Photos...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Yanagawa with Jayla and Andrew
Andrew's friend, Jayla, was the first of a string of visitors at FIS for about a month. Andrew wanted her to experience a festival, a must when coming to Japan, so we (Andrew, Jayla, Tim, and me) headed to Yanagawa for Hina Matsuri (Japanese Doll Festival on Girl's Day). We never could find any information about the time of the event so we assumed if we got there around noon, we'd be fine. Unfortunately, we got there about 15 minutes too late! Yanagawa is a cute town known for the canals. We were still able to enjoy the warm day walking around looking at decorations from the festival, flowers, canals, and boats. The Japanese people thought we were celebrities and kept saying "Hello" and "Where are you from?" and waving! We enjoyed a nice tempura and sushi lunch after trying to find ramen. Loved getting to know Jayla as well!
Sushi
Max and Yuri, friends of ours, called us up one night a while back and asked us if we wanted to go to Sushi Den, one of their favorite sushi restaurants. Of course we took them up on their offer. We sat at the sushi bar and enjoyed watching the chefs make our sushi. It's an art! The presentation was beautiful too.
The chefs didn't speak any English so Tim and I conversed through Max and Yuri. We enjoyed asking questions and learning about sushi. I was thinking aloud and said how much fun it would be to take a sushi class. Max asked and they told us to tell our friends at FIS. We did and got around 15 people to sign up for Sushi Class at Sushi Den!
The FIS gang showed up at Sushi Den one Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the chef had ever taught a class so he was a bit nervous and not very assertive. After all, there were 15 teachers in the room...kinda hard to get us to shup up! :-) He ended up doing a fantastic job teaching us how to make nigiri (sashimi on top of rice) and an inside out sushi roll. After making our sushi, they served it to us and then made more sushi for us! We all had a great time!
Tim and I enjoyed the class so much that we decided to give it a go at home for dinner one night. We made the rice and used the rice vinegar. We bought maguro (tuna), salmon, and cucumbers. Tim did a great job! I tried to make an inside out roll but it was NOT inside out! I had to take it apart and start all over. It still tasted delish when we were finished! It was quite an effort so we haven't tried since but we should!
The chefs didn't speak any English so Tim and I conversed through Max and Yuri. We enjoyed asking questions and learning about sushi. I was thinking aloud and said how much fun it would be to take a sushi class. Max asked and they told us to tell our friends at FIS. We did and got around 15 people to sign up for Sushi Class at Sushi Den!
The FIS gang showed up at Sushi Den one Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the chef had ever taught a class so he was a bit nervous and not very assertive. After all, there were 15 teachers in the room...kinda hard to get us to shup up! :-) He ended up doing a fantastic job teaching us how to make nigiri (sashimi on top of rice) and an inside out sushi roll. After making our sushi, they served it to us and then made more sushi for us! We all had a great time!
Photos from our class...
Tim and I enjoyed the class so much that we decided to give it a go at home for dinner one night. We made the rice and used the rice vinegar. We bought maguro (tuna), salmon, and cucumbers. Tim did a great job! I tried to make an inside out roll but it was NOT inside out! I had to take it apart and start all over. It still tasted delish when we were finished! It was quite an effort so we haven't tried since but we should!
Photos from home...
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Nagasaki Lantern Festival
One Friday in February, a bunch of us (Andrew, Ali, Dayle, Lori, Maureen, Tim and me) rode the train to Nagasaki to see the last weekend of the Nagasaki Lantern Festival to celebrate Chinese New Year. I was apprehensive because we stayed at our first hostel ever! It wasn't bad....except for the roach on the sink and the bug in our bed. EEK! I'd rather not stay in another hostel ever again (but we're going to in a few days!)!!!
Friday night we had fun exploring the area and looking at the lanterns along the river and at a beautiful Chinese temple. We also enjoyed walking around Chinatown.
It was getting late and we were all quite hungry for some champon (specialty of the area) but all of the Chinese places were closing for the night. We ended up eating at a fantastic yakitori place. We ate TONS of food! I think I ate TONS and TONS and TONS of cabbage...not a good idea!
The plan was to get up and explore the city on Saturday. There was a parade that would have been fun. However, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very nauseated. I felt weak and sick all morning. Tim and I decided to head on home. Good decision since I got sick on the train! Good thing I had a plastic bag with me...GROSS!!! I felt awful and haven't felt that sick in years!
Stinks that I got sick but we did enjoy our time that we had there!
Friday night we had fun exploring the area and looking at the lanterns along the river and at a beautiful Chinese temple. We also enjoyed walking around Chinatown.
It was getting late and we were all quite hungry for some champon (specialty of the area) but all of the Chinese places were closing for the night. We ended up eating at a fantastic yakitori place. We ate TONS of food! I think I ate TONS and TONS and TONS of cabbage...not a good idea!
The plan was to get up and explore the city on Saturday. There was a parade that would have been fun. However, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very nauseated. I felt weak and sick all morning. Tim and I decided to head on home. Good decision since I got sick on the train! Good thing I had a plastic bag with me...GROSS!!! I felt awful and haven't felt that sick in years!
Stinks that I got sick but we did enjoy our time that we had there!
photos...
Plum Blossoms
The plum blossoms were the precursor to the cherry blossoms! They were only in bloom for a few weeks so we drove to Dazaifu, a nearby town, with some friends, Andrew and Ali. Though the blossoms were still blooming, they were still pretty. Sign that spring was on the way!
We also enjoyed tasting cherry and plum ice cream! Cherry was the unanimous favorite! YUM!
We also enjoyed tasting cherry and plum ice cream! Cherry was the unanimous favorite! YUM!
Plum Blossom photos...
Recent (and not so recent) FIS events
Valentine's Day in Kindergarten
Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite holidays. I think it's a cheesy holiday usually. However, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays at school! The kids love it and they're not so wild. It's fun to watch them open each Valentine, read it, and go thank the person who gave it to them.Valentine's Day photos
Japan Day 2010
Earlier in the year, our school celebrated all nations represented at FIS on United Nations Day. In February, we learned about and honored those students from Japan. We played traditional Japanese games, ate Japanese snacks, listened to a Japanese folktale, sang a Japanese song, and listened to amazing Taiko drums. It was an enjoyable day!Photos from Japan Day
Ice Skating Field Trip
I was brave (or crazy) enough to take my Kindergarteners ice skating for a field trip. We had a week called Winter Fest at school and we were supposed to do activities related to winter. Some children rode with their parents and some took the subway with me. Tim also chaperoned! They were so cute on the subway! Thank goodness the ice skating rink had helmets. We required everyone to wear them. A few students were pretty good on their feet right away. Most were a bit wobbly. Thank goodness we had lots of parents to help. I thought it was going to be a LONG 3 hours but I was wrong. By the end, everyone could skate all by themselves! I could not get those kids off the ice!!! We will definitely go again next year!Ice Skating photos
First Annual Egg Drop Challenge
Our librarian came up with a fun idea of having an Egg Drop Challenge! Students had to make a contraption to hold a raw egg. We gathered as a school as each person dropped their egg. High School and Middle School students were only allowed to use 15 straws, 1 meter of tape, and 6 chopsticks. Elementary students had to have a 1 yen sized portion of the egg showing. Faculty could participate as well. Tim had THE best time planning his! He wanted to use the upper school guidelines. He made blueprints, made a practice model, and then the real one. Took him days of serious preparation! I also participated, as did my aide, and all of my students. With all of Tim's engineering skills, I was sure his would not break, but it BROKE! Mine BROKE too! A few of my kids' contraptions survived but most did not. Only 2 upper school students' contraptions survived! This challenge was a lot of fun and brought me back to my elementary school days of Mind Games when we worked in teams to compete in an Egg Drop Challenge. Egg Drop Challenge Photos
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
My kids LOVE to read and they especially LOVE reading Dr. Seuss books! They just can't get enough of his books and I LOVE that! We enjoyed celebrating his birthday in March.Dr. Seuss photos
One Year Ago (around Valentine's Day)...
One year ago (back in February), Tim and I were in San Francisco and our lives changed! We were recently engaged, planning a wedding, and flew out to SF for a week long International Schools Services Recruitment Fair. I interviewed with 2 schools, both FIS...Frankfurt International School and Fukuoka International School. Frankfurt offered me a 2nd interview and Germany would have been fun, but we talked to each other, talked to family, prayed, and made the decision for me to teach Kindergarten at Fukuoka International School! We were so excited to be moving to Japan as newlyweds!
We ate out at a nice Italian restaurant on Valentine's Day last year while in San Francisco. We toasted to our upcoming wedding and upcoming move to Japan. When we got home to Richmond, we started thinking about selling Tim's house and packing. It was quite a process but now we're here in Japan and loving it!
This year we celebrated Valentine's Day in Japan with a nice dinner out and with friends at the Fukuoka-Now Party. We exchanged cards (that I picked out for us to give each other). Tim surprised me with beautiful calla lilies, the flowers that I wanted to have in my wedding bouquet!
Can't believe it's been a year since this whirlwind began! Time flies when you're having fun!
We ate out at a nice Italian restaurant on Valentine's Day last year while in San Francisco. We toasted to our upcoming wedding and upcoming move to Japan. When we got home to Richmond, we started thinking about selling Tim's house and packing. It was quite a process but now we're here in Japan and loving it!
This year we celebrated Valentine's Day in Japan with a nice dinner out and with friends at the Fukuoka-Now Party. We exchanged cards (that I picked out for us to give each other). Tim surprised me with beautiful calla lilies, the flowers that I wanted to have in my wedding bouquet!
Can't believe it's been a year since this whirlwind began! Time flies when you're having fun!
Valentine's Day 2010 photos
Honeymoon #2...Yuki Matsuri and Skiing in Hokkaido
YES! I know, I know! I'm WAY behind! Better late than never, right?
In early February, Tim and I took a mini vacation to Sapporo and Niseko up in Hokkaido. Dayle and Lori joined us for the Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival). We flew up on a Friday evening, checked into our Grand Prince Hotel Sapporo, and headed to find dinner. It seemed like we walked endlessly before we found Sapporo Bier Garten. Sapporo beer was founded here! We had all-you-can-eat ghengis khan (lamb) for dinner. We cooked it ourselves on our little grill. The people sitting next to us helped us understand what to do and were a lot of fun. It was delicious and a lot of fun! On the way back from dinner, we walked by some of the snow sculptures. It was COLD and snowing. The onsen (hot spring) was calling our name when we got back. It was SO relaxing!!!
Saturday, Dayle and Lori arrived at their hotel. Dayle's back went out and, unfortunately she spent most of the trip in the hotel room. Lori visited with friends so we didn't get to see her. Tim and I explored both sides of all 12 blocks of Site 1 of the Yuki Matsuri (picture link at the end is worth looking at!). I was excited about the festival before we arrived and Tim didn't really care about it beforehand. However, we were both amazed when we saw the size and detail of these snow sculptures. We were in awe! I tried out cross-country skiing at a little course at the festival. That was fun but I prefer downhill.
The Yuki Matsuri is a world renowned festival. There are 2 million visitors from all over the world who come each year. Click here to see a video my mom and her friend sent to me about the Yuki Matsuri.
After exploring all of Site 1, we headed to Site 2, Tsu-dome. There was a dome with lots of activities and some food inside, though we never could find the food. The snow was coming down heavily and it was cold! There were slides for kids, tubing for all ages, snow golf, and snowmobile rafting. We had fun being pulled on a raft by a snowmobile. I wish we had had time for tubing but we had to catch the shuttle.
Our friend Meen and her boyfriend, Golf, invited us (Dayle, Tim, and me) out to eat at an all-you-can-eat crab (Hokkaido specialty) restaurant. We had sushi, tempura, and lots and lots of king crab, snow crab, and hairy crab. King crab was my favorite! I still prefer Chesapeake Bay crabs, hands down, though!!! Thanks, Meen and Golf for inviting us out!
After dinner, Tim and I headed to Site 3 of the festival, the Ice Festival. There were 2-3 blocks of ice sculptures galore. We found at ice slide at the end and I finally got to go down! Wheeeeeee! It was fast and fun! There were also several ice sculptors at work and it was really mesmerizing to watch them.
After a long day of being in the cold, we went straight to the onsen once we got back to the hotel. We're addicted!
Sunday morning, we got up, checked out, and headed to Niseko via bus. I was truly amazed that the bus was able to operate. I thought Sapporo had a lot of snow but Niseko had way more. They will be covered in snow until July or August for sure!
When we arrived at our hotel, The Hilton, rooms were not going to ready until the afternoon. We changed, ate lunch, and hit the slopes! We bought the all-mountain pass which gave us access to all 3 of the resorts. We only had time to go to 2. The area outside of our hotel was great because there were so few people but there were not as many courses as the huge area beside us. I preferred our quiet mountain. Tim was able to hit a few black diamonds on the other mountain, though.
I took ski-refresher school since it had been a few years. Glad I did. Learned a few new things and got comfortable again. Tim enjoyed skiing solo on the harder slopes while I took my class. Afterwards, we skied together the rest of the day. We took a break to go to the onsen and eat dinner. Then we enjoyed night skiing. Nobody was out so we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Tim coaxed me to go to a steeper run and I loved it. I would get to a certain point and then zoom down the hill. So much fun!
After having a drink at the bar, we went back to the onsen. The onsen at The Hilton was SO nice! The outside part was just gorgeous. There was a pond that ran right up to the onsen. Tim saw turtles and a jumping fish. I saw lots and lots of beautiful snow. There was classical music playing and snow falling. So peaceful and relaxing!
We spent all of Sunday on the slopes. Tim took me up to the very top in the gondola and we walked over to the big mountain. There was no visibility and I was a little freaked out that I couldn't see where I was going. I told Tim I was going to crawl down the mountain! I told him to go ahead and that I would be just fine. However, he refused. He's so sweet! He wanted to make sure I got down okay. I did...just took forever! The top wasn't so much fun but the lower part of the mountain was. I did it!!! Tim was very proud and I must say I was too. I fell in love with the family slope while Tim conquered black diamonds for a few hours.
We took a break to take a free sushi class. It was a private class! We each made a sushi roll with egg, dried fish, and veggies as well as a hand roll. The chef and the waitress were so helpful and lots of fun! We loved it so much that we organized a sushi class for staff at school about a month later.
Back to the slopes for a while. Had so much fun we missed our dinner reservations. That was okay because we were able to eat a quick dinner and get back out on the slopes for some night skiing before my massage. Tim skied while I had a 75 minute hot stone massage that was WONDERFUL! I met Tim for a drink afterwards and then we hit the onsen for the fourth night in a row. We are both truly addicted and want our own personal onsen!
We had to head back home on Tuesday. It was hard to leave snow, the Snow Festival, skiing, delicious food, massage, good wine, and time together! We considered this vacation our 2nd honeymoon...our winter honeymoon. It was truly relaxing, stress-free, and wonderful!
In early February, Tim and I took a mini vacation to Sapporo and Niseko up in Hokkaido. Dayle and Lori joined us for the Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival). We flew up on a Friday evening, checked into our Grand Prince Hotel Sapporo, and headed to find dinner. It seemed like we walked endlessly before we found Sapporo Bier Garten. Sapporo beer was founded here! We had all-you-can-eat ghengis khan (lamb) for dinner. We cooked it ourselves on our little grill. The people sitting next to us helped us understand what to do and were a lot of fun. It was delicious and a lot of fun! On the way back from dinner, we walked by some of the snow sculptures. It was COLD and snowing. The onsen (hot spring) was calling our name when we got back. It was SO relaxing!!!
Saturday, Dayle and Lori arrived at their hotel. Dayle's back went out and, unfortunately she spent most of the trip in the hotel room. Lori visited with friends so we didn't get to see her. Tim and I explored both sides of all 12 blocks of Site 1 of the Yuki Matsuri (picture link at the end is worth looking at!). I was excited about the festival before we arrived and Tim didn't really care about it beforehand. However, we were both amazed when we saw the size and detail of these snow sculptures. We were in awe! I tried out cross-country skiing at a little course at the festival. That was fun but I prefer downhill.
The Yuki Matsuri is a world renowned festival. There are 2 million visitors from all over the world who come each year. Click here to see a video my mom and her friend sent to me about the Yuki Matsuri.
After exploring all of Site 1, we headed to Site 2, Tsu-dome. There was a dome with lots of activities and some food inside, though we never could find the food. The snow was coming down heavily and it was cold! There were slides for kids, tubing for all ages, snow golf, and snowmobile rafting. We had fun being pulled on a raft by a snowmobile. I wish we had had time for tubing but we had to catch the shuttle.
Our friend Meen and her boyfriend, Golf, invited us (Dayle, Tim, and me) out to eat at an all-you-can-eat crab (Hokkaido specialty) restaurant. We had sushi, tempura, and lots and lots of king crab, snow crab, and hairy crab. King crab was my favorite! I still prefer Chesapeake Bay crabs, hands down, though!!! Thanks, Meen and Golf for inviting us out!
After dinner, Tim and I headed to Site 3 of the festival, the Ice Festival. There were 2-3 blocks of ice sculptures galore. We found at ice slide at the end and I finally got to go down! Wheeeeeee! It was fast and fun! There were also several ice sculptors at work and it was really mesmerizing to watch them.
After a long day of being in the cold, we went straight to the onsen once we got back to the hotel. We're addicted!
Sunday morning, we got up, checked out, and headed to Niseko via bus. I was truly amazed that the bus was able to operate. I thought Sapporo had a lot of snow but Niseko had way more. They will be covered in snow until July or August for sure!
When we arrived at our hotel, The Hilton, rooms were not going to ready until the afternoon. We changed, ate lunch, and hit the slopes! We bought the all-mountain pass which gave us access to all 3 of the resorts. We only had time to go to 2. The area outside of our hotel was great because there were so few people but there were not as many courses as the huge area beside us. I preferred our quiet mountain. Tim was able to hit a few black diamonds on the other mountain, though.
I took ski-refresher school since it had been a few years. Glad I did. Learned a few new things and got comfortable again. Tim enjoyed skiing solo on the harder slopes while I took my class. Afterwards, we skied together the rest of the day. We took a break to go to the onsen and eat dinner. Then we enjoyed night skiing. Nobody was out so we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Tim coaxed me to go to a steeper run and I loved it. I would get to a certain point and then zoom down the hill. So much fun!
After having a drink at the bar, we went back to the onsen. The onsen at The Hilton was SO nice! The outside part was just gorgeous. There was a pond that ran right up to the onsen. Tim saw turtles and a jumping fish. I saw lots and lots of beautiful snow. There was classical music playing and snow falling. So peaceful and relaxing!
We spent all of Sunday on the slopes. Tim took me up to the very top in the gondola and we walked over to the big mountain. There was no visibility and I was a little freaked out that I couldn't see where I was going. I told Tim I was going to crawl down the mountain! I told him to go ahead and that I would be just fine. However, he refused. He's so sweet! He wanted to make sure I got down okay. I did...just took forever! The top wasn't so much fun but the lower part of the mountain was. I did it!!! Tim was very proud and I must say I was too. I fell in love with the family slope while Tim conquered black diamonds for a few hours.
We took a break to take a free sushi class. It was a private class! We each made a sushi roll with egg, dried fish, and veggies as well as a hand roll. The chef and the waitress were so helpful and lots of fun! We loved it so much that we organized a sushi class for staff at school about a month later.
Back to the slopes for a while. Had so much fun we missed our dinner reservations. That was okay because we were able to eat a quick dinner and get back out on the slopes for some night skiing before my massage. Tim skied while I had a 75 minute hot stone massage that was WONDERFUL! I met Tim for a drink afterwards and then we hit the onsen for the fourth night in a row. We are both truly addicted and want our own personal onsen!
We had to head back home on Tuesday. It was hard to leave snow, the Snow Festival, skiing, delicious food, massage, good wine, and time together! We considered this vacation our 2nd honeymoon...our winter honeymoon. It was truly relaxing, stress-free, and wonderful!
Honeymoon #2 pics...
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