Looking to the future, I likely will come home on the 7th, only to jump ship a few days after for a “reunion” and Taiko conference in
Alright, here are some recent pictures.
Before our recent Taiko concert
Sayonara Party
Tsuru First Junior High School Sayonara Party for Marshall and I
One of my favorite coworkers. Cool story, ask me sometime.
Love and God Bless,
Amanda
The temple dates back to 798, but the present buildings were constructed in 1633. The temple takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu (清水) means pure water, clear water or limpid water. It is notable for its vast veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" (「清水の舞台から飛び降りる」) is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an
So although we didn’t “jump off the stage at Kiyomizudera,” we did manage to enjoy the temple. Here are some pictures of Kiyomizudera.
The next day we visited Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion. The history behind this building is also very fascinating. The building was originally designed and constructed as a retirement home for one of the Shoguns. Later his son converted it into a Rinzai Zen temple. The building is three stories high and the top two stories are covered in gold leaf. It has burned down multiple times, most recently in the early 1950’s. The temple complex also has some very nice gardens.
OK, one last note on
one word to comprehensively describe them! On one hand they are the most enthusiastic Japanese teachers I have had in awhile! I nicknamed one guy “Matty McChatty” because we didn’t stop talking the whole cab ride which was probably about 30 minutes. One man particularly stands out though because he was so kind. My mom, Omi and I took a cab and I told the driver the wrong destination, so wrong it was actually the other side of the city from where we wanted to go!! (>-<;) Once I realized what had happened I asked him to take us to the other destination. He agreed and also said he would turn off the meter after the fair hit 3000 yen, about 30 USD. He took us and he only asked us to pay 3000 yen. He had only been a driver for 4 days and to boot we were his first foreign customers! I’m sure
Well, we took the bullet train down and back from
We went out and took some really nice shots of Mt. Fuji
My family said they really enjoyed coming to Japan and I am really glad they came. Things have gotten back to normal. We started school this last Friday, but we won't have any classes for about another week because of all the administrative tasks that needs to be wrapped up. I hope your all doing well and drop me a line.
Aren't they cute!
My Omi!!! Everyone needs an Omi, but I am in a lucky family who has one.
Graduation Day! The students made this paper mosaic this past fall
Before the ceremony 
Two of my kindest teachers who aren't English teachers, Fumika Watanabe Sensei on the left is our school nurse and Toyoko Suzuki Sensei is the librarian. They rock my socks off! Suzuki Sensei gave me flowers from her garden on several occasions last year! Fumika Sensei teaches me fun and interesting Japanese and she is always laughing! Fun ladies! Fumika Sensei has a daughter who is a 2nd year student at one of my other schools.
Watanabe Sensei again and Hiromi Ogasahara Sensei! Ogasahara Sensei is our Office Administrator. She is sooo much fun! Our desks face each other and many times, when it's not to busy, we have dictionaries in hand trying to make conversation. 
My kids are so cute and now they are off to High school! Rock it third graders!!
The student on the left has a special place in my heart, I don't remember how it started but we nicknamed each other after Japanese children's cartoon characters. "Hi Doraemon. How are you?" "I'm good, how are you Anpanman?" Fun fun.
Girlies! 女の人
Cute! かわいい！
This girl was a fun student. In Japanese their is a children's song called かえるの歌 which means the frog song. I could never remember more than the chorus, but I taught her the English "frog song" (Down by the banks of the hanky panky...) to which she could never fully remember either, but it still was a fun exchange! Before graduation one student wrote a letter to one of the teachers and she wrote my letter. The kids told me that they thought my smile was really good and to keep smiling no matter how tough life gets.
This student was also fun! About a year ago she expressed extra interest in English and began to study really hard. I believe she even went to English camp this summer. She worked hard all year and she was able to get into the best high school, which is also nationally ranked, in our prefecture. がんばりました！
This is Takekawa Sensei and she wore a Hakama for graduation because she was a third year homeroom teacher. She is super cute and is a music and special education teacher. Our friendship began one day in the copy room when we started talking about chocolate. Takekawa Sensei LOVES chocolate! I brought some of my favorite German chocolate to school and had her try it and we have been swapping chocolate treats since then! Cross-cultural communication at it's best!
Students! 生徒だ！
More of my kids! 楽しい！(Fun)
More of my children! 面白い！(Interesting) Notice the student modeling the plant (^-^)v
Mt. Fuji
Miki and I
The way down Mt. Fuji... Leslie, what the heck was I thinking???
Yum, lunch
Dr. Fish, these little fishies munch on dead skin cells... yum?? Not for the ticklish/faint of heart! 
Marshall and Yoshiki playing Wii
Path to the shrine. It was so beautiful, my camera didn't even capture the real beauty.
Friends
I came back to
Tokyo Auto Salon!!! 
Rei left on Wednesday and we got the first snow of the season on Thursday. Mom says he isn’t to bummed about missing the white stuff. Thursday was just a few flurries that melted off, but we got some snow over the weekend that stuck. By my count we are on snow day number 2 with more snow forecast for tomorrow morning. I like how pretty everything looks covered in white. There is a famous shrine at the base of
Last for now, I went snowboarding this weekend! It was a little therapy for having family and friends for almost a month and then being alone again. This is my third time ever and first time this year. It was fun. I caught more speed and a few less falls this year and frankly I was just happy that I hadn’t forgotten everything in a year. Check out these pixels (^^)v
My face is pink from the mountain top wind and COLD!!
OK, two more pics of my bro to leave you with (^^)v I just gotta say I love photo boothes!! Don't you wish these were common where you live (^^)b
Alright everyone, drop me a line and I hope you are well.
God Bless,
Amanda
