Picture Time!

Here are some random pictures from recent weeks/months I wanted to share:


Caspian got some bread at the beach. He had no idea what to do so he just held it in his mouth.



This is my group's poster from English camp. Our groups name was "Kory and Funny Company"



Caspi got a new toy from my parents. This is pre-destroy.



The sunset from our first night at Goza Beach last month.



Kelly played with fireworks.



We rode on some boats.



This sign is in the bathroom of an Indian restaurant in Numazu (not our Indian restaurant.) Nothing makes me want to travel somewhere more than a picture of endless sand.



I went to another Shimizu S-Pulse game. S-Pulse won 1-0. A pitcher's duel.



Apparently somebody's been sleeping overnight at school. Working too hard, or trying to save money on rent? I guess we'll never know.



Caspian has taken to sunbathing lately.



Our annual ichi-nensei hiking trip was last Friday. Here's part of the group eating lunch.



Hiking down a long set of stairs.



Cool, old bridge. Note: this is not the wobbly bridge that I decided to jump repeatedly while crossing, making about 10 girls scream for their lives.



Obligatory waterfall shot. Not a recycled picture from last year but might as well be.



Fin.

A great Saturday and a busy week ahead

I finally went to Kelly's favorite onsen yesterday after a year of hearing her talk about it. It was pretty amazing indeed and I can't believe it took me this long to go. I sat in every bath they had on the men's side which included: regular hot bath, herb tea, green tea, two other herb baths, sulphur, grape, salt, and carbonation. My favorites were the salt (because I floated), carbonation (because I was covered in bubbles), and the yellow herb (because it smelled good.) I also sat in an extremely hot sauna for a few minutes and then immediately went and sat in an ice cold bath. Why? I don't know. But it was invigorating!

Before the onsen we had gone white water rafting with a big group of people down the Fuji River. It was pretty fun and brought me back to my youth group days and our canoe trips. The rapids were few and far between but it was still fun. We also jumped off a cliff into the water at one point. This was the highest point from which I had jumped into water since I jumped off the high dive at our local pool when I was a kid and had extreme pain in one of my ears. I was nervous that it would happen again which is why I hadn't done it in so long, but there was no pain. It was pretty nervewracking though. Standing on a cliff waiting to jump off with 30 people watching you is quite intimidating. I'm glad I did it though.

School is in full swing right now. I spent a lot of time last week getting some 3rd year girls ready for their university entrance interviews. They were on Saturday so I hope they did well. I've got a busy week ahead of me this week because I have two tests to write as well as the listening dialogue that goes along with them. Then we have to record the listening part and get it to the teachers by Thursday. In the meantime, I have a lesson to plan and a presentation for our Mid-Year Seminar to put together. I haven't started on any of these tasks so I guess you know what I'll be up to in my free time this week.

I signed up this week to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - Level 4. That's the beginner level and I think I should do well as long as I study enough. The test is in December, so I have time but I know it'll sneak up on me if I'm not careful.

Finally, for anyone who is curious: awhile back I wrote about 51 yen that was sitting in the teacher's kitchen at school. Well, it is still there just waiting for someone to claim it. Here is a picture of the infamous coins, looking lonely and forgotten:



Maybe everyone is scared to take it because that guy on the fan is watching. Probably.