Four Quizzes in a Month

I ran a quiz at Shouwa chuu, posting up results in Wordle format weekly. The students were very cooperative, and we ended up with some nicely stylised quiz results. Good stuff!

 

 

My time on JET is very close to finishing. Today I have my last classes at Shouwa JHS. We are playing Jeopardy with the kids, using the quiz questions that I made in the last month or so. Next week will be my final classes overall, so it's just over a week until my last appointment as an ALT for Shimanto primary and junior high schools.

I can only hope that both English Zone and English Corner will carry on with new ideas and a different kind of flair from my successor. And yes, I realise that I still have to put up my collection of photos from those projects!

What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I do have some prospects on the table. Teaching is likely still on the agenda, but I won't know for sure until possibly after my contract actually ends at the end of this month.

For Tokawa, I was submitting a monthly "short story". Even though my time there was cut short — I had my last class before the end of June — I still submitted a little editorial for the final month before natsu yasumi — summer holidays.

April 2011 - Anzac Day
In recent history, we have had two "World Wars". Many countries fought for what they believed in. Almost a hundred years ago, the 1st World War took the lives of many millions of people. Some of those people were New Zealanders and Australians: ANZACs.

ANZAC stands for “New Zealand and Australian Army Corps”. In 1915, thousands of these soldiers died on a beach in Turkey, called Gallipoli. But we remember those soldiers every year in commemoration of what they fought for. April 25th is Anzac Day.

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance. Many of the soldiers from the World Wars are dead now. But we still remember their sacrifice. We are reminded that war is terrible - but there will always be people who believe in freedom.

May 2011 - Golden Week
What did you do for Golden Week? Did you enjoy the time off? Did you travel? Did you see relatives?

This year, on the first day of Golden Week, my family and I travelled to Niihama, in Ehime prefecture. We visited the National Science Museum there. There was a lot to see and do.

The museum has a lot of hands-on (interactive) displays. There were many things that we could look at, play with and experience; a science show for children; craft that my daughter could make – she made a hovercraft; giant model dinosaurs that moved and growled; and a planetarium with a very cool astronomy display.

Even if you were unable to go anywhere for Golden Week, I hope that you had a good time. And I hope that you will have the chance one day to visit the museum in Ehime.

June 2011 - Four Seasons in One Day
Before we get the expected muggy, stiflingly hot weather that brings with it giant bugs and the desire to swim, here in Japan we have to experience heavy rainfall. Rainy season is as predictable as the mukade that try to creep into your house.

Rainy season is a strange concept to New Zealanders. The weather in New Zealand is so sporadic and unpredictable all year round, that people joke about there being “four seasons in one day”. In fact, there is even a famous song about it!

As with Japan, different areas of New Zealand experience the different seasons in different ways: It snows down south in winter, but throughout most of New Zealand we only experience cold wind and rain and the occasional frost. In summer it gets incredibly hot on the east coast and a lot more humid up north than anywhere else. My own city is fairly temperate: not too hot in summer, and seldom icy in winter.

I hope you enjoy rainy season and look forward to swimming in the river!

July 2011 - Goodbye Message
Dear students

My three years teaching in Shimanto have brought me through many experiences: from attending school sports days and graduation ceremonies, to getting married and raising a family. Part of me wishes that I had taken more advantage of my time as an ALT and done more – been more involved with the various schools that I teach at. But one can only be happy with as much as one actually does.

My time as an ALT may be at an end, but it is merely a change of season. I am not leaving Japan – and very much doubt that I will leave Shimanto any time soon. You could still see me around: at Sunshine, in Kochi city, at various festivals that we have. Please say “hi”, and know that I am always willing to say “hi” back!

I wish everyone at Tokawa chuu a bright future. Aim for the skies and keep your dreams alive. And never forget that English – no matter how frustrating to learn – opens up a whole new world of intrigue and diversity.

がんばります。

--

I will try and sort through my photos of both display walls to present those in a couple of slideshows, spanning the past year or so that I have been doing display projects at two of the three junior high schools I have been teaching at.

And even though I will no longer be on JET from next month, I will continue to update this blog. Because it is the Japan Journey; not the JET journey! There are many years ahead of me of discovery, experience and all-round continued Japanese immersion.

Peace.

Timotheos

Four Seasons in a Year

The months rolled by and I simply couldn't bring myself to sort through all of the photos from the school display walls since last year; or any video I've captured; or basically anything that I've done in the last three months. Yes, pictures are great — and it would be wonderful to put up pictures from school, and Engrish pictures I've taken, etc. I will. Just not now.

Rainy season is upon us in full swing — and yet, we are still getting colder weather than I remember at this time of the year. It is even cold enough to wear a long-sleeved top at times, though not so mild in most places indoors as to warrant quite that. It is nice to wear short sleeves — and it is nice to not yet soak my trousers through with sweat.


Love is the Greatest — 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

My JET contract is creeping towards its end. So far, we haven't yet found a new place to move into and I haven't found a replacement job for when I finish at the end of July. I trust in God completely. I will not be out of work because I have never been let down in that regard. If you want to hear about a miracle, watch this space. Because God always, always comes through — and that is something I can testify to throughout the course of my entire life.

The hotaru (fireflies) have been out recently. We went for a walk the other night — as we try to do now and then, when it is not raining — just as twilight was fading beyond dusk, the yellow moon gibbous but obscured by strata. We tried finding the telltale lights of those amazing little glowbugs, but either it wasn't quite dark enough or they were just being evasive. Still, I think there is yet time to head out before they disappear for the year — when it is truly dark and serene enough to find some.

Just a few weeks of school left now. I will definitely make the most of it. My ties to Japan — to Shimanto — means friendships will be easier to retain. Now, if only we had more friends...

Take it easy, and I hope that this entry finds any wayward readers well. Remember that the greatest need we have is also the greatest tool that we can choose to carry and extend beyond ourselves in the greatest way: love.

Peace.

Timotheos

Spring Break - April 2011

What is a writer without his writing? What is a blog without photos and video? Perhaps it is partly because I simply can't be bothered to go through the hassle of sorting out all the photos and video that I have collected these past four months; or perhaps it is partly because I just let the weeks pile up simply because they were piling up and I wasn't writing a blog entry. Either way, it has been nigh on four months since I put finger to keyboard (I type with five fingers and a thumb, thank you very much): and for that, I am sorry.

It's not that I haven't been writing - far from it. Nothing substantial or worth mentioning, as most of my daily writing is in the form of my personal diary, at home. But not a day goes by that I don't write something.

Still, if one intends to make a career out of writing, one could at least make the effort to throw something up onto their blog, regardless of life.

We came back from New Zealand near the start of January and settled back into life here. School was back in full swing in pretty short order, and the last term for the academic year went by pretty fast. In fact, these last three months have gone by rather swiftly, wouldn't you say?

Since then, graduation has happened for many students, and we are currently in the interim between terms - between academic years. It is spring break for students; for us, not so much. Gotta sit in the office and find things to do. And seeing as my last term as a JET is about to start, it's a good time to think about how I want to finish off my time here at the Taisho branch of Shimanto town's Board of Education.

Mika was offered a receptionist job. We just found out a couple of days ago that it is at Shouwa primary school, one of the schools I teach at weekly (Thursday afternoons). It means that we have to sort our lives out a lot more. So not only am I looking for a job that starts in August (after my JET contract ends), but we have a few more things to balance.

Maya will start in daycare next week. Mika starts at her new job this Friday. And on the same day, I have to go see a dentist in Kochi (technically, Nankoku, which is just past Kochi city) regarding my wisdom teeth.

As far as display walls are concerned, I have a lot of photos from the last few display walls. It's just a matter of whether or not I do anything with those photos. No promises!

There has been a Christmas display, a display about New Zealand, a Valentine's Day one, and a St Patrick's Day one. As a matter of fact, I have to work on a big one for K-town Junior High School for April: Easter. So before I start back at school, that is one project that I aim to have finished - or at least partially done.

Here's to the first term of the new school year!

Peace.

Timotheos

Tickets, Toes and Tournaments

The summer break finished and school kicked off again. It's a slow term for me, over all, as I don't have as much primary school as last term. Part of this is due to the kids' undoukai (sports day) preparation. I'm not sure exactly why I have so few shougakkou classes scheduled for October, though.

This month so far has been pretty quiet. With so much free time at K-town chuu, I made a pretty neat wall display. Part of my duties there when not in class teaching is to make a monthly wall display. I settled on focusing on summer - namely, the summer break. As I didn't do much during the break (most of my time was spent in the office), I had to be quite creative. I'll try and get a photo of it when I have fixed all the bits of paper that have curled away from the wall. >.<

We went to K-city on Saturday. I had a wire installed in each of my big toes to try and counter the ingrown toenails. So far it is turning out to be effective. I just have to wait for my nails to grow for another two months before we see if there is a substantial change. I'm hoping that it will permanently fix the problem, but we won't know until November. I have to be very careful, too, that I don't make contact with anything - as any pressure could tear the wires out of the holes in the nails. :/

On Sunday, we stopped at Kitanokawa to see a little of their undoukai. Mika used to work at the junior high school and she said hi to some of the teachers that are still there. Eddi's school's undoukai is this coming Sunday, and I intend to attend the Shouwa shou/chuu combined one on Saturday.

The weather has continued to be pretty hot. It may be Autumn but there is still a lot of green around and the overall temperature hasn't dropped a great deal. The humidity has eased off somewhat, and nights are a little cooler. But we do still need to run the fan to try and cool our room down. Could be a few weeks until we see a noticeable change.

We got a refund (minus a huge cancellation fee) for the botched up tickets that the travel agent booked for us. I wouldn't recommend IACE Travel. They are impersonal, unfriendly and cost us a great deal of money due to their incompetence. We hope to book our (real) tickets to and from New Zealand for Christmas time before the end of this week.

Peace.

Timotheos

A Blog Redesign

I changed the layout and look of the blog. It needs a new header and I'm not sure if the current background image will be my final choice, as I picked it from among the default selection. But so far it is shaping up quite nicely.

Comments on what I've done are welcome, as are suggestions for further changes or additions.

Not much has been happening around here. I didn't have school today because Hashimoto sensei, the JTE I work with at K-town chuugakkou had a meeting. I still drove all the way out there only to have to drive back to the office after eying the schedule. So much for communication. :/

There will be no junior high school classes for me next week, either, as the current term (来学期 | らいがっき | raigakki in Japanese) is coming to a close and the summer holidays will be upon us before we know it. The students have exams next week.

This weekend, we are planning on heading into K-city to have a picnic lunch and then to check out a botanic garden that Mika has wanted to visit for a while now. Hopefully the weather will clear up by tomorrow, as it is raining today and is the middle of the rainy season. You never know how long it is going to rain for or if the ever-present clouds will suddenly release some precipitation.

When the weather clears up I will try to get out and take some photos for another much more visually appealing blog entry; and for want of things to talk about.

So until then, and until we are hit with summer festival fever.

Peace.

Timotheos

Birthday Party and Chopsticks

A couple of weekends ago, we celebrated Eddi's 7th birthday. I baked and decorated her birthday cake and Mika made a piñata for the party we gave her on the Saturday.

I also made cupcakes

Happy 7th Birthday!

Smash that bee piñata

Axt weekend, we made chopsticks. The father of one of the girls that went to Eddi's kindergarten, Mr. Kawashita, was kind enough to invite us and a couple of other families over to learn to make chopsticks. He does it as part of a cultural / tourism activity, usually charging people for his time. He has a blog and an advertisement in the local tourism brochures.

So the kids were all able to play together, and we all had a big barbecue for lunch.

We made hashi

The finished product

Mika's skills

We didn't do anything this past weekend, really. Just relaxed on Saturday and had the usual church service on Sunday. During the last few weeks school has been pretty standard, too, although I did teach at a primary school a couple of Fridays ago instead of at K-town JHS, and last week I didn't have classes at Shouwa JHS because they had a sports event.

My shakken (2-year car inspection) is due this month, as is the tax for both our cars. Huge expense right there, but we should manage. Planning to go into K-city this weekend to do some shopping and hopefully get my shakken done. :)

Peace.

Timotheos

Noichi Zoo

Two weekends ago, we went to Noichi Zoo, near Kochi city. We met Michael afterwards, at Starbucks, followed by a (very) late dinner at Tentenmaru, our favourite kaitenzushi place.

Meerkats were having fun

Aren't they cute?

Sealions were swimming

Giraffes romped around

The anteater was a beast

Mama bear climbed a tree

Because she was thirsty

The baby bear was also cute

Colourful parrots

Otters :)

A lone red panda paces his cell

American beavers. From AMERICA!

Sea lions bask in the sun

Sorry about the quality. I had to take all of these on my cellphone! You can view the rest of the photos here.

School starts for me again tomorrow. My schedule is different this academic year. I will be teaching at K-town chuugakkou, among other things.

Peace.

Timotheos

Blooming Kochi

It's the end of the academic school year. Everyone moves up a grade or finishes school at the end of this month. I had my last chuugakkou classes today.

We had graduation on Saturday. I attended the one for Shouwa chuu. Now that I have no school, it will just be office work between now and when the new term starts.

On Sunday, we dedicated our daughters at church. It's always important to pray God's blessing on your children. Because Eddi had never been dedicated, we had her prayed for at the same time as baby Maya.

Dedication at church - 14 March 2010

To backtrack a bit, it was my birthday on the 28th of February. On the 27th, we went out for dinner to a steak restaurant with Mika's brother and his family. We went back to their place for cake.

30th Birthday Cake

The Cutting of the Cake

A couple of weeks ago, it was Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival. We also had cake for that and Mika's mum set up a doll display according to the tradition. Unfortunately, the photos we took have been lost, otherwise I would put something of ours here.

Hina Matsuri - The Doll Festival

Two weekends ago, Michael came for a visit. He and I watched a couple of movies and went to Yamagoya to eat. It was somewhat nostalgic (in a recent sense).

Now that spring is almost here, the sakura -- cherry blossoms -- have started coming out. The weather has struggled to warm up and we even had a smattering of snow this month. But it will get warmer, the blossoms will come out and we can enjoy new life among all of the changes that come with April.

Sakura - Cherry Blossoms; The First Sign of Spring

That's all for now. Sorry about the lack of updates. I had to cram a lot into one post. I'll try and be more diligent in posting blog entries throughout the rest of this year. ^^

Timotheos

Maya Shimada Gough

Our baby was born at 5.45pm on Friday night. The day started off well, with us leaving for the hospital after a regular breakfast. Mika went into labour around 3pm (I say labour, being the time that she went to the delivery room in great pain and close contractions).

I snapped some photos with Mika's camera, just minutes after Maya-chan was born. Since then, I have been receiving a photo a day to my phone from my wife in the hospital. Our little angel is so beautiful. I look forward to when they come home on Thursday!

So, six days in the hospital. It's a long time. Not sure why, but I guess she just wants a break, and to make the most of this time of recovery in a comfortable place. Our house is freaking cold, and isn't something I would look forward to bringing a newborn baby to. Still, winter is almost over, and we will do our utmost to heat the impossible-to-heat place. Or at least one room. ;)

I drove to Kochi city four days in a row, and so today I'm quite tired. You could say that the timing was really good. Being born on Friday, it meant that I could spend the weekend travelling to and from the hospital, visiting. And then yesterday, my hard drive finally gave up the ghost, so I went to K-city to buy a new one; and to visit my wife and new aka-chan once again. Suffice to say, she was surprised to see me, unannounced!

Eddi stayed with her cousin over the weekend and has been with her grandmother since then. It's good because I have to get up early most days for work and can't possibly get her from youchien during the day. That, and it made it much easier to just jet into the city last night.

Today, it's a bit of a relief that I don't have school. Kitazoe sensei is away today, so I am in the office instead of teaching classes. It means I can take this afternoon off (three hours of nenkyuu, since I started early this morning), and spend time just resting -- and probably installing my new HDD (and all that that entails).

I currently don't have any photos of Maya that I can put up, as I haven't retrieved any off my phone. I can, however, affix photos that other people have put up on Facebook, having received them from Mika over the last few days. And I promise to do my utmost in getting some photos up once my family is home.






Timotheos

Mada and fada

Mada means "not yet", and is a fairly common expression in Japanese. The not yet that I refer to is our baby. Mika's due date is this Thursday (the 11th). I suspect that after she goes to see the doctor tomorrow, things will start moving pretty fast. Our current plan is for her to go and stay with her brother from Thursday until she goes into labour. Thursday is a public holiday, so it's an ideal time to go back into Kochi, whether the baby is ready to pop out or not.

Life here in Taisho is the same as usual, as we await the birth of our newest family member. My schedule is pretty full as I visit my regular schools as well as the odd infrequent appearance; such as tomorrow, when I will be teaching at Kageno shougakkou, about 40 mins from here -- past K-town.

Well, the Japan life stuff out of the way, I want to expand this entry to reference a few blogs and sites that I frequent. And by frequent, I mean when I get time to read my google reader feeds (hint: it's not every day). ;)

• Sentence First: A blog about our wonderful, intricate English language. Stan has posted a few comments to my blog in the past, as we exchanged thoughts; and I enjoy leaving comments on his posts from time to time.
  
• Stuff Christians Like: Jon Acuff is funny and insightful. I just wish I had the time to read his very frequent entries. It's almost as if he runs a pictureless webcomic. Classy stuff.
  
• The Kitchn: For all aspiring chefs out there, it is a great source of everything kitchenesque; from recipes to tips and tricks that you can use between the kitchen sink and the cupboard.
  
• Kotaku: My source of gaming news. And a lot of news there is.
  
• Lifehacker: A lot of great articles, from home improvement to invaluable computer resources.
  
• Japan Probe: So I can see more of this country within which I dwell. As if there wasn't enough excitement in Shimanto... -_-

Webcomics
Because I follow a few, I decided to list some notable ones under their own heading:

• Dominic Deegan: I have been following this since 2002. I think it's the only webcomic that I have read consistently for more than five years.
  
• Ctrl+Alt+Del: It is more of a drama these days with the occasional standalone bout of gaming hilarity. The sillies keep me coming back (especially Fail Druid!).
  
• Dark Legacy Comics: My favourite World of Warcraft comic.
  
• Looking for Group: For pony!
  
• Least I Could Do: I found this through LFG (same authors), and wish I had followed it from earlier on. I really dig the "Beginnings" strip that they post once a week.
  
• Out at Home: I only recently started reading this (within the last six months). I like the art style and the stories have been pretty good so far.
  
• Others: There are other webcomics that I follow, which I haven't mentioned. Some are gaming comics and others are mostly just dramas or short stories.

Timotheos

Hiroshima Till Now

Before dad left, we took a trip to Hiroshima. We spent Friday the 8th visiting Peace Memorial Park, the peace museum and the castle. We also tried Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which has egg on the top and soba noodles added.

Check out our photos from Hiroshima!

Since then, I have got back into the swing of things. The following week was fairly broken, as that Monday was a public holiday and the last three days of the week we had the mid-year JET conference.

This week, I have just been teaching as usual. Not much else to report, really. We try to relax on weekends and Mika is now going to see the doctor in Kochi city on a weekly basis. She is getting closer to giving birth. Hopefully we can visit the doctor together next week, as it could be the only opportunity that I have to meet him before we scream into Kochi city while Mika has contractions, whenever everything kicks into action.

It has been pretty cold, but that's winter, right. Hopefully it won't get any colder between now and the end of winter. But if it does, we will just have to handle it. Our house has terrible insulation (yet another disadvantage of living in a country that doesn't embrace change and encourages people to do everything inefficiently and with as much inconvenience and difficulty as their false pride can muster).

My schedule is pretty full, so I will be spending a lot of time at school during this last term. I just pray that I can gather the energy that I need to enjoy lessons and really have a good time -- especially at shougakkou. :)

Peace.

Timotheos

A Decade in Review

Now is the time of year when people reflect on the last twelve months and look forward to what the next year will bring. But this is a special year. It signifies the end of one era and the beginning of the next. I am, of course, talking about the fact that next year we enter into a new decade. Many changes hover on the horizon.

But before I wax nostalgic or delve into my predictions and desires for next year or even the next ten years, let me bring my readers up to speed with life here in Japan.

Presents sit under the tree in our lounge, and my presents to New Zealand arrived safely. My dad has the final details for his flight to Osaka this coming Sunday, and we will be bussing him down here to Kochi the following day.

Last night, we had a shard Christmas dinner at church, which was very nice. They called it a candle party, but we only lit candles for the ten minutes or so that it took our pastor to read something from the Bible and play a song.

And as Japanese are very big on bingo, we played a bingo game using characters from the Bible. Eddi and I were the last two people to get bingo. Go my family. >.<

That about sums up where things are at. I didn't have school at all today because Tokawa chuugakkou had some parent meeting regarding high school entrance, or something.

As this is Christmas week, the few times that I do have class -- including three classes on Christmas morning -- I will make the lessons as Christmasey as I can. This is a great opportunity to tell the Christmas story. I borrowed some large flashcards, a book and a video from church last night. Let's see what I can do with them!

Well, 2009 is almost over. I'm not sure that I will write another entry between now and 2010, although it would be nice to give one final update before this decade hums to an unpreventable close and becomes yet another part of history.

I'd like to just talk a little bit about my last ten years and then what I'm looking forward to or what I expect for next year. And now, to take this blog away from Japan briefly and down a more personal track.

A brief look at the last ten years:
2000 The millennium crept up on us very suddenly. No fear of Y2K was going to prevent me from enjoying a great historical moment. It was a rather uneventful year, however, as I simply gave up on the degree I was studying for and moved back home to live with my parents, play games and work at Burger King.

2001 I continued working at Burger King and attending our local church, not really doing much else aside from the occasional youth focused event, watching DVD movies, going to the cinema and playing computer and video games. Of course, it was September of that year that the terrorist bombing of the twin towers happened, but it didn't really affect me much beyond seeing muslims as a greater threat than I already perceived.

2002 This year changed my life. After battling with a decision, I chose to attend Faith Bible College. It turned out to be a very good decision, as I grew a lot spiritually and saw myself mature as a Christian. It was a fundamental year for me and can't really be summed up in a few words.

2003 I spent half the year in South Korea, after an opportunity came up to work for a small organisation that took in students to teach English through Bible input. It was my first time overseas and far from my last. There were times in South Korea when I felt very isolated and alone, but also great times of friendship and fun. And my three-week trip to Canada during the summer was a great experience, too. I also got my full driver license before moving back home.

2004 An opportunity came up for me to work for my church for a year. It was an awesome year for me as I did small jobs around the church and was highly involved with a project that saw hundreds, if not thousands of copies of the Jesus movie put into homes throughout New Zealand. I also joined our church music team as a drummer, which continued right through until I left New Zealand in 2008.

2005 I went on a missions trip to India and Sri Lanka with my pastor, celebrating my 25th birthday in Singapore. It was a good start to the year and a good way to finish up my stint with the church. I moved into full-time work again, landing a job with an electronics retailer. Despite the stresses involved, I enjoyed my work environment; especially my colleagues. We all got along well with each other and it was a good experience overall. My brother and I also started playing World of Warcraft that year, about six months after its release. Later in the year we moved out of our sister's place and went flatting together.

2006 Continued working in retail full time until the second half of the year, when I switched to part-time to finally start on a Bachelor's degree that I could stick with and see through to the end. So the second half of the year was juggling work and study. I moved back in with my sister and my brother moved up north.

2007 I quit my job in December of 2006 because they wouldn't give me time off over Christmas. It wasn't a sudden leave, either -- I gave two months notice. I had a wonderful holiday with my family in Northland, where mum and dad were teaching. The rest of the year saw me studying full time and playing World of Warcraft during most of my free time. I also regularly attended church events, including our cell group and my worship team involvement. I didn't however, grow very much spiritually, as my time since Bible College was too much about me, despite my ability to keep myself occupied with church-related activities.

Took a holiday in the Gold Coast with my sister and her family in September. It was a great getaway and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The theme parks were all fun and it was good to just get away from life and study for a time.

2008 I had applied for the JET programme, knowing full well that I would finish my degree in time. I also started this blog the previous year at the beginning of the application process in the hopes that I could carry it through into my experiences here in Japan. I finished my degree, with the last semester keeping me very busy, and came over here in July. And as mentioned back then, I was able to spend some time with my parents before heading over here. My first few months in Japan were difficult, as documented in earlier posts; but my immersion into my life here wasn't really all that bad.

2009 A huge year for me. I met my wife and we got married within three months of dating (actually, on our three month anniversary). Now, we are expecting a baby in February, our daughter Eddi starts school next year, and the last few months have just flown by before we can blink.

So, here's to 2010, a great year full of promise. I will be 30 years old next year and will experience the birthing of my first child. I will sign up for a third year on JET and continue teaching at primary and junior high schools, keeping myself occupied with this and that both in teaching and with our church.

I am excited about this next decade. I may get a few grey hairs by the end of it, but there are just so many things to look forward to! A new baby, a new job at some point, paying off my student loan, furthering my studies, developing a closer relationship with both my wife and present daughter. And that just scratches the surface of this wonderful gem called life.

Praise God he has blessed us with so much to look forward to in the decade to come!

Peace.

Timotheos

On the Second Day of Christmas

I read an interesting article today:
Here.

It's about changes in the Japanese language because of modern times and the way that English has somewhat taken over.

I've been getting a lot of headaches recently. It could be because of the cold weather, but whatever the cause, it makes it hard to get through the day whenever I do have a throbbing head.

The preschool had a Christmas presentation last week. The kids put in a lot of effort to perform songs and plays.

On the weekend, we were quite busy. I went to Nakamura to do some Christmas shopping while Mika dressed Eddi up in a kimono and had her hair styled. She had some photos taken, which I will try and put up on Facebook to show people.

On Sunday, we all went into Kochi city to do more shopping. I have finished getting all the Christmas presents I need to for people. I posted off my family's presents last week, after having bought them all the weekend before last.

I have been trying to do Christmas themed lessons but haven't really done anything exciting. Hopefully I will be able to do some nice Christmas stuff with the kids at school tomorrow.

Peace.

Timotheos

Thanksmas

Did I mention Thanksgiving? You know, that American holiday that happens near the end of November every year? I guess not.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night. There was turkey and gravy, stuffing and pie -- both pumpkin and custard creme. We invited Mikey, Candice, Brittany and our Friday night student, Mei-chan. All in all, it was a really nice time.

This week has been pretty slow. On Monday there was a very boring meeting at a school. A workshop of sorts, but it was all in Japanese. The only thing I got out of it was a big headache. Japanese meetings are just so lifeless.

On Tuesday there was no school. I think there were too many cases of influenza, or something.

Yesterday, I only had a single class at shougakkou. I'm not entirely sure why, but it may have been related to the flu as well.

Today, I didn't have any classes, but I did spend the entire morning at school. We planned the questions for next week's interview tests with the students, and I did some Japanese study.

Speaking of which, I am still working through my textbook and trying to use Japanese both in emails to my wife and when we talk at home. It's still very slow going and I struggle to remember anything, but with continued practice, I know that I will improve. I may even actually be ready for the level 3 JLPT when it rolls around next year. Or at least sit it, regardless.

This coming weekend we plan on doing some Christmas shopping in Kochi city. We need to get some decorations so that we can set up our Xmas tree. That will be fun. ^^

Peace.

Timotheos

The Great Move: Success!

The shifting may be over but the settling in has only just begun.

I had all of last week off (marriage leave), which gave me a chance to finish filling and painting the new place and start moving stuff in. Mika also took time off work -- between a whole lot of pre-term* meetings -- so that we could get everything shifted.

*The new school term starts tomorrow. Yay for real work!

Everything was out of my old apartment by the end of Wednesday and we had shifted quite a bit of stuff from Mika's place. On Thursday I went to Nakamura to get some organisational things for our rooms and cupboards. I went back again on Friday to return some things and find alternative means of arranging everything to fit into our limited space.

Eddi came with me on Friday. We stopped at the beach on the way. It was really nice. We also popped into the furniture store for a little while. We want to get real beds some time soon. I took her to MacDonald's for lunch, we shopped at a hardware store and we had ice creams on the way home. ^^

Over the weekend we continued shifting things out of Mika's place -- when we weren't waiting at the hospital. Saturday was a bit of a waste of a day because we went to the hospital in K-town so that I could get my ingrown toenails sorted out. After a lot of waiting and going to see two different doctors, the only thing I got out of it was a prescription for another toenail issue and the recommendation not to get surgery on my toes.

Which means that after all that we have to go and see another doctor (probably in the city) to sort out getting my feet fixed for good. Yay for stubborn Japanese medical professionals. At least we managed to slip in some much needed shopping.

Yesterday was possibly the most difficult day for us, in terms of shifting. We still had a lot of Mika's possessions to move. But now that it is all over and done with, there is merely the task of unpacking our hundreds of boxes and bags and finding room for everything. It seems that things have been non-stop since the wedding. :/

A guy came and installed an air conditioning unit, too, removing the old, decrepit one from the lounge. He also removed the one from my old place but we can't get that installed until next weekend. Oh, and it was raining yesterday, which made things interesting.

At least things should become somewhat normal now. We have a place to live, summer holidays are over and we have schedules to follow. We can get into a good pattern of living as we work our way through everything at the house and accustom ourselves to the new environment. Bring on the next few weeks of settling in...

Peace.

Timotheos

The Power of His Love

Nine days to go. Three until mum, dad and the youngest siblings arrive; seven days until the other two do.

So what has happened since last I wrote? School finished. Wedding planning continued. And it's hot.

Last weekend, my parents got my suit and Mika's dress from a huge mall about an hour from where they live in China. Meanwhile, we sorted out details for the reception, the cake and the flower arranging.

After the weekend, it was back to business. School this week has been very slow. There were no classes on Tuesday or today at the respective chuugakkou. However, I travelled to Tokawa on Tuesday afternoon to receive a wedding present that they wanted to give us; and today, I went to Shouwa before being told that there would be no English class at all. Which meant a day in the office!

Did I mention that it's hot?

With school over for the summer, all I will be able to do for the next month and a half is scan google reader, play on Facebook and prepare resources. I guess I could throw in some Japanese study from time to time. Oh, and I have next week off to spend with my family. After all, I'm getting married next weekend. :o

As far as planning goes, we still need to work out some decoration details for both the ceremony at the church and the reception at the restaurant we have booked. Aside from that, it is now just a matter of getting through the rehearsal this weekend and finding accommodation for my family.

We also need to find a new house. So far nothing has shown up on our radar. But since God has taken care of everything so well so far, this is a minor issue that will be taken care of pretty quickly and easily.

Here's to the weekend～ ^^

Peace.

Ps. I will get around to making the stylistic changes. I'd like to get married first and focus on more important things than playing around with blog colours. :p

Timotheos

Something About Ninjas

Friday, Friday, Friday. The weekend is here! Two more weeks until we get married. Just over a week until I get to see my parents and two youngest siblings, and then a few more days after that my brother and older sister. It's going to be great!

Last Sunday, we went to church in Kochi city. We spent some time at a wedding hire place, trying on respective suits and dresses. We decided not to hire anything from there. Neither of us has our wedding costume yet, but we still have two weeks, right? Actually, my parents are going to find a suit for me tomorrow, at a mall in their city in China.

We did some further shopping, at Aeon, where we also ate. Got home pretty late, especially for a "school night".

I taught at Tokawa shougakkou on both Monday and Wednesday. Spent some time trying to sort out domestic travel for my brother and older sister, but we didn't get anything finalised that night. We did, however, get a good deal a couple of days later. One less burden, huh. Still trying to sort out accommodation for my parents for when they stop in Okayama, both on the way here and back.

There was a crazy rainstorm on Tuesday afternoon. I came back to the office because I didn't have afternoon periods at Tokawa chuu, and the heavy rainclouds came over and just dumped their water onto Taisho in one huge torrent.

On Tuesday night, we went out to K-town to see the Book of Hope class that Laurel takes every Tuesday night. I am probably going to take over when she leaves. I also brought my home theatre system and tested my speakers in the church. Sounds good, so we should be using that setup for the music for the wedding.

On Wednesday night we ate at Mika's parents' house. It was yakiniku, and was very nice.

We spent some time at Mika's afterwards looking up wedding clothes online, but didn't make a definite decision about anything.

Last night, we went out for dinner at a local place, while Ps. Taniguchi used the house to take a small bible study with a couple of local high school students. We went for a walk afterwards, which was nice.

We still haven't found a photographer for the wedding. Going to take it easy this weekend -- at least, that's the plan. There are still things to work out, such as Mika's dress and finalising the order of events for the ceremony itself; but everything will be sorted by the day.

Oh, and God is good. ;)

Finally, expect changes to my blog sometime in the not too distant future. I have some ideas about what I want to do, so keep an eye out for that! (It will be pretty obvious when ninjas jump out and throw shuriken at your face).

Peace.

Timotheos

Frenetic Fast-paced Formulating

To be honest, even now I don't feel like writing a blog entry. I guess the whole week has been pretty taxing. But I have free time now and it has been just over a week since my last entry. So here goes nothing.

We did go into Kochi city last Saturday. We took a picnic lunch and went to One-park to eat and to let Eddi run around for a bit. After that, we made the obligatory Aeon mall stop. We found the ideal pair of wedding rings, which we will be getting resized before the wedding. We also did some shopping; I got some new clothes (T-shirts and shorts).

A visit to the 100-yen store saw me acquiring a whole lot of useful organisational stuff for my teaching resources in the office. We ate before coming home.

On Sunday it was a regular morning at church. We were, however, invited to eat lunch with our pastor and his wife, which was very nice. We did some grocery shopping before heading back to Taisho. Started to feel the stress of wedding planning. We prayed together that night, which was a little relieving.

I had my meeting at the Kaizen centre in K-town on Monday morning. It went well. They just wanted to make sure I would be extra careful about checking the times for scheduled classes. They also wished me omedetou gozaimasu -- congratulations -- for the recent engagement. ;)

After work, Mika and I headed back to K-town together to try and sort out this Docomo bill issue that I had. We managed to sort out getting access to a detailed bill online but that deadended when we actually tried it on Wednesday night. However, that night, Mika was kind enough to spend over an hour on the phone for me, getting them to agree to a refund on certain costs; and she also had my plan changed so that I should be paying less each month for my keitai!

Anyway, back to Tuesday (since nothing else out worth mentioning happened on Monday). I taught at Tokawa chuugakkou, as usual. I told Igei-sensei about my engagement. She gave a similar reaction to everyone, showing complete surprise. It was fun telling the students that I am getting married very soon, haha.

We ate okonomiyaki that night. Started working on the wedding invitations. I had got some materials from Ryubi in K-town after work. We decided we would hand-make the invitations for everyone that we are giving them to. It ended up taking us until very late Thursday night to get them finished, so I posted off the ones to my various family members in both China and New Zealand yesterday after work.

So we entered July. The month of our wedding! 25th, here we come!

I was at Yoneoku shougakkou from first period on Wednesday morning, which meant a very early start for me. The school is about 40 minutes from here.

We had an awesome little storm on Wednesday evening. It poured really hard for a while and there was thunder rumbling across the sky. As I mentioned, Mika sorted out my Docomo stuff. I cooked dinner while she did that and we watched The Wedding Singer. I didn't see most of the first part because of preparing dinner, but I've seen the movie more than once, so meh.

We also worked on the invitations that night, but were both pretty tired and couldn't get much done. It was good to space it out and take until Thursday night to get them finished -- but it also meant that we both stayed up very late that night. :/

There was no school on Thursday, so I spent the day on Facebook and Wikipedia and resource prep. (printing, laminating, etc.). I managed to keep pretty busy. ^^

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant about five minutes past K-town, called Kitchen Yano. We intend to have the wedding reception there. The food was nice, and the atmosphere is nice too. We think it is an appropriate place. We have a meeting to discuss details next Saturday afternoon (the 11th).

Getting the invitations finished that night was relieving, even though I didn't get to bed until about 1.30am. :/

Had two shougakkou on Friday, which, added to all the other stress so far this week, really tired me out. In the morning, I taught ichi-nensei at Kubokawa shougakkou and in the afternoon it was my regular Shouwa visit. I say regular because I go there often; but the time changes from week to week and I am not scheduled to visit every single week.

We tutored Mei-chan, our Taisho ni-nensei student. She is very clever and is very interested in English, so it is great to see her getting through the exercises that I prepare and really put an effort into learning and improving her English. Now, if only every student in this entire region was as diligent and motivated!

Orally tested students at Tokawa chuu on Tuesday. I was quite disappointed with the san-nensei especially. Their level of English should allow for answering the most basic of questions, but not one could answer "How was your weekend?", a first grade level question, without assistance. :(

Now it is Saturday. We had our first pre-marital counselling session this morning at our church in K-town with Taniguchi-sensei, our pastor. We ate some delicious soba ramen for lunch before coming home. I had a headache and felt very tired so came home to rest. It was good to take a break from everything. Spent time online and just relaxing.

However, back to the fast-paced madhouse that is wedding planning tomorrow. Not much rest for those on a tight schedule!

As a final note, my recent submission to Engrish.com was front-paged yesterday. ^.^

Peace.

Timotheos

Full Speed Ahead

Things aren't really that hectic yet. We have decided to tackle one thing at once, when it comes to wedding planning. This week has been more about family and telling people about our engagement than anything else. Next week we will probably organise things that need to be done asap, such as booking a photographer and finding out about wedding clothes.

As far as school is concerned, I have been building up my resources. Some of the A4 sheets I have laminated need to be redone, because I didn't back them properly. I can use what I have for each of those topics but by the end of Summer I should have replaced them all as well as built up some new sets.

I have also been making bingo cards, and spent some time laminating and cutting out some bingo tokens that I made to go with them. I got some stickers on the weekend that I can give out to kids. Apparently I should expect tears at some point once I start introducing stickers to my classes. Awesome!

In the last two weeks I have been late for school. And not just a few minutes late, either. I'm talking missing entire periods. And both times I have no excuse save that the schedule was different than usual and I failed to read the differences. It was simply misreading what I should have double checked.

And so on Monday I have to meet with Supreme Commander White-hair in Kubokawa (that would be the section chief "head honcho" of the Shimanto Board of Education). I guess I will get something along the lines of a lecture on punctuality and ensuring that I understand my shougakkou schedules and how important it is to abide by my contract, etc etc.

Not that I would ever excuse negligence. But this could have happened to anyone who had curve balls thrown at them when they weren't expecting them.

Let's look at what went wrong:
Ok, so my shougakkou schedules consist of a cover sheet that has periods 1-6 with the periods I will be teaching in containing summarised information regarding those lessons. Then there are individual sheets for each period with more detailed information regarding what I will be teaching.

The first time I missed a period at a school I was supposed to be at, they had omitted period 6 from the summary sheet and scheduled me to teach in periods 4 (before lunch) and 5 (after lunch). Since I failed to notice that they had anomalised the summary sheet, my brain registered the schedule as being periods 5 and 6 -- the last two periods.

Firstly, I wasn't expecting them to split classes with lunch-time. Secondly, this was the only time that the summary sheet had ever been reduced to 5 periods rather than 6; regardless of when classes are. So from that I learned to be more vigilant in double checking exactly which periods I should be teaching in at school.

The second time I was late, I didn't even realise it until the end of the lesson -- which came just 20-odd minutes after I arrived. It took me by surprise, because until that point I thought that I had somehow managed to be a couple of minutes late and the teacher had gone ahead and started without me. Not the case.

My afternoon classes always start at either 2pm or 2.05pm. This is when period 5 starts at every shougakkou. Except on Wednesday. They decided that they would begin at 1.35pm. It was written on my summary sheet, so I have no excuse for coming to school halfway through a period I was supposed to be teaching in. I once again simply failed to see the changes from the norm.

As I said: this could easily have happened to anyone. I have now learned to read and re-read my schedules before the day, on the day and before school. Any anomalies or divergence from the normal flow of events and I need to know about it -- and prepare accordingly.

But I still have to face the music on Monday morning. So be it.

Last night was intense. Mika and I met Michael's twin brothers and his auntie who are here in Japan for a holiday and currently staying with him. We also had planned to go and see Mika's parents together, for the first time. Our food took too long to come (we were at Yamagoya) and so we had to leave. But then, Mika's dad was late anyway, so we sort of rushed for nothing.

I talked to her parents about where we stand in terms of getting married. We survived; that's all I can say. And today, Mika is in a much better mood. It is as if a burden was lifted from her shoulders. Like I said: we are doing one thing at a time. And going to see her parents was the biggest hurdle so far, and I know it was weighing her down a lot. Having got that out of the way -- for now -- we are free to move onto the next step of our journey.

Still, I will definitely continue to pray for her parents, both in terms of acceptance -- that they will be assured that our getting married is very good for us and for Eddi -- and for their eventual salvation. In time they will both get to know who I am -- language barrier aside -- and will see the strength that Mika and I possess in our relationship.

Tomorrow: K-city and wedding rings?

Peace.

Timotheos

The Rules of Engagement

And boy, was it a life-changing week!

As mentioned in my last entry -- all that time ago -- Michael and I went out shooting. We travelled around a lot, as far afield as Nakamura and beyond, and finally settled on a random soccer field in a small town in the middle of nowhere, to take pot shots at cans.

That night -- Saturday -- we watched a movie at my place.

The Sunday was totally uneventful. I missed Mika because she and Eddi were in Osaka, if you remember. Little did I know that our lives were about to change.

Last Monday, I had both Iejigawa and Tokawa shougakkou. We didn't go for a run that evening, as Mika had to come home late. They were tired from their Osaka trip anyway, so we didn't really do much that evening.

I got paid on Tuesday, which was a relief. I had a bit of a cough last week and needed to get some throat lozenges. I also got my car insured, which was great because it meant I could finally drive it!

Had my usual prayer and Bible study group that night, but it was just me and the leader, as everyone else was away. Still, nice time of prayer. I went to see Mika afterwards to spend time with her. ;)

Did more resource preparation in the office on Wednesday and had school that afternoon. We managed to go for a run as we had a really nice spell of fine weather last week; quite odd for rainy season, but good for us. Didn't do any Japanese study that evening, though.

Showed the kids at Shouwa chuugakkou my car on Thursday. Went to see the dentist after work. Talked to dad on Skype at my place after dinner. We were meant to talk to mum but she wasn't there, so we decided to meet again on Friday night.

Friday itself was a normal day -- office and school. I spent time in the office preparing for Mei's lesson that night.

We did a short run, had dinner, tutored Mei and put Eddi to bed. After that, we connected to my family on Skype. Mika and I had decided that we want to get married, but she had no idea mum was going to suggest that I propose right then and there. Which I did! So now Mika and I are engaged! And we did it in front of my parents, which was a very special time. ^^

After some serious talking and prayer, I went home. What a night!

Mika went to see her parents on Saturday morning. I went on Facebook, cleaned and prayed for her while she was there. We just chilled at my place for the rest of the afternoon while Eddi stayed with her grandparents. We were both very tired. All in all it was actually a very stressful week for Mika, and she needed to just rest.

I watched a movie on Satuday night, So I Married an Axe Murderer. >.>

We talked to our pastor after church on Sunday and settled on a wedding date: Saturday, 25th of July. Very soon, I know, but it will work best. It is better to move quickly than wait and press fate, right? We also decided on three pre-marital counselling sessions with him.

After lunch and some shopping in K-town, we came home and talked to Nick on Skype. After which, we took a walk down to the river, where Eddi went swimming. We saw a lone duck swimming around down there.

Eddi and the duck

He was a friendly chap

And the water was more tepid than we thought. It is very hot at the moment, and has been quite muggy these past two days. So no wonder the river is very inviting! I also skimmed a stone across the water that did 15 skips. My record :)

Last night I made scones and soup for dinner for us. After Eddi went to bed, Mika and I talked to her spiritual parents -- Eddi's American grandparents -- through video on MSN Messenger. It was my first meeting with them and we had a nice chat. They are very happy for the both of us and for Eddi.

Now it is Monday again and I have been in the office all day. I really must get some Japanese study done. I really haven't made much progress at all in my 10 months here. I'm just really bad at languages and have trouble remembering things. I hope that with enough repitition I will be able to recall the vocabulary -- but it is so much more than that, and that is where I have problems. Being able to put things together just isn't making any sense to me. It seems that I will never be able to communicate in Japanese, but I know that that isn't true. With enough time and study I will eventually be able to do more than say hello to people. ;)

Peace.

Timotheos