Irasshai

christmas

2008-12-31T10:26:00.004-05:00

congratulations to ryan!!!

2008-10-22T09:14:00.001-04:00

Chef School won a Gemini!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/10/21/gemini-awards.html

that's going to be great on the resume.

tina turner lives on & strong

2008-10-21T20:04:00.000-04:00

madonna and other things

2008-10-21T09:09:00.001-04:00

Ryan, Patricia, Sara & Kurt at the Truth or Dare screening, Bloor Cinema

Sara, MJ & Rachel on Saturday

Thanksgiving weekend at Julia's parent's house

2008-10-15T16:50:00.005-04:00

tomorrow i'll post picks of my shiner

the bright orange hats were due to duck hunting season - juls' mum didn't want our heads to be mistaken for ducks as we were kayaking ;)

Bobby Orr MasterCard Commercial

2008-10-09T10:03:00.001-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DuYl_dfsWM

Hey guys, I would appreciate the comments...

wedding weekend

2008-10-05T22:27:00.005-04:00

mj & adam

adam & mj

natalie

natalie

(yech): me, loralie, nico, natalie, mum, marijke, jackson, bob, gabe, magalie

yech shot # 2

brunch

hell HAS frozen over!

mum & jackson tearin' up the dance floor to some New Kids

bob & adam

jacskon, mj, mum & morgan

yech # 3

mum & bob

me & jacko

anbeek sisters

2008-09-30T07:10:00.002-04:00

mum, marijke, loralie, nico & natalie

mj and me

kirt, sara & ryan

ryan, kirt, dave & sara

kirt, dave & ryan

loralie's pic of natalie

2008-09-09T09:01:00.001-04:00

ben's pics

2008-09-05T20:01:00.002-04:00

the weddin'!

2008-09-03T20:03:00.008-04:00

go go gadget arm!

got it

stole this one from mieko...love it. so kawaii

england

2008-09-03T19:55:00.002-04:00

by the duck pond in bruton

bruton

glastonbury tor

lindsay's house

sommerset cheese!

em's house

holland

2008-09-03T19:52:00.001-04:00

me & nelleke

rinske, me

sander, me, pops

i take pictures of my cat

2008-08-18T14:40:00.003-04:00

oli is fierce

sooooo....

2008-08-14T14:32:00.002-04:00

so it's 2:34pm and it's my last day at work. the computer system has crashed so there is actually nothing i can do.
tomorrow i'm hopping on a flight to holland where i'll be for a week, followed by OH MY GOODNESS anna's wedding in england, where i'll also be for a week. i am so bloody excited to see my girls again. i'll be sure to post some pics when i get back (or from holland).
yay!

2008-08-07T19:47:00.000-04:00

patricia 'patita' and me

me & grace

summer party at the docks

2008-07-31T23:50:00.004-04:00

volleyball

human fussball - soooooooo fun!!!

me, patita, shelly & marc

j, me, marc

g0-karting

hillside '08

2008-07-28T20:08:00.004-04:00

silly me & natalie

carla, me patricia

stuart mclean

Spirit Day dinner

2008-07-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

2008-07-11T17:55:00.000-04:00

2008-07-11T17:54:00.001-04:00

Oli!

2008-07-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

sara & ryan in the backyard

nico & natalie

at the italian festival

oooooooooliver lounging around

last week

2008-07-11T17:34:00.001-04:00

me & mum

from ferry

from toronto island

michael & greg

updates to come soon...

2008-07-03T08:22:00.001-04:00

weekend...

2008-06-16T22:31:00.004-04:00

2008-06-16T22:23:00.002-04:00

kenny & guitar, ian fixing the door, kenny & juls taking a dip and juls' parents' dock

Ryan & Sarah

2008-06-16T22:21:00.000-04:00

more natalie

2008-06-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

juls, denby & maya

2008-06-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

two cute boys in a hammock

2008-06-16T22:07:00.002-04:00

2008-06-12T17:16:00.001-04:00

recent natalie (and toast)

2008-06-09T21:13:00.001-04:00

STAY TUNED...!

2008-06-09T12:50:00.000-04:00

I've finally bought a new camera so I will be soon providing frequent updates on the Blog!
Promise!
...So stay tuned!

2008-04-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

my tower-climb time:

2008-04-21T13:50:00.000-04:00

15:56

Road Runners

2008-04-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

Presenting...:

2008-04-16T16:52:00.000-04:00

Jonview CN Tower Climbers...

2008-04-16T16:32:00.001-04:00

2008-04-03T13:24:00.001-04:00

my camera is broken.

kat's visit!!!

2008-03-24T22:04:00.003-04:00

kat and ben

ben, christina, kat & michael

me & kat

grace & kat

dancing at Clinton's

Michael, kat, ben & MJ

i couldn't believe it when she finally came - awesome visit and it felt like i'd just seen her. can't wait till you come back kat!!!

snowshoeing

2008-03-24T21:43:00.002-04:00

k this winter thing is getting old...

2008-02-14T22:58:00.003-05:00

so i guess this has turned into an i'm-lazy-photos-only thing

2008-02-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

always with the heffernan bridge shot

cold day in the t-dot

typical cornerstone cafe shot in the g-spot

this week

2008-01-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

jumping jacks in Hart House

MJ

mj (white) ryan (brown)

U of T

U of T

ryan, jackson & marijke

chinese new year in kensington

jackson & nathalie

U of T

nathalie

crazy gals in the Red Room

2008-01-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

post xmas in guelph

2008-01-01T20:49:00.001-05:00

xmas in ottawa

2008-01-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

snowshoeing to the cabin

2008-01-01T20:40:00.001-05:00

in memorium...

2007-12-27T22:22:00.001-05:00

of yosuke

ottawa

2007-12-23T08:40:00.000-05:00

mj & i got to ottawa yesterday for xmas. there's SO much snow here, reminds me of niigata. my uncle has a cabin about an hour's drive from here which you have to snow-shoe the last 2 km's in because it's not accessible by road. i'm hoping to go up there either today or tomorrow for a bit and take some photos. if i do, i'll post some.

"boyfriend"

2007-12-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

so it's been two weeks now since we've moved into "boyfriend" and it's great. ryan, michael, sarah and i are so happy with the place. ryan & i work in the same block and so we walk to work together every morning. everything in the house came together nicely and it looks like it's been lived in (by us) for years. we are sooo lucky to have such a large space in such a central location.
marijke came home from europe on monday so we're finally living in the same city again. it's been 10 years so it'll be fun i think.
work's still going well and everyone i work with are great.
xmas plans include heading to ottawa for a few days and then to guelph for a few days.
supposedly it's supposed to be our coldest winter in 50 years, and we're definitely feeling the effects. there was a blizzard all morning and ryan spent the entire day outside shoveling and then making an igloo! (pics below).
last night we had a dinner & xmas party. it was all kind of a blur but lots of fun.
that's it for now.

piccies - the last 2 days

2007-12-16T22:01:00.001-05:00

inside the igloo

crawling in the door

sarah & ryan

me the sis

the snow-dump today

ryan buiding the igloo

our living room last night

pre-xmas dinner (sarah, michael & ryan in front, grace, mj & jackson, jessica)

my room

preparing

guelph again

2007-12-06T22:57:00.001-05:00

the speed river is starting to freeze

2007-12-06T22:54:00.001-05:00

my house!!!

2007-12-06T22:50:00.001-05:00

new housemates sarah, ryan & michael

michael shoveling our front

our street

our neighb

work xmas party

2007-12-06T22:46:00.001-05:00

sheldon, patricia, jason, mark & me

marc, me & sheldon

jason & patricia

...there were over 1000 people there as Transat now owns Jonview.

it's getting colder

2007-11-27T22:10:00.001-05:00

wtf paul?

me ben & paul

i'm going to....

2007-11-27T18:31:00.001-05:00

...update soon! and keep this afloat! i promise!

check back for further...constant...updates!

natalie's hallowe'en

2007-11-25T10:01:00.001-05:00

natalie's first snowman!!!

2007-11-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

i don't think 'sickitating' does this justice:

2007-11-11T20:29:00.001-05:00

things...

2007-11-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

i really feel the need to write a proper update - just don't have the energy at the moment.
things have been a bit crazy the past couple of weeks and my stomach is reacting with chronic pain. went to guelph last-minute on friday when a colleague offered me a ride. had another binge-weekend with juls & the gang, always involving too much drinking, too much crappy food, too much lounging, and not enough sleep. but of course all of this equates to a fantastic time, so it tips the scale which is why i keep doing it.
a few things worth noting:
juls has asked me to be her maid of honour. i am sooooo excited.
marijke has been in france, morocco, spain, and now holland over the past month.
i'm moving into a house on november 28th, with a friend i went to school with. long story.
other stuff going on, don't want to write right now.

i'm maid of honour!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-11T18:47:00.001-05:00

the usual sunday morning breakfast at the Vienna

hockey night in guelph

2007-11-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

paul the goalie

keny, juls, me and steve pre-game

watching the game intently

speakeasies hallowe'en show

2007-11-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

last night

2007-11-03T19:52:00.001-04:00

yesterday was my friend paul's last day at work so a bunch of us went out for drinks after. we then met up with some friends and went to XO karaoke, a korean (japanese style) karaoke place on bloor. being there, in that room, with grace, screaming our hearts out to anything and everything (including some j-pop), i felt like i could have been in niigata city in shidax karaoke. i wanted to sumimasen for some more beer, and felt i needed to speak japanese to the guy behind the counter.
at that moment i missed japan SO MUCH. one of the first times i REALLY missed it and imagined myself there. it's amazing how much you just don't think about stuff and then wham.
and then someone sang Bon Jovi and that almost killed me. i miss my girls SO MUCH.

just another t-dot pic

2007-11-03T19:24:00.000-04:00

congratulations, juls!!!

2007-11-03T19:21:00.000-04:00

birthday/engagement party dinner

jenn, kenny & rachel

some happy kids

recent...

2007-11-03T19:18:00.000-04:00

this one's funny

esthy & curtis

everything's about hockey

2007-10-21T21:49:00.001-04:00

on the tv, on the radio, in the office, on the subway, on the bus, in the streetcar...

you can buy everything at zear's

2007-10-21T21:48:00.001-04:00

at the pumpkin patch

2007-10-21T21:43:00.000-04:00

2007-10-21T21:40:00.001-04:00

natalie and mum

juls, kenny, ian & rachel

more at the pumpkin patch

more pics

2007-10-21T21:35:00.001-04:00

dinner tonight (nicolas and loralie and natalie drove me back from guelph)..with esther & curtis...we made pizza at le palais..

for kat

for kat

2007-10-21T21:29:00.001-04:00

walking to work...

2007-10-20T07:14:00.001-04:00

before the sun is up fully. it's been a while.

ah...the working life

2007-10-11T22:47:00.000-04:00

so tomorrow will bring my second week of work to an end. despite having been off of work since july 24th and having to get used to the 8:30 to 5:00 again, despite having had a horrendous cold which kept me up at night and blurry all day, despite being forced to be indoors for 8.5 hours a day, every day, while it's gorgeous weather outside....
despite all of these things, its been ok so far. mostly just training to get to know the computer system (sooo much info-overload).
just knowing i have an income again, and am getting some experience in a 'canadian company' has ceased my anxiety that had taken over since my return from japan.
at the moment i'm house-sitting (for the next few weeks), hoping to get an apartment by the 1st of december. so that's been a bit tough still, because i still don't have that 'settled' feeling. although, it's been fantastic having these stepping stones, and i don't know what i would have done without all of this help.
i still look forward to spending weekends in guelph when i can. i get really excited to see natalie and juls as well.
last weekend was thanksgiving so i went up to ottawa. it was nice to see mum and to spend some time outdoors enjoying the gorgeous weather. then monday it was back up to 30 degrees again! record-breaking incredible. but today was quite crisp and i started to feel that winter wind that is just around the corner.
thankfully have wireless up and running in the house now so i'm back to blogging.

just a couple

2007-10-11T22:40:00.000-04:00

mum

she's going to kill me for putting this on...but there you have it. (esther)

yech. well at least she looks nice

gatineau park

2007-10-11T22:27:00.000-04:00

on the sunday mum, bob, april, doug and i went on a bike ride in gatineau park. some pics...:

what a geek

oh...and yeah...

2007-10-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

i got a job! for jonview. started today. so far so good!

so...the past couple of weeks

2007-10-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

things have been going fairly well. despite the ever-there feeling of anxiety with regards to not having a job...not knowing what i want...or what i'm good at...and how to go about getting it...AND the money running out, that was kind of always hanging over my head.
all other things have been good though, considering. since esther's off these days as well (and i'm staying mostly with her and curtis), having her home all the time has been great. toronto i'm quickly figuring out, which is also nice. still spending loads of time in guelph with juls and with nico, loralie and natalie.

Nuit Blanche happened this past saturday night and that was just fantastic. definitely the most fun i've had out since japan. there were 3 huge zones mapped out from queen west to the distillery district. there were more people on queen it seemed, then at the parliament buildings in ottawa on canada day. it was crazy! we ended up in the distillery district (which was soooo neat) till 6am. i think the highlight of the evening was a performance of the thriller dance (zombies and all) at 2am. honto ni natsukashii!

NUIT BLANCHE

2007-10-01T20:11:00.000-04:00

ian looking like a crazy man...and jan

ben, me and ian

me and juls

some painting outside

ian and kenny

an ian sandwich...i think jan's in there somewhere

kenny and est the next day

est and jan

kenny, rachel and andy

the thriller dance!

attacking kenny

jand and kenny

some guy showing his awesome moves

est looking great as usual

present-wrapped house

nuclear free future

ben and jan

jan and juls

avy's birthday

2007-10-01T20:07:00.001-04:00

a friend had a one-year birthday party for her daughter avy. after avy went to sleep the grownups got to party the rest of the night...

sarah's wedding...

2007-09-30T21:24:00.000-04:00

omedetou yuusuke san!

2007-09-30T19:16:00.000-04:00

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

HEY GUYS

2007-09-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

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

KOMENTO ONEGAISHIMASU!!!

:) :) :)

yeah...and more natalie

2007-09-21T20:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-09-11T17:05:00.000-04:00

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

their dragonboat team party

at home

saw grace...

2007-09-09T15:38:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-09-08T18:24:00.001-04:00

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

harbourfront

harbourfront

at esther's...

2007-09-08T17:51:00.000-04:00

esther and max

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

still haven't settled

2007-09-06T17:05:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-03T23:22:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-03T23:16:00.001-04:00

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...

lazin' around...some cottage pics

2007-09-03T22:52:00.001-04:00

at juls' parents house (juls and maya)

maya and denby loving the dock

hummingbird

some canoeing this morning

kenny's cottage

juls lazin'

ian jumping

kenny's cottage

2007-08-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

just some farms

2007-08-28T11:29:00.000-04:00

juls and i went for a 'sunday drive' yesterday. we were in mennonite country and i kept being reminded of our bookclub book, 'a complicated kindness'.

just a shashin-less updato

2007-08-24T16:29:00.000-04:00

well, those of you who know me well probably know that i've been dying to update my blog...but i've left my computer in ottawa and i've been in guelph and toronto for the last little while so i was kind of waiting until i had some interesting pics to post. but now it's looking like i won't be back in ottawa for a little while yet, so i thought i'd just write a little posting to keep my faithfull readers entertained.
it's too difficult or time consuming to think about all of the little things that make it great to be back, and also all of the little things that i miss about japan. the first few days were a bit strange, i was in a bit of a haze, my mind and heart was still in japan and only my body here. but as the days go by i feel more at ease and everything is starting to feel natural again.
almost immediately after arriving in ottawa i snagged a ride down to toronto and have spent the past week or so there and in guelph, between my sister's and brother's. most of my friends are down here now, and marijke is leaving on labour day to france for an indefinite amount of time, so i wanted to be here and spend some time with her before she goes.
in guelph i'm staying with nicolas and loralie and am therefore able to spend tons of time with natalie. i'm sure that every aunt feels that her niece is the absolute most beautiful and intelligent baby in the entire world...but actually i seriously think that natalie actually IS. ;)
haha but yeah - she understands almost everything you tell her, and she knows sooooooo many words and signs. everytime i go upstairs she yells "STINE!" which is pretty funny since she still hasn't quite learned how to say marijke...although today she did manage a "mawaka". i could of course go on and on here but i'll spare you the deets.
i still feel as though i'm just on holiday now as i'm not doing anything with my time but 'hanging out'. i'm kind of mentally giving myself until the end of august to just chill before i seriously start to think about what i'm going to do job-wise and begin to take some measures along that road. but it's stressfull watching my bank balance go down and down wtih nothing going in.
the weather was a bit chilly for a while but it's soared again today and is hot hot hot.
maybe nico can help me out with downloading the driver so i can upload some pics onto this computer - of course they're mostly natalie shots and guelph neighbourhood shots.
missing you all. comment onegaishimasu.

my last couple of weeks...

2007-08-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

just needed to post some pics. my last few weeks in japan were fantastic.
can't bring myself to write in detail about how much YOU all mean to me
but maybe i will post more soon.
left my camera at narita...with all my Last Night In Niigata photos on it...gutted.