Finished...almost

It has been a crazy 2 weeks but...Yeah!!! I finally finished all the reports and meetings with the parents today and boy were they fun, especially since I got sick in the middle and lost a whole night of report writing. It was like writing papers back in college and spent hours upon hours at Starbucks, except I didn't get graded:)
I am free, almost. Tomarrow is the last day I will see my kids for 2 1/2 weeks. We have our holiday concert, where each class performs 3 songs in from of the parents-then I am free. Am I sad, not really I need the break from the kiddoes and I think (I dont think, I know) they need a break from school. And on Saturday, I am off to America for 2 weeks to see all the fam and friends.

I haven't done to much lately that is noteworthy other then going to the Orchid Garden this past weekend. Christmas has definitly arrived in Nagoya, Japan. For a country who's religon is primarily Buddist and Shinto they sure do love Christmas. The xmas decorations here can go up against any big city decorations in the US. For example, Kae, Naomi and I went to the Orchid Gardens in Nagoya this past weekend because of a Christmas concert, and the decorations there were amazing:











Kae, Naomi and I in the greenhouse area










Christmas Tree with Santa and his sleigh in the middle of a giant pond




Amazing Christmas tree made out of orchids















Showcase house, beautiful


If I don't get on here before Christmas, I hope everyone has a nice day!! (If your in sac area give me a call)

Its that time of year...

Report writing time, AHHHH!!! The next couple of weeks are crazy busy weeks so I might not get much blogging in. We have to write 5 page reports 3 times a year and I have 15 kids-do the math-that's a whole lotta report writing. So here I am at Starbucks (I discovered tonight I can get internet-yeah!!) at 10pm at night writing reports and drinking a Mint Mocha (I thought of my Sac town girls-all those afternoon Starbuck emergency meetings last year :)

So here is the plan until school is over for this term on the 21st:
Next week, I have to hand out all the reports to the parents for parent conferences which are also next week. We also have the rehearsal for the holiday concert at the concert hall on Wednesday-so we are busy learning the songs we are performing. The following week is Christmas parties and the Holiday Concert and on the 23rd I'm flying home. Oh man, its going to be a busy few weeks

***My roomate has gone insane, she is dancing in the living room-the walls are shaking, I think our neighbors think we had a minor earthquake. and now she is cockroaching (must be some Aussie thing). Oh, my.

It's been a busy week

Okay, so I guess it is finally time to update this thing. I have lots of pictures to post so here is a recap of what I have done in the past week. I went to the Nagoya Port and saw a dolphin show at the Nagoya Aquarium, pretended like I was in Italy as I strolled the streets of Villaggio Italia (Little Italy), marveled at the Autumn colors at Togugawaen a Japanese Garden and looked at the Christmas lights at Nagoya Station.

Port of Nagoya Aquarium
Last Sunday I decided I was going to go visit the Nagoya Castle alone and was almost out the door when Naomi (yes, my Sado companion) IMed my and asked if I wanted to go to the Port. Well, looking outside and seeing the the rain clouds I decided it would be more fun to be with someone and inside somewhere, so we went to the Aquarium and Villaggio Italia. It brought back memories of when I obsessed with dolphins and wanted to be a dolphin trainer I took thousands of photos. Here are the pics:
The Aquarium-yep all of it

The dolphins and trainers bowed to us-no, really they did

They sure can jump


Villagio Italia
I am always up for an adventure, so when Naomi suggested going to VI I was soo there. I was expecting a Little Italy like the LI in San Francisco or NYC where there are a bunch of Italian shops and many Italian people in the area. I was quite shocked when I showed up and saw this:
Villagio Italia

This is typical Japanese style-its a actual village filled with lots of shopping and restaurants. Its the cutest thing ever. With the canals, gondolas, Italian chefs and everything. I would have more pics up but my camera is awful (hint hint for xmas present :) and night pictures do not come out well.

Tokugawaen Koen
A bunch of us from work decided to go see the Autumn colors at Togugawaen Koen Wednesday night because Thursday was a office day-NO KIDS!! I was just told we are going to see some Autumn colors, I didn't know where or how since it was at night but boy was I in for a fantastic shock. Soari drove all of us to the garden in Nagoya. Here are the amazing pictures (not from my camera-my photos didn't come out very well :)








Saori, Liz, Charissa, Me, Miho
At the gate-we were kicked out, closing time came so fast

Christmas in Japan
You would be shocked at how much the Japanese decorate for a holiday they don't celebrate. Here I am at the Nagoya train station:

Yes, I am wearing a hat-its freaking cold here

Update:
I'm coming home for Christmas!!! I'll be in the States from Dec. 23-Jan. 7. I want to see everyone. I'm bribing you-if you want your pressies you must see me :) (except fam. in Kansas, I'll send them to you-I promise :)
P.S. Gram and Gramp. thanks for the thanksgiving card, I know you will read this :)