See you later, take care, goodbye!

So the day finally arrived when we toasted Damian for being the star of the show at Luna for last 3+ years, and into the bargain welcomed Laura back to our car park BBQ (she joined us last year with her parents, remember?!).

For a while there, sad & lonely Jim was on his own there snuggling his beer & reflecting on how lucky we (Luna) have been with his endless enthusiasm for the "job" here - which is as much as a teacher can make of it...and he has made it a very big job with countless attributes & thorough preparation.

Therefore, no surprise when a whole host of students and rugby types rocked up & shared fabulous munchies, smothered the lad with hugs and sayonara messages.

He's not gone yet though - covering Jim's classes for a final hurrah and to help super cheerful Laura find everything!

Find the rest of the photos here https://flic.kr/s/aHsmvPx9sE and also on our FB page

Do they know it's Christmas? They do now!

Already a week since our wonderful Christmas Party over at the kominkan!? Far too many excited little Lunanauts for us to host the party at the school, and our go to venue being renovated meant a return to our local roots but sorry mums, no space for you - we did our best to catch as much of the action as we could...but we were really busy because Jim got the wrong songs on the CD!

You'll find Father Christmas (aka Santa) meeting most if not all of the children on Flickr here Please help yourself to downloads - we are very happy to share the smiles! (More upload to follow tomorrow btw)

Of course we have to thank the man with the beard for making such an enormous detour to visit Matsumoto prematurely, and to:

• Head Elf Yukari for sorting everything out and having yummy food ready - and for taking Ceilidh to hospital when the TV landed on his foot tidying up :(
• Elves Matt & Naomi for running teams & minding minions energetically
• Elves Chihiro & Chiyo for stepping in when required & being heroes
• Catering Elves - nothing left over = mission accomplished! 
• Major Elf Damian for prepping & organising lovely things to do, and for knowing what to do

Wishing everyone a holiday season full of family fun, a chance to relax & take (turkey) stock...and spend time with loved ones together or in spirit. to those of us on the road/in the air these hols, travel safely - and remember to come back?!

We painted the town red - Bon Bon in full Luna colour!

The Grande Depart

 Aching limbs, hoarse voices and stuck on smiles? Sure signs you've been dancing around the town again!

We circled our wagons as the traffic stopped on Eki Mae dori, just after 5pm on Saturday evening, and waited for our red wave to arrive. Busy process then getting name tags secured around children's wrists - we nearly lost a little girl a few years ago & I can't tell you how scary that was. Distributing fans which our students delighted in creating last week, and a bandana to top off the costume.

A Luna Dervish

Important to get dads, especially, in the mood with amber throat charming juice, and network a bit - one of Yamaga's star players came over to say hello, as did a couple of the Yamaga die-hards - good on you guys!

The music started bang on time and we were away, looking fresh and keen...away from the main festival that is, up the main drag into matsuri hinterland. Once again, no crowds, stalls, or mood. Who cares - over 70 of us this year so we entertained ourselves royally, and had a good practice so by the time we did turn in towards the main action, we were on a roll. As you can see from the slideshow here, everyone had a superb time - and almost everyone kept going from start to finish. Awesome stamina.



Proud of all our dancers; the festival is all about you, and you made this year very special. Of course thank yous to all parents and grandparents who looked after us along the way & especially Yukari for dealing with all the unglamorous preparations.

We totally conquered Matsumoto - again!

Find all the photos from Matsumoto Bon Bon 2015 right here

Photo album from a very old party!

Karaoke Queens!

I'd like to share - a bit late , sorry! - photos from my birthday party last weekend. It was a 60's theme party, which some people even tried to adhere to. It was great to see so many of of our younger learners enjoy the early start, and show the oldies how 'own' the karaoke microphone!

I really appreciate the special effort Yukari made with help from Naomi & Chiyo, and want to thank everyone for all the lovely presents (even the ones without alcohol content!). Thanks everyone for coming - pretty obvious we had a good time, I think.

Check out the album, by all means download your favourites, like & share!

https://www.flickr.com/gp/saint_george/S9LE11

Photo slideshow for June/July inside lovely new Luna

All of us are very happy to have finally moved premises. Although we lost quite a lot of space and had to rationalise materials (throw away a lot of junk, basically!) it is an absolute pleasure to be able to relax - and not have a miserable git of a landlord sneering constantly.

We have been gearing up to turn Bon Bon red, white & blue this Saturday evening, as you can see...but so much more too! Check out all the happy faces and busy bodies from our classrooms in June/July.



More photos shared at https://www.flickr.com/photos/saint_george/sets/72157645650054759/

Romance fills the air - Luna's little Valentine's party

l Luna's re-jigged Christmas Party y was a great success! Thank you Yukari for organising all the food and generally being organised!

We had a super turn out, but no way filled our nice new classroom. Students and parents had a good search around our building, looking for hearts to mend their broken big hearts - great way to make random pairs! Quite a search was required, as they were deviously hidden in drawers, on table-tennis bats, under tables & chairs, behind flowerpots etc! Sho & Rui won this little game. They obviously know Jim quite well!
Once we had plenty of love in the room, we tried to pin our hearts on Cupid - more romantic than a tail on a donkey? There was a lot of interference/unhelpful 'help' from friends as all the boys and girls took turns. Michiyo refereed the final outcome - Rei got the chocolate winner's prize.

Actually, chocolate featured a lot during the party. Too much, perhaps, as I am sure someone barfed (on my painstakingly laid nice new carpet!). Smarties for bingo tokens, as we got to know each other better - everyone was asked to sign everyone elses' cards. Everyone was a winner; eat the game when you finish!

Gorgeous Nanako won the cup race for her team - twice. Daddy Twister was a dead-heat between two of our doctor dads, who proved to be very flexible. Well done dads!

A full-participation reading of the Farmer & the Beat had everyone trying to pull up a very big beat indeed. With a well-earned hunger, Yukari's catering choices proved very popular.

We made sure Daiya & Masanori had clean hands after wards, as Jim presented them with their Cambridge YLE certificates. Both boys took Starters for the first time late last year, and got a big round of applause from everyone for their achievements. Well done boys, and well done all our YLE candidates who will be getting their certificates in class this week. Proud of all of you.

Find all the photos from the party on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saint_george/sets/72157625912404359/

"Like" us on Facebook  
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luna-International/125002814212039

Successful YLE candidates

More Bon Bon pics (Yuki's)

First day back at work after the summer holidays. "Yada!"
 
Jim stole Yuki's camera and uploaded her Bon Bon photos to his Flickr photosharing site. Here is the address to the set http://www.flickr.com/photos/saint_george/sets/72157624553391681/
If you would like an original copy, please email us & tell which one(s), we'll gladly send you them. You should be able to download directly from flickr, though!
You will also find copies on Facebook - "Like" us and "join" us?!