So it finally happened.....

We have decided to take the long trek home to Canada. It has been an extraordinarily awesome time living here in Osaka and I regret nothing! However, it is time to head home. It was a really tough decision. We thought long and hard about what we wanted to do and due to recent events, we decided the best thing would be to go back to Canada. We will be leaving for the home country mid-January. I am going to miss Japan, and my friends here, and my job, and my kids like CRAZY!!!!!!!

A new exercise video

Teamwork

My new kids!

Are sooooooooo cute. I've been teaching them since the beginning of this month. We were prepping them for Halloween - showing them some costumes etc so they don't freak out at the Halloween party.

Sorry guys! Had to remove pics due to company policies!

A few goodbye pictures

I can't really post any pictures of my old kids BUT I can post these super cute letters that they wrote for me on my last day. I randomly picked a couple of pages from the book and took pictures so you can see how cute they are!

2 sad Goodbyes and a new class.

So, the teacher whose class I was covering came back on Friday. I have been teaching her kids for 2 months and have gotten a little attached to the little buggers. They to me as well. There were some hugs and some cake and some awesomely cute little booklets with pictures and stuff that the kids drew and other little treats from the other teachers at Higashi Osaka. It was a sad day.

Then it was the Adelle Sayounara weekend. I'm a bit bummed. She got on her jet plane and flew back to England today - Rich went to the airport with her. I wasn't able to come as I was working.
On the cool and new side, I started teaching my new class today. I am no longer a cover teacher as I was offered a nursery class at another branch. They are adorable little buggers and only one cried all day. For brand new students this is an amazing feat. (They are 1-2 years old)

So basically this week was a bag of mixed nuts. I'm taking them as they come out of the bag...

She waits

She waits in darkness.
Solitary.
They come.
Straining against invisible bonds.
Scratching and scrabbling, swallowing.
In the end, she waits.
In darkness.
Solitary.

Sports Festival!!!!

Well, its finally here. I have been training my kids for 3 weeks now - and tomorrow is the big day. We will perform our dance to the Cha Cha Slide, and run in a sack race and a dress-up race. The kids are excited and so am I. I hope they do really well. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is getting up so damn early in the morning. I have to be in Yao at 9AM. Yao is not near my house. It involves taking a bus, the subway, the Kintestsu train and either another bus or a good 15 minute walk. Either way, I'm thinking its going to take at least an hour to get there. Wish us luck!

Tyson the Skateboarding Dog

This dog is my hero.

Check out his moves here.

Richards new do!

Check out the fantastic stylings of me - my husbands hair dresser. Hot bitch that he is!

Human Tetris

Funny!

Keep on truckin'

I've often commented to Karaoke Queen and Osaka Otaku about the insane pimped out trucks we see here in Osaka. Well, I was lucky enough to be walking home night when I had my camera, and this little beauty was parked at the side of the road. Score.

These kind of trucks are normally going so fast they often look like a blur when I try to take a picture, but I was fortunate this driver stopped to grab some beers at Lawsons.


The thing is that this truck is pretty tame in comparison to the others. I've seen others that look like they were rejected from the movie Transformers because they would be too badass ! I'm going to start a pool of photos of this kind thing in the future. Wish me luck.

Catching up Part III

As KQ's handle implies, she loves Karaoke. So when Scottish, as opposed to English (Lou), Louise's mum came for a visit we hit Obou in Kita for a night of singing. We chose to get the all night all you can drink soft drink (mixer) package. The gin and vodka in our bags were well appreciated by all.

Soon after we attended Dawn's Sayounara. We started at Slices for some pizza and then we headed to Cream bar for drinks and karaoke. We had to write the songs on slips of paper! How old school.

After partying with a lot of people, it was nice to relax at an intimate get together. This was a good way to describe Marina and Stephen's sayounara. We went to a place in Shinsaibashi for some great Italian food.

You'd think with everyone leaving that our circle of friends is shrinking. So we made some new friends. There was fresh blood and we broke them in with some Karaoke. We went out to Rainbow Karaoke with the newbies. They loved the drinking and singing.

Damn! So many people coming and going so what is one to do? Well, some friends of ours decided to have a party! We made our way to the Apaato party at Lou and Heather's place. There was a cake made for them and there were two rooms, one for some innocent fun while the other was reserved for naughty fun.

To break up the monotony of partying we decided to do some good old sightseeing. Originally it was a hike for me and Adelle, but Jamie really wanted to come to Fushimi Inari. Ikuyo came along as well and we had a great time even though it was hot.

After we hiked around Fushimi Inari we had plans to meet someone. Someone Jamie met through Facebook. That's how we ended up meeting Erika. Ikuyo came along for the All-you-can-eat shabu shabu (hotpot). It was easy to see that Ikuyo and Erika seemed to hit it off.

Once we had a day or two of rest we had a July BBQ on our rooftop. Usually we invite lots of people but this night was a smaller affair since people had to work and such. Some people wanted more notice. In any case we had the BBQ and finished it off with some marshmallows over the coals.

The BBQ was at the beginning of the week. To end the week I ended up meeting Jamie's co-workers. KQ works for an international preschool so I got to meet some of the people she'll hang out with. We went for drinks downtown and ended the night with Karaoke. Yes, again... we can never get enough!

Another week went by and we had another awesome weekend. This time we attended the Shin-Imamiya Party. The hosts were Steph, Mala, and Te Rae. They had so many people crowd into their apartment and the AC failed. No-one minded as it went into the morning. In fact Steph, KQ and I went for breakfast that morning.

Well, after breakfast, instead of sleeping, the three of us decided to go to Isonoura beach. We tried to convince others but they like their sleep. The girls rode the waves on some rented body boards and hung out in the sun. This was how KQ got burned so badly.

So now you know the hardship we've been through :)

Another Rocking Do!

I am sooooo rocking this haircut!



Yah!

Vindicated!

So remember how I said that a certain person kind of screwed me over? Apparently 2 other people that were employed at the same place quit! I feel alot better knowing that it really wasn't me and that the place of which I speak kinda sucked. Yah! Oh, I know it's a bit petty but I am dancing a little inside :D

Catching Up Part II

Next our friend Ryan, a fellow Canadian came to visit. We met him in Canada before coming to Japan. It was in the transition period after we moved down to Kelowna from Vancouver. KQ worked with him at a clothing shop. Anyway, he was visiting from Canada to make a second trip to Japan to see his girl Midori and they were passing through the Kansai region.

We let them stay at our place and took them to different places around the area. One day we took Ryan and Midori to Kiyomizudera temple and the Gion Matsuri. It was crazy crowded. We also met our friend Chieko, who KQ taught in Canada while getting her Teaching Engrish Certificate.

The next day I took Ryan and Midori to Nara. There we met up with Midori's friend Chiaki. I discovered Midori's love for interacting with nature. She had no problems playing with the deer or the cicadas.

After Nara we met up with KQ in Umeda. We were to go up to the top of the Umeda Sky Building. However, Midori spent time with her sister, who had been up the tower too many times to take her sister who had never been and probably will never in a long while.

Cedric's Parents parents came by after Ryan and Midori left for Fukuoka. Ced and Michiko took us and our friend Ikuyo to a great Oudon restaurant. It was yummy.

More to come...

Catching up. Part I

Hey!

It's been awhile. I've been so busy posting pics of our nefarious nights out at my own blog that I have neglected my duties here. I think the last major event that was mentioned here, excluding the new job and Scotland, was Lana's visit.

Well, after the trio left we were snowed under by a deluge of birthdays and sayounara parties. First there was Kirsten's down town sayounara. We hit a few different places as the night progressed. It was sad a little but we drowned the sorrows pretty well.

After that there was some beach fun. I was working so I missed out. It sounded like fun except for the beach police, who interfered with any fun activities that happened. No frisbees!

Like many others Kirsten needed a second sayo because who can leave Japan without one last night of drunken Karaoke?

Kirsten's departure didn't stop the fun machine as we had to hit the town for Adelle's birthday. We did it in style and hit two hotspots and danced the night away.

A few days later Jamie and Adelle expressed their creativity at an Art drawing thing. A guy we know opened an Art Gallery called SoHo and he holds various events for local artists.

The sayounaras just wouldn't stop. Ashleigh was a co-worker of mine and she was returning to New York. We went out for a small and intimate farewell dinner at a new to us Mexican restaurant.

More to come from Otaku...

Burned......

Ouch. I am soooooo burned. I hit the beach yesterday and came home looking like a lobster. I will be buying some new sunscreen as the one I have is obviously useless!

Ouch!

Going back home.

I returned to Scotland a few days ago and found it was still where I left it. Nothing had changed at all and the local people were still doing what they do best: being cheery in dreadful situations and conditions. I'd forgotten how poor some areas in Scotland are until I cam back and had to drive through them. I makes me appreciate the amazing opportunities I have living in Osaka.


Anyway, back to my little adventure. I'd just arrived at Heathrow with the lovely Sabs Batool (my partner in crime on this flight), when I met my parents waiting for me and the gate entrance. They'd been waiting for 3 hours and told me they were going to drive me back up to Glasgow. Eight hours in my dad's Mercedes going at warp 10 back up north. Rock on. What's a further 8 hours on top of a 14 hour flight...


After two days of weird sleeping patterns I decided to go hiking in the local hills. The weather was fair and the path was an easy 6 hour walk through gorgeous countryside. Needless to say, I took loads of pictures. Please enjoy these as I'm going to Edinburgh (Dun Eideann) and Falkirk tomorrow to take some more.