Cirque Du Soleil ZED/Tokyo Disneyland

I thought it would be fun to take the kids to a Cirque Du Soleil show as a surprise.  I found tickets through a travel company here that had tickets to the show and evening entrance into Tokyo Disneyland.  The kids knew we were going to Disneyland, but didn't know we were going to a show.
I always wanted to go to a show in Vegas, but never made it.  I heard the Japanese built this theater just for this particular show and it is closing on Dec. 31st.  Our friends, Mika and Tomo dropped us off and we starting walking towards the theater.
Rachel and Alex asked, "Where are we going?" and we said "Wait and see!"  Then, they saw the signs for ZED and figured it out.  They were like "Cool, but what is it?"  We got really good seats on the right side of the stage - 6th row!
Those of you that have been know what a great show it is!  They thoroughly enjoyed it and we all were in awe of the special talent and visual stimulation of the show.  After that, we walked over to Disneyland and it almost seemed like a let down PLUS it was super crowded with couples.  Apparently, Christmas eve it THE night for young couples in Japan and they were all at Disneyland.
We went on "It's a Small World" and some 3D movie with all the Disney characters speaking in Japanese. It was hilarious!  The lines for Space Mountain and other rides were about 2 hours long.  But the Christmas decorations were just like home.  We didn't stay very long, but went shopping instead.  Rachel bought a really cute Pooh hat and Alex bought a Tigger hat AND tail!

More photos to come
Joanna

More Murasaki!

This was one of the dishes we had where they come and cook the fish right in front of you.  Very cool!

What a cute group!

They were so nice at the restaurant that they put up a thank you note above the toilet!

Dinner at Murasaki!

One of our favorite restaurants in Japan is one called Murasaki which has many different kinds of foods to choose from.  We used to have one in Numazu but it went out of business so Mika and Tomo knew we liked it so we went there our first night in Tokyo.  Their friends also came with us and they have two children.  This video shows Alex playing a version of rock-paper-scissors with one of them.  We had a blast!

Going to Tokyo

Riding on the Bullet Train! What a couple of amazing kids!

The most awesome vending machine ever! This is a touch screen digital vending machine. Rachel got a water just to see how it worked.  Amazing!

On the train to Mika and Tomo's passing the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Yay! We made it to Mika and Tomo's place and this was the Christmas tree in the lobby.

Mika and Tomo's place is on the tenth floor and this is the view before going in.  Every time I looked down, my stomach dropped.  Alex tried racing us by using the stairs while we used the elevator and I think he learned a valuable lesson about running up stairs.  Oh...we won!

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Can't Wait To Tell You About Our Tokyo Trip

Lots of photos to follow...

Celebrating Christmas in Japan

So Joanna wanted me to make Christmas frames with pictures in her second grade class during art time (yes I'm teaching second grade art) and we made Christmas/New Years cards to go with them.  It was so cool making Christmas cards with the Japanese kids but then they asked me if they could include a dragon and I asked why.  They told me that next year was the year of the dragon so I told them of course they could.  They made the most amazing Christmas combined with New Years cards.

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Our Address.

We've had a few people ask us for address lately and we thought we'd post it on our blog:

Januck & Joanna Polikaitis

836-14 Ooka

Numazu-shi, Shizuoka-ken

JAPAN     410-0022

Thanks and have a happy holidays!

Our Two Awesome Kids!

Both of the kids came home from school the other day and I realized that I haven't posted a picture of the two of them in their winter uniforms.  I think they look great!  Dang, is Alex really a head taller than Rachel now?

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Maru Maru Mori Mori

This song is so cute and everyone here seems to know the dance.  At our staff party, two teachers got up and danced to this song.  Rachel and Alex have watched this video many times to try and learn the words and moves to the song.  I find myself even wanting to learn.  These two kids could be in my class..that is how cute my students are this year.  Enjoy!
Joanna

To parents and students

This note came home last week from Rachel and Alex's school, called "How to pass during holiday".  It was roughly translated.

Things prohibited:

Going out:   Restaurant and Recreation Center which is not desirable for HS students.  Traveling together with different genders. Going out after 9 p.m. Late night skating rink. Winter mountain climbing.

Traffic Rules:  No motorbike. No acquisition of driver's license.

Other:  No coloring of the hair. No make-up.

Things that can be done with permission:

Going out:  Leaving the prefecture. Travel, Camping, skiing, Reunion and Class meetings.

Traffic rules:  Can come to school by bicycle.

Regulation Places:

Prohibited:  Pubs, Discos, Game Centers, Midnight movies, Pachinko, and Billiards.

Conditional, with a guardian:  Cafe, Bowling Alley, Golf Practice Place, Batting Center, Karaoke Boxes

If students are attending school for any reason like sports or club activity....wear your uniform.

Joanna

The Day and Half Day Off!

        Today, Rachel and I had the day off because,well, I actually don't know but better for us right? Anyways, I slept in til 9:45 and Skyped my best friend Adam. Only, it wasn't a normal Skype. It was a MARIO KART SKYPE!!! It doesn't sound that exciting but we were Skyping while we played. It was fun and then afterwards, I taught him some Japanese phrases. Useful phrases of course ;) After that, I had to go to the post office to mail presents to some relatives for Christmas all by myself. Well, I'm not fluent so I had trouble the whole time. I was there for at least 15 minutes and eventually made it out of there alive. Then I got me and my sister lunch at 7-11. So, our day has been pretty relaxing.
         Yesterday, I had half day so my class set up a lunch get-together. The restaurant was down a long hill and the kids in my class either walked, rode their bike, or rode the bus and we all met up. It was fun because our whole class took up a large room in the restaurant and we had it all to ourselves. We ate, played games, and had a ton of fun. It was cool having everyone there and just being relaxed and we were there for 3 hours. All in all, this week has been relaxing and fun.

-Alex :)

Odds and Ends

Just thought I would go through some of our recent pictures and share them.

Yup. Cowbell Kitchen at our local store.  They have some amazing shrimp fried rice!

Need a coat?  How about COAT de HOT!

The owner of this restaurant in our city wanted a prestigious sounding name so instead of Golden Nugget, he came up with this one.

Yummmmm.  How about some Pepsi Pink!

Yes, another toilet but the lid on this one opens up automatically when you walk into the bathroom.

Okay, this one is just plain creepy!

You never know what you'll find on the local train.  How this guy woke up and got off at his stop, I'll never know.

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Alex and his piano!

   Ever since Alex got a keyboard for his birthday, he has been playing the same songs over and over again. Our family asked him to learn some Christmas songs for the holidays. So, Alex has been practicing nonstop and has learned how to play some great Christmas classics. He is so skilled and the music he plays is very beautiful. I am so blessed to be able to listen to my brother play some Christmas music everyday. Hopefully he will put a video on soon.

:) Rachel

Our trip to Costco

We drove to Costco in Yokohama with friends today.  It was about 2 hours away one way and was super busy. It does sound crazy to drive all that distance to buy muffins, bagels, Oral B toothbrushes, Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa, etc. but when you are missing food from home....it is worth it.  I know the kids were excited!

Joanna$

Family photo

This photo was taken last weekend when we went to the city of Mishima with friends.  We walked into a traditional garden near the Sano museum.  The turtle stands for fertility in Japan.  

Later, we went to the sword (katana) demonstration where we each had the chance to swing an old and heavy sword cutting newspaper and into a mud slab.  It was very cultural and we enjoyed it!

Joanna$

Mt. Fuji with Snow

Again, I never get tired of seeing Mt. Fuji. It is so beautiful.

Katana

I made this video about our family cutting with the Katana sword and our friend from New Zealand almost makes it there.
-Alex :)

What an Awesome Weekend!

We had such a great weekend as a family.  Last night, the director of our school had a holiday party at his house where we had an amazing turkey dinner and pie for dessert.  Everybody brought something and our coworker Troy got up early in the morning and smoked a turkey.  It was such a nice time.  The house is on a hill with a beautiful view and the road going up is very steep.  One taxi tried to go up the driveway and turn around but got stuck and luckily there were a lot of us foreigners ready to give him a hand.  Some got in the taxi to provide weight and try to keep the wheels from spinning while I and others got behind to push and keep it from hitting a small cement wall.  It came within about half an inch from hitting the wall and we were finally able to get the taxi at an angle where it could back down the driveway.  Foreigners to the rescue!

I had to get a picture of some of the delicious desserts!

Today we met up with some friends and went to a Katana, or sword, demonstration in the next city over from us.  It is the same sword (I think) that my Kendo teacher let me hold awhile back.  He was the one who led the demonstration and we were his special guests.  After he showed us what to do, he then allowed people who had paid a chance to use the Katana.  Because we were his guests, he allowed us to do it for free.  He called up Alex about half way through the line of people and he was the first of us to go.

Alex using the Katana!

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Brovember!

I decided to join the Grow Your Beard in November movement.  It was fun but started to get itchy.  I finally shaved it off and it was quite chilly when I put my head on my pillow for the first time.

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5000!

Thanks to all of you who read our blog! We just passed the 5000 pageview milestone! Sometimes we wonder if anyone is even reading it.  Thank you again for being part of our lives!

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Christmas Tree

When I was growing up here, it was hard to find Christmas trees to decorate.  We had an artificial one with cardinals and blue ornamental balls,  The last time we were here when the kids were young, we made a Christmas tree out of colored butcher paper.
Last weekend, we went to the Japanese Walmart, called Seiyu and bought a tree and some ornaments.  I had the kids pick out the size and choose the colors for the tree and we decorated it.  We quite like it!

Joanna

Mid Terms and Cooooold D:

This week we have had mid terms. I guess you can say the only good thing about that is coming home at 12 o'clock every day. To top off that all off, it's been getting cold, cold. I don't mean like how it gets in Cali. But now it's getting really cold. Starting to whip out our scarves and our warm gear because even when we have the heat turned on, it gets cold. Heat packs are my best friends right now... oh, and also, the vending machines have hot coffee in cans so I like those in the morning. All in all, IT IS COOOLLLLD! haha

-Alex :)

The Amazing Japanese Toilet (and Toilet Paper Holder)

Okay, so awhile ago I mentioned in a blog about how some of the things in Japan are just genius compared to back home and I mentioned the toilet.  Well, here is the Japanese toilet and toilet paper holder.

Notice the buttons on the side. Those are to control the bidet AND there is TEMPERATURE CONTROL! Yes, the seats are heated and when it is very cold out, especially in the morning, it is a very nice feature to have.  Of course, we don't need it during the summer so we turn it off but in the winter, it is a necessity!

Notice the two arrows on the flush, one going up and one going down.  The one going up is a small flush and the one going down is a BIG flush.  Now, I think you can figure out which type of situation would need a small flush and which one needs a big flush.  And when I say big...I mean big.  There ain't nothing that hangs around.  What a great idea though.  You can choose how much water you need to make a flush.  Genius!

Now the toilet paper holder.  Why we don't have these back home, I'll never know.

Behold the toilet paper.  I've lifted the cover up. Yes there's a cover.  It helps you rip the toilet paper off.  To remove the roll, you lift up and the wands on both sides have springs in them and they lift up allowing the roll to come off very easily.

These are the two spring loaded wands.

All you do is lift the roll from below, pushing the wands up, until they spring into the roll.  That's it! No struggling with the center tube and trying to fit it back into position.  Here, just lift up, toss away, and load from the bottom.  Genius!

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Fried Rice

So Rachel wanted to make fried rice today from some frozen packages I had in the freezer.  She asked, "How do you make it?"  I said, "Read the directions!" and starting laughing.  Then Januck starting laughing and Alex joined in.  She asked, "What is so funny?" not knowing the directions are in Japanese!
I always make things here by trial and error...you have to!
Joanna

Field Trip

Took my 2nd graders on a field trip up to a park with a hiking trail on Wednesday.  It was beautiful with trees changing, bamboo forest and a waterfall at the top of the hill.  Really enjoyed it.

Joanna

Alex the Scaredy Cat!

Alex came home Saturday afternoon from school and told us that he was planning on going to see Paranormal Activity 3. Immediately I started laughing because Alex and I don't do well with scary movies. He said it was fine because the friends he was going with have already seen him scared because they went to a haunted house during a school field trip. Alex didn't know what the movie was about so we decided to watch the trailer. It was hilarious because Alex was so freaked out watching the trailer. However, he decided to suck it up and go. His friends ended up calling and canceling because they were still at school. Alex was so relieved because he really did not want to go. Well, since Alex is now addicted to the television show Lost, he wanted to watch an episode. This picture is of Alex watching Lost on the computer. I can't imagine how he would be in the movie theater watching Paranormal Activity 3. Just another fun night in the Polikaitis household :)

-Rachel :) 

Why?

Long day... Rode the bus... Came out..... Pouring rain .... Had my umbrella...  Still SOAKED TO MY KNEES... Came home... and relax! :D
-Alex :)

Fun Halloween Party!

The halloween party was pretty fun with all the food and stuff at first. But, it was pretty much talking and just hanging, but then someone pulled out,'Catch That Phrase' and I guess you can say it was love at first sight. haha it was sooooo much fun and it's a great guessing game. We played that the rest of the time. Then we came home and I went to bed. I'm glad their was a halloween party or I wouldn't have anything to do.
-Alex :)

Sick again!

Well, I have a cold with a cough that won't go away.  Rachel woke up with the stomach flu, so we both went to the English speaking doctor in town.  He spoke to Rachel first, and told her since she is vomiting he would give her an injection!  She handled it better than I thought.  The nurse laid her on a bed, so I don't think she knew where the injection would go....luckily just in her arm.  He then told me I had a bad cold and to rest today,  When we went to the pharmacy, across the street, I ended up with more meds than Rachel.  It all took an hour and about $30.  Hope we recover soon, from these foreign viruses!
The boys are healthy for now.....
Joanna

Fujinomiya Festival

On Friday night, we went with friends to a Japanese festival.  It has been a tradition for over 1000 years for 20 floats on wheels to duel.  They have groups playing the drums, flutes and chimes and people pushing them together and apart.  We listened and waited to find out how they determine a winner between the two floats.  It was a tie, but I still don't know the rules.

The food at the festivals are always a favorite.  When I was little, I ate a candy called mizu-ame.  It is a blob of clear taffy with a coloring you can choose on chopsticks.  Very hard to describe- but hopefully from the photo you can imagine it.  Brought back such wonderful memories.

Joanna

Mr. Snazzy!

Alex looking might sharp in his winter school uniform!

Happy Halloween!

Even though the Japanese don't go trick-or-treating, they do get into the spirit of it.  A lot of the stores have decorations and costumes and some of the classes at our school had halloween parties where the kids dressed up. Joanna bought a pumpkin from Foreign Buyers Club for about $35 which isn't bad considering we don't have our local pumpkin patch to run to and buy one. Alex took on the job of carving his first pumpkin by himself and did a great job! The one thing we were really missing was candy corn.  Every time we went to a store Alex would go to the candy area, especially if they had a halloween section, and would look for candy corn but had no luck.  Then we received a mysterious package in the mail and as I was opening it, I could smell what was inside.  CANDY CORN!!!!!!!  THANK YOU UNCLE JOHN, AUNT BEV, AND FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That made our halloween complete!

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Alex's carving!

My aunt, uncle, and cousins are the best in the world!!!!!!!! They shipped candy corn from Chicago just for us. I am soooo grateful to have such an amazing family like them. Rachel and I have been so excited, that we already finished both bags... Still going on the lollipops though! haha Thank you so much Uncle John, Aunt Bev, and Jamison (and Jordan and Julian if this was your doing also). I'm sending you guys a letter and I hope it comes soon! Well Happy Halloween everyone! Love you guys! And yes Uncle John, I still remember my nickname, "Hook" !
-Alex :)

Our New Houseguest!

We got home at around dusk tonight and found a new houseguest outside our front door. Now, we've had frogs, praying mantises, spiders, mosquitoes, and a variety of other living things. This bat takes the cake.

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Yakiiiiiiiiiiii Imoooooooooo!

Last night I heard THE sound. A sound from the past that we'd been waiting to hear but hadn't since we'd been back to Japan and didn't think we'd hear until the winter.  We had heard a similar sound about a month ago and rode our bikes, catching up to the little truck with the lantern glowing from the side but to our disappointment, it was a ramen truck.  Not tonight though. I was at the computer at about 9:30 PM when I heard that familiar sound.  Yakiiiiiiiiiiii Imooooooooooo (Sweeeeeeeeeet Potatooooooooo). Yes, it was the Sweet Potato truck.  The guy has built some sort of a wood burning oven on the back of a small pickup truck. Yes, a truck with gasoline underneath but he must have insulated it really well because you can see the fire burning in the back of his truck.  Rachel and I took off (sorry Alex) and caught up with him down the street.  A neighbor had stopped him so we were able to get our Sweet Potatoes.  He lifted up a some sort of oven door and they were inside baking.   We bought two and took them home and cut them open, spreading butter over them. Mmmmmmmm. Delicious! I never liked sweet potatoes back home but these are more like regular potatoes but just a little different.  I can't wait until it gets colder and hopefully he'll come around a bit earlier so we can have some for dinner.  And maybe, just maybe, we'll have to catch up to the ramen truck again and have a bit of ramen one night.

You can see the fire burning in the back of the truck.

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OKINAWA!!!

Okinawa Trip with my Class!!!

These are two of my good friends, Mayumi and Rieko, who were in my group.

This is a view of Okinawa and the American air force base.

 These are pictures of the ocean at the aquarium.

My Group!!!

The view from our hotel room.

 My group at Okinawa world where we went into a cave, watched a traditional Okinawan dance, and held a snake.

My group at the airport.

This is my group on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Overall, I had an awesome time at Okinawa and loved being able to experience it with my group.