my flower arrangement! "gust of wind"

La La Mew fish market

This array of seafood was only 5000 yen, yummmy eh carla?

Shioyazaki Light house

the view from the top of the light house, the pacific ocean.

carla, linda, michiko (nicoles japanese tutor) top of the light house

let's add nicole!

Ikebana (japanese flower arranging). The rising form.

13 hours on the plane and too much sleep aid and we arrive!

nice bike! or should I say nice basket?

that's francis to you! ridin around Iwaki in style.

They're HERE!!!

WOOHOOO!! Mum and Carla are officially in Iwaki! As of two days ago actually! I met them at the airport and we made our trek to the bustling metropolis of Iwaki! hehe As per Car and moms request (they are more on the ball with my blog then I am) we are uploading some pics for everyone to see!!

Enjoy!!!

Thomas Shaw Japan Extravaganza!

In less than 12 hours I will be on my way to Narita airport to pick Carla and Mom up for their vacation in Japan. I am sooooo EXCITED!!

Here is our itinerary!

March 23- 25 Iwaki
March 25- 27 Hiroshima
March 27-29 Kyoto
March 29- April 1 Tokyo

We have many activities planned such as Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), a party with my Adult class, dressing up as Geisha, dinner at a a Ninja Restaurant, a night out with my friend Claire and her mom in Tokyo and so on!

I think Mom and Carla are very excited but also a little nervous about the language barrier and food. Im really looking forward to showing them the Board of Ed and really having people who understand my life here.
I know we have internet in Kyoto so I will try to keep you up to date on our adventures!!!

Yokohama

Every year the government organizations which run the JET Programme organize a conference in Yokohama (a big port city near Tokyo) for JETs who are returning to their home countries. This year the conference was at the end of feb. beginning of March. Throughout the conference there was various seminars that I could choose to attend. They had business panel discussions, people from Embassys, ex-JETs and so on. Some of the sessions were very informative and others not so much but I feel overall it was a successful conference for me. I have decided that I do not want to pursue a career in teaching yet and that I am interested in the field of Human Resources. My best course of action for returning to Canada seems to be to get my resume all sorted out here, while I have the time, then just apply to jobs when I get home. I am not going to concern myself too much with getting into HR right away, rather get my foot in the door with any commericial experience. The idea of coming home and having to get a job etc. is a little daunting but this conference made it all seem manageable!