I think anyone who has lived overseas will confirm, at some point, despite all the new sites, cultural attractions, restaurants etc, you still have to live your life. As Amie would say, you still have to do laundry, you can't always be a tourist. The last few weeks has been an example of just that. While we've still hit some great restaurants in Zushi and Yokohama, we've been really busy in the normal day to day type of things.
Now normal day to day, may sound boring, but even that has been pretty cool, in my point of view. For example Harrison now is a certified, working life-guard, Amie has picked up a class of Japanese ladies practicing their English while also taking day to day excursions out in town, Lila is taking piano lessons, Ethan survived an end of year history project and Liam has learned to lay down a mean bunt in 10 year old baseball.
Harrison has taken swimming to the next level by becoming a certified life guard. Not a bad summer job to have, much better than McDonalds! Besides in the summer heat without our own pool, it should work out great. I am a little suspicious though...Harrison has worked only a couple of weeks and already has a couple of saves. One was legit, another lifeguard slipped off the lifeguard stand, cracked her head and started bleeding really badly . Harrison was the first one there and handled it great. The other one is questionable. The pool has a 'Wibit', a large floating obstacle course for kids to play on in the pool. Part of the Wibit has sections for lifeguards to sit to be in the thick of it in case something goes wrong. Now, it just so happens that this one 13 year old made her way into the pool, onto the Wibit, got to Harrison's station and then suffered, from "Oh my goodness, I can't swim, please help me!" Of course, Harrison sounded the whistle, dove in and helped the young damsel in distress to the side of the pool. Evidently Harrison has quite a following which means there will be a large number of saves this year.
Amie has taken over a Japanese class from a departing Navy wife. She now has a class of 5 Japanese ladies who will practice their English. Not a bad gig, sit around and talk about day to day experiences, while learning about the little idiosyncrasies of the English language. Not a bad way to make "vacation drink" money. Amie has also been busy taking day trips with a local community group, exploring the local sites.
Lila has really gotten into her school. We were worried for awhile, when she didn't want to be away from Amie's side, but she is really into school now with hardly any morning drama. She has started to take piano lesson's once a week after school. I know my Grandma Brock would be very proud, as both my dad and my uncle took piano lessons. Lila is just beginning, we haven't heard her play yet, but she is slowly working out the keys and the basic notes "Do, Lay, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do". (I know it is an old joke, but it is also true!)
I swear to Sweet Mother of Pearl that I am ready for the end of the school 'projects'! I am not certain what the learning point is supposed to be, if they really want 8th graders to learn, how about a good old fashion paper. Amie has already passed her high school courses, yet she is continually tested on her ability to clearly display the appropriate information on a tri-board while constructing various things that supposedly generate thought and learning, this time out of paper mache. The big drama the last few weeks was Ethan finishing his Horse Pistol project. This project required a construction of said pistol with a Tri-board of various facts and descriptions. I won't go into the moronic way the teacher asked for their ideas and then assigned the projects. Evidently if you are in the last class of the day, you may get stuck with only one or two options. By the time Ethan got to pick his project his choices were a horse pistol or a gold presentation cane (No idea what that is!). Someone is the first period was able to pick a lock of hair...really, a lock of hair, I declare Shenanigans. What a load of crap! Anyways, Amie did a fantastic job building the structure of the pistol, while "helping" Ethan paper mache. The one coat of paint Ethan applied was phenomenal...okay, Amie touched up a little bit. By little bit, I mean sneaking into the kitchen when I wasn't looking to apply a 2nd, 3rd, and I think 4th coat. By the time they were finished applying the hardware and painting the trim etc, it looked great. I can't wait to see Amie report card.
The final big news is Liam's baseball. He is really doing well. It has been fun watching him develop his skills. His throwing and catching are great and his batting is getting better. It's got to be frustrating trying to hit off of a 10 year old pitcher. You have to dodge the wild pitches long enough to get one decent one. One game Liam was walked and hit by two pitches, then got a hit. The last couple of games, he has laid down two awesome bunts. Great stance, even pulling back the batt on a bad pitch, before placing the ball right down the line. The good news is he is a good hitter in practice when the adults are pitching, but with kids his age pitching, the easiest way on base is to take a shot to the rib cage or bunt!
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