Shin Kobe
Our family went along with some friends (the McCrearys) to Shin Kobe Ropeway and Kobe Nunobiki Herb Park. We took a bus about 30 minutes to Shin Kobe where we rode on a ropeway (cable car) up into the mountain. The view was gorgeous, overlooking cities and ocean, and the leaves in yellow, orange, and red. We got to the top and walked around to see the herb garden. The brochure says "a pleasant place and time with herbs". OK, I laughed too. Flowers, herbs, spices ... maybe not up my alley, but still very cool. We hiked down the mountain along a waterfall. Really beautiful, but lots of huge spiders!
School and child update
The Canadian Academy has a very cool part of their program called reflection. The idea is that kids reflect on what has gone well and where their opportunities are so that they can continue to improve. The children do this weekly in many classes. In its simplest form, Jessica does a reflection in first grade every Friday. She writes: one thing I did well this week, one time I took a risk, one thing that was hard for me this week, and one way I was helpful to others. Then, a parent writes one observation from the week. Another example is in 7th grade, Jacob writes a reflection each week on how his project team has done - what were their goals, did they accomplish them, what went well, what didn't go so well, what their goals are for the next week. I think this is a very cool concept. Imagine if we all learned from our successes and failures each week!
Jessica is doing great. Even her brothers say, "Wow. Jessica is a great reader!" She is playing Saturday soccer and starts street Jazz next week. Jessica lost a tooth on Nov 1. She wrote a note to the tooth fairy that said, "Dear Tooth Fairy. I am English. It is my 3rd tooth I lost. How much money will you give me? Love Jessica. (also signed in Japanese). My tooth is in this (with an arrow and a picture of the little bag), but it might slip." The tooth fairy does indeed come to Kobe, Japan and pays in Japanese Yen! She went through a growth spurt a couple months ago. Her jaw grew and her teeth now have gaps. Seriously. One morning, Matthew said "Jessica's teeth look different." It really happened that fast! Her top left front tooth is so loose, but she does not want to pull it. She does not want to "have a gap and talk funny". Jessica enjoyed her 7th birthday with three friends - making pizza, doing nails, and having a sleepover.
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| Lily, Jessica, Laura, Alex |
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| Kailey helped with nails. |
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| Happy 7th birthday Jessica! |
Matthew loves his teacher. He says that he is best teacher ever. He is doing very well and continues to really excel in math. He plays Saturday soccer, Thursday flag football, and rugby. He starts baseball next week. Matthew's rugby team has made it to the semi-finals of their end of year tournament. They play 2 games on Sunday - semi finals, and finals (hopefully) or consolation game. (See youtube video Matthew rugby 2010 for a few highlights from their first tourney of the fall. The link is also on my facebook page.) Good luck Matto!
Jacob is also doing very well in school. He continues to love math as his favorite subject. He starts on the middle school basketball team and has practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He still has play practice on M,W,F after school until next weeks's performance. He plays the part of Dracula in the play "Drac's Back!" Jacob's flag football team got third place in their tournament last weekend. He is growing like crazy - almost as tall as I am, and his feet are only 1/2 size smaller than Phillip's!!
Random thoughts
I just have to share a couple of funny quotes.
One of the great things about living here is that we get to have dinner together as a family a lot - really as long as Phillip is in town. We have great conversations. One night, we were talking about someone's new baby. Matthew asked, "If we had a baby here, would it be Japanese?" I was laughing so hard that I almost spit my food out! (Oh, ... and no, we are not having a baby here.)
Separately, Jacob's PE/Gym class had a badminton tournament. In the semi-finals, he played against an 8th grade Korean kid whom Jacob knows from playing baseball together. He has quite a personality. During baseball, if he made a strike, he would often throw his arms out and yell something in Korean. Just a character (in a fun way). Anyway, Jacob won this game at PE. The kid then yelled, "How can I lose to an American?" Truly, one of my favorite comments of the move so far. Funny, though, Jacob then lost to a Japanese girl in the final game! :)
Grandma Maloney arrives Friday evening to stay with us until January 10. I look forward to sharing some great adventures together!
Peace and Love.
Tina
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