The grade 2 school pictures came home. Here they are.
Grade 2 - with Mr. Jude and Ms. Aikka
Friday, December 12, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Goodbye Tyra
Goodbye Tyra. Thank you for 13 years of wonderful times. You were a great friend.
Below is Sumire's good-bye letter to Tyra.
I have included captions below the images. Click for a larger image.
Tyra
Tyra is a dog. It is my cousins dog. She is a cute dog. When I was little I was afraid of her because I thout she is going to bite me. Now I am not afraid of her she does not bite me she licks me all over my face. She is a good friend. Sometimes I play with her in Canada and sometimes Tyra goes for a walk with anty Stacey and I go too. Tyra is kind and caring. she likes to smell the grass and chase cats and birds. When I go home to canada she well not be thier because she past away 2 weeks ago. A note for Tyra. I miss you Tyra. I love you. I will never forget you. Bye Bye Tyra.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Sumo - up close and personal
Today I had a very fortunate opportunity to join about 20 other lucky people to watch Sumo practice up close and personal at a 'stable - where the wrestlers live together' near our school. Two of the 3 highest ranked sumo wrestlers were there so the event drew a lot of press attention.
For two hours we watched as the wrestlers took it out on each other in round after round of intense practice. The wrestlers in the black outfits are amateurs and draw no salary. They are sponsored by their stable and live together with all the other amateurs in the stable dorm - sleeping in the same room together and practicing every morning from about 6am. They also serve as the servants for the professional wrestlers, in white outfits, who do draw large salaries and enjoy the celebrity lifestyle of professional athletes of Japan's national sport.
This opportunity was a wonderful peek into life in the very very very traditional world of Sumo.I look forward to attending Fall tournament in a couple of weeks with a much deeper respect for the sport.
For two hours we watched as the wrestlers took it out on each other in round after round of intense practice. The wrestlers in the black outfits are amateurs and draw no salary. They are sponsored by their stable and live together with all the other amateurs in the stable dorm - sleeping in the same room together and practicing every morning from about 6am. They also serve as the servants for the professional wrestlers, in white outfits, who do draw large salaries and enjoy the celebrity lifestyle of professional athletes of Japan's national sport.
This opportunity was a wonderful peek into life in the very very very traditional world of Sumo.I look forward to attending Fall tournament in a couple of weeks with a much deeper respect for the sport.
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| The stable owner was a sumo wrestler himself, Kotokaze. This is a statue of him defeating the top ranked Konishiki in his day. |
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| a plaque of Kotokaze |
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| This young boy holding the towels is 15 and he works hard to take care of the pro to whom he has been assigned. |
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| enjoying 'Chanko' hotpot after a hard day's work |
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| the tables were for us. After practice the wrestlers (the black outfit amateurs) served us all the typical Sumo wrestler dish of Chanko nabe and other great food |
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| interviews with the press afterwards |
Hachimangu Festival - a community effort
August is a huge time of celebration in our neighborhood with the Hanchimangu Shine festival. Every 3 years things are even more exciting - every neighborhood digs out their portable shrine and joins together dressed in traditional outfits to march the shrine over to the main Shrine and around the surrounding areas.
We had planned to go see the festivities as they parade up near the school but i was woken up by a bunch of cheering and noise as the shrines marched by our house in the morning so i had thought i slept in. But a quick check of the clock told me it was 5:45am and that the neighborhood take this festival very seriously!
Part of the festival is to throw water on the portable shrines - which has the added benefit of cooling off those carrying it on a hot summer day (you will see one shot of Sumire and Yuki's cousins son trying to throw water as well). Note how the different neighborhoods all wear outfits for their particular area. It seemed like all came out to walk with their neighborhood group in the parade and to switch off with carrying the shrine. I imagine there were a lot of tired people at work on Monday.
The event was an amazing display of one way Japan works together to build a sense of community.
We had planned to go see the festivities as they parade up near the school but i was woken up by a bunch of cheering and noise as the shrines marched by our house in the morning so i had thought i slept in. But a quick check of the clock told me it was 5:45am and that the neighborhood take this festival very seriously!
Part of the festival is to throw water on the portable shrines - which has the added benefit of cooling off those carrying it on a hot summer day (you will see one shot of Sumire and Yuki's cousins son trying to throw water as well). Note how the different neighborhoods all wear outfits for their particular area. It seemed like all came out to walk with their neighborhood group in the parade and to switch off with carrying the shrine. I imagine there were a lot of tired people at work on Monday.
The event was an amazing display of one way Japan works together to build a sense of community.
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| from our balcony at 545 am |
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| this guy couldn't get enough water! |
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