By the way, some people have mentioned the comments sections not working properly. I tried it last week and I was able to add a comment. Try again if you want. I always look for comments, but typically there aren't any. Hard to tell who is checking in on us.
On Saturday, Denny had another family day at school. We all got bundled up and headed out around 8:30 AM. Parking is usually a hassle so we decided to walk. We were told to be there by 9:00 but the festivities didn't seem to start until around 9:30... This is Denny's picture of a rabbit. This year is the year of the rabbit.
Savannah and her "new" Walnut/Acorn shirt. I talked to my sensei about how we used to do a lot of hand-me-downs back home through all of Elin's network of friends. She mentioned that it is also popular for the Japanese to trade clothing. We have recently received a bunch of clothes from friends. I think I put the "I love tears" pants on the last update. This is my new favorite shirt on her.
Denny relaxing before the other families arrived. I tried several time to explain why you don't do this to the chairs. Shortly after, we got a first hand look when another girl toppled over after tipping her chair back.
Denny and the other kids during one of their exchanges with the teacher. The kids are encouraged to be "genki" or loud/boisterous at times. Role call is one time they get to jump up and yell out "Hai!" to indicate they are there. Not all of the kids take advantage, but Denny does. I have a movie clip below...
Denny with his daily communication book. They mark the days that they are at school and the teacher sends messages home in this book. Typically, it is in kanji which is just about impossible for us to read. Savannah's teacher often writes in hiragana which we can typically translate.
Animal pictures in Denny's classroom. Savannah and I thought the dog on the toilet was too funny to pass up. Also, Japanese people gargle often so the alligator (wani in Japanese) is shown gargling.
These are the sinks outside Denny's classroom. I love the soap bags that they have so I got a picture of them.
This is Denny making his "Oni" mask. I think an Oni is a devil or some type of evil creature. On February 3rd, one of the family members puts on an oni mask and the rest of the family throws beans at the oni. I think it is to ward off evil spirits. After I think everyone has to eat as many beans as your age. I am sure I don't have it completely understood so I will do more investigating and explain on the next entry. I am sure there will be pictures.
Denny finishing up his oni mask.
Denny giving his "peace out" sign as he was leaving school. He is wearing his 'to and from' school hat. Savannah also has a hat specifically for walking to school.
We had a party planned with our friends. Unfortunately, Tenga got sick so Nanako could not make it. Also Takako Mitani had a woman's party to attend so the husbands and the kids came to the party. Toshi Mitani brought some Suntory 'Relax' beer. This was the first time I had seen this so I had to take a picture. I think it is a low calorie beer. We thought name and rainbow were funny.
I have mentioned the lack of central heating a few times. You probably have seen our kerosene heaters in previous posts... This was at about 5:30 in the morning before work. The 25 degree Celsius is the temperature setting of the heater. The 'actual room temperature' reading is showing zero degrees. I don't know that I have seen a minus reading so I am not sure it goes lower than zero. So other than the bedrooms, it is LITERALLY freezing in our house every morning. Our electric bill was over $300 last month. We asked a few of our Japanese friends if their bills are that high. The answer is a resounding 'no'... because they typically do not heat their bedrooms through the night. No thanks... I'd rather spend the money and have a little warmth.
We had some problems with a title recently so we had to take a trip to Tokyo to go to the American Embassy to see the notary. I took our camera because I knew I would get some good pictures. We passed Finn McCool's at around 9:30 - 10:00 in the morning and what do you know? They were already open. Unfortunately, we had an appointment to keep and I thought it was best that we didn't show up smelling like Guinness and Bushmill's.
We passed this sign and tried to read it a few times to make sense of it. In the end we just decided to take a picture.
I am pretty sure there is more to it than 'the way the wind blows', but that's just my opinion...
We saw a poster for the Sound of Music. All of the characters are Japanese. We couldn't tell if it was in English or Japanese but we thought the poster was interesting.
We ate lunch at T.G.I.Fridays... It was the first American restaurant (other than fast food) for both of us. IT WAS SO GOOD! I had a full rack of ribs and Elin had a Southwest burger platter with a brownie sundae for dessert. The bill came to something like 5600 yen which is about $67... for lunch! BUT IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!!! I was so full I slept on the train home. We got back around 6:00 or so and I didn't eat another bite until lunch the next day. 
Me at T.G.I.Fridays.
The restaurant had an "Athens Steam Laundry" sign from Athens Ohio. I was surprised to see this so I had to take a picture. Athens is a few hours southeast of Columbus.
On our way home, we stopped by an outdoor shopping area. We had childcare set up and Mitani san told us to take our time getting home - so we did. It was our first date without the kids since we got here (I think). It was nice to have some time together.
I spotted some octopus for sale. It was so red that it almost looked fake.
This is Elin's new alter-ego - Ultra Woman. She is "no make beilieier". She's the real deal.
One store was selling hemp 'body lotion'... call it what you want. I did a double take when I saw this huge sign outside the store.
And of course, what market would be complete without a cardboard box of salted pig feet? Mmmmm mmmmm. I'll take the one with the brownish tint. I made the mistake of showing this picture to my Japanese friends at our party... they said pig feet are delicious and they are going to buy some for our next cookout. I absolutely cannot wait.
We unfortunately didn't get to meet "Big Mama" but we thought we had to get a picture of her thriving concierge business.
Hard Rock cafe was another one of our dining choices, but I was told that Friday's ribs were the way to go.
Denny in the morning before school.
Savannah getting ready to go to school. The flu is being passed around here in Japan. Savannah's school actually cancelled the 4th and 5th graders for two days last week due to the number of kids that were sick. Typically, the Japanese wear masks to prevent getting other sick and they sometimes wear masks as preventative measures for themselves. Savannah has to wear a mask all day, every day so she can try to avoid getting sick.
A few weeks ago, we didn't have anything going on so we went to Round 1 again. It is kind of like Chuck E. Cheese's and we all like going there. This is Denny duck-pin bowling.
The kids enjoying their drinks at Round 1.
Elins's friends took her out for dinner for her birthday. From the left is Nanako, Takako, Elin, and Keiko
Elin with her Emperor statues. They are for Girl's Day. You have to leave them out until girl's day on March 3rd and then put them away the day after or your daughter won't get married.
The ladies went to a yaki niku (grilled meat) restaurant. If you are a regular follower, I have added pictures of yaki niku before. It is one of my favorite styles or restaurants. You cook the food by yourself at your table.
The kids and I stayed home during Elin's party. We bought snacks and watched movies. Around 9:00 I noticed that it was snowing. This is the first good snow that we had since move-in day back in April of last year. I couldn't resist letting the kids go out and play for a few minutes.
Denny and one of his super poses...
Denny all covered in snow.
Our yard the next morning. We got about two or three inches of snow.
Denny posing... again.
Savannah with her prized chunk of ice. It has been so long since it snowed that we felt it was necessary to remind them about yellow snow...
We had a snowball fight for about 45 minutes. As we played, the sun warmed everything up and the snow was just about gone the same day.
Elin playing outside.
Denny posing with his snowball.Savannah roller skating.
Denny duck pin bowling.
This is a ramen bowl with chopsticks picking up the noodles. I saw this while we were in Tokyo and thought it was hilarious.
Denny and his classmates during the wake-up song.
Role call... "HAI!"
Denny working on his oni mask and Savannah goofing around with the camera. The little voice in the background is Lisa Mitani. She loves Savannah. Lisa's sister Ema is in the same grade as Denny
Denny finishing cutting his oni's hat. He tells the teacher that he was finished.
Bowing near the end of the family day.
Singing songs at the end of family day.
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