Post Performance 終わった！

Well, it's finally over! We weren't allowed to take photos during the performance, but it all went very well. Our group didn't make any big mistakes, and then after we were done, we got to get changed into our pretty dresses (thanks Aunty D), and go up into the theatre to watch the big girls and the teachers dance. Wow! Now I want to be a ballerina more than ever.
やっと終わったよ！本番中に写真撮影はだめだったけど、全部うまく行きました。私たちのグループはたいしたミスもなかった。終わったら、可愛い服に着替えて、劇場まで上がって、お姉ちゃんたちと先生たちの踊りを見ることが出来た。すごかった！なおさらバレリーナになる気になりました！

祝いに好きなイタリア料理を食べに行きました。たくさんの来てくれた友達とおじいちゃん、おばあちゃん、ありがとう！
After the show we had a family dinner at one of my favourite Italian restaurants.
I want to say thanks to all my friends, and Ji-chan and Ba-chan, who came all the way to see my dance!

As promised, since I did my best and was a good girl till the end of the shows, Mummy got me this new Angelina Ballerina bento box, chopsticks and lunchbag for going back to school!
約束したとおり、頑張ったご褒美に、このアンジェリーナ.バレリーナのお弁当箱、ランチバッグとお箸を新しい学年のために買ってもらった。

The first day of school was the very next day!!
休みもなく、発表会の次の日から学校だった！

Tomorrow's the big day! いよいよ明日！

一年間の練習をしてきたが、いよいよ明日が本番よ！
After all that practice, the big Ballet Show is tomorrow.


The anticipation is killing us, and today we had the dress rehearsal.
もう待ちきれないけど、今日は初めて舞台に出るチャンスのゲネプロだった。


衣装を着て、準備完了！
All dressed up and ready!


Guess who has the biggest bun...
一番大きいおダンゴはだれかな？


And we finally made it to the stage!
そして舞台にあがった！

明日もうまく踊れるように祈ってください！


Wish us luck for tomorrow!

Local Festival 夏祭り

Friday night was the Bon Odori festival held every year at our local primary school, so I got my yukata on and off we went. Mummy's camera battery ran out, so we only had a cell phone, so the photos are a bit rubbish, sorry!
金曜日に毎年近くの小学校で開かれる盆踊り祭りに行ってきました。カメラの電池が切れたから、携帯の写真しかないです。ごめんね。

かき氷とヨーヨーがあればいいね。
As long as there is shaved ice and water balloons, it's a good festival in my book.

Fireworks are an extra bonus!
おまけに花火もあった！

ほら、日本人でしょう！
See, I am Japanese!

And to crown it all they had a mochi throwing at the end, where we had to scramble for the mochi. I love mochi, so me and Dad got right in there!
最後に餅投げ大会をした。私はお餅が大好きだから、頑張ってとりました！

こんなにいっぱい食べれるかね？
Can we really eat all this?????

Me and my Dad loved the Bon Dancing too!

Miyajima Fireworks Festival

This year we watched the Miyajima Fireworks from the roof of Daddy's hospital. There were seats to sit on, a good view, and no sign of the 300,000 people who would have been squeezing us if we'd gone 10 minutes along the road to the waterfront!
Mummy forgot her tripod again, so here are the few trippy photos she took!

Girly Lunch

Or at least a new cafe in town, makes this almost possible in the summer hols! New Tsubomi Cafe provides a not bad lunch menu, and me and the girls went to check it out last Wednesday. They availed themselves freely of the "glass wine" option on the drinks list, while I pouted in the corner with my "my house is too far away to merit a taxi" cappuccino. When we move house, I'll be organising a re-run!

As I said the lunches are not bad, but the thing that makes this place a dead cert for return visits, is the great children's playroom, complete with ball pool, slide and PC educationally sound toys from my favourite toy shop, Bornelund. You can check your kids in with an armband, after they have eaten the very impressive kids set lunch, while you eat! Fantastic!

How else could the mothers of these 7 little angels hope to go out for a quiet lunch?

A gets into the balls.

N is happy just looking adorable.

K is the man to see about your plastic boiled eggs - great cook like his mum?

Thinkers, one and all!

J explains the how the cogs turn.

While M and L strive ever higher in life!

City Day with an Old Flame

We met my old friend Y-kun today for a nice riverside lunch, although we did chicken out and sit inside as it was 37℃ outside!
今日は昔からの友達のYくんとリバーサイドのカフェでランチをした。でも３７℃の暑さで、さっすが私たちでも外で食べるのをやめた。

食べ終わったら、目の前にあった広島の川の観光クルーズに参加してみた。結論：秋だったら、気持ちがいいでしょうね。
After lunch we decided to try out the Hiroshima River Cruise that starts right in front of the restaurant. How was it? It would be lovely in Autumn! Too hot for August.

Next we went to the Prefectural Art Museum, where Y's Pre-school art teacher was displaying her students' work. Y had 2 masterpieces on show!
This doll:

次は、県立美術館に行きました。Yくんの幼稚園の美術の先生の生徒さんの作品の展示会があった。その中でY君の作品２つもあった！
この人形と、

このすばらしい絵！
And this picture!

After we'd found his stuff, I was looking around, and I found this great picture by one of my other friends, I-kun!
Yくんの作品を見たら、他の作品をみたら、もう一人の友達のIくんのこの絵も発見！

皆上手ね！
Aren't they great artists!

I enjoyed playing with Y after such a long time. He used to always kiss me, you know, but this time when I tried to give him a goodbye kiss, he ran away! Boys!

久しぶりにYくんと遊べて、よかった！でもね、昔はね、Yくんはいつも私にキスをしようとしていたけど、今回私はさようならのチュッをしてあげようとしたら、逃げたよ！男の子って分かりにくいね！

HOUSE UPDATE

Well, it's too late to change our minds now. The work started on Tuesday, and by the time I'd got there to say "yoroshiku" to the workmen on Wednesday, all the appliances had already been ripped out and you could see the earth under the house where the bath is going to be...
It's now Sunday, the foreman's day off, so we went round for a sneak peek this morning, and this is the sight that greeted us at the front door:

I really feel quite guilty at the stuff we're throwing out....

The tatami corner has gone.

Looks like it will be quite a big room.

Shot through what will be the fridge alcove.

Our new loo will be here. The bath is already in place but all taped up....

Looking forward to seeing the finished article!
Better start that packing. Maybe I'll just have a wee nap first....

63 Years on

63 years ago yesterday the city I live in was more or less obliterated in an instant. There isn't much original we can say about that every year. It was bad. Let's not do it again. That's it basically.
It amazes me the lack of bitterness against foreigners you feel in this city, considering. The emphasis truly is on remembering those who died, and trying to make sure it never happens again, anywhere.
One event which is a particularly special experience is the lantern floating held at sunset on the evening of the 6th of August every year. I had never been before, so took M down last night to check it out. Lack of a tripod means that the pictures are not very good, but I'm glad we went.

Originally the lanterns were set afloat down the Motoyasu river from a point right in front of the A-Bomb Dome, in commemoration of and prayer for the souls of the more than 200,000 people who died as a direct result of the bomb. It was the idea of a volunteer group. It has blossomed since the start, and now we see messages and wishes hoping for world peace in various forms and languages floating past colourfully and peacefully on the river into which the dying jumped 63 years ago, to try and get some relief from their burns.

Weechan is still really too young to understand what happened here, but already shows an interest in the A-bomb dome and why it is there. Does floating a lantern really make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Probably not, but as someone who was born not 300 yards from where this happened, it won't do any harm for her to start thinking about the fact that only a mountain's lucky position saved her grandmother's life that day, and therefore her very own chance of existence.
And that tolerance, and good communication skills might be better tools to make a better future than nuclear weapons.
So, she coloured in her lantern, set it afloat, and we'll see in time where she takes it from there.

After making our lantern, we took a walk down the river, to find an orchestra and a choir in the park on the riverbank, performing Mozart's Requiem on the grass as the messages for the dead floated by....

A beautiful way to remember a horrible man-made mistake.