sods law....

We don't get much in the way of snow in these parts, so why-oh-why did I open the curtains to a thick covering of the white stuff this morning after spending all night awake with a little boy who managed to cough so much he threw up? Of course he looked out of the window and instantly wanted to go out and play in it. I had to cancel yochien for the day and then we had to walk round to the doctors, there was no way I was going to ride the bike. Luckily he has just a cough and is fine otherwise so he was quite happy to walk round, it is about 10 minutes walk away, so not too bad all things considered.

Doc gave us antibiotics, more chest patches, new syrup and put him on the nebuliser for 10 minutes, hopefully this lot will do the trick. The other plus was the snow kept away all the oldies that I am convinced just go to the clinic to hang out, there were only real sick people there.

Since he was already muffled up to his eyeballs in his snow gear I promised that we would make a snowman when we got back, so he is a happy choppy now, it is perfect snowman making snow too. The snow is coming down thick and heavy, part of me wants it to hang around for a while but the other part wants my husband to be able to home OK.

Anorak and Ploc...

My mom usually gets Ebi-kun the National Geographic Kids Magazine subscription for Christmas and he really likes them BUT it annoys me with the amount of advertising and non geographic type crap that they put in there too. I know I am not alone with the annoyance of kids being bombarded with ads, it wouldn't be so bad if the ads they used were in keeping with the theme of the magazine - books, games, toys etc that fit in with the love of wildlife. Anyhow, I decided to have a look around at some other magazines, two that kept popping up were Anorak and Ploc.

Let's start with Ploc, it is targeted at smaller kids, I would say 3-6 year olds and it is illustrated by Alain Gree, whose work I am sure you will recognise. It reminds me very much of the books and annuals I had as a kid, there are lots of puzzles and games and things to cut out (I admit we will be copying the pages not cutting them out of the magazine, I can't bring myself to cut up books!) 

There are also stories and information, all with great illustrations. Ebi-kun picked this up first and sat and read it, he said he liked it and pictures and quizzes were fun but then said it was too easy.

So we moved onto Anorak which is aimed at older kids, maybe 6 -12 year olds. Now forget Ebi-kun, I LOVE this magazine and is the sort of magazine I would love to write for. There is some advertising in there but it is minimal and certainly not in your face get-your-parents-to-buy-this-piece-of-plastic-crappy-junk kind of way.

The magazines are themed each time, I thought I would show you a couple of pages from the pirates/viking issue. There is stuff to make, reviews of places to visit, silly stories, colouring/quizzes, infomation and historical facts but presented in a fun way plus book and game reviews which are written by kids for kids. Ebi-kun really enjoyed reading the reviews and as you know I rely heavily on reviews for book buying.

The illustrations are a different style to Ploc but they are still fun and vibrant and they do include photos too. Another thing I really like is the paper quality, it is thick and will stand up well to kids unlike many kids magazines which are printed on that horrible flimsy paper that rips when you look at it. Ebi-kun likes how these magazines have a theme and really likes the stories and the book reviews but he said he didn't understand some of it (it was too difficult). I think part of the problem there is that his reading age is much higher than his actual age so he is kind of a level between the magazines for now. 

As for the National Geographic Kids magazine, he loves the little snippets of facts that they have about animals and strange things around the world, the daft jokes and the great photos of bugs what he doesn't like is that the competitions are only ever open to UK residents and the closing date is usually over by the time we get the magazine, the delivery dates are not very reliable either.

So, it looks like we will be sticking with NG Kids for now, he still has all the back issues and often gets them out so I know he does enjoy them. I will be keeping an eye on the Anorak issues though and when I see one that I think he will especially like I will treat him me!

Do you like free goodies?

I have been wondering about starting a newsletter for a while now, come April Ebi-kun will be in school proper which hopefully will give me more time to concentrate on my business. I have got lots of fab ideas in the pipe line that I can't wait to share, some have been on the back burner, some are brand spanking new, some I have been trying to decide what exactly to do with them and so the newsletter has been born.

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Those who sign up will get freebies, early bird deals, discounts and great offers plus inside information about the comings and goings of jojoebi designs. You can pop your name in the box above or over in the side bar, the more eagle-eyed ones out there might have already spotted it!

*edit* if you are reading this through reader or similar you will have to click through.

Windmills... tutorial

After we watched a couple of clips on youtube about windmills we got to work to make some, a quick and fun craft to do. This one shows peanut oil being made, it's not the best quality but you can see the process.

What you need:

square piece of paper, we used origami paper

brad

toilet roll middle

hole punch

ruler and pencil

scissors

On the back of your paper draw a cross going from corner to corner then measure 2cm from the centre down each line, this is where you will cut to. Also mark a point to punch the holes, we just eyeballed it, you can see where on the picture below, you also need to punch a hole in the middle.

Cut along the lines until you reach the 2cm point and then punch the holes in the corners of the 'sails' and the centre. Punch another hole in the top of the toilet roll middle.

Fold the corners of the paper (with the hole punched in it) into the middle, aligning all the holes - little ones will probably need some help here. Push the brad through the holes and the the one on the toilet roll middle, open the back of the brad but not too tightly or your sails won't move.

and your done, you can always decorate the toilet rolls middles too, or cut a door in it. If you want to make these for outside then I recommend using plastic sheets and a pole or stick rather than a toilet roll. I must say, I am loving all the funky origami paper that is around at the moment.

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Inspiration Sunday - with Vicky in Hokkaido

Today's interview is with Vicky, a fellow Brit who lives in Hokkaido and blogs at Hyotenka. Vicky constantly amazes me at the way she 'gets through it all' with her husband living away due to him being  in the Self Defence Force, Vicky pretty much does it all single handed, a feat I would never manage here!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your family?

I’m Vicky, I’m from England and I’m married to Seiju, who is Japanese. We live in a small town in Hokkaido with our two sons, Yoshi, 15 and Harry, 11.

 How did you end up in Japan?

I needed a new job and was scouring the papers when I saw a tiny little ad that just said, “Teach English in Japan” and a phone number. I looked at it and looked at it, and then decided to screw up my courage to answer it. I thought that if it sounded dodgy then I could just slam the phone down! But the voice at the other end answered with “Good afternoon, Japanese Embassy” so I reckoned that was safe enough! It turned out to be an ad for the JET programme which I had never heard of, but it sounded interesting and fun, so I gave it a shot and applied for it. I wasn’t interested in Japan per se, I just wanted an adventure for a year or so! In the end I did the maximum three years on the JET programme and mostly enjoyed myself, and learned a huge amount about all kinds of things in the process.

 When/when/how did you meet your husband?

A week after I got to Japan! 
Well, I met him, but I don’t remember it because I had met so many people with completely unfamiliar names that they had all become a blur. Every week when we met, I had to say “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” until it got too embarrassing to ask any more, so I just called him “The Dark Man” in my head, and nothing to his face. It took me another six months to remember his name! We became friends over the course of my first year here, and started dating about another six months after that. With your husband being in the SDF, he spends a lot of time away from home, how does this work for your family?It’s not much fun, but it’s partly self-inflicted. Yoshi, our elder son, was not happy at school and hated to move every three years or so. He found it very hard to settle in each new place, and then very upsetting to lose all his friends again. We had planned to find a house in Seiju’s home town by the time Yoshi was about ten or eleven years old, but we found a very big, reasonably priced house by chance when he was only seven. It was too good an opportunity to miss, so we took the plunge and decided to live separately.We didn’t realise when we started this that we’d still be living separately eight years later… We have probably lived apart for more than a third of our eighteen year marriage. Some of the periods were three or six months long, but we have now lived apart since our younger son was three, with a one year break in the middle when he was six.

What do you find the most difficult about the situation?

It’s hard to have to do every single thing by yourself. The kids have had to learn to be very self-reliant, which is nice in one way but it was forced on Yoshi a bit early, I think. It’s lonely in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed and it’s just me sitting downstairs. We miss a lot of school deadlines because I put the papers aside for Seiju to read the next time he comes back, only to either forget to give them to him, or for him to find that whatever it was about is long over!I also feel sorry for Seiju that he lives in a small cold apartment with only the basics, while we live in the big, warm, bright house, and are surrounded by our friends. 

I imagine you would prefer for your husband to be working from home but are there any plus points to him working away so much?

This is going to make me sound really bossy, but having to look after the kids myself means that we do things MY way!! I also get lazy about cooking and just do sandwiches or simple one-plate stuff that I’d feel a bit bad giving to him. This is bad for me and the kids too, I realise, but it’s easy!The best bit is that we have never had the chance to get sick of each other. I still feel like a single woman whose boyfriend visits most weekends. I love the thrill of Friday night where we all have our ears tuned for the slam of his car door and his key in the lock.

You run your own English school, how do find running a business in Japan? Do you have any pearls of wisdom for anyone thinking of taking that route?

This is a huge question!!I love having my own business and being my own boss, setting my own schedule and not having to answer to anyone else. It’s hard if there is a problem though because there’s no-one to pass it off onto! I’ve been free to set up my classes the way I want, and to tweak them as I learn and gain experience. I was surprised at how easy it was to start the school - I started with a small ad in the local paper, which attracted three or four students, then I got another three or four by word of mouth, and it slowly grew from there. I was able to get used to teaching by myself and then bit by bit add classes until now seven years later, I’m about at the maximum that I can deal with, which is nice. Pearls of wisdom….. Hmm. Have someone who you can trust wholeheartedly to help you with any Japanese business stuff that comes along. I have a wonderful office manager, Sachiko, who started as my student, became my friend, and then my right-hand woman. She works part time for me but does a HUGE amount in those hours. She is my sounding board, giving me advice about what will or will not work, and she helps me with the day-to-day slog of the business side of the school. I also pay an accountant to do our books. I was told that this was a waste of money, that you can file yourself and the staff at the tax department will help you. They will, but it’s very complicated and there are a lot of rebates and discounts that you need to know about to claim. I know that even with the money the accountant costs me, he saves me a lot more. And I get peace of mind knowing that we are doing everything properly.

I know you are going through the awful stages needed to get your eldest son into high school, can you tell us a bit about the process and what makes it so challenging/annoying.

I’m exhausted – we are right at the peak of it all now. (Trough?!) Compulsory education stops after junior high school, so students have to decide whether to finish their education at 15 and find a job (not a great idea) or go on to high school. They must research the schools available to them, and make their own choice about which to apply to. In Hokkaido students can apply to two private schools and one public school. The private schools write their own tests but the public schools use the same Hokkaido-wide test, and adjust their required scores up or down according to the level of the school. It’s been a long process of buying catalogues of schools, looking for ones that are about the right academic level, going to open campus and recruitment seminars, then applying (the junior high school did help a lot with this bit but we got little to no help with the selection of the schools). Then the students have to go to each school to take the exams and wait for the results. Right now Yoshi has done the two private school exams, has the results back for one (his third choice, he passed!) and is waiting for the second set of results. The public school exam is on the 6^thMarch, and the results will be out on the 16^th. On that day the kids have to make a final decision about which school they will go to (if they have a choice, depends on how many exams they passed!) then the parents have to pay obscene amounts of cash if the kids end up going to a private school, and merely large amounts of cash if it’s a public school.

When you are not juggling being a mother, running a business, teaching, shovelling snow, what do you like to do for downtime?

I love gardening, as reading the summer entries on my blog will show. We have an unusually large garden for Japan, and I spend a lot of time out there during the season. I also like walking – the area we live is very open and fairly flat, and the market gardening type of farming round here makes it an attractive place to walk. I also like blogging, both writing and reading other blogs (mine doesn’t really have much of a focus – apart from endless garden posts in the summer, it’s just a diary of what we’ve been doing lately.) I also like photography to a point – I enjoy taking pictures but I’m not an expert and I’m not that interested in the mechanics of it! I feel very fortunate that so far our boys haven’t got to the “parents are so embarrassing” stage and both are still willing to go out on day trips and holidays with us. This past year has been lost to exam preparation but we are all looking forward to getting out together again soon!

You have made Japan your home, can you share with us some of the things you love about the place?

I love that people are polite, that in our area at least there is little crime and it’s safe to walk at night. That people generally are tolerant and kind to little kids, that kids play outside unsupervised and that generally it’s a safe place for kids. I like the Japanese kindergarten and elementary education in general. Of course I have some niggles but on the whole it’s a well-balanced curriculum with lots of sport, music and social experiences. Customer service is good, and so are the post office and the private shipping companies, which deliver at all hours and any day of the week.

And finally a question from Ebi-kun... what is your favourite dish from Hokkaido and your favourite dish from home?

Hmmmm. I loooove sushi, which is very good in Hokkaido but I’m not sure if that counts as a real Hokkado dish. I love miso butter corn ramen! That’s very Hokkaido!From home, it would have to be a good Sunday roast – any meat, with lots of vegetables but preferably Brussels sprouts in there, and Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Heaven!

 Thank you Vicky, we have to agree with the Sunday Roast! Hopefully we will get a chance to catch up in real life again some time soon.

All images copyright of Vicky at Hyotenka 

Practice makes perfect...

It was the full dress rehearsal yesterday for the yochien play, all went well, no kids fell off stage, no props collapsed, in fact no comedy moments that you except with small kids on stage! 

Ebi-kun dressed for his Hina Matsuri dance and with his sweetheart K-chan ❤

Tulips from Amsterdam...

It has been a while since Ebi-kun has done parts of flower so, before we did the dissecting we did some review work. Starting off with the parts of flower puzzle, it is too easy for him to put back into the base now so he made it on the mat, a bit more of a challenge.

Then he got the felt flower out, I made this many moons ago and found it when I was looking for the three part cards. All the pieces are cut from felt and the name labels I printed out then stuck onto felt, this means the whole thing can be used on a felt board.

Next, he used the 3 part cards and once I was sure he could remember the parts of the flower we go down to business...

And the tulip got it! Daddy-ebi had bought some flowers for valentines and a few of them were on their last legs, or should that be stems? Anyway, we decided to cut them open and see what is inside....

We compared different flowers and noted how they had the same parts even though the overall structure was different, Ebi-kun then wanted to have a closer look so went and got his microscope out.

The other one-going flower experiment we have is having white flowers in colored water as of yet there hasn't been much in the way of change, worked much better last time we did it, maybe the water needs to be a stronger colour?

I have to go into yochien today for the play rehearsal, I think the rehearsal is more for the moms, the kids all seem to know what they are doing. I am on 'small parts duty' whatever that means! The next couple of weeks are going to be super busy, I am sure March will fly by.

Vincent....

We have been listening to Vincent by Don McLean....

I printed out the worlds for Ebi-kun and we read through them, trying to decide what the various lines meant, Ebi-kun has taken to singing it which is a step up from 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor'! He also told me he thought the song was like a poem with music.

We also watched this interactive video using the Starry Starry Night picture, it is great, very clever!

Starry Night (interactive animation) from Petros Vrellis on Vimeo.

a quick update...

A little houses update first... I had a rather bemused looking postie hand over parcels from India, Singapore, New Zealand, USA x2 and the usual post yesterday. So we are up to 45 houses and hopefully more on the way... Kathryn is sending me some eco-bags to put all the houses in and Vicky is sending chocolate so once I have all the houses we will package them up and send them off to Joni.

Other news, Ebi-kun was off yochien again yesterday, the cough is back, so annoying. It was back to the doc for more meds yesterday then a cozy afternoon watching Star Wars III , sewing name labels on everything he has to wear for the play, preparing the pages for the year book and cutting out fabric to make the bags he needs for school. So although I didn't get much in the way of 'work' done I did manage to get most of that out of the way. I keep putting off the labelling of school items, it gives me a headache just thinking about it.

He has gone to yochien today as it is a half day so I am hoping to get the bags sewn and try and finish a couple of other projects whilst I am at it before he gets home....

Star punching

Ebi-kun made a constellation booklet, I printed out these pages and cut out each constellation box and piece of black card to go with it but I cut the black card a couple of cm's wider.

Then Ebi-kun aligned the right edge of the paper and the card, took a pin and punched through holes where all the stars are, he wrote the name of the constellation with glitter pen then when he had done them all we punched a couple of holes down the lefthand side of the black car and added a couple of rings to make it into a little book of sorts.

If you hold the card up to the light you can see the 'stars'. This will be handy to go in with our camping gear since I can never remember any of the constellations!