Koalas tell whats been happening lately

Hi, if anyone reads this blog and has been wondering what has been happening with Koalas and Turtles lately, SORRY. Life is busy...yes ...good excuse,but it works, sort of.
Well I think that I have almost recovered from our spectacular wedding which we celebrated in Tokyo, April 8Th, 2007. Maybe I have recovered enough to add some posts about the event on this blog....then again, maybe not quite yet. The reason being that we have yet another wedding celebration in Oz coming up in a few weeks. Gee, will we be glad when the wedding stuff is all over. If it sounds like I am complaining, no I am not... actually I am looking forward to it, but also we both are looking forward to not having to plan anything, other than starting a family, getting spouse visas, moving to Oz...oh my god.... sounds like a lot of paperwork...oh well.

Anyway...here's whats been happening in my life

SCHOOL

Well for the last 3 or 4 weeks I have been studying at Kai Language school in Shin Okubo, Tokyo. It is pretty full on but heaps of fun and I am learning a lot. My class is from 13:20 to 17:10 Monday to Friday. There are 13 students... mostly from Korea and Taiwan, 1 German, 1 Swede, 1 Polish, 1 Brit, 1 American and 1 Aussie, plus myself. A good mix. We have 2 teachers, Mr Okubo on Mon,Wed and Fri....and Ms Miyagi on Tues and Thurs.
Okubo Sensei is a very fast paced and experienced teacher. If any student even so much as lets their thought wander from the lesson at hand, he knows in an instant and will fire a question their way so fast, that you swear he must have been the fastest pitcher in his high school baseball club days. This man makes me study with so much concentration that I don't even have time to form an opinion about him, good or bad.
Miyagi Sensei on the other hand is a newbie, full of smiles, enthusiasm and so much patience... its a welcomed break from the 3 days of intense study with Okubo Sensei. she also loves drawing pictures to explain a point...very fun. but I do find my self slacking off in her class and their tends to be a lot of private little conversations springing up when ever she pauses or turns her back. So what kind of teacher do you like...the stern iron fist or the friendly gentle prod????
I think I actually learn more with the iron fist approach, but the gentle prod approach is a lot more enjoyable.
Our week consists of 5 days of grammar classes for the first 2 periods. during the 3rd period on Mondays we do essay writing, Tuesdays is reading, Wed is listening, Thurs is culture. for the 4Th period Mon to Thurs is KANJI. I hate kanji, in fact the only reason I could like kanji is because we don't have it on Fridays. Fridays 3rd and 4th period is revision of all the grammar we learned during the week. I am sure there will be loads more kanji slagging/bitchin in my blog later.
I have to say that my favourite classes are listening...cos I find it easy and Culture. Today in Culture class we had a Japanese tea ceremony, other days we have learnt about Sumo, Tanabata, and Obon.
Our school also organises events outside of school hours. I went to an Izakaya- Japanese bar/pub night and met students and teachers from other levels which was loads of fun. There was a Yukata-summer kimono and a Kabuki event as well as a trip to Mt Fuji coming up. I didn't manage to sign up for these though. I really wanted to go to the mt Fuji climb but I will be in Oz then. Tomorrow we are having our summer holiday breakup party. The German girl, Susan and I have volunteered to help. Should be fun. I also managed to rope Turtle and my mate Tomo to come along.

WORK

I managed to get my self a part time job in a bar. No I don't make drinks... I get paid to drink with customers, make conversation and sing karaoke. I am sure most of you who know anything about Japan are thinking...oh my god she is a hostess. Well I suppose that's what you would call it, except for the fact that I don't actually have any physical contact with the customers. Its great. I met the Mama (woman who runs the bar) while I was out drinking one night. I was telling my mate how I was bored and needed some part time work. She piped in and asked me if I wanted to work at her bar. I promptly told her that I was no idiot, was married and knew what those bars were like. She said no probs but that I didn't have to do what other hostesses did and that I could turn up in jeans and a tshirt if I wanted. So my hubby and I went and checked it out. the pay is very ordinary considering I don't entice the customers with my clothes(or lack of) and I don't have any physical contact with them, but its a pretty sweet deal. I can work whenever I want to, wear what I want to, and I can drink or not drink if I want to and its great for my Japanese. The only complaint I have is that is smokey and that sux especially since I gave up since New years and now detest smoking. Oh well...
I also have a private English student who lives a 3 min walk from me. Our lessons are once a week for an hour. Maho is 14 years old and basically Bilingual. She is a returnee student from England. She loves horse riding and is a pleasure to spend time with. So, I am definitely going to have to find some books for a 14yr old with a horse riding theme for her when I am in Oz.

OTHER STUFF

Another reason I haven't been blogging is FACEBOOK. I was addicted but am getting over it now, thank god. Its so crazy how many peeps from your past you can find on this site. Good thing is it got me back in touch with some old uni friends and some friends who used to live with me in Hello house.
Turtle and I have been getting into a few DVD series. Every week on wed, he can get half price hire of DVDs from Tsutaya. At the moment we at various stages of watching Prison Break, Lost, The OC, Desperate Housewives, and the Sopranos.

We have been to a few festivals, birthday celebrations, and housewarmings. For my birthday in June, Kame organised a BBQ for me by the river. A total of 45 of our friends came. It was an awesome birthday. See Birthday photos here

Last weekend we went to our first movie together as a couple. Borat...well I was worried that Kame might not get it but he laughed so much that I had trouble hearing a lot of the dialogue. The best movie ever he reckons, so it looks like I will have to chase up a copy of Ali G with Japanese subtitles for him.
Finally some great news is that Kames oldest sister, Yuka, told us 3 weeks ago that she had decide to come to Brisbane for our Oz wedding Party and ceremony in August. Then even better news was that Kames 73year old Mum, Sumiyo, who has never left Japan or her handicapped daughter Makichan, decided to come too. Its a dream come true for all of us, as its always been Sumiyos dream to go to another country, and now its really happening. Misa, the middle daughter, is going to look after Makichan and the Dad, Katsumi. As you can imagine everyone in my family and Kames family are really excited. Especially Sumiyo... and now that she has a passport... watch out world!!!

PHOTOS






KAI Izakaya Party at Cheers Bar in Shinjuku

Followed by Karaoke in Kabuki cho

Lots of beer was consumed this night.

Then there was BORAT the movie

Turtles work too much and Koalas too little

Hi,
Well if you have been wondering why we have been so slow going with our blog..its because I have been waiting for Kame to update the Japanese version as we tell our story. Due his hardworking Japanese work ethic and very busy schedule he barely has time to fart.... Where as I have plenty of time at the moment while waiting to start Japanese school in July.
Yes, that's right, I am going back to school..Yuck. 3months, 5days a week, 5hours a day. I will be a student at KAI Japanese Language School in Shin-Okubo near Shinjuku. My mates Blair and Agatha from Hello house were students at there and both highly recommended it. Gotta start getting all that Kanji and polite Japanese grammar under my belt, instead of all that beer I seem to have been drinking. Being a housewife is very thirsty work I tell ya.

Recently we bought a new computer desk and comfy chair from Ikea so I have no excuse not to update our blog.
So please be patient and I will continue with the wedding update etc (without Japanese-Sorry to all our Japanese friends)over the next week or so.
I promise.

Turtle goes downunder

12　August　－　22　August, 2006
PART ONE　

We could start right at the beginning, but WHEN is the beginning? When we first met?, When I came to Japan? Hmmmm.....
Anyway we have decided to start WHEN Kame went to Brisbane, Australia to meet my family.

We had already discussed marriage in March 2006, but Kame decided that he really wanted to do the traditional western thing ask Ron (My Dad) in person.So we booked our flights and let the fam know that we were coming over. Next Kame decided he had to brush up on his English, but after joining Shane English School for 3 months, 2 lessons/week Kame was still very shy about speaking English.

So while I was in Australia ,2 weeks before Kame joined me, every time anyone asked me

"How's his English?" My response was always"I dunno. He can understand most things cos I only speak to him in English, but I've never heard him speak, he always answers me in Japanese."

Well the morning Kame arrived at Brisbane airport, Mum Dad and I were waiting for him. i didn't recognize the man who walked off the plane. not only had he swapped his boy-ish jeans, bright t-shirt , bright orange sneakers and cap trademark for smart pants, shoes and a jacket, but the man could speak English.!!! Gee did I look like a liar.
Kame was really amazed at the size of our house compared to the Japanese houses, and the fact that we had a front garden and a back garden. But then Dad shocked him even more by cooking breakfast.

But not to worry Kame soon shocked us all after breakfast and proved just how good his English skills were when Kevin(my 31yr old bro) and I were having a friendly SSGS (sibling shit giving session). Kame had brought some Vitamin Jelly for me from Japan and I was explaining to Mum, Dad, Kevin and Leanne(my 20yr old sis) that they were the best hangover cure.

Kev threw a typical younger bro fat comment my way by asking "Why do you need more jelly Kim, don't you already have enough?"

I quickly threw back in Japanese. "Urusei, Kono yaroo"

All eyes turned to Kame. "What did she say?" Kev asked him.

Kame very casually answered "shut the f##k up", quickly followed by a gasp,　quick glance at my parents and a really embarrassed "Oh !!! I am so sorry"
We all pissed ourselves laughing and I think Kame was surprised but relieved at every ones reaction to his not so perfect translation error.

So of course everyone loved him straightaway, especially when after four hours of being in the country he was out in the back yard helping Dad fix the fence. I think he was trying to make up for the "Shut the f##k up" comment. Better watch out Kame,next trip Dad might have you rounding up the sheep, mate. Especially if you get any better at English.

The next few days were great. We hired spent a few days at Kirra Beach, Gold Coast in a 3bed room apartment. On the way we stopped in at Nerang to see Ryan Mac and Sarah for a S.A/Aussie BBQ. Ryan Mac and his fam are old friends of our from South Africa. When Kev and I were growing up in SA our families used to go caravanning together every school hols. so we go way back. Ryan and Sarah recently got married April 21st at the Gold Coast and are honeymooning in South Africa. Congrats you guys from us both.
Anyway while we were staying at Kirra we also managed to catch up with Elfreda(my Fathers cousin from South Africa) and her husband Julius, who have been living in Nerang for at least 20yrs now. Their son Markus who is married to a lovely girl from Osaka, Sachiko, and Mia(their little girl) also came with. We all headed down to Kirra Surf club for some tucker, beers and family bonding.

Another highlight for Kame was a few hours of surfing at greenmount beech. He was very excited to get to surf in real waves. We also went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary where he got to hold a koala, a baby croc and pose with aboriginal dancers. he finally got up the courage to speak to Dad about getting married in the reptile house of all places. Anyway Dad said "Already" which Kame interpreted as I said yes already, but maybe Dad was asking already? as in so soon. Dad has a habit of answering questions with questions so sorry Dad if you didn’t mean yes.... that’ll teach ya..ha ha

The next day Kev, Rachael, Kame and I left Kirra for Byron Bay. After lunch at the famous Yatala Pies, we arrived at Byron and headed straight　for the lighthouse. After that Kevin and Rachael went to their accom and Kame and I found a lovely place to stay at Julians Apartments It was fantastic. we dropped of our stuff and headed into Byron to look at the shops, and walked back along the beach as the sun set back to..Julians
..After a few drinks and dressing up we decided to go back to our youth and head out clubbing, so armed with a mix of cc and lemonade we heading into town, grabbed a burger and hit the bars/clubs. at about 2am we decided to walk home to sober up. Kame proposed to me as we were having a rest on the beach. The moon was shining on the ocean like a spotlight, the waves were gently crashing, the sky was filled with stars and the air was cool and fresh.... it was perfect.
AND ABOUT BLOODY TIME I RECKON cos I aint getting any younger. Ha ha

The next day wasn’t so cool cos we had to drive from Byron to Caboolture for a 2oclock MRI appointment. But I only was seen at 6pm. But it was all covered by Medicare thank　god cos they still don’t know what wrong with my hand。 But that’s another story that I don’t wanna go into. the friday nite we had a party at my parents place...but thats the next blog..cya