I made a yummy, yummy dinner a few nights ago. It was a bit of a strange pairing, but since I was the only one eating, it didn't really matter.
First I made agedashi dofu. It's a deep-fried tofu dish. Mmm, it was so good! I was too lazy to buy daikon, grate it and put it on the top of the tofu, but I did eat it with freshly chopped green onions and grated ginger.


Then I had kabocha soup. Kabocha is a Japanese pumpkin. It's much smaller than American pumpkins, looking more like a squash. Kabocha soup is served in restaurants a lot, but it's really delicious when you make it at home! I also added a little cream and fried onions on the top. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Love. Love. Love.
That is all.

I got to talk to my two favorite ladies on the phone last week, my mom and Lindsay.
What a nice treat it was!
It had been a little too long since I had talked to either. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and relax in the abandoned, little room beneath the school stairwell and talk on the phone!
I'm happy to report that Lindsay has accepted a teaching job in Savannah and will be moving there this summer. Yay, Lindsay! I'm so proud of you, girl.

I want to teach my elementary school students to play "rock, paper, scissors" tomorrow.
If you don't live in Japan, you're probably wondering why I would want to do that! If you do live in Japan, you already know that "janken" (the Japanese name) is an integral part of the society! Japanese kids janken numerous times throughout the day; for fun, to form teams, and they also use it to solve disputes or make decisions. Often janken is done in large groups.
For example, a whole class full of children can form two groups, or decide a winner through janken. That's been the hardest part of janken for me to understand. How do they do it? They're all just "janken-ing" rapidly and I can't tell what's going on, then all of a sudden, teams are formed, problem solved.
My JTE (Japanese teacher of English) called over a group of students today and tried to explain it to me through example.
It seems that everyone in the group has to be one of two things, otherwise it's a draw. So, if rock, paper and scissors all are represented, it's a draw and they janken again. But if everyone is either rock or paper, then all the winners (in this case paper) form a group and just wait, while the rest of the kids keep janken-ing.
It made a little more sense after I saw it, but it still goes way to fast and it takes the kids so little time to compute everyone's status that I really can't keep up!
I suppose it doesn't matter in the end, because the kids know what's going on. All I'll have to do is keep forcing them to do it in English, and we can play massive games of rock, paper, scissors for as long as I want!
Stan told me recently that he saw a piece on TV about janken variations all around Japan. It sounded like it gets even more complicated than the version I usually see in Mie!

Well, the Tokai region Kimono contest happened back in November, but I never managed to put up more than one picture! I will rectify that problem today.
The All-Japan Kimono contest will be on April 1st in Tokyo, so I'm getting quite excited!



Kate, me, Dave and Ryan waiting for the winners to be announced.


Smiling after I heard that I won second place!


Second, first, and third place in the foreigners division.


Dave with his trophy.


Receiving my second prize certificate.


Receiving my trophy from a woman with her obi tied like a tulip. Gorgeous, isn't it?


The first place winner receiving her certificate. Behind us are the children's contestants, the male contestants, and the women's casual kimono contestants.


My teacher, Tsuji Sensei and I after the contest.


Tsuji Sensei, me, and Aya, who also helped us with our training and preparation.


Everyone after the contest! I was still wearing my kimono, because I was on a contest high!

I'm going to the Philippines with Habitat for Humanity's Global Village program again this year!
Since our previous team leader, Ben, returned to the USA, I decided to take on the task of team leader this year, so that the Mie JET team would continue! It's been an amazing amount of work so far, and we haven't even got to the Philippines yet!
We are going to the Bicol region near the foot of the beautiful volcano, Mt. Mayon this year. Woohoo!

I can't wait to be in the Philippines again.
I can't wait to meet a village full of smiling people and happy children again.
I can't wait to help families have a safe, sturdy home of their own.
I just can't wait!!!