Saturday, February 2, 2008

Morioka Camp - Winter 2008

Well, it seems that I'll be doing this for the third time.
Morioka College called me out to help out with the English Camp a few weeks ago.

I was really happy to get to see some of the teachers again. I was happy to take on the work but I've been super busy the last little bit. Besides working I've been actively trying to find a place to live... with what little money I have, and zero credit rating at any Japanese Bank, I've had a few setbacks.

Being the third time round, I can sort make a guess of what type of level I can do with this group. So it wasn't very hard to make materials for it.

Anyways, we had a blast!! Too bad I wasn't able to stay the night as I had to work else where in the morning.

Check out the pictures







Cheers

-Tom

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Friday, January 4, 2008

Trip Back to Grandma's House

Well, I went back to Grandma's House up in Kuzumaki yesterday!

It was soo cold!! I was able to meet Satoko's whole family and had a few drinks with her dad.

We ended up staying over night, and having some really good food. : )

Quite the experience ~

Enjoy the photos



You can see the snow, higher then the car.
Making some tofu snacks.

s


Standing in the cold outside the house.




The Awesome Cows! I want one!!
:)

Cheers
-Tom

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Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Years Everyone! I ran off with Satoko, her sister and her sisters friend today to Hachiman-gu. Like all good people, we ran up there, threw our 15 Yen, claped twice and climbed out of line....
Crazy Crazy Crazy.... But not as bad as Narita last year, Just a lot colder...

Enjoy the Pictures

-Tom












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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Chirstmas, and it's snowing..... Again....

Well, Christmas is finally here. Merry Christmas!
How was everyone's Christmas?

Yesterday, Satoko and I jumped on a little 2 car train and rode up the mountain to Appi Kogen.
It's a super nice place, with a Ski slopes and Onsen's(Hot Springs) .
I'm not one for Ski Slopes besides Tobogganing, but I do enjoy a good Onsen.
I have a friend of a friend that works up there, so I was able get a nice discount. Thanks friend!
We had a nice walk in the snow, a nice bath in the snow, and a nice dinner (not in the snow). I was a really nice way to spent Christmas.

Merry Christmas to You and Your Family, and the Best of Luck in the New Year.

Signing out

-Thomas.






Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Appi Kogen Station.




That was a some good cake...



I some how feel sorry for these fish.... Their last words with "Aaaaaah!!!"

Our Little Christmas Tree, with little LED lights


Going Home...
Merry Christmas.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Well its almost Chirstmas, and Santa Got a Cold.... So am filling in for him.

Yea.. The title basically sums it up... I play Santa and a Yochen today (Kindergarten) .
It was awesome! I'm Santa!, smiling and giving presents!
It was a awesome job, and for most of the kids, I'm their dream come true....

But then again.... For the Younger Kids...
I'm not Santa. I'm a Gigantic Man Dressed in Red, Screaming "HO HO HO" and Other such scary unknown foreign words.
Yea.. I'm one Gigantic red scary man.
I feel sorry for them.....
I really do. Go get your present from Santa. "Waaaa! Waaaa! Waaa!" Scary! Scary! Scary!

Loving kids from Japan,

-Tom





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Monday, November 19, 2007

Snowing!

Hello everyone!

It has started snowing a few days ago, and it's a wonderful change from the rain! It's looks nice and nice... but.. COLD!!!



Oh well... With good, comes bad...
I took some picture from around town, Enjoy


-Tom

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Saturday, February 24, 2007

Onsen in Appi

February 23-24, 2007
Yo! , This friday I ended up going to another Onsen! (Japanese Hot Spring). So Awesome! A friend of a friend was able to hook us up with a nice discount at a posh Onsen, about a 45 minute drive from downtown Morioka towards Iwate Mountain.
After getting lost once and weaving though some highway construction, we arrived in time to get settled and have dinner, (Really great food!).
After bathing, we cracked open the beers and started drinking and playing different games of sorts, which didn’t really end till about 4 am. The last remanding few of us, hardcore late-nighters, headed for another bath! Anyways, I really needed to take a leek so I started heading for the can. Upon opening the door, I immediacy stopped.
There was an arm and hand coming out from under one of the stalls. (Not moving).
Not sure what to do, I called back to my friends who were just entering the bath. Rather confused with my language barrier, the two girls didn’t know what I was trying to say. Was I really asking them to going looking into the boys washroom?
Or was trying to say something else.
We all went in the boys washroom and there was a moment of silence… The girls didn’t know what to do, and I still wasn’t sure. First we banged on the door but there was no response. So we tried touching the arm, and started bagging on the door some more. No response.
After trying a few more things, I was able to unlock the door. Lying on the ground, face pressing up against the wall, laid a high school kid.
He was breathing, so we knew he wasn’t dead. But, we had shouted pretty loud and he still hadn’t woken up. We thought it would be best, not to move him by way it looked like he had fallen. I got someone to call the manger. After waiting a few minutes. The very tried unhappy looking manger came down the stairs.
As soon as he saw the kid he looked furious. He bent down and punched kid on the ass, and was shouting something I didn’t understand. The kid started moving and squirming. He was drunk as a skunk. After a bit more shouting, the kid was up on his feet, but still really drunk as the manger walked him to his room. Later, I gave it some thought.
If this were to happen in Canada, what would have happened?
Most likely, a call for an ambulance and a stretcher, wasting a huge amount of money on a kid that most likely drank a few beers too many, or rather two beers looking at his age.
Anyways, after thanking the manger, I was able to have a nice night bath.
-Tom


Oh yeah, Showing some leg. ( I put on some pants after see this picture.) ^__^

I tried to get a picture of inside the onsen, but someone told me I shouldn't.

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