After considerable digging and raking and beer drinking, I have laid sod on my yard. I now have a small patch of grass I can call my very own. The grass comes in one foot by one foot squares instead of the rolls that I have seen at home. It took quite a while to get it all laid down. Now I have begun a steady course of watering and not walking on it. I really want to walk on though I must say. I haven't got any pictures of it yet because it looks quite crappy still. When it fills in and greens up I will let you know. I hope it takes but I really didn't know what I was doing so I will just keep my fingers crossed. The garden is coming along nicely though. Tom is constructing a deck also which is quite a good effort. We don't have large back yards but we are going to make the most of them. We had a few extra hands around as it was our Ken-wide talent show on Saturday night. It was a great show that was lots of fun. That night we went out to some new places in Matsumoto and got back to Shiojiri in the wee hours of the morning. It is difficult to motivate a work crew the morning after a bar night especially considering I went to bed around 5 that morning. But I was pretty much content to do it myself because I had never done it before and I wanted to see what kind of a job I could do at it.
The talent show was a lot of fun. Tom was in a play called Foreplay: The Art of the Fugue. It was a funny play about dating and mini golf. There were also bands, narrative poetry, a drag show and some solo performers on guitar, flute and voice. During the intermission there was an art and photo show as well. I entered in a collage of things scratched into my students’ desks. I printed then out really large. The print place didn't do them quite the way I wanted but it was still ok. They are the three pictures posted today. Before the talent show there was an ikebana class which Gisela participated in. Ikibana is Japan floral arrangement. It was taught in a very modern style I think because they only had one class but the end products looked pretty cool. We got seats right up front too which was great. The MC for the evening was quite funny as well. The whole thing felt like a JET conference without the annoying conference.
I went back to Elementary school this week too for the first time since the new school year. The one school that used to be quite difficult has greatly improved. There has been a shuffle of the staff and administration and it has made a big difference in my difficult classes there. Also, that school continues to have delicious lunches. I think that is because I go on beloved bread day. There is always a good accompanying soup with bread day. We had agipan which is a deep fried mini loaf of bread covered in powdered sugar and cheese. It is a little strange but it is quite tasty.
Next weekend we will be having Easter in Shiojiri. I know it is a little late but no one really knows that but us. I am having a colouring contest at my Elementary schools and will be helping out with the Easter egg hunt. They are still looking for a couple of people to be the Easter bunny but I gave that a pass. Because of the time difference it is still Mother’s Day in Canada but it was yesterday here in Japan. I thought it was in imported holiday here so I looked it up. In Japan, Mother’s Day was started by Christians starting around 1913, and by the 1930s large gatherings were being held to celebrate Mother's Day. The practice was halted during World War II, when Western customs were banned, but it was revived after the war, partly as a means of consoling the women and children who lost their husbands and fathers in the war. By 1949 the practice had spread to all parts of the country. It is pretty much the same as back home as far as I can tell, although I don’t know if carnations are not the flower of choice back home. We tend to think of them as a cheap flower at home but they are actually quite pretty when taken out of that context. I got the jump on Mother’s Day by calling my mom nice and early in the morning (my evening). I could tell by the grogginess in her voice at 6:30 in the morning that she was delighted to hear from me! Well Happy Mother’s Day anyways to all the moms out there but especially my Mom who will be here in just two more months for a visit. Can’t wait to see you mom! This is a picture of my Mom hard at work in the Easter Egg factory where she works...hehehe.