Hello friends and family,
Sorry I have been so bad about posting recently. I have been tired and struggling with morning sickness (again) and did not want to type up all the whiney posts I was composing in my head. I have thrown up 4 times in the last 7 days (at work all times) and I am just so ready for fall to come. I hope if I can just power through September, I will be able to make it. I think my nausea is being aggravated by the heat (temperatures in the 80s and 90s every day) and my seasonal allergies, but I cannot take any medicine because I'm pregnant! The recent bouts of morning sickness have not been nearly as bad as they were back in the first trimester (I am able to eat a bit more than just toast and crackers, and I have been keeping my prenatal vitamins down), but I am just tired of feeling so crappy. I really need to start doing those prenatal yoga tapes because I can feel my stamina and muscle tone deteriorating every day. I won't have the energy to deliver this baby if I do not get my act together and just push through the negativity and self-pity I have been stuck in!
I am truly happy to be pregnant and every single time our baby kicks me I stop and smile. She is kicking all the time now, usually a couple of times per hour, but sometimes I think she is napping in there so I will go a while without feeling anything. Or perhaps she is awake but still too small and is kicking me in the back or in my tummy fat, lol. I love her so much already and I love Jonathan more everyday now that we are becoming parents. I am so so so very lucky to have Jonathan in my life. He is the best man I could ever hope for. I am trying to hard to recognize when I am "pregnancy crazy" so that I don't freak out about little things, but he is just so patient no matter what I say or do. He takes care of me emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially (although I try to take care of myself in all those areas too). He does more than 60% of the housework: cooking, doing dishes, cleaning, and taking care of the garbage. I totally owe him a dishwasher when we get back to America. And a maid. We enjoy cooking so I think we can skip the chef. I am sure that once the baby comes, I will have a new person in this world that I love completely and unconditionally to a degree that I never thought possible, but I already love and appreciate her more than I could ever imagine because she has shown me that I made the right choice when I married Jonathan. If the first 2 years of marriage and 4 years of dating before were this good, then I cannot wait to see how great the rest of our lives will be.
Everything in my life is changing in a big, irreversible way, but I couldn't be happier. Heartburn, vomiting, nausea, bladder infections, backaches, homesickness (is there such as thing as "momsickness" where you miss your mom?), fatigue, and a lack of interest in doing anything outside of our apartment aside, I would not have chosen any differently if I could go back in time.
I love you all and thanks for bearing with me. I am making a 25th week of pregnancy resolution to be more positive in my thoughts and words so that I can have the power and energy to overcome the little bumps in the road. Life is only going to get harder and busier from here on out and I want to enjoy the magic and little miracles around me every day.
xo
Laura, Jonathan, and baby
Here are some recent photos. Link to babymoon photos
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
July 15th. Am I the only one not posting about Harry Potter?
Hello friends and family,
Not too much to update here. Things have been pretty much the same this week. Jonathan and I have been going to work and I have been getting sick pretty much daily. I go to the doctor today so I am going to talk to him about it and see if there is anything (else) I can do about the morning sickness. I have tried practically everything that does not involve prescription medication. Here is a summary of what I have been trying and my feelings about morning sickness:
I have tried everything - ginger, lemons, peppermint, popsicles, bland foods, sea bands, eating many small meals throughout the day, not drinking water during meals, keeping crackers by my bedside... Unfortunately I think I am just one of those women whose morning sickness sucks so bad nothing short of medication will work on it. But women with horrible morning sickness have fewer miscarriages and fewer birth defects so at least I know my body is just trying to protect the baby and not torturing me for no reason, lol.
I am going to ask my doctor what he thinks I should do about this. I have lost more than 5% of my body weight and the severity of the symptoms have been inhibiting me from doing my job. I either need to get some help of the prescription medication variety or get a note from my doctor that lets me use sick leave instead of my vacation time when I am extremely nauseated or vomiting uncontrollably and have to leave work. Luckily the schools have started using the air conditioners earlier and more readily so I am not spending so much time vomiting. I definitely think that working with 25-40 noisy, sweaty kids in 85-95 degree heat and unforgiving humidity is exacerbating the nausea. Maybe my schools saw this report coming and decided that using the air conditioner is worth avoiding unnecessary hospitalization for the pregnant ALT and any other students and staff with a weakened constitution.
In happier news I got a package from my family this week! I got more deodorant, Tums (for the calcium and to help with the heartburn), vegan prenatal vitamins, and maternity clothes! Yay! Mom and Julia went shopping at Target and got me a nice camisole and 2 adorable dresses. I am wearing one of the dresses at work right now. I love maternity clothes, they are so comfortable. I was really excited that my very first maternity clothes were picked out by Mom and Jules. I don't know why but that really makes them feel closer to me and the baby and I need that closeness since I cant see them and share this pregnancy with them as well as I would like to. I will have to post a picture of my outfit today so you can see the dress and the baby bump. Even though I have lost over 15 pounds, my tummy is definitely showing the pregnancy early on. All the teachers keep telling me they are worried about me because my face looks so thin, (Which it does. Can you lose 15 pounds just in the face?) but I definitely feel like my body is changing in a way that points to "baby on board."
So our doctor's appointment is today. This will be the first time Jonathan sees the little guy/girl in real time so we are pretty excited. I am 16 weeks along so it is probably too soon to tell if it is a boy or girl, but this should be a fun visit nonetheless. My doctor mentioned doing the 3D ultrasound this time which could be cool. I hope he does a regular one too because I want to post the pictures of the normal ultrasound. I think the 3D ultrasounds do look a little creepy from what I have seen on the internet and I don't want you thinking we are having some kind of alien baby over here. I get enough "radioactive spiderman / mutant ninja turtle" jokes as it is. If you are very brave, just google "3D ultrasound" images, and you will see what I mean. They kind of look like badly formed clay babies that melted a little. The major positive thing about the 3D/4D ultrasounds is that you can determine the sex of the baby very soon (at 16 weeks, the 3D ultrasound is 99% accurate in determining the sex of the baby). Most hospitals will not check the gender until 20 weeks. So maybe we will find out today and maybe not. Boys are usually easier to determine than girls for obvious reasons.
Well I will end the post here. If I get good (read:non-creepy) pictures, I will post them this weekend. Monday is a national holiday so we are looking forward to a little downtime. Enjoy your Harry Potter 7.5 midnight showings! We will probably see it in late August when we go to Osaka, so try to keep from gushing about the movie to us too much.
Love,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Not too much to update here. Things have been pretty much the same this week. Jonathan and I have been going to work and I have been getting sick pretty much daily. I go to the doctor today so I am going to talk to him about it and see if there is anything (else) I can do about the morning sickness. I have tried practically everything that does not involve prescription medication. Here is a summary of what I have been trying and my feelings about morning sickness:
I have tried everything - ginger, lemons, peppermint, popsicles, bland foods, sea bands, eating many small meals throughout the day, not drinking water during meals, keeping crackers by my bedside... Unfortunately I think I am just one of those women whose morning sickness sucks so bad nothing short of medication will work on it. But women with horrible morning sickness have fewer miscarriages and fewer birth defects so at least I know my body is just trying to protect the baby and not torturing me for no reason, lol.
I am going to ask my doctor what he thinks I should do about this. I have lost more than 5% of my body weight and the severity of the symptoms have been inhibiting me from doing my job. I either need to get some help of the prescription medication variety or get a note from my doctor that lets me use sick leave instead of my vacation time when I am extremely nauseated or vomiting uncontrollably and have to leave work. Luckily the schools have started using the air conditioners earlier and more readily so I am not spending so much time vomiting. I definitely think that working with 25-40 noisy, sweaty kids in 85-95 degree heat and unforgiving humidity is exacerbating the nausea. Maybe my schools saw this report coming and decided that using the air conditioner is worth avoiding unnecessary hospitalization for the pregnant ALT and any other students and staff with a weakened constitution.
In happier news I got a package from my family this week! I got more deodorant, Tums (for the calcium and to help with the heartburn), vegan prenatal vitamins, and maternity clothes! Yay! Mom and Julia went shopping at Target and got me a nice camisole and 2 adorable dresses. I am wearing one of the dresses at work right now. I love maternity clothes, they are so comfortable. I was really excited that my very first maternity clothes were picked out by Mom and Jules. I don't know why but that really makes them feel closer to me and the baby and I need that closeness since I cant see them and share this pregnancy with them as well as I would like to. I will have to post a picture of my outfit today so you can see the dress and the baby bump. Even though I have lost over 15 pounds, my tummy is definitely showing the pregnancy early on. All the teachers keep telling me they are worried about me because my face looks so thin, (Which it does. Can you lose 15 pounds just in the face?) but I definitely feel like my body is changing in a way that points to "baby on board."
So our doctor's appointment is today. This will be the first time Jonathan sees the little guy/girl in real time so we are pretty excited. I am 16 weeks along so it is probably too soon to tell if it is a boy or girl, but this should be a fun visit nonetheless. My doctor mentioned doing the 3D ultrasound this time which could be cool. I hope he does a regular one too because I want to post the pictures of the normal ultrasound. I think the 3D ultrasounds do look a little creepy from what I have seen on the internet and I don't want you thinking we are having some kind of alien baby over here. I get enough "radioactive spiderman / mutant ninja turtle" jokes as it is. If you are very brave, just google "3D ultrasound" images, and you will see what I mean. They kind of look like badly formed clay babies that melted a little. The major positive thing about the 3D/4D ultrasounds is that you can determine the sex of the baby very soon (at 16 weeks, the 3D ultrasound is 99% accurate in determining the sex of the baby). Most hospitals will not check the gender until 20 weeks. So maybe we will find out today and maybe not. Boys are usually easier to determine than girls for obvious reasons.
Well I will end the post here. If I get good (read:non-creepy) pictures, I will post them this weekend. Monday is a national holiday so we are looking forward to a little downtime. Enjoy your Harry Potter 7.5 midnight showings! We will probably see it in late August when we go to Osaka, so try to keep from gushing about the movie to us too much.
Love,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Summer Days
Hey folks!
Happy (belated) Fourth of July! I hope you all had fun celebrating with family and friends over the weekend. We planned on doing a 4th of July/ Thank You for Volunteering at the Car Rally dinner with friends, but I was unable to go due to an excess of vomiting and a crying-induced headache. According to Jonathan, much fun was had by all and they had a great weeknight get-together. Jonathan did not get home until 11, so I am glad they all got to hang out. I will be seeing everyone I missed at the Southern Sayonara (Goodbye) Party this Friday, so I think I made the right choice staying home after the terrible day I had.
On Sunday we went to a big event put on by our Japanese teachers. After the event I got very sick from the heat, noise, and number of people I had to interact with, so I went to bed early (5PM) in order to be well rested for Monday. My good intentions were for naught because Monday did not go well at all. I was definitely emotional after getting sick twice during first period. Also, it was my first time puking up stomach bile which became my new least favorite way to be sick during this pregnancy. It was so bitter and acidic that I just crouched on the floor in the bathroom and cried for 20 minutes afterwards. One teacher walked in while I was crying and I utilized the handy Sound Princess to keep her in the dark about my breakdown.
Once I pulled myself together enough to go back to the staff room, I took one look at the English teacher's face and started crying again in front of the whole staff! If it had not been so horrible I would have laughed at the awkward situation. All the female teachers started cooing and soothing me, asking me if I wanted to go home or at least lay down in the tatami room, and I was just crying and babbling in English (only 2 out of the 15 teachers present understood any English) about how tired I was and how much I wanted to just not be sick anymore. The 8 or so male teachers in the room did their best not to look in my direction and pretend to be working! I felt so bad for them, but at the same time could not stop crying.
After I convinced everyone that I would be fine if I could just be alone for a minute and calm down, I went into the bathroom and proceeded to cry for another 20 minutes. After that, I put on make-up (I almost never wear make-up to school, but this was an emergency!) and went back to my desk. Apparently I was convincing enough about my emotional stability because the teachers asked me to teach 3 more classes that day.
You may ask, "Why didn't you just go home? Why not take a sick day since you were clearly not feeling well?" I had 2 reasons for not going home. My first reason was that I have been sick at school before (many times) and I would probably be sick again before the baby comes. I made sure to teach the rest of the classes sitting down, drink a lot of fluids, and eat crackers when I could stomach them, but I would probably feel more miserable if I went home and knew they had expected me to be there but I had gone home. As it turns out, one teacher did need me for the 9th grade recitation tests. She would not have been able to grade all of them by herself and it would have taken 2 days to finish grading them if I had gone home, but since I was there we finished all of them yesterday. My second reason was that my car was in the shop and I would have had to walk 7 minutes down the road to my house in the direct sun or get a ride home from one of the teachers. I just did not feel like asking for a ride home or passing out in the sun.
In other news, Jonathan is happy and healthy. He still loves both of his jobs and he is excited about becoming a dad. He has been doing a lot of cleaning. Did I mention he fixed our washing machine? Did I mention our washing machine was broken for 6 months? Jonathan took the top apart and found the problem with the sensor - it was rusty! He cleaned it up, put it back together, and now the washing machine works again. I have been trying to keep up with laundry since it is the one chore I can do that does not make me queasy.
Well that is all for today. Sorry about all the graphic posts, but this is my life right now. I have now lost 7kg since March. Lovely. On the plus side, I can feel the growing pains from my uterus growing and stretching out the ligaments in my lower abdomen. Also, the baby is the size of a lemon. Cute!
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Happy (belated) Fourth of July! I hope you all had fun celebrating with family and friends over the weekend. We planned on doing a 4th of July/ Thank You for Volunteering at the Car Rally dinner with friends, but I was unable to go due to an excess of vomiting and a crying-induced headache. According to Jonathan, much fun was had by all and they had a great weeknight get-together. Jonathan did not get home until 11, so I am glad they all got to hang out. I will be seeing everyone I missed at the Southern Sayonara (Goodbye) Party this Friday, so I think I made the right choice staying home after the terrible day I had.
On Sunday we went to a big event put on by our Japanese teachers. After the event I got very sick from the heat, noise, and number of people I had to interact with, so I went to bed early (5PM) in order to be well rested for Monday. My good intentions were for naught because Monday did not go well at all. I was definitely emotional after getting sick twice during first period. Also, it was my first time puking up stomach bile which became my new least favorite way to be sick during this pregnancy. It was so bitter and acidic that I just crouched on the floor in the bathroom and cried for 20 minutes afterwards. One teacher walked in while I was crying and I utilized the handy Sound Princess to keep her in the dark about my breakdown.
Once I pulled myself together enough to go back to the staff room, I took one look at the English teacher's face and started crying again in front of the whole staff! If it had not been so horrible I would have laughed at the awkward situation. All the female teachers started cooing and soothing me, asking me if I wanted to go home or at least lay down in the tatami room, and I was just crying and babbling in English (only 2 out of the 15 teachers present understood any English) about how tired I was and how much I wanted to just not be sick anymore. The 8 or so male teachers in the room did their best not to look in my direction and pretend to be working! I felt so bad for them, but at the same time could not stop crying.
After I convinced everyone that I would be fine if I could just be alone for a minute and calm down, I went into the bathroom and proceeded to cry for another 20 minutes. After that, I put on make-up (I almost never wear make-up to school, but this was an emergency!) and went back to my desk. Apparently I was convincing enough about my emotional stability because the teachers asked me to teach 3 more classes that day.
You may ask, "Why didn't you just go home? Why not take a sick day since you were clearly not feeling well?" I had 2 reasons for not going home. My first reason was that I have been sick at school before (many times) and I would probably be sick again before the baby comes. I made sure to teach the rest of the classes sitting down, drink a lot of fluids, and eat crackers when I could stomach them, but I would probably feel more miserable if I went home and knew they had expected me to be there but I had gone home. As it turns out, one teacher did need me for the 9th grade recitation tests. She would not have been able to grade all of them by herself and it would have taken 2 days to finish grading them if I had gone home, but since I was there we finished all of them yesterday. My second reason was that my car was in the shop and I would have had to walk 7 minutes down the road to my house in the direct sun or get a ride home from one of the teachers. I just did not feel like asking for a ride home or passing out in the sun.
In other news, Jonathan is happy and healthy. He still loves both of his jobs and he is excited about becoming a dad. He has been doing a lot of cleaning. Did I mention he fixed our washing machine? Did I mention our washing machine was broken for 6 months? Jonathan took the top apart and found the problem with the sensor - it was rusty! He cleaned it up, put it back together, and now the washing machine works again. I have been trying to keep up with laundry since it is the one chore I can do that does not make me queasy.
Well that is all for today. Sorry about all the graphic posts, but this is my life right now. I have now lost 7kg since March. Lovely. On the plus side, I can feel the growing pains from my uterus growing and stretching out the ligaments in my lower abdomen. Also, the baby is the size of a lemon. Cute!
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Celebrations
Hello all!
*Some pictures are uploaded to a photobucket account! There is a link to the right -->*
This past week was full of celebrations! First off, my wonderful cousin Amanda got engaged to her childhood sweetheart Josh. Next was Father's Day on Sunday, so Jonathan and I both skype called our spectacular dads. Monday was our 2 year anniversary, which will be properly celebrated at a later date when we have a bit more free time. Tuesday marked the beginning of summer and the end of my 3rd month of pregnancy by Japanese calculations (one more week to go in the US). There were/are lots of birthdays around this time of year as well.
So! Congratulations! Happy Birthday! Happy Father's Day! Happy Beginning of Summer! Woo hoo this morning sickness stuff is almost over (I hope)!
We told some of the JHS students that I am pregnant on Monday. They were studying the grammar "I'm happy/sad to hear that." So one of the teachers told me I could let them know about the baby and see if they used the correct grammar. It was pretty funny because the girls all freaked out when I told them I went to the doctor and saw a picture of my baby and pointed to my stomach. The boys acted confused and surprised. Then when the JTE asked them to respond properly a couple of wise guys said "I'm sad to hear that." This particular JTE is always thinking on her feet, and when the boys said that, she came back with, "Oh, I see. Your dream for the future was to marry Laura-sensei. So you are sad to hear she is married and having a baby." For the most part, the boys looked embarrassed and said "Oh, I made a mistake! I'm happy to hear that." But one guy said, "Yeah that's right. I am sad to hear that." Everyone cracked up.
Tuesday was a truly horrible day for morning sickness. I had to leave 2 classes to rush to the restroom. The female teachers were asking me all day if I was ok, and I just smiled. Although I have been miserable, I can feel that my womb has grown. It feels bigger (my books say it is the size of a large grapefruit), but it is too early to feel the baby moving around yet. I should not be able to feel the little guy/girl moving around for at least another month, and we won't know if it is a boy or girl until week 20 (2 months from now). Sorry everyone, I am not capable of giving you that information until the doctor gives it to me! The baby is the size of a "ripe plum" according to my books. That means it is 2.5 inches from head to tail (there is no tail that is just an expression).
I have a new ultrasound pic I will load soon. Also, I want to tell you all about the overnight stay I did on Saturday at Eiheiji, a zen temple/monastery. But I will leave that for a later post since this one is getting long. We are organizing the 2011 Car Rally, which is like a scavenger hunt in automobiles. 12 teams will come down south on Saturday morning (6/25) and complete tasks at 4 checkpoints, answer silly questions, and take ridiculous photos all day long. We will be having a huge after-party and giving out prizes in the evening at a cabin in the woods where most people will be staying overnight. So I have been a bit busy doing preparation for this event with Jonathan and Grainne.
Love you all!
Laura (and Jonathan!)
*Some pictures are uploaded to a photobucket account! There is a link to the right -->*
This past week was full of celebrations! First off, my wonderful cousin Amanda got engaged to her childhood sweetheart Josh. Next was Father's Day on Sunday, so Jonathan and I both skype called our spectacular dads. Monday was our 2 year anniversary, which will be properly celebrated at a later date when we have a bit more free time. Tuesday marked the beginning of summer and the end of my 3rd month of pregnancy by Japanese calculations (one more week to go in the US). There were/are lots of birthdays around this time of year as well.
So! Congratulations! Happy Birthday! Happy Father's Day! Happy Beginning of Summer! Woo hoo this morning sickness stuff is almost over (I hope)!
We told some of the JHS students that I am pregnant on Monday. They were studying the grammar "I'm happy/sad to hear that." So one of the teachers told me I could let them know about the baby and see if they used the correct grammar. It was pretty funny because the girls all freaked out when I told them I went to the doctor and saw a picture of my baby and pointed to my stomach. The boys acted confused and surprised. Then when the JTE asked them to respond properly a couple of wise guys said "I'm sad to hear that." This particular JTE is always thinking on her feet, and when the boys said that, she came back with, "Oh, I see. Your dream for the future was to marry Laura-sensei. So you are sad to hear she is married and having a baby." For the most part, the boys looked embarrassed and said "Oh, I made a mistake! I'm happy to hear that." But one guy said, "Yeah that's right. I am sad to hear that." Everyone cracked up.
Tuesday was a truly horrible day for morning sickness. I had to leave 2 classes to rush to the restroom. The female teachers were asking me all day if I was ok, and I just smiled. Although I have been miserable, I can feel that my womb has grown. It feels bigger (my books say it is the size of a large grapefruit), but it is too early to feel the baby moving around yet. I should not be able to feel the little guy/girl moving around for at least another month, and we won't know if it is a boy or girl until week 20 (2 months from now). Sorry everyone, I am not capable of giving you that information until the doctor gives it to me! The baby is the size of a "ripe plum" according to my books. That means it is 2.5 inches from head to tail (there is no tail that is just an expression).
I have a new ultrasound pic I will load soon. Also, I want to tell you all about the overnight stay I did on Saturday at Eiheiji, a zen temple/monastery. But I will leave that for a later post since this one is getting long. We are organizing the 2011 Car Rally, which is like a scavenger hunt in automobiles. 12 teams will come down south on Saturday morning (6/25) and complete tasks at 4 checkpoints, answer silly questions, and take ridiculous photos all day long. We will be having a huge after-party and giving out prizes in the evening at a cabin in the woods where most people will be staying overnight. So I have been a bit busy doing preparation for this event with Jonathan and Grainne.
Love you all!
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Laura at School
Hello Family and Friends!
Happy New Year!
I hope you had a great fall and beginning of winter!
Sorry it has been so long since we last posted, but we have been extremely busy and extremely lazy in turns. I am back at elementary schools, junior high schools, and the kindergarten this semester, and I missed these kids so much!
Jonathan is loving his 2 jobs, and will be continuing them for at least a few more months, probably through June.
I wanted to post this cute link to the website for my Monday school, Natasho Junior High School. There is a picture of me taken today teaching the 8th graders a lesson about a blind boy names Aragaki Tsutomu.
http://natasho-jhs.blogspot.com/
Also, below the picture of me teaching you can see my students doing fun stuff and the giant pile of snow in front of the school! We had between 1 and 2 feet of snow over the weekend, and Japan looks like a winter wonderland. On the down side, Jonathan has to walk to the train station since riding his bike would be too dangerous on the ice.
We think we will be staying in Japan for another year! So our plans are to be here through July of 2012. We love and miss you all, but we are enjoying our life here at this point in time. Who knows what the future can hold?
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Well, we love you and miss you all!
Happy New Year!
I hope you had a great fall and beginning of winter!
Sorry it has been so long since we last posted, but we have been extremely busy and extremely lazy in turns. I am back at elementary schools, junior high schools, and the kindergarten this semester, and I missed these kids so much!
Jonathan is loving his 2 jobs, and will be continuing them for at least a few more months, probably through June.
I wanted to post this cute link to the website for my Monday school, Natasho Junior High School. There is a picture of me taken today teaching the 8th graders a lesson about a blind boy names Aragaki Tsutomu.
http://natasho-jhs.blogspot.com/
Also, below the picture of me teaching you can see my students doing fun stuff and the giant pile of snow in front of the school! We had between 1 and 2 feet of snow over the weekend, and Japan looks like a winter wonderland. On the down side, Jonathan has to walk to the train station since riding his bike would be too dangerous on the ice.
We think we will be staying in Japan for another year! So our plans are to be here through July of 2012. We love and miss you all, but we are enjoying our life here at this point in time. Who knows what the future can hold?
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Well, we love you and miss you all!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mid-September feels like home
Hey hey hey!
So it is now mid-September in Fukui and we are starting to get more bearable weather. Jonathan is mourning the end of summer and I am rejoicing in the beginnings of fall. Now that the weather is getting a little more pleasant, we will be going out on bike rides and walks around town in the evenings and weekends. On the downside, it gets dark so much faster now! It is dark around 6:00 or so I believe. So our bike rides and walks will have to be done with flash lights and reflector sashes, lol.
I forgot to tell you that Jonathan successfully completed his summer beach challenge! He visited all 21 beaches in Takahama, Ohi, and Obama towns! Congratulations, Jonathan!
Well, school is school and work is work. One elementary school had their sports festival on Saturday the 11th, so I spent all day Saturday cheering on our 1st-6th graders and most of the evening relaxing with coworkers over some beers and food. My other elementary school has its sports day this coming Saturday the 18th. I get tomorrow off, then go in to work on Saturday, but get Sunday and Monday off. So it should be an interesting weekend. Monday and Thursday are national holidays, so I have a 3 day work week next week.
Jonathan is loving his new job. He enjoys working with adults and dealing with the unique challenges that come with having only 3 months to prepare workers in their 20s and 30s for life abroad. I am enjoying watching Battlestar Galactica, but I would rather be having dinner with Jonathan. I will have to see if he gets Monday and Thursday off too...
Jonathan and Grainne biked 45 km on Sunday morning. After that, Melissa and I met up with them at a beach in Oshima and we all had a picnic! Maybe when winter comes along and the newbies are more settled in we will see them a bit more, but for now we are happy to have each other and our good friends from last year. We miss you, Asa, Christine, and Felipe!
To our friends from high school and college who may be reading this blog - we love and miss you too! I hope that when we come home we can all meet up and talk and laugh and learn from each other like we always do.
Finally, to our families - We love you so much and wish we could be there for birthdays and holidays. We decided to seize this precious opportunity to live abroad and improve our language abilities, and it has opened up so many opportunities for both of us! But that does not mean that we do not wish we could be there with you and for you for the good times and the bad. Hopefully when we come home, we can make up for lost time.
I guess this was a more touchy-feely post than normal, but with birthdays coming up, I guess I just realized how much I miss you guys! We are going to miss Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, but we just cannot afford to come home as often as we would like. Send us an email or a facebook message or even a letter in the regular mail if you can! We have an Indiana area code phone number that you can call to leave us messages, so just let us know that you miss us or give us a call if you need to talk.
Love and peace,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
So it is now mid-September in Fukui and we are starting to get more bearable weather. Jonathan is mourning the end of summer and I am rejoicing in the beginnings of fall. Now that the weather is getting a little more pleasant, we will be going out on bike rides and walks around town in the evenings and weekends. On the downside, it gets dark so much faster now! It is dark around 6:00 or so I believe. So our bike rides and walks will have to be done with flash lights and reflector sashes, lol.
I forgot to tell you that Jonathan successfully completed his summer beach challenge! He visited all 21 beaches in Takahama, Ohi, and Obama towns! Congratulations, Jonathan!
Well, school is school and work is work. One elementary school had their sports festival on Saturday the 11th, so I spent all day Saturday cheering on our 1st-6th graders and most of the evening relaxing with coworkers over some beers and food. My other elementary school has its sports day this coming Saturday the 18th. I get tomorrow off, then go in to work on Saturday, but get Sunday and Monday off. So it should be an interesting weekend. Monday and Thursday are national holidays, so I have a 3 day work week next week.
Jonathan is loving his new job. He enjoys working with adults and dealing with the unique challenges that come with having only 3 months to prepare workers in their 20s and 30s for life abroad. I am enjoying watching Battlestar Galactica, but I would rather be having dinner with Jonathan. I will have to see if he gets Monday and Thursday off too...
Jonathan and Grainne biked 45 km on Sunday morning. After that, Melissa and I met up with them at a beach in Oshima and we all had a picnic! Maybe when winter comes along and the newbies are more settled in we will see them a bit more, but for now we are happy to have each other and our good friends from last year. We miss you, Asa, Christine, and Felipe!
To our friends from high school and college who may be reading this blog - we love and miss you too! I hope that when we come home we can all meet up and talk and laugh and learn from each other like we always do.
Finally, to our families - We love you so much and wish we could be there for birthdays and holidays. We decided to seize this precious opportunity to live abroad and improve our language abilities, and it has opened up so many opportunities for both of us! But that does not mean that we do not wish we could be there with you and for you for the good times and the bad. Hopefully when we come home, we can make up for lost time.
I guess this was a more touchy-feely post than normal, but with birthdays coming up, I guess I just realized how much I miss you guys! We are going to miss Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, but we just cannot afford to come home as often as we would like. Send us an email or a facebook message or even a letter in the regular mail if you can! We have an Indiana area code phone number that you can call to leave us messages, so just let us know that you miss us or give us a call if you need to talk.
Love and peace,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September is here!
Hello folks!
September is here and work has started for both of us. Some days I teach 7 classes per day and others I only have 1! Which is not really any different from how things were last year, hahaha. I am only at 3 schools this semester, Ohi JHS on Mon, Tues, and Weds, Hongo Elementary on Thurs, and Natasho Elementary on Friday. This schedule suits me just fine. I teach an Eikaiwa (English conversation class) on Tuesday evenings, take Japanese lessons on Thursdays and fill my other evenings with language exchanges and dinners with friends.
Jonathan has started his new job, and he is liking it a lot! He works Mon, Weds, and Thursday teaching English to engineers in Obama, and he is keeping his old job tutoring kids at the Kumon center on Tuesdays and Fridays. So now when I come home from work, Jonathan is not home! :( I guess it is nice to have a little time to myself, but I do miss Jonathan. Up until now I had the early evening free on Tuesdays and Fridays, but now that I have 5 evenings per week to myself, I need to figure out something cool to do with my alone time. I have started watching Battlestar Galactica during my new free time since Jonathan does not want to watch it. Maybe I will start taking a nap! He will usually get home around 8PM, so we still get plenty of time together in the evening, and we both have the weekends off as well.
We had a mild typhoon pass through yesterday, but there was very little wind and rain. From what I hear, Tokyo got a lot of crazy wind and rain and we were spared most of the bad weather. This year's typhoon was nothing like last year's and I hope we don't have many more come through during the fall.
I cannot really think of anything new other than the fact that we are back to work. I will try to post at least 2 more times this month to keep you updated. Send us an email is you miss us!
Laura (and Jonathan)
September is here and work has started for both of us. Some days I teach 7 classes per day and others I only have 1! Which is not really any different from how things were last year, hahaha. I am only at 3 schools this semester, Ohi JHS on Mon, Tues, and Weds, Hongo Elementary on Thurs, and Natasho Elementary on Friday. This schedule suits me just fine. I teach an Eikaiwa (English conversation class) on Tuesday evenings, take Japanese lessons on Thursdays and fill my other evenings with language exchanges and dinners with friends.
Jonathan has started his new job, and he is liking it a lot! He works Mon, Weds, and Thursday teaching English to engineers in Obama, and he is keeping his old job tutoring kids at the Kumon center on Tuesdays and Fridays. So now when I come home from work, Jonathan is not home! :( I guess it is nice to have a little time to myself, but I do miss Jonathan. Up until now I had the early evening free on Tuesdays and Fridays, but now that I have 5 evenings per week to myself, I need to figure out something cool to do with my alone time. I have started watching Battlestar Galactica during my new free time since Jonathan does not want to watch it. Maybe I will start taking a nap! He will usually get home around 8PM, so we still get plenty of time together in the evening, and we both have the weekends off as well.
We had a mild typhoon pass through yesterday, but there was very little wind and rain. From what I hear, Tokyo got a lot of crazy wind and rain and we were spared most of the bad weather. This year's typhoon was nothing like last year's and I hope we don't have many more come through during the fall.
I cannot really think of anything new other than the fact that we are back to work. I will try to post at least 2 more times this month to keep you updated. Send us an email is you miss us!
Laura (and Jonathan)
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