things i've done in the past couple of weeks (and i have photos of because i considered them 'photo-worthy'), but have been too lazy to post about...

1. last week at shintakao shogakko
i've been through a lot with these kids including intense dodge-ball games, rice harvesting, watching the musical Peter Pan (a theater company came to school, it was rad), and of course teaching them english. they have always been so genki (at times, too much so) and eager to learn that it was very sad saying goodbye. i took photos with every classroom at the end of my "last class". they wondered why i was leaving (which made me wonder more too) and asked if i was going to teach at another school in america (they don't know i'm not teaching certified). i signed about a million hats, bags, notebooks, pencil cases, scraps of paper, hands every day that week. they think my writing in english so fast is cool. one student wanted me to write my name in english, katakana, and hiragana (maybe only those of you who know japanese will understand the absurdity of that).



actually one of my old junior high school teachers switched to my elementary school so it was fun getting to teach english with him (he was the japanese teacher at junior high). this photo is taken with his 4th grade class, 4-2.


mari-chan is brazilian, not to mention one of the sweetest kids ever. she demanded to take photos together and with my two fluffy friends i use in class, bob and shunsuke. she also frequently yelled "ciao ashlee!" to me in the hallway.











2. sweatpants bowling (part duo)
actually this time it was only shane and i sporting the sweat-style. i guess those other losers didn't think it was appropriate. what is not appropriate about bowling in sweatpants? last time(in february) though the sweats were a big hit. so was taking photos of people's ketsu (butts) in their sweatpants. ナイス. nice.



















































3. 日本のりょうり (japanese cooking)
i attended the maebashi international association's japanese cooking class. that makes it sound much more official than it is...although, i did feel bad for not having brought an apron. my friend kumi and i decided to try it together. we made suimono (a yummy vegetabley soup), sekihan (rice with red beans), and an oily, slightly spicy vegetable salad(i forgot the name).

this was my cooking team.

bridget was shocked at the sensei's mad skills.

kumi and i pretending to 'work hard'.



4. okonomiyaki man
i can't take credit for finding this shop, i can only insist that this is the best okonomiyaki i have ever had. john introduced me to this glorious concoction: hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. we've frequented the place this past year and talked (well, mostly john does the talking) to the owner, hiroyuki, who is too affable for words. i like watching him 'do his thing' making each and every yaki-cake with care and concern. we promised to go at least once more before leaving japan.


5. i won an award...
at first i thought about not mentioning this, but i figured i've got the photos and i'm on a roll anyway. this past weekend was the farewell beer garden and people (mostly those from the JET program) voted on various awards such as "most likely to live in japan forever" or "most kawaii" (cutest). i was surprised (and absolutely delighted) to receive the award for "least japanesey"...i believe my kinpatsu (blonde hair) had something to do with this. justin, on the other hand, won "most japanesey" thus we had to inhabit our roles for this photo. i'm the loud, obnoxious american and he the strong, shy japanese.