My students on our nature field trip.
The boxing crab, instead of claws he has big fists like boxing gloves
Waving a fist at me! The cheeky blighter! Normally he would have a small white anemone on each 'fist', like little pompoms, unfortunately this fellow must have lost his.

Where to start this post. Well it seems fair I should start with what I was doing thursday, friday, saturday AND sunday. And that, more sensitive readers my want to took away or read while peeking through their fingers, has been frequently and sometimes violently relieving myself. Yes, yes I got a diarrhoea bug and now everyone knows. But I am fine today so HAH! I think I may have lost as much as 2kg, at least 1.5kg. A little scary. Anyway, it is all in the past now and I can get on with my life. It started on wednesday when I got a fever. It has be raining HEAVILY every so often here and I being without a car got very wet walking to school that day. As a result I was a little grumpy wednesday morning but I managed to wrestle my foul mood into submission and pull of the genki ALT trick for the kids. Then wed night the fever hit, I didn't take my temperature, not owning one of those new fangled thermo-meters, but the alternate burning and freezing was a clue. A curious thing happened and at around 4am is suddenly broke. Literally, I went from feeling terrible to, huh, I feel ok! So I went to the primary (elementary) school on Thursday and it was much fun. However it was then that the forceful faecal fun began. I did manage to go on a little nature trip with my junior high first year students that afternoon though. It helped that is was a lovely day. At this point I didn't think I was sick although I was wearing a jumpsuit and whooly hat while everyone else was in shorts and T. Everything is so clear in hindsight!
Thursday night was not a party and I was dubious about school the next day but again as dawn neared I felt better so off I trotted to pour English in the open orifices of my students(horrid image I know). I had three classes that day that were mostly my lessons so I was keen to go in. I didn't feel so bad actually and after classes managed to pack my bags, grace my porcelain throne for the last time, and catch the ferry.
And so it become to be I was on the big island. After brief but lurid deliberation I decided that unpredictable and very insistent pooping was not best for diving in a wetsuit and sadly we (I and Kelly) did not dive.
Kelly was sick too the poor mite, she has been sicker much longer than me and deserves all your sympathy. She started with infected sinuses but it has moved to the chest. Regardless we had a very pleasant weekend despite being two sickies. We got allot of errands done, my errands, sorry Kelly! I am going to AMMMMERRICA this thursday for my cousins wedding. Congrats Sheena! And congrats my soon to be cousin James! I am looking forward to it heaps, not only will I see my cousins and America family and Uncle Ron but my dear ol'Mum. I have been a most naughty boy and not been home yet, it has almost been two years! Yeah I am a bad kid I know, but........I don't really have anything to add after the 'but'. 'BUT' is a terrible word, it is a way of disclaiming all you just said (before the -but-) and even worse it helps maintain double think. I am trying to think of an example mmmmm. Well there is the obvious:
I am not racist but ...........!! ie. I don't like to think of myself as racist and I won't admit it BUT really I am (or at least have these racist views). I don't want to break my diet BUT I will have just a little of that cake, it looks soooo delish! I am not going to criticise you but you need to practice more. The French are wonderful people but............................
Well, OK, I am not sure where I am going with that and obviously in most instances the use of 'but' is perfectly innocent.
I watched two films over the weekend and those were, in no particular order, '300' and 'The last king of Scotland'.
Both were awfie awfie good in completely different ways. 300, if you don't know (yes I am going to gloat over all of those of you who didn't), is a rather newish type of film. The only thing real in the film are the actors, the rest, yes ALL of it, is computer generated. And let me tell you it looks gorgeous! I would really quite like to see it on the big screen. It doesn't always look real, and nor does it always try to look real, it is sometimes more beautiful than reality. It is about the battle of Thermopylae, when 300 Spartans stood up to the might of the Persian Army (250 000 plus) and gave them a good show (inflicting horrendous casualties) for three days before finally succumbing when they were betrayed and encircled. The reality is a little more complicated (there were maybe 7000 Greeks guarding the pass on the first 2 days and while most of these left on the last day 700 Thespians and 900 Helots remained with the Spartans) but the film is not trying to by a history lesson and is in fact based on a graphic novel based on a film based on the battle. I think this is a future or cinema. Perhaps not more artistic that traditional filming methods but it offers another way for directors to express themselves through their films. I liked it! I presented war as beautiful and morally simple, quite an illusion!
The other film, 'The last king of Scotland' dealt more with the complications of reality. Disturbing at times, funny at others, cracking film. I recommend you watch it.

Things that made me cheery this week:
Spending the weekend with Kelly.
The ex librarian running after me as I left the Board of Education building to give me a handful of cane sugar candies.
Catching a boxer crab while on the nature trip - I will post a pic later-.
Eating a Shakugai (shellfish, a bit like oyster) with a couple of my students at the beach (on nature trip).
A random old lady stopping to give me a lift to my house as I walked from the ferry on Monday.
Pooping solid again.


Things which made me frown:
Having to turn down a request from new primary school teachers to play badminton because I might have pooped myself.
The rain, especially when it got me wet.
Shodou class being cancelled because the books didn't arrive as the ferry didn't run.
Not getting to dive.
......but mostly the liquid pooping.

Take care you all!

Keep it real and POOP SOLID!

Craig