Pooh San, as he's called in Japan, and his buddy Piglet. I did this for a student who gave me a nice Christmas gift.
I took the morning yesterday between classes and got some shots around school while the light was still nice. These are all from around Nagata. It's been a long week, I'm so glad the weekend is finally here so I can take some time to clean up and relax. I took a lot of time this week talking to friends and teachers, trying to get good advice as to whether or not I should stay in Japan. It's gonna be a touch decision, I wish I didn't have to make it so soon (February).
Today I taught at Nagata Junior High. I got lucky and it happened that my friend Hiromi was at the same school. Hiromi is the island school librarian and she travels around to different schools like I do except that she has the whole island which means she has twice as many schools as I do. I'm rarely at the same school as her but its always fun to hang out in the library with her when shes around.
The Cosmos. I took this while my mom and I were driving in the southern part of the island with a few friends. I few weeks later I passed this field again and there were even more.
My mom spotted this on my screen a few days before she left. It was the biggest one I've ever seen, probably because it was about to lay eggs. We have tons of mantis' on the island, I see them all the time. The cats catch them and eat them.
I took this today from the school in Nagata. Its Nagata peak, one of the tallest peaks on the island and the only one you can see without hiking for hours and hours. I've got Nagata Junior High school again tomorrow. Next week is my last week of work before my trip. I was given a special assignment from one of the history teachers, "take lots of pictures in Kyoto and Osaka so I can use them in class." I'm sure this blog will benefit from that request.
This piece is appropriately titled "Battle of the Cats"
I'm thinking (hoping) this is an illustration from a story that the 6th graders are reading and not a plea for help. Either way I thought it had a strong message.
I had to laugh when I read the description of the school lunch on Friday.
This weekend I went to the Isso Junior High annual sports festival. Unfortunately it was pouring rain almost the whole time and it ended early. It was fun to watch the little kids slip in the mud though. 
The front of the main building with a few spectators watching the race.
Sketch painting I worked on while I was taking a break from doing the house. Hands are tough, looks like I'll have to work on that.
I often run into students at the store. Sometimes they hide behind the aisles and peek out at me and some run up and shout "Hello" before running off again. I'm hiding tempura behind my back.
Today we had a typhoon come over the island and just before it got dark there was a calm and the sky turned a brilliant orange red. This photo wasn't altered in any way. I took it with white balance set to cloudy.
Last Saturday the local offices got together and raced "dragon boats" in the nearby river. 
We didn't win any of the races but we had a good time. We had eight oarsmen, someone on rudder and person in the front who kept the beat with a taiko drum. 
This is the new ALT, Jessica, and her boyfriend Ken who came to visit her last week. 
We had a barbecue after the race. The man waving in the picture above is Fukumoto sensei, my boss. Toward the end of the day there was a raffle and I won the second to last (and best) prize, a compact stereo system and speakers. The final prize was a mini freezer.
Technically she's still homeless. This is the box she lives in. I just wanted to keep her alive but it seems that I've adopted my second stray cat.
My little brother Max is on Yakushima visiting me for about a month. The first few days he was here I brought him to school with me so that he and the students could do a bit of a cultural exchange since they are more or less the same age. After Max gave a self introduction each student stood up and told Max about themselves and then asked one question. 
During another period we made origami and played Japanese cat's cradle. The English teacher, Nakao Sensei, is on the far right.
Max had school lunch in the classroom with the students. The day before we had "make your own" sushi rolls but this day it was curry and naan. The students all adored Max and had a great time talking and playing with him. For the last few periods Max and the students all played hide and seek. Yesterday was the last day of school, summer vacation is finally here.
A few weeks ago Brittany and I went to a nearby island, Tanegashima, for the weekend to see our friends. One of the coolest things we saw was Japan's main rocket launch center. They put satellites into orbit a few times a year. If I get a chance I really want to go see a launch. 
Kitty's getting bigger. He's running amok and attacking everything in sight.
I haven't been drawing too much lately, aside from some random sketching on the back of my daily class schedules (the schedule scanned through). I helped the gardener at school paint some bulletin boards today and I think that got me in the mood to throw some color on these.
This is Shogun. It's hard to say if he likes being held like this.
Brittany heard some stray kittens mewing near her house so she decided to adopt one. It turned out that the kitten was only a couple weeks old and needed intensive care. Once we determined that it wasn't eating and that we couldn't care for it properly we brought it to the local vet who gave him food via tube.
After a few days at the vet clinic we got him back along with 2 special kitten foods, a nursing bottle, two different kinds of eye medication and kitty de-worming pills. (All medicine, food, care, and 3 nights stay cost only 70 dollars). He looked pretty sickly still when we got him back but he's doing a lot better now. 
I'll take some new photos to show how much healthier he looks already. He's eating regularly and off his medication. The only thing missing is a name. Any ideas out there?
This is SunaMushi. A hot spring under this sandy ocean beach keeps the sand piping hot just under the surface. You lay in a shallow hole and are covered in sand. You're only supposed to stay under for 10 minutes, more than that and it gets too hot and painful for most people. Beside Cindy is her friend Keiko chan.
The Kamada family took us to lunch at a famous local restaurant. If you see Cindy ask her how it worked.
Melons. If you zoom and look closely you can see the prices. The least expensive being 5250 Yen, the most desirable being 16800 Yen. To figure out the dollar amount just move the decimal left two places.
Cindy and I sat here for a long time watching the monkeys and deer.
This is our local supermarket. It's called Wai Wai Land, wai wai being the Japanese for a child's yell of delight, similar to Yay yay. Happy Shopping!
