Halloween Party!

Hi!
It was raining in the morning but, the sky is back to normal and it's beautiful!
The Halloween party was great! 52 kids with their parents! It was really a full house. Most of them were little kids from kindergarden or even pre-school! They were soooo CUTE!!! They had some good costumes too.
We did some pumpkin carving with some HUGE pumpkins. My Dad hurt his back a little when he was taking it to the party room. But, the kids made great jack-o-lanterns. Some of the pumpkin skins were hard and shaped really odd but, the kids tried to carve thruoght the hard skin and made some good jack-o-lanterns.
Also the "Trick or Treat" was a great succses. The owner of the "Akitaya ( A Japanese restaurant that we often go)" had a "Namahage Mask (a gnome mask) see picture at the right" and I had a noise maker and it was a little scary, but for the kids, ohoooo , it was scary. A lot of kids cried! But, after that they say that it was fun.
Well that's all for today. On my Dad's blog, he is going to blog about the "Bossa Nova Party" that was after the Halloween party. To go to his site just click the link that says "My Dad's Blog".
See ya!

Another Beautiful Day!

Hi!
I love the weather, It's beautiful! It was a little cloudy yesterday but, it's back to normal now. It's been like this for a week and a half. I heard on the news that it snowed in New York and other locations in America. I didn't know that it was that cold over there.
Two days until "Halloween Party" and a "Bossa Nova party". My Dad's boss likes "Bossa Nova", in the evening we are going to have that and on the same day we have our Halloween Party. A little busy don't you think?
My Dad is in his October sports mode. Baseball, (American)Football, and the next sumo season starts in two weeks! It gives all the politicians of the world a break- no nasty e-mails! But,it dosn't give ME a break. Soon as I want to do something , like playing the video game, there is some thing on the television. Good grief!
Our water pipe was leaking so the workers are going in and out. My Dad is going to blog about this on his blog. You can go to his blog by clicking the link on the right of the page that says "My Dad's blog". My Mom is also doing a blog about ikebana. You can go to her page by clicking the link that says "My Mom's blog". She hasn't posted a long time. I took a picture of her recent work (The picture on the upper right hand corner).
Well that's all for today! See Ya!

New Links Added

Hi!
The weather is beautiful! No sign of rain clouds at all!
I have put a link on the right side of the page that says "Links". The one that says "Tateyama Station WebCam" is a live camera of our local station view. (The picture on the upper right hand corner is the station from my Dad's home town in America, Grafton, W.V., and on the left is our local station. )You can control the camera by clicking the "Start control" button. Some of the controls do not work so just play around with it. Below the "Tateyama Station WebCam" there is another webcam from "Wada" beach area. You can control the camera as well.
I also put a link to my Dad's new blog called "Japan a la carte". Don't be confused by the name, it's in English! Just click on the link that says "My Dad's Blog".
I have seen the airplane crash in New York. First I thought it was another terrorist attack. But, it was a two seater airplane so I think it was an accident. I am sorry for the N.Y. Yankees pitcher, Cory Lidle. I wonder why he was flying that low. And he looked like a safe pilot too.
That's all for today. Next time, I will try not to blog a lot about links!!
See ya!

Halloween Party on the 21st!

Hi!
Finally the season is nice! It's been like this for 4 days. But, they say that its going to rain tonight. We don't know yet!
On the 21st, we are going to have a Halloween party at Dad's English school. We are going to carve some jack-o-lanterns, and play all kinds of games and have treats. We are going to do trick or treat too! There is this scary place to go, but it's just a harmless restaurant.
I remember when I was in America, I was a spider. My Mom makes great costumes. She makes it scary. There was a house decorated real scary, I ran back down the stairs. I met people with great costumes, and I got a lot of candy too! In Japan, we don't do any thing like that. I realy miss it, but I just thought that I am too big for that now! I wish there was trick or treat for big kids!
Well, I hope it will not rain tonight. I love shiny weather.
The picture is from Tateyama station today.
I will put a link for a "web cam" of Tateyama statio. This is the site>> http://it.awa.jp/live_camera2.htm.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Discover Japan!

Hi!
It's raining today (AGAIN!!!). And it's cold outside.
Tomorrow, my Dad will be not home for two days because there is "English camp" for the school he is working for. They are going to the "Hakkakusou". I think it means "eight sided house" in Japanese. A lot of foreigners stay there for a few days to learn about Japan, many people from Tokyo, including kids too! The owner of the place is Mr. David Green. He came to Japan and he wanted to tell every body how great Japan is. His homepage address is http://www.discoverjapan.co.jp/ . There is a English site and a Japanese site. And right now he is making another place for his camp. I hope it will not rain tomorrow.
I feel that autumn is here. No sign of summer any more. That's all for today!
See Ya!

We Love "Nabe-mono"!

Hi!
It's a rainy day today. The sun was out for about an hour but, it started to cloud up again.
Last week my Dad had a 1 week vacation . We had a power walk on Monday. We just walked up the hill near by. It took about an hour. It was a great workout. That night, since it was cold, we had " nabe-mono". "Nabe-mono is a Japanese dish. You put meat, vegetables and other kinds of stuff in a broth. The word "nabe" means "pot" or a "earthen ware pot" in Japanese. You put all the ingredients in the pot and heat it up. There are all kinds of nabe-mono. There are sea food nabe, meat nabe, and the sumo wrestlers like the "chanco nabe. It has alot of nutrition for them.
The sun is coming out again. I hope it will clear up tomorrow.
Well, thats all for today. See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 3)

Hi!
The weather is nice and the temperature is low. Today I am going to blog about day 2 in Tokyo.

The Lightning Gate
We had a good night's sleep in a fluffy bed; the hotel was great, nice toilets and a plasma TV. We had our breakfast downstairs, and it was almost full already.
It was a rainy day. I thought it would never stop because of the typhoon. But it stopped! There was a place we wanted to go. That place is called the "Lightning Gate","Kaminari mon" in Japanese. You can see my Dad standing below the big red lantern. It was in the morning so it was not too crowded. My Mom bought us delicious sweet bean pastries. There was all kinds of nice looking stuff, like japanese umbrellas and key holders.
Hours past and we headed back to Tokyo Station. We went underground where there are a lot of food shops. It's called "chika gai". Every time we go to Tokyo we stop by there. Well, it was time to go and we got on the bus and saw the famous spots.
So, this is the end of the special series about Tokyo.
The next blog, I am going to blog normally.
That's all for today! See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 2)

Hi!
A nice day here in Japan! It was a little cloudy in the morning.
Today is part 2 from the last time's blog.

My Autographed T-shirt.
While the lower class wrestlers were fighting, we went where the wrestlers come in and out, to get pictures and autographs. That day I had on a T-shirt with a picture of me and one of the Russian wrestlers that my father took last time. I wanted to get his autograph on it, so I waited there. Before he came his younger brother came. So I got his autograph on the back of my T-shirt. After that, his apprentice said, looking at the picture, "Hey! That's your brother!". And I waited a little longer and he came! But, it is really hard to get an autograph before their match. So, the first time I couldn't get it because his apprentice said no. But, as he pasted by, he saw the picture on my T-shirt and said, "Oh!". So, after his match was over I went outside and got his autograph on my shirt.
(The picture on the right is his younger brother "Hakurozan" and on the bottom is him, "Rohou")
That's all for today! Next is Day 2 in Tokyo (part 3).
See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 1)

Hi Guys!
The weather is beautiful. The typhoon didn't hit us. But, unluckily, it still rained.
For the next few days, I am going to blog about the trip to Tokyo, with some pictures that I took.

Trip To Sumo
The main reason for going to Tokyo was to watch some Sumo. Since it was a weekend there were a lot of people lined up to get their tickets. We had to wait for an hour. When we got in, they were already doing sumo. But, the people playing were the lower class wrestlers. But, even if they are lower class it is interesting to watch. One of bouts was about 3 minutes long. Some were ties and were played one more time!
That's all for today! The next blog is part 2. See ya!

Viva Sumo!

Hi!
The temperature is falling like a rock. My Dad is not getting much sleep because of that. But, the weather is beautiful. I'm composing this outside. Well, what do you know, it's starting to rain! Not that much.
Sunday to Monday we are going to Tokyo! On Sunday, we are going to "Sumo". And we are going to stay for the night. On Monday we are going to do some sight seeing. But, the problem is, a typhoon might meet us there.
I shouldn't brag about the weather. It's cloudy now!
In the afternoon, we are going to watch some american football. My Dad is happy because of the sports. We have sumo and football and baseball playoffs coming!
That's all for now. I'm going to lunch! I'm hungry!!!!!!
See Ya!

This is Not "Boaring"!

Hi!
I was wrong about the weather; it's not getting cool! It's 93 at Tokyo! But we can hear the autumn insects. Typhoon #12 is coming but, I don't think it's coming here. The weather is beautiful. We can see the stars clearly. We have a telescope, but it does not work very well.
My Dad's on a diet AGAIN! He says that alot, and it does not last long. He just told me that New Years is the tough part because the food is so good! Well, we started to do "road work" ( running ) in the morning. Last time, I put weights on my wrist! We also play "DDR" (Dance Dance Revolution) on my "Game Cube". It's fun and, very exhausting!
Sometime, when we come back home from our "road work", we go through rice paddies and some vegetable gardens. The people there often give us some very good looking vegetables! And on Monday, my music teacher brought us some wild boar! It was GOOOD- a lot of nice people around Japan! Our workout is not working because of all the food we get! LOL
But, a lot of it is healthy.
That's all for today!

End of Summer Vacation

Hello out there!
My short summer vacation has ended, and back to school for me!
Some of the leaves are starting to change color, and the hot, hot and hot temperature is gradually getting cool. Yes, Fall is coming! It's almost "sports day" for a lot of schools in Japan. I think I blogged about sports day when I was in elementary school.
Sports day is a event for a lot of schools in Japan.
Most popular is the "ohtama corogashi".
It means "roll the BIG ball" in Japanese. It's a race rolling a big, big ball.
When I was in Hojo elementry school, this sports day made teachers crazy! We had to stay late there for a long time just to do something! And I hated the "kumitaisou", you have to make a pyramid with 8 kids. I was all ways at the bottom! I'm glad I'm in home schooling now!
That's all for today! See ya!

Movie Time!!

Hi guys!
We had a weak "typhoon" (A storm not as strong as a hurricane) and we had
three of them! But, no problem! One was weak, one was stuck on Taiwan! The one we had was called "Maria". It will clear for a while now. Oh boy.
Last week, we went to the beach to do some beachcombing. It was a nice and hot day, the tide was not dangerous at all. The problem was that there were no shells! And the tide didn't seem to go out. But, we had a good time.
The day after that, we went to see"Pirates of the Caribbean/Dead Man's Chest"! I can't tell you about the story because it will spoil the movie! But one thing I want to say is that it's a great, great, GREAT movie! And you have to see the first movie to enjoy the second one! There is going to be a third "Pirates" too! I can't wait to see it!!
Yesterday, my Dad and I had our own "film festival". We saw "the Matrix Revolutions" and "i,Robot"
"Matrix" is famous for action scenes. Good graphics too! "i,Robot" is based on a story in Chicago year 2035. It's a good movie too!
Well this weekend we are going to watch flamenco. Every year we have a flamenco festival of university students from all over Japan. This is the 5th time we will go there.
It is a beautiful concert. I wish you could see it!

That's all for today! See ya!

Summer is Here!

Hey, hey, hey!
Summer vacation has started! But, I still have home schooling to do!
Rainy season is finally over. It might rain some more but the hard weather is gone.
It might rain this weekend.
The picture is from my Dad's friend in West Virginia, they are baby geese.
The women here are giving up their umbrellas for sun shade umbrellas called "higasa"
It is geting hot and the A.C. is on most of the time. We can hear the cicada, or as they say "Katydids". My Father can't hear them but, we can!
That's all for today! See ya!
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Sea Day

Hello world!
The rain just let up and the hot sun is coming out!
We had a three day weekend. Monday was "Sea Day
Why do we have Sea Day? Well, in America the land is
big and some of the people can't see the 'sea'! And some
people get to eat fish occasionally. We eat a lot of fish , here in Japan , like three or four times a week. We love the sea( If it's not so windy)! So, Japan made a day to celebrate the sea. The picture is a fishing boat and the flag means that they caught a lot of fish.
It's geting hot! We got a 95 F last week. I went to Aikido that day ! We don't have any AC at the practice hall! But, today we have a little break (77 F).
That's all for today! See Ya!

Duke's Robots

Hi!
Long time since the last blog.
We want to cook out but, every weekend the weatherman
says it's going to rain. The bad thing is, it didn't rain a bit! Give us a break!
Remember I was talking about my "Lego Mindstorms". The first time I got that set, I was about 7 years old. The set was for 12 years up. So, I didn't know what was going on! I gave up on it . Then we moved to Japan and brought the set with us. I wanted to restart again. I finally understood it! Then a motor didn't work. I gave up again. Then one day I saw a robot show and there was the "Lego Mindstorms" robot running around. Then again I wanted to play with it. So I ordered a motor, and it arrived. We tested the motor but, the motor went backwords! Give me a break! We send it back and finally got a new one that does work! HOORAY, HOORAY! Above is a picture of the robot.
That's all for today!

Crow Wars 4

Hi everyone!
It's raining, but not cold.
I'm waiting for a delivery. I ordered a motor for my "Lego Mindstorms".
Lego Mindstorms is a kit that you can make your oun robot and program it.
I had two motors working but when I wanted to play with it, one of the motors
was jammed and didn't work. So I'm waiting, and waiting.
Tokyo is still invaded by crows. But, a force to fight down the crows has
arrived. They are "BEES"! Yesterday we saw a animal show on television.
They are makeing honey in central Tokyo. A few days later, a lot of the crows disappeared!
Why? Bees attack any thing that is black. So they attack the black crows!
I can hear the crows complaining now.
Well that's all for today! Don't wear anything black! see ya!

Japan's loss!

Hi! The weather is sunny and a little warmer than yesterday.
Last night's World Cup's (Japan vs. Australia) result was too bad.
They were winning for first half of the game. Then in the second half, Australia got a goal.
Tying up is no problem but, 1 minute after they got another goal, and another one!
Gee! Oh well. Japan's next opponent is Croatia! I hope thay can win this time.
We got a new bbq and smoker set! It's getting warmer so we want to eat outside.
A LOT! But, here we have "A LOT" of wind! Food flying all over the place!
After home school, my Dad and I always play my new flying game "Star Wars " (I can't
spell the rest!). We get really excited playing it.
I'M GOING TO CRASH! BOOM! CABOOM! SMACK!
Well that's all for today! See Ya!

World Cup Started!

Hello! The weather is fine but, a little cool.
The guitar performance was a great success, my Dad said.
I think the same way too!
My neck is getting better. I need to move to get better.
I'm back in home school now. I have another test tomorrow,
spelling and Arabic. Spelling is OK but the Arabic is , Uhuu!
But, I'm learning little by little my Dad says. It's tough but, when
I get it, it's fun!
Tonight is a big night! (morning in America.)
World cup Japan vs. Australia!
We slept in the afternoon so I get to see it. It's on at 10 pm here.
Most games are on at 2 am! Australia has a lot of tall athletes so I'm nervous.
Well that's all for today! See you!

Guitar Performance!

Hi! It's raining but, it looks like it's going to stop.
Well, today I had an Arabic writing test and I had 98%! Good score.
I think tests are bad for your heart!
I also made an Arabic movie with my Legos.
I'm still working on it so I'm excited about finishing it.
Tomorow I have a guitar performance. I'm going to do a solo, and a duet with my teacher.
My legs are shaking just typing this. But I'm going to be O.K.
I remember the time that I did a performance at school.
I have had a neck strain for 4 days. I still feel some pain now. But, I'm getting better!!
That's all! See you!