off tramping/hiking for the next few days and then 2 weeks off for school holidays. Doesn't feel like too long ago I was in Japan for the last holiday break!!

More Japan pics

Here's a start to the pics from Japan that I have been waiting to put on this site. The first one is of a temple we went to with a massive Buddha in it. This was in Nara, where they had deer roaming wild in the streets who harassed you and bit a few of us in the bum.

This is a picture of Harajuku, where lots of people have their own style (much like the girls in the Gwen Stefani videos). Note the name of the street: TAKEASHITA STREET

Here is a picture from a town outside of Tokyo where we rented some tobogans and hooned down the ski hill. Reckless westerners......

This is from the awesome sumo tournament we went to. Huge men, intimidating each other several times before the actual "wrestle" begins....

Here is Sayaka and me in front of the Kinkakuji temple. Covered in gold. Just stunning to see.

All the students in kimonos....

On the island of Miyajima, looking at a pagoda, while being reckless westerners on our bikes. Had a yummy japanese pizza pancake that day called OKONOMIYAKI.

Geishas and weddings, and duathlons

Hey guys, here are the latest pics from the past two weekends. Karapoti MTB race one weekend with an attempt for best costume, a duathlon the next day and Mark and Rachel's wedding the weekend before, where a dapper Bryce was best man. Good fun, but looking forward to a casual one this weekend. Bryce is off on another MTB weekend with some of the guys down in the south island. Denise is coming over for a girls weekend.

PS. I came 3rd in my age group in the duathlon! Whohoo!

Why can't I post pictures?

The blog has changed and somehow they have removed the option of attaching photos....not sure why. Will write more when I have time to fiddle...Have some great Japan pics I want you to see.

some pics

We are having troubles getting the camera to transfer pics to the computer so I swiped these two pictures from someone else. The one on the left is Mount Fuji, which I did not get to see this clearly but did get to see one sunny day from Tokyo. The other picture is voted one of the best 3 spots to see in Japan, the giant torii on Miyajima Island. We took a ferry to the island and rented bikes to scoot around on for the day. It was an awesome day.
more to come hopefully....
Its great being home, although school work is tough. Trying to get back into it fully is difficult, and tiring. Students come back to school next week though and if I don't work hard this week, they won't have timetables!!

I had a claw in my soup.....

Hello everyone, I am now officially on holiday in Japan for two days until we fly back home. I went to sea world with the students today and watched killer whales and dolphins and sea lions and walrus` and all that stuff. I enjoyed watching the sea otters. They are so cute. The best part about it was seeing the japanese spider crabs though. Wow. They were huge, like almost the height of me (with their leg span). Embarassingly, I couldn:t help but think how yummy they would taste. I never look at animals and think how I would like to eat them.....but crab is yummy. (sorry Donal).
So I am now back at the hostel and wondering what to do with my freedom and have already been invited out for dinner with some people from the hostel. I went out with a few people last night. What an international group: a girl from Canada/NZ, a girl from Wales, a guy from Portugal and a guy from Sydney. We went to this recommended place in a very non-touristy place, and had a REAL japanese restaurant experience. These japanese business men who wanted to work on their english bought us heaps of Sake and showed us how to cook our meal. It was a big wok, in the middle of our table with raw fish and tofu and cabbage in it that we cooked while we ate squid and other things we ordered. It was yummy until I was served this thing that looked like a foot/claw of some animal. One of the guys said it was a fin, but it had nails, I swear. I thought I was game for most things, but I can:t eat something that might actually tickle my throat with its claws on the way down the old esophagus. Just like I don:t want to try tongue. I don:t want to taste something that used to taste other things. I politely offered it to someone else and they gladly accepted my gift of "claw".
So who knows what adventures await me tonight. Should be fun. Lena (the girl from Wales) is really sweet and reminds me very much of Jane Moore (for those from Pram College who know her). But Jane:s not welsh, is she?
I must brag though: my grandmother is Welsh and she and I argued about whether Wales has the longest place name in the world or NZ. So last night Lina and I showed off to each other and said the names to each other. I knew that trick would come in handy one day!!
(Taumatawhakatangihangakoauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanitahu......or something like that....)
Oh, and I have decided to single handedly "smile-ify" this country. In Canada and New Zealand, strangers smile at each other when walking down the street. Its contagious and polite. Here they just stare at me or look away when I smile at them. (this is of course, when I am not trying to buy something from them. When I try to buy something , there is no lack of smiling...but thats just cause they want my Yen!!) So I am on a mission to see how many "smile-backs" I can get from these Asians. I am at 2 so far (and one of them was about 3 years old and it took me 5 minutes to get that one!)

I like volleyball...

Hi. I am free. Free of students, at least for the night time now. I will see them again tomorrow, but not till the afternoon. After being with 9 16-17 yearolds non stop for 11 days, any sane person needs a break. I caught some of the boys with b-b guns that they bought, and had been shooting in the hostel. I had seen the bullets in one of their beds and it looked like rabbit poos. It just proves how immature some of them still are. So I took the selfish approach and ranted on at them about how stressed out I would have been had one of them gotten shot and hurt and I would have had to find some japanese hospital and not had the health insurance papers to pay for anything and how it would not have been a pretty sight. I think they got the message. Either way, now it is their new host families problem!

So having properly vented to you all, the day today was pretty basic. We commuted to Chiba (more specifically Kimitsu) to deliver the students to their new families. We took a bus through the Tokyo Aqua Line (or something by a similar name) which is a tunnel (one of the longest underwater highways in the world) which spans the Tokyo Harbour. It was cool, especially because we stopped for lunch about halfway at this man made island full of restaurants and shops (like a fancy truck stop). I caught a glimpse of Mt Fuji (which really does over look the city) but not truly enough to say that I have seen it.

Tonight Tomi and I went shopping and both bought an Ipod and then he took me to the sports store district. Note: almost every different subway stop here has its own specialty (like electronics stuff, food markets, sporting good, funky clothing, etc etc). So I found a shop that sold volleyball stuff and shooed Tomi off to his night time plans so I wasn:t rushed. It was bliss. I am hoping I will get reimbursed for some of the stuff I bought by the Sports Coordinator at school, but we;ll see. It was fun, nevertheless!!

Tomorrow I get to sleep in and then we go back to the school (which is a 1 1/2 hr journey) for the welcome party where I get to reuse my speech from the other school. The day after is Sea World and then I have 2 free days before we fly back on Sunday.

I did want to mention some things I have noticed about Japan. Like the toilets. I have yet to be in a bathroom that has the same toilet that I have seen in the one before. There are so many things to notice and do in the stall, it takes so long becuase you want to see it all. Like the panel of buttons along the side of the toilet (in one I saw) that had 4 buttons. One was a bidet, one was a bottom wash, one was a flushing sound button (like in case you didn:t want anyone to hear what you were getting up to- in the real fancy restaurants this just happens automatically), and one was a stop button (to stop the bidet,etc). Then you have the standard NZ option of whether you should do a flush for a #1 or a flush for a #2, although its written in Japanese and its not normally the situation where you can show someone else and point to the button and ask which is which. THEN there is the flushing sensors which are individual in each stall as well. Plus most seats are heated. Again, another weird sensation, even if you have covered the seat in paper, you feel a bit grody, like some big woman has pre-warmed it for you. Anyway, I will conclude by saying that toilets in Japan are an experience.

Last note, the traffic lights are red, yellow and turquoise. So instead of "go on green" they say "go on blue".

So, we have had two days since I last wrote but they have not been as super-eventful as the last two weeks, but still busy.

We had a free day on Sunday so after much discussion amongst all the students and many plans being made then cancelled we agreed to go ice skating together and then split up. ice skating was fun and since most of them had never tried it, it was a good laugh. There was this 6 year old who kicked butt and made most of us feel super crap but she was so cute we let here away with it.

after that some of the students went to an amusement park and then back to the electronics mecca we went to before.

Myself and Jessi and Tom went to Harajuku and Takeashita street. Yes. Its true. That IS the name of the street. I know its immature to laugh at, but it was fun to discuss plans with that name in the conversation. anyway, Harajuku is a crazy young suburb where lots of teenaged girls dress up in "cos-play" and look like little dolls. It was pretty crazy but fun. Jessi is very into gothic-"visual kei" clothing and bought some crazy dress that looks like a french maid dress and these massive black leather shoe-boots with big silver studs on them. They didn:t have them in my size though so I passed......... : )

So it was funny to meet up with everyone back at the hostel at 6 and hear their stories of navigating their own way through the subway systems and getting lost and all that stuff.

Today we met up with a blind date that Tomi:s mom had set up for him (Kirarra) and went to a TV station. It was neat but I was most excited to get a glimpse of the New EnglandPatriots/Indy Colts football game with 10 minutes left. I was not able to keep the students watching it with me though so I missed out. Poo. At least I should be home for the superbowl!!

Duncan and I bought a plate of Fugu today and tried it. Not too bad, but we all got weirded out that something was going on in our stomachs after. I think it was just imagination though. If you an unsure what I am talking about Fugu is another name for Pufferfish, the fish that has poison in it and you can die if you eat improperly prepared Fugu. It just tasted like squid with a hint of cucumber. Not too deadly. Supposedly if you eat the liver, you can get paralysis in your limbs for up to three days! I heard that it is outlawed to do that now though. Hmmmm......Poor Duncan. He and I were shopping around Shibuya (major busy shopping area) and I said, "that street looks exciting" cause there were lots of lights and Japanese signs (go figure!). Anyway, I noticed a few "red-light" shops and thought, Hmmm, and then noticed a lot of hotels, Hmmm, And then remembered reading about LOVE HOTEL HILL in Shibuya which has a red-light district and there are several love hotels (where rooms are rented for the hour....) on a bit of a hill. I escorted Duncan away before he quite understood what we were amidst. I just fed him some more Fugu and it was all good.....

After all the shopping and TV we went up a really tall building (Tokyo Govt Offices) and on the 45th floor you can get a panoramic view of the whole city. On clear days you can even see Mt Fuji. That is before Tokyo had pollution however. I am destined not to see this mountain, but it looks real nice on postcards. Poo.

For dinner we went out, since it was our last meal together until we leave for home (because they will be at homestays tomorrow). So we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. They found it fun. Too much America for me though. including a 10% service charge added for any bill aftr 4 pm. Almost like the Hard Rock owners couldn:t handle that they don:t tip in Japan so they have to gut the consumer somehow!!

The students are all packing now and getting excited to join a new japanese family tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.

Snow and Soba...

i always feel like we should be having a normal day but it never seems to work out that way. Today we travelled again by shinkansen (bullet train) to a place about 1 1/2 hrs north(?) out of Tokyo to see some snow. There are ski resorts and stuff at this place and some of the students have never touched snow (most had seen it) before so we headed up to the bottom of a ski hill and rented some plastic toboggans. You know the real budget but perfect sleds? We had a great time and almost collided with every other skiier on the hill. It was perfect! One of the runs down the hill resulted in my whole face being covered by snow, sunglasses and all. Then Tomi and I went to a Soba restaurant (while the students continued playing in the snow and making snowmen). The only problem of this whole little escapade was the first time I went down the hill I held my hand out to slow down. My thumb unfortunately went in a hole while the rest of my body continued its forward progression. Not fun. I don:t think it is broken but definitely sprained. Annoying as you use your thumb for almost everything, worst of all chopsticks!!! Which brings me back to the Soba restaurant. We had a feast!
His mothers best friend owns the restaurant so we got more royal treatment and had cold Soba (buckwheat) noodles which are served cold and then dipped in this saucy juice which you concoct yourself with Wasabi and spring onions. So yummy. and that was only one part of the meal. We also had tempura (like deep fried but a little lighter taste) pumpkin, eggplant and shrimp. AND deep fried mochi (rice cake) and some kind of fish AND more japanese pickles and cabbage and stufffff. It was so yummy! Then when you are done the noodles you take hot water and pour it into your soba saucy juice (no other way to describe it!) and make your own kind of soup. I loved it. Then I had some slices of apple. The japanese apples are seriously huge, like half the size of my head. Not kidding!!

Then we headed back to Tokyo and went to the electronics market called Akihabara. A bit crazy and fun for techno heads I;m sure. Not my cup of tea. But some of the students bought ipods and PSP`s and other trinkets so it was worth the trip.

they have a free day tomorrow so they are all desperately making plans and then changing them to try and see all they want to see. They only have tomorrow and Monday left in Tokyo and then they stay in a homestay and go to school. I will not join them every day because....I don:t really want to sit in the back of a japanese classroom. Done it, got the postcard. I would rather see more of Tokyo so I get to have a few more free days ahead of me.
The plans so far tomorrow seem to revolve around ice skating (i keep bragging to the students about how great my mom is at ice skating....which she is, but its a bit foreign to them to try it so theyre really excited). The subway system is pretty complex here and one girl went back this morning to grab something in the hostel she left behind, and got confused and lost and ended up sitting on the side of the road and crying. Anyway, she made her way back to us, but it has reminded me that they are all still really young kids. And not to expect TOO much from them.
We:ll see how many tears are created tomorrow. Oh well, they have to grow up sometime, right?

Great to get some of the extra emails from you guys. I am feeling more in touch now!
Miss you, one more week to go and then SUMMER AGAIN!!

Big fat sweaty men

So as you can tell we had a day to watch sumo wrestling but not after fitting in tons before that.
We saw the Imperial Palace (where the Emperor of Japan lives) and we kept going up to random old men and asking them if they were the emperor and if we could get their picture and making a huge big deal so that they couldn:t refuse. It was pretty hilarious. Caught it all on video too.

We went shopping and had lunch in a cute little restaurant where you sit around small tables but can actually fit your legs into a hole underneath the table. I am getting used to the weird looks I get when I ask for meesz to drink (water) although I am really becoming a fan of Jasmine tea too.

In the shopping market I found a whole store devoted to Mon-chi-chi:s!! Do you remember those funny little monkey looking things? I have to get one. I used to have a puzzle when I was younger that I adored!

So we took a ferry around a river that led us through Tokyo and we saw heaps of fancy bridges and it was very cool sitting on top of the boat.

We then headed out to the Sumo tournament and watched 20 matches. Each match begins with a bit of　an intimidation act as well as a spiritual act to remove the evil spirits from the ring by clapping their hands loudly and stomping one foot and then the other foot. Then they go and glare at each other and then do the corner stomp thing again. This happens for a bit until they decide the intimidation has been enough and then they advance at each other. It is truly awesome even though it lasts only a few seconds for each fight. However the build up for each fight as well as for the last match is great. The best competitors are placed at the end of the night and some of the matches have sponsors flags posted at the beginning of the match (like women in bikinis walking around the ring before each round of a boxing match) to show how much money will be awarded to the winner of this match. So a lot of excitement goes into each fight. Best part was when some old man sitting in the crowd got flattened by one of the sumo:s who got flung off the ring. It was great! I even called 4 of the last 5 matches correct, based on some reading I have been doing from a book called Freakonomics (given to me for my birthday from the lovely D for Donal!) which discusses (amongst many other things) how sumo wrestlers cheat just like teachers. Obviously an intriguing subject for me to want to read about!!

After a big night at the sumo tournament and then finding out own way home (as tomi left us at the stadium) we had some quick dinner and then were all sitting in the lounge at the hostel, so I prompted some good old Health games (being a Health teacher...) and we had some good fun. One of the games involves wacking other people with a cushion to allieve yourself of being "IT", so we were having so many laughs even some of the other backpackers joined in. Problem was that I didn:t call the game quits until 10:00 and then expected them to go staright to bed. Yeah right. I went to bed but found out this morning that some of them were so wired they were hanging out in each others room and didn:t go to bed till midnight (and some even later). I think I should think twice about timing next time!!

Kekkon shi ma senga?

Picture this...a 17 yearold New Zealand boy sitting on the train, in Kyoto, with an old man-looking hat (that he bought at some tourist joint for $30 yesterday). He is sitting beside a Japanese 70-ish looking woman who is chatting and laughing with her friend. She smiles at the boy, and then the boy looks at her and says in Japanese " will you marry me?" (kekkon shi ma senga?). She looks at him weird so he continues....in japanese "I think we would be good together". She laughs at then the train stops, and as both of them are getting off, he says to her..in japanese..."i`ll call you". Wow. good laughs. I probably shouldn:t encourage it, but i did. The phrasebook the boy bought has some very inappropriate things for teenagers to say.....but its good fun.

So today we did some sightseeing in Kyoto and then had a 4 hour farewell party where we were clapped at when we walked in, then taken ontto the stage, then we had to speak into a microphone and do an impromptu speech, then they served us buffet type food, we pounded rice cake mush with a massive mallet as people chanted something, then the students played taiko drums on stage, then had to do another speech they had written, then we were clapped at like royalty as we left. In between all of that the students were celebrities....everybody wanted pictures with them. Girls were swooning over the boys....it was insane.

Funniest part of today, besides the teenager proposing to a grandmother:
We were on one of eleven escalators in Kyoto station ( a place that has a department store with 11 floors of stuff). So Kathryn and Hogan are discussing filth and debating whether they would rather lick a toilet seat or a handrail on an escalator. Kathryn insisted that she would rather lick a toilet seat because they get cleaned more often, and escalators have so many people touch them and just keep circulating again and again. She insisted that escalators NEVER get cleaned. Just as she finishes her speech on hygiene, a man in a uniform goes past her the other way on the escalator who is cleaning the escalator. Seriously, he (and his 3 other co-workers) were actually escalator cleaners. It was perfect timing, she almost peed her pants she was laughing so hard. It was great. Only in japan will they clean an escalator, and develop the Kyoto protocol to make the planet cleaner, but where they demand that you sweat in other peoples volleyball shoes.....

deer like bums

So, I found out that the confusion on the volleyball court was actually a bit different than I had told you. I said "tabbimasen" which actually means "I DONT eat!", so here I was telling her I dont eat, in a way that she must have thought "I don:t eat volleyballs". Even weirder.
I have been playing TONS of volleyball though. Every day the students play their one sport that they choose and play all year, 5 days a week (so they get pretty good at it). So i have been joining in every practise and it has been like joining an in-depth japanese volleyball seminar all week. I have learned awesome drills and even words in japanese like "sabu" for serve, although I thought they were just saying serve in their own japanese english. funny how it kind of sounds the same. One of the girls lent me her shoes to wear for the practice which I tried to refuse and just wear barefeet, but that seemed to not go over well, so I wore the shoes but got embarrassed because i had to give them back to her all hot afterwards (atsui=hot), so the next day I was prepared to say i didn:t want to wear them again, and she insisted again and started showing me the grip on the bottom and I tried to say I am embarrassed to give them to her atsui and it just was not communicated. Fine, give me the damn shoes. Anyway, the girl then plays for 1/2 the practice and then slips over and sprains her ankle....in my mind, because she has crap shoes on because the foreigner has taken HER shoes!!! And i thought i wouldn:t have any stress on this trip.

Yesterday we went to a town by train with our students called Nara, which has lots of buddhist temples and we went to one that had a 16mhigh buddha. It was big..... and there were lots of deer roaming the streets, looking for people to feed them deer crackers which are sold everywhere. my better judgement told me to just let the students feed them and i am glad i did. the deer went crazy if you had the food. some butting heads against each other if a cracker fell on the ground. Others bit at students bums and backpacks. Little did i know i had lots of them following me because hogan (the japanese kids call him HORGAN) had put a cracker in the mesh pocket of my backpack.
I did get the nerve to put a cracker in my mouth and hold it out so a deer came and ate it from me. stinky breath though....

Went out for japanese at a real authentic restaurant (treated again by tomi:s uncle)...its kind of the equivalent to going to the Hilton hotel for dinner. Really neat food, lots of sashimi (raw fish), and a little sake (which was much nicer than i have tried in NZ before).

I could write for ages, and tell you lots more, but I have ramen to get too (udon noodle breakfast with tofu that Tomi has just made). I am having a really fun time and learning tons!

Very ka kooi! (cool)

jellyfish is not oeshi

some notes from today....
just got home from authentic chinese restaurant at flash hotel where tomi`s uncle is head chef. he cooked us a 5 course meal, and we ate for 1 1/2 hours. insane! I had jelly fish, fish eggs and shark fin soup (although i didn:t know that was what i was eating at the time). it didnt look like soup, more like thick noodle stew. It was all very oeshi (yummy?), except the jellyfish....tasted exactly like i would expect it to taste....
Tomis uncle has asked us to go out with him for yakitori (japanese bbq meat skewers) dinner on saturday and he is setting up tomi on a bit of a blind date, but less intrusive because he and i will be there too. tomi is pretty nervous, its really funny. he keeps saying "bloody my uncle, bloody my uncle" instead of "arggh, my bloody uncle". Today he translated during japanese tea ceremony and said "we have just scratched the face of japanese culture" but meant to say scratched the surface....ha ha.
Also, played more volleyball and recruited some more drills for my team, and got dibs on good deals on some vballs so may bring some back with me from tokyo. met a boy in a pe class named "Daik" pronounced Dyke. Yes, i had to get him to repeat it.....
have yet to try the hole in the ground toilet....but will get brave tomorrow....maybe.....a little bit too much fecal matter still in the stall for me to jump at the opportunity to try it out.

I'm turning Japanese....i really think so

SO, here in Kyoto, and having good fun. Its a crazy place. Like seriously crazy....

Time is about to run out again, and i still want to write more and tel you all about everythng here. first off, the keyboard is nuts and has 4 characters on each key, so typing is challenging. hence the lack of capital letters. too tough to do fast.
did my speech today, went well. getting better at being confident about saying hello and thankyou. ohiyo gozaimas is good morning. did that well too. but did have some problems....
Truly, the people are really lovely and very cute. been practising alot of words with them, but still making aot of mistakes. FOR EXAMPLE: on volleyball court playing with some junior high students and giving high fives after good plays and just having good fun. next play, i mess up and take the ball from one of the students and lose the point, so I want to say sorry and try to be smart and say it in japanese. So I say " tami masen". she looks at me with blank look and very confused, so I say it again, figuring i said it too fast ( i was pretty confident that what i was saying was right). nope. more blank looks. so i gave up and next time i made a mistake i said "sorry". communication was spot on. she knew what i meant. Found out later that what i HAD said was " i eat". And then said again, "I EAT!" No wonder she was confused.....Hope you are well and communicating fine with the people around you. make sure you don:t take communication for granted.....EVER! Blank looks and body language can only get you so far....
more to follow,
CK

B's Birthday

So the big fella had another birthday this week and so we rented out a little home theatre that a man here runs as a charitable facility, and invited some friends to come and enjoy Bryce's love of The Italian Job movie (the old version, of course). Everybody received goody bags and a little car to use and make noises with during the car scenes. Great fun!!
Also, I have finished marking! I am thrilled! It was pretty full-on for the last few days, even doing 180 papers on Wednesday night just to keep up with quota. Yikes. I am happy not to be reading any more about genetics and microorganisms!!
Bryce and I are going away for Christmas to the farm (his cousins) to help shear sheep, race down a river on rafts and experience another NZ Christmas. After that, we are heading up to Rotorua for 4 days to play in the MTB park. We go to Rotovegas occasionally but it is never to just ride, always for some other reason and we try to fit a ride in. Well, not this time. We are going to explore the park and enjoy it! Then my cousin Jen arrives, we head across to Kapiti Island bird sanctuary on the 4th, my birthday on the 5th and then I leave for Japan on the 7th. I am going to try to and write a bit more on here during my trip. I am sure I will have some stories. I heard Japan is a BIT different to Canada and New Zealand; Yeah, right.

The estate

Most recent pic of the house. Our neighbours have chopped down these beautifully old trees to give their house some more light (to be fair, they really had a very dark backyard) but it has exposed some of our private little homestead. So we took some pics before the chop occurred. You couldn't tell from this pic though.

Rod and Sonia's wedding

We went to Rod and Sonia's wedding a few weeks ago and it was great fun. They got married in a little church out in the country and then the reception was in a marquee in their backyard, which is also out on a bit of land. Great day, pretty good weather (considering what we have been having lately), great dancing and good friends. Fun was had by all, including the dog Tui, who was the ring bearer!
Congratulations guys!

too long

been too long since I've posted anything. Been super busy, as it always is at the end of the school year. At least the weather is beginning to look like summer. I had my last night off last night until Christmas (because I start marking today) and so Bryce and I had a couple of Coronas out on the back deck, with sunset, and a BBQ, and some Toffee Pops to finish it off. Lovely night!

So we have just over one week of school left, and the kids are getting prety hairy already. It'll be good to see this year finish as being a Dean has been a rewarding but very difficult year as well. I have accepted the job again for next year, and get to continue working alongside my partner Fiona who is a fantastic worker, so I'm thrilled.

I am heavily reading at night my Lonely PLanet book about Japan, trying to get prepared for the trip in January. Bit nervous as it turns out I will have a bit of free time most days and nights when the students are with their homestays. I have learned Watashi wai Candace des (which I think means my name is Candace). Who knows? I think I will just find some women in the park and learn how to play mah-jong.

Off to the first of several meetings today (one even goes from 1:30 -9:30)!