Marshmallows and trips

Hi all! (From Serenity)

Well, I just finished my weekly Friday Elementary-school fiasco. They are getting easier, as I'm more comfortable in front of the kids, and am not in such a flurry. Recuperation time is lessening!

Today the 6th grade teachers set up a bamboo pole with strings hanging down of different lengths, and they tied marshmallows on the ends. I reviewed directions in English with the kids, ie., "Go straight, left, right", "Stop", "Down", "Go back"...

Then the kids paired up and one person in each pair was blindfolded, and their partner had to guide them to a marshmallow, and get them to eat it off the string, using English. Hilarious! They loved it, and everyone had fun. Sometimes the kids would get two different people aiming for the same marshmallow, and I tried to teach them "kiss!!". I could've sworn it was going to happen, but it didn't. At the end, there was one marshmallow left, and three different blindfolded boys were trying to get it with their mouths, and one of the kids yelled "attack!!"... well, it IS an English command!!

Fun stuff, fun stuff.

We're off to a Japanese-style "ryokan" this weekend up in the mountains, for a little retreat, and to relax in an onsen! ("hot spring" -- extremely popular here, and they're everywhere, especially on Kyushu).

It's getting colder everyday here, and the mountains are beautiful with bright colors.

Oh, and we just booked tickets to the southern-most islands of Okinawa for our New Year's holiday!!! Oh man, I'm sure it'll be rough. We're staying on the island of Ishigaki for 3 nights, then on Iriomote for 3, then back to Ishigaki for the last night. The islands are only 270km from Taiwan. Coooool.

And, it's only 2 hours to the main island (Okinawa) from Fukuoka, and another 35 minute flight from there. On Iriomote, there are no roads that go through the interior of the island, and no airstrip to speak of. Not that it keeps the droves of ferry-goers away, but it's a 50 minute ride, anyway! We're hoping to hike the 10-mile trail across the island, and/or canoe up the river, through dense jungle and lots of waterfalls. The average temperature there in late December is 61-64 degrees. Not too bad. Better than the already-45-degrees in late November here!

Love to everyone, and don't be afraid to reply or post comments on this site! Just click on "comments" at the end of this post... which is

now!!