So those of you from the Alfred community already know this, but there was a big fire in the town of my old University. As far as I know, a wooden building burned down, surrounding structure had water damage but no structural damage, and about a dozen people as well as a few businesses are without an apartment, everything gone.
Unfortunately, Nick's girlfriend Hannah was one of those people displaced by the fire. The day we heard about it he was taken to the Board of Education, where they offered to let him go home to help her out without having to request vacation time. He took them up on their offer, and is now stateside. Because of this abrupt change of plan, I'm staying at Ichu a week longer than normal. As of yet, I haven't heard from Nick at all, so I'm not totally sure when he's coming back, but I'm sure he'll show up someday :P .
The other night I was invited out to yakiniku with some of the people from the board of education. They ordered many plates of meat, including pig heart and liver, pig head, and adult and baby sheep. Every once in a while we requested some cabbage or onions for a change of pace. It was really nice to get out in a comfortable atmosphere and just chat for a bit. Also, it was really good practice for my Japanese conversational skills.
Tuesday I went to Tomikusa Elementary School. I really feel welcome there, and always love a visit. After classes, the 5th and 6th graders ran a few kilometers near the school to practice for the upcoming "marathon." I stayed behind at the track and chatted with the 5th grade teacher about differences in U.S. and Japanese units of measure, shoe sizes, etc. The first kid was done in 18 minutes.
After that, I went back to Ichu, ate lunch, and went outside to watch the mini field day the 1st and 2nd graders were participating in. The traditional Japanese field sports are interesting to a foreigner, especially the horse battles (which would NEVER be allowed stateside due to safety issues). However, watching all the other teachers participate with their respective classes, and only being able to root them on, was kind of saddening. Then after that, I realized I'd lost my car keys. And it was raining. And I was homesick. And without a close friend for thousands of miles. That was probably the lowest point of my stay here in Japan, but after a cheerful adult English class and a good nights sleep, I felt alot better the next day thankfully ^_^ Car keys were also found, and I'm in a really good mood today. Chocolate is a very good thing.
Gotta go, school's ended. I might post more later if I feel like it :P
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Persimmons!
I believe I've already blogged about the trip to Niigata and the eating of crabs. The person that took Nick and I is Watari-san (female). The reason that she took us free of charge is mostly because we'd agreed to help her this year with the picking of her persimmons. She and her husband (also called Watari-san, because of Japanese naming) own some persimmon trees, and being quite advanced in age, can't easily keep up with the harvesting once they become ripe. Before this I don't think I have ever touched a persimmon or known what it was, let alone eaten one or know how to pick them. By the way, the Japanese word for persimmon is kaki (pronounced kah-kee).
Nick and I showed up at the house in some clothes that were okay to get dirty. We slung some baskets around our necks, climbed some ladders, and started picking! The first day this only lasted a few hours. Afterwords, Watari-san prepared a nice dinner for us and some treats her neighbor brought home from Vietnam for us to take with us. I agreed to help again the next morning at 7:30 after I drop Nick off at the bus station in Iida, en route to America. The reason I will talk about later.
That Sunday I helped peel the persimmons (there were 2 ifferent machines that had to be used) and hang them to be smoked lightly and dried. Watari-san's sister was there to help as well, and it was quite enjoyable.
That Tuesday was a national holiday and everyone had off of school. I went to Iida again, but this time we went to their plot of farmland, about 3/4 of an acre about 20 minutes away. We climbed the ladders and picked many bushels full. After this, I helped Watari-san prepare dinner and the couple and I sat underneath the kotatsu (heated Japanese table) and enjoyed a nice filling dinner. Kind of fitting that the holiday is "Bunka no hi" or "Culture day," and there I was learning about Japanese farming.
That's the last I've heard of them to date, and I think the season is about over. Now I know more than what's probably needed about persimmons.
Nick and I showed up at the house in some clothes that were okay to get dirty. We slung some baskets around our necks, climbed some ladders, and started picking! The first day this only lasted a few hours. Afterwords, Watari-san prepared a nice dinner for us and some treats her neighbor brought home from Vietnam for us to take with us. I agreed to help again the next morning at 7:30 after I drop Nick off at the bus station in Iida, en route to America. The reason I will talk about later.
That Sunday I helped peel the persimmons (there were 2 ifferent machines that had to be used) and hang them to be smoked lightly and dried. Watari-san's sister was there to help as well, and it was quite enjoyable.
That Tuesday was a national holiday and everyone had off of school. I went to Iida again, but this time we went to their plot of farmland, about 3/4 of an acre about 20 minutes away. We climbed the ladders and picked many bushels full. After this, I helped Watari-san prepare dinner and the couple and I sat underneath the kotatsu (heated Japanese table) and enjoyed a nice filling dinner. Kind of fitting that the holiday is "Bunka no hi" or "Culture day," and there I was learning about Japanese farming.
That's the last I've heard of them to date, and I think the season is about over. Now I know more than what's probably needed about persimmons.
Halloween in Japan
Psrt 2 of my catch-up-to-the-present posts. Halloween has come and gone in Japan. Thank goodness I packed a cosplay shirt from "Prince of Tennis" (an anime) into my suitcase at the last moment. O the Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to Halloween, I was luckily in 2 of the elementary schools. There, we talked about the origins of Halloween and what Americans do on that night.
I made some worksheets, one for everyone that says "my costume" and has an area to draw. One, for the older kids, is a simple dialogue of "*knock knock* Trick or treat!" etc. In each class, the kids got to draw their own costumes. Some were pretty imaginative, some were the classic vampire and such. After that, I taught the kids "Trick or treat" and gave them candy for saying that line and showing me their costumes. This was in varying degrees, with just "trick or treat" and "thank-you" for 1st graders, and acting out the whole dialogue for the 5th and 6th graders. The children enjoyed the candy, I think. It was sooo expensive though! Maybe $3.50 for 20 pieces, unless you get the really cruddy stuff that noone wants in their Halloween bag. Times that by about 20 kids per class, 2 schools, and it added up real quick.
Then I told the children that on Halloween night, I will be walking around the town of Anan with candy, and if they come up to me saying "trick or treat," they will get candy. Saturday came. Because of my schedule, I only had about 45 minutes to walk around town, between about 5:30 and 6:15. At first I was just feeling odd walking around doing nothing, then a little at a time, children with their parents came up to me saying the famous phrase. The children were so shy and clinging to the parents, who had to urge them repeatedly to even look at me. In the end though, the want for candy won. One little boy, perhaps a preschooler, even came in costume!!! He was a person from Kamen Rider, I believe, if that means anything to anyone. One group of children was passing by in a car and rolled down the window at a red light to say hi. I half dropped, half chucked a handful into the car right before it left to the major enjoyment of the kids. During my pacing I also visited the local gas station and handed some out to the staff and random people getting gas. I also visited some local businesses that were still open and chatted with the owners of the local cornerstore (who speak in somewhat simple, but very fast Japanese). I even received some candy that night!
After handing out some candy to kids on the street (oh my gosh, stranger danger!!!) I got a quick ride to the Anan Kendo, which I hadn't gone to in maybe a month or so. The kids there are always sooooo cute! After practice I gave them candy too, for being so darn cute.
Some of the elementary classes I didn't get to do Halloween till the next week, when I still did the drawing and candy bit, but also added in (thanks to my JET friend Ben) making mummies out of some kids in class. The kids loooved this, and the teachers thought it was really interesting.
In the junior high, the Friday before Halloween, Mr. Kojima and I taught the kids quite in depth about the origins of Halloween and the Day of the Dead, and of course, handed out candy.
There are Halloween decorations in every dollar store here and some grocery stores, and although people know it exists, they don't celebrate it or know what it means really. My mission this year was to educate a little. And of course show people that American holidays rock.
So that's Halloween in Japan-land, up next: persimmons!
I made some worksheets, one for everyone that says "my costume" and has an area to draw. One, for the older kids, is a simple dialogue of "*knock knock* Trick or treat!" etc. In each class, the kids got to draw their own costumes. Some were pretty imaginative, some were the classic vampire and such. After that, I taught the kids "Trick or treat" and gave them candy for saying that line and showing me their costumes. This was in varying degrees, with just "trick or treat" and "thank-you" for 1st graders, and acting out the whole dialogue for the 5th and 6th graders. The children enjoyed the candy, I think. It was sooo expensive though! Maybe $3.50 for 20 pieces, unless you get the really cruddy stuff that noone wants in their Halloween bag. Times that by about 20 kids per class, 2 schools, and it added up real quick.
Then I told the children that on Halloween night, I will be walking around the town of Anan with candy, and if they come up to me saying "trick or treat," they will get candy. Saturday came. Because of my schedule, I only had about 45 minutes to walk around town, between about 5:30 and 6:15. At first I was just feeling odd walking around doing nothing, then a little at a time, children with their parents came up to me saying the famous phrase. The children were so shy and clinging to the parents, who had to urge them repeatedly to even look at me. In the end though, the want for candy won. One little boy, perhaps a preschooler, even came in costume!!! He was a person from Kamen Rider, I believe, if that means anything to anyone. One group of children was passing by in a car and rolled down the window at a red light to say hi. I half dropped, half chucked a handful into the car right before it left to the major enjoyment of the kids. During my pacing I also visited the local gas station and handed some out to the staff and random people getting gas. I also visited some local businesses that were still open and chatted with the owners of the local cornerstore (who speak in somewhat simple, but very fast Japanese). I even received some candy that night!
After handing out some candy to kids on the street (oh my gosh, stranger danger!!!) I got a quick ride to the Anan Kendo, which I hadn't gone to in maybe a month or so. The kids there are always sooooo cute! After practice I gave them candy too, for being so darn cute.
Some of the elementary classes I didn't get to do Halloween till the next week, when I still did the drawing and candy bit, but also added in (thanks to my JET friend Ben) making mummies out of some kids in class. The kids loooved this, and the teachers thought it was really interesting.
In the junior high, the Friday before Halloween, Mr. Kojima and I taught the kids quite in depth about the origins of Halloween and the Day of the Dead, and of course, handed out candy.
There are Halloween decorations in every dollar store here and some grocery stores, and although people know it exists, they don't celebrate it or know what it means really. My mission this year was to educate a little. And of course show people that American holidays rock.
So that's Halloween in Japan-land, up next: persimmons!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Tokyo trip!
Alright, so I haven't blogged in...forever. On the agenda: Tokyo Trip, Halloween, Farming, etc. Let's see how much I can write before next class.
So I went to Tokyo a few weekends ago to see the J-Rock visual kei concert. I got into the hostel (same one I used before) a little after 10. It was a little late cause I worked a full day Friday. Most of the staff there are nice and polite and such, but the girl that was there Friday night you could tell hated the job, wasn't very nice, etc. and I was slightly annoyed. Ah well.
Saturday morning, I got up super early to shower and start the hour long trip to the concert area. However, I got a bad leg cramp right when I awoke, which made me walk funny for the next few days ;.; Anyways, the last train I got on for the concert hall (called the Makuhari Messe btw) had 2 main types of people: families and couples bound for Tokyo Disneyland; and young people bound for the concert. You could easily tell who was who.
I got off the train and realized that I hadn't eaten breakfast, or anything, yet (this is at 10am and I woke up at around 7) so I found a bakery in the station and wolfed down a sandwitch. While I was eating, there was a foreigner fixing her makeup across from me. Of course, I walked up to her and asked if she spoke English, and we sat and chatted about the upcoming concert. Turns out she has lived in Japan for a few years now and knows sooooo much more about the visual kei music than I do, along with seeing many concerts. Her friend from Hong Kong (I think) came over and we walked to the hall.
Anyone that enjoys the lolita, goth lolita, punk, or any funky style imaginable found in Harajuku or anywhere in Tokyo would have been in heaven. Especially on Staurday, the lolitas and goth lolitas were out en masse. cameras were strictly a no-no, so I couldn't take pictures, thoguh even if they were allowed, I think it would have been reeeally uncoool to do so that weekend.
The first bands were already playing when we walked in, and I was immediately blown away. I had expected to hear a few really good ones, mostly only decent music. But of the bands that I hadn't heard up till then, most were amaaazing! The artists were also dressed up for the most part, which was cool. There were 4 venues in 2 gigantic rooms. 2 bands were playing at any given time, and the next act was being set up while they were playing. So sometimes I missed a few good bands, but eh, what can you do.
The Japanese at concerts (at least this kind of concert) are a little odd. For every song, there is a set of hand motions that go with every part. Everyone in the audience does the hand motions and headbanging completely on cue, so if you mess up or don't know the songs at all (me) you stick out. I quickly learned the usual motions and spent half my time trying to sync with everyone lol. Even the girls in their perfectly curled hair and expensive pink cute dresses headbang like there's no tomorrow (but only on cue!). There are also 2 types of headbanging: the front to back that I'm familiar with, and the "lean forward and shake your head side to side as violently as possible so you look like a caged lion with lice." I didn't participate in this kind since it gave me a headache >.< Messed up my back too from the other kind so standing for 2 whole days was pretty painful, but well worth it!
One of the acts that I didn't get to see that I wish I had was Moi Dix Mois. For those of you who don't know, it's Malice Mizer's Mana's new band, and mana is the person who basically started the goth loli style. During this time I was waiting for a good place in the crowd for Abington Boys' School (T.M.Revolution) who were btw, amazing.
For many of the acts, I got really close to the bands. One of them I was so close that if he reached out his hand and I mine, we could have touched. And of course, being a giant foreigner with blonde hair, I stick out alot, so the artists alot of the time stop their eyes on me for a split second. >.< Also! The poor tiny Japanese girls in their platform shoes come up to my shoulders at best, so there was always a gap behind me so they could see from behind >.< Gomen ne!
I barely ate anything or slept those 2 days, but didn't really notice that much. Staurday night, my new foreigner friends and I went out for dinner and to get out pictures taken at a photo booth. At one point, I was waiting outside a Mr. Donught for them to come back from the hotel, and totally felt like a goth hooker. Many African American men stopped next to me and said anything between "Hi, I'm Mr. Smith, nice to meet you" to "You're a fine looking lady." After about the 5th time I went inside the store to wait.
The Monday after the concert I took off so I could get my re-entry permit. It's a little thing in my passport that says if I leave the country I can come back. I took about 3 trains, and then a bus, and got to the Tokyo Immigration office. While walking up the stairs, I ran into another African-American who mumbled something to me I won't repeat. I came to the conclusion that people are cool in the U.S. but if I am alone in Tokyo it's generally a good idea to stay away from people of African decent (I know this sounds reeeeally racist and I hate racism, but I've had nothing but bad experiences while here >.< ) So anyways, I got the little stamp thing, paid for some overpriced curry since I realized that I missed breakfast again (amazing how easy that is to to in Tokyo), and caught my bus home.
That's it for now cause I have class soon and my hands feel like ice after typing so much. I reeeeally wish the Japanese would realize that central heat is not evil. They just set up the furnace in the teachers' room today, but the classrooms have nothing but body heat yet. I'm in thick pants, a shirt and a hoodie, sometimes scarf.
There's the bell, later!
So I went to Tokyo a few weekends ago to see the J-Rock visual kei concert. I got into the hostel (same one I used before) a little after 10. It was a little late cause I worked a full day Friday. Most of the staff there are nice and polite and such, but the girl that was there Friday night you could tell hated the job, wasn't very nice, etc. and I was slightly annoyed. Ah well.
Saturday morning, I got up super early to shower and start the hour long trip to the concert area. However, I got a bad leg cramp right when I awoke, which made me walk funny for the next few days ;.; Anyways, the last train I got on for the concert hall (called the Makuhari Messe btw) had 2 main types of people: families and couples bound for Tokyo Disneyland; and young people bound for the concert. You could easily tell who was who.
I got off the train and realized that I hadn't eaten breakfast, or anything, yet (this is at 10am and I woke up at around 7) so I found a bakery in the station and wolfed down a sandwitch. While I was eating, there was a foreigner fixing her makeup across from me. Of course, I walked up to her and asked if she spoke English, and we sat and chatted about the upcoming concert. Turns out she has lived in Japan for a few years now and knows sooooo much more about the visual kei music than I do, along with seeing many concerts. Her friend from Hong Kong (I think) came over and we walked to the hall.
Anyone that enjoys the lolita, goth lolita, punk, or any funky style imaginable found in Harajuku or anywhere in Tokyo would have been in heaven. Especially on Staurday, the lolitas and goth lolitas were out en masse. cameras were strictly a no-no, so I couldn't take pictures, thoguh even if they were allowed, I think it would have been reeeally uncoool to do so that weekend.
The first bands were already playing when we walked in, and I was immediately blown away. I had expected to hear a few really good ones, mostly only decent music. But of the bands that I hadn't heard up till then, most were amaaazing! The artists were also dressed up for the most part, which was cool. There were 4 venues in 2 gigantic rooms. 2 bands were playing at any given time, and the next act was being set up while they were playing. So sometimes I missed a few good bands, but eh, what can you do.
The Japanese at concerts (at least this kind of concert) are a little odd. For every song, there is a set of hand motions that go with every part. Everyone in the audience does the hand motions and headbanging completely on cue, so if you mess up or don't know the songs at all (me) you stick out. I quickly learned the usual motions and spent half my time trying to sync with everyone lol. Even the girls in their perfectly curled hair and expensive pink cute dresses headbang like there's no tomorrow (but only on cue!). There are also 2 types of headbanging: the front to back that I'm familiar with, and the "lean forward and shake your head side to side as violently as possible so you look like a caged lion with lice." I didn't participate in this kind since it gave me a headache >.< Messed up my back too from the other kind so standing for 2 whole days was pretty painful, but well worth it!
One of the acts that I didn't get to see that I wish I had was Moi Dix Mois. For those of you who don't know, it's Malice Mizer's Mana's new band, and mana is the person who basically started the goth loli style. During this time I was waiting for a good place in the crowd for Abington Boys' School (T.M.Revolution) who were btw, amazing.
For many of the acts, I got really close to the bands. One of them I was so close that if he reached out his hand and I mine, we could have touched. And of course, being a giant foreigner with blonde hair, I stick out alot, so the artists alot of the time stop their eyes on me for a split second. >.< Also! The poor tiny Japanese girls in their platform shoes come up to my shoulders at best, so there was always a gap behind me so they could see from behind >.< Gomen ne!
I barely ate anything or slept those 2 days, but didn't really notice that much. Staurday night, my new foreigner friends and I went out for dinner and to get out pictures taken at a photo booth. At one point, I was waiting outside a Mr. Donught for them to come back from the hotel, and totally felt like a goth hooker. Many African American men stopped next to me and said anything between "Hi, I'm Mr. Smith, nice to meet you" to "You're a fine looking lady." After about the 5th time I went inside the store to wait.
The Monday after the concert I took off so I could get my re-entry permit. It's a little thing in my passport that says if I leave the country I can come back. I took about 3 trains, and then a bus, and got to the Tokyo Immigration office. While walking up the stairs, I ran into another African-American who mumbled something to me I won't repeat. I came to the conclusion that people are cool in the U.S. but if I am alone in Tokyo it's generally a good idea to stay away from people of African decent (I know this sounds reeeeally racist and I hate racism, but I've had nothing but bad experiences while here >.< ) So anyways, I got the little stamp thing, paid for some overpriced curry since I realized that I missed breakfast again (amazing how easy that is to to in Tokyo), and caught my bus home.
That's it for now cause I have class soon and my hands feel like ice after typing so much. I reeeeally wish the Japanese would realize that central heat is not evil. They just set up the furnace in the teachers' room today, but the classrooms have nothing but body heat yet. I'm in thick pants, a shirt and a hoodie, sometimes scarf.
There's the bell, later!
Friday, October 23, 2009
goin to tokyo!
So this weekend I'm going to Tokyo for the v-rock festival. There will be about 50 bands playing over 2 days, saturday and sunday. You can watch the live stream if you google "v-rock festival 09", click on the "translate this page" of the first link, and download a special plugin. Leaving via highway bus today, woohoo!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
special class, big trip!
Yay busy weekend. Friday was the special English class at Tomikusa elementary school. Basically all the 14 teachers of the school came to watch, plus Mr. Kojima from ichu, plus an official person from who-knows-where. The kids had lots of fun, although they got a little too rowdy sometimes and I had to settle them down while the classroom teacher was teaching. We played a type of team card game similar to go fish, reviewing colors, numbers, and types of fish, as well as "I want". When we started the game, to make it more interesting, both us teachers wore aprons (because we were fish sellers) and crazy hats (he was a pirate, I was a clown). After the class, there was a one and a half hour meeting about how we did, all in Japanese. What I got out of it was 1. more greeting like how is the weather, how do you feel, etc. at the beginning of class (we usually do that every class but there was no time today); 2. my way of praising the students every time they got a right answer was good; 3. using hand motions and doing the Italian talking with your hands is good (I did it a bit, didn't even notice it until they praised me!); 4. The game looked really fun and the teachers wanted to join in. So all in all, it went very well.
After the class, all the teachers went to a place in Iida to celebrate, and Nick joined us there too. It was a sit-down fancy meal with as much food and booze you can eat, overall okay. The price tags on these things takes alot of the fun away from them, $50 per person. Afterwards, Nick and I went with the secretary (a young lady) to a bar that Nick recommended, and met up with 2 of our ALT friends Cris and John. Nick thought the pool was free, it wasn't, it was $6 per person, and then he got really really ticked off. We went to the foreigner-favorite bar "Blood" to chill, Nick steaming the rest of the night.
We actually ran into longtime ALT Wolf. Everyone talks about him, he's been here maybe 11 years, and started with the same program Nick and I are on, coming from Alfred to Anan. Nick, John, the secretary, and her friend that we ran into in Blood also went to karaoke (at this point it was around 1 in the morning) while Cris and I went to her apartment and crashed.
In the morning, Cris took me to an aaaawesome bakery nearby, and we filled up on pastry goodness. Then she had to go to work and I was left to kill close to 3 hours by myself before the next train back home, which I nearly fell asleep on. Then walked from Nukuta to home and passed out, completely wiped.
We started off at about 7 Sunday morning for Iida to meet Mrs. Watari for our big trip. It started off good, and she evn offered us homemade rice balls (onigiri) for breakfast. I had already eaten, but wanted to be polite, so I ate one but then she kept insisting I eat another, so I did, and also some of the grapes she gave me. After the GPS was figured out, we kept driving onwards. We stopped at an archaeological museum and learned about rocks, minerals, and the people of the area from long ago. It was sooooooo fun. The best part though, was the playground. There was this huuuuge slide that was maybe 50 meters long and wrapped around a small gorge where it ended at the bottom. Unfortunately, Watari seemed to be in a hurry so I didn't go on it, but I went on the mini one instead.
During all this, Watari kept forcing food on us every hour, a full meal every 2 hours. Delicious, but I was about to pop.
We finally reached the seaside, and I got my first glimpse of the Japan sea! It didn't smell like a sea at all, but looked really nice. we drove to the place we were staying for that night, a really nice refurbished 130yr old Japanese-style house with a thatched roof. The room was a tatami room, with a table in the middle, a tv, and futons in the closet. You could slide any of the walls to open it up to the next room, and we were right next to the main eating area.
We all went to the attached onsen (bath) and soaked for a bit before dinner, changing into the provided yukata, traditional Japanese wear you use at places like this. And then we ate a snack. And then it was dinner.
Dinner was great, including tempura and red snapper. After dinner, we took another bath and ate some more. We turned in a it early to get ready for breakfast at 7:30. The cook came in with a crash boom bang at 5:30. Then we ate a Japanese style breakfast of fish, rice, miso soup, pickles, and a raw egg that you break over the rice (which I didn't eat, last time I tried it didn't turn out too well.) Then we soaked in the bath again, ate some more, and started the journey back.
Nearby there was a fish market of sorts. Many types of fish were on display, including alot of king crab, which Watari-san bought for us. First time eating crab, it was okay, but I prob. won't eat it again unless given to me. We drove to this awesome gorge and took lots of pictures, etc. and ate. Then we went up this windy crazy road to a pond in the mountains and relaxed ab it and ate soba, the best soba I've had. We started back again for home, and near the end I was feeling a bit queasy from all the food so I said I was carsick. This prompted an immediate reaction from Watari-san and we switched places so i was in the front, and she offered me food but didn't force the issue when I turned it down this time. We made it back to her house, where our car and her husband were waiting. He wanted to take us to dinner. We went to a nice restaurant and I had a full meal of deep-fried pork, miso soup, rice, greens and pickles. Nick needed meat so we stopped at the grocery store for some, then went home.
Summary of the weekend: the sea is beautiful and I will never EVER eat again.
After the class, all the teachers went to a place in Iida to celebrate, and Nick joined us there too. It was a sit-down fancy meal with as much food and booze you can eat, overall okay. The price tags on these things takes alot of the fun away from them, $50 per person. Afterwards, Nick and I went with the secretary (a young lady) to a bar that Nick recommended, and met up with 2 of our ALT friends Cris and John. Nick thought the pool was free, it wasn't, it was $6 per person, and then he got really really ticked off. We went to the foreigner-favorite bar "Blood" to chill, Nick steaming the rest of the night.
We actually ran into longtime ALT Wolf. Everyone talks about him, he's been here maybe 11 years, and started with the same program Nick and I are on, coming from Alfred to Anan. Nick, John, the secretary, and her friend that we ran into in Blood also went to karaoke (at this point it was around 1 in the morning) while Cris and I went to her apartment and crashed.
In the morning, Cris took me to an aaaawesome bakery nearby, and we filled up on pastry goodness. Then she had to go to work and I was left to kill close to 3 hours by myself before the next train back home, which I nearly fell asleep on. Then walked from Nukuta to home and passed out, completely wiped.
We started off at about 7 Sunday morning for Iida to meet Mrs. Watari for our big trip. It started off good, and she evn offered us homemade rice balls (onigiri) for breakfast. I had already eaten, but wanted to be polite, so I ate one but then she kept insisting I eat another, so I did, and also some of the grapes she gave me. After the GPS was figured out, we kept driving onwards. We stopped at an archaeological museum and learned about rocks, minerals, and the people of the area from long ago. It was sooooooo fun. The best part though, was the playground. There was this huuuuge slide that was maybe 50 meters long and wrapped around a small gorge where it ended at the bottom. Unfortunately, Watari seemed to be in a hurry so I didn't go on it, but I went on the mini one instead.
During all this, Watari kept forcing food on us every hour, a full meal every 2 hours. Delicious, but I was about to pop.
We finally reached the seaside, and I got my first glimpse of the Japan sea! It didn't smell like a sea at all, but looked really nice. we drove to the place we were staying for that night, a really nice refurbished 130yr old Japanese-style house with a thatched roof. The room was a tatami room, with a table in the middle, a tv, and futons in the closet. You could slide any of the walls to open it up to the next room, and we were right next to the main eating area.
We all went to the attached onsen (bath) and soaked for a bit before dinner, changing into the provided yukata, traditional Japanese wear you use at places like this. And then we ate a snack. And then it was dinner.
Dinner was great, including tempura and red snapper. After dinner, we took another bath and ate some more. We turned in a it early to get ready for breakfast at 7:30. The cook came in with a crash boom bang at 5:30. Then we ate a Japanese style breakfast of fish, rice, miso soup, pickles, and a raw egg that you break over the rice (which I didn't eat, last time I tried it didn't turn out too well.) Then we soaked in the bath again, ate some more, and started the journey back.
Nearby there was a fish market of sorts. Many types of fish were on display, including alot of king crab, which Watari-san bought for us. First time eating crab, it was okay, but I prob. won't eat it again unless given to me. We drove to this awesome gorge and took lots of pictures, etc. and ate. Then we went up this windy crazy road to a pond in the mountains and relaxed ab it and ate soba, the best soba I've had. We started back again for home, and near the end I was feeling a bit queasy from all the food so I said I was carsick. This prompted an immediate reaction from Watari-san and we switched places so i was in the front, and she offered me food but didn't force the issue when I turned it down this time. We made it back to her house, where our car and her husband were waiting. He wanted to take us to dinner. We went to a nice restaurant and I had a full meal of deep-fried pork, miso soup, rice, greens and pickles. Nick needed meat so we stopped at the grocery store for some, then went home.
Summary of the weekend: the sea is beautiful and I will never EVER eat again.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Okay
Just post to say that I barely even noticed the typhoon, and am home safe in my apartment. Much more to tell, but that'll have to wait till tuesday or wednesday, as I'm dead beat and need to get up early tomorrow. Night!
And if you're curious, here's a google map of where I live - on the southern edge of that lake/pond thing. Let's hope that works.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=35.32486,137.821341&spn=0.008561,0.01929&z=16&msa=0&msid=114636960454558692583.00047592844aa3983eabd
And if you're curious, here's a google map of where I live - on the southern edge of that lake/pond thing. Let's hope that works.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=35.32486,137.821341&spn=0.008561,0.01929&z=16&msa=0&msid=114636960454558692583.00047592844aa3983eabd
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
There's a typhoon a'comin!
So apparently tomorrow a typhoon is gonna hit us really hard. There hasn't been one that has come this far inland that's this big in 50 years, and I guess that one was pretty bad. Right now its foggy and cloudy, with steady rain (I forgot my umbrella, darnit). Tomorrow the principal and vice-principal will meet before 6:00am to discuss whether or not to close school. But, even if they close school, I still have to come because it's a paid day. Poo.
I'm especially worried because this is a mountainous area and landslides are really bad. This is probably the first time I've lived in an area that I have to worry about things due to natural disasters and really bad weather (other than a good blizzard or ice storm). Thankfully I'm not living directly on a slope and there's a pond between me and the hill nearby, just in case.
In other news, I visited 2 elementary schools yesterday, finding a few minutes in between to wolf down some lunch at the jr high school. Today I'm beat. Because of a combination of that and my leg muscle randomly spasming (not painful, just wierd) I'm gonna take a break from kendo tonight. Rest is good.
My weekend schedule is already filled up, after the huuuge English demonstration class Friday (nervous!!!) there is a party in Iida with the Tomikusa elem. teachers. Sunday Nick and I meet a person from our conversation class in Iida and drive about 4 hours to a nearby city for the night, to sightsee and such. This is to thank us for helping out on her farm later in the month picking persimmons. Bzzzzz goes the busy bee. :P
Looking forward to some r+r tonight.
I'm especially worried because this is a mountainous area and landslides are really bad. This is probably the first time I've lived in an area that I have to worry about things due to natural disasters and really bad weather (other than a good blizzard or ice storm). Thankfully I'm not living directly on a slope and there's a pond between me and the hill nearby, just in case.
In other news, I visited 2 elementary schools yesterday, finding a few minutes in between to wolf down some lunch at the jr high school. Today I'm beat. Because of a combination of that and my leg muscle randomly spasming (not painful, just wierd) I'm gonna take a break from kendo tonight. Rest is good.
My weekend schedule is already filled up, after the huuuge English demonstration class Friday (nervous!!!) there is a party in Iida with the Tomikusa elem. teachers. Sunday Nick and I meet a person from our conversation class in Iida and drive about 4 hours to a nearby city for the night, to sightsee and such. This is to thank us for helping out on her farm later in the month picking persimmons. Bzzzzz goes the busy bee. :P
Looking forward to some r+r tonight.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Driving manual
Had my second lesson on how to drive a manual car today. It started with "alright, drive us to the parking lot."
@.@
After a rather jerky, slow, panicky ride, we got there. I drove in circles and practiced starting on a hill. Then we drove to the store and back home. By the way, first time driving on the left side of the road, with gutters on steroids, very veeery narrow, sharp curves, and lots of rain. ^_^
Total drive time, 1st and 2nd lessons put together? Maybe 45 minutes tops.
Ready to drive to kendo tonight? Oooh yeah :P
Aaaaah, freedom.
@.@
After a rather jerky, slow, panicky ride, we got there. I drove in circles and practiced starting on a hill. Then we drove to the store and back home. By the way, first time driving on the left side of the road, with gutters on steroids, very veeery narrow, sharp curves, and lots of rain. ^_^
Total drive time, 1st and 2nd lessons put together? Maybe 45 minutes tops.
Ready to drive to kendo tonight? Oooh yeah :P
Aaaaah, freedom.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Japanese TV
Oh, ho exciting Japanese TV is. Currently trying to find something to one out to, on the channels there are:
1. horse racing
2. horse racing (same thing)
3.a show i think about food, currently a food-eating contest in the middle of a field.
4.golf (womens)
5.more golf
6.more golf(the womens one again)
7.fuzz (never works)
8. sumo
9.one of those commentated talk-about-anything shows. This time it's on trains.
10.even more golf (same as #5)
11.pre-recorded video of ppl doing a slow repeating dance in the streets for hours on end (local channel)
12.live shougi atch with live commentary!!To make it more interesting. Think of a chess game at the pro level where each move takes about 5 minutes, with 2 people n the background discussing possible strategies.
And I pay $25 a month for this, since it's required.
1. horse racing
2. horse racing (same thing)
3.a show i think about food, currently a food-eating contest in the middle of a field.
4.golf (womens)
5.more golf
6.more golf(the womens one again)
7.fuzz (never works)
8. sumo
9.one of those commentated talk-about-anything shows. This time it's on trains.
10.even more golf (same as #5)
11.pre-recorded video of ppl doing a slow repeating dance in the streets for hours on end (local channel)
12.live shougi atch with live commentary!!To make it more interesting. Think of a chess game at the pro level where each move takes about 5 minutes, with 2 people n the background discussing possible strategies.
And I pay $25 a month for this, since it's required.
Kendo party
Last night just as I finished my blog, I got kidnapped by all the Kendo Sensei for a party at the onsen, lol. there were maybe 20 people in a sitting room in the onsen eating and drinking, then an after party at the nearby cottages where we stayed for the night. The guys got really drunk and hilarious, with the younger ones spontaneously wrestling, and an arm wrestling tournament. I did pretty well in that, though I have a feeling that they went easy on me....
Some of them knew enough English to converse with, and yes, I was the only girl. When we threw the futons out to sleep they gave me plenty of space, though. Everyone woke up with a huuge hangovr today, but not me cause I drank lotsa water and not as much alcohols (not for their lack of trying, as is in any Japanese social gathering). The best part about this: it was free (for me)!
Now to sleep, since I got maybe 1 hr of sleep tops last night and it's 10:00am right now. Night!
Some of them knew enough English to converse with, and yes, I was the only girl. When we threw the futons out to sleep they gave me plenty of space, though. Everyone woke up with a huuge hangovr today, but not me cause I drank lotsa water and not as much alcohols (not for their lack of trying, as is in any Japanese social gathering). The best part about this: it was free (for me)!
Now to sleep, since I got maybe 1 hr of sleep tops last night and it's 10:00am right now. Night!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
V-rock Festival '09
One more thing.
For my birthday present from my parents and to myself, I'm going to the visual kei concert in Tokyo in October. I'm sooooooooooooooo psyched. A lineup of the artists is here: http://v-rockfes.com/content2/ . Including some of my favs Abington Boys School, D'espairs Ray, the Gazette, and Moi Dix Mois (Mana on stage?!). Also Marilyn Manson. Once in a lifetime opportunity? YES. Worth the $200 ticket? YES. A whole weekend of being merry and listening to kick-ass music? YES. Bring it on.
The only thing better would be X Japan...ah well. Next time.
For my birthday present from my parents and to myself, I'm going to the visual kei concert in Tokyo in October. I'm sooooooooooooooo psyched. A lineup of the artists is here: http://v-rockfes.com/content2/ . Including some of my favs Abington Boys School, D'espairs Ray, the Gazette, and Moi Dix Mois (Mana on stage?!). Also Marilyn Manson. Once in a lifetime opportunity? YES. Worth the $200 ticket? YES. A whole weekend of being merry and listening to kick-ass music? YES. Bring it on.
The only thing better would be X Japan...ah well. Next time.
Silver Week
Alright, so it's the weekend after silver week. Many things have happened, I guess. One of them is that I've started teaching in elementary schools (shogakko). I'm lazy, so I'll copy and paste a paragraph from an email about it: "Recently, I have been going to an elementary school Tomikusa to teach 5th and 6th graders. It was quite a shock the first day when they brought me there, stuck me in front of a class, and said "teach." I had no idea where to start, what they knew, how elementary classes were run, etc. We ended up practicing numbers, colors, and doing the hokey pokey, which they seemed to enjoy saying more than acting (hokey pokey hokey pokey hokey pokey). After that initial time, I have the knowledge and time to prepare for classes so I really look forward to those classes, which I think of as "play time"."
Apparently the 5th grade teacher and I are going to be teaching an extremely important (the lesson was planned out a month ago) English lesson October 9th. It's the kind of thing where all the teachers in the school will be watching and taking notes (basically grading us). I'm not really nervous, just kind of want it to be over with. Also, I'm staying at my current jr. high (ichu0 until it's over so the kids can get used to me. When I go to nichu I will be doing more blogs, I promise!!!! More free time in the teachers' room.
This past week or so, in order to keep busy during break, I've taken up hiking as a hobby. I kinda walk around all the hills maybe twice a day for an hour, sometimes jogging if I feel like it, listening to music. It' keeping me in relatively decent shape to hopefully kendo won't kill me when I go >.
Although I really should have the whole set of armor so I can join in the whole lesson. Right now I'm stuck doing basic drills, but if I got the (expensive) armor set, I would look like:
Pretty scary, huh? These guys are lightning fast, too. Oh, and after the practice I hung the outfit on a door to dry out, and cause of how its arranged, it looks exactly like a captain's uniform from Bleach is hanging there lol (Anime fans would get that one). Tonight I have practice at Anan's kendo club at 6:30, looking forward to it!
Apparently, there will be an art show in a few days displaying teachers' artwork. No one thought it was important to tell me until yesterday. Now I gotta whip up something or other to display for the community (which will be HIGHLY scrutinized) in 2 days. -.-;;; Oh joy.
In other news, I've been trying to keep up with the popular culture that the kids are tellig me about in their diaries. Many of them mentioned "Buzzer Beat," a Japanese drama that just ended. I've gotta say, it's the best directed JDrama I've seen. Most of them are pretty cheezy and akward, but this one really shone in terms of quality. The story was another one about romance, cheating on boy/girlfriends, etc. though. There are way too many of those, and waaay too many about yakuza and gangs, surprisingly.
One I am watching now came highly reccomended, Ninkyo Hlper. Basicallya bunch of ppl in a certain yakuza gang were told to go work at a nursing home, and the person that does the best job will take over as leader in the future. ....What? It's pretty good actually. You can watch both of these and other Chinese, Chinese, and I think Korean dramas at http://www.dramacrazy.net/. God, I sound like a commercial.
Black Jack episodes keep getting released, and I keep getting right back into the fandom again and again, lol. I really need to find a new series to go ga-ga for -.-; I started a new small series Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, about what would happen if a huge earthquake would hit Tokyo. You would think it's another Grave of the Fireflies (if your eyes are dry at the end of that movie, YOU'RE NOT HUMAN!!), but it keeps a bit of light on. I reccomend it if you're looking for a short something to watch.
I stopped in the library for a bit today and ran into a student of mine studying math. That's one thing that's kind of a universal language, I could actually understand the textbook, gasp! And yes, it's jr. high math, so I knew how to do it -.-; While I was there I thuroughly scanned the library for what they had that would interest me...how the heck do they sort books here?! At least in the manga section, I think it might be by genre or something first, then author after that. The magazine section was kind of lacking (not interested in Japanese "Seventeen"), the VHS/DVD section has a few good things like Disney and Ghibli movies, and there's lotsa books with funny signs in them I'm guessing are kanji :P There is a decent manga section here, for when I'm up for a challenge.
The elementary schools had their field days last weekend, which was alot of fun. They have been preparing for it for months, and they're basically huuuge shows of sports and such, very theatrical. Again, I'm amazed at the control these kids have. You'd think they grew up in boot camps. I participated in the adult tug-of-war, which my team lost, and I got a pulled muscle as a result, but wow it was fun!! There was also a traditional Japanese dance with partners that everyone joined in for, and I got paired with an obviously special needs young kid. He was pretty cool though, not doing the dance but going forward and back with everyone, but having the habit of grabbing people and hanging on. At Tomikusa (one of the elem. schools) I was invited to sit with the guests of honor and enjoy the festivities, and talked to alot of cool people.
Walking home the other day, I passed the old lady that lives in the apartments next to the road that's very talkative. She's nice but doesn't really get that I only understand about 30%-50% of what she says.... anyways, yesterday there was also a very verbal little black kitty on the side of the road. It didn't really trust me so I had to be careful, but I got to pet a cat!!!!! YESS!!!!!!! It's been months, I really missed petting a real kitty *sniff* The lady told me its name, that it's a mother, and some other stuff all the meanwhile.
Another thing I really miss about home is singing out loud to my music. Living in an apartment building with walls literally made of paper you can hear exactly what your neighbors are doing. Right now I'm listening to some Disturbed (YEAH!) and wishing I could totally rock out, but oh well.
One more thing. Taiko Drum Master KICK BUTT. I played some with my friend Cris, that arcade one had lots of anime songs and popular Japanese songs, and I was sweating by the end of it. Also, on a sushi trip with nichu people, we stopped into a bowling lley with a DDR machine. So OF COURSE I had to play... with a few Japanese teachers looking on like :O and trying to distract me lol.
One more thing. The cure to homesickness = a familiar anime. Go figure.
One more thing. poached ish is soooo much better than broiled fish.
One more thing. This is the end.
Apparently the 5th grade teacher and I are going to be teaching an extremely important (the lesson was planned out a month ago) English lesson October 9th. It's the kind of thing where all the teachers in the school will be watching and taking notes (basically grading us). I'm not really nervous, just kind of want it to be over with. Also, I'm staying at my current jr. high (ichu0 until it's over so the kids can get used to me. When I go to nichu I will be doing more blogs, I promise!!!! More free time in the teachers' room.
This past week or so, in order to keep busy during break, I've taken up hiking as a hobby. I kinda walk around all the hills maybe twice a day for an hour, sometimes jogging if I feel like it, listening to music. It' keeping me in relatively decent shape to hopefully kendo won't kill me when I go >.
Although I really should have the whole set of armor so I can join in the whole lesson. Right now I'm stuck doing basic drills, but if I got the (expensive) armor set, I would look like:
Pretty scary, huh? These guys are lightning fast, too. Oh, and after the practice I hung the outfit on a door to dry out, and cause of how its arranged, it looks exactly like a captain's uniform from Bleach is hanging there lol (Anime fans would get that one). Tonight I have practice at Anan's kendo club at 6:30, looking forward to it!
Apparently, there will be an art show in a few days displaying teachers' artwork. No one thought it was important to tell me until yesterday. Now I gotta whip up something or other to display for the community (which will be HIGHLY scrutinized) in 2 days. -.-;;; Oh joy.
In other news, I've been trying to keep up with the popular culture that the kids are tellig me about in their diaries. Many of them mentioned "Buzzer Beat," a Japanese drama that just ended. I've gotta say, it's the best directed JDrama I've seen. Most of them are pretty cheezy and akward, but this one really shone in terms of quality. The story was another one about romance, cheating on boy/girlfriends, etc. though. There are way too many of those, and waaay too many about yakuza and gangs, surprisingly.
One I am watching now came highly reccomended, Ninkyo Hlper. Basicallya bunch of ppl in a certain yakuza gang were told to go work at a nursing home, and the person that does the best job will take over as leader in the future. ....What? It's pretty good actually. You can watch both of these and other Chinese, Chinese, and I think Korean dramas at http://www.dramacrazy.net/. God, I sound like a commercial.
Black Jack episodes keep getting released, and I keep getting right back into the fandom again and again, lol. I really need to find a new series to go ga-ga for -.-; I started a new small series Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, about what would happen if a huge earthquake would hit Tokyo. You would think it's another Grave of the Fireflies (if your eyes are dry at the end of that movie, YOU'RE NOT HUMAN!!), but it keeps a bit of light on. I reccomend it if you're looking for a short something to watch.
I stopped in the library for a bit today and ran into a student of mine studying math. That's one thing that's kind of a universal language, I could actually understand the textbook, gasp! And yes, it's jr. high math, so I knew how to do it -.-; While I was there I thuroughly scanned the library for what they had that would interest me...how the heck do they sort books here?! At least in the manga section, I think it might be by genre or something first, then author after that. The magazine section was kind of lacking (not interested in Japanese "Seventeen"), the VHS/DVD section has a few good things like Disney and Ghibli movies, and there's lotsa books with funny signs in them I'm guessing are kanji :P There is a decent manga section here, for when I'm up for a challenge.
The elementary schools had their field days last weekend, which was alot of fun. They have been preparing for it for months, and they're basically huuuge shows of sports and such, very theatrical. Again, I'm amazed at the control these kids have. You'd think they grew up in boot camps. I participated in the adult tug-of-war, which my team lost, and I got a pulled muscle as a result, but wow it was fun!! There was also a traditional Japanese dance with partners that everyone joined in for, and I got paired with an obviously special needs young kid. He was pretty cool though, not doing the dance but going forward and back with everyone, but having the habit of grabbing people and hanging on. At Tomikusa (one of the elem. schools) I was invited to sit with the guests of honor and enjoy the festivities, and talked to alot of cool people.
Walking home the other day, I passed the old lady that lives in the apartments next to the road that's very talkative. She's nice but doesn't really get that I only understand about 30%-50% of what she says.... anyways, yesterday there was also a very verbal little black kitty on the side of the road. It didn't really trust me so I had to be careful, but I got to pet a cat!!!!! YESS!!!!!!! It's been months, I really missed petting a real kitty *sniff* The lady told me its name, that it's a mother, and some other stuff all the meanwhile.
Another thing I really miss about home is singing out loud to my music. Living in an apartment building with walls literally made of paper you can hear exactly what your neighbors are doing. Right now I'm listening to some Disturbed (YEAH!) and wishing I could totally rock out, but oh well.
One more thing. Taiko Drum Master KICK BUTT. I played some with my friend Cris, that arcade one had lots of anime songs and popular Japanese songs, and I was sweating by the end of it. Also, on a sushi trip with nichu people, we stopped into a bowling lley with a DDR machine. So OF COURSE I had to play... with a few Japanese teachers looking on like :O and trying to distract me lol.
One more thing. The cure to homesickness = a familiar anime. Go figure.
One more thing. poached ish is soooo much better than broiled fish.
One more thing. This is the end.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Blarg computers, random funnies
So my computer has been having tantrums lately, and I've dealt with them best I can. To eat up some time I brought it into work today and had Nick take a look at it. Apparently the hard drive is almost gone and the battery is pretty much fried. So when I get home I'm gonna back everything up and pray for the best lol.
Just got our second paycheck yesterday,they take quite a it out for random stuffs, but that is the same everywhere. Hopefully now I can start saving up some money, pay back some that I have borrowed, and take a trip to Akihabara sometime soon ^_^ For those of you who don't know, Akiha is the main electronics district of Tokyo, and has many shiny objects.
Today Nick and I are meeting Katsuno-san from the board of education to see our new (old) car. We don't know if we will be able to use it or not right away, but both of us agree that a trip to Iida is in our immediate future. This is just too much in the boonies sometimes. Also, I would loove to get a cell phone to be connected.
It is so odd with the schedule I'm on now, I'm going to bed at 9:30-10 and waking up at 7-ish. Normal hours, not going to bed at 2am and waking up at 12pm :D System is trying to get used to that, and all of this Japanese food is still somewhat messing it up. We eat the school lunches everyday which are tasty, but not something I'd cook for myself (except for the daily rice). Yesterday I had my second "I ate what?!" moment, where I thought I was eating one thing and it turned out to be something completely different. There was a nice salad of tomatoes, herbs, and what looked like little stringy pieces of Parmesan cheese. Even tasted a bit like it, just a little tough. Turns out that was squid. ^^;
Monday and Tuesday are our run around and do alot without breaks days. The rest of the week is waay more laid back. Today we only helped in one class. The 3rd year students took a monthly English test yesterday, and they went over the results today, so there goes 4 classes right there. Yay for internets and laptops.
I spent the last period yesterday and the morning today mass-producing dragonballs. Yes, dragonballs. Hirota-sensei wants to use them to help the 1st year students learn counting in English, since each ball is numbered 1-7 by how many stars it has inside. Now THAT was fun ^_^
Speaking of dragonballs, there is a DBZ mmorpg being made in Korea o.O
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-08-24/dragon-ball-online-mmorpg-new-trailer-video-posted
Also, Vicky sent me an awesome link of people shaving poodles to look like other things, Some of these are AMAZING!!! I was looking at this during work and trying to keep a straight face....but failed miserably. Ah well.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208913/The-poodles-transformed-pandas-horses-snails-creative-grooming-dog-shows.html#ixzz0PCNPXuSZ
Just got our second paycheck yesterday,they take quite a it out for random stuffs, but that is the same everywhere. Hopefully now I can start saving up some money, pay back some that I have borrowed, and take a trip to Akihabara sometime soon ^_^ For those of you who don't know, Akiha is the main electronics district of Tokyo, and has many shiny objects.
Today Nick and I are meeting Katsuno-san from the board of education to see our new (old) car. We don't know if we will be able to use it or not right away, but both of us agree that a trip to Iida is in our immediate future. This is just too much in the boonies sometimes. Also, I would loove to get a cell phone to be connected.
It is so odd with the schedule I'm on now, I'm going to bed at 9:30-10 and waking up at 7-ish. Normal hours, not going to bed at 2am and waking up at 12pm :D System is trying to get used to that, and all of this Japanese food is still somewhat messing it up. We eat the school lunches everyday which are tasty, but not something I'd cook for myself (except for the daily rice). Yesterday I had my second "I ate what?!" moment, where I thought I was eating one thing and it turned out to be something completely different. There was a nice salad of tomatoes, herbs, and what looked like little stringy pieces of Parmesan cheese. Even tasted a bit like it, just a little tough. Turns out that was squid. ^^;
Monday and Tuesday are our run around and do alot without breaks days. The rest of the week is waay more laid back. Today we only helped in one class. The 3rd year students took a monthly English test yesterday, and they went over the results today, so there goes 4 classes right there. Yay for internets and laptops.
I spent the last period yesterday and the morning today mass-producing dragonballs. Yes, dragonballs. Hirota-sensei wants to use them to help the 1st year students learn counting in English, since each ball is numbered 1-7 by how many stars it has inside. Now THAT was fun ^_^
Speaking of dragonballs, there is a DBZ mmorpg being made in Korea o.O
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-08-24/dragon-ball-online-mmorpg-new-trailer-video-posted
Also, Vicky sent me an awesome link of people shaving poodles to look like other things, Some of these are AMAZING!!! I was looking at this during work and trying to keep a straight face....but failed miserably. Ah well.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208913/The-poodles-transformed-pandas-horses-snails-creative-grooming-dog-shows.html#ixzz0PCNPXuSZ
Monday, August 24, 2009
Back to work
Hey all, first entry in a while. Things are going good for me right now, just started work again on Wednesday. We're teaching at ichu jr high school at the moment, then next week going to nichu (the jr high about 20 mins away) and then after that splitting up and one person goes to ichu while the other goes to nichu.
In the day, there are 6 (i think) periods of 50 minutes, plus 2 homeroom periods, cleaning time, lunchtime, and 10 minutes between each period to chill. Cleaning time is interesting, everyone in the school, teachers included, puts on a bandanna on their foreheads and sweeps, organizes, iwipes down desks, wipes down floor with rag, etc. for about 20 mins. There is minimal talking, and everyone does so without complaint. You would never see something like this in a public school in the U.S.!
Right now there is a period dedicated to moral education, where the kids learn to help those in need, be a better person, etc. Nick and I were like " o.O really? "
We usually have classes maybe 4-5 periods of that six, and on our downtime, we write comments and correct the students' english journals. They write things like "I ate eggs for breakfast today, soccer practice was fun," etc. Sometimes you get a dialogue going with things like "I watched this show today. What is your favorite show?"
During class, Nick and I spend alot of time pronouncing vocab words, and reading from the textbook. Friday the kids in one class were handed new vocab sheets and we went around correcting the accents, such as teaching the kids how to do the "th" sound, telling them that this letter is not pronounced, etc. It was actually really fun and kind of challenging. In a first grade class, we did an activity where there were a few keywords, the kids got into groups, and changed sentences like "Tom has a ball" to "tom does not have a ball" and "does Tom have a ball?" We also play bingo, and do other activities.
At lunchtime, Nick and I split and eat lunch in different 3rd year classrooms. Each class has over 30 students, so each grade is split into classes "3-1" and "3-2" for the 3rd graders, "2-1" and "2-2" for the 2nd graders, and so on. By the way, first graders refer to the kids in their first year of jr high, the equivalent of a 7th grader in the U.S.
This weekend, I went to my first kendo practice. For those of you who don't know, kendo is kinda like japanese fencing. There are alot of formalities though. Since I didn't have any armor, or "bogu," I had to practice my "men" and "kote" swings with 2 adorable elementary kids. One was i think 6 and the other maybe 11 or 12. After practice I just sat on my knees (so I was the same height!) and talked with all the younger kids for a while. They are so curious and not at all bashful at that age, and the youngest one was all smiles and giggles. They kept fluffing my hair and looked at my eye color, asked me how tall I was, what sports I like, when I came to Japan, etc. I also asked them how old they were, did they have any siblings, etc, trying to mingle a little English here and there (I am an English teacher after all!) Overall, that was the most fun I've had maybe since I've come to Japan.
After kendo, Nick and I went to a family owned resturaunt to unwind a bit. This is the only resturaunt in town, called Miwa's. The owners are two really sweet grandparents, and their family just happened to come that night also. It's a small place, wiht enough room for 3 tables on tatami mats, and a barshelf with sitting room for maybe 6, but really cozy. We chatted with the family, I played with the youngest kid and helped him climb a support beam (the grandmother was helping earlier!), and Nick got some information about a puppet festival the next day.
So Sunday Nick and I went to a local shrine, where there were video cameras up the wazzoo, and watched the first 2 acts of an oldschool puppet show. Thepuppets are about the size of a small adult, and each one is operated by 3 men wearing all black to blend in with the background, using complex motions for moving the puppet's hand gestures, etc. The music was a man to the side plucking every once in a while on an old fashioned instrument (I forgot what they're called!), with a lady singing out the dialogue between 2 female puppets in the old Japanese singing style.
Afterwards, we went to the grocery store, and went back home to make....a spaghetti dinner!!!!! Wow, that was soooooo delicious.
So now I am sitting in the teachers' room trying my best to look busy (you're ALWAYS busy here, even when you're not) and trying to stretch my arms and back out from kendo.
Whew, there. Now I'm good for another week, right? Right? Hmmmm, maybe I'll put up some pictures soon as well.
Ciao!
In the day, there are 6 (i think) periods of 50 minutes, plus 2 homeroom periods, cleaning time, lunchtime, and 10 minutes between each period to chill. Cleaning time is interesting, everyone in the school, teachers included, puts on a bandanna on their foreheads and sweeps, organizes, iwipes down desks, wipes down floor with rag, etc. for about 20 mins. There is minimal talking, and everyone does so without complaint. You would never see something like this in a public school in the U.S.!
Right now there is a period dedicated to moral education, where the kids learn to help those in need, be a better person, etc. Nick and I were like " o.O really? "
We usually have classes maybe 4-5 periods of that six, and on our downtime, we write comments and correct the students' english journals. They write things like "I ate eggs for breakfast today, soccer practice was fun," etc. Sometimes you get a dialogue going with things like "I watched this show today. What is your favorite show?"
During class, Nick and I spend alot of time pronouncing vocab words, and reading from the textbook. Friday the kids in one class were handed new vocab sheets and we went around correcting the accents, such as teaching the kids how to do the "th" sound, telling them that this letter is not pronounced, etc. It was actually really fun and kind of challenging. In a first grade class, we did an activity where there were a few keywords, the kids got into groups, and changed sentences like "Tom has a ball" to "tom does not have a ball" and "does Tom have a ball?" We also play bingo, and do other activities.
At lunchtime, Nick and I split and eat lunch in different 3rd year classrooms. Each class has over 30 students, so each grade is split into classes "3-1" and "3-2" for the 3rd graders, "2-1" and "2-2" for the 2nd graders, and so on. By the way, first graders refer to the kids in their first year of jr high, the equivalent of a 7th grader in the U.S.
This weekend, I went to my first kendo practice. For those of you who don't know, kendo is kinda like japanese fencing. There are alot of formalities though. Since I didn't have any armor, or "bogu," I had to practice my "men" and "kote" swings with 2 adorable elementary kids. One was i think 6 and the other maybe 11 or 12. After practice I just sat on my knees (so I was the same height!) and talked with all the younger kids for a while. They are so curious and not at all bashful at that age, and the youngest one was all smiles and giggles. They kept fluffing my hair and looked at my eye color, asked me how tall I was, what sports I like, when I came to Japan, etc. I also asked them how old they were, did they have any siblings, etc, trying to mingle a little English here and there (I am an English teacher after all!) Overall, that was the most fun I've had maybe since I've come to Japan.
After kendo, Nick and I went to a family owned resturaunt to unwind a bit. This is the only resturaunt in town, called Miwa's. The owners are two really sweet grandparents, and their family just happened to come that night also. It's a small place, wiht enough room for 3 tables on tatami mats, and a barshelf with sitting room for maybe 6, but really cozy. We chatted with the family, I played with the youngest kid and helped him climb a support beam (the grandmother was helping earlier!), and Nick got some information about a puppet festival the next day.
So Sunday Nick and I went to a local shrine, where there were video cameras up the wazzoo, and watched the first 2 acts of an oldschool puppet show. Thepuppets are about the size of a small adult, and each one is operated by 3 men wearing all black to blend in with the background, using complex motions for moving the puppet's hand gestures, etc. The music was a man to the side plucking every once in a while on an old fashioned instrument (I forgot what they're called!), with a lady singing out the dialogue between 2 female puppets in the old Japanese singing style.
Afterwards, we went to the grocery store, and went back home to make....a spaghetti dinner!!!!! Wow, that was soooooo delicious.
So now I am sitting in the teachers' room trying my best to look busy (you're ALWAYS busy here, even when you're not) and trying to stretch my arms and back out from kendo.
Whew, there. Now I'm good for another week, right? Right? Hmmmm, maybe I'll put up some pictures soon as well.
Ciao!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Earthquaaaaaaaake!!!
Sorry I haven't been posting in a while, gotta get the motivation to do a huuuuge post one of these days. For now though, let's talk EARTHQUAKES! rofl.
Sunday night I heard a little grumbling and felt the apartment complex shaking a bit, kinda felt like a sumo wrestler ran through it really quickly, though if I had been up and aout I might not have noticed it. Apparently that was a 6.9 or 7.1 (depends on what country you ask -.-; ) earthquake off the coast near Tokyo, and could be felt like crazy in that city. I was kinda excited to feel my first earthquake, bu nothing to really write home about.
Then this morning at a little after 5am, I was awoken to a full-out shaking of the building. In my half-asleep state i scrambled with my blanket for the doorframe and hung on for the ride. Thinking back, the shaking wasn't so much that the roof would start collapsing or anything, but in my defense I wasn't awake yet. I heard something glass break in one of the other apartments near the end, but other than that everything was okay.
Because of that though, Anan-cho made the news!!! I just turned on the TV while the computer was booting up and they were showing damage done (big rocks fallen into roads, a concrete wall broken in half). Then they mentioned Shimojo (a village right next to me) and Anancho (my town) as well as other places in the area and showed damage from our area. National news, yeah!!
Breakfast is done, gonna eat and go grocery shopping, later!
Sunday night I heard a little grumbling and felt the apartment complex shaking a bit, kinda felt like a sumo wrestler ran through it really quickly, though if I had been up and aout I might not have noticed it. Apparently that was a 6.9 or 7.1 (depends on what country you ask -.-; ) earthquake off the coast near Tokyo, and could be felt like crazy in that city. I was kinda excited to feel my first earthquake, bu nothing to really write home about.
Then this morning at a little after 5am, I was awoken to a full-out shaking of the building. In my half-asleep state i scrambled with my blanket for the doorframe and hung on for the ride. Thinking back, the shaking wasn't so much that the roof would start collapsing or anything, but in my defense I wasn't awake yet. I heard something glass break in one of the other apartments near the end, but other than that everything was okay.
Because of that though, Anan-cho made the news!!! I just turned on the TV while the computer was booting up and they were showing damage done (big rocks fallen into roads, a concrete wall broken in half). Then they mentioned Shimojo (a village right next to me) and Anancho (my town) as well as other places in the area and showed damage from our area. National news, yeah!!
Breakfast is done, gonna eat and go grocery shopping, later!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Vids and pics of Japan.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
omg internets!!!!!
YESSSSS now I have internets in my apartment now!!!
vlogs : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnB9MXYhPo4
blogs later on, tomorrow.
vlogs : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnB9MXYhPo4
blogs later on, tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Good news and bad news
The good news: Heck yeah Japan!!! A festival is going to happen tomorrow, I`m psyched. I`m also going to travel to Tokyo, and maybe Kyoto, next week.
The bad news: I can`t access any of the money in my bank account because I don`t have A. a money card and B. a stamp. Also, the internet won`t come until the 30th. >.<
So right now I`m stealing the school`s internet to look for and book rooms in Tokyo.
Also, Tonight I`m invited to a welcome dinner with Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san. Should be fun!
The bad news: I can`t access any of the money in my bank account because I don`t have A. a money card and B. a stamp. Also, the internet won`t come until the 30th. >.<
So right now I`m stealing the school`s internet to look for and book rooms in Tokyo.
Also, Tonight I`m invited to a welcome dinner with Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san. Should be fun!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Heyas from Japan!!!! :)
Heck yeah, Japan! Probably cant write much now, in the teachers room - but tonight will mark the first week we've been here. Anancho is soooooo beautiful, it's in the middle of a huge mountain range (built right into the hills). When we got here it was super hot and muggy, I don't think it has gotten below 80F since.
Everyone here generally speaks some english (hi, bye, etc.) and most are at a level of understanding a word here and there. Some people, such as the principal in the jr high im presently at, the english teachers, and some other random people speak enough to have an actual conversation. We have been able to talk to may people though, with our mixed japanese and hand gestures. (We being Nick and I, the other person I came over with.) The people here are so nice, always happy, and eager to help.
Later on I'll post on youtube the videos I've been making almost daily as an explanation of what's been going on. But for right now, the short of it. The first few days we were shuttled around (by the board of education member Katsuno-san, really nice guy), meeting important people like the town mayor, the whole public office building, town secretary, treasurer, etc, all the principals, vice-principals, and teachers at the different schools, and some students. I'll tell yopu one thing, it is reeeeally odd when you're giving a speech off the top of your head, to dozens of people lined up in neat rows, who all bow on cue if you say certain things. The room full of people bowing to you you is crazy. And we did it more than once lol.
Our apartments are in great shape, good sized, and work well (despite the lack of a stove). It's about a mile directly uphill for one of the jr highs (the one we've been going to), another mile directly uphill for our grocery store and general store, and to the train station (will probably have to use that often) is maybe a 40 min walk. I needed to lose weight anyways :P Two of the other schools are about 20 mins by car, we don't know if we are going to rent a car, take a train/bus, etc. for those yet.
As for culture shock, The biggest one was the first night we were here. 2 people picked us up from the airport, and took us to a 24hr family resturaunt for some food. We entered and everyone there was Japanese. Duh, right? But thats when the "holy shit i'm in japan!!!!!!!!" sunk in, I was grinning the whole time we were there. Another big culture shock is going to the grocery store every time. Half the stuff we recognize or think we might know what it is, and at least half I have absolutely no idea what to make of it. So i'm sticking with chicken, eggs, rice, miso soup, carrots, for most of my food lol. BUT I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!! It's Skippy, not Peter Pan, but its good. Oh, and fruits are super expensive. maybe 5 strawberries are 4 dollars. It's all at least twice as much, if not more.
Speaking of food, the first few days here we didn't pay a cent, they wined and dined us, stuffed us full and I think I gained about 5 lbs. In a good way. The first night I had a dessert of anko (sweet beans), green tea ice cream, and shitotama, which are like little dango balls, but better. We've eaten cold soba, Yakiniku (fun!), a great dinner at Hirota-sensei's house, and much more. Oh, and the soba? I though it was pork. Turns out it was Duck. Huh.
Nick's girlfriend Hannah came in late Friday night, and we three explored the nearest city, Iida city, Saturday and Sunday. Pictures are on the way, and so is a vlog (when we get internet). We went into Book-off, a manga store (Okay, so I kinda dragged them in...) and I was in heaven - bought 2 BlackJack manga that I'm going to try and read.
Oh my god it's hot here. People carry around sweat towels with them, guys just drape them on their necks, and they get used often.
Starting tomorrow, We're on break for about a month. I plan on travelling a bit after getting the refund from the plane ticket, so if anyone was planning on coming to visit, now would be perfect!!! :) My phone number is (country code 81 I think) 0260-22-3652 If anyone wants to call and has a spiffy low-cost plan, though I might not be home.
Yeah, so we don't have internet yet, so I cannot be on AIM or upload any videos or anything, but don't worry, as soon as possible, everything will be up. I probably won't be able to get to a computer till then either, so bear with me a bit. Goodbye from Japan, I love ya all!
Everyone here generally speaks some english (hi, bye, etc.) and most are at a level of understanding a word here and there. Some people, such as the principal in the jr high im presently at, the english teachers, and some other random people speak enough to have an actual conversation. We have been able to talk to may people though, with our mixed japanese and hand gestures. (We being Nick and I, the other person I came over with.) The people here are so nice, always happy, and eager to help.
Later on I'll post on youtube the videos I've been making almost daily as an explanation of what's been going on. But for right now, the short of it. The first few days we were shuttled around (by the board of education member Katsuno-san, really nice guy), meeting important people like the town mayor, the whole public office building, town secretary, treasurer, etc, all the principals, vice-principals, and teachers at the different schools, and some students. I'll tell yopu one thing, it is reeeeally odd when you're giving a speech off the top of your head, to dozens of people lined up in neat rows, who all bow on cue if you say certain things. The room full of people bowing to you you is crazy. And we did it more than once lol.
Our apartments are in great shape, good sized, and work well (despite the lack of a stove). It's about a mile directly uphill for one of the jr highs (the one we've been going to), another mile directly uphill for our grocery store and general store, and to the train station (will probably have to use that often) is maybe a 40 min walk. I needed to lose weight anyways :P Two of the other schools are about 20 mins by car, we don't know if we are going to rent a car, take a train/bus, etc. for those yet.
As for culture shock, The biggest one was the first night we were here. 2 people picked us up from the airport, and took us to a 24hr family resturaunt for some food. We entered and everyone there was Japanese. Duh, right? But thats when the "holy shit i'm in japan!!!!!!!!" sunk in, I was grinning the whole time we were there. Another big culture shock is going to the grocery store every time. Half the stuff we recognize or think we might know what it is, and at least half I have absolutely no idea what to make of it. So i'm sticking with chicken, eggs, rice, miso soup, carrots, for most of my food lol. BUT I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!! It's Skippy, not Peter Pan, but its good. Oh, and fruits are super expensive. maybe 5 strawberries are 4 dollars. It's all at least twice as much, if not more.
Speaking of food, the first few days here we didn't pay a cent, they wined and dined us, stuffed us full and I think I gained about 5 lbs. In a good way. The first night I had a dessert of anko (sweet beans), green tea ice cream, and shitotama, which are like little dango balls, but better. We've eaten cold soba, Yakiniku (fun!), a great dinner at Hirota-sensei's house, and much more. Oh, and the soba? I though it was pork. Turns out it was Duck. Huh.
Nick's girlfriend Hannah came in late Friday night, and we three explored the nearest city, Iida city, Saturday and Sunday. Pictures are on the way, and so is a vlog (when we get internet). We went into Book-off, a manga store (Okay, so I kinda dragged them in...) and I was in heaven - bought 2 BlackJack manga that I'm going to try and read.
Oh my god it's hot here. People carry around sweat towels with them, guys just drape them on their necks, and they get used often.
Starting tomorrow, We're on break for about a month. I plan on travelling a bit after getting the refund from the plane ticket, so if anyone was planning on coming to visit, now would be perfect!!! :) My phone number is (country code 81 I think) 0260-22-3652 If anyone wants to call and has a spiffy low-cost plan, though I might not be home.
Yeah, so we don't have internet yet, so I cannot be on AIM or upload any videos or anything, but don't worry, as soon as possible, everything will be up. I probably won't be able to get to a computer till then either, so bear with me a bit. Goodbye from Japan, I love ya all!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Yay Japan!
Woohoo! Finally in Japan! Cant talk much, so much to do, so little time. No internet yet also, im writing this on the teachers room computer. I have my own desk at this school!! Anyways, gotta go, just telling the world that I am here and doing well.
Monday, July 13, 2009
To Japan!
So I'm sitting at my desk, hyper as can be, waiting for tomorrow morning to come. Because tomorrow I'm FINALLY going to Japan!!!! *parties*
So I got the certificate in the mail, mailed that to NYC, they mailed a visa back, and I finally can leave the country now lol. No I didn't have to drive to NYC, thank goodness.
At first I thought I would definitely need 3 suitcases, but after some careful packing, I'm down to 2 suitcases, a backpack, and a very large purse. This includes summer clothes, winter clothes, and everything in between, gifts for people over there (do not break!!!!), books, electronics, belts, toiletries, etc. etc. Surprising.
Kendall, Trevor, and Ethan came over to my house a few days ago and threw me a mini going-away party - I almost cried. It was so sweet of them to plan that out. Also, the gang got me a card, plus a Piccolo figurine that I -almost- bought the week earlier lol. That's SO going with me on the trip, as a reminder of what wonderful friends I have. <3 <3 Also, I got to talk to alot of family by phone for the last time, which was really nice. Thank goodness for Skype, which is what I will be using to communicate primarily. I have a webcam to use with it, and if anyone wants to talk to me, IM me ad I'll give you my Skype account name! (I won't post it here for security reasons).
Also, I will be posting on my new vlog channel on youtube, starting this week hopefully. I'll post when something's up.
That's all for now, time to hit the hay and wait for day!
So I got the certificate in the mail, mailed that to NYC, they mailed a visa back, and I finally can leave the country now lol. No I didn't have to drive to NYC, thank goodness.
At first I thought I would definitely need 3 suitcases, but after some careful packing, I'm down to 2 suitcases, a backpack, and a very large purse. This includes summer clothes, winter clothes, and everything in between, gifts for people over there (do not break!!!!), books, electronics, belts, toiletries, etc. etc. Surprising.
Kendall, Trevor, and Ethan came over to my house a few days ago and threw me a mini going-away party - I almost cried. It was so sweet of them to plan that out. Also, the gang got me a card, plus a Piccolo figurine that I -almost- bought the week earlier lol. That's SO going with me on the trip, as a reminder of what wonderful friends I have. <3 <3 Also, I got to talk to alot of family by phone for the last time, which was really nice. Thank goodness for Skype, which is what I will be using to communicate primarily. I have a webcam to use with it, and if anyone wants to talk to me, IM me ad I'll give you my Skype account name! (I won't post it here for security reasons).
Also, I will be posting on my new vlog channel on youtube, starting this week hopefully. I'll post when something's up.
That's all for now, time to hit the hay and wait for day!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Still no Japan, keepin busy.
Blaaaaah, still waiting for Japan. Just got an email from Yatani (my Japanese professor)saying to be patient, and explaining the next steps. Apparently paperwork is being mailed to me (and also Nick). Once I get that, I drive to New York city to hand it in, fill out more paperwork, etc. Then there is ANOTHER few days wait til I gotta go there AGAIN and get my passport stamped. wtf. An email has been sent askink if I can just mail the stuff to them, cause that's just ridiculous.
Yatani also set us up with our travel agent-person, and she has emailed a "Hiyas, how's it goin?" kinda thing. It's nice to know that there is someone who knows the ropes that we ca turn to for flight arrangements.
So, how am I keeping busy? Well, last weekend I went to the mall, and then clubbing with Matt and his friend Anna. It was some goth club, so it was pretty laid-back. More like a bar with optional dancing lol.
Recently I started up again on Gaia. I've been focusing on getting money by playing the marketplace. Buy low, sell high, etc. It's pretty amazing that these little online communities have economics systems like this. There's fashion trends you have to look out for to see what sells high, I usually stock up on like of a popular item if the price is really low, then when it gets high again, sell them off 1 at a time (so I don't flood the market). Went from about 1000 gold to around 60,000 (throughout 2 accounts) in about 2 or 3 days. With about 10,000 more worth in the market curretly ^_^ I'm pretty happy about that.
Another cool thing about this site is that it's an anime, art, gaming, general cute stuffs community - my kind of place! Downside is that the average age is somewhere around 14 yrs old, so you get alot of immaturity....
The WoW account is now closed again (>.<) I don't need too many addicting things taking up my time, should study more Japanese...
And on that note, I found a great kanji workbook on the internet. One little download, a bit of printing, and presto! Just for the cost of ink (instead of $15-50) I can now learn 500 kanji fast and fun! ^(>.<)^ Yatta!
I've been recording on my new camcorder the fireman's carnival and parade to show the little kiddies in Japan what an American festival is like (if they care to see it). Mmmmm fried dough....
Sooo that's it for now, will post with good news when it happens!
Yatani also set us up with our travel agent-person, and she has emailed a "Hiyas, how's it goin?" kinda thing. It's nice to know that there is someone who knows the ropes that we ca turn to for flight arrangements.
So, how am I keeping busy? Well, last weekend I went to the mall, and then clubbing with Matt and his friend Anna. It was some goth club, so it was pretty laid-back. More like a bar with optional dancing lol.
Recently I started up again on Gaia. I've been focusing on getting money by playing the marketplace. Buy low, sell high, etc. It's pretty amazing that these little online communities have economics systems like this. There's fashion trends you have to look out for to see what sells high, I usually stock up on like of a popular item if the price is really low, then when it gets high again, sell them off 1 at a time (so I don't flood the market). Went from about 1000 gold to around 60,000 (throughout 2 accounts) in about 2 or 3 days. With about 10,000 more worth in the market curretly ^_^ I'm pretty happy about that.
Another cool thing about this site is that it's an anime, art, gaming, general cute stuffs community - my kind of place! Downside is that the average age is somewhere around 14 yrs old, so you get alot of immaturity....
The WoW account is now closed again (>.<) I don't need too many addicting things taking up my time, should study more Japanese...
And on that note, I found a great kanji workbook on the internet. One little download, a bit of printing, and presto! Just for the cost of ink (instead of $15-50) I can now learn 500 kanji fast and fun! ^(>.<)^ Yatta!
I've been recording on my new camcorder the fireman's carnival and parade to show the little kiddies in Japan what an American festival is like (if they care to see it). Mmmmm fried dough....
Sooo that's it for now, will post with good news when it happens!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
More paperwork and packing
Nice day of resting, planting, and packing today. As opposed to yesterday. Wednesday night Nick and I (the person I'm going to Japan with to teach) got an email saying that we needed more paperwork for the visa to go through, then everything will be all set. What we thought we needed was a scan of our diploma, and a "certificate of graduation." Wait, isn't that what a diploma? So I scanned the diploma and got up early Thursday morning to call registrar of Alfred University so see what that meant. They pointed us towards something called an "apostille" that sounded really official, and takes 4-6 weeks to get. Cue freaking out. A call was made to Yatani, and he said that something official that says we graduated should do. So I call registrar again, beg and plead to get an official transcript done yesterday, and drive down to pick it up. All this and a letter written by someone from registrar clearly stating that I graduated with an official stamp, just in case they were still in doubt, were sent via express mail to Japan, costing about $30. That night, Yatani called Japan, and apparently all we needed was a scan of the diploma. Yay. Crash.
While in Alfred, I stopped in to see Petra (study abroad director) to chat a bit and make sure we were on the same page. Seems like Yatani had been keeping her well-informed, so we just talked about what to expect when I go there, oo thats a shiny new phone, and Dutch people are tall.
Meanwhile, mom is freaking out a bit about what happens when Japan gets the paperwork, do I rive to the N.Y. embassy, do I get more paperwork done through mail, or do I just fly over? Who knows. It'll happen SOON, which is all I need to know!
Just packed the suitcases with what I think I'm taking, stuff MIGHT barely fit into 2 of them, I'm a bit concerned with that, because an extra suitcase is more expensive, and everyone's telling me to pack light. Well everyone else can actually buy clothes and shoes there, I'm kinda sunk in that department, so I have basically most of my closet in there.
Just to be really prepared, I got all the Yen I'm gonna need for when I go over (hopefully) from AAA earlier this week. As mom says, "It looks like play money." There's a little circular window in the middle that's usually blank, but when you hold it up to the light, a picture appears! Omg! Also, the 10,000Yen note is slightly longer than the others. Different, but makes sense.
To relax a bit today (and because mom is really good at guilting me into doing things) I spent a bit of time planting flowers in the garden. Mmmm, mud. Also, there are random chunks of charcoal in the garden! They're from the bonfire we had this spring, and they write just like soft charcoal sticks. This makes me happy.
Lately I've bee addicted to Japan blogs like
Myargonauts who talks about being a JET ALT, teaching, and Japan in general. I bow down before him for how useful he is.
Also Tokyocooney is worth a watch, although he can be a bit too negative at times, but his comedy is generally good, talking about life in Tokyo.
Cooking With Dog is a really good Japanese cooking Youtube channel I found by accident, its traditional Japanese food as cooked by a Japanese lady (gasp!) and narrated in English by a talking dog with an accent. The bentou video is really good, although that is waaaay too much work for one meal lol.
That's all for now, it's late and my book is calling.
While in Alfred, I stopped in to see Petra (study abroad director) to chat a bit and make sure we were on the same page. Seems like Yatani had been keeping her well-informed, so we just talked about what to expect when I go there, oo thats a shiny new phone, and Dutch people are tall.
Meanwhile, mom is freaking out a bit about what happens when Japan gets the paperwork, do I rive to the N.Y. embassy, do I get more paperwork done through mail, or do I just fly over? Who knows. It'll happen SOON, which is all I need to know!
Just packed the suitcases with what I think I'm taking, stuff MIGHT barely fit into 2 of them, I'm a bit concerned with that, because an extra suitcase is more expensive, and everyone's telling me to pack light. Well everyone else can actually buy clothes and shoes there, I'm kinda sunk in that department, so I have basically most of my closet in there.
Just to be really prepared, I got all the Yen I'm gonna need for when I go over (hopefully) from AAA earlier this week. As mom says, "It looks like play money." There's a little circular window in the middle that's usually blank, but when you hold it up to the light, a picture appears! Omg! Also, the 10,000Yen note is slightly longer than the others. Different, but makes sense.
To relax a bit today (and because mom is really good at guilting me into doing things) I spent a bit of time planting flowers in the garden. Mmmm, mud. Also, there are random chunks of charcoal in the garden! They're from the bonfire we had this spring, and they write just like soft charcoal sticks. This makes me happy.
Lately I've bee addicted to Japan blogs like
Myargonauts who talks about being a JET ALT, teaching, and Japan in general. I bow down before him for how useful he is.
Also Tokyocooney is worth a watch, although he can be a bit too negative at times, but his comedy is generally good, talking about life in Tokyo.
Cooking With Dog is a really good Japanese cooking Youtube channel I found by accident, its traditional Japanese food as cooked by a Japanese lady (gasp!) and narrated in English by a talking dog with an accent. The bentou video is really good, although that is waaaay too much work for one meal lol.
That's all for now, it's late and my book is calling.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Funky little music vid I found (English song). I never actually listened to the song yet, the movie is just really entertaining and very artsy, but still really cool. Check it out.
Youtube vid
Youtube vid
Friday, May 22, 2009
lazy
So I said I'd write about what I've been doing in terms of Japan, but I'm having a bit of a lazy afternoon (blame it on the hot weather). Chillin before I have to clean up my room and then possibly hitting the gym.
As a parting gift, an anime reccomendation: http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-524962/shangri-la-1/ (Shangri-La)
and if you are a girl, whether or not you like shoujou, watch http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-509916/skip-beat-1/ Skip Beat. First ep is meh, but it gets better and better.
Ciao for now
As a parting gift, an anime reccomendation: http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-524962/shangri-la-1/ (Shangri-La)
and if you are a girl, whether or not you like shoujou, watch http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-509916/skip-beat-1/ Skip Beat. First ep is meh, but it gets better and better.
Ciao for now
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Just rewatched Schindler's List. I remember it being disturbing, but more so now that
I'm older and understood the movie better. Had to play freecell on the side because I couldn't just straight-up watch it. They tried really hard to make the end a tearjerker. They succeeded, I haven't cried at a movie in a looooong time (if ever).
On a somewhat related note, the actor for Schindler = main actor of the new movie Taken. He get some good roles.
Sleep time.
I'm older and understood the movie better. Had to play freecell on the side because I couldn't just straight-up watch it. They tried really hard to make the end a tearjerker. They succeeded, I haven't cried at a movie in a looooong time (if ever).
On a somewhat related note, the actor for Schindler = main actor of the new movie Taken. He get some good roles.
Sleep time.
Kitty Kloset!
The same person of whom I'm babysitting her chillins was looking for someone to look after 5 kittens as the family went on a weekend vacation. So of course I had to take them in ^_^ I cleaned out my walk-in closet, put down newspaper, set up a litterbox (which they MOSTLY used), some food and water, and dumped the kittens in. They were (and still are) sooooo cute. There's 4 completely black longhairs 4 weeks old, and one black and white short hair 3 week old. But the best part of this: we had to bottle-feed them ^_^
Sure, it sounds cute. And it was. However, the bottles kept getting stopped up because of the canned food we mixed into them. You had to make sure the kittens were sucking and not chewing the bottles, and that they weren't on their backs. And if you don't have 2 people doing double-duty with a bottle in each hand, then goodness help your poor legs, because the ones that had to wait to feed would start crawling up your bare skin with their claws in attempt to get food.
The little rugrats soon learned how to crawl directly up the couch, and soon it was their favorite nap place. This was adorable considering they all bunch together in one big mass when sleeping, and whenever they needed to get off for something, they suicide-jumped the 3 ft to the floor with a nice big thud.
Meanwhile, Mom and I were on momma-cat watch because there was a VERY pregnant momma cat in the basement of the other house which we checked in on 2 or 3 times a day. Saturday night when we went, we were surprised with 4 new kittens! There was a beautiful calico, an orange one, a black one, and a black one with the most interesting white stripes ever. I'll post a picture, but he has a double cross on his back, and more very geometrical and symmetrical markings on its tail, face, etc. Unfortunately, one kitten didn't make it, but it looked like it had died a long ways ao, it wasn't very developed, more like a cat-shaped sack of parts.
Mom and I cleaned up the blood, put down fresh bedding, fed the very hungry momma, and alerted the family to its new additions. And took a few pictures, of course ^_^
The 5 that were in my closet:
the babies:
Sure, it sounds cute. And it was. However, the bottles kept getting stopped up because of the canned food we mixed into them. You had to make sure the kittens were sucking and not chewing the bottles, and that they weren't on their backs. And if you don't have 2 people doing double-duty with a bottle in each hand, then goodness help your poor legs, because the ones that had to wait to feed would start crawling up your bare skin with their claws in attempt to get food.
The little rugrats soon learned how to crawl directly up the couch, and soon it was their favorite nap place. This was adorable considering they all bunch together in one big mass when sleeping, and whenever they needed to get off for something, they suicide-jumped the 3 ft to the floor with a nice big thud.
Meanwhile, Mom and I were on momma-cat watch because there was a VERY pregnant momma cat in the basement of the other house which we checked in on 2 or 3 times a day. Saturday night when we went, we were surprised with 4 new kittens! There was a beautiful calico, an orange one, a black one, and a black one with the most interesting white stripes ever. I'll post a picture, but he has a double cross on his back, and more very geometrical and symmetrical markings on its tail, face, etc. Unfortunately, one kitten didn't make it, but it looked like it had died a long ways ao, it wasn't very developed, more like a cat-shaped sack of parts.
Mom and I cleaned up the blood, put down fresh bedding, fed the very hungry momma, and alerted the family to its new additions. And took a few pictures, of course ^_^
The 5 that were in my closet:
the babies:
Springtime, for Nicole, in Amerrrrica~ *sings*
Whew, long time since I posted last. To quote the old saying, "spring has sprung." Okay, by this point, all the leaves have filled into the trees and the spring flowers have already died. But now everything is so green!
I'm now volunteering at the elementary school across the street from me a few times a week in their enrichment clusters. What that means is 2 other teachers and I take about 22 1st-2nd graders outside to weed flowers, plant some, admire nature, etc. Pretty fun actually, even though I know more about the plants than at least one of the teachers there ^^; We found a few frogs our first day out, and the kids crowded around them, fascinated. So cute.
I've also started babysitting 2 adorable children, their mom is part of G.R.A.S.P. (see side link) and a friend of my mom's. Hands-down easiest babysitting job ever. Pretty exhausting though, I spent this past Saturday night chasing around giggling girls, and playing "doctor," and catch.
In order to split this up, I'll make a few other posts about the cats and Japan ^^ But for now, pictures of spring.
I'm now volunteering at the elementary school across the street from me a few times a week in their enrichment clusters. What that means is 2 other teachers and I take about 22 1st-2nd graders outside to weed flowers, plant some, admire nature, etc. Pretty fun actually, even though I know more about the plants than at least one of the teachers there ^^; We found a few frogs our first day out, and the kids crowded around them, fascinated. So cute.
I've also started babysitting 2 adorable children, their mom is part of G.R.A.S.P. (see side link) and a friend of my mom's. Hands-down easiest babysitting job ever. Pretty exhausting though, I spent this past Saturday night chasing around giggling girls, and playing "doctor," and catch.
In order to split this up, I'll make a few other posts about the cats and Japan ^^ But for now, pictures of spring.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Trips
So just got back from Boston...AMAZING trip ^_^ Thursday while visiting Alfred, Savannah and I decided at dinner that we should visit sean in boston. we left the next morning. lol. It was fun times, got to tour boston university, inner city (where a huge mall was, and the cheesecake factory was delicious!), the fine arts museum, and got a small taste of city living. it was only a 6 hour drive, plus the 1 hr train ride to seans place after parking at another part of the city.
When we got bored, there was the 37 inch monitor to play with, and much nerd talk that had to be talked. We only went to see the monitor. Which got me addicted to the tv series "The Big Bang." *watching 2nd season right now* ^^;
In other news, the trip to Japan is official! Everything's worked out, and now i just have to sign a few things, and sit on my hands for another month till i get to go. Got to meet Nick in japanese class last thursday, which was nice, good to know who im going to be spending at least 10 months with lol. Also great to see other people like Jason, Liz, etc.
Now the house is in super-clean mode, since Oma and Opa are coming up for easter this friday. Meanwhile, Mom has a nasty cold/flu/bug thing, Eric's still in school, and Dad's at work in pennsylvania.
New flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/jenccb
Also found this awesome site, it's for a podcast, but has the most random funny bits in the summaries: http://planetjapan.org/
nite all!
When we got bored, there was the 37 inch monitor to play with, and much nerd talk that had to be talked. We only went to see the monitor. Which got me addicted to the tv series "The Big Bang." *watching 2nd season right now* ^^;
In other news, the trip to Japan is official! Everything's worked out, and now i just have to sign a few things, and sit on my hands for another month till i get to go. Got to meet Nick in japanese class last thursday, which was nice, good to know who im going to be spending at least 10 months with lol. Also great to see other people like Jason, Liz, etc.
Now the house is in super-clean mode, since Oma and Opa are coming up for easter this friday. Meanwhile, Mom has a nasty cold/flu/bug thing, Eric's still in school, and Dad's at work in pennsylvania.
New flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/jenccb
Also found this awesome site, it's for a podcast, but has the most random funny bits in the summaries: http://planetjapan.org/
nite all!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Not getting rid of the cat that easily...
So today the lady who's interested in Blossom (our foster cat) was supposed to come today. So I spent a few hours making the kitchen/family room spotless, then made some blueberry muffins since I figured mom wouldn't have time to make dinner. Tasty muffins. Starting to really like baking.
The lady came, while blossom was on my lap, and saw how adorable she is. But the lady and her friend were so loooud and quirky (but in a good way)...Blossom wasn't too happy about the loud stranger. So she drew blood. Alot of it. The lady might not be so interested in her anymore....^^;;; Ah well. Off to catch up in watching bleach (watching, not reading). Why isn't Kenpachi here yet??!! -.-
The lady came, while blossom was on my lap, and saw how adorable she is. But the lady and her friend were so loooud and quirky (but in a good way)...Blossom wasn't too happy about the loud stranger. So she drew blood. Alot of it. The lady might not be so interested in her anymore....^^;;; Ah well. Off to catch up in watching bleach (watching, not reading). Why isn't Kenpachi here yet??!! -.-
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Disturbed, school, volunteering
Long time no blog.
Last weekend I went to see Disturbed in concert with Trevor, Jason, Nate, and mt up with JJ, Johnny and friends there. It was AMAZING. The first act was alright, screamer band-like, good warm-up. The second band, Skindred, was great, a really nice surprise. A band from Britan, they combine Jamaican-style vocals with Metal yelling etc, and great instrumentals. I bought a CD of them from FYE the next day, my first CD since Josh Groban :P
Jason and Nate came over for Saturday and Sunday. which was pretty cool. Always nice to hang out with friends from Alfred, esp. when one is my BF ^_^ We hung out at the mall Sunday (I picked up that CD and Kingdom Hearts, Jason got a stack of games) and watched much Beverly Hillbillies :P
So today I went to the Spencerport schools. I'm trying to see if I can shadow the ESL teacher, to pick up some teaching skills amd such before May. Went back this evening for orientation, filling out forms and learning that hitting the little buggers was bad, and I can't drink or smoke on any campus. There goes all my fun. Turns out they also need volunteers for watching elementary school kids in the pool to make sure they don't drown during the 4th and 6th grade "Lets teach these kids how to swim." sounds like fun, hope I can get some swimming in too ^_^
So I've started walking during the day. Okay, so it's not jogging or whatever, but I don't feel comfortable jogging in front of complete strangers passing by in their cars. Trying to get out half an hour-an hour a day, if nothing else for the meditative aspect of it. Also trying to play tennis with adam, which has been proving difficult lately cause of the snow. Tennis courts when wet are slippery as soap!
So here I am, watching Dog the Bounty Hunter (and Densha Otoko) and telling myself to get off my butt and do something. Ha. I like chocolate. And cheese. Cheese is good.
Last weekend I went to see Disturbed in concert with Trevor, Jason, Nate, and mt up with JJ, Johnny and friends there. It was AMAZING. The first act was alright, screamer band-like, good warm-up. The second band, Skindred, was great, a really nice surprise. A band from Britan, they combine Jamaican-style vocals with Metal yelling etc, and great instrumentals. I bought a CD of them from FYE the next day, my first CD since Josh Groban :P
Jason and Nate came over for Saturday and Sunday. which was pretty cool. Always nice to hang out with friends from Alfred, esp. when one is my BF ^_^ We hung out at the mall Sunday (I picked up that CD and Kingdom Hearts, Jason got a stack of games) and watched much Beverly Hillbillies :P
So today I went to the Spencerport schools. I'm trying to see if I can shadow the ESL teacher, to pick up some teaching skills amd such before May. Went back this evening for orientation, filling out forms and learning that hitting the little buggers was bad, and I can't drink or smoke on any campus. There goes all my fun. Turns out they also need volunteers for watching elementary school kids in the pool to make sure they don't drown during the 4th and 6th grade "Lets teach these kids how to swim." sounds like fun, hope I can get some swimming in too ^_^
So I've started walking during the day. Okay, so it's not jogging or whatever, but I don't feel comfortable jogging in front of complete strangers passing by in their cars. Trying to get out half an hour-an hour a day, if nothing else for the meditative aspect of it. Also trying to play tennis with adam, which has been proving difficult lately cause of the snow. Tennis courts when wet are slippery as soap!
So here I am, watching Dog the Bounty Hunter (and Densha Otoko) and telling myself to get off my butt and do something. Ha. I like chocolate. And cheese. Cheese is good.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Cats, cookies, and superbowl
Okay, so I actually watched the superbowl this year. *gasp* I didn't even know who was playing until yesterday. Came down this morning (afternoon) to my mom wearing a Bills jersey. So of course I donned a soccer jersey from a Mexican Guadalajara team...not even football, but its sports, and it actually got me in the sportsy mood ^_^ So dad, mom, adam and I ate nachos, made cookies, had pillowfights, and paused all activity whenever commercials came on, of course!
The best commercial was the ABC one about people LMAO-ing...people actually laughing their asses off at ABC's shows. The best play of the game IMHO was in the first half when the Steelers guytook the ball and ran right down that field for a touchdown. Now, I know close to nothing about football, but even I know that he wasn't built for running, that linebacker (big tough guys)..they had to give him oxygen after the heroic effort lol.
Mom makin some cookies
Us being tired and giddy and posing for a picture, go sports!
Adam tortured mom with a giant flower throughout part of the first half of the game.
So yesterday I went to my aunt Katie and uncle Scott's place. After a nice spaghetti dinner, they caught some sleep (i ddin't) and I drove them to the airport at 4:15am in the morning today. Got home at about 5:30 and crashed till 2. Lucky ducks are going on a Disney cruise and then spending a week at Disneyland. But that's okay, because I get to house-sit their 4 awesome cats, with a huge high-def tv and surround-sound, fast wireless internet, and a grandfather right next door to go skiing with. Touchdown!!!I'll probably go down in a few days to play with the cats.
X Japan is really an awesome band. Now that they're back together, I reeeeally hope I get the chance to see them in concert (minus Hide, may he rest in peace). Meanwhile though, the ticket's all printed out for Disturbed on the 21st. Apparently my family's going to be out of town that weekend. Second touchdown! And that's game. Now for the post-game show, Bucket List :P
The best commercial was the ABC one about people LMAO-ing...people actually laughing their asses off at ABC's shows. The best play of the game IMHO was in the first half when the Steelers guytook the ball and ran right down that field for a touchdown. Now, I know close to nothing about football, but even I know that he wasn't built for running, that linebacker (big tough guys)..they had to give him oxygen after the heroic effort lol.
Mom makin some cookies
Us being tired and giddy and posing for a picture, go sports!
Adam tortured mom with a giant flower throughout part of the first half of the game.
So yesterday I went to my aunt Katie and uncle Scott's place. After a nice spaghetti dinner, they caught some sleep (i ddin't) and I drove them to the airport at 4:15am in the morning today. Got home at about 5:30 and crashed till 2. Lucky ducks are going on a Disney cruise and then spending a week at Disneyland. But that's okay, because I get to house-sit their 4 awesome cats, with a huge high-def tv and surround-sound, fast wireless internet, and a grandfather right next door to go skiing with. Touchdown!!!I'll probably go down in a few days to play with the cats.
X Japan is really an awesome band. Now that they're back together, I reeeeally hope I get the chance to see them in concert (minus Hide, may he rest in peace). Meanwhile though, the ticket's all printed out for Disturbed on the 21st. Apparently my family's going to be out of town that weekend. Second touchdown! And that's game. Now for the post-game show, Bucket List :P
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Gidget and Tasha, our adorable kitties. Blossom and Hiccup are our G.R.A.S.P. foster kitties. If you are in the Rochester area and would like to adopt a cat or dog, look up Greece Residents Assisting Stray Pets. They are awesome people ^_^ The two right here are not for sale though. Mine. Hehe...
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