After a week with a most unpleasant cold, I finally felt better this weekend, just in time for the sports festival at Anthony's school. Now that he's in first grade participating with 500 kids from K1-6, it's a much bigger event than when he was in kindergarten, and the emphasis has switched from the mere enjoyment of participation to teamwork.

First on the agenda of the all-day affair was one of the few non-teamwork events, a 60-meter dash for the first graders....

There was also a first-grade obstacle course, involving things like riding a tricycle and scooting a short distance [...]

Not to become an all-Nils blog, but another post about our little scooter ride into Northern Kyoto that yielded the photogenic posts "A Visit to Rengeji Temple" and "The Hakuryuuen Gardens." We continued into the mountains north of Kyoto, past Kibune and Kurama, way north past civilization into the deep forest, up the mountain.

I had been on the particular road many times, but never on a scooter (and was impressed with how it handled the steep road with 450lbs of passengers... not bad for a 125cc scooter!). Near the summit we thought to turn around and head back when [...]

One bit of homework Anthony and his first-grade friends have every day is to write an entry in their 絵日記 (enikki -- Picture Diary), where they fill half of a page with writing about something from the day, with the other half getting a related picture. I assume its main purpose is for practice in writing Japanese, but it also gives them a chance to stop and think about their day, and good practice for expressing themselves in writing.

Today was the first day back after a long five-day weekend and he couldn't think of something to write, so Fumie [...]

Kyoto resident Nils Ferry is a popular guy... in fact, he's married about 2,700 women. Only one is actually his wife, with the rest marrying other guys in ceremonies that he's "officiated" as a "minister" over the years.

Most Japanese weddings are complex affairs, usually involving three steps: 1) a visit to a temple or shrine, with only the most immediate family involved, followed by 2) a short ceremony in a fake wedding chapel, followed by 3) a big reception with lots of guests, speeches, and alcohol.

A large hotel usually handles steps #2 and #3, and offer the couple [...]

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the participants in the eclectic musical ensemble are all acquaintances of one guy, who thought it'd be nice to get them together. Some of them belong to a camera club together, so advanced amateur photographers were plentiful in attendance, both on stage and in the audience.

The central acquaintance, Nishimoto-san, had a Canon 85mm f/1.2, a beautiful, robust lens, that we all ogled. Nikon has nothing comparable, though there is a Nikon 50mm f/1.2. Zak used to have one, which I've borrowed to good effect to get artsy-fartsy with the shallow depth of field, [...]