a thousand blue fish

Today was Alexander's first field trip and well, my first field trip as a teacher.  We went to the Momofoku Ando Instant Ramen Museum- the birthplace of instant noodles.  With 11 little people, Alexander being the most unruly, my nerves were somewhat frayed by the time we got back to school.  Alexander has a way of fraying my nerves at the moment.  He has reached a new level of stubbornness that would frighten most mere mortals, but I am not a mere mortal, I am his mother.  The most amusing or irritating thing he has come up with is "I am happy Mom" when I have to discipline him.  Yes, Alexander, you are happy and I am happy for you, but I am more interested in how happy you will be in your future. I just know as I know that if I am not able to bend his will in the right direction he will grow up to be man that is forceful, hard and demanding. In other news, my sister's boyfriend is fine.  It turned out to be something minor, but painful.  I rea...

Day 1:  We arrived around 5 to really cold weather.  It was already dark and we were obviously tired.  We were met by a lovely couple who took us via a supermarket to our new.  Just stepping into it told us we are no longer in South Africa.  Jaqueline came up to introduce herself.  It was so nice to meet this amazing woman who has been so good to us in the process of getting here.  I wish I could it was lights out early but the littlies would not sleep. Day 2:  Jaqueline bravely takes us out to explore and get a survival course of Ikeda.  The poor girl did not know what she let herself into.  The littlies were acting crazy! We ate breakfast/lunch and a Ramen bar.  Ramen is instant noodles and they're a big deal.  They are not gluten free (to be honest until I've understood the food a bit better we'll put that on hold) but the experience is awesome.  Again the littlies were not on their best behaviour! We were joined ...