Illuminations, Thanksgiving and Farewells

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November also sees the start of the annual illuminations on Peace Boulevard here in Hiroshima. Every year they seem to be laying out a little more on the display and it really is becoming impressive.
The 3rd week in November brings American Thanksgiving, and we were lucky to be invited to the Mangham house again this year for Turkey and a lot of people to be thankful for knowing.
The very next day, Ganny and Fi left us, and the fashion show headed to Osaka for the final farewells. It was all too much for us, and we spent the next morning passed out in the airport hotel room before heading back to a lonely Hiroshima.

The Advent of Fi, and Autumn Beauty in Hiroshima

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Well as an "unexpected" birthday bonus, I was pleased to entertain my sister for a couple of weeks in November. It is never as relaxing and "sit about in cafes" as we'd like, but it was great to have her here for the ups and downs of that couple of weeks. We did manage a nice facial and lunch; and Shukkeien and Miyajima were in their full glory for her viewing pleasure. Sorry for the endless slideshows, but there realy are too many to upload one by one in a oner. Oh well, less scrolling for those who don't want to see them.

A day in Onomichi- Betcha 2008

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Speaking of Culture, the 3rd of November is always the Betcha Festival in Onomichi. Bring your small child and have them bashed on the head for good luck, and bitten by a lion-dragon for good health, and generally scared sh****** by the whole experience. No seriously the whole town is overrun with screaming children and laughing parents. Definitely worth a visit under the seeing is believing heading.
This year we took the lovely G with us, who was utterly traumatised by the whole experience, and refused to even get into the melee. Weechan, this being her 3rd time, declared she was not going to cry and was actively going to molest the four demons until they banged and bit her to her satisfaction. This she achieved with flying colours for the first time. Don't worry G, everyone is terrified the first time.
The gelato from Dona and feeding the horses went some way to making up for it I hope!

Fun on the Veranda with Granny

Now just why were they all laughing?????!!!!

It seems a long time ago now, but when Granny was here it was still warm enough to go out on the veranda for afternoon tea.

Weechan found her new hobby as Family photographer, taking all our best sides.

(We miss Granny's washing skills...)

Not be left out of any photo shoot...

What's the caption for this one then.....?

School Culture Festival

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The beginning of November is culture time in Japan. November 3rd is a national holiday called Culture Day, and schools all showcase their cultural activities for the year, open wide their doors and let the world in for a couple of days. My school is no exception and it is always worth dropping by if you're in the city centre.
My girls really are la creme de la creme, and if their choirs, bands, orchestras and dance performances aren't enough for you, the food is definitely reason enough for a visit, cheap, delicious and served with a smile!
This year I took my Mum along, and she had a great time singing along with the bands and trying weird and wonderful new foods.
Well done girls! It's always a pleasure to see how talented you all are, even if it's not at English for some of you!!

Cafe Ponte

Just a meaningless aside amidst all the catching up. Me and Weechan went out for an Italian breakfast this morning. You have to love a place where you get a bunny with your free extra cappuccino! We love Cafe Ponte! All you Hiroshima people, get down to Peace Park and try it out!

The Big 4-0!

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After the excitement of Halloween, I had time to contemplate my impending 40th birthday. Another milestone drops off the list. When I was a child, the very idea of the year 2000 ever happening was the stuff of science fiction, never mind actually turning 40. Now that it is here, I find myself much more philosophical about becoming 40 than I was when I turned 30. Maybe I just didn't have time to think about it, who knows.
I always joke about Mairi's annual birth"week", but this year really was the never-ending birthday for me. On the actual day, I went into work to find a bottle of champagne on my desk from BigJ , which was lovely, and good wishes from all sides, and then it was off to a lovely French dinner (that's what the photos are Mum) with Hubby in the evening.The next day, the lovely Shez brought me an equally lovely homemade cake to the book club meeting I was hosting. And then of course there was the surprise party, the organizing of which was an international effort of embarrassing porportions.
I had a lovely time aboard the Ginga cruise ship with most of the leading characters in my life in attendance, all thanks to my good friend L and my ever OTT sister. THANK YOU to all involved. The words are not enough. If I wasn't overly surprised by the supposed main event when my sister appeared out of the toilet half-way through, ( her mobile phone delivered to my house from Kansai Airport on the morning of the party was a bit of a giveaway), I WAS genuinely surprised and touched by all the people who turned up on the night, and who helped to make it a night to remember.
Cheers! Once again, relive it through the slideshow above if you will.

Loads of Halloween Fun

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So, as we're playing catch -up, I thought I'd embed a flickR slideshow of all the Halloween fun of 2008.

As usual we did our Halloween Family Picnic in the park. This year we thought we were going to have to call it off as we had our first ever rain in 5 years. But the die hards of Hiroshima were not to be put off by a few rain drops, and we huddled under a few generously brought tarps, tents and parasols until the rain finally stopped and we were able to play plenty of games, ducks for lots of apples and most importantly collect and devour loads of sweet stuff!
Numbers were down on last year because of the weather, but it turned out to be a great number - about 40 kids- and we all had a great time. Thanks to K and N especially, 2 of my students, who were first there and last to leave, volunteering to help the kids in the games, practise their impressive English skills, and generally be my slaves for the day!

Next it was actually Halloween, and at lunchtime on the 31st, my colleagues and I deigned to make asses of ourselves for the pleasure of my students, and got dressed up to dole out sweeties to those who braved the ordeal and answered a quiz. Granny was chief sweet dealer, and was far too kind to the girls, so the sweets ran out far too quickly. I had a lot of complaints, but hey! It's first come first served!

Then at night, off we went again, this time for Weechan's school trick or treating. This year we managed to walk quite a bit of the way, turning heads as we went in our ghoulish costumes!
Spot the witch and the devil who are Mummy and Weechan in the slideshow above!

SO Where did we leave off........

Aaah Yes, it was the day before the Halloween Picnic, and they had a Food Festival in Chuo Park, nest to the castle!
Granny tried a few weird and wonderful things!

This spicy Korean chicken was my favourite!

Dr Dad found a tasty curry so we were all happy!

Happy Moo Year!

Well, it's already well into my second year of the cow in Japan. Wow! Have I really been here that long?

Anyway, just a note to apologize for the lack of posting, and to let you know that my MacBook is finally back in my posession, good as new, fresh with new keyboard apparently worth 31,oooYen!
This all goes to prove that cleaning and I don't mix. In some desparate attempt to please my mother (yes, Mum, it would be your fault!), a couple of days after my birthday, I decided to clean the screen of my laptop with some OA cleaner I found at school. While I am not so stupid as to actually spray the keyboard with the stuff, I will admit my naivete in thinking that wiping the keys with the tissue I used for the screen wouldn't do any harm....WRONG!
Immediately, the line of keys from A to L went on strike in protest, and were not to be negotiated with.
So, apart from no blogging, I haven't been able to give appropriate thanks for all the palaver surrounding my birthday, or make my excuses for being uncharacteristically late with everything at Christmas, or anything really. Who knew life was so tied up in a laptop. This from a woamn who had never touched a computer before the year 2000!
Oh well, I have a lot of catching up to do, but it will take some time. Let me just start with a hearty HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all.
Check back occasionally if you are interested.
Cheers the noo!