The kids have gotten a number of fun and interesting jobs over the past couple of years, due to their bilingual and dual nationalities. Both Janina and Jason have done very short parts on a few television dramas, and most recently Jason got a regulary part on a short children's news program for a television station (channel 10 for those who live in kansai). He comes on the show about every 3 weeks. The show length is only 5 minutes total, but for that short amount of time it requires 2 half days of filming, and the pay is really crappy, so we consider it that we're getting paid for experience and learning.
Julia got her first modelling job last month for a popular clothing catalogue (Felissimo for those who know) and just got a second job for another catalogue (I still don't know the name).
Janina has done several voice recordings, including commercials, a book and a CD of children's songs.
So, that's one small fun thing about being a 'half' in Japan and knowing how to speak English.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Star Wars--Darth Vader
The three Darth-J's
Hmmm, is Annakin or Darth Vader my favorite character, I don't know!
Hmmm, is Annakin or Darth Vader my favorite character, I don't know!
The Force is With Us
We made it Star Wars 3--Revenge of the Sith. I think the most exciting part for me was the moment Darth Vader took his first breath inside the suit, OH MY GOD!! How many years have I been waiting to understand the sad mystery behind the man in the suit. Is Star Wars and Sci-fi or a romance? I don't know yet, but this one was a very tortured love-story, and oooh, that emperor is EVIL man!! You have to respect evil to that extent, the mind that can work out such schemes. Of course it's mostly due to George Lucas, but nonetheless..
Poor Padame, the kids just couldn't understand how she could die of a broken-heart, made for an interesting discussion.
Yoda rocks man! Julia is in love with Yoda, she is trying to talk like him and bought some Yoda stationary, maybe I'll search out a Yoda cross-stitch pattern and make it for her. Funny kid!
Well, to be honest, I'm totally glad this movie had finally come out. It's been like 20 years too late. The story is told, the mysteries are answered, and I can't wait to see it again. Actually, tonight we're going to watch Star Wars 4, a New Hope. We prepared for number3 by watching 1 and 2 over the past 2 weeks, and then planned to see 3, and finish off with the last 3, so we can grasp the whole story.
The robots in this newest one were so awesome. I personally think it was one of the best of the whole series, although nothing can really compare to the first 3. And that evil robot guy- Grevious, I wonder if he wasn't sort of a pre-Darth Vader, cause he had a real heart inside of him, maybe he was originally a person that slowly got sliced up and replaced with parts?
OK, now to find some downloads and screensavers and wallpapers!!
Pictures will be coming!
Poor Padame, the kids just couldn't understand how she could die of a broken-heart, made for an interesting discussion.
Yoda rocks man! Julia is in love with Yoda, she is trying to talk like him and bought some Yoda stationary, maybe I'll search out a Yoda cross-stitch pattern and make it for her. Funny kid!
Well, to be honest, I'm totally glad this movie had finally come out. It's been like 20 years too late. The story is told, the mysteries are answered, and I can't wait to see it again. Actually, tonight we're going to watch Star Wars 4, a New Hope. We prepared for number3 by watching 1 and 2 over the past 2 weeks, and then planned to see 3, and finish off with the last 3, so we can grasp the whole story.
The robots in this newest one were so awesome. I personally think it was one of the best of the whole series, although nothing can really compare to the first 3. And that evil robot guy- Grevious, I wonder if he wasn't sort of a pre-Darth Vader, cause he had a real heart inside of him, maybe he was originally a person that slowly got sliced up and replaced with parts?
OK, now to find some downloads and screensavers and wallpapers!!
Pictures will be coming!
Friday, July 15, 2005
Bomb Threat at school
Never a dull moment at the Hashiramoto Elementary School. The kids were all walked home today in groups after the 4th period due to a call the police received that there was a bomb planted somewhere on the school or nearby grounds. I do remember hearing several sirens in the neighborhood around 2:30 or so and wondered what they were. It turned out to be itazura denwa (prank call).
That's the 3rd time in a year that we've had some sort of violent threat to the school, the past 2 involving a knife-carrying man. But with the recent increase in violent crimes towards kids and schools, the police and teachers are taking nothing lightly. I wonder what we'd all do if one of the threats turned out to be real?
That's the 3rd time in a year that we've had some sort of violent threat to the school, the past 2 involving a knife-carrying man. But with the recent increase in violent crimes towards kids and schools, the police and teachers are taking nothing lightly. I wonder what we'd all do if one of the threats turned out to be real?
Squeaky Jack
The kids rescued 2 kittens from the park, the kittens were about 1 day old, black little fur-balls, eyes shut tight, ears not up, still had umbilical cords. They were left there by the mother's owner since they were in a box with a rag and a small carton of milk.
We drove down to the local DIY center and bought a baby kitten formula and bottle. We didn't know much about baby kittens, but decided to try and give these babies a home. The sad news is one of them died a few days later, and with much tears and sadness, we dug a hole in our backyard gravesite, wrapped kitty up with some little goodbye notes, and put her safely into the hole. She is joined by 2-1/2 hamsters.
Her big brother though seemed to be strong and healthy, lots of crying, drinking formula. We learned that kittens need to be kept warm cause they can't generate their own body heat, so we set a lamp over his box. We also learned that they mother usually licks their bottoms to stimulate going pee and poop, so we used a damp tissue to rub him and get his insides moving.
A week later he was doing fine, but a few hours later took a dive for the worse. We got really worried, he wasn't crying, wasn't moving or eating, and his neck had swelled up like he had mumps. So daddy took him to the vet, and the vet gave a sad prognosis, 20% chance of survival. The vet gave him some glucose and antibiotics, and daddy brought the poor thing home to us. We had more tears, but when I saw how swollen his neck was I decided if he had so little chance of survival, we had to do something. We all took turns holding him and kept him close to our bodies for heat, and I mixed up about 1Tbsp of almond oil with a few drops of essential oils specific to infection, both viral and bacterial. We gave him a mini-oil massage, and kept trying to feed him. I didn't think he'd last the night.
Fortunately for kitty, Star Wars 1 was on TV so we all were glued to the sofa for the 2 hours, and devoted that time to holding him close. Towards the end of the show he began crying and nuzzling around looking for a nipple. We grabbed the bottle, warmed it up and stuck it in his mouth. He only drank about 1 drop, but at least he was moving and fighting to live! Still, I wasn't sure he'd make it through the night.
Next morning though, the little guy was still breathing, and he was drinking a few more sips! Yeah! Everyone was happy and excited for him. We went out and bought some pure glucose to give him (kitties can't keep their blood sugar levels up, and many kittens have died from lack of enough glucose-you can also use corn syrup, and I even gave him a little drop of pure maple syrup). But we noticed he hadn't gone poop in about 24 hours, and that worried us cause of the backlog of toxins in his body. By that evening he still hadn't pooped, so we added a drop of lavender oil to his massage, and I put about 1/8th tsp. of ground psyllium husk powder into his bottle. I also read online that a few drops of olive oil in the formula can help.
But still, no poop was coming, so I looked into enemas for kittens, and found out that you can give them one, but it's better for the vet to do it. I wouldn't even know how to start! I also found out that I could put a glycerine suppository in his butt to help move things along, but where in the world would I find one in Japan at 11pm?? So with some searching I found a recipe online and I actually had the ingredients. After boiling up the pot and letting it cool, I tried cutting a small piece to put in his rear-end, but unfortunately it just wouldn't go in, too small a hole. Oh well, we did try and now we have a year's worth of glycerine suppositories in our fridge (as if we've ever used them!--but you never know).
So, we had to rely on the herb and oil, and yeah!! About an hour later the little guy made us happy, and we breathed a sigh of relief that he was probably going to make it.
That was last weekend, and this week he opened his eyes and ears, and is walking around a bit, his little teeth are poking through, and he is sure getting fat. He's past the dangerous 2 week mark, which means we have a new cat!
As for names, we tried squeaky, but too generic. When his eyes opened only one did the first day, so daddy called him one-eyed-jack, and it stuck. He is Jack, or Squeaky Jack. He sleeps in a basket in mommy and daddy's room, sometimes Janni's room, and is a well-cared for orphan.
We drove down to the local DIY center and bought a baby kitten formula and bottle. We didn't know much about baby kittens, but decided to try and give these babies a home. The sad news is one of them died a few days later, and with much tears and sadness, we dug a hole in our backyard gravesite, wrapped kitty up with some little goodbye notes, and put her safely into the hole. She is joined by 2-1/2 hamsters.
Her big brother though seemed to be strong and healthy, lots of crying, drinking formula. We learned that kittens need to be kept warm cause they can't generate their own body heat, so we set a lamp over his box. We also learned that they mother usually licks their bottoms to stimulate going pee and poop, so we used a damp tissue to rub him and get his insides moving.
A week later he was doing fine, but a few hours later took a dive for the worse. We got really worried, he wasn't crying, wasn't moving or eating, and his neck had swelled up like he had mumps. So daddy took him to the vet, and the vet gave a sad prognosis, 20% chance of survival. The vet gave him some glucose and antibiotics, and daddy brought the poor thing home to us. We had more tears, but when I saw how swollen his neck was I decided if he had so little chance of survival, we had to do something. We all took turns holding him and kept him close to our bodies for heat, and I mixed up about 1Tbsp of almond oil with a few drops of essential oils specific to infection, both viral and bacterial. We gave him a mini-oil massage, and kept trying to feed him. I didn't think he'd last the night.
Fortunately for kitty, Star Wars 1 was on TV so we all were glued to the sofa for the 2 hours, and devoted that time to holding him close. Towards the end of the show he began crying and nuzzling around looking for a nipple. We grabbed the bottle, warmed it up and stuck it in his mouth. He only drank about 1 drop, but at least he was moving and fighting to live! Still, I wasn't sure he'd make it through the night.
Next morning though, the little guy was still breathing, and he was drinking a few more sips! Yeah! Everyone was happy and excited for him. We went out and bought some pure glucose to give him (kitties can't keep their blood sugar levels up, and many kittens have died from lack of enough glucose-you can also use corn syrup, and I even gave him a little drop of pure maple syrup). But we noticed he hadn't gone poop in about 24 hours, and that worried us cause of the backlog of toxins in his body. By that evening he still hadn't pooped, so we added a drop of lavender oil to his massage, and I put about 1/8th tsp. of ground psyllium husk powder into his bottle. I also read online that a few drops of olive oil in the formula can help.
But still, no poop was coming, so I looked into enemas for kittens, and found out that you can give them one, but it's better for the vet to do it. I wouldn't even know how to start! I also found out that I could put a glycerine suppository in his butt to help move things along, but where in the world would I find one in Japan at 11pm?? So with some searching I found a recipe online and I actually had the ingredients. After boiling up the pot and letting it cool, I tried cutting a small piece to put in his rear-end, but unfortunately it just wouldn't go in, too small a hole. Oh well, we did try and now we have a year's worth of glycerine suppositories in our fridge (as if we've ever used them!--but you never know).
So, we had to rely on the herb and oil, and yeah!! About an hour later the little guy made us happy, and we breathed a sigh of relief that he was probably going to make it.
That was last weekend, and this week he opened his eyes and ears, and is walking around a bit, his little teeth are poking through, and he is sure getting fat. He's past the dangerous 2 week mark, which means we have a new cat!
As for names, we tried squeaky, but too generic. When his eyes opened only one did the first day, so daddy called him one-eyed-jack, and it stuck. He is Jack, or Squeaky Jack. He sleeps in a basket in mommy and daddy's room, sometimes Janni's room, and is a well-cared for orphan.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Summer Vacation
Our summer vacation will start at the end of July, and we have plans to visit the nearby famous Ise beach in Mie Prefecture. We managed to reserve two inns, one for about $90 for our family of 5 for the first night, the other will be about $150. We haven't been for an overnight family vacation in about 4 years, maybe 5, when we all went to Bali for 3 weeks. We are very excited about this!
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