Halloween in Japan

This country doesn't really celebrate Halloween. There might be a couple decorations here and there but it isn't anything like the US. I was able to bring a little Halloween spirit to my kids thru classes and costumes throughout the week. My costume run down is as follows...

Monday- Black cat

Tuesday- Baby Minnie Mouse

Wednesday and Thursday I had observations so I didn't think it would be a good idea for the boss.

Friday- Real Minnie Mouse

Friday morning there was an observation as another AETs school, Heather Worsham. They involve the community in that kids get to walk up and down a street "trick-or-treating" to the shop keepers for stamps as well as roaming AETs for stickers. They have the English conversation which sounds like this...

Student- Trick-or-treat

AET- Who are you?

Student- I'm a witch/pumpkin/black cat (these were the main three) but others include Death and a Samarii.

Sticker please.

AET- Here you are. Happy Halloween!

The kids really enjoyed it and I loved it! I felt like I was Minnie Mouse at Disneyland because I had a line of kids for most of the hour lined up waiting to talk to me as well as parents and random shoppers stopping me for pictures. It was so much fun! Plus the kids were able to practice their English with many foreigners which is great exposure.

After the observation I got to head back to my school and pass out candy to all my kids during lunch time. Normal Japanese schools frown upon giving candy or food of any kind (besides lunch) to the kids but my school is awesome so I handed out 333 dum dums to kids and teachers! It was so much to share the US tradition of Halloween to kids in Japan!

The BIG decision...

Every November all the AETs have to decide if they want to sign up for another year or return home in April. This decision has been weighing on me SINCE I got here basically and its good to have it finally decided. I have decided to RETURN to the States after this one year. It was a really tough decision and one that didn't go without much prayer, tears and talking it over with just about everyone and their dog.

I am at peace with my decision. God has provided that for me. There are days that I wonder if I made the right decision but I am learning to trust God and allow Him to work in my life. I plan on returning home for a while until I move to Edmond for the time being. I am looking into taking the pre reqs for PT or PTA school. I haven't decided which yet. I am excited about the road that God has put in front of me and I hope that you all will keep me in your prayers as I finish out a great year in Japan and adjust back to American life. Thanks so much for your support!

Happy Birthday to me!

My friends were gracious enough to plan my birthday for me which was great but also decided it would be a surprise. That didn't really work out that well because they asked one of my Japanese teachers to come along and forgot to tell him it was a surprise so he told me prematurally but thats ok because they requested I be ready at 6:30am and for those that know me...I'm not quite a morning person so it was good I knew.

So my schedule for the day...

6:30am- Picked up by Port and Cole

7:15- Finally leaving Mito City

11:00- Arrive at DISNEY SEA! So what was suppose to take an hour and a half took almost 4 hours because of traffic. It was not such a good start to my birthday!

I had been to Disney Sea once before when on Pac Rim with my host family but visiting again w/ the friends I had made here was a good day. Obviously when I do these things, the highlights of my day is the food that I get to eat so...

• I started with Mexican food for lunch which wasn't that good.
• We then got to ride the little tea cups in Ariels Underground Cove. (Disney does an AMAZING job at creating the environment and makes it the "happiest place on earth!"
• I was told to have a "gouza dog" while I was there so I had that for dinner. It was different and ok but nothing exciting really.
• Throughout the night, we hunted down every popcorn stand in the place to try the different flavors. They had milk tea (decent), black pepper (really good and normal tasting), chocolate (fine), curry (didn't try it but fittingly in the Arabian Nights section, and carmel (favorite and hardest to find!)
• We were able to watch several random shows through the day and catch a couple rides. Because we arrived later in the day we weren't able to get out "fast passes" for all the rides. (I was really fine with it really though.)

We didn't arrive home until after 1am but it was a great birthday. I enjoyed being outside all day. Thanks God for good weather!

This is my second birthday celebrated in Japan and it was another good one!