And I`m Off!!!

Summer vacation is here (well in 7.5 hours…can you tell I’m excited to be leaving school?!)!!! I am pretty much packed (have a new backpack and it is stuffed to the max!), and just have a few last minute errands and tidying of my apartment to do before heading down to Omura tonight! We are spending our last night in Japan there with Lana, who is leaving around the same time as us tomorrow for Europe & back to Canada – so we will hop on the airport bus together at 6:11am tomorrow morning! I am so excited and cannot wait to go!

Everything is all set for the trip...flights booked, guesthouses/hostels reserved, and my laminated currency conversion cards are already in my wallet (yes….I am a geek). We leave for Phuket tomorrow morning, where we will be spending 3 nights and meeting up with Kelly (a fellow Ottawa JET who is returning home after her trip), then three nights on the island of Koh Samui at (what looks like) a nice resort! Then we fly up to Bangkok for one night and one day of sightseeing before catching the red eye to Sydney, Australia. I will hopefully get to see Amy at the airport for a bit, before boarding another plane for Brisbane. We have Hayden’s cousin’s wedding to go to on the 1 7th, and then are heading down to Surfer’s Paradise for a few days to take in Movie World (Warner Brothers….like Universal Studios), Sea World and Wet N’Wild Water park. Should be good times! We fly back to Thailand on the 23rd, and head straight up to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for 3 nights, and then going to Cambodia to visit Ankor Wat for 3 nights. We will spend one day in Phnom Penh and then back to Bangkok for another day of sightseeing before getting on the redeye back to Japan on September 1st! It will be very busy….but I am sooo excited to see all the sights and eat lots of food!! Cheese! Steak! Real pizza! Cheap fruit! Thai curry! I bought a new 1GB photo card too – so be prepared for 1500 pictures when I return!

So other than planning and such for my trip, this month has been fairly busy! I had my birthday…which was very nice! Got a package from home on the exact day, and went out for dinner and drinks at this great restaurant in Sasebo. My Japanese teacher also had me over for dinner with a few other JETs! Very nice!

Dinner at Nagao Sensei`s house.

Dinner at Ratous with Kara, Shawna, Cortney, Shannon, Kate, Claire, Jenny, Nicola, myself and Lana! Yummy!

The long weekend in Japan where there was a big earthquake up in Niigata and a typhoon hit the eastern side of Kyuushu….I was on the beach in Shimabara! It was a little windy and a bit of rain on the Friday night, but by Saturday, it was quite clear, and we had a party on the Saturday night, and went to a gorgeous beach on Sunday! A great way to spend the long weekend! The night included a bonfire on the beach, sing-a-longs and drinking…but we opted to drive back into the city instead of being eaten alive by mosquitoes!

I had a cultural weekend a few weeks ago where I had a taiko drumming performance on the Friday night, and a Japanese dance show on the Saturday! Taiko went fairly well – we performed with the 3 junior high school boys who practice before us on Fridays…and are absolutely amazing! We are pretty terrible in comparison, but we tried our best and had a lot of fun! It was at a summer festival near where we practice, so it was good fun to see the other performances (including some of my elementary students who have a hip hop dance group!), and eat yakisoba and drink! Plus…I got to play with this adorable random Japanese baby! Soooo cute….

Nic and I preparing for our performance!

Our one song....
And Kouji - the adorable Japanese baby whose mother let me play with...

On the Saturday, we had a dance performance outside at a mental and physical disabilities centre in Sasebo. It was a really nice event, and everyone seemed to enjoy it! We also did a few bon odori dances – which are done in a circle and are repetitive, so that people can join in – and we also did the tanko bushi! I was quite happy to finally have a dance that I already knew! And it almost felt like I was back home at the family picnic….but not at all :(

Me and the little girls who have their dance practice right before me.

We have had many farewell enkais and parties for all of the JETs who are leaving (or have left). Its been sad to say goodbye to everyone….but hopefully we can all stay in touch and someday meet again!

Last weekend there was a big festival in Nagasaki with dragon boat races (they call it something else though – can’t remember the name they use), and a huge firework show on the Sunday night. We spent the afternoon in the park, lying in the shade and taking in the sights and sounds. The firework show was probably one of the best I’ve seen! It was quite long, and included some cool fireworks, like stars, happy faces, hearts, glasses (?!) and the regular firework variety! Plus there were lasers….can’t go wrong with that!

Work wise, school ended on the 23rd, so it has been relatively quiet. We spent a few days at the Board of Education planning for a children’s camp. We planned and taught a camp for 17 third and fourth graders, using a summer theme. I think the kids had fun (it was 4 mornings) – and on the last day we did a water balloon toss game…which I believe was probably the highlight of the camp!

And last week I got my Japanese driver’s license! They asked tons of questions – as the Japanese always seem to do – including what was the name of my driving school and who was my examiner for my driving test back in Canada (?!?!). It took awhile, and some parts were pretty ridiculous (making us pay to get our picture taken, and then not using that picture and taking another one for our license!), but it is done and over with! And I can’t really complain, we Canadians have it easy in comparison to the Americans – who have to take a driving test…which I hear can take quite a few times to pass!

Anyways – other than all that – not much else is new! It is extremely muggy and hot here…so just trying to stay cool! Although I hear it is the same back home as well!

I will try and maybe post a bit when I am away on vacation to let you know how everything is going….but I can’t make any promises! Have a great August!