2018-03-16

Grad To Meet You!

Yesterday was my last official day of work since I've taken a few days off next week. Here is a roundup of some Sayonara prezzies I've received over the past week.


This was presented to me by one of my Grade 3 Special Ed kids (both artistic and autistic). This lad has his own original language that the other teachers can't decipher but occasionally I can, especially when he's talking about snakes or fish. Not a bad little rendition of myself.


The Grades 5 class all signed the blackboard though I have removed the names for anonymity. 


The 6s moved me into the Music room, had a little presentation, and sang me a tune.


One of the craftier teachers made this for me.


A few weeks prior, she made me this for the Doll's Festival.


Another young teacher gave me some Senbei biscuits as a White Day present. I know she's single and may have a bit of a crush on me. If she weren't less than half my age, I'd reciprocate.


ALL of my Grade Sixers spent the last two weeks preparing and presenting a profile of themselves. At the bottom of the page, I gave them space to write a message and to sign their name. (I gave each kid my version of a cursive signature earlier.) Most of the comments said the same thing though I did get at least one "I love you!" written in English...and it was from a girl for a change. One student later handed me this picture.


My tiniest school (about 6-8 kids per grade) all wrote me a little card. Sadly the brightest of the bunch misspelled Thank You.











I insist that they all refer to me as Mr. Michael instead of Michael-Sensei. (Mr. Jones is too formal for my taste.) I rather like the iteration of Michael-Teacher though.

Another school did manage to bid farewell with this heartfelt message. Kind of cool.


I also like the Galaxy Express 999 kite hanging in the corridor.


Yesterday I finished up at my largest of my schools and apart from signing a few Yearbooks, I didn't get to interact much with the Grade 6 students. Three of the gals gave me this last week. It's a coaster.


This was the dessert for the kiddies yesterday, a graduation jelly.


Not exactly PIE for Pi Day but it was close enough for me.


Since yesterday was also White Day, I gave each of the female teachers a teddy bear sticker.


I have four Grade 5 classes at this school, all with 36 students in each one. So the final Easter lesson was a bit of a handful. Still they enjoyed it and my all time Genkiest class presented me with a well-crafted bouquet of flowers!


Next April is introducing a new curriculum in which grades 3 and 4 are getting weekly lessons. Since there aren't enough hours in the day for me to do it alone, either a new teacher will be added or I'll lose a few of my six schools. I hope not, I luv 'em all!

2018-03-07

Kabuki-Mikie

When I was at the Fukushima Aquamarine the other day, I glanced upon a small gathering around a Kabuki display. I joined the queue and chose my mask. Afterwards a computer rendering of my face was completed.



Afterwards, we shuffled into a room then my image entered Lawnmower Man territory. Here's a video showing my transformation.



Oops, sorry. That is Lawnmower Man. Here's my video.



My very own Jimmy Olsen was on hand to take a few pics.




I was given this paper mask as a souvenir.


Another intriguing yet ultimately unsatisfying display at the Aquarium were several works of kinetic sculpture by Dutch artist Theo Jansen. Upon arrival, he was on hand signing copies of his book or kits though I didn't stick around. Here are a few of the sculptures.




Listen to Theo talk about his "Strandbeast" here.



His TED TALK is slightly less entertaining though more educational.



I bought a Gacha-capsule and received this.


My last fishy post was interrupted so I could sleep so here are a few more piscine pics.





















 Straw squids.


I consumed a quick lunch and then we went on a Kappa hunt.


I didn't eat the whale.




There was nary a Kappa in sight.

Some interesting items at the gift shop including these fugu snacks with a catchy tune.



These paper-crafts looked cool so I bought them. Only a buck a piece.




I really doubt whether mine will look like these.




Finally, there was quite the tribute to my favourite prehistoric fish, the coelacanth. (Hey Google, get with the program, that's a real word.)



This giant grouper (not groper) is a distant cousin of coelacanth though they didn't have a living example of this creature. Here are some non-living examples.







A robotic coelacanth that didn't move.


And a cool metal sculpture of one.


Nat Geo goes fishing.




We went to a nearby tourist trap hoping to buy something cheap. All I got was some water and a date.




En route home, we came across Rocky and the Golden Gorilla! Now that's a Rocky movie I'd like to see!!





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