Skiing

Scott and I had a pretty eventful weekend. On Saturday, we went to the international center here in town and watched a cultural talent show. Fellow JETs along with other various people in the Hiroshima area shared their talents. There was singing, Chinese martial arts, dancing, etc. It was really interesting and we got to see some of the talents other JETs have.
Our big event of the weekend came on Sunday. Bright and early Sunday morning we headed to Geihoku (a city in the northern part of Hiroshima) to go skiing along with other JETs. It was about a 3 hour trip there. When we got there we rented skis and skiing clothes. Then we hit the slopes. There were a few beginners and a few really good skiers. This was only my second time skiing, so I was a bit nervous at first. Scott stayed with me and my friend Melanie the first few hours and taught us a few things. Then I just fell a few times, got over some of my worries, and went for it. By my third time I had really picked it up, so I was proud of myself. The hardest part was avoiding all the people who just sit down in the middle of the slopes. Some were even sitting talking on their cell phones! Later, Scott and I split up and he went with the more expert skiers. By the end of the day I was going down the easy hills without falling! Yeah! Scott got to go off some jumps and down some big hills. He only fell one time and he said it didn't hurt too much, it just sent a lot of snow down his pants, and even into his coat pockets! We left Geihoku at 4:30 that day. It was tiring, but we had a great time!

Comic Relief

Since Scott and I were here in Japan, we didn't get to watch the Super Bowl. However, we did get to enjoy some football related things. first we downloaded the super bowl commercials and watched them. we thought that on the whole they weren't the best, but the sprint phone commercial where he throws the phone in the guys face has had us laughing everytime we watch it. Second the Raider Cheerleaders came to the small army base in Kure. So, the 14 or so soldiers stationed there along with us and about 30 japanese people got a pretty private show. And as you can see Scott and his friend Jason got to get some pictures with them. Scott still hates the Raiders just so everyone knows.

On the Japanese front, Scott and I have been more active in our schools recently. We have been grading a lot of writing assignments, and often we get some pretty good ones that we tell each other about. We were even saying yesterday that we should write some down and keep them to remember. Then today, I graded two great stories that I felt I needed to share with everyone. Most of the stories were very nice and sweet and expressed student's desires to help humanity. However, these Japanese students are very "imaginative". They of course saved the best part for last and had everyone in the office laughing. After grading them I felt I should put a disclaimer that the grade did not reflect my support for their "ambitions" Anyway, here they are (errors included)....

Q. If you could start your own company what would it do and why would you want to start that company?

A. I will build a big building. Because if the building is more and more big, many people will look at it. As a result my company is known by many people. And I want my company to do "A and M." Because this makes a company big. When my company grows, my company will spread to other areas. The company will raise many money. And finally, I will steal all the money that my company has and escape to another country.
(Bet you didn't expect that ending!)

A. I will make a very big family like the movie the "Godfather". And I will make a large number of weapons and I'll sell them to other countries. Because it can earn a lot of money. So I'll use that money to bigger my family. I will employ young men to war with other families. Then I'll win the war and I can get their area. And the area will have many shops and companies, so I will get money from them for protecting them. And I will make families to go to other parts of Japan. I will use the money to go to America, and then, I'll make other families there. And I will become the king of the world. However, I'll be killed by the police, and my life is end.
(At first I wasn't sure whether to be worried or laugh, but another teacher said this boy is just funny. And we think American kids watch too much tv/movies!)

Anyway, this was a long blog, but I hope you enjoyed.

First February Weekend

I know we have not written much lately, but there really hasn't been much going on in our lives. However, we did have a nice weekend, so I wanted to be prompt about writing.
Friday night Scott played basketball again, which he hasn't been able to do for awhile. He said he had a good time and he stays out of the paint now to avoid getting unmercifully fouled. I took that night to go to the gym I have a membership to and workout. I am also happy to say that I found a jazz dance class close to our apartment and will be taking class every Tuesday starting tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it!
Saturday night we were able to go to an izakaya with 4 teachers from Scott's school and our American friend Mercedez. Only one of the teachers could speak both English and Japanese, so she did a lot of translating, but we had a lot of fun. The food was delicious and it was a great Japanese atmosphere.
Sunday we had planned on going to a food festival near our city, but when we got there we found out that it was all seafood. Which is fine for me, but not for Scott. So we got back on the train and went to Diamond City mall. We ate a great Italian buffet and saw the movie "Flight Plan". It was pretty good.
Now we are in the bad part of Japanese winter. It never really snows here in Kure, but recently we have gotten some flurries and today we are having a terrible snow/rain mixture. Overall, it is just cold and wet here. So we are planning on staying inside a lot!