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...

Oh, the trip I've had...

I cannot tell you what an amazing trip I had. The locals, food, sights, and traveling companions were all completely wonderful.

We started off on December 26th at 4:50am. We drove to Narita airport and boarded our plane to Bangkok Thailand. We saw temples and shrines and ate great food. Went shopping and had traditional Thai massages. It was glorious. Here are some pics from that portion of my trip...


















This is the theater where we saw King Kong. We got to sit in electronically reclining, cushy seats. We also got blanks, pillows, and socks to make the experience more relaxing and comfortable.


This is at one of the temples we visited.

After a couple days in Bangkok (like the song, but we added a couple nights to our stay). We headed off to Koh Chang island. This island is just a 45 min ferry ride off the coast of Thailand by Trat. It's gorgeous.

We island hopped, snorkled, elephant trekked, laid in the sun, swam, shopped and ate dinner on the beach. It was warm, sunny, and beautiful. The sunsets were incredible.






Not our boat, but our boat for the snorkling was similar.








This was our spot of the beach. This stretch of the island was called "White Sand Beach"

After spending New Years Eve on the island and enjoying the sun a little more we were off to Taipei, Taiwan. A bit chilly, but a lot of fun to see.


This is basically the changing of the gaurds at a memorial. Sorry for the one picture from Taiwan. I only have one picture uploaded. I'll get more on here though.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

I miss you all and I'll see you in April.