Still kickin'
I just have to write in this to break the cycle of not writing in this. I keep meaning to, and then start thinking of all the things I want to cover.. Christmas, job, Claudia and Marcus's various ongoings, Thailand... and then I say to myself "I will put aside a half hour and write about it all from where I left off in December" (December!) and never end up having that time. So here I am, not covering anything really.
Well here goes the short version. Christmas was good and Marcus was actually excited about opening presents this year. New Year's we stayed home obviously and had a quiet family countdown together. From February 22nd to March 15th we were in Thailand for vacation.. an area called Rawai close to Phuket Town. That was really lovely and also really hard at times with two babies. Marcus had a blast though, he loved the beach and running around barefoot in the sand. I had bought him a swim helper thingy and by the end of our trip he was totally comfortable in the water. The only downer of the whole thing was the flight there and back... Marcus does NOT fly well anymore and was freaking out about having to wear a seatbelt, and wanting to get off the airplane. Making it worse was the fact that Oli does not respond well to Marcus freaking out so my nerves were shot trying to calm down two cranky boys. Ugh. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT. For those three weeks in Thailand it was completely worth it.
Well as soon as we came back from Thailand I started work, the first two weeks was training and preparing my classroom for a new school year (academic year starts in April in Japan). From this Tuesday our classes officially started and I've been teaching my new nursery students all this week. My mother-in-law and her boyfriend Ray came from the UK to visit since last Friday, they are staying at our house and it's making the whole starting work thing a teensy bit more hectic. Marcus also started his new class one level up and Claudia started nursery school too so there's a bunch of new things I have to remember for both of them (packing their bags, futons, etc). I have been drop dead busy and omg I appreciate the weekend now!
It's also cherry-blossom season in Kyoto and as usual, absolutely breathtaking. I'm sad that I was working everyday so I didn't have a lot of time to appreciate it. But we went to Nijo Castle after my work on Wednesday to see the light-up (they illuminate the trees at night, very pretty) and when I go to work in the morning there are trees right outside on the way.
Today we have the entrance ceremony for Claudia at the nursery school, and then in the afternoon I'm taking my MIL to Gion (geisha district) to see the Miyako Odori. I went last year with my friend Dre who was visiting. Basically it's a dance that all the geisha-in-training (maiko) do, very elaborate with a storyline and backdrops and in a theatre. They do it every April, but you know... You can only see it in Kyoto, in April.. and there are only so many geisha and maiko left... so it really is a neat thing to watch.
Claudia is getting bored now so off I go to entertain.
Well here goes the short version. Christmas was good and Marcus was actually excited about opening presents this year. New Year's we stayed home obviously and had a quiet family countdown together. From February 22nd to March 15th we were in Thailand for vacation.. an area called Rawai close to Phuket Town. That was really lovely and also really hard at times with two babies. Marcus had a blast though, he loved the beach and running around barefoot in the sand. I had bought him a swim helper thingy and by the end of our trip he was totally comfortable in the water. The only downer of the whole thing was the flight there and back... Marcus does NOT fly well anymore and was freaking out about having to wear a seatbelt, and wanting to get off the airplane. Making it worse was the fact that Oli does not respond well to Marcus freaking out so my nerves were shot trying to calm down two cranky boys. Ugh. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT. For those three weeks in Thailand it was completely worth it.
Well as soon as we came back from Thailand I started work, the first two weeks was training and preparing my classroom for a new school year (academic year starts in April in Japan). From this Tuesday our classes officially started and I've been teaching my new nursery students all this week. My mother-in-law and her boyfriend Ray came from the UK to visit since last Friday, they are staying at our house and it's making the whole starting work thing a teensy bit more hectic. Marcus also started his new class one level up and Claudia started nursery school too so there's a bunch of new things I have to remember for both of them (packing their bags, futons, etc). I have been drop dead busy and omg I appreciate the weekend now!
It's also cherry-blossom season in Kyoto and as usual, absolutely breathtaking. I'm sad that I was working everyday so I didn't have a lot of time to appreciate it. But we went to Nijo Castle after my work on Wednesday to see the light-up (they illuminate the trees at night, very pretty) and when I go to work in the morning there are trees right outside on the way.
Today we have the entrance ceremony for Claudia at the nursery school, and then in the afternoon I'm taking my MIL to Gion (geisha district) to see the Miyako Odori. I went last year with my friend Dre who was visiting. Basically it's a dance that all the geisha-in-training (maiko) do, very elaborate with a storyline and backdrops and in a theatre. They do it every April, but you know... You can only see it in Kyoto, in April.. and there are only so many geisha and maiko left... so it really is a neat thing to watch.
Claudia is getting bored now so off I go to entertain.