Irasshai: September 2007

sarah's wedding...

omedetou yuusuke san!

yuusuke from my (ex) kboxing gym just won the all-japan and has turned pro! so congratulations yuusuke!

HEY GUYS

all of my lovelies who i'm missing terribly in japan and everywhere else....

KOMENTO ONEGAISHIMASU!!!

:) :) :)

yeah...and more natalie

with maya: "kisses! kisses!"

on the phone with kenny, her new favourite person. when she listens to his CD she says "kenny singing! kenny singing!"

the wedding

i have a few more photos as well, but i'm not sure if sarah and brett want them online, so i'll just post a couple of paul and me instead.

i went to ottawa last weekend, which was nice to see rachel and also to organize my stuff a bit. the reception of the wedding was at the museum of civilization, and despite being a bit chilly, was a great time.

esther and curtis...

who i've been staying with. (subway station)

their dragonboat team party

at home

saw grace...

well i met up with grace today for lunch, which was great because finally there's someone who know's what it's like to come back to canada and to figure out the next step. poor grace though, because i felt like all i did over lunch was talk about how stressed and unsettling it all is.
but i won't delve into that at the moment. i'm glad to be in toronto. there's so much going on. even just this weekend, there's the dragon boat races at harbourfront (esther and curtis are competing), there's the ethiopian millennium festival here in our neighbourhood, not to mention all of the red carpet events at the toronto international film festival held over different parts of the city.
tanoshimii...

oh mighty toronto...

i went on a bike ride with curtis today around the city... (queen st.)

tram tracks on queen

brick's

cherry beach

"the beaches" (lake ontario)

the beaches

harbourfront

at esther's...

esther and max

aviva, safari, curtis, oscar, scott, erika and esther

still haven't settled

well, from today, i've 'officially' moved to toronto. kenny dropped me off in the beer truck yesterday, and i made my way to esther's.
as i'll be staying at esther's and then house-sitting, i won't actually have my own place until december 1st. which is fantastic while i don't have an income and can't pay rent...but stressful when i just can't feel like i can really settle. it's been nice over the past few weeks since i've been home, visiting with people, not having any major commitments, going to cottages and lazing about...
however, with this whole 'job hunt' hanging over my head, i just can't seem to fully relax and enjoy the time off. so starting (well, tomorrow i suppose) i do some transcribing work for a friend just to keep me afloat, and in the meantime, try to spend a few hours everyday online and checking out what's out there.
i do feel like this is where i need to be right now. i don't feel the urge to rush back to japan. of course i miss everyone copiously...but i have to get through this time right now.
i know that once i have a routine and a place and a stable income where i feel like i am getting some real experience, then i will actually feel as though i'm living my life here. because right now it still feels as though i'm just visiting.

bob's birthday

we had a bday dinner for bob in toronto friday night. (mum and bob)

jackson, marijke, mum and bob

can't get a normal picture of mj and jackson

mum and bob

natalie and her pool

cottage days

it was labour day weekend so we went up to kenny's cottage for the weekend, spending saturday night at juls' parents house in perry sound then heading to kenny's cottage on sunday morning for a night. we spent sunday swimming, canoeing, and watching the boys play batchi?. spent the evening sitting around the campfire playing big bootie, singing and playing guitar. the weather was fabulously hot and sunny all weekend. monday we lazed around in the sun, and then played a game of 'walking soccer'...essentially soccer but with no running (so you're able to keep a drink in your hand). great game, they should patent it. here are some pics...