A new Job

As some of you might already know, I started a new job from the beginning of February. I am again teaching English, but this time I have my own class, with the exception of different kids in the afternoon class, and I have to work from Tuesday to Saturday. So I have 2 days off, instead of having only 1 week off with my previous work.

The work is pretty fun, and the kids are adorable! I still have a lot of things to learn, on how to be more strict and teach them things in a more interesting way than just playing the same game over and over again. My co-workers are pretty cool, and from March-April another Dutch person (Boukje) will be working for the same company.

I took this class over, from a very nice guy from NZ and beside this class I also took over 1 of his private classes (1 doctor and 2 nurses). So yeah, I am very busy... as always lol.

Reo
Reo is doing great, he is first tooth came out about a week ago, and he is starting to walk along the sofa and table. I think it will take maybe 1 or 2 months before he is able to stand and walk by himself. Let's wait and see :D . He already had his first child desease about a month ago (the sixt disease also known as the 3 day fever), meaning he had fever for 3 days (highest was 40.4 degrees) so that was pretty scary.

Japanese
I got the result of my Japanese language Proficiency Test:



I only had 166 points out of 400... I needed over 240 points to pass the test...


Aaah, well I am going to take the test again in June, and I should be able to pass that time. Only 20% to go :D

Daddy and I

Daddy and I
Originally uploaded by bakadutch

December 2008

I say it over and over again; it's been too long since I have posted something on my blog. I've got 2 reasons for that:

*Time
I've been studying for months in preperation for the JLPT, and Reo is keeping us busy as well (in a nice way of course)
*Readers
Seeing the amount of comments that I receive makes me wonder if people actually read my blog and if it has any meaning to write on it... I mean a blog is there to share stories, but without readers there isn't anything to share, is there?

JLPT
As you can read above, I've been really busy studying for the JLPT. What is the JLPT you might wonder, well the JLPT stands for; Japanese Language proficiency test. There are 4 levels in the test:

Test content and requirements summary
Level Kanji Vocabulary Listening Hours of Study Pass Mark
4 ~100 (103) ~800 (728) Beginner ~150 60%
3 ~300 (284) ~1,500 (1409) Basic ~300
2 ~1000 (1023) ~6,000 (5035) Intermediate ~600
1 ~2000 (1926) ~10,000 (8009) Advanced ~900 70%

I went for level 2, and I have to say that it was bloody hard so I'm not sure if I passed or not. But I will take the test again in July and will take care that I will pass it that time. Passing this test makes it easier for me to find a job in a Japanese environment because I am not planning to stay an English teacher for my whole life!!!

Reo
Reo is doing really great and he is starting to crawl from the living room to the kitchen and back, and likes to explore things (especially by putting everything in his mouth). Mayuko is doing great and she is really making a lot of effort for Reo and me (it's commonsense when you are married I think, but still I want to say that I am proud of her). It's such a pleasure to see him growing day by day!!

Work
Well, yesterday I finally got my contract for my new job. I am going to work for an international kindergarten not too far from here. My working hours are from 9.45 until 18.00 so that means that I can sleep in until 8 in the morning (hihihi). The morning class is a very nice small class, and in the afternoon I will have different kids every day. I am a bit nervous to start this job but I think I should be able to get used to it pretty fast.

Birthday
Yesterday was my 24th birthday (yes, I'm Jack bauer now), and enjoyed my day with Mayuko and Reo. Mayuko made a very nice dinner (kobe beef), a birthday cake, and gave me a nice belt and an organizer for next year. I'm also very happy with all the messages and the phone calls from my family.

I do have to say that when you are getting older, it seems that other people care less about it... I expected a bit more but guess there is nothing to do about it than except.

I hope to be able to update my blog a little bit more next year, but please give some more comments... a reason for me to write on my blog.

The baby is born! Good morning little boy.

On Friday, May 30th at 10.34 A.M. in the Tanabe FrauenKlinik in Kobe Japan, our little boy was born. He weighted 2970 gram, and was 50.5cm tall when he came out. He already gained about 200 gram in the last week, and he is getting milk from the breast.

His official name is Reo Terao 怜朗　寺尾、but feel free to call him Reo Terao Stokhof in unofficial matters.

He is now already 9 days old, and is a very sweet and smart boy... meaning he doesn't keep us awake all night. He has some things of me, and some things of my wife.... which is one of the most interesting thing of having a mixed child... what's his Japanese side and what's his Dutch side. I will let you people decide your own opinion, because I'm not really good in that.

Our life has changed huge since the day he was born, and there are a lot of things we have to learn, and have to get used to, but we are enjoying every day with our little boy. Before I was happy to go home after work, but now I am really really looking forward going home again, and seeing Reo again. Holding him in my arms, watching his 1000's different expressions, and giving him milk by the bottle when Mayuko is too tired.

A couple of difficult things are, the fact that he is soooo small and fragile and taking a bath with him is a bit hard. Another thing is, but I guess that's also a funny thing is when changing diapers, is that he sometimes urinating straight up... almost in your face.

We will enjoy our time with him, and will do all our best to raise him in a proper way. If anyone has any advice for us, feel free to do that.

Last but definitely not least. I want to thank all our family and friends for their heart warming congratulations, and we will try to post as many blogs, photo's and other updates on the net for your guys...

A happy happy Birthday for our little son Reo Terao (Stokhof)

School, Studying, and the BABY

Hello everyone,

How's life? It's been a while again...ahum...

Anyway, everything is doing alright up here. Started school again last week, after I had a holiday for 2 months. Although, I am not sure if I can call it a holiday because I have been studying Japanese for 1.5 month in Osaka from 9 in the morning until sometimes 5 in the afternoon.

Studying Japanese at a school was a lot of fun, and I've made a lot of friends. My Japanese has definitely improved, although I am worried that a lot of things will fade away because I started working again. I should start some private lessons next week though.
I've also done a Japanese test last week, the J-test, which went pretty good (result will come in next month).

School is doing alright, although it's a bit far... but I've got nothing to complain about.

Mayuko is doing good as well... only about 1.5 week to go until the baby is there...

I'll keep you guys up to date

March update

I guess it has been a while since I have posted a blog entry. Life in Japan can be very busy so now and then, and from June it will be even busier. Mayuko is doing fine although working is getting harder every day, and she can't get the rest that she needs to have. Only 2 weeks left for her, and one week left for myself and then we don't have to work anymore.

Mayuko will then have another 2 months to enjoy by herself before the baby will arrive. I just hope that she will not stay at home to much but that she will start doing some exercise. I will try to push her a bit but she can be sooo stubborn... is that the real Japanese women?

As I have said before, I only have another week left before I have another long holiday. I was thinking of searching for another job (I still have some interviews), but I will probably stay with the same company that I am working for now (W5SS) here at the Kobe elementary schools (Shougakkou) and that will start from the end of May, beginning of June. During the holiday I want to study Japanese as much as possible ( The JLPT 3 should be fair enough).

I'm searching for interesting ways to study Japanese, because studying from a textbook for 4-5 hours a day isn't very exciting. I was thinking about taking my camera out and make photo's of Kanji signs here in the area, and writing a daily dairy on Mixi... Anyone else got some nice ideas for me?

We are also planning a short trip during this holiday, because the last one sure wasn't fun. I, myself was thinking about Kita (north) Hyogo (Prefecture I am living in) at the Japanese sea for 1 or 2 nights.

Anyway, live is doing alright up here, even though it can always be better.

Baby blog

As some of you might be aware of it, and for some it might be new: The lady is pregnant and you can follow all the news about it on a new blog I made about 2 weeks ago especially for the baby. Here is the link:

http://akachankawaii.blogspot.com

Here you will able to find photo's and updates on how everything is going with the baby Mayuko... and of course with me.. Papa-san ;)