A very belated Happy New Year. I’m sorry I’ve been so tardy in posting. Simply put, I’ve had better things to do. There was the rush to get Christmas together, and all the Christmas dinners to plan and fix and stuff down my throat. Three total over the month of December- one with fried chicken, one with baked chicken parts, and one with two whole roast birds. There was the thrill of a borrowed oven over Christmas break- the highlight of my winter by far. Who would’ve guessed I would miss making casseroles so much?
There was snow over winter break as well. Yes, it does snow in Kyushu. As far as I can tell that whole “semi-tropical” climate is a bunch of PR spin. And we drove in that snow crammed in an old VW Bug with four adults, a toddler and a full sized dog. Hair-raising to say the least, but the soak in the indecently hot onsen on the other side of the mountains was worth it. And after all of that, there was Olive’s birthday.
The child who started out Christmas day calling presents “fruit cake” (thanks Pee-wee’s Christmas Special!) is now well versed the in the art of tear open and scream. I now understand those parents who go into debt buying piles of presents for Christmas, but I'm putting presents on hold for a long while. I officially declare Olive no longer deprived of toys or clothing. Our families were so generous this year, and the other teachers really seemed to get a kick out of showering the local foreign kid in gifts of Godzilla pajama suits and chocolate filled tins shaped like Anpanman. And of course our Japanese mommy friends who celebrated Olive’s birthday with us- somehow they knew just what to get Olive, despite the fact that none of them can ever tell what she’s talking about.
It will be interesting to see where things will be headed in the next year. There will be some reorganization of my schools in March, and the chance of taking on new responsibilities, and of course with all the teachers heading back home this summer, there is the possibility of acquiring an oven on the cheap.
Hope your year is filled with much fun and excitement. Of course, you can always increase those odds by paying us a visit. We won’t make you sleep in the kitchen this time, promise.
There was snow over winter break as well. Yes, it does snow in Kyushu. As far as I can tell that whole “semi-tropical” climate is a bunch of PR spin. And we drove in that snow crammed in an old VW Bug with four adults, a toddler and a full sized dog. Hair-raising to say the least, but the soak in the indecently hot onsen on the other side of the mountains was worth it. And after all of that, there was Olive’s birthday.
The child who started out Christmas day calling presents “fruit cake” (thanks Pee-wee’s Christmas Special!) is now well versed the in the art of tear open and scream. I now understand those parents who go into debt buying piles of presents for Christmas, but I'm putting presents on hold for a long while. I officially declare Olive no longer deprived of toys or clothing. Our families were so generous this year, and the other teachers really seemed to get a kick out of showering the local foreign kid in gifts of Godzilla pajama suits and chocolate filled tins shaped like Anpanman. And of course our Japanese mommy friends who celebrated Olive’s birthday with us- somehow they knew just what to get Olive, despite the fact that none of them can ever tell what she’s talking about.
It will be interesting to see where things will be headed in the next year. There will be some reorganization of my schools in March, and the chance of taking on new responsibilities, and of course with all the teachers heading back home this summer, there is the possibility of acquiring an oven on the cheap.
Hope your year is filled with much fun and excitement. Of course, you can always increase those odds by paying us a visit. We won’t make you sleep in the kitchen this time, promise.
2 comments:
How can you survive living with her? I'd die of cuteness everytime I glanced her way.
Hi Audible!
I haven't been on-line in quite a while. I can't believe you're living in Kyu-shu!! The pictures are gorgeous and Olive is so much bigger now. She's just absolutely lovely!
Wow. It sounds like you're having so much fun! Love all of the posts BTW.
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