on and around kokusai

here's an idea of what i see to and from work...






Listening to okinawan rappers outside my bedroom window.

good holiday so far

here's a birthday card miriam made for me : ) i think the d in delphine is from disney and the p is for peanut in some sort of peanut butter bar. any other ideas?


on saturday morning matt showered me with gifts and we had cake for breakfast. we were a little groggy from 100 yen beers the night before but that didn't stop the celebrations.
after that we met our friend toshie at 10am and headed to the famous italian restaurant.i had the hair of the dog that bit me with this delicious apricot liquer drink...


then our delicious pizza arrived...yum!


this little cat peared out from some sakura to wish me a good day...


on the 25th kokusai street shut down and kids had the opportunity to show their talent with chalk drawings...




today yoshiko and her niece noriko made us a delicious tsukiyaki meal...


here's a pic matt took...


here's a photo of matt being scolded for putting some trash in the wrong bin...tsk tsk.


and here's some more cake...


one more day off, it's been a fabulous few days so far!

listening to LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

five days off

Ahhhh one more day of work and then I have five days off. It’s going to be great! On Saturday we have a friend who’s going to drive us north for a wonderful birthday lunch at Pizza Café Kajinhou. We’ve heard terrific things about this place. It’s a small restaurant located right on the coast with a great view of Ie, Minna and Sesoko Islands. The owner is a French chef and the only items on the menu are pizza, salad and fresh juices…sounds intriguing n’est pas? We think so too. Hopefully the weather will be nice and clear.

On Monday my student Yoshiko is going to have us over for tsukiyaki. First we’re going to go to the local market to help her out with the shopping and then we’ll watch and learn as she works her magic.

I saw Yoshiko on Monday and she was kind enough to show me her wide selection of kimonos. She has 20 in total! It was a real treat sitting on the tatami mat and having her show me all the beautiful fabrics and sashes. It takes the average person about an hour to put a kimono on and they aren’t built for comfort.

Here are a few pics I took on Monday afternoon…

Listening to Fugiya Miyagi – Transparent Things

back on line

Sorry for the long pause. We lost our free internet back in January and finally got some wireless hooked up yesterday.

Well, my time working here in Japan has paid off. I finally got my baby a couple of weeks ago and she’s so sweet. I especially love shooting from the hip. I’ve never had the luxury of an auto focus camera so I’m having so much fun.

7 more weeks of work and I can kiss my job goodbye. I’m a little nervous about what I’m going to do when I get home but hopefully I’ll find something quickly…but not too quickly. Our sense of time has been so bizarre as of late. The days are long but the weeks are fast. Summer is teasing us here and there, we caught ourselves some sunburns whilst whale watching with our friend Sao a few weeks ago but nowadays our cheeks are rosy due to more chilly temperatures.

This is my private student Yoshiko. I go to her place once a week where she serves me tea and mochie and we chat about current events. She's wonderful to hang out with.

Here's a pic taken inside a noodle shop we like going to...

I’ve posted a few pics on my flickr site so check em out when you get a
chance.

Xo

D

Listening to Air – Pocket Symphony