My Parents came to Japan!

This past week my parents flew in to Tokyo and I got to spend 7 1/2 days with them in Japan. Our first stop was Tokyo. We got to see a few things and the weather was pretty nice. The only disappointing thing was not being able to see the Tsukiji Fish Market. It is supposed to be the biggest fish market in the world. Since we were there on a weekend it was closed. However, to make up for it we got to eat a lot of really disgusting food :). One night we went to eat yaki tori which is grilled chicken on a stick. We decided to get the set which is one of everything. The picture below is chicken liver and chicken skin on a stick. That's right... no meat on that one, just skin. NASTY!

The picture below is my dad eating chicken sternum (the bone/cartilage in your chest). Gross!

On Monday we headed down to Kyoto. Kyoto was really cool and much more traditional looking compared to Tokyo. The only downside was it was so hot! We survived though. The first day we went down to Gion street which is where Geisha's still live and entertain. We actually saw a real Geisha walking down the street but I didn't get my camera ready in time to take a picture. Below is my mom and me on Gion street.

The second day we went to some temple that I can't remember the name of (mom if you remember can you remind me!). It was really pretty and my mom made me and my dad do this really cool pose in one of the archways.

The last day we went down to Nara which is where part of Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed. There is a part in the movie where she is running through a bunch of red gates and this is where they filmed it. It was cool to walk along them and supposedly the gates go for 4 miles. We did not walk all of it!

On Thursday we headed to Sendai so my parents could see where I lived. They got to meet some of my friends that night at dinner. On Friday they came to see my class and meet my kids but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it. I left work early that day and we went downtown to look around. There happened to be a German festival going on so we stopped by there for a bit. Oktoberfest in September... I guess that's how they do it in Sendai.

Here's a picture of the band.... all their songs sounded the same but it was still fun.

Mom and Dad - thanks for coming! It was fun to have you in Japan and I'll see you again in 6 months!!

The Ocean

Today we took our kids to the ocean for a field trip. We had a blast! The kids collected sea shells, built sand castles, buried themselves in sand, and played in the water. I don't have time to write a lot so I thought a few pictures could talk for me.

Look at these cuties having the best time of their lives!

Check out this poser. I told him to smile and this is what I got.

On the bus ride back a few of my kids fell asleep. One of my girls thought it was so funny that he was asleep and kept laying on her so I gave her my camera and she took this picture.

Field Day

Technically I forgot to post this past week but since Sunday is on the weekend let's just pretend I didn't forget. Plus it's still Saturday in America!

So today was field day for us! Field day in Japan is a crazy production that the kids put on and let me just say there is SO much pressure on everyone involved. We've been prepping since before summer break and we spent pretty much all day Saturday making sure everything was ready for today. This morning we woke up to rain, rain, and more rain! We decided to move everything to the elementary school across the street because they have a bigger gym than us. We had to be at the other campus at 7:00 am so I had to leave my apt at 6:40 am. Unfortunately, I was up all night feeling like I was going to throw up so I only slept about 3-4 hours. We got there this morning and spent about 2 1/2 hours re setting up before all the kids and parents got there.

Once everyone started arriving things went so smoothly! My class did great! They were the best class at the maypole dance (in my opinion!). They lost the K5 relay race but that wasn't surprising... my class may be competitive but sporty they are not. They did awesome at the pom pom dance and everyone had so much fun!! It's 5:16 pm here and I just got home about 20 min ago! Needless to say it's been a long/fun day and I'm definitely tired. I didn't get to take any pictures since I was doing things the whole time but once I get some from the photographer I'll post them on here!