marv: he's gonna call the cops!
harry: he's not gonna call the.. from a tree house?!!

christmas time at mine and viewing these classics:
i. Frosty the Snowman
ii. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
iii. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
iv. The Little Drummer Boy
v. A Charlie Brown Christmas
vi. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!
vii. A Christmas Story
viii. Home Alone

country projects

at shirokawa middle, with all the grade levels, we are finishing our country projects. students were able to pick on their own which country their group would be studying. today i finished with my 1st year class! the countries picked were: Tanzania (bonus points to this group for creativity), England, Egypt, France, Italy, New Zealand and America. they all researched the countries at the computer lab and looked up country maps and flags - seriously, this project saved me this semester! not having lesson plans to go off of -- or a curriculum for that matter -- made it difficult to come up with lessons. i thought i would share with you the italian poster purely so you have something to compare the american poster to - its super ridiculous and super great.

My House in Nomura

i finally got around to taking some photos of my little house in nomura. now you can finally see where i've been spending my days and nights here in japan!

my dinning room/kitchen area

my small bathroom. my toilet seat is heated!

washing machine and vanity room

shower room! this is the best!

my bedroom! the comfiest bed in all of japan!

sending penpal letters back to the states

today, my third year students from shirokawa middle finished up their pen pal letters they are sending back home. here are some of the best quotes this century:

"I'm the same birthday as Jesus Christ." -Rinta

"I'm 15 years old. I love Ichiro and does anybody know it?" - Yasushi

"I like to collect American movies,　DVD and video. I have about 21. DVD and Video." - Taiki

"I play judo. I am a black belt. I am delicately strong!!!" - Kono

"I like mathematics the best of all subjects." - Mizuho

"Do you like any food? I like meat." - Kai

hands down, the best christmas album.
i will be playing this among other christmas selections for my elementary kids tomorrow.

Otoi-Oh-Sumo

there isn't much in my small town of Nomura, but there's sumo. last weekend Nomura hosted the largest sumo festival this side of Shikoku. in all seriousness, it's quite a big deal. the entire town is cleaned up and banners are hung everywhere. even the street pothole covers are cast in the image of a sumo match. this year the professional sumo wrestler Tamaktsuga, a native from Nomura, attended the event for a retirement ceremony. his highest rank achieved was that of sekiwaki - third highest sumo honor. a bunch of other JETs headed to the dojo with me and we had a blast! i even made friends with the old lady sitting next to me!
students from all over seiyo competed in a junior and elementary school tournament. a third year student from nomura middle won the tournament (and honor) for the junior high bracket.

sumo manhole cover

these women were making mochi rice snacks by hand. first the rice must be pound with a huge hammer until the consistency is uniform - like a big sticky blob, then it will be covered is powdered suger and stuffed with anko paste.

inside the dome it was full house! the remaining of these pictures are courtesy of my friend, Kitt Jennings. my camera died halfway through the tournament, but hers are always more beautiful anyways!

most of these men were professional. the day's schedule was: the elementary school tournament, followed by the junior high bracket. after all the schools went, amateurs were able to compete against each other and professionals. the winner of today's event would be given the oppotunity to break into sumo professionally, so the stakes were pretty high. in this picture i think it was just purifying the ring with the priest (dressed in red).

this little man needed some uniform assistance.

amateurs purifying the ring.

at the end of the day the elementary and junior high kids got to "compete" against the big time pros. this man is from bulgaria and was fluent in japanese. he's a beast, and he's only 25 years old. he was cracking up the whole time and really enjoyed himself. this was one of my favorite matches! the first grader toppled over after he was set down because he was so dizzy. priceless!

sumo match

this is video taken from this weekend's Otoi-oh-sumo festival in Nomura. the two participants are middle schoolers from nomura middle, the winner is one of my first year students (who happens to be one of my favorites!). its a quick round, but enjoy! pictures chronicling the event will be posted soon!


Otoi-Oh-Sumo from Kim on Vimeo.