Happy Halloween!

RRRRrrrrraaaarr!
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

No costume this year since I couldn't make it to the Habitat Party (although I did buy a ticket in support!). But, I've been enjoying getting my students interested in Halloween with a few language related activities. I think they actually just wanted to win the sweets that were on offer. And who could blame them. I actually found some pop rocks! I thought they'd long since been banned for some ridiculous reason or another, but there they were in my local supermarket, made in Spain. Good ol' Spanish! those guys know how to live.
I've been noticing that the pumpkins in the US are now huge. I was only hoping to find a minikin to carve since Japanese pumpkins, kabocha, are too hard. But, as Mr. P says, "Everything's bigger in America.". http://www.bigpumpkins.com/viewarticle.asp?id=115&gid=32

BTW, although it is cooling off, we are still waiting for snow so we can go skiing.

Nostalgia Monday

This is what's going to get me through the week!

Got chocolate?

Pixies Saturday

Just needed a little of this with my morning tea.


And now for something a little different...
I came across this while perusing the net, as you do, by a Mr. Fraser Lewry. I don't know him from Jack, but I spent a bit of time looking at his blog, and I hope he doesn't mind me linking to this page. This bloke is awesome for just thinking up a stunt like this. He's made a giant Scotch egg from an ostrich egg. Check it out. http://www.blogjam.com/2005/05/15/scotch-ostrich-egg/
I once got recruited as omelette chef at an ostrich egg party, and didn't sit down to eat my own portion of the meal until I had cooked up no less than 12 omelettes! "Sure, I'll cook."...stupid me! The egg cracker actually used a drill to get in. It was pretty fun, though.

Harvest has begun

Harvest has begun
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

The sunflowers are withering, the rice is halfway harvested. It seems to go from unbearably hot to coldest cold within a couple of weeks here. Now the temperature is just right for a good night's sleep with a fluffy duvet, but the sun doesn't rise early enough to wake you up. So, it's easy to just snuggle in and sleep deeply until the alarmclock is no longer patient.
I love cups of tea at any time of year, but this is surely the beginning of deep mug o' tea season. I've been scheming to buy just the right flask to take to work with me, even though we have a kettle there I can use. I just like tea and all it's accoutrements, what can I say!

Finally a coolness in the air

The weather has been slightly cooler, touch wood. It did cool off before, but then got very hot again, but I'm hoping it's here to stay now. It really feels like time is getting on finally. I'm no longer stuck at the "6 months until departure" point and it seems like I'll be very busy right up until New Zealand time. I've got two conferences to go to in Tokyo, and then another trip to Tokyo for a New Zealand festival sponsored by the NZ Embassy. All that travel plus the Habitat for Humanity Halloween party fundraiser, writing an article for the uni bulletin, and applying for NZQA assessment for my course is going to keep me a very busy monkey! I guess it's better than watching the grass try to grow through concrete!