more student pics

These pics are from the Undokais of Mito Lily Kindergarten and Uchihara Lily Kindergarten. They did so well in their dance performances I almost cried. Their homeroom teachers actually did cry. I'm ordering a dvd of the performances so I'll be able to show you all one day.

Fuji and basketball.

So about two weeks ago I climbed Mt. Fuji. It took us (me, janet, mark, and elizabeth) 4 hours and 10 minutes to reach the top. As you're climbing you think to yourself,"I will never do this again." Everybody says that. But low and behold as we were in the car driving home I thought to myself, "I could do that again. Darn it!!!" Maybe later though.

Then one week ago me and some friends got tickets to see the 3rd and 4th place games of the FIBA world championship games in Saitama, Japan. We got to see America play Argentina. It was a great game. They were neck-in-neck for most of it, but in the end America pulled ahead. Awesome game. We yelled, screamed, and made friemds with the Japanese surrounding us by coinning the phrase, "U.S.A. Gambare!" Which means, "Come on U.S.A., you can do it, keep fighting!" Fun times.

This weekend was soooo boring;)

This was Mito's annual Festival. I'm not totally sure what they were celebrating, but I'll find out and report back. This year it snuck up on me. I went to church one sunday and everyone was talking about the big festival next weekend and then I forgot again until the festival was in full swing. On Friday night we had a big cookout and then walked to the park where the party was goin down. They had fireworks and venders lining the lake I run around. I saw a ton of my students from last year. They are now in 8th grade and look so much older. I really miss them.
Anyway, on Saturday they had the big parade where groups of people danced up and down the street for hours and hours straight in blazing heat. Kudos to them.

Japanese style cookout. (complete with bamboo)

These pics are from a few weekends ago when some elementary schoolers invited us to play a friendly game of softball. Seeing as how I hauled my glove all the way from the States, I decided to go and play. My team got the snot kick out of us, but a good time was had by all. I actually have a picture of me rounding the bases, but it's much to embarrassing to post on the world wide web. After the game the parents treated us all to a cookout complete with bamboo cups and chicken on a stick. And if that weren't enough, there was watermelon for dessert. I took the liberty of showing the young players how to spit a seed and encouraged them to compete in said activity.

Here's the deal...a huge amount of noodles were prepared and stored in two large coolers. In order to eat you had to stand on either side of the little bamboo slide and catch the noodles with your chopsticks as they slid down the shoot. The bamboo cups people are holding had a cold, japanese broth in them and after you caught the noodles you put them in your cup to mix with the broth and then you slurped them up. It was delicious. There was also an array of cooked veggies to munch on as well as chicken bits on a stick.

The whole day was a blast and the people were great.

Lukasiewicz Revival

Back together again! I had a wonderful time with my family while celebrating my sister's wedding. Living abroad is definately a great experience, but it reminds you how much you miss and love your family when you finally do see them. I have an amazing family.
To family: I had more pics, but decided not to put them on the internet to spare some of us embarrassment. You are very welcome Mr. "your name".

some of my favorite kids

I really really really like my job.

new apt: after pictures

new apt: before pictures

Bathroom area where I get ready.

This is my kitchen. It's about 5 times bigger than my previous kitchen.

Random area.

This is my tatami room. It serve(d/s) as my junk room.

This is my room's closet. Notice how enormous it is. (ha)

My bed.

This is my living room. "The guy on the couch" is my friend Travis. He was tired from staying up all night talking with his Japanese friends because he was leaving a few days later.

My Last Class

So 'My Last Class' has begun. This is when, one-by-one, you start to say goodbye to your classes. All together I have 13 different classes. My 9th graders have already graduated so that leaves me with 7th and 8th graders. This picture shows my 1-1 (7th grade, class 1) class and I after we just had our last class together. The first two pictures were serious pictures, but this last picture was our "American Style" picture. Some of them didn't really grip onto the understanding of what to do, but some did. I love these kids and I will miss them dearly. They've been a great class minus the occational rough day. I've loved every minute with them and I hope I see them next year around town. They've grown up so much this year. They came to this Jr. High small and intimidated. Now, they know where they fit in and how this Jr. High world works. They're way less 'cute' now and a lot more 'cool'. I prefer it that way b/c 'cute' doesn't get you as far as 'cool' does in Jr. High. They're better off this way. They're great kids and I really hope they can look back on this year and say they had a good time in English class b/c their English teacher kicked butt!

one more time

I only have one more lesson with my hoikusho kids. They're loud. They're sweet. But most importantly...they're awesome little kids that I only get to see once a month. I'll miss our monthly 2 hour visits.

More pics from my trip to Thailand and Taiwan...