The flower of Kobe

One of my favorite flowers is the hydrangea. In June all over Japan this flower blooms - blue, purple and pink.  It is a big flower that partly symbolizes my physical body in Japan.  

(I can't buy shoes, slacks, long sleeved shirts and bras here and am ready for some shopping with a trip back to California.)

  Because of where I work and live, I can't freely show the artistic picture of my hydrangea on my upper arm.  I, however, am looking forward to showing it in California and that it means a lot to me whether I can show it in public or not.

Hydrangea in June

Jogasaki Cliffs in Izu

Up close of a beautiful flower.

My beautiful tattoo!

Singing in the Rain

Last week Rachel came over and we went out for dinner but it started raining. After we went back to our apartment and knowing Rachel had to walk home in the rain, I forced her to watch Singing in the Rain starring Gene Kelly. I didn't make her watch the whole movie, just the part when he is singing the song. After Rachel walked home, she sent me this video! It brings me pure joy!

Rain Rain Go Away (Teru Teru Bozu)

It is the rainy season here in Japan and we have had a lot of rain lately. Last night it was raining over an inch an hour and I am from Southern California so that is a whole storm's worth of rain in a day or two. This morning is was raining off and on and when we got to our school parking lot, Joanna noticed a few Teru Teru Bozu hanging in the window in the house in front of us. Teru Teru Bozu is a ghost like figure that people (especially kids) make to try to make the rain go away and to have nice weather. Joanna asked me to take a picture from the car because she thought it would be creepy if I took a picture outside of the house window but I couldn't help myself.

I have been lucky this year because I haven't had a P.E. class cancelled due to the weather (last year I had about 5 cancelled by now) but the forecast said it would rain in the afternoon when my classes were to take place. At noon, the weather cleared and the sun came out so our students were able to go outside for lunch recess (Thank you Kumi for your help!) I took the students out for P.E. fifth period but by the end, it started to get really dark and cloudy and I still had one period left. After we went in and I changed classes, I told the students that it looked like rain but one student said that if we went out and had fun, then we would be in a "light" mood and the rain would stay away. I thought that was so cute and I totally bought into it so off we went to P.E. Sure enough, it got light out and we were able to have a whole period without rain. After we went inside for the students to change to go home, it started raining. Maybe it was the Teru Teru Bozu after all!

Watermelons

Oh how I miss California fruit. I remember growing up in my father's orange grove on the weekends and summer and also climbing my the fruit trees in our backyard that my father planted. We had the most amazing plum tree that we would climb and eat plums until we couldn't eat anymore. He also had a peach tree that produced delicious plums. I remember going to the store and there would be bins of large watermelons for $2-$3.

Living in Japan has given me a new appreciation of fruit because it is so expensive here. We pay $5-$6 for an eighth of a watermelon but gladly pay it because we love it so much.

This a watermelon that is roughly the size of a basketball and yes, it is around $33 dollars with tax.

Flowers

It is still spring and we've noticed all of the beautiful flowers as we move around here in Numazu. I thought I would share some of them.

 We see these as were are walking to and from our car at work.

 This one is from when I am walking to school.

 Some more on the way to school.

 Yes...and more!

 This odd looking flower is from Joanna's flower arranging class when she goes to our school's culture club.

 This one has special meaning to Joanna. Hopefully she'll share it with you sometime.

Not sure where I took this photo.

Rachel and Alex Gem?

Found this video tonight. Who is that girl singing and who is that dapper guy in the background in the yellow shirt? Wow!

Shape Up!

I was going through old papers and found a few gems from years ago. Alex has always enjoyed drawing and I think this one is from about 7 years ago when we first came to Japan. I thought it was cute.