Ballet

So, this is not because I think my daughter is the next prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet. We are going home next week and thereby missing the most intensive training period for the December Ballet Show that M has promised to take part in. SO the teacher suggested I video the class today so that M could watch it, practise, and not forget the steps while we are away. So, in the name of dedication, here is the dance in its raw form. From last year's experience, they will all suddenly look great on the stage, even if it seems far off now!

Twinkle Toes- Nail Art

Finally went and got my toes done today. I've been meaning to do it for a while, but I never had the 2 hours free. My summer holidays which started yesterday have been started off in style with a 3 hour massage yesterday, and an emergency hair dye today which was accompanied by the arty nail do.

I deserve it dammit.

Note, I did not get my finger nails done. Too bloody expensive to get both in one sitting!
I wasn't really aiming for the Liberace look: the gold looked much more understated on the display models, but hey, if you're going to do a thing....

Now all I need is a few nice outfits to go with my feet.

Two Hot New Girls in Hiroshima

Went out for a coffee this afternoon with the girls, and was charmed by the latest Hiroshima debutantes. Young A with her luvly Mummy above, who I thought was teeny until I saw her next to (almost) 2 week old E, below.

Destined to be a beauty like her gorgeous brothers (and Mum of course).

And adorable cheeky monkey O was on hand to remind us what happens when they start to be able to move!

Fred

Before

1 week later

Barber shop

Skinhead Fred

Thank you.

Scottish Visitors bring the Rain

It really has been a real Rainy Season this year.

Don't know if they brought the British weather with them, but we were glad to see our good friends from Scotland the other week.

New addition since we last met, C is definitely a "braw bairn".

"Baby" S wasn't playing when it came to getting her photo taken this time, but she's definitely no baby any more!

And another one of Prince C with his two slaves. Haha!
Great to see you guys. Will phone when we reach sunny Scotland.

Swine Influenza Precautions? 豚インフルエンザ対策？

No.
This is the get-up Weechan had to wear to serve the school lunches at her Japanese primary school.
That's fine, but my major complaint was that I had to iron it. My iron hasn't seen the light of day since Granny was last here!

いや。
小学校の第一周は給食当番でした。それはいいけど、Grannyがスコットランドに帰って以来、アイロンを出さないといけなかったの。原則としてアイロンかけない私ですから、タイミング悪いなあ、と思った。

A Brief Pause in the Rains

It has really been a rainy rainy season, but on the one Saturday where the sun shone, we made full use of it by getting the paddling pool out when the K kids and the F kids came over for lunch.

T was on fine form. I'll keep the other nude shots for private viewing!

Can't believe these 2 are so huge now. S, 9,

I, just turned 7. Happy birthday I. What happened to your chin???

For Granny

Friend Ai-chan came round the other weekend to play, and we had a rare these days dressing up sesh (while the grown-ups watched Wimbledon!). See? I am Tinkerbell!

Head Hunger

After a slight headache drama, which I suspect may have been brought on more by preferring Kim Possible to the prospect of a piano lesson,rather than by the original bang on the head; we went out, came back and a large dinner ensued.

Mairi: "Mummy, I feel much better now, maybe I had a headache because my head was hungry...."

Morals - Hiroshima A-Bomb Education for 6 year-olds

Today Weechan's 4th period class was "Morals". I was interested to see what that was going to be about.
She came home full of tales of a video they had been shown.

"Okori Jizo" or Angry Jizo, is basically a tale of one little girl's experience of the 6th of August, 1945.
I have heard Weechan's garbled version of the story, which has large gaps in it, but it has obviously made a big impression on her. She can't stop talking about it.

I've just ordered a copy of the book above from Amazon so I can see what the message of it is meant to be, but I'll leave you with the words from the mouth of my babe before she went to sleep:

"So if America and Japan were fighting about something, and they both did bad things, then they just have to say they're "sorry", and "that's OK", and we can all get along again with no more big bad bombs"

In a nutshell really.

I'm reserving judgement on what I think of showing this stuff to 6 year-olds, until I see what's in the book, and I definitely have a raised eyebrow about whether it should be shown in "morals" class. But it's hard to complain about any anti-bomb propaganda, when you live in this city really.
We're not going to be here for bomb day this year, so I'll show you a couple of YouTubes I found while searching for a video version of the above story. None of them will make you feel very good, btw, and you probably shouldn't watch in front of any small children you're not ready for that chat with yet.

The first is an cartoon about the message Hiroshima wants to send the world (my interpretation). I think it's beautiful.



This one is about the post bomb hospitals set up to deal with the survivors. The first hospital you see is the Red Cross Hospital where Dr Y works today. It's all in Japanese, but you get a good idea of what it was like here after the bomb.



And lastly one by the BBC reconstructing the day.

Back to School!

Yes, I did just report that my girl was on holiday.
But the job that I have to do to pay for all her free time, is unfortunately in the Japanese school system, and my hols don't start for another 3 weeks.
So we are indulging her Japanese half, by sending her to the local elementary school up the hill for the last 3 weeks of term.
The walk up the veritable mountain every morning with a jam-packed satchel, in wellies and with umbrella notwithstanding, I'm glad to report that she is loving it.
Control freak Mummy is of course having severe issues about letting her walk up the busy rush hour road by herself (well, with 3 other 6 year-olds), but the gins before bed are helping with that. Having already made friends with the neighbour over the back who is in her class, K-chan, meant that Weechan was really looking forward to her first day there, while Mummy was phone-watching all day.

I expected her back at 3:30.
The torrential rain started about 3pm. No I mean like a power shower. No exaggeration for dramatic effect. It sounded like machine gun fire on my roof.
3:30 came and went.

2 mini Mummies sittng on my shoulders giving me grief:
Paranoid Mummy: " I'm going out to search for her"
Other paranoid Mummy:"Don't be crap. She'll be mortified"

The doorbell rang.
She normally opens the gate herself, but I hear, rather than see her, in the video entrance phone screen. She's too wee to be seen. Bless.
"Open it for me..."

I run down and open the door to find her standing there in endofthelivingworld tears.

Paranoid Mummy: "Oh God she hated it. She will refuse to go back. What will I do?"

Thankfully (I am awful), it was "only" that she was truly traumatised by the rain she'd just had to walk home in, and to boot hadn't heard me say I was coming to open the door, so thought she'd been abandoned.

#crapmum

So far the Japanese she has taught herself and learned at school is still more advanced than what they are doing up there, so she doesn't have comprehension issues yet. This will probably change next year, but all in all a great start.

Deluge

In the pub last Sunday someone was complaining about the lack of rain we've been having this year for a rainy season.

TAKE IT BACK- DAMMIT!

I went straight home form the pub an filled up the paddling pool for some respite from the 33 plus heat we'd already been having.

And then the rains came.
And the thunder.
And the lightning.

Haven't seen rain like this since my sub-tropical Miyazaki days.

Rain clouds, I think you've made your point.

Now stop.

Sparkly Sayonara

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.



The last supper with the R family. FAR too much champagne.Far too many sparklers. Far too much noise. Sorry neighbours.

There are some quite cool Harry Potter-esque shots here tho.

Summer Holidays

How can I pay so much to a school for tuition and they are on holiday already??!!
There should be no bloody holidays for anyone at that price, that's what I say.
But as with most things, no-one ever listens to what I say.
And so it was, that we found ourselves having a picnic and staring at horror film inspiring insects at Hiroshima City Forest Park last Friday after half day closing of school for the start of the summer holidays.

Sigh.

Kids are happy though.

One for E's scrap book (teehee).

Fun and Drama with the R Team in Kyushu

We enjoyed a great time the other weekend on our last road trip with the R Team, who finally left us this morning to go back to Blighty.

We started off en famille.
Weechan, photographer in chief.

Then met the R Team en route.
The highlight of the trip was the day at Kijima.

N and E headed off to Poseidon and other death defying rides first,

while the junior team headed off to driving school.

G started off with help from super driver Dr Dad.
While A had help from Mum.

Oops!

G was soon independent.

And A continued to look the other way.

Amazingly (!) both of their numbers were on the pass board.

Licenses obtained!Congratulations!


Then on to more group nonsense.

Wimps!

Finally getting her tornado potato!

Made Mummy think she had the stomach for Poseidon. Wrong!

But of course it doesn't even come close to the lunacy that was Birdman (see video in previous post)

Dippin Dots are always a good thing.

And then there was the nail biting drama to end the day.
Superdad E daringly managed to drop the one and only electronic card key for the family car out of his shirt pocket, right in the middle of a roller coaster ride.

Could have been anywhere. Those things go rather fast. And cover a large area.
This left 9 people to get home in one Prius.

Spare key?
Yes.
In Hiroshima.
5 hours drive away.
oops!

Chances of employees finding said key?
While higher than in some countries, where they wouldn't even have bothered trying, it has to be said:slim.

Mazda?
"We can get into the car, sir, but we cannot get you another key to drive home with."
Oh, for the days of real keys and actual mechanically operated vehicles.

Options:
1)try to persuade someone to get into house and express the key to Kyushu, then come back and get the car the next day.
2) E gets the train home for 5 hours, gets the spare key, gets another 5 hour train back, then drives straight back to Hiroshima again, with multiple trips to Yufuin from Beppu to ferry all the bodies home.
3) breakdown and cry, then live in the theme park as the newest attraction: the Glorious Glaring Gaijin.

High tension in the park. Which is now closed for the day.

Then Japan (the great side) kicks into action.
All spare staff are called in to help, and E and Mummy are allowed inside the now closed roller coaster enclosure to do a sweep search.

We have never been inside a roller coaster outside the carriage so this is kind of cool.

After about half an hour of everyone's pessimistic scanning of the grounds and fake rocks which I almost fell though....

TADA! The offending article was discovered by an eagle eyed employee. IN the tunnel of the ride!
Amazing!

I often say "only in Japan!" and it doesn't usually imply respect for my host culture.
This time it is said with awe and gratitude.

Thanks Kijima Korakuen staff! A case of beer will find its way to you soon!

And E, keep your keys in your wallet!