12 on 12

Hibuya

2008-09-02T22:44:00.001+09:00

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The world's busiest intersection.....

On our last day in Japan we decided to try to find the world's busiest intersection. One of the old Aussie's had posted about it on her blog, so we used that information and headed off to Hibuya. After wondering around the train station, we managed to spot the Starbucks that she said she sat in to watch....so we headed over there. This is what we saw from inside on the 2nd floor.
Everyone waiting for the green light to cross the street....

Everyone crossing the street. It is estimated that over 1 million people pass through this intersection everyday.

This is Mitch and the kids sitting in the window at Starbucks.

I asked Mitch to take this picture to show Tina that it wasn't so busy on a Tuesday afternoon during summer vacation (She waiting for about 45 mins with her friends to get window seats, we waited about 5 seconds)

After we had our fill of people watching, we headed back out on to the streets.

What time is it?

This semi passed through the busy intersection at least 10 times while we were there. They were promoting a new singer, I think. They were selling her CDs on the corner.

just a sculpture outside the train station

Mitch liked this beer ad he saw on the train back to the hotel....

we weren't sure if this was Beer Bitter Face or what...

We had a great time in Tokyo. This will be my last post for this blog. If you would like to follow us back in America, please go to http://thehammesclan.blogspot.com/ Please know that our American blog will mainly be for our friends back in Japan so they can keep up with us.

We loved being in Japan and can not wait to see our friends again, whether they come to America for a visit or we go to Himeji for a visit. We miss all of you!!!

Park Hyatt Tokyo in Shinjuku

2008-08-29T11:50:00.000+09:00

Our hotel. We stayed on the 44th floor.
part of the view our of our room
RJ and daddy went swimming...Sara wasn't old enough by hotel standards...

The Tokyo skyline by night (this was on Mitch's camera) You can see Tokyo Tower just left of the center of the picture.

A picture of almost the same spot during the day.

We did manage to see Mt. Fuji from the hotel, but you can barely tell in the picture. It was amazing to see from so far away.

Tanabata (Star Festival)

2008-08-29T08:02:00.000+09:00

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

Our good friend Miho invited us to a Star Festival that she was going to with home stay student from New Zealand (Elizabeth). RJ and Sara were happy to wear their Yukata's again (Yes, Sara got another one...)

There were games to play
And ramunei to drink
And friends to pose for pictures with...

Thanks Miho for another great day!! We miss you in America!!

Ikebukuro

2008-08-28T21:02:00.000+09:00

OK, so here I am finishing up our Tokyo trip...
After a fun day Tokyo Disney, we decided to head over to Ikebukuro (another area in Tokyo). We had heard that there was a Build-a-Bear Workshop there and seeing how we brought their bears all the way from America, we figured we had to try one last time to get their Pawsports stamped.

Some of the scenery from the streets

Sara was very happy to find a stroller and put Pink Peaches in for a ride...

RJ checking everything out....
Cute yukatas for the bears
Here is some evidence that we were actually in a Japanese store.
After we were all done. Sara got a Kimono for Pink Peaches and RJ got a ginbei for Wilbur the Wildcat. Everyone was happy

While wondering around we came across some familiar sights...
A cute rabbit on the street
More of the city streets
More familiar sights (KFC)
These Sanrio stores were everywhere. You could get anything Hello Kitty or even Shinkansen (the bullet train) there. These were RJ and Sara's favorite kind of stores

If we weren't headed home after this trip, we might have stopped for some American Pizza
A street performer
A Smoking area on the street corner
City streets
More familiar sights

It was another great day in Tokyo....I have one more blog on the world's busiest intersection...

Tokyo Disney

2008-08-06T13:09:00.010+09:00

Sorry for the lapse in blogs. I am staying at a friends house this week and she only has dial up. My wonderful husband found out that Peter Piper Pizza has free wireless Internet...so as I sit here at 9:30 pm.....please enjoy a recap from our trip to Tokyo Disney...

After riding the over night bu from Himeji to Tokyo (it took us 10 hrs), the kids were very excited when they figured out where we were going.

At the entrance....Many people had told us that Tokyo Disney looked exactly like Disneyland in California...we didn't think so. There was no train station right out front
Many of the characters were out front to greet us...Pluto
I think this is Gapeto (from Pinocchio)
And Pinocchio. I was impressed with how the kids were with the characters. Sara wouldn't go near them but she was willing to stand next to her brother who was VERY excited to see them.

Don't think there is a Hokushi's in California
This is the end of Main street. Very different.
ToonTown entrance
While Mitch and I waited in line for the Jolly Trolley, RJ and Sara found fun things to play on

More cars

Cool water..yes it was hot and yes we let Sara get into the fountain.

The Jolly Family on the Jolly Trolley

More characters in Toontown
Tea cups. RJ and I went pretty fast on our spinning.

Sara chased Max down for a picture

Pumping up the water for an explosion
Checking out the hole in the door
Get me out of here!!

The parade...I don't know what was better...seeing Tigger bounce or watching my kids have the time of their lives!! It was awesome to see they experience all of this for the first time!

RJ and Sara waving at their favorite characters.
The castle
Tokyo Disney map

Not too sure about this, but it was outside while we were waiting for the bus back to our hotel.

I have a few more entries for Tokyo, but I am going to get kicked out of the pizza place soon. I have created our new blog at http://thehammesclan.blogspot.com/ but there isn't much there yet. It will mainly be a blog for our friends in Japan and family out of Arizona so they can keep up with the kids and see what they are up too and to see what Arizona is really like.

Check back in next week....not sure when I will be given permission to leave again....

Pools Party

2008-07-29T10:37:00.000+09:00

Monday, July 21st

Part 3 of a busy weekend

The kids were invited over to their friend Kiri's house for a pool party. When we arrived, we realized it was a pools party (3 pools)

Sara on the slide.
RJ playing with.....water (big surprise there)
Some of their friends

The gang that had fun together!! the moms (including me) cooked takoyaki, yakiniku and onigiri.

It was a lot of fun!!!

Asagiri Beach

2008-07-29T10:36:00.001+09:00

Sunday, July 20th

Part 2 of a packed weekend.

We headed back to our favorite beach one last time before we left. Kimi and her parents drove all of us there. It was hot, but everyone seemed to have a good time

Playland at The Mall

2008-07-29T10:29:00.000+09:00

Sunday, July 20

A few catch up blogs...sorry

We had dinner at the mall with some friends. The kids talked daddy into a few rides after dinner.

Akemi and her daughter Kumiko
RJ, Sara and Kumiko

Mitch decided to get in on the act....I hope it didn't hurt when the dinosaur bit him...

See Ya Soon, Himeji

2008-07-28T22:53:00.003+09:00

Saturday, July 26th at 6:30pm we had to say "see ya later" to some of the most amazing people we have meet while living in Himeji.

I was surprised at all the people who came by to say farewell.
Yes, same picture, but Dia took the first one and he is in the second one. (next to Mitch)

We had a few visitors earlier in the day. Chiaki came by for a chat in the afternoon.

Suzuna came by to see me in the morning. She was the lucky recipient of all of Sara's clothes and other small child items (high chair, stroller, plates, bowls, etc.)

Several others stopped by too, but of course I forgot to take pictures.

It was nice to see everyone one last time, but it also made me sad. It was amazing how well we got to know some of our friends in the short time we were here. RJ and Sara were given many offers to come do home stay with our new friends when they are older. And some of our friends will come see us in America...we can't wait to see you again!!!

When we left Himeji, we headed to Tokyo for 3 days. I will blog about our adventures there as soon as I can.

You Might Be a Redneck....

2008-07-25T22:19:00.000+09:00

If you strap a HUGE bicycle box to the back of your bicycle....
I finally convinced Mitch that we should take Sara's bicycle home with us. So he strapped her bike to the front of his (I forgot to take a picture of that).

After a LONG while in the bike shop, the guys managed to get the petals off and loaded the bike into this huge box (for a man's 26 inch bike). When the guy came outside and saw what Mitch was doing, he laughed so hard!!! It was hilarious.

As I rode behind Mitch on the way home (to keep track of him) this is what I saw.
Yep, we made it home all in one piece.....then later Mitch strapped a 22 lb (10kg) box to the front of his bike and rode it to the post office. It is amazing what one can accomplish when you have no car.

July's 12 on 12

2008-07-25T11:46:00.000+09:00

Ok, so I know I am late with this month's version of 12 on 12. Seeing how it will be my last one in Japan, I wanted to do things a bit different. I promised you 24 pictures last month and I planned to have 12 and 12. But I seem to have gone over board on one side and not the other

July's 12 on 12 -

12 things I WILL miss about Japan and 12 things I will NOT miss about Japan (in no particular order). I did not include people as that would eat up all of my available slots

I WILL miss the photo booths here. They are everywhere and once you take the photos you get to decorate them. (Click on the photo to see it bigger.)

These are the photo booths that I WILL miss.

I WILL miss seeing Himeji-jo everyday. Kind of like living at the beach..you get so use to it that once it is gone you forget how great it was.

I (and RJ, Sara & Mitch too) WILL miss the ice cream kids!

I WILL miss seeing my name in print without Christmas after it

I will NOT miss not being able to read a menu. It will be so nice to be literate again!!

I WILL miss seeing the world from a different perspective (notice how the Americas are not on the left center of this map)

I WILL miss my quiet reading place outside of Shogai...On Wednesdays I would arrive early and sit and read outside.

I WILL miss funky looking garages.

I WILL miss kid sized urinals in the ladies bathroom. (no Sara does not use them, RJ just wouldn't pose for me)

I will NOT miss a full size mirror in the shower.

I WILL miss the extra large shower area we have here.

I WILL miss all the crazy drinks they come out with here in Japan. This is Pepsi Blue (Pineapple and Lemon flavor). The kids enjoyed it.

I WILL all the great Japanese cakes. I do not have a sweet tooth therefore I like how less sweet Japanese cakes are.

I WILL miss group exercise...remember the movie Gung Ho anyone?

I WILL miss my wonderful daily bentos.

I will NOT miss Japanese style toilets!!

I will NOT miss crazy English translations albet as funny as they are.

I will NOT miss my desk. I spent way too many hours just sitting here doing nothing.

I will NOT miss rice fields. As fun as it was to watch them plant them and to see how straight the rows are...hello they harbor mosquitoes!!

I WILL miss all the great origami that is made here. My ESS club members made this for me. They used about 200 small pieces of origami paper. I can't wait to hang it in my classroom in Arizona!

I WILL miss Himeji High School's song. The students sing this at all ceremonies and it almost feels like college days at sport event when we would sing the fight song. Luckily one of my teachers gave me a CD with the song on it!!

I will NOT miss the sweat generated during the humid weather. This is my back after ONLY standing in the gym for closing ceremonies. (no AC)

I am sure that as soon as I post this I will think of a few more things that I WILL miss. I can truly say that I have LOVED living in Himeji this year. I wish all of my friends back home could have had the opportunity to visit and see what a truly amazing place Japan really is.

Goodbye Himeco

2008-07-24T22:00:00.002+09:00

Friday, July 18th

On my last day of school, some of my favorite teachers surprised me with some VERY beautiful flowers!!! At first I was surprised because my favorite funny teacher was wearing a VERY curly wig. It was great!! And the fragrance was wonderful for our apartment.

The gang that presented me the flowers.

Thanks to all the teachers at Himeco, I had a fabulous year!! I am sad to be leaving but happy to go home to see family and friends. Thanks for some wonderful memories!

Tegara Water Park

2008-07-24T15:51:00.000+09:00

Saturday, July 19th

Our friend Miho had a home stay student from New Zealand for about 7 days. We were invited to come along on Saturday when they went to the water park at Tegara Park. We had a blast. Think Water World but on a much tamer level (no crazy teenagers taking over the park)
Yota (Miho's nephew), RJ and Elizabeth (home stay student from New Zealand) taking a break from the water.

Mommy and Sara
Sara and Elizabeth. They were inseparable.

Almost the whole gang (plus 2 friends of RJ's from school)
Sara, Merry, Elizabeth, Miho, Yota & Akiko
Akiko and Yota. They had a lot of fun together.
RJ dunking daddy
daddy rising from the water!!

Sara and Elizabeth
Even though there were many pools of water, RJ was still drawn to the water fountains.
Mommy and RJ
Akiko (don't you just love her smile) and Yota
Mommy and Sara having fun!

Thanks Miho for a great day at the water park!!! RJ is still talking about it!! And don't worry, our sunburns have all healed!!

Himeji High Sports Day

2008-07-24T13:21:00.000+09:00

September 17, 2007

I know that this blog is long over due.

Back in September all the local schools had Sports Day. It is somewhat similar to Field Day in the elementary schools back home, but on a much grander scale. And at my high school the decorations are just as important as the events.

Every thing took place on the open field behind the school building.

Each class made a class decoration. This is what the field looked like when I arrived at school at 8:20am 1st graders

more 1st graders

the band playing the opening song

All of the classes marched out on to the field together

3rd graders decorations - all of them become more 3-D

2nd graders decorations

The 2nd graders pretty much ran the show. The started all of the races, kept track of them and announced the winners.

more 2nd graders

yes, that Spiderman is 3-D

The kids came inside the teachers works room to see where mommy worked.

The middle one is Harry Potter

Then the students got into costumes for the judging.

my favorite one was the castle. The students dressed up as Disney characters, but the boys were the princesses! It was great!!

Mr. Ayukawa and Sara (last September).

After lunch the students came out with their clubs

Kendo club

RJ was excited to find Thomas

Class jump roping contest (there are about 30-40 students jumping rope all together)

I took this picture for my mom. It is the big guy from Harry Potter (Hagrid?).

I know that there were a lot of pictures for this post (hence why I never finished the blog until now) but I wanted you to see the progression of the decorations. It was a fun (and hot) day. The students prepare all summer long with their classes and clubs. Their parents are invited to come watch.

Tanabata at Kids House International Preschool

2008-07-23T16:06:00.006+09:00

Monday, July 7, 2008

RJ and Sara's school had a party to celebrate the Star Festival (Tanabata). Mitch volunteered to help with all the festives

Tanabata is a Festival of the Stars on July 7th. You can learn more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata

The kids dressed up in their yukatas for the festival

Sara's Koala class
All of the kids and teachers (yes that is Sara in the front row picking her nose)
The kids listening to instructions
Sara waiting patiently for the games to begin

Performing their star festival dance and song
more instructions
teacher Favi (Kimi's mom) in a yukata

RJ and Kimi

Star decorations
Daddy helped tie many of the obis on the kids
Sara waiting for her yakisoba
Sara's group eating
RJ's group eating Japanese style.

From what I heard, the kids all had a great time. They played games to earn their food (lunch) and some even won extra prizes (Sara got a big bag of treats)

Sushi Rolling with Yoko

2008-07-23T10:48:00.002+09:00

Thursday, July 17, 2008

One of Mitch's English students invited us over to her house to roll our own sushi rolls. I was very excited as I had never done this before (Mitch did it once in cooking class)

Yoko had just about everything prepared prior to picking us up. She had many choices for us including ham, scrambled egg roll, lettuce, cucumbers, fish, tuna salad, and sashami (raw fish).

Then she brought over the sushi rice (boiled rich with vinegar
Then she cut the seaweed into the right size
Sara waiting patiently...
One of my finished products (white fish, cucumber, lettuce and mayonnaise)

RJ was an expert and putting many things and then rolling it

Here is a video of him using his chopsticks to load up his sushi roll.

After we finished eating, we went into the living room to enjoy some conversation. When it was time to go home we snapped a photo of Yoko, her husband and Mitch & the kids.

We had a great time!! Thanks Yoko!!

Himeco Sai

2008-07-20T16:44:00.001+09:00

June 20, 2008

Friday and Saturday were very busy days at my high school. The annual school festival was on. Many days of preparation lead up to it...

On Monday, I received this booklet telling me all about the events for the days ahead.

On Tuesday, you had to pre buy your tickets for what you wanted to eat on Friday or Saturday. This got a bit tricky as I was not to be there on Saturday (we went to Shirashi Island that weekend)). I had to ask the students what they were cooking and on which day before I could buy.
This is the student body out on the field buying and selling tickets

Some of them wore costumes (click on the picture). The red thing is an octopus for takoyaki.

These were my tickets. Starting from top left: cookies and a tart, crispy cheese, popcorn (coco, green tea, carmel or salt & butter), and dango (like mochi on a stick but given a topping. I picked coco and soy bean powder (tastes like peanut butter)

Friday morning when I arrived at school, this is what I saw

The students were setting up the tents for their area.

Then a mascot appeared.

This was Chacha's favorite mascot while she was here. We saw him all over the Sweets Festival

A couple groups of Kindergartens came to enjoy the school festival
Aren't they cute!!

Then the kindergartens performed several songs and dances

the mascot really got into it

After their performances, they each were escorted around by 2 1st graders. They were not allowed to eat any student prepared food, but there were games for them to play.

Popcorn stand
Everyone was given a playing card to wear (red for girls, black for boys). You had to find your match (I was red 4 of diamonds, I had to find the black 4 of diamonds) and then you could get your picture taken. One of the 2nd graders made this.

Many cultural clubs were to perform on Saturday but since I wasn't going to be there, I went to watch the rehearsals. This is the Koto club. They make beautiful music.

Dango
The Koren food area
More food
Takoyaki
More takoyaki

Tofu donuts. These were actually very good. I am going to make them back home for anyone who asks.
Here in Japan Dunkin Donuts is called Mister Donuts. This 2nd grade class that was making the tofu donuts decided to name their booth Mrs. Donuts.
The donut group
This little girl kept following me around so I finally asked if I could take her picture. She was very happy to oblige
Crispy cheese
It was a great experience to see all the kids partaking such an active role in their own festival. I am amazed at how involved Japanese students are in everything they do.

ESS Goodbye Party

2008-07-19T11:39:00.001+09:00

My new ESS (English Speaking Society) Club had a going away party for me this past week. The 3rd graders finished club activities in June after the cultural festival (I am working on that post) so it was only the new 1st graders.

Tomoyuki, Midori and Yuri

We enjoyed Japanese sweets (apricot flavored mochi), orange drink, hot green tea, and sembe (rice cracker). We had a great time! Thanks for a great farewell party!!!

25th Annual Sweets Festival of Japan

2008-07-18T21:43:00.001+09:00

Friday, May 2, 2008

When we arrived here in Himeji, we saw signs for a countdown to something. After asking a few people, we learned that in April and May the 25th annual Sweets Festival was coming to Himeji. This event circulates around Japan and this was to be the first time in Himeji.

When I heard that Chacha's visit would overlap, we decided to wait till she was here to go.

Prior to going we had heard from several people that the festival was backed and the lines were LONG.

Our first line took us into a candy area where you could play games (if picked) and get some free goodies. There were also displays to look at.

Meiji is a big candy maker here in Japan. This face is made of different candy bars.
Tower made of chocolate
A company mascot

one of the games we did not get to play. They only opened the lines every 45 mins and if you missed it you had to wait again. I think they did this to encourage people to leave the tent so more people could come in.
Potato mascot
Another mascot
Candy making demonstration both

The we wondered around for a bit more before making it to the main attraction. We were told that in the main exhibit hall, you could see the Himeji castle made from sugar. So we found the line and waited about 2 hrs. Mitch and I took turns taking the kids around while the others waiting in line.

As we approached the main door, there was a sign that said "No Pictures". I was a bit mad as we had waited for so long. So I decided to turn off my flash and take a few pictures. Sorry that they are not perfect... Remember everything in the display is made from sugar

Eagle and tree limb

Another bird

This is one of the castle walls with a tree limb and bird
colorful bird
I guess I didn't realise so many were birds

Beautiful bird with snow on the ground
water fall with autumn colors. I think this one and the Himeji Castle wall ones are my favorite
This was an aquarium one
Alice in Wonderland
Wedding cake with Alice theme

and the long awaited Himeji Castle. My picture SUCKED! so I borrowed this one from Rob. He is here from Australia. You should check out his blog at http://robwalkerpoet.blogspot.com/

Once we were out side again walking around we found some photo opportunities.
Chef RJ
Chef Chacha

I guess it was a long day for Sara

Not only can Mitch ride a bike with 2 kids, he can do it one handed while propping the head of our lovely daughter. Thanks Mitch for being such a great dad/husband/friend!

Thank You Taiko Drummers

2008-07-18T11:40:00.002+09:00

**This blog is for Aunt Mary**
We received a wonderful package back in May from Aunt Mary. She sent a lot of thank you gifts for us to hand out to some of our friends that she met while she was here in March. It took us awhile (and our impending departure date) to finally make it back to the Taiko Drumming group here in Himeji that practices on Monday nights.

They were very thankful for all the great stuff!!!

Showing the rest of the members as they arrived

oohh...aahh...

RJ waiting patiently for all of them to look at their gifts. He really wanted to play the drums!!!

They managed to land some sticks
and beat their hearts away
Still reaching
Great beat!

Then the group joined in
RJ tried real hard to keep up
but they get going very fast.

Thank you Aunt Mary for "forcing" us to go back one more time. They truly loved the gifts and we enjoyed watching them practice one last time.

3, 2, 1 Blast Off!

2008-07-17T12:16:00.001+09:00

Saturday, July 5th

Our friend Miho invited us to the horse race track to watch the cub scouts launch some PET bottle rockets that they built with her husbands help a few months ago. Apparently her husband build great PET bottle rockets.

RJ was so excited when Miho told him he could launch her husband's rocket (he actually lives and works on another island here in Japan so he only comes home about once a month)
RJ and his borrowed rocket

You fill it was some water (not too much, but enough to build up pressure to be released)
Then you hook it up to the PET bottle rocket launcher and use a bike tire pump to build up pressure
And then you remove the pump and pull the release value while trying to stay out of the way....
They both got soaked but Miho was too quick for the picture. RJ actually liked getting wet because it was very hot out that day!!

A short video of one of their launches

RJ had a BLAST! Thanks Miho!

Farmer RJ

2008-07-17T11:36:00.000+09:00

A few months ago, Mitch and RJ bought a few packets of seeds and planted a garden on the 2nd floor patio. Luckily rainy season helped out with the water as the 2 of them coniutly forgot to check on the vegtables.

Luckily carrots are a study grower (is that even a word?).

Oni farmer
RJ Farmer

His many carrots. He was able to enjoy his first carrot the other night. He said it tasted good after daddy peeled it for him. We plan to harvest the rest of them next week before we leave for Tokyo.

Yakitori

2008-07-16T13:07:00.000+09:00

Sunday, July 6th

We went out to dinner with Favi, Zuka, Azu and Dia. This was our first time to a yakitori resturant (grilled chicken). It was delicious.

The kids having fun in the window sill since they were bored while us adults were talking.
I really do feel bad for RJ and Kimi. I remember losing some great friends when I was 5 or 6yrs old. I hope we can come visit or they come visit us in Arizona!!
The whole gang

These are pictrue Mitch took of the cooks preparing food.

The menu up on the wall

Dia decided he needed a new belt buckle

Actually our great friends bought us a sign to hang on our new home in Arizona. It says Hammes(u) in kanji. I can't wait to hang it!! Thanks guys! We will really miss you!

Crabs and Frogs

2008-07-16T13:03:00.000+09:00

Sunday, July 6th

Sunday morning, Zuka and Mitch took the kids to the river to play. These are pictures Mitch took. As I am sure you have all noticed, he has pretty much quit his blog...sorry about that.
The mountains with a rice field in front.

They went looking for crabs and frogs

RJ actually picked them up and put them into his own bucket. Thanks Kimi for teaching RJ it is ok to touch bugs and things!!!
Playing in the river
Lunch. I packed up a bento for all of them and they seemed to enjoy it.
RJ's frog
The river

They all said it was a great day. Thanks Zuka!!

Lunch with Mitch's Students

2008-07-15T13:12:00.000+09:00

Mitch has really had a great time teaching English while here in Japan. It gives him an opportunity to be away from the kids, talk to adults and make some friends.

On July 1st, I was invited to lunch with one of his classes. The food was delicious. I asked all of them for the recipes so I can make the food for all of you back home. They have class again on the 16th so we will see if they did their homework.

Mitch and his students
This was her house that we ate at. Actually it is their 2nd home (in the same neighborhood). Her husband is brain surgeon in Tokyo. I really liked the garden so I took a couple of pictures.
The house wraps around the garden. The first picture in this blog was taken in the room directly across in this picture.

Summer Festival

2008-07-15T10:00:00.003+09:00

Sunday, July 13th

The local shrine in our neighborhood had a summer festival this past Sunday. The kids were excited to go because they associate the word festival with games and food. I was excited to go because it was to be small and the flyer had free next to the games listed.

When we first arrived we were greeted by this Chinowa - a large circle made of grass. You walk through it several times in the shape of a figure 8 and then you have good health for the rest of the year.

It was an actual religious ceremony called a Yudate. I think they were blessing the grass/rice/bamboo. Not sure. But it was interesting to watch.
More blessings

Then the head guy walked everyone through the circle together.

Then it was time for games.

At all the other festivals, they have these games where the kids use a paper spoon to try to scoop something out of the water (fish, balls, toys). I hated to spend the $3 to let them play knowing that they didn't understand and would keep the paper scoop in the water long enough that it would only fall apart and they would be disappointed. And if they did happen to figure it out, what was I going to do with goldfish. Well, it was free that day and they had bowls to help the kids "win" A fish. We started with 3 (one for RJ, 2 for Sara). By the time we got home we had 15!! Now what do you do with 15 goldfish when you know you are leaving in less than 2 weeks...we cut open a water bottle, piled them all in and bought some fish food. Now RJ really wants a fish when we get home. I promised him one when we get into our new house (whenever or where ever that may be). Hey at least he doesn't want a hamster anymore.
RJ's fish
Sara playing in the water
Mommy helping RJ with his fish

Proud papa!

PET fish (that was Mitch's pun - it is a PET bottle). 12 have survived thus far.

On to more games...
This game there is a metal hook on the end of a paper string. You have to catch a balloon with the hook before the paper string falls apart. I think each kid ended up with 3

Merry and Chiaki - one of my former university students.
Me and one of my current university students. Her son was a bit shy but Sara kept brushing his sweaty hair out of his face for him. It was cute.

Jodoji

2008-07-14T10:53:00.000+09:00

Seeing how I have 5 days left at school and only 2 classes to teach, I will get caught up on my blogging. Blogger has a great thing now, I can write all my blogs but have them scheduled to post later. So as not to over inundate all of you faith readers, I will only post one or 2 a day for then next 2 weeks till we are back home. Have fun reading

After we left the sunflower fields on Saturday, Mayumi took us to an important temple - Jodoji. Here are a few pictures from the temple compound.
the main temple building
Not sure which building this was, but I liked the architecture. This next sign was next to it so I think it is the belfry

I like the colorful building amidst the wooden ones.

I took this picture to try to capture the "glowing" headstones on the hill side. it was pretty cool looking.
A reflection pond in the middle of the compound
I really have no idea what all the different buildings are used for, but I thing their style is pretty cool.
RJ and Sara "washing" their hands. I liked how the water spicket was the head of a dragon.

Sunflowers, Zip Lines and Fun

2008-07-14T09:08:00.007+09:00

On Saturday, our friend Mayumi took us for a day trip about 50 mins northwest of Himeji. We drove through some countryside and saw another side to Japan. The scenery was beautiful.

When we reached our destination, the kids were VERY happy to get out of the car and head straight for the play ground.
Sara and Daddy at the swings
The rest of the playground
Mayumi pushing Sara. Sara stayed on the swings for a very long time. She would have stayed all afternoon if there hadn't been other kids waiting.

Then she found the really big roller slide (I still miss the one at the park south of Glendale on 39th ave)

Then RJ found the zip line.

He waiting patiently for his turn...
got on...

and had a blast!!!

a video of RJ on the zip line
Sara saw what RJ was doing and wanting to give it a try. She waiting patiently for her turn

I don't think I have ever seen her smile that big before. She loved it!!

Sara's video on the zip line

Then she went off to drive the boat
And RJ graduated to standing on the zip line. I was so proud of him for trying new things without freaking out!!
He was so happy and would have stayed here forever. But it was hot out, and the kids needed to eat some lunch.
Mayumi, Sara and RJ. The concrete tower in the back ground has a big sunflower at the top.

After lunch, we went to the indoor play area at the park. I was geared for kids 1 1/2 to 4 so I talked to RJ about playing nicely and they had a blast.

Especially when they found the kitchen set. I was their first customer at their restaurant, then I went and got Mitch and Mayumi so they could eat too.

Before we left, we went across the street to admire the beautiful sunflowers.

RJ wanted to know where the sunflower seeds were....
He just kept smelling them when I told him I had no idea.

It was a great day! Thanks Mayumi for showing a great place!

Kobe, May 17, 2008

2008-07-11T12:22:00.008+09:00

Sorry this blog is so over due. Apparently I used some pictures from this day in May's 12 on 12 but I never blogged about the day...

It all started with Favi and Zuka coming to our residence for a late Mother's Day brunch. After breakfast, RJ and Sara went off with them, so Mitch and i could enjoy a whole day to ourselves. We hoped on a train and headed to Kobe.

The only plans we had were to go see the foreigners homes and to have lunch at a New York Deli. So we wondered out of the train station and came across this line of people.
Apparently IKEA came to Japan in April.

The shuttle bus ride was about 20 mins (I was told, we did not go) and the line to get on it was about a 45 min wait. I wanted to go, but seeing how I could not buy anything (we were coming home in 2 months, what is the point) we decided not to wait in line.

So we kept walking north and finally made it to Kitano district. Once the Kobe port was opened, foreigners set up houses around the Kitano area. As a result, the area became home to numerous foreign residences that gave Kitano an exotic atmosphere, and many of those homes are still in evidence today. Here are a few we saw...

British house

This is the former Panama Consulate

I saw this sign and took it for the King Family

This was a cute LITTLE shop. Mitch could barely fit under the doorway.

I decided to get dressed up...

Then we walked down the hill and found a few more houses

I took this one for Aunt Cindy. I wanted to go inside, but it was closed for some reason.
One of the main streets north of Sannomiya station. We are standing on a overpass walk way.

The walk way almost forms a triangle over this intersection.
A statue we found.

The we finally made it to the New York Deli. We had learned of this place from another website of some foreigners living in Kobe. They said it was truly like a New York Deli. I was so eager to have a Reuben sandwich.
They also had root beer!
The owner and Mitch out in front of her shop. It was delicious! Here is the website http://homepage2.nifty.com/nyd/main.html in case you want to check it out

Then we headed back to the Sannomiya station. We came across this eating area next to a kids play area.
The circles in the table tops are seats for little kids. We never did bring the kids back here to try it out...I am sure we have some in America...

Gas

2008-07-08T22:36:00.002+09:00

So I know all of you back home are complaining about gas prices, but let's see what others are paying...

Here in Japan gas price is 195 yen per liter. Sounds cheap, right? But there are 3.8 liters per gallon. That means for one gallon of gas, it costs = 741 yen per gallon (that translates into $6.93) So quit whining about $4 a gallon and get on your bikes!!

I know I can only say that now, but when we get home and have to start filling up our tank, I will understand....

Nojima Fault

2008-07-07T23:16:00.003+09:00

Our last stop for our trip to Awajishim was at an Earthquake museum.

On January 17, 1995 at 5:46 am, the city of Kobe was hit by the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. They preserved part of the exposed fault line at Nojima Fault Preservation Museum. The Nojima fault was the cause of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake that killed over 6400 people in the Kobe-Awaji area. (ok, so I "borrowed" those words from other websites)

Any way, I had been wanting to go to this museum since I first heard about it months ago. When Izumi told me we would go to this island for a weekend, I was so excited and hoping we could go there.

A memorial to all the lives lost to this horrific earthquake.
Juts inside the front doors is a replica of the highway that was damaged and toppled during the earthquake.

This museum was created literally on top of the exposed fault line.
The messed up asphalt from the damaged road.
in the upper left corner you can see a concrete ditch and then it stops and then it is just off the left side of the picture. That whole thing use to be straight and in line with the lower half.
This land use to be level. You can see how much the earth rose during the earthquake.
Another depiction of how the earth moved. The 2 orange dots should be next to each other.

more of the concrete ditch. It use to be straight.
These tress use to make a closed square. The next picture is a diagram of what it use to look like. Compare the pictures.

This is a model that shows how the earth moved during the earthquake.

More of the moved earth
The blue dots belong together and the orange dots belong together.

The earth was cut away here. You can see the different plates of the earth and how the moved.
There was a house that sat on the fault line. It was damaged in the quake (imagine that), but the city decided to preserve the house to show and teach people the importance of being earthquake ready.
This is an aerial photo of the house. Notice the red arrow at the top and the bottom, that is the fault line that passes through the house.
Gotta love the English signs here
The fence around the property was damaged.

There were pictures of the inside of the house, but a bit difficult to see what I was seeing.

Then they had a room where you could "live" the earthquake. RJ was very worried about going on the "ride" cause he had seen what the inside of the house looked like. I told him it would be ok because there was nothing that could fall down and hurt us. Once the "ride started, he started laughing. It was quite hilarious.

Mitch videoed the next one for all of you to see. The original quake was 7.o and then there was an after shock about a 4.0.

The museum was amazing to see. I don't think I ever fully understood what happens during a quake other than the move shakes. Now let's just hope we get out of here before another hits....

Naruto Strait Whirlpools

2008-07-06T10:52:00.000+09:00

Sunday we woke up leisurely and Mitch took the kids downstairs for a swim. They had a blast and I straightened up the room a bit. We met back up with Izumi and Toshi around noon and headed to the south end of the island to the Naurto Strait.

We boarded a ship to head our to see the famous whirlpools that are created where the Japan Seto Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet up.

This was our ship
Izumi, Toshi with Sara, RJ and me in the background
This was a shrine Mitch saw on our way out to sea.
Us just waiting to get to the whirlpools.

You could see them off in the distance. Notice how calm the water is in the fore ground
Here they are
This smaller boat got right in there
You can kind of see the whirl..the weather was a bit bad which made for not so great conditions, but you can get the idea.
RJ was very worried that our ship was going to crash into the bridge we had to go under. Sara did her part to calm his fears.

some video of the whirlpools
a more zoomed out view of the whirlpools.

It was very cool to experience!

Food Market

2008-07-06T10:38:00.001+09:00

After our boat ride, we went in search of lunch. There was a fresh market near where we boarded the ship for the whirlpools. Before we got there, though, Sara found a comfortable place to sit down...

Once we coaxed her out of there, we went off looking for lunch....
Dried octopus
escargot
octopus (I am sure you can imagine Mitch was not happy about his lunch prospects, RJ and I were very excited!)

The market area
Sara is always making friends and sometimes she even gets presents
Eel and octopus
more octopus (Mitch had the camera that day and he was obsessed with all the octopus even though he won't eat it)

up close of the octopus

flat fish
RJ's octopus
yummy!!
Then we had dessert. Awaji is known for it onions. The ice cream stand we stopped at had onion flavored ice cream...ahh come on , RJ is not that weird...he only got vanilla.

XIV Private Resort

2008-07-05T11:05:00.000+09:00

We then headed back to our resort for the night. From what we could gather, it seems to be a timeshare similar to those in America. Izumi somehow knows someone who is a member, so we were able to get rooms. Our room was bigger than our apartment here in Himeji. It was AWESOME!!
This RJ on our balcony
The view of the marina from our room

the view of the water from our room

We had dinner in one of the resort restaurants. I think it was a seafood restaurant with a French twist.
RJ waiting patiently
Me helping Sara blow on her HOT corn soup
Mitch's first dish - 5 different appetizers. RJ got to eat his taco (octopus)
My first dish - 3 appetizers (I ate my own octopus)

RJ and Sara had their own plate - spaghetti, salad, hambug with fried egg on top
Mitch's second course - pasta with sausage and tomato sauce
my 2nd course - spaghetti with eel and tomatoes - very delicious
We think this was escargot...yes we tried it...Izumi and Toshi had to finish it for us.
Mitch's 4th dish - fish. He actually ate all of it

Mitch's 5th dish - steak. He said it was the best steak he has ever eaten. Not sure if that has anything to do with being in Japan for the past 11 months.
my 3rd dish - pork chop with blue cheese sauce - delicious!
RJ's 2nd course - dessert, custard with fruit topping

We forgot to take pictures of Mitch and I dessert dish. We ate it so quickly because it was delicious!

When we got back to the room, the kids were playing in the jacuzzi tub (don't worry there was no water in it)
but Sara was ready with her floaties
this is the resort from the front.

Onokoro Amusement Park

2008-07-05T10:26:00.000+09:00

When we arrived on the island, we were a bit upset that the clouds had not gone away and were releasing some rain (imagine that, it is still rainy season here on Honshu (the main island of Japan)). We decided to skip the beach and head to Onokoro. Japan is infamous for their amusement parks with miniature lands.

We started on the Merry-go-round
Don't worry, Mitch is in the picture, he just ducked down so it looked like Sara and RJ were on there all by themselves.

Holland

Wow! RJ really has grown a lot while were have been in Japan...oh wait another miniature...this one is of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Colosseum with Toshi, Izumi, RJ, Mitch and Sara
RJ so wanted to ride the Ferris wheel...he was so patient...NOT!!

This is in Russia (sorry, I forgot the names and the pamphlet is in Japanese)

I liked the random stone statue in the background.
The Great Wall of China
There were tickets left over so I was voted to take the kids on the train ride.
All in all, the kids fared pretty well considering it was raining. I love to see the miniatures and RJ did get to ride the Ferris wheel.

The World's Longest....

2008-07-04T23:01:00.000+09:00

...Suspension Bridge - Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

We were invited for a weekend getaway to Awajishima. This island is just off the coast of Kobe and can be viewed form our favorite beach in Akashi. If you have been following my blog, you have seen many pictures of this bridge. This past weekend, we finally got to drive over it. I was so excited!!!

So I had to take a few pictures while we were on the bridge so everyone can see what I dork I really am.

More blogs to come about the great weekend!

Aren't Kids the Cutest

2008-07-03T21:53:00.001+09:00

I hope none of you are tired of watching videos of my kids....

This morning for breakfast I was reminded of a time in my youth. "Dad is great! He give us chocolate cake" If you never listen to Bill Cosby growing up, you have no idea what I am talking about. But you can still enjoy today's video.

Sara was singing our praises this morning.

Princess Rider

2008-06-30T13:20:00.003+09:00

This blog is especially for my Aunt Janice

Last year when we were celebrating Sara's 1st birthday, we requested no presents since we knew that we were most likely going to be moving to Japan. My Aunt Janice insisted on getting Sara something so I asked her to pick out a cute, fancy dress for Sara's 1st birthday photos.

Sara loved it so much, and since it was still a bit big, we brought it to Japan with us. The other night we had a sukiyaki party with some of Mitch and my English students and Sara picked out the said dress to wear.

All night long she was very ladylike in wearing her dress. But when Miho brought us home, she took off for the bike storage area and decided she wanted to go for a ride.

Here's to you Aunt Janice...Princess Sara

Dancing Babies

2008-06-30T13:12:00.003+09:00

I vaguely remember something about dancing babies on the Internet and on Allie McBeal a few years ago. Don't worry, mine is dressed...

RJ received another birthday card in the mail this past week from his cousin Jordan. It was one of those singing ones. Sara got a hold of it and started to perform from us. I hope you enjoy!

How Much Would You Pay?

2008-06-28T09:52:00.000+09:00

While we were in Okayama this past weekend we learned that fruit is very famous and delicious in Okayama. On our way home we stopped at a rest stop to buy some peaches and grapes.

These grapes were 1700 yen (about $17) and the peaches were a bit less (I can't tell you as some were purchased as a gift for the others on the trip, but if you want to know how much those 2 peaches were, comment or email me and I will tell you).

They were the most delicious grapes and peaches I have ever eaten. They were SSOO juicy!

Yukata Matsuri

2008-06-27T09:54:00.000+09:00

We returned from our island vacation Sunday around 1:45pm My friend Miho came over at 2:30 to help us put on our yukatas. We were headed to the Yukata Matsuri in downtown Himeji.

One of my classes at Shogai purchased my yukata for me as a going away present.

Mitch got his at a welcome party we went to last September
Mitch, Miho, RJ, Sara and Akiko all dressed up and ready to go
If you wore your yukata on the city bus you only pay 1/2 fare...maybe we will wear everyday

The same day, if you were wearing a yukata you could go into the Koko-en garden for free, so we stopped for a few poses
Rob, Lyn and RJ
Heather, Sophie, Mitch, Eiko, Sue (our dentist here in Japan) and Chiaki

the back side of Sara and Akiko
The happy Hammes Family
Miho, Akiko and us on the bridge in Koko-en
Miho and Akiko
Sara, RJ and Akiko waiting patiently for pictures to begin

We met up with several people form Shirasagi to have a group photo taken in front of Himeji castle. When it started to rain, we ducked under the main gate. Sara posed for us with these 2 cute Japanese girls in their yukatas.

more of the groupMiho's shoes. These are gettas, the typical shoe to wear with your kimono or yukata

Akiko- beautiful smile!
Sara was a bit tired and restless, so Daddy did a great job of entertaining her....

More of the group waiting out the rain

This is one of RJ's friends from school.

So I bribed RJ with ice cream if he kept smiling and being happy through all the pictures. Every time we would take a picture with the group, he would ask, "Can we have ice cream now?" He was so good...
And then the real smiles came out!

And so did the paparazzi

It was a bit ridiculous how many people wanted to take RJ and Sara's pictures while they were eating ice cream
One of the camera men took Miho that they were shooting for a photo competition.
Sara and Akiko (Sara loves to hold Akiko's hand)
Some of the beautiful fashions

Even though it was raining, we had a great time.

On Monday at school, RJ was asked to go to the Yukata Matsuri AGAIN with his friend Kimi. They had a blast!

Shirashi Island Villa

2008-06-26T09:55:00.000+09:00

I have a stack of journals to read and grade, a final exam to write, yet here I am blogging. I hope you enjoy today's post. Maybe you can leave a comment so I will know that ditching my school work was not in vain....

This past weekend we had a great holiday weekend with great friends!

Friday:We boarded the bus at 3:12 to head down town to catch the Shinkansen. Sara did not want to sit up front with her family, she chose to sit with Dopie (opps, I mean Sophie)

Once at the train station with everyone riding the train, I found out that this was to be Kimi's first trip on the Shinkansen. RJ,being the expert (this was his 5th ride), asked me to take their picture.

After the 40 min bullet train ride, we had another 45 min regular train ride. Sara was getting a bit tired so she got a ride...

I like to take pictures of the man hole covers as each city has their own design
This is from Kasaoka (where we picked up the ferry to the island)

Once we arrived on the island, we walked about 10 mins up the hill to our villa

This is the view from our room

This is the balcony

On Saturday we all headed down to the beach for some fun and relaxing time.

Joe decided to challenge the kids to run and jump in the water
I was so impressed with RJ!

Sophie relaxing
More jumping
Sara got into the act toomore flips by Joe

RJ doing it alone...he is growing up!!
Cute Sara

Mitch, Marie-Louise, Favi and Katie relaxing
Look closely at this picture. (click on it if you want to see it bigger) Notice the tori gate near the edge of the water to the right of the little house like structurenow you can see it is well out of the water. High tide vs low tide.
This is where we had our BBQ later that night.

RJ with our villa in the background
Joe and Katie brought some fireworks for the kids to play with. Mainly they are sparklers.
RJ and Kimi enjoying some fireworks
Then it was BBQ time. Mitch, Zuka and Chris did the cooking while Joe did the talking.
Then it was time to eat!

Yes those are whole fish that the guys BBQ for us. Kimi loves to eat the eyes.

More fireworks after the BBQ on the beach

Katie practicing her "getting kids to eat" skills. She will dive head first into that arena in November.
Mitch and Chris rehashing their idea of a fun late night swim the night before...be sure to ask one or both their version of their story.

Sara and Sophie
After we returned from the BBQ, we found the villa COVERED in flying ants. RJ and Kimi thought it would be fun to catch them

the next morning, I took the kids back to the beach (I figured it was the lesser of 2 evils, Favi and Zuka were on breakfast detail, and Mitch was willing to pack)
We found a hermit crab on the beach. Kimi was kind enough to pick it up and put it into my ready made beach. I carried it up to the villa so the kids could show it off.
Then it was time to leave. Me, Sara and Favi posing by the dock waiting for the ferry
RJ, Kimi and Sara waiting. RJ is happy that he is getting closer to being the same height as Kimi (she is only 2 weeks older than him)

We had a great weekend! Thanks Marie-Louise, Chris, Sophie, Faviola, Zuka, Kimi, Joe, Kaite, Mitch, RJ and Sara for a fabulous beach vacation!

RJ says "Arigato Gozaimas"

2008-06-25T10:49:00.000+09:00

RJ wanted to tell all of his friends back home and here in Japan, a Big THANK YOU for making his birthday so special while he is here in Japan.

"Look at all the birthday cards I recieved in the mail!!"

My thanks to those of you who sent cards to RJ all the way from America. I know that sometimes life gets busy. Thank you for taking a few minutes to send RJ a Happy Birthday Wish!

Somethings I Just Don't Understand...

2008-06-19T16:07:00.002+09:00

So, today the temperature is about 75 and the humidity is about 85% and for some reason, some people seem to think it is cold out today!! I just don't get it...Some refuse to open the windows (no AC yet at school in the teachers work room). Some are even wearing sweaters. I am sweating like a pig here people

And I truly understand "It's a dry heat!" I will never move permanently anywhere where there is this much humidity...and it is only June 19th. I have about 5 weeks left to go.

Happy Father's Day, Mitch!

2008-06-18T13:47:00.000+09:00

Sunday morning was great!! the kids slept till 8:20 and when they came into our bedroom, they were very happy....

RJ, Sara and I made Daddy breakfast in bed. And the kids gave daddy his gifts that they made him at school. RJ painted a fan for daddy to use that the Yukata Matsuri next weekend, and Sara made him a pencil holder with her hand prints on it. very cute.

RJ sang to daddy.

Then the kids gave him his other gifts. He received an art kit to paint postcards....
A Hello Kitty Tie...

and a hot & cold thermos. It was a great morning.

Later in the day, RJ asked if we could take Daddy to Yakiniku for dinner. Of course Daddy and I agreed it was a good idea! We went off on a bike ride, then to Haya to eat Yakiniku. After a late lunch, we stopped off at this park...

Apparently, RJ sometimes comes here with his school. The side where we entered, there was a big ditch to cross..

Daddy helped

The park was pretty much a bunch of concrete structures. We are not sure what it was originally built for, but it seems abandoned.
Sara trying to climb the steep steps
the concrete structure
a shower in front of the concrete structure.

this pump didn't seem to work, however when Mitch and the kids walked away from it, it started to make a weird sound. I was afraid ti was going to blow up or something...but nothing happened.

Before we left, I convinced Mitch and the kids to climb into the ditch. This type of ditch is what lines the streets. When you are riding your bike along the street (where there is no sidewalk) you fear falling into one of these. Knock on wood, we have not fallen in yet. But you can see how deep they are.
Then Daddy taught Sara how to climb out
and RJ wanted to also
On the bike ready to leave. Notice the decoration on the concrete pillar on the left side of the picture....

The park must be called the Feel Train....not sure what that means.

It was a nice, relaxing day. Thanks Mitch for being such a great father to our children! They are the luckiest kids around!

Let the Fun Continue

2008-06-17T08:53:00.002+09:00

Mitch was kind enough to help RJ celebrate his birthday at school on Friday. RJ and I made chocolate cupcakes on Wednesday to take to school for snack time. He also helped me decorate some goodie bags and stuff them with candy to give to his friends. Here are the pictures from the fun at Kid's House

The birthday boy at his table.
His friends waiting patiently for cake and singing.

some singing

more signing
CAKE TIME!!
After cake time, one of the teachers took those who were finished into the next room so Faviola could set up the relay game the kids were to play.
Mitch liked this picture because RJ is so much taller than everyone in it

The beginning of the race. Sara wanted to be first, but she wouldn't go to the other line (she wanted to be in front of RJ. So she waiting in the middle.

RJ's race Sara is still waiting to go first.

Sara's turn (she is inside the pink box on the right side)
When she came out she did not go to her mat, but came over to where Daddy was...if only she would have raced RJ in the other lane...
All the kids with their candy waiting for the last race.

They all seemed to have a good time. When everything was finished, the kids came and said Thank You (in English) so I said Doitashimashte (You're welcome in Japanese). They were so surprised that I could speak Japanese. It was so cute!

More Japanese

2008-06-15T10:55:00.000+09:00

The other day, RJ just starting singing this song....

It was so cool to hear him singing in Japanese. I often ask him if he has learned any songs at school and he only sings English ones (days of the week, months of the year, etc). I am so glad he knows some Japanese songs now!

We have caught Sara speaking some Japanese too...I am worried that when she returns, no one will know how old she is...so please learn that "knee si" means 2 years old.

Lunch at Mayumi's House

2008-06-14T15:17:00.002+09:00

Last Saturday, we were invited over to Mayumi's house. We were very excited to go as she recently had a new house built and we had not seen it yet.

Upon arriving, the kids found a furry friend. Mayumi gave them some shrimp so they could feed her.

The cat soon learned to like the kids, because they had fresh shrimp for her.
This was half of the gang at lunch (Katie, Miho, Kouhei and Joe)
For dessert, Mayumi served watermelon.

Then Joe and Katie got the us map out and helped the kids put it together.
They all had a great time.
Me, Mayumi and Miho looking at a catalog
That is RJ under the table. Yes, there is a hole in the floor. You can sit with your feet under you, or under the table. There is also a heater under there for the winter time.

The cat is still liking Sara. She even let her try to open her mouth.

Then Kouhei and the cat retreated to a quiet corner.
This is the gang out in front of Mayumi's new house.
With Mitch

Thanks Mayumi (and Miho) for a great lunch!!

June's 12 on 12

2008-06-13T09:24:00.003+09:00

Apparently I have been busy this month, as I only have 5 pictures for this month's 12 on 12. Incase you feel slighted, I will have 24 pictures for next month (and no I can't move some of next months to this month...you'll understand why next month) On to the post...

This is a picture of the tile roofs here in Japan. The new houses being built now a days don't have these tiles. I think this was from about 20 years ago. I think they look cool.
See the green and yellow sticker on the back window. That lets everyone know that there is a new "spring" driver on board. When there is an older "autumn" driver on board, the sticker is red and yellow.
More beautiful tulips from last month near our home.
This is a fire hydrant. They are underground in the middle of the street.
I am pretty sure this sign means "Don't leave your sleeping baby in your car!" Maybe we need some of these signs in Arizona.

More Birthday Fun

2008-06-12T09:39:00.007+09:00

Thursday morning, Mitch decided we should have a BIG spaghetti dinner for RJ's 5th birthday. HE sent out a message to some of RJ's friends in the building and then got to work on cooking a lot of spaghetti. At 5:30, we gathered int eh large meeting room to celebrate the happiest 5 year old I know.

Sara, RJ and Kimi at the head of the table.
Michiko, Miho and Sohpie sitting down to enjoy some spaghetti, salad and garlic bread/
More of those who could come help celebrate.
Then it was time for cake (RJ was dying to open presents so I suggested we have cake and ice cream first.)A short clip to see RJ blowing out his candle.
the happy Hammes family!

It was finally present time.
Kimi got him a poster with the Japanese alphabet (hiragana and katakana)
and a book that sings some Japanese children songs.
Sophie and her mom got RJ a head band (it says Japan in Kanji), a koala, and a t-shirt.
Miho, made RJ a really cool 3-d card. She also gave him a piano book that sings Japanese songs and teaches to play the songs on the piano. She also made him a Anpanman backpack.
Michiko made RJ (and Sara) several candy necklaces. She also made him a chocolate cake and decorated it with Pooh's face in powered sugar.

RJ, Michiko, Miho and Merry
Marie and Trisha checking out RJ's new toys
Trisha got RJ some wooden Japanese toys.
This is harder than it looks. You stack the 4 colored wooden disks with the brown head on top and you have to knock the body pieces out from under without letting the head fall.

RJ got pretty good at it. You'll have to ask him to show you how when we get home.

Miho teaching RJ and Kimi how to play the piano book.

It was a great party!! Thank you to all those who could come help RJ celebrate his big birthday. And a special thanks to Mitch for all the cooking and prep work you did during the day.

***The day before*** RJ wanted to start his birthday early, so on Wednesday night, we went down to daddy's English class and brought some chocolate cupcakes with us in hopes that daddy's students would want to sing happy birthday.

One of his students, Keiko, presented RJ with a gift.

RJ was so excited!! He loves driving it around in the apartment. Maybe this weekend we will take it to the parking lot next door.

June 12, 2003

2008-06-12T09:06:00.006+09:00

It all started at 4am on June 12, 2003. Mitch and I arrived at Arrowhead Hospital in Glendale AZ, ready for our 1st born. After a long day of pain, drugs and 2.5 hrs of hard pushing, our world changed. Robert Josef Hammes was born at 5:43pm. We were so excited.....

5 years later, we are even more excited. RJ has always been a great kid, but I think spending a year in Japan has done wonders for him. He is reading (in English) and can understand and speak some Japanese. He can write all of his letters (in English, and some Japanese) and numbers and is starting to do some addition and subtraction. We are so proud of him.

Today at 6:20am, RJ walked into our room. I was not ready to get up, so he crawled into bed with us and TRIED to go back to sleep. The problem....someone left a pile of presents on the floor and RJ spotted them. Now this is where I know that he is his father's son...he didn't say a word about the presents! (I would have been all over them) He waited till 7am (when we are suppose to get up) and then started asking about them. It was so cute. Thanks to all of those who helped make RJ's 5th birthday so great.
A present from Grandma Pat

A Japanese/English book, with CD, from Chieko (one of my university students). He as so excited (forgetful mother forgo to charge the battery for the camera, so there are no more videos from this morning, sorry)
a pencil case with a pencil sharpener (he was so excited to have his own pencil sharpener), pencils, tape dispenser, glue and ruler. All Shinkansen (the bullet train)

a card from Grandma Leister with a note that he gets to celebrate his birthday AGAIN when he gets home. He was very happy to hear that!
A movie from Aunt Tracy, Uncle David, Mark, Chance and Dylan
a very heavy box from Nathan and his mommy (and daddy and brother too)
That box was stuffed!! KRAFT mac & cheese, books, a lantern, brownies, muffin mix, cookies, all kinds of things...
and Twinkies....RJ had no idea what this was....maybe Mitch and I will eat them before he has a chance.

A BUNCH of cards from all of RJ's friends at Mission Bell (Thanks Sara). Each kid had their picture on their card and then wrote a message or drew a picture. RJ loved seeing all his friends! He also got some stickers (which he easily shared with his sister) and a sticker book.

He also received a card from Kyle which had a picture of Mickey Mouse that he colored and a personal card that Kyle wrote. RJ had fun reading it!!

Look at all that loot! RJ said "Thanks Everyone! I love my birthday!" (I will try to get it on video tonight when the battery is charged)

Then Daddy made RJ a special breakfast. He requested pancakes with peach yogurt and octopus sausage

Sara didn't want to be left out any more

It was a great morning!!! Thanks again to all of you who helped make RJ's birthday special this morning!

Korakuen

2008-06-10T10:58:00.000+09:00

Back in April, we went on a weekend adventure. The prefecture (kind of like a state) to the west of Hyogo (where we live) is called Okayama. The prefecture of Okayama has created 5 International Villas that are an affordable way for foreigners to see the back roads of Japan. We booked a night at Takebe(which is right next to a river). Faviola, Zuka and Kimi took Mitch, RJ, Sara and I in there car and Dia and Azu took Chris, Marie-Louise and Sophie in their car.

Our first stop for the day was at Korakuen. One of Japan's top 3 most beautiful garden.
There were large green belts throughout the garden. It was a huge garden.

I think I might want one of these in my new backyard (where ever that might be).

We all stopped for a pose on this bridge. It was a great group to travel with!

Sara and Zuka walking along the bamboo lined path.

This rock was chiseled apart so that it could be moved and brought to this garden. I find that crazy...just find another rock that is closer.

While we were wondering around the garden, we came across a tea house. Sophie was just busting at the seams to go inside and have green tea. I finally agreed to go with her.

While Sophie and I were drinking green tea, Kimi drew this picture of Dia in the dirt.
This is the Tori gate in front of a shrine in the garden. They say if you can throw a rock and it lands on one of the cross beams on the top, your wish will come true. I was the ONLY one could get my rock to land there. Now if only I could remember what I wished for to see if it has come true yet....

A pretty bamboo forest.

Look at those beautiful colorful bushes.
We happened upon a wedding while we were there. I managed to begged enough for Mitch to go get a picture.
Sara and I with Okayama Castle in the back ground. It is called the Black Castle (Himeji Castle is called the White Castle)
beautiful colored leaves in spring.
Favi and Zuka

Marie-Louise and Chris

Mitch and meKimi and RJ (don't ask, they were playing with stickers in the back seat of the car)

Another rock chiseled apart to be brought to the garden.

Kurashiki

2008-06-10T10:57:00.000+09:00

Our second stop for the day in Okayama was in Kurashiki. This is a shopping area that is right along a tree lined river. It was very relaxing and fun to shop there.

Sara liked this store because it was all Hello Kitty

RJ in his "Papa hat" along side the river.
They had river rides
The tree lined river. The shops were on both sides.
We were trying to feed the fish, but I think they already had enough food.
A short break for the short legged (Sara, RJ and Kimi)

International Villa - Takabe

2008-06-10T10:56:00.001+09:00

Apparently, we did too much for Sara that day...
She fell asleep in the car on our way to the Villa. She is buckled in between Mitch and I. I don't think she is very comfortable.

After all of our sight seeing, we finally made it to the Villa.

Zuka, Dia, Favi and Azu made curry and rice for dinner. We all sat down together to eat. (Marie-Louise, Chris, Mitch and I made breakfast)

The next pictures are of some sign around the villa and the neighboring onsen

(click on the picture to make it bigger)

The thing I found the most interesting was the bathrooms each room had.

Looks like it is only a sink...
but when you slide the sink towards the door (where I am standing to take the picture) you find a toilet behind. Try climbing back there in the middle of the night with 2 kids sleeping in the same room...

My Latest Ikebana Creation

2008-06-09T15:14:00.003+09:00

I think that this has been my favorite Ikebana display yet! I have no idea what the flower names are (She tells us in Japanese). I like the 5 tall purple ones!

I am sad because next week will be my last Ikebana class. Time to start packing our stuff up.

Himeji Bike Tour

2008-06-09T09:26:00.001+09:00

Mitch recently posted about a bike ride we went on in April. What he failed to mention was that he gave me a personal tour of some very old sites in Himeji. Allow me to take you on our complete bike tour.

Not far from our neighborhood, is an old school for samurai children. Some purchased the building and is currently living in it. You can see that it use to have mud walls with wooden planks over the top.
It looks very old, because it is very old. Maybe a couple hundred years (remember, Himeji Castle is 400 years old and it is still standing)

This is a Christian church right in the middle of a neighborhood. I am not sure what denomination it is, but I though it was cute. Couldn't get away with a church that small in America.

Another old house with mud walls. You can see that the wood planks are coming off. It even looks like the inside burned.
This is another angle to the shrine where you go to pray for your eyesight.

This is the back side of that shirne area.

These next 4 photos go together.
This is the back side of the castle ground along the moat. You will notice something in the upper middle left side of the picture.

That is this area. Long ago, emperors brought their babies to this are of the water to be bathed. Himeji persevered the area by changing the moat.

The shrine still stands and people come here to pray for their babies. On the left side of the shrine is a water area. That was where they bathed the babies.

This is the inside of the shrine.

This field is where a hospital was during WWII.
This is the neighborhood just across the street from the empty field. Many people believe this neighborhood was saved from bombing because of the hospital. Many homes in this area are very old.
There is a cemetery just next (to the right) of those homes (click on the picture, you can see the many tombs)

By this time, the kids were getting hungry, so RJ told us ho to get to the park that he goes to with his class from school. We had a picnic there with a bento (lunch box)

RJ is great with his chop sticks.

This is onigiri. It is a ball of rice, shaped like a triangle, with something inside. This one happens to have salmon (a favorite in my family for 3 of us). Then it is wrapped in seaweed.

After our picnic, I made the family climb 91 steps to the top of a hill just to see what was on top....
There you have it. We have no idea what these cement things are in the middle of this garden. I am hoping one of my friends here in Hiemji can either read this or tell me what those cement things are.

It was a great bike tour. I am so lucky that Mitch has been able to make friends here in Himeji and learn so much about the area. Thanks for sharing Mitch!

What is Green, White, Pink and Green Again?

2008-06-08T09:23:00.003+09:00

During cherry blossom season, it was suggested that I was posting too many cherry blossoms. I wanted to share with you why I did that.

When we arrived last September, the trees were full and very green.

By early November, the leaves had started to change colors and fall off.

By December there were no leaves, only empty branches. Not very beautiful. Then came the light snow dusting a few times during winter

The trees remained bare for a long time (4 months!).

Then all of a sudden, little pink flowers appeared everywhere!
and they only lasted for a short 2 weeks and now...

we are back to square one
full green trees. Maybe now you might understand why I liked the cherry blossoms so much!

Now I want to visit Washington DC during cherry blossom season!

Welcome to the Family!

2008-06-07T11:26:00.003+09:00

06-07-08

I am so excited!! I became a big sister today!! Actually, my brother became a husband today. That's right. Tommy and Carolyn were married today in Arizona.
The happy couple!

Not only did I gain a sister today, I also gained 2 nieces!!

This is Kamille and Kate. Kate will be 10 in August and Kamille just turned 6 in Feb. RJ is very excited to have some cousins to play with that live close by (when we return of course). I am sure Sara will be just as excited when she figures out that the girls will out number the boys!!

This Tommy and Carolyn at Kamille's Kindergarten graduation.

Welcome to the family Carolyn, Kate and Kamille!! It is great being a member of the Leister clan! Can't wait to meet all of you!

Happy Birthday Kimi

2008-06-07T10:53:00.002+09:00

Saturday May, 24th

OK, so I got a bit behind. I forgot I had pictures that Mitch didn't.

Kimi turned 5 this year and she wanted to go bowling. RJ was invited to go along so we got to go to. We had a blast!
This is the sign over the cashier's head. Gotta love the English here. I hope I don't speak that way when I get home.
This is where you get your bowling shoes. You pick your size (based on the length of your foot in cm) and push the red button. A pair of shoes comes out the bottom. If they don't fit, you but them in the return box and pick another size.
A place by your lane to store your shoes and hang your coat.
Then the fun began. The kids used a 5 ball (I was just going to write 5lbs but I am really not sure if it was pounds or kg)
At first daddy and I had to help RJ, but shortly after we started, they put up the bumpers so the kids balls would reach the end of the lane.

Kimi had a blast bowling!

Every once and awhile, the light would go down and they would have a contest. If you bowled a strike during the contest, you won a prize. Part of that prize was getting your picture taking with your group in front of the lanes. But not just any picture...
Yes, that is Mitch as a bowling pin!! Dia (the guy on Mitch's left) got a strike and LET Mitch wear the prize for the photo.

then the kids wanted to give it a try...

and then some how I got suckered into wearing it.
I think Dia actually ended up with a little pool game as his prize, but I think these pictures (especially of Mitch) are priceless!!

Thanks Kimi for inviting RJ to go bowling for your birthday!!

**note to readers** Blogger now has a great tool. I can write a bunch of blogs and postdate them and they will appear when they are scheduled to. I am posting one a day for awhile now...check back often**

Welcome Party - A Taste of Home

2008-06-06T10:36:00.003+09:00

Michi, one of my students from Shogai University (where I teach on Wednesday afternoons), invited us to come to a welcome party for a Mexican band on tour in Japan. I wasn't quite sure why they were in Japan, but she said Mexican food and we said YES!

This was the flyer for the concert. they played here in Himeji on Friday, May 23rd. You will notice that the girl in front is not Mexican, but Japanese. I learned at the party that she wanted to learn how to play the harp so her parents sent her to Mexico to learn from the older man in the band. He is suppose to be one of the best harp players in the world. Then her agent set up a mini tour for them to come to Japan so she could perform with them. We would have liked to have gone, but the tickets were a bit steep ($50 a piece) and we are trying to curb our spending so we have money to come home with. The party was only $10 a person.

Now, on to the party
They served rolled tacos, soft tacos (on corn tortillas) guacamole, salsa, sour cream, chips, and many Japanese items (sushi, tempura, katsu) We had to teach the Japanese friends at our table how to eat the Mexican food. Lucky for us, they waned to stay with their traditional Japanese food.
The welcome banner. I was so excited to be able to read something in Japan!!
This is the band as they entered the party.
Then the Japanese friends who put on the party, did many different traditional Japanese performances. I think they were singing La Cocaracha.

This is Favi (RJ's friend Kimi's mom) and her friend Azu. Favi is from Mexico and Azu is from Spain. They were asked to prepare the Mexican food for this party. The both speak English, Spanish and Japanese so they were explaining the food to everyone.
This is Michi with my family. She is a lot of fun to talk with!
After we ate, the Japanese performances continues. Then they invited the band members to come up on stage and try them too.
This is a sheet of bamboo sticks that are tied together somehow and can be released into a line of sticks with the flick of the wrist.

Everyone had fun trying them out!

Lion dance
Salute to Mexico by the lion
If they lion bites you, you will have good luck. The lion went around a bit all the foreigners, including my children. They were not too happy!
Making mochi (pounding rice until it becomes one big ball)
The the Mexican band performed 2 songs. I never thought I would be so happy to hear a Mexican song. I actually understood a lot of the words. It was pretty cool. I guess I am a bit more home sick than I thought.

This is a video clip of the song, just in case you haven't heard Mexican music in a while.

We had a great time! Thanks Michi for inviting us!!

A New Park and Furry Friends

2008-06-05T14:11:00.000+09:00

Sunday was a busy day for us. When we got home from the aquarium, we were too tired to cook, so we headed off to Saizeriya (an Italian joint). On our way back we found a new neighborhood park. We stopped to let the kids play a bit (in hopes that Sara would go to sleep quickly - but that is a whole other post)

With all the new and different toys at this park , the kids still chose the sand.
Then they noticed that there were 2 bunnies in the park. They befriended the owners and they were able to try to feed the bunnies.

Sara struck up a conversation with this man. She was having problems getting the bunny to eat. He proceeded to make a round tummy stick out big from his with his hand. I thought he was saying that the bunny was pregnant, then I realized he was telling her that the bunny was full.

Here is Sara chasing the bunny trying to get it to eat.

Another video of the kids feeding the bunnies.

It has been brought to my attention that those back home have not hear much of Sara talking. I hope to get some video this weekend of Sara speaking English and Japanese so you all can hear her.

Himeji City Aquarium

2008-06-05T14:06:00.001+09:00

Sunday afternoon, we went with our friend Miho to The Himeji City Aquarium. It was a great trip. It was a small aquarium, but with 2 small kids, that was all we needed.

These are spider crabs. The ones on the left are what I call regular, the ones on the left are ready for Christmas.
Some penguins. They were having fun singing to each other.

Miho was talking to the kids about the different size/age sea turtles. I think this aquarium is now for its sea turtles.
They get pretty big

This is their nesting area. We watch one turtle dig a hole in preparation for laying some eggs. It was cool to watch her dig with her hind legs and not see what she was doing.

This is about all we see of Mitch these days. He recently got a new digital 35 mm camera and loves to use it. He took some great photos of the kids that the touch pool here at the aquarium. Maybe if you all bug him to see some pictures with his new camera, he will get back to blogging :-)

Yatai Matsuri

2008-06-05T13:58:00.000+09:00

This past Sunday we headed downtown to the castle area to watch the Yatai Matsuri. It is a festival (matsuri) for the many portable shrines (yatai) around Himeji and other nearby cities.

Each area had their own color of pompoms to wave.

Many men carry the yatai. Every so often, they stop and raise the yatai over their heads and shake. All the while yelling Yo Ya Sai!
Yes, those are bare butts you see. The men are wear fundoshis. It is similar to what the sumos wear when they wrestle. RJ asked if he could get one to wear. I quickly said no.

Hopefully Mitch's blog will post some more pictures of this event. He took some really great ones.
Other English sign in Japan...need I say more (click on the image to see it bigger so you can read it!)

Outdoor Onsen

2008-06-05T13:53:00.000+09:00

On Friday when I came home from club, the kids were enjoying an outdoor onsen

This picture shows that RJ's onsen has a place for him to rest his arms.

In case you don't know what an onsen is, let me briefly explain. It is a public bath house. You go, get naked in front of others (of the same sex) and then clean yourself. After you are clean, then you get into to the bath to soak and rest. RJ loves going with his dad.

Still Photos from Circus

2008-06-02T13:39:00.003+09:00

For those of you unable to watch the videos in the previous post (or for my mom who prints these posts for my grandpa), here are some still photos from Friday's Chinese Circus performance.

This is a Chinese Lion dance. He is in the audience "biting" the kids heads. If you are fortunate to be bitten, you will become smart and pass your exams.

This is the unicycle rider. She was able to flip bowls from her foot to her head while riding. I don't think my brother Tommy was ever able to do anything like that when he was riding his unicycle.

This is the crazy man who balanced on 6 stacked chairs. It was exciting to see his act, but a little heart stopping at the same time.