close to daily i come home to a new fax. generally, it's a somewhat complete outline of the material to be covered for various classes at any of my five schools. one of my shogakko's, however, is always a far cry from "somewhat complete." and i tell you what, if the only hint about a lesson plan i'm getting before i show up at a school is, "mother finger," why not just write the whole thing in kanji? ha!

and on a totally different note, i was driving home from hagi the other night and witnessed quite a sight; alas, i was driving and without camera. an ambulance, with sirens blaring and lights flashing came flying around a corner at what must of been, well, at least close to 40 km/h. i was actually really upset i didn't have my camera because here was the image: a slow ambulance literally holding up a procession of some six semi-trucks and countless cars. it was quite a sight, and i suppose some might argue risk of accident due to careless, life-saving speeds. if that be the case, i will make sure my worst injury over here isn't so bad that i don't have a few hours to kill before making it to the hospital...

lamest tambourine ever! 

megan and i began our halloween shopping in hiroshima this weekend. though this pirate ensemble kicked ass (and this is a shout out to the scurvy dogs back home; or is it the habs now? traitors), alas, i will be going as something much more outrageous. tut tut, no hints. the pictures will tell all that needs to be said... 

i don't know how many undokai's i've been to now, but i thought this guy's jacket deserved a shout out to the west side, yo! 

ahahahaha, and again. he was hurting here, but you should have seen the smile when he received the trophy. 

again, your winner... 

and here is your champion...my supervisor, takenami-senseii putting back is third platter of 14 pieces of sushi in under 3 minutes or something ridiculous; maybe it was a good think i didn't make it too far... 

oh man... 

i think some of the boulder homies would have fared better than i, but the man opposite me went all the way to the finals and i had to face him first round! he quickly stifled my dreams of finally becoming the sushi eating champion of the world...but i'll be back... 

welcome to the sushi eating challenge 2005!!!! another wonderfully novel idea my town employs to stay genki. the best part about these events is that nothing is ever half-assed. notice, if you will, part of the camera crew from hagi cable network covering the event; the official timers and their stop watches; a serious spread of food in the back in case you're not participating, or you just can't get enough food; and although you can't really see them, there was a nice little crowd on hand to the right cheering us participants on. 

some of the kids in my mountain chugakko were making characters for some kind of claymation project. this is all i could bring to the table. 

... 

some say that kencho is boring... 

the next day was one of the most outstanding days we've had in the ken since i've been here. fall has officially begun to cast long, noontime shadows of brilliant light, making for crisp, cool days and views to die for. this is a nice shot of my little town of nago as we were driving back from ato. 

and this pretty much sums up the rest of the evening... 

i can't remember what this was about, but i'm sure it was a great conversation...cheers, smith! 

someone started a rather innocent food fight with vegetables. before you know it, everyone is throwing raw beef...or rather, dan and i were throwing raw beef at one another... 

1, 2, 3, ne? 

there was a good turn out of JETS, but, really, when is there not? 

and what camping experience is complete without a pint sized steam-engine? this was a lovely, relaxing, four-minute ride, right up until us gaijins derailed the train.  

let's camping! sort of...welcome to the hokkaido of yamaguchi, ato-cho. this little slice of inaka brought back great memories of fall at home...sans trees changing colors (which occurs close to a month later over here), treeline, and "roughing it." this a nice example of one of the yurts we stayed in (with lights, hardwood floors, and the soothing sounds of friends putting friends to sleep...i say no more...) i miss camping back home, but it was nice to get outside. 

more karaoke fun. i'm not reborn or anything, but according to photos, i don't hate it anymore. besides, neal was the glue to this duet... 

i have never scene umeda-san (middle) so excited. he was so happy about that pink package! and thats my supervisor, genki as always on the right. they're a good bunch, the people of abu-cho, the lot of them... 

there was food, there was beer, and there was bingo! i won a basket (decorated with a camouflage bandana) and some manner of green tea bubble bath, or something. 

consume bento's and drink a lot of beer at the main event, the enkai