The night skies of Himeji remind me of a scene from 'Madagascar' when Alex comments, "Look, the star's out", and it turns out to be a helicopter!
15 - "The White Masai"
Here are some piccies from our classes so far.
I was asked if I would be willing to go to the local Elementary school and teach them English. "Sure", I said. My enthusiasm slowly turned to confusion and intrigue when I was told I would teach one 45 minute lesson to 100 students! What the? I was afraid I would feel like a one-man band, singing and carrying on having to entertain these kids. With the help of a colleague at Sanyo J H, we formed a plan. 
In the gym, the 100 6th graders were arranged in a horseshoe and I had a whiteboard at the front. I started by introducing myself and told them a bit about my life in Australia. Next they asked me some questions, both in Japanese and English. Mr Fujiwara came in extremely handy as he had to act as the interpreter, not only for the kids, but for me too! The first activity we did was a game where they had to win cards off others by playing Janken (rock, paper, scissors), the winner asking the loser "Do you have a ______" and had to guess what kind of animal card they had in their hand. If the guessed correctly the loser handed it over. The students who'd collected the most cards got a prize. Thanks to Jess and the ever generous Australia Post, I had many little prize packs to give away. The kids thought it was Christmas! The packs consisted of a pen, balloon, stamps, a colouring in sheet and a booklet about Dangerous Australian Animals. At this point I must explain why I look like Ranger Stacey! The title of my T-shirt is "Dangerous Australians", Jono and I thought it was pretty funny (maybe a little bit true!), hence me wearing the shirt! Mr Fujiwara even asked me, "Are you a dangerous Australian?" I answered yes, of course!!
The next game used the same technique of Janken and question asking, this time it was Bingo. Students had a sheet filled with names of different famous Japanese people. They had to assume an identity and go around asking people "What's your name?" They would then check this name off their sheet and try to get Bingo. Well, there were apparently about 20 kids who got Bingo at the last minute (the Aussie teacher in me says they may not have all been truthful!) so I didn't have enough prizes for everyone. And how do you solve these issues in Japan? Well, you play Janken against the teacher!! So the whole 20 kids and I chanted "Janken Hoi" to decide who got the remaining prize packs. It was very entertaining as the kids are quite serious about this game!
At my first visit back to Arakawa Elementary school I saw some pretty impressive sights. Before school the entire student body was out on the 'track' in formation wearing their hats either the right way on (white) or inside out (red). I later learned that they were rehearsing for their Sports Day and the two team colours were white and red. They all lined up in their lines and followed the teachers out the front as they lead the warm up. After practising to form different configurations (a huge circle, straight lines, lines in their teams) they jogged back to class.
During 4th period they had further Sport Day practise. This time it was like they were doing a gymnastics demonstration. It was amazing. These little kids in their blue shorts, white t-shirts and no shoes had legs and arms going everywhere forming perfect human periods and crazy backward handstands. I was mesmerised as the kids did each movement (each dictated by a drum beat) in unison and with ease.
A few weeks ago we helped Hideo with his PhD studies into English Linguistics. As his family has a small strawberry farm he said that as thankyou he would take us out there. Unfortunately there was only room for 4, but we were lucky enough to get on the trip.
I'm going to Strawberry Fields." Actually, that part is fake but the other stuff has been completely true!!! After a couple of nervous moments (unfortunately he hadn't learnt that eye contact is not necessary when you are driving!), we had wound our way through the trees and rolling hills to the family home.
I'm not sure if it has previously been mentioned but if there was a Miss Universe Parade for Strawberries Miss Japan would win both the evening gown section and the swimsuit. There would be no need to answer that she hopes for World Peace and wants to be a marine bioligist... We already know she is sweet... Not that I have too much experience here but Miss Japan has my vote all day every day!
After picking we headed into the house, where Hideo's mum had been cooking all day... At first we ate some of the strawberries with a choice of yoghurt or icecream... The health conscious amongst us (those wanting to look like Miss Japan for real!) took yoghurt, but those with a sweeter tooth took to the icecream like a duck to water.
So another Saturday arrived, another Saturday has nearly gone (the sun is setting as we write) and we went back to the castle... again! This time however there was no steep stairs, no women in kimonos and a temporary grandstand that looked like it had been stolen from Adelaide Oval. There were however, a lot of white bum cheeks, though not nearly as large as the sumos, however wearing the same attire.
There was the biggest crowd I've seen at one of these shin digs, although I have missed a few. The street was cordoned off and there were more traffic dudes with lightsabers than usual. As we arrived there were lots of these portable shrines being carried on the shoulders of men. Apparently the shrine is a representative of local areas. They stopped in various spots (coincidentally this usually coincided with the bigger crowds) and heaved these shrines into the air three times. Having carried these things from somewhere near the station this was quite an effort. They eventually made it to the castle.
We followed the crowd over the bridge and through the entrance to the castle. The many beautiful portable shrines had been propped up on display in a restricted area. Many people were lined up around the fences taking photos (yes, of course I was one of them) and just looking on in awe. Each portable shrine weighs about 1 tonne and has 50 men carrying and throwing it into the air. Incredible. Not a lot seemed to be happening here so we followed our noses (motivated by hungry tummies) back across the road to where many food stalls were set up on an oval.
There were food tents galore selling okonomiyaki, tako yaki, fried chicken, yaki soba, oysters, Japanese sweets, toffee strawberries, toffee grapes, ice cream and beer! After a satisfying lunch of shared fried chicken and yaki soba we wandered around the grounds. 
There were many kids pulling some blow-up dogs on wheels. They were quite cute and the kids loved them. An interesting concept. In the middle of the grounds were two drums set up for public amusement and use. 
Tina climbed onto the frame of one drum and got a lesson from an experienced Japanese drum player. After this we headed to the roof of the Egret Centre for a birds eye view of the festivities. The view of the castle was quite spectacular as you can start to grasp actually how prominent a land mark it is.
14 - "Nineteen Minutes"By Jodi Picoult
Another brilliant read from Jodi Picoult. This book is about a boy, Peter Houghton, who goes to his high school and opens fire on all students and staff killing 10 and injuring 19. There is a tangled web of people involved in the court case within the close community, the star witness to the crime, Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case. This story really got to me as I felt the pain and frustrations of the characters. It had a surprising ending, something Picoult is famous for, and didn't end the way I expected. A great book.
So Golden week has almost come and gone... With nearly all of the public holidays having come and gone we made the most of the last one and headed with a group of people down to Okayama to take part in a cycling tour... Having made the 90 minute trek which inviolved some rather picturesque views along the way, we took another short train trip out to the countryside... We hired our bikes, some fought over the red ones and we were on our way... 
We took a leisurely stroll through the countryside, stopping at one rather large temple... Unfortunately for us the largest part of the temple was under construction and therefore unable to be entered... It also had some nice gardens and generally nice grounds... 
After getting back on the road we stopped in at a pegoda... this baby stuck out like a sore thumb in the countryside, as it was really the only structure in sight as the hills rolled gently along... Nice little spot really... Didn't head inside but gave people an excellent picture opportunity which most took, although not me personally... Personal thanks to Jodi who continues to amaze with the speed of her finger on the old Pentax...
The Japan Toy Museum "has one of the biggest collections of toys in the world and houses more than 80,000 items, including Japanese folk toys and the toys sold at cheap sweets stores, as well as toys and dolls from nearly 140 countries around the world. Many rare toys that are no longer available are also on display." We played in the special "hands-on" play corners, and enjoyed playing with the many different toys. Jono and I bought a couple as souvenirs and will enjoy seeing people trying to play when we get them back home. 
We saw the special dolls they bring out for Girls Day and Boys Day. March 3rd is the Hina Matsuri - the festival in which Japanese people pray for health and happiness for girls. Each family with a girl displays "Hina" dolls, which became popular in the 18th Century. May 5th is boys day. They display small samurai dolls. You can even buy them at Toys 'R' Us, costing hundreds of dollars! I loved looking at all the old toys. Some certainly brought back some memories.
VISITORS COMMENTS
at stopped at Hitomi's parents' house to see their small Japanese garden. I couldn't imagine having to drive up this extremely narrow driveway. In the garden there was a natural spring running from a pipe into the garden as well as some beautiful plants. One plant in particular is used in wasabi, big green leaves. They also had some pretty tulips growing. A natural spring runs from the local mountains and in this town there's place where you can fill your water bottles with the fresh, clear water. We tasted some and it was the best water I've ever tasted.
Before we began our plant-hunting adventures we had lunch at a soba restaurant. This type of soba is made from buck wheat and has a dark grey colour. The soba noodles we ate were made at the restaurant.Our delicious lunch (again required chopsticks, not that this worried mum and dad anymore!) consisted of soba noodles in a broth, wild rice with carrots and wild plants, tempura (fried) wild plants and pickles. Yum, yum, yum. After the meal Dad took the bill for the table and paid. When the ladies discovered that this was going on they almost had a panic attack! It is not Japanese custom for guests to pay for others' meals, but once they settled down they were very grateful.
Miyuki's friends were on the hunt for some really small wild plants, similar to those we ate for lunch. After spending time walking up a path and studying the hillside, the 7 of us found a total of 3 plants! Mum managed to find what looked like the wild plants we were searching for, only to be informed that they were a mere imitation! Not your most successful day, but at least we weren't depending on them to feed us! It was such a different feeling being in the countryside compared to the city. We heard birds call and swatted away large mozzie-looking insects. The best part was chatting with Miyuki who taught us Japanese animal noises! Hilarious.
Looking down on the city of Kyoto at night was magnificent. The street lights continued for as far as the eye could see, and the neon lights gave a whole new atmosphere. I was mesmerised by watching the many taxis driving along the roads. They looked like toy cars. We found an instrumental machine that measures the movement of the tower, and this being a windy night, had a lot of movement drawn on the paper (much like a seismograph). Just remember we were higher than 100m from the ground. Here is Mum and I with the Kyoto Tower mascot.
You can't come to Japan and not eat Ramen. We decided to continue the culinary introduction of Japanese food and so went to a Ramen restaurant for dinner. We had to use the vending machine outside the entrance to order our meals (pictures are soooo good!) and we were quickly seated inside. Test #2 on use of chopsticks...can you pick up noodles swimming in broth? Once again Mum and Dad did really well and enjoyed this soup type dish with pork, spring onion, noodles, dumplings and cabbage. Tasty!
