Carren’s February Update

What have I been up to?
Well, earlier in the month I had the flu (I was sure I was dying) lost my voice and had to take some time off work. What I really needed was some TLC from my mummy and lots of chicken soup!

On February 2 at school, we celebrated a Japanese festival called Setsubun. It’s about welcoming in the New Year. You throw soy beans at evil spirits (the school bus drivers with paper bags on their heads… I kid you not!!) and you are meant to eat the same number of beans as years you’ve been alive… I offered some of the other staff a spoon for their beans! Hahaha.

I went to Hiroshima on February 11, 12 and 13 with Jen, from work. Because of the flu, we were both coughing and spluttering all over each other and everyone else… but that’s sharing!
We did all the usual touristy things there… we went to Miyajima island and took some postcard-style photos of the big red gate in the water.
Unfortunately the ropeway was closed for renovations so we couldn’t go to the top of the island to see the view and the monkeys…. There was no dirth of “wild” life on the island though… we got up-close and personal with a ba-zillion deer… we did heed the warnings on the signs “stay away from deer with horns” seemed like reasonable advice!

We went to the Memorial Peace Park. Being winter, the trees were grey skeletons, against the skeletal backdrop of the A-Bomb dome… and to make it even creepier, the trees were covered in crows!

We also went to a used kimono shop…. We spent hours in there poring over the kimono and the obi (belts). Of course we both have great taste so we had to compromise about who would get which ones! An older Japanese woman came into the store while we were there and appointed herself our translator and educator about the history of the obi. She was awesome… she even negotiated a discount for us!

On our two nights in Hiroshima we ate a local speciality “Okonomiyaki”, Japanese pancakes with stuff inside, for dinner. In Hiroshima they usually have Japanese noodles and cabbage and some random sea creature (or 3)… seeing we’re both allergic to fish (well planned, hu?) we opted for the fish-free varieties. In my very best (read 'tragic') Japanese I also requested no fish flakes, no other fish products, etc. Neither of us got sick or died so I must have been understood. Yay me!

We also managed to squeeze in a spot of shopping and a few trips to Starbucks and Mister Donut (we had to keep warm somehow!!).
And I came away from Hiroshima with not just the usual one regional Hello Kitty but 3! They were so cute, how could I resist? There was one regional Miyajima kitty I didn’t buy though… she has an oyster shell on her head, like a hat… only it really looks like a drippy, mouldy poo… I have to draw the line somewhere!

But really, the highlight of our entire trip to Hiroshima was our visit to “God Burger”. I figured that anything endorsed by God must be good! Unfortunately, the best things in the “restaurant” (I use that term very loosely!) were the staff uniforms!
I too want an apron that simply says “GOD” on it!! (The burgers didn’t taste bad… they didn't have taste at all)

On February 19 I went to watch a Kabuki performance. Kabuki is Japanese theatre. The actors all wear white face make up and men play all the roles. It was really great! I had an English translation for it (a little earphone thingie) and I had a great time. I would definitely like to try to get back to see another performance before I leave Japan. Some Japanese friends said that they need a translation for it too, because it uses old-style Japanese language!

One of the Japanese staff members at school is leaving as of the 25th of this month… she’s going to Australia for a while to study at uni. Her two sons (both in primary school) will join her after the Easter Hols in Oz. Meanwhile, her husband will hold down the fort at home. She is going to be missed a great deal here and I hope everything goes really well for her!

On the 25th, in the wee hours of the morning it snew (the past tense of snow) in Tokyo! While I rode my bicycle to work that morning, I was cursing my choice of days to forget my gloves. If not for the rain which followed the snow, we might have been lucky enough to have a day without kids, or at the least we could have played in it! As it was, there was just a couple of centimeters of cold, white stuff hanging around… mostly on the grass and the roofs of cars and homes.

So… That’s my February, in a nutshell… I’m already planning trips for March and April/ May. I have friends (from Oz and formerly Oz but currently Ireland ) coming to visit me and I’m flat out and feeling pretty happy with how everything is going at the moment.

Tokyo City News
Well, the weather is cold. I suppose I should expect that, being winter and all... it's still quite a shock to the system when you step out of the super-heated department stores or subway into the icy wind though. We had a taste of spring the other day 17 degrees, warm! sunny and glorious! We have suffered since then with freezing weather and even snow! Gambate spring!!


School News
Well, I can't give a vomit count or a wall / floor painting count... we seem to have passed that stage (thankfully!) I can, however say that our kids are awesome! We are practising every day for the school concert (March 17) and working hard on our Units of Inquiry. Most of the kids have been sick with one flu or another (seems to be much worse this year) they're all tired but they're still trying really hard.

Social News
Well, after my effort in Europe, I decided to give my liver a bit of a rest (it's still kinda angry with me)... however, it didn't last long cos I'm being led astry on a regular basis by the other people in my appartment building. (Not my fault Mummy, I swear!) We have drinks at the fountain each fortnight (The building is named Heights Fountain... for no apparent reason... it's only 3 stories tall... very little by Tokyo standards and there is definitely not a fountain anywhere near us!). I prefer to call it "Hump Day at the Fountain" because we hold it on a Wednesday night... Wednesday, being the middle of the working week is the "hump" once you get past Wednesday, it's all downhill to the weekend! People tend to give me strange looks when I invite them to "Hump Day" though... maybe I should just stick to calling it drinks??