So here she is, the newest addition. Allez. 

Karaoke, nuff said.

Vavy Darling, who is playing bartender.

The paparazzi

Getting down with karaoke.

Patrick and Amy

My supervisor who has helped me so much this year.

Friday's night sayanara party. I had to sit at the front of the room, next to the VP, and give a speech. Pressure!

Mid-week beer garden going well.

Adam getting the birds eye view of the dance floor.

Alex, Betsy and Jess. This picture was taken after a very serious discussion that needed to be documented.

da party and the grill.

Here is the AJET sayonara party. These are the old AJET committee leaders. Up to their old shenanigans.

In Naoshima, Adam and I have found some back trails and are exploring the island. We thought we would need all day to explore, but the 3 kilometer island was easily covered in 20 minutes.

the most intresting bathroom I've ever used.

humm... This was the lunch of the day. Ham, raisen bread, mustard and chips.

On of the best museums that I've been to in Japan.

A restaurant with atmosphere! wahoo! all you can eat Italian food. soooo good. all for $25.

The mickey-d's in kyoto. They're lovin' facing the wall?

Loven it!

I had to plead with these girls, but they allowed me just one picture.

night party in kyoto

entry way in kyoto

Here we have the generations of Japan. First is the older traditional geisha; the performer, the professional flirter. Paid to entertain. Behind her is a woman on a bike. Women in today�s society are breaking through their repression and fighting for their equality. However, they still have a long, long way to go. And behind them both the omnipresent vending machines. Vending machines could be likened to a god. They are everywhere in Japan, they can deliver anything you want, all you have to do is pay the price. Convenience is at your service. From soft drinks, beer, fags, t-shirts, used high school girl�s panties� by god - vending machines must be god. Either that or one really smart businessman.

a famous bridge and river was in some movie.... dont remember the name.

LOok! I see her in the taxi, and wow - what a crowd she has. Just to see her. I wouldn't mind this job. You are the life of the party. everyone wants to be around you! People wait hours to take pictures of you... this girl is under 21 because she is wearing the white face makeup.

Here is really nice wood that he being covered up by bamboo. The bamboo is here to divert dogs from peeing on the really nice wood. Also the lanter is a symbol of the street we are on, another famous street where geshas hang out and play!

Here is one of the famous streets that the gesha work on. In the corner of the screen you see a red shrine gate. They put that there so that the owner of dogs don't let their dogs pee on the side of the building, b/c you wouldn't let you dog pee on anything that's holy would you?

Kyoto subway. The lady behind them has blue hair. It didn't come out as well as i wanted it to, but she does. It's a fad here. The older women are into dieing their hair purple, blue, pink, white with strips of black. It's shocking to say the least.

Look, I see nihonjin!

On the way to school in the morning

Burried alive! WDF!?

So big news in Tamano. Here's the link http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060628a3.html


Yes, here in my sleepy little town two men were buried alive because of an argument over a girl. Shock and horror. All of this was less than 5 miles from my house. I run in the park adjacent to the industrial waste disposal site where they were buried.

(Yes, did you catch that -- the park adjacent to the industrial waste disposal site)

Vavy Darling works at the school where the boy graduated from that admitted to the murders. She also said the incident was sparked by the victims threaten that they had connections to the Mafia and that they were going to beat and burry the alleged murder!

So which is the correct conclusion?

a) Poker bluff called and one party went all in. Wonder what he's pay out will be?

b) Who could blame them? If our governments can react violently to threats, so can we: Shoot first, less you be shot!

c) Take heed the advice of Dr. Seuss "You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot for the people and places you're lucky your not!"

d) I have become a nerd/teacher, because I'm making multiple choice questions for conclusions for my blog entrees. humm...

Vote now and I promise you your vote won't matter at all! However, the time you spend on this website will be documented for statistical purposes, which will be used later to develop marketing strategies to convince you that you really need to buy that trendy coat that Willie Nelson is so stylishly flaunting.

On Monday and Thursday I visit Yogo Gakko, my special needs school. Thursday I hung out with Naoshi-kun, a 17 year old D.S. boy. We practiced English, had a BBQ and enjoyed "Nagashi Somen!" Thin cold noodles are placed in a long thick bamboo and the noodles flow down the bamboo like a slide. You have to pluck the noodles at the end and then dip them in tsuyu (sauce) to get your dinner! It's hard! The following pictures are the preparation and attempted catching of the slippery noodles.

This practice is popular with restaurants and children in the summer months. Some of the restaurants even put the somen in a real stream. I preferred the real bamboo.

cleaning the bamboo

Naoshi-kun and me trying not to burn the meat.

This is Hamada sensei and Naoshi-kun eating some of the BBQ.

The somen is dropped at the top of the bamboo and it runs down the bamboo with the water and you try to pick up the noodles with forks and chopsticks. It's really fun and really hard! All of these kids are in my English classes.

Here we are eating our Somen. Yummy!

Welcome to my home.

Tamano is known for it's maffia. Looks like a gaijin was caught out of line. ::glups::

Oh - and my lovely apartment. Makes you want to cringe huh?

So, here is my brown wall and my attempt to mask it with bamboo.

Living room. With mini fuji hanging out on the couch, thanks Claire!

my entertainment center. yes, i watch TV a lot.

My HUGE bathroom

my huge tub!

tub with stain glass reflections

Oh - and my dirty balcony. I haven't made use of this space well. I'm trying to revive my mint plant, but i think it's a lost cause. :(

Southern view. On top of the mountain there is a traditional shrine. During the winter season it had blue xmas lights.

This is my southeastern view. Vending machine in sight, score.

Here's the bamboo lit up.

When I'm feeling fancy I light my bamboo. I drilled wholes in it and then put candles in it. It took a long time and well... I gave up because it wasn't producing enough light and I ran out of steam. I�m happy enough with the result. It creates a fun atmosphere for dinner parties.

My living room at night time

This is my dinner. Miso soup, fresh salmon that fell apart in mouth and didn't have to chew, carrots with ginger, spinach with sesame seeds and garlic, soba noodles with raw egg and sea weed and water with mint.

Humm... dinner was good!

My dinning room and kitchen.

Oh the strange statue of boobs and the strange(r) building over looking the ocean. It's a nice looking building, but there isn't much in it. Some of the people in the cars were watching on my bike. When I whipped out the camera, they sure turned their heads fast!

Just chilling. I guess they're warming their buns off of the road. I don't know why because it was 30 C today. Funny ducks.

A lake within Miyama Park. Behind is teh mountain that caught fire last year.

a rest spot in Miyama Park.

Miyama Park

A little winding trail along the stream

A little bit of Miyama park

a road with my shadow and my bike.

At the very top of Miyama Park there is a huge cemetery that looks out over the mountain that caught fire last year, and then in the valley there is the city. Just beyond the city is the ocean.

Need some soy sauce?

Tamano's little theatre. Red velvet reclining seats. I had the room to myself Sunday night. I would recomend The Producers. I really enjoyed it.

Clean your house with pastel colors!!

Place orders now. Here are the choices of sake, and shochu and some other stuff.

Could you buy a camera that was smaller than your arm?! I dont want to buy this camera, I want to buy this girl some food! I hope she doesn't fall - she'd snap.

Sweet stuff. Could, would you eat it?

This is what you bring to friends or co-workers when you visit other places. Sweet stuff. humm...

Dinner part 2

Dinner part 3

Kimono, don't leave home without one!

oh - Toto can't get wet!

Comon you know every boy wants lace. Not sure he had this much in mind.

me too. I love nudy, too!

Body Wild for men. WILD but COOL. Gosh - is it me, but is it getting hot in here?! Wowers, if that doesn't sell undies, well... I guess they're out of luck because it looks like their scrapping the bottom of the barrel!

This is in Happy Town. I'm not sure what kind of game this is, but OMG - there is always a line of girls waiting to smack the buttons. i think you get stickers and they put them in the books they're holding. Walking by this place is a complete over whelming of sounds. Dings, whistles, kids running laughing, lights flashing. It's all of Las Vegas condensed into this section of my little mall. I have to remind myself to breathe when I walk past sometimes. lol - seriously.

Here is a picture from our latest excursion to Takamatsu. We're on the berry. Hitomi is in the window and Ken-chan is scaling the wall. Brilliant night. My poor mother called me at 2 am and well... got a drunken daughter on the other line. Oop's