-
More attention-seeking behaviour
Last Friday night, Eleni got to ride in an ambulance for the second time in Japan — except this time she was the one strapped into the little bed.
Friday was the last night of training in the school gym before the big beach volleyball tournament on Sunday. Eleni has been very diligent at attending the Read more... -
Be careful what you wish for
Seems like only yesterday that I was cursing the heat and humidity, and now we’re in the midst of a good old-fashioned cold snap. The other night when I took the kids to soccer training I was wearing three layers plus jacket and beanie and still shivering like mad.
This has given us a chance to Read more... -
How to make a maiko
First of all, what’s a maiko? Ruby’s recent dress-up experience in Kyoto was called “maiko” rather than “geisha” as we might expect.
That’s because in Kyoto they don’t use the term geisha; the correct word is “geiko”. And an apprentice geiko is called a maiko, so there you go.
Anyway I thought it might be fun to Read more... -
Kyoto
OK strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a big one.
Last weekend we took a three-day trip up to Kyoto to fulfill a longstanding promise to give Ruby an ancient traditional cultural geisha dress-up experience.
I must admit to having been a bit apprehensive about the trip for weeks beforehand (the journey there, that is, Read more... -
We love Hiroshima
Eleni and I had to go into Hiroshima City the other day to get our Japanese drivers licences, since our international driver’s licences are about to run out. It takes about an hour and a half to get in to the centre of Hiroshima and at first this seemed like an annoying imposition, but then Read more...
-
Festival lite
On Sunday the Mihara No. 4 Junior High School Brass Band held a joint performance with the Mihara No. 1 Junior High School, another smallish school located about 20 mins away across the other side of town. The two schools often get together like this because, let’s face it, neither of them have the numbers Read more...
-
It’s started…
That noise again. Endlessly repeated, like nails on blackboard, over and over again, until you think you might just go mad. It sets your teeth on edge, it makes you want to run screaming for the exits but you can’t, you’re trapped inside, you have to stay, you have to get the shopping over and Read more...
-
Brass and potatoes
Wednesday was a national holiday today. Our longstanding friend Mr Nishihara, who grows vegetables on a small plot near his flat, invited us to join in his Potato Harvest Festival (loosely translated), which is basically him getting together with a few mates at a picnic spot by the river to make up a stew of Read more...
-
Skool open day
Last Sunday was another open day at Sunami primary school. Or not really an open day, but a “come along and view a normal class” day. These are held a couple of times each term including on a Sunday every now and then, presumably to give all the overworked fathers a chance to come along Read more...
-
Takehara bamboo festival
When Ruby was in hospital a while back to have her appendix out, her teacher came in to visit. (Teachers in Japan take their pastoral care pretty seriously; it’s not just a phrase that gets put in the glossy prospectus to make parents feel all warm and rosy.) And while we were chatting away in Read more...
Welcome to Sushi on a Stick
This blog is about the adventures of a family of Australian barbarians spending two years in the islands of southern Japan. Stay tuned for regular updates on the food, the culture, the earthquakes, the wacky festivals, the school system and more. Read more
- Adventures (20)
- Armageddon (7)
- Culture (31)
- Daily life (60)
- Food (6)
- Getting there (9)
- Misc (3)
- Parenting (2)
- School (24)
- Settling in (13)
- Technology (3)
- The kids (18)
- With pics (81)
Comments
Recent Comments