A New Position in Japan

Hey, y'all. For those of you who follow the drama of our lives in Japan, the coming new school year (it starts in April) has left me wondering what I might be doing for work. For the last 12 years I've been contracted to work in this same town, Fujikawa, but in November last year our town merged with the neighboring city, Fuji. Sooooo, we've been waiting for Fuji to make up their mind about what they're going to do for foreign English teachers in the new school year.
There were so many (in Japanese, of course) 'pleases' and 'welcomes' and 'give it your best in the new year' at the board of education yesterday, with uncommonly deep bows thrown in, that it seems the board of education has chosen my company to provide foreign teachers for the city. It's not exactly clear what added work I'll have, if any, or in what other ways my work life may change (though I've been assured my salary, and beau coup vacation time, won't change). For now, I'm happy just to know this much.
That said, we're very happy that we don't have to move away from the little hamlet we have called home for 12 years now, though we'll be changing lodgings to a house about a mile from where we are now. I've heard so many stories of what troublemakers the kids can be in schools in other towns, but there is none (right, very little) of that here. It has made teaching fun, but for Louis' sake I'm very happy we can get him into schools with kids who know how to behave themselves (so it's not a 'control the animals' free-for-all for much of the class).
I've posted satellite pics of our area at http://eltonersch.blogspot.com.
I've got a little site up and running so Louis can have one-click access to the net, too, at http://louispaulersch.blogspot.com.

best wishes,

elton, kumiko and louis!

Louis' Rocks for AC!

Back in September we spent a night on the highest point on Mt. Fuji that you can drive to. We were surprised to see many groups of amateur starwatchers there from all over Japan. As a group, I have to say these were probably the friendliest Japanese I've met in my 14 years here. All of the small groups would invite us to view from their very expensive looking telescopes at the nebulae, stars, planets (Jupiter with 3 mooons), etc. that were overhead in the clear night sky.
Louis had put a bag on to collect rocks in to show Auntie Carol the next time we did video chat. We got this shot of him after dark with a headlamp on. When you watch the video, please remember--this bag is his bag of ROCKS, not his bag of MARBLES!

Video Greeting from the Japan Ersch's

More (recent) pictures

I got a request for some more recent pics of the family. Here they are--scroll over the picture and click on the link to see larger sizes.
I use a mac notebook computer-it has a built-in camera over the screen. These pictures are 'funny face' pictures we took one recent weekend morning.

It's working for me

Thanks for the recent posts, kinfolk. And thanks to Auntie Carol for kicking some but! to get it started again.
Just wanted to say it's been great to connect with a cousin I haven't heard from in decades (literally), and a pair of cool brother-cousins I haven't ever really had a chance to get to know. It's fascinating to note the old family tone in their writing--interesting how we perpetuate ourselves (as a family character). And fun to know there's another of us enjoying the love/hate affair of living abroad.
Thanks to the others of you who have sent me emails of interest--hope you'll be posting here soon, too!

Elton

The View from Elton's House (video)

Here's the view from our apartment in Japan. Just click on the triangle play button at the bottom left to view it....

Birthdays, Please!

I'd like to make a list of all of our birthdays. Send me your birth date (and any others you know, or corrections!), and I'll put it on the list. Thanks!

The Ersch's in Japan

Kumiko and I and our son Louis, 3, live in Fujikawa, Shizuoka, Japan, about half-way between Tokyo and Nagoya on the Pacific coast. I teach English in the town's 7 schools (kindergarten, elementary & jr hi). Kumiko has been a stay-at-home mom since Louis was born. Louis (loo-ee, or roo-ee, in Japanese!) is a good boy, most of the time!

We're starting our 12th year here; for me, the longest I've lived anywhere, ever. Our home is surrounded by hills, has a view of Mt. Fuji, and is near the Fujikawa River. Our town sits at the top of the Suruga Bay.

When we can we like to take walks, have a campfire in the backyard, paddle our canoe or kayak, and travel. We have a van with a bed in the back that makes it cheap and easy to sleep most anywhere. The general safety in Japan and the hot springs that are everywhere make it easy.

My own hobby is mountain biking. I've also started another blog called DIY Health and Wellness and have a webpage for teaching English or other foreign languages.