Random Festival in Fujieda - Saturday.

When I walked to work yesterday, I passed some kind of festival happening down the street from my apartment. Lots of people were dressed in yukata and the shrine was decorated with the Japanese flag and such. I wished I didn't have to go to work so I could check out what was happening. But, duty called.
After work, I discovered that the festival was still going on, so I rushed home, grabbed my camera, and went back to get some shots.

Harvesting the Rice

There are many beautiful rice fields here in Shizuoka prefecture. They remind me of the farms back home. The rice has been growing all summer, and in the last few weeks, the farmers have begun to harvest it.

Typhoon Melor

Well, it was serious in other areas of Japan, but in my town, all we felt from the typhoon was a lot of wind and rain. I woke up a few times during the night from the noise, but when I got up this morning, the sky was as blue as could be and the clouds were clearing out.

Typhoon's a-comin'!

My first typhoon experience.

There's no danger in my area - just really strong winds and lots of rain.

Teacher of the Month...

Every month my company sends a newletter to the foreign teachers in our area, which includes a lot of little tidbits about teaching and general information. There's also a Teacher of the Month section and this month, my little old picture was on that page!

My school's manager nominated me in August and the main office chose me and another teacher. Woot woot! I get an engraved pen and a little blurb in the newsletter. But the best thing is that my manager really appreciates my work. Summer was so busy for me - I tried my hardest to do every task well and that effort was recognized. That makes me feel good.

Darn typhoon season.

When I moved into my apartment in Japan, I noticed that my window didn't have a screen. I thought this was typical of most Japanese buildings, since the windows at my schools don't have screens either, so I didn't complain.
But the last few weeks have been so sunny and nice and I really wanted to open my window and enjoy them, but without letting a bunch of creepy Japanese bugs into my apartment. So I asked my school's manager to help me get a screen. Last week, we went to the Japanese version of Home Depot and discovered that we had to special order a screen and it would be delivered in 10 days. No problem - 10 sunny days passed by with the hope of a window screen in the near future.
The window screen arrived today.
And typhoon season has started in Japan. It's going to be rainy all week.
Waaaaaah waaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Birthday Yakiniku!

My birthday isn't until the 25th, but this weekend, four of my students treated me to an awesome yakiniku dinner.

Yakiniku is one of my favorite Japanese meals. You order a bunch of raw meat and cook it on a little grill built into your table. It's fantabulous.

I had a wonderful time with my students and was so grateful to be treated to dinner. Their only stipulation was that I stay in Japan longer.