Silver Ferns

Big news this morning - our netball girls have socked it to the Aussies (sorry Ellen, I do love you really) in a game in front of a Sydney crowd. Well done girls! With a score of 50-43, the Silver Ferns have proved yet again they are the best in the world. Check it out...
http://xtramsn.co.nz/sport/0,,12053-4522812,00.html
Today the rain is finally supposed to come, with no relief from the heat unfortunately. My air-con bill is gonna be huge. Dan and I are off to teach 4 classes in a row at the local Elementary school. With 36 kids in each class and a lot of hand-shaking going on, I am going to have to throw a bucket of de-germinator over myself when I get home. Now I just sound like Michael Jackson...

Hot In The City

Japan in June - rather bloody hot. It's usually around 28-30 degrees and humid. Technically this is the rainy season but we haven't had much rain at all. Good for me, bad for the poor farmers who want the rice to grow. The rice paddies are freshly planted in perfect little rows. The vivid green of the rice plants is one of the most beautiful things about summer and the nicest green I have ever seen.
I was out at Oi today, a 10 minute train ride north. Got called "Gaijin-san" (foreigner/alien) by a gaggle of shogakko (elementary) kids as I walked to the station after lunch. They were friendly enough I suppose.
My JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) did a brilliant job of designing activites which would require the students to write a lot but interact with me only at a minimum level. The one activity she allowed me to use in class she cut short. Not a bad day, just uninspiring.
Got paid yesterday, have done my calculations (fall NZ dollar, fall!) and now on strict saving regime so as to have maximum amount of money to blow in NZ on anything/everything. Despite buying a car, furnishing a house, endless yakiniku, trip to Korea, shopping blowouts in Hiroshima etc. I have still managed to save a modest sum this year with which to reinvest into outstanding balances - aka Pay Mum & Dad Back! Looking forward to stomping around the house declaring complete financial independance.
Now that The O.C season 2 and The Apprentice 3 has finished I needed some new TV to download - enter Desperate Housewives. I have downloaded the first series and it's interesting so far. Even Dan watches it and loves it. Very refreshing to see women taking their kids' ritalin to get thru the day. My favourite housewife is of course the frazzled one with the four kids. Dan's favourite is of course Eva Longoria. Nuff said! I really don't know what I'm going to do when Pimp My Ride and Joey runs out.
I have to say my luck has really turned lately - I have made some Japanese friends my own age finally. Now I just have to get myself a Japanese hobby. I really want to do shodo (calligraphy) so I will have to find out who teaches it at my base school and bully them into giving me some lessons.
Having a barbie here on Friday night - can't wait to chill out. Now that I have discovered that I like peanut butter, I think satay chicken kebabs are on the menu. Come on Friday!

Bloody hell I'm Kirsten

'You scored as Kirsten.
You are a perfectionist. Be weary of being too rigid and limiting your openness to varied experiences. Neat freaks are just as irrational as slobs. A half messy person is, in fact, the ideal. Optimal evolution (according to the research) is dependent on a sufficient amount of random variation and being overly regimented inhibits variation.'
Kirsten
78%
Marissa
78%
Julie
78%
Hailey
72%
Seth
72%
Summer
67%
Oliver
66%
Ryan
56%
Caleb
50%
Jimmy
50%
Anna
45%
Luke
44%
Sandy
44%
What OC character are you?

Blissful

First of all, Happy Birthday Christine! Fellow ALT Chris from Canada has her birthday today, we are heading to San Marco (fab Italian joint) tonight to celebrate. They have the best salad, pizza and even a whole cabinet of home-made ice-cream and sorbets.....OISHI!
Well, I just can't complain today. I am out on Oshima, an island 25 mins off the coast of Hagi. I have had 2 classes so far and it is everything good that the JET program should be - fun, helpful JTE (who has been overseas and realises there is life outside of Japan), students who expect to be spoken to in natural speed English and also respond when spoken to. Students who enjoy their classes and want to be there. Small classes of only about 10 kids. It's fantastic!
If only all my other students would talk to me this much....
Am in the advanced stages of planning Dan's birthday dinner on Saturday night. I am cooking him Italian food. We are having - starter - tomato and mozzarella salad served with basil and olive oil, to be dipped with crusty fresh bread - main - beef lasagne and green salad - dessert - baked espresso cheesecake with dark chocolate marbling - vino - red, Italian and lots of it!
Of course you can probably tell, its my dream to have my own cafe. Self-employment runs in the family and if you can make it work there are some exhilarating highs. Unfortunately growing up with it I also know the lows - what if I don't make any money this week, who do I hire, how do I do a business tax return, the endless cleaning - but yep I'm definately thinking about it for the future. Until then, Dan & friends are the guinea pigs!

Not Guilty

Struck me as kinda ironic today as I watched a news clip about Michael Jackson being found not guilty of child molestation. I really haven't made up my mind about this one, but there are an awful lot of reports about him sleeping with boys and giving them alcohol in a can ('Jesus Juice')
He clearly is out of his mind either way. If he really is not guilty then maybe he should be thinking about why there is enough evidence for him to keep getting dragged to court. Don't bunk down with the boys, Michael!
And if he is guilty? What about his victims. He gets to walk away, sure his reputation is a little tarnished, but with half the rights to the Beatles' music still in his possession, he's not exactly on the bones of his arse.
The Schapelle Corby case still toils in the background. It's a very very strange world we live in indeed - especially when I get the image of an innocent woman in a filthy, corrupt Indonesian prison for the rest of her life. Michael will be no doubt be, in contrast, ordering a fresh glass of carrot and celery juice and changing into a pair of brand new socks. He refuses to wear the same pair twice I've heard.
Fascinating.

Fireflies

Last night we went out at about 9pm for a drive into the countryside with Gerard (3rd year) and Cho-rong (my neighbour, Korean student) to see the fireflies that are out this time of year. It was my first time seeing them and it really was amazing. It's like bright little moving stars buzzing around in the air. A magical night.
Today is 8 weeks til I go home. Before I know it, I'll be on the plane there. Yippee!

Welcome to the Jungle

No, peeps, we are not just imagining it. It really is a war out there.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/06/09/japan.school.ap/
Check out this CNN website for the latest news on a kid in Hikari who just threw a molotov cocktail bomb during class. I hope none of you were involved in this (Kirk, Ellen?)
Bullet-proof vest anyone?

Appeal to Third-Years

The year is racing by so fast. I am sure those feeling especially like that is the 3rd year JETs among us who are busy packing, ticking off their to-do lists and preparing to say goodbye to all things Japanese.
This post is a special appeal to a few certain 3rd-years (you know who you are) to please not forget something very important to do before you leave. Try a curry donut!!!!!!!!! You have to do it. I went to my local conbeni today and found they had a new Summer Vegetable variety. It was fabulous of course.
So don't be a curry 'fraidy cat. Eat one!

Jodi-chan's Birthday - 3 years old!

Well, time for me to post something positive! This Sunday will be the 3rd birthday of The Light Of My Life aka Jodi. She is my niece. I am sad that I can't be there to make her a birthday cake. Last year I made her a really awesome butterfly cake complete with liquorice antennae. Sigh! I can't wait to finally see her again in a couple of months, all grown up. She has just started kindy at the same one we all went to as kids. Last Christmas she made her debut in the Nativity Pageant as an angel. Probably wearing one of our old costumes. The circle of life!
So, Happy Birthday Jodi, if I had a teleporter I would be at home this Sunday to eat Grandma's roast chicken with you. Lots of love forever, Aunty Rosie xoxooxxooxxoox

Innocent

I am probably the millionth person in the world to blog about this, but it's something I feel I have to get off my chest.
I am talking about the Schapelle Corby case. If you have no idea what I'm talking about check out www.schapellecorby.com.au. Basically she is the victim of a nasty Australia-Indonesia drug smuggling ring that is carried out by Qantas baggage handlers. I have been following the case for a month or so now. It reached it's agonising climax last Friday when she was sentenced by the very wise and learned Indonesian judges to 20 years in prison. Outrage across Australia has been phenomenal to the point where the Indonesian Embassy was the target of attacks.
It took me all of about 2 minutes reading about her case to see she has been set up. The thing that really pisses me off is that while there are protest Bali Boycotts going on and attacks on the Indonesian Embassy, it is actually gutless Australian baggage handlers who are to blame. These lowlives rifle through peoples luggage, stealing and smuggling drugs. I have just watched an interview with an Australian couple who went to Bali 8 years ago. They were unpacking in their hotel room when they found a shoebox full of dope in one of their bags. Had they been found with that at Customs they would probably still be forgotten in a stinking hellhole. They contacted the Australian Consulate who advised them to flush it down the toilet, pronto.
So who put it there? This kind of corruption is obviously well established and tolerated. Shame on the Australian government (not to mention the airlines themselves) for not maker a bigger effort to eradicate the criminals. I am also blown away by the Indonesian judges boasting that they have never granted a not guilty ruling. They ignored all Schapelles witnesses and refused evidence from Australia. They have put the onus on her to prove she is innocent, until then she is guilty in their eyes. Basically until she can find the person who will stand up in an Indonesian court and admit they did it, she is screwed. Makes you wonder if it is really 2005.
The message that we all need to take from this is: Lock Your Luggage. We are all young and travelling a lot and unfortunately some of the countries we travel to don't share the same sentiments about human rights. I for one will be thinking twice about where I travel to. I don't want to end up at the mercy of a country that thinks it's okay to shove people in front of a firing squad for 4 kilos of marijuana.
The thing that scares me about this world sometimes is the abuse of power there is out there not to mention the corruption. If it was up to me, no drug would be illegal. From what I have seen over my lifetime, the black market caused by laws against drugs seem to do as much damage as the actual drugs themselves.
May Schapelle be released sooner rather than later, and may she not lose her mind in the hell on earth that is her prison cell. And to all the other like her out there....we remember you.