Mom & Dad have been here for about 48 hours and we're already exhausted! And about to do a load of laundry. I'm so excited to have them here. I've been waiting to show them around for 7 years!!

I went out to Tokyo on Thursday afternoon (the U.S. started bombing Iraq while I was on the train) and spent the night at Tom's so I didn't have to do the entire trip in one shot. The next morning we finished (ahem... really started...) cleaning his apartment so that my parents wouldn't know that he's really a slob (joke!). He was nice enough to take the trip out to Narita Airport with me, a trip he does way too often to find enjoyable. I was glad to have the company and the directional assistance. Mom & Dad arrived on time with all 18 peices of luggage... and we were in good spirits on the train back into Tokyo. We hauled them with all of the luggage through two different trains, up and down stairs, escalators, elevators, and a taxi (I sat on Mom's lap and a big heavy suitcase sat on both Tom's and Dad's laps). They were really impressed with Tom's apartment (Dad even asked how much it cost a month.. ) and then we headed out to dinner. We had a fabulous meal at the Tofuro in Ginza, which included two types of fresh tofu, chicken and veggies on skewers, a great salad, and oden (translated in the menu to "Japanese hodgepodge"). It was delicious and Mom is still raving about the restaurant's physical appearance.. it is really traditional with lots of wood and hidden rooms. After we got back to the apartment, Mom & Dad just crashed.

Saturday morning Tom led Mom and I on a jog through his neighborhood. It was pretty warm out and we ran in shorts. Mom got a great view of Tokyo Tower (a bright orange and white version of the Eiffel). Then Tom and I ran across the street for pastries, rolls, juice and yogurt for breakfast. After making sure we made it with all the luggage to Shinjuku and finding us some cash, Tom waved goodbye from the train platform as we left for Nagano. It was an uneventful train trip and I was dissappointed because none of us were seated at windows. When we switched trains at Matsumoto to come out to Misato, we walked into a car and were greeted with squeals and giggles among "Sherman Sensei!!". It was a group of incoming 1st graders that I only vaguely recognized.. but Mom & Dad were truly impressed at how excited they were to see me. Proof of my celebrity-hood increased when upon exciting the station the station attendant not only welcomed me home, but greeted my parents like they were VIPs... waving them through with their Rail Passes. He clearly would have loved to stop and chat, but we were trying to get home. And my fans were waiting. Yes, once we excited the station, the aforementioned girls were waiting for us with a camera! I feel like a true star now.

In the evening (after Mom unpacked the LARGE suitcase full of stuff she'd brought for me... Christmas in March!) we had a relaxed dinner with Jaclyn and her parents at the soba/tempura restaurant up the street. Both sets of parents were challenged by the chopsticks, but even more so by the on-the-floor-seating style. Everyone was pooped and we headed home pretty early. Mom & Dad made it until almost 10pm before crashing.

Today we spent a very beautifully sunny day walking around Matsumoto City. We toured the Matsumoto Castle and walked around the outside, admiring the humongous carp. We also did a substantial amount of window shopping. When we couldn't handle anymore walking we took a nice break for coffee, tea, and apple cobbler at a new cafe in town the headed home. This time, when we got on the train there were 3 of my male students- who were just as shocked to see me "out in the wild", and when we got off the train, they were waiting in the station to say hi again. They were so funny! One presented me with a dog cup and saucer that he'd won at the game center they'd been at. They were so impressed to see my parents. Jaclyn was out and couldn't pick us up so instead we walked home, giving me a chance to point out my bank, post office, school, and Jaclyn's school. I wish it would have been clearer, but we could still see the mountains a bit so I guess they probably got the idea. We just finished dinner and are now packing for our trip down south. We will leave tomorrow morning for Kyoto. On Thursday, we will head down to Hiroshima and Miyajima before making a U-turn to spend the weekend with my host families in Wakayama City. Next Monday we'll return to Nagano and visit Tsumago, a well-preserved post rode city and we'll be back here on Tuesday afternoon. We're psyched!! Hopefully I will remember enough details so that I can share them... and maybe Dad can help me post some pictures.

Have a great week!

technical difficulties...

Wow. Graduation is over and the 3rd grade is officially history. As we waved goodbye to the parade of students and parents from the steps of the school, I realized I just might miss these kids. There are some real winners mixed in with the punks... and even the punks seemed much more innocent with their "graduate" pins and flowers. The ceremony itself was really impressive. The gym walls were decorated with red and white striped sheets and the stage edge was lined with flowers. Next to the podium was a perfectly shaped bonsai tree (can you rent those in this country or do they just keep it hanging around for special occasions?) and the Japanese flag and school flag hung on the wall. There were another two huge Japanese flags outside the front door. All the teachers were dressed to the nines... The outfit of choice being a black as night suit with white shirt and white or off-white tie for men, and a black suit with a frilly blouse for women. I was not the only one in navy, but there were absolutly no other colors but a couple of beiges. Our principal was in a morning suit (black jacket with long tails, white shirt and tie, gray pant) which was impressive, though a bit overwhelming. The students, of course, were in their uniforms, though they'd been warned to wear the properly (no shorter then normal skirts, no pants slung down past the butt, etc.).

The ceremony started with the classes being led into the gym in pairs by their homeroom teachers.. they walked so slowly it took a almost a half hour for all 198 students to be seated. They were in the front, with the rest of the student body behind them, and parents (80 percent mothers) behind them. The staff was along one wall and the Board of Education, Village Head, and other assorted VIPs were along the other. We heard speeches from everyone including the PTA president and a parent. The students received their certificates one by one while their names were called. There was absolutly no applause, no noise at all throughout the entire ceremony until the last moment when the graduating class finished singing to the audience. Then they walked out again, in twos.

After the ceremony ended, the third graders retreated to their classrooms and the rest of the school dismantled the decorations. Then everyone piled into the gym for a ceremony for the leaving teachers. The teachers who will be leaving walked slowly into the gymnasium, led by the principal, with all the students gawking to see which of the teachers were leaving. Then they lined the teachers up on the stage and listed how long each has taught here and where they will be going. Finally each teacher had a chance to say some words before officially saying goodbye. It was pretty sad to see 19 staff members line up to leave.. almost half of our entire staff. To wrap up, we sang the school song, then the teachers walked back out of the gym through the middle of the students. It was pretty emotional for many of the teachers. It must be rough to get only a few minutes to say goodbye.

After that, we had a separate sending off ceremony for our principal, with speeches from the vice-principal (also leaving), the PTA president, and the student body president. He was presented with a huge bunch of flowers, then we sung the school song for the last time (third time in one day!).

We had a short break, then before lunch we all gathered outside in a line around the front steps. The 3rd graders (with their indoor shoes and everything else they hadn't yet taken home) and their parents walked out of school past all the teachers, for the last time. Many were crying but most looked really happy. We applauded them as they passed, some took pictures, others just hurried past. It was hard to say goodbye to my favorites; Yuka- the student who I helped with the speech contests... all the way up to 3rd place in the nation, Wataru- one of my "special" boys who paid attention just long enough to participate in the cermony, Endo- another kind of odd kid who stopped the entire line to say very slowly and clearly "Thank you and Good-bye" to me in English, Izuki-the other incredibly gifted speech contest girl who came in second in Nagano and is wise beyond her years (and mine!), Sayaka- who hates Mr. Ishizone but was still crying so hard while saying goodbye that she couldn't even look up, and so many others... students I didn't even think I liked!

Of course, when it all comes down to it... I'm pretty relieved that they are on to their next step... as a class they are a pain in the butt! ;) I'm really looking forward to this year's 2nd grade becoming 3rd graders.. they are much more mature and much more fun.

I'm still sad that many of my favorite teachers are leaving, but I've already heard that one of the incoming English teachers is an incredibly nice woman. We have our last staff party tonight at an onsen/restaurant near Matsumoto. There will be a lot of great food, sake, and congratulations all around!

Ok, I guess I'd better try this again before I forget what I wanted to say! Just finished my lunch and I'm hanging out in the English dept. room waiting for something to do. Instead of being completely bored, I've been re-living the glories of my latest ski adventure. I wish you all could have witnessed it. Had you been perched in the trees or waiting at the bottom, I am sure my descent through the snow was as amazing as seeing Picabo Street come hurtling down a race course for gold. I am sure. Yes, I am a ski goddess enjoying the ride of a serious learning curve. The weather on Saturday was much better then we had expected, as was my technique. I think spending that entire weekend on my face bouncing through the snow has finally paid off. My terror of the slopes (after my first time down back in January, I had to send Tom and Jaclyn back up without me because I needed to regroup and make my knees stop shaking!) has morphed into a confident and curious attempt to find out just what those red hills are hiding!

One hill in particular, I'd been traumatized by after mistakenly thinking it was a beginner course then being forced to combination walk/slid down the edge with Jaclyn... both of us convinced we were going to die. It took a half hour to get to the bottom, where Tom had been waiting after taking the faster but more snow in the pants route down. On Saturday, I attacked. It took all of four minutes to get to the bottom, where I waited for Sara with a huge grin on my face. As she slid up beside me, I hollered, "That rocked! You want to go again?!". We also tried the run on the front of the hill where after I'd declined to go with, Jaclyn had triple sommersaulted down the bottom section and ended up spending quality time with the fine men of the ski patrol. She's never quite recovered :(, so on my way down I picked up a lost 500 yen coin (about $5) and tossed it to her at the bottom, claiming the mountain owed her. I couldn't beleive how much fun I was having, and didn't fall until the very last run (of course), but then did it with such finesse that I ended up with enough snow for an entire snowman up the inside of my sweater. On the way home we hit the onsen for some well-deserved soaking, then enjoyed sushi on a conveyer belt, before a sleep-over at my house. I thought it would be the last ski weekend, but last night I opened my door and was surprised (and depressed) to see the rain had turned to snow. I just may be able to sneak in another trip!

Today is Day 1 of the end of the year festivities. First thing this morning, the 1st and 2nd graders gathered in the gym waiting to start the "3rd Grade Send-Off". We were requested to applaud while the third grade students entered in twos, accompyanied by music played by the band. First, we watched a video slideshow of pictures from the three years of school activities they'd been involved in and congratulatory/good luck messages from assorted staff. Then, the 1st and 2nd graders stood up and were led in some seriously cool cheers for the 3rd graders. I'd never heard them before, but if they are what happens at school sports events then I am going to have to try harder to attend. After the cheer, the 1st and 2nd graders sang the song they've been practicing every day for the entire month. It was lovely. Finally, we watched a video the 3rd grade classes had made to thank the school. To wrap up, the non-graduating students yelled "Arigato Gozaimasu!" (Thank You!) in unison and a huge red ball was cracked open over their heads spilling confetti and a huge banner with a caligrahpy written "Thank You 3rd Grade!" unfurling from inside. Then, we applauded as the 3rd graders stood and walked back out of the auditorium to the tune of a popular Japanese pop tune. Sigh.

After a 10 minute break, we reassembled in the gym for the closing ceremony. It entailed a bunch of short speeches from students and our principal and the presentation of certificates to students who'd won anything in the last month (we have periodic certificate handing-out ceremonies during the year, this was the last). Everyone was glad when we finished early, since the gym was freezing (that whole central heating thing being a major problem with events like this). My hands were ice.

For the rest of the day, we are supposedly preparing for tomorrow's graduation ceremony... but I can't imagine what we still need to prepare since it is all we've been doing for days. I'm sure I'll find out. After school we have a staff meeting where we should find out which teachers will be moving to a different school for the next year. It is really strange not to know. Four of our five English teachers are leaving which is completely stressing me out, but I have no idea what the rest of the staff is doing. I can't imagine how the leaving teachers feel, particularly since many of them only found out they were leaving weeks ago (and some need to move to different cities!). Jaclyn and I were just musing about how wonderful it will be next year when we're not completely clueless how this stuff works!!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to go before Mom & Dad arrive... my house is officially as clean as it has ever been. Only missing one last hotel room. Guess that means I'm ready!

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO mad. I just wrote a huge, long, incredibly descriptive and amazingly witty post about my weekend and our wrap-up ceremonies at school... and they just got sucked into the void. Gone. No matter what button I push or where I click, I can't recover it. Not that anyone noticed, but I swore out loud at my desk in the middle of the office. Sorry. I may try again later. You would have enjoyed it, I am sure. ;)

I did try to post yesterday, but unfortunately the website was toying with me and it erased everything I'd written. I was too annoyed to re-type. Sorry... you didn't miss too much. This week has been really odd. It is the last week of classes. Next Monday and Tuesday are our closing ceremony and graduation ceremony. So this week the teachers have been going nuts trying to wrap things up and as usual, I have not too much to do. Wednesday was the day all of the 3rd graders planning to attend a public high schools took their entrance examination (those going to private schools already took their tests). All the public schools give the exact same test and the students take the test at the school they wish to attend. Since most of the 3rd grade was gone all day (and the 3rd grade teachers were chaperoning), the entire floor was empty. The 2nd graders were cleaning and working on their school trip plans (they're gong to Kyoto in April). The 1st graders had a "Class Match", which means they spent the day playing basketball, determining which was the best homeroom. I watched the basketball for an hour plus in the morning, but it was so cold in the gym that I had to retreat to the staff room. I sat around and worked on my TEFL course for most of the day. When the clock struck 4pm, I was out the door like a shot. It was beautifully sunny so I decided to finally go run again! It felt marvelous. Jaclyn was kind enough to escort me by bike. The two of us make a pretty funny sight to begin with, but for some reason Jaclyn decided she wasn't working hard enough on her bike... so she started singing! Now, my neighbor is not Celine Dion (thank God!!) and she only knows about half of the words to any given song, but I was energized by the tunes of "Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee" and "Somewhere Out There"... or shall I say having her sing just made me want to finish more quickly! (just kidding Jaclyn!). No, I swear it was a lot of fun, and to her credit, she did pause while we passed an awe-struck gaggle of my favorite 2nd grade girls. It felt fabulous to be moving outside in the sun!

Today is the last day of class. I had one 2nd grade class this morning and a 1st grade class next. Then I'm done! I'm already thinking about next year's classes. The new 1st graders have been exposed to basic English in their classes with "the other" Jaclyn.. but we essentially ignore that and start at the very begining (a very good place to start...). Its kind of ridiculous... but lots of games to be played with the alphabet, I suppose. I've also been promised more classes next year, so I'm holding my breath on that one. It would be very nice to have less down time.

Tonight is girl's night in the town bath again, then Jaclyn and I want to make pizza and watch a movie. Tomorrow.. yes, you guessed it. Probably our last shot at skiing. We're going to drive up to Kashimayari, the place we went to our first time. If we decide to get a season pass next year, it will probably be at Kashima. We shall see. It's a fun ski park because at the top of the mountain it actually connects with two other parks. There are an unbeleivable number of lifts and combinations of runs. I'm looking forward to checking how much I've improved from my first time out. Tom and I had a hard time trying to decide whether he should come this weekend, but we just decided that an unprecedented 4 weekends in a row (this weekend would be 3, then I'll see him at the end of next week with my parents) might turn us into frogs. That and I have a TON of cleaning to do before my parents arrive and mom starts impulsively scrubbing the floor (or cleaning my cabinets, right grandma?). Hopefully, I can do some laundry and hang it outside again!

oh, and yes.. the fish are dead. I think I need to wait until the temperature inside my house stops dropping below freezing before trying again.

Yee-haw for train-trips! I had an absolutely fabulous weekend. Of course, as typical of me... I had a bumpy start. Friday night after all the snow, I jumped on a couple of trains and got myself to Nagoya (peek at a map?). Actually, I just wish it had been that graceful. Back to reality: I was stressed all afternoon about the snow getting the train system all jammed up. I enjoyed a brief period of relief when my train from Misato to Matsumoto arrived as schedule.. then plunged back into freak-out-mode as we just sat on the tracks waiting for the (late) train from the opposite direction. According to the train schedule, I would only have 6 minutes to run from track 6 to track 1 to catch the train to Nagoya. I was frowning and checking my watch obsessively when we pulled out of my station, about 7 or 8 minutes late. Things were not looking good. I knew there were a couple later trains so I refused to get too worked up, but still really wanted to get to Nagoya on time. We chugged towards Matsumoto in what seemed to be the slowest possible way... and by the time we got there it was already a couple minutes past when the Nagoya train was to leave. I was surprised to see it still listed on the board for track 1, as there was no train there. Unsure as to whether the train had left on time or was still on its way.. I tried to deciher the digital displays. All I gathered was that the next train had been canceled so if I'd indeed missed my train, I had at least two hours to sit around before leaving.

Fortunately, my limbo-hood was ended with an announcement and an arriving train. We had about 30 seconds to board before the doors slid shut and the train started moving. Since I had a reserved seat, I had to wander through a couple of cars before I found my spot then sat. Whew! With a sigh of relief I took off my jacket and got comfy with a snack and a magazine. Only ten minutes into the ride I realized that I'd stowed my tickets in my jacket above my head, which would be inconvenient when the conductor came by to check them. I stood up, grabbed my jacket, and stuck my hand in a pocket. Nothing. I checked the other pocket. Nada. I checked my pants pockets.. all four of them... twice. Zipp-o. I began to panic. I thoroughly searched my backpack then went through all available pockets at least three more times. It occured to me that I could easily have dropped it on the station platform. But no, I checked the tickets when I boarded the train in order to find my seat number. The guy seated next to me was getting a bit nervous. He staired at me and I just grimaced and kept checking. When the conductor started walking down the aisle, I finally explained. My row-mate began to help me, standing on his seat to check the overhead shelf and looking on the floor. I had a brief moment of false relief when I spotted a ticket beneath my seat, but alas, it was the ticket I'd used to get to Matsumoto from home. I knew that I was holding the tickets together and so again.. it just had to be on the train with me! I was so frustrated! The ticket had cost me almost $60 (one-way) and I was going to have to buy another one. I didn't know if the conductor would even let me stay in my reserved seat or boot me out to another car.

When the conductor neared, (he had been checking tickets in front of us, then would leave to do something else, then return and leave again.. which was really not helping my nerves!), the man next to me stood up and practically dragged him to the end of the car before I could even say a thing. I didn't know if I was supposed to follow so I just sat in my seat waiting for the verdict. After a minute, they both came back and the conductor asked to see my ticket. Assuming he'd gotten the full story I showed him my ticket to Matsumoto. (At least I could prove where I'd started!). He asked me if I'd looked for the missing ticket. Yes, of course! "Ok" he very calmly explained, "Please search thoroughly one more time. If you don't find it.. you will just have to talk to the people in Nagoya". I said thank you and he wandered off. This was at least half-victory since I could remain in my seat. I tried to relax and read. Every five minutes or so, I would check everything again.. I could not figure out how it had dissappeared.

When we were nearing the end of the trip, the man next to me started to pack up. He was getting off at the next stop and Nagoya would be after that. He told me to wait for everyone to leave at Nagoya (the last stop) then to really, really search. I thanked him for his help and he left. He told me he was certain I would find it and wished me luck. (I felt like such an idiot). Finally, as we rolled into Nagoya station, enough people had moved to the end of the car to allow me to get down on my knees on the opposite side of the car and do one more look. And there.... it.... was! Of course, right where my feet had been for two hours of searching. The bright turquoise ticket had flipped over and so only the dark black back was showing... or not... it was almost invisible on the dark floor. I was ecstatic and impulsively announced to the men staring at me that I had found it!! They quickly nodded and looked away (what a freak!). I bounded off the train with a huge sense of relief... I was not lying, I really did have a ticket!!

Ok, seriously this stuff happens to me all the time.

Later, Tom arrived from Tokyo and we went out for dinner at a great restaurant near the station. We stayed at a very comfy Marriott hotel (strange how identical they all are) attached to the train station. In the morning, we didn't even have to leave to board the shinkansen (bullet train) for Kyoto. In only forty minutes, we were already in Kyoto! Excited for our sightseeing agenda (um, yeah.. neither one of us had an agenda we realized... so where do YOU want to go... no, where do YOU want to go...ahhh!) we stored our backpacks in a locker and rushed out of the station... into the rain. Yes, it was rainy! Rainy and cold, to be precise. After a bit of backtracking to the train station's tourist office and newly armed with directions to an art museum (we are so smart!) we headed out in a taxi. We started at Heian Jinju, a pretty modern re-created temple where the half-marathon would start on Sunday. After that, we checked out the museum's exhibit of japanese artists' take on the rest of the world. There were some really neat paintings (and it was dry and warm). Tom checked in at the race headquarters then we headed back to our hotel. We both needed to rest our feet a bit.

In the afternoon, I wanted to see if I could find a shrine that I remembered visiting but couldn't remember the name or location. I really want to go there with my parents. Luckily, it was the place we'd guessed by looking at the map. Inari Shrine, which is famous for over 4k of sidewalks sheltered by torii (the traditional orange gates). It is still one of my favorite sights in Kyoto, if not Japan. It stopped raining long enough for us to wander around the mountain side. After considering the fact that Tom was planning to run 13.1 miles on Sunday morning, we headed down and took a taxi across town. For this week and next (until just about when my parents arrive) there is a section of Kyoto being lit up at night. We decided to start at Kiyomizudera. It was raining but still the temple looked amazing lit up at night. After we wandered around the grounds we were cold enough that we decided we didn't need to do the entire light walk and instead went to find a pasta dinner.

Sunday morning was the big race. I went to the start with Tom and promised to meet him when he finished. It was cold.. and snowing! Kyoto is typically much warmer then Tokyo and Nagano so neither of us expected the snow, nor did the other runners! It was both cool and really depressing to watch all 10,000 of them run down the street, under the giant torii and off for the rest of the course. I had little to do for the next hour and 40ish minutes so was very happy to see the winners when the came streaking back (finish was the same as the start). I don't ever see the elite racers so I guess this was a great opportunity for that. I got pretty chilled standing in the snow waiting for Tom so I may have even been more ready for his finish than he was! He ran really well, though was a bit dissappointed that the course wasn't more scenic.

After he showered, we hooked up with an older couple who are friends of his and they took us out to lunch then out to see Byodoin Temple which is featured on the back of the 10yen coin. It was another really ancient, awe-inspiring spot that I'd never visited.. so even though it was still really chilly, I was really impressed.

Tom and I caught the Shinkansen back to Nagoya together, then grabbed our separate trains home from Nagoya. Jaclyn & Danielle generously put "The Godfather" on hold to come pick me up at our train station and I arrived back at my cold little house around 10pm last night. Sigh.

It was a very short trip, but it was wonderful and a really nice sneak peak at my longer trip with Mom & Dad!

p.s. yesterday I bought two of the tiny-est fish ever, in a tiny bowl complete with tiny rocks, a couple of tiny plants, and some tiny fake glass boulders. If they don't freeze solid in my house this weekend (thanks to Tom for giving me that to worry about for the next three days...) then they will be my new housemates. They're still nameless... anyone have any suggestions (no more Jaclyns!!!!)? (credit to Jaclyn J. for this postscript).

p.p.s. Happy 25th Ben!

Last weekend: Tom and I sat outside on my concrete "porch" (more like a big back step) to work on my shoji screens. It was so sunny and spring-y warm that I took my socks and shoes off and was in jeans and a sweatshirt. I did laundry which I hung outside in the sun! My tulips have begun to come up.. I found inch high buds while poking around outside a few days ago. Today: I woke up to about a foot of snow and it is still coming down hard (currently noon here). The snow is insanely heavy and wet and is piling up all over the place. What a shock! This means only one thing: it is officially spring. ;)

I had two terrific classes today. It was my last class with 3rd grade class 5, (Thank God!) before they graduate in a week plus. I had them fill out sheets about themselves (they were really fun looking sheets designed choose-your-own-adventure style by some other more artistically talented JET). Then I gathered up the sheets and we played "How well do you know your friends & teachers?". In teams of 6, they could choose from two categories: teacher or student (I had interviewed a handful of teachers outside of class to prepare). Then I would start reading hints from the worksheets. The first team to guess correctly won points (appropriate to how many hints I'd given) and got to choose the next category. We had fun;it was easy and about them so they all participated.

After that, I ran down to the first floor where I had my last class with 1st grade class 3 (before they become 2nd graders). After warming up, we played a very, very lively game of English Pictionary using words I took from the entire text book as review. The best part is that I got to get back at two of the boys who have been pains in the butt since the begining of the year (their latest favorite: repeating every word I say to the class, in unison, little brother style). I made them both stand up and be examples in explaining how to play the game. Then later on, when it was their turn to draw, I had one draw a preposition phrase ("on the desk"). He just about died (other students had nouns like bus, computer, rice or verbs like ski). The other was the last student up and I handed him a card with the name of the other teacher, Ms. Kondo. She's a great teacher and is leaving at the end of the year. She's really strict but the kids all like her because she has a sense of humor, too. Anyway.. he freaked and wouldn't start drawing. The best was when she started trying to egg him on to get him to draw. We were almost out of time so everyone was pressuring him to draw something. He had drawn a smiley face and finally a kid just guessed it; the entire class just busted up. It was sweet. (Muhahahahahahaha!!) Everything in good fun... !

After school, if the trains are still running, I am heading south to Nagoya. Tom and I will stay there tonight then go to Kyoto tomorrow morning. He is running in the Kyoto City Half-Marathon and I will be cheering. I should be running, but I have had a very slacker start to my year and had to stop due to burn out and stress. It will really stink to have to stand and watch everyone run. Hopefully it will help me get back to it. Regardless, it should be a fun weekend! Hope everyone else had a good week... it has been a fast one, that is for sure.

Now that it is Wenesday and I have gotten a pile of extra sleep, I am feeling much better. The ugliness of Monday was probably about 50% actual problems and 50% sleep, sun and boyfriend deprivation. Anyhow... things were much sunnier (literally and figuratively) yesterday. Thanks for the warm fuzzies... (although I still don't know what I think about Grandma & Grandpa's fuzzy kisses?).

In my crabby haze I forgot to mention the highlights of my weekend: I survived another ski trip! I really enjoyed some new confidence gained by skiing alongside someone who spends more time wiped out than me (thanks to Tom)! We took two cars up to Hakuba, the region that hosted the Olympic skiing in '98, with 6 people (Jaclyn, Tom and I in our car singing Japanese kids songs and Danielle, Sara, & Fernanda in Danielle's car probably acting more a bit more sane but who really knows). Once we got into the building at the bottom of the hill the other ladies decided to take advantage of Danielle's expert-ness and give snowboarding a shot. After a full weekend of falling on my face the last time.... I really wanted to stick with skiing to see if all the falling had paid off. Snow was falling from the start of the day and it was really beautiful. I bought some ski goggles to keep the snow out of my face (learned from the foggy sunglasses of last trip). After a couple of runs down the lowest green slope, Tom and I decided to try out the top of the mountain. We wished the snowboarders luck and headed to the gondola, already drenched from the falling snow.

Unlike at Nozawa, the top of the mountain actually had some green runs, but they were pretty uninteresting and very poorly marked. We eventually discovered that there were no green runs that went to the west side of the bottom of the mountain... where we were meeting for lunch. Our only choices were red for the top half and at this point the snow was coming down even harder. I was really nervous about going down because we were esentially in a cloud. It was impossible to see the skiiers in front of you, much less where the run was going. Scary stuff, but you all know that when this girl gets hungry... nothing stands in the way! I may have to revise that, actually, because it took us forever to get down. Due to the horrible lack of signs, we kept going down the wrong way. This was pretty scary since it was possible to end on runs described by using shapes like diamonds instead of my comfy color system. We were very very careful, and Tom was thoughtful enough to slow our descent by falling every 50 feet or so. It was deja vu and I was oh so happy to wait for him to get straightened out since I was amazingly staying upright! It took forever to get down the mountain, but once we did I was thrilled to look back and say I'd come down the entire mountain in one shot and on 75% red runs. I rock!

Lunch was great even though it wasn't great food. We were hungry enough that anything would have tasted gourmet. The snowboarders were moaning and decided that though they had all made progress (i.e. could stand up on their boards long enough to go somewhere...) they needed to stop and find an onsen. I really wanted to keep skiing because of my success higher on the mountain. We let the group head home in Danielle's car and Tom & I stayed, planning to ski for a couple more hours. Unfortunately, we forgot to consult the weather gods. While we were eating, the lovely snow had turned to rain. It was awful, awful weather. After two runs down the easy hill, Tom admitted that he really wanted to leave (he had a cold, which I suppose is a good excuse) and since he was the last non-me standing member of our group... I had to throw in the towel. I was really dissappointed... but the weather did stink and I would not be able to forgive myself had he gotten super sick so I could pad my skiing ego. It was very lovely to walk to my car, get in, turn on the engine & heater, and drive straight home instead of having to find and wait for the appropriate buses and trains.

So that was my Saturday. On Sunday, we challenged ourselves by fixing my shoji screens. In my two upstairs rooms (my bedroom and TV room) I have traditional wooden screens instead of drapes. The wood part is a grid then the squares are filled with white Japanese paper. They looked like hell... all full of holes and discolored because of humidity and such. We had to take the old paper (and the glue used to hold it to the wood frame) off, lay down tape on the frame (much easier then glue, I decided), then gracefully lay the paper on top of the tape, being carefull to pull it tight so it wouldn't pucker. It was tricky but we were fairly successful, I think. We finished 5 of the 6 that needed to be re-done (only 2 didn't need to be touched) and put them back in the windows. They look terrific!! Maybe I will leave the sixth so Mom & Dad can appreciate the "before" look.

Tonight is soba & shodo night. Jaclyn and I established this routine back in September and it still works very well for us. Nagano is known for yummy soba noodles (buckwheat, I think) and one of the only good restaurants in our village happens to be a soba/tempura restaurant on the way to our Shodo teacher's house. Perfect! My stomach is already growling.

Today was a supremely brutal Monday. I knew last Monday was too good to be true. Tom & I woke up long before the crack of dawn so I could take him to the train station for the very first train. Don't expect to ever see the first train again. Every car moving in Misato at 6am this morning was heading to the train station. Then all of us "drivers" pulled U-turns and headed back home in our cold pajamas. Got home and couldn't get ahold of Mom & Dad at the pre-established (well I thought so, anyhow) time. What is a well-known non-morning person up at 6am to do? NOTHING. Total bummer.

Once I got to school, I could barely keep my eyes open and was only scheduled for a single class, the last hour of the day. I decided to finally go check if I was clear to be gone during spring break (spring break here is equivilent to summer vacation at home... it is the end and beginning of school years). When I started in August, my supervisor told me I was not required to be at school during vacations nor did I need to take vacation time to stay away. Imagine my surprise to see the Vice Principal's surprise at me asking if I had to be at school! "Why, of course you do!", he says. I don't want to do the whole play by play, but I'm now very dissappointed and very stuck. I am not sure how many days they need me to be at school, but it will make a dent in my plan to spend 2 weeks traveling through Japan with my parents. A trip planned on the knowledge that I would-not-have-to-be-in-school. Sigh. On top of that, I discovered that the day I stayed home sick in January ended up coming out of my paid days and not my sick days. I calmly explained again that I was sick and have sick days... but no, in my school you can only use sick days if you end up in the hospital and are out for weeks and weeks ("Like that teacher with the brain blood clot", my supervisor explained). After being depressed and frustrated all day at the unfairness of it all... I went home and dug out my contract. There in black and white (English and Japanese), I have 20 sick days to be used for days when I am too ill to work and may not be taken more than 20 days in a row. This is completely out of sync with the line I was fed at work. I really don't want to make a scene, but I am going to have to push a bit on this one... and it is really stressing me out. Things have been so good and so smooth this year. Too easy, I guess.

I am going to bed at 9pm. Goodnight. (send me some warm fuzzies...ok?)