I hope nobody loses a finger

Wow!

I don't understand...

Wrong.

Did I ever write about the first Christmas we were in Japan and I was really homesick and my in-laws took us to the brand new mall and it had beautiful Christmas lights everywhere and made me happy but when we went in the mall all of the signs said "1th Christmas"? That was wrong, too.

treadmill dancing?

This is very funny.



Enjoy!

one year ago

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog!

Thank you to all of you who have taken an interest in me and my family through this blog. I have really appreciated all of the encouraging words, cheeky comments and timely advice.

I wonder what another year will bring...

Wow! That's a lot of old people...

I read this article online today about how there are over 30,000 Japanese citizens over the age of 100. That's a lot!

bum-biting bug song

There is a song on NHK (our public-broadcasting station) that the girls really love right now. They've even learned the actions and everything. I found this version on YouTube and it has the English subtitles on it.

It's called "Bum Biting Bug Song". I could not make that title up and as you will see from the lyrics it has no real meaning but it's cute so enjoy.

notes on a scandal

I have no where else to share this story so I'm just going to write about it here and get it out of my head.

This year, the preschool we send Misaki to got a new principal. The new principal has been a music teacher at the school since it started so I didn't really think much about it. She's made a lot of new rules. Some are good, like they are going to start studying Japanese characters with the kindergarteners, and some are really annoying, like the fact that you can't just call the school if you need to have your child stay home from school and you can only bring cameras or video cameras to three previously selected school events throughout the year. Also, this principal likes to talk even more than the last principal, which I would have thought to be impossible, but sadly no.

The last principal was probably in her 40's, but it's obvious that she has put a lot of effort into taking care of her appearance. She genuinely cared about the school and the students so I was surprised that she had left. I heard a few months later that she had stolen money from the school so her father had asked for her resignation. I thought that was the end of the scandal but last week they had a meeting for parents with the new principal but because there were so many unanswered questions about the resignation, they decided to share more about it and it turns out that the former principal stole money from the school to buy a car for a young man that she was involved with!

I'll let you digest that for a moment.

The details break down from here because of my Japanese, but she's either being sued by the preschool organization or by some parents, I'm not sure, but the whole thing has totally blown my mind. I'm not really sure why, but it has.

OK, hopefully by writing this down I don't have to think about it anymore.

well, what do you know...

I read today about square watermelons. I always thought that it was made up, kind of like an urban legend among foreigners as to how picky Japanese people could be. But I found this article today and, what do you know, it's true. They're pretty expensive and don't taste as good as regular watermelons so I'm at a loss as to why they are even made in the first place but there you go. Square watermelons. Another oddity of Japanese culture.