On Sunday, my son Owen & I joined Teragoya teachers & a bunch of (= group of) Teragoya students on a trip to Kyoto. We all rented kimonos then visited the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. First we had lunch together, then we walked around & looked at the souvenir shops. Of course we also took a lot of photos!
This is a photo of Owen standing in front of Togetsukyo Bridge. I think his kimono really suits him, doesn`t it? I thought my kimono made me look a little old & skinny (= thin). Maybe that`s because I`m actually old & skinny...
The girls all looked really great wearing kimonos - so colourful & beautiful! I`ll post some more photos when I get permission from the people in them.
Friday`s naked festival was a lot of fun. Of course it was cold, but not too bad. When I met my team members at 7.30am it was snowing, but by the time we dressed - or rather, undressed - & started running at 10am, it had stopped & the sun was out.
As usual, we visited a local old people`s home & a couple of local kindergartens. The kids were really excited to see us. The old people were happy too, but one old lady kept trying to grab the carton of sake that I was holding & the staff had to hold her back. It was a little embarrassing, but I could imagine how how she felt.
Finally we arrived at Kounomiya Shrine at about 4pm. After that my group went to a public bath. We didn`t wait at the shrine for the climax, when the `shin-otoko` arrives & everyone tries to touch him. That was about 6pm this year - a little late. Maybe next year!
I`ve had my Japanese Driver`s License for 5 years. I haven`t received any tickets or fines from police, so this week I was able to replace my old one with a `gold` version. I`m happy about that, because a gold license is useful. For example, now I can say to people, "Do you have a gold license? No? Haha - Loser! I do!"
Maybe I can say this to a lot of people in Aichi Prefecture. You see, before I was given my new license, I had to watch a video & listen to a speech by a police officer. He said Aichi had the highest number of road deaths in Japan last year. Wow! I was surprised! My wife wasn`t. She said, "Yes - Aichi is highest every year."
Please drive safely!
There are a couple of interesting events coming up (= coming soon).
The first is the annual Konomiya Naked Festival this Friday (Feb. 22nd). Konomiya Shrine is right beside Meitetsu Konomiya Station, so it`s easy to get to by train. Or maybe, like me, you want to get there by running 7km from Kiyosu Town wearing a loincloth [fundoshi]. It`s up to you. Here is a link to some information (in Japanese): http://www.konomiya.or.jp/main/hadakamatsuri (thanks, Mr. Kuma!)
The other event is Teragoya`s Kimono Kyoto tour on Sunday Feb. 24. Teachers & students will go to Kyoto by tour bus, rent kimonos, dress up, then walk around Kyoto, have lunch etc. It`s going to be a lot of fun! I`d like to invite you to join us, but I`m afraid it`s already full. I`ll post photos next week.
Thanks everyone who wore yukatas to school the other week - you all looked great!
Thanks also to everyone who kept a straight face [= didn`t laugh] when they saw me wearing my yukata. Bonus points too if you said it suited me (lying in English is a useful skill to learn & practice).
On Sunday my family & I went to the Tanabata festival in Ichinomiya. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see the parade featuring Miss Tanabata. I was disappointed about that. But we were in time to see a huge `cosplay` parade, which included some foreigners (but not my friends. Well, not anymore anyway).
After that sight, I really needed a drink, so we walked to Masumida Shrine to have something to eat & drink, & watch some stage performances (school band, singers, traditional dancers, etc). I enjoyed that - it was nice & relaxing. And no coloured wigs.
Did you go to the Tanabata festival this year? Did you see the cosplay parade? Did you enter the cosplay parade?
No Japanese business, product, prefecture, public service or personality is complete without its own character. So Teragoya has been asking students at our schools to submit designs for our own school character, who will be called `Tera`.
Here are some of the designs displayed on our lobby wall at Ichinomiya Teragoya. Can you guess which one is mine? Which one do you like?
(You can click on the photo twice to make it larger)
UPDATE: My design is in comments.
What a great place Ichinomiya is - cool cars, wacky [crazy] festivals, both Meitetsu AND JR train lines, The Bohme English Academy, and today... an eclipse! This area was an excellent place to watch the moon pass in front of the sun between about 7am & 8am this morning, and unlike other places in Japan, there were no clouds in the sky around here.
I bought special glasses in order to watch it. It was pretty amazing, and quite thought-provoking. As I watched, I thought about the sun & moon...
the universe...
life...
God...
breakfast...
Did you watch it? Did you stand in the garden in your pajamas, hoping the neighbours wouldn`t see you?
This is the golden syrup I used for my Anzac biscuits. I bought it at Kaldi store. Check out the picture on the label.
It`s a dead lion.
With flies buzzing around it.
Nice.
UPDATE: My mother (in comments) says they are bees, not flies, & explains the reason.
Today`s my birthday. I won`t tell you my age, but if you want to know, you can look at the calendar in my classroom - some students kindly wrote my age there in big numbers. Thanks, guys!
As you can see, some students also wrote birthday messages on my whiteboard.
My students really like me, don`t they? I guess they must also like getting extra homework...
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