Gaijin!

Gee gee gee gee

2011-09-11T23:21:00.002+09:00

Baby Baby (Recap from last blog.)

I looked at my stats on the blog and realized that I was averaging 1 blog post per month this year...if that. So I want to remedy that, but all I have is snippets, so make do.

A few weeks ago, I was skyping my grandparents. I told them their camera wasn't working; it was a big ordeal to figure out where the little camera button was that they had to press. Finally, they got it--and there sat my shirtless and unshaven grandpa, with my grandma standing next to him in her underpants. Sometimes I wonder if technology is really the blessing we think it is.

An interesting part of Japanese life is the comments/compliments I get from Japanese people. Being a foreigner, I am aware that my level of attractiveness goes up about two points (I heard this is a similar experience for women in the army--a point made by my ROTC friend). A result from this is that anytime I alter my appearance--even minimally--I can expect feedback. This happened the other day when I wore my hair in not one, but TWO buns (extravagant!!!). In every single class, someone made a comment on this (except for my kids classes--but the moms made comments when they came to pick up their kids, so technically, still applicable)--and fortunately, it was all positive, or at least neutral (one of my students in her 40s told me I looked younger--seeing as I am only 24, how old do I look like normally?). At the end of the day, a (male) coworker told me, "Hey Jillian--just in case anyone said something, I think your hair looks good." I had been collecting the trash, but I stopped what I was doing to sputter, "Wait, what? Did...someone say something?" It turned out that he meant to say that in case no one said anything, he thought I should know it looked good--he just has a way of giving left-handed compliments. Yesterday, I wore what I thought was a classy, all black belted outfit with my hair down (a first in a long time since the summer began), and I got told that I looked "slick" and "wild". I'm fairly sure both were meant to be taken as compliments, but I often wonder what students are really trying to get at when they say these things.

Earthquake Break

2011-09-06T23:18:00.005+09:00

It's been about 6 months now; I feel like I need to move onto another topic. So 3/11 will have to take a backseat for now.

My dad, stepmom, and little sister came to visit in August during my week off. Having people come out here is such a surreal experience, because despite having been to Japan 3 times and living here for over a year, there's this weird feeling that comes from seeing people from a different place where you've never seen them before. Like having your teacher over for dinner (which was another experience that I had, but in reverse, since I was the teacher). All in all; I think Japan was too humid and requires too much walking for the typical visitor, but it was still great to have them come. I got to have a few sleepovers with my sister, and I was deeply unnerved by how few snacks she wanted to eat. Kids these days.

I said "Sayonara" to the folks on Wednesday night, and early Wednesday afternoon I saddled myself up and left for the west--which, ironically, was not to America, but to Korea. I was going to meet Hera "Potter" Yoon, who was finishing off her 6-or-so week long traverse of Asia. On my (thunderstorm delayed) plane ride, I had visions of Korean BBQ and cosmetics dancing through my head (when I asked my students what they recommended in Korea, that was the answer I received: food and cosmetics--and apparently only women visit Korea from Japan).

After grabbing my luggage and exchanging my yen, my first thought was, "Korea is awesome!" I had originally tried to exchange my money in Japan, but when I asked the advisor hanging around the exchange booth about the rate for Korean won, he leaned over and whispered, "Excuse me, miss, but actually; I've heard the rates are better in Korea." I took his advice, and didn't regret it--coming ahead about $70. And everything in Korea is so cheap! Taking the 45 minute or so bus ride into Seoul was only around $1o (train being about $3--but at that point, I wanted to take the least stressful option possible).

Seoul seemed to better fit my original image of what Tokyo was like--busy, bright lights, constant activity. And while Tokyo is like that; absolutely, Seoul felt a bit more vibrant; more approachable. It was like a dirtier, louder, and friendlier version of Tokyo.

The next morning, I was finally reunited with one H. Yoon, who immediately took me to the cosmetic section of Seoul, where we spent the rest of the day. The streets were overflowing with cosmetic stores, and I mean that quite realistically--salesgirls stood outside every entrance, a pile of baskets with samples inside for anyone who came into browse (usually the sample was a free face mask, which I admit I have grown quite fond of). But after living in Japan, where docile salesgirls stand smiling at a comfortable distance, I was definitely feeling my personal space continuously invaded as cosmetic girls hovered within arm's reach, waiting to assist or drag us to the register. No sooner would I pick up a tube before the girl would comment, "That's lipstick." Thanks for the translation.

Hera thought it would be a nice trick to tell one of the multi-lingual salesgirls that I only spoke Japanese girls. Not only did the girl play along with the trick, but she continued with the ruse the entire time we were there. She tried to get me to buy a serum that looked like an injection needle, I believe called B-tox (guess what that's supposed to simulate). At around $50, it was a bit expensive for my taste, and I told her as much. In Japanese, she agreed, but told me it was cheaper than real botox and would help with the lines around my eyes. At the elderly age of 24, I decided that I didn't need any form injections, be it Botox or Faux-tox.

Soon, however, the bad weather I had tried to shake off in Tokyo caught up, and we rushed into Forever 21 to avoid the rain. When we left, I was handed a brochure advertising 1 hour massages for $20. As I have never had a professional massage, I decided to jump at the offer, and Hera acquiesced to join, having just come from a trip full of $3 massages. After arriving at the place and trying to enter the unmarked, though clearly under construction elevator, we debated the ghetto-ness factor of the place as we trudged up the 5 flights of stairs. When we arrived and they gave us outfits for during the massage that looked like junior high gym clothes, I decided that the place was definitely tinged with ghetto. After entering the massage room and seeing about 4 of the 8 tables that were already occupied, my mind was completely decided: ghetto massage central. But we already paid, and I figured a massage was a massage. Which I was clearly wrong about, because what I experienced was about 3/4ths forced yoga (try and say 3/4ths forced four times fast) and about 1/4th elbow massage. In the end, good enough.

After shopping around all day; we finally settled into a dinner of Yum Yum Chicken (not sure what the actual name is, but it sounds like that, basically). Seeing as they have to kill about 10 chickens for the meal, I felt sufficiently stuffed at the end of the meal. When we walked outside, it was pouring rain--so when stuffed full of chicken with the threat of immediate soaking, there is only one option, really: Korean Karaoke. After shopping around for prices, we settled on the place that gave us the cheapest (though universal price)--the only place that offered us the low price from the get-go (we rewarded honesty). We did, however, discover Japanese karaoke is about the same price, but usually some kind of refreshment is included--so in my mind, Japan wins the karaoke contest. But still--one of the highlights of the trip for me was a heartfelt rendition of Spice Girl's "2 Become 1". And a warning: unless you never want to take yourself seriously again, don't watch that music video.

During the trip, I felt a bit bad because I kept feeling sickly--mentally, I wanted to eat all the goodies Korea had to offer, but physically, my stomach kept saying, "Meh. You don't really need food." Then I would get a headache, or I would have cramps, or something ridiculous. But being able to reconnect with a friend whose presence was (is) very much missed was a great salve to the soul for me (if not necessarily for the body, apparently)(not that I expected Hera to be a salve for the body...awkward).

With that awkward moment, and not getting past the first day of my trip, I'll wrap it up. But I'll leave on a nice Korean note, in the chord of "Gee."

四番 Yonban

2011-07-01T23:10:00.006+09:00

Did you know that there is a guy who just goes around filming Tegan and Sara concerts all around the world? He doesn't get paid or anything; he just does it because he loves them so much. And fortunately, I get to live vicariously through him on these bloody hot nights when I'm trying to refrain from using the air conditioner to conserve energy, because apparently Tokyo is just gonna blackout one day if I don't. So I decided that I might as well talk about the last part of EW and just get-er done.

Wednesday woke us with aftershocks, and I'm sure cracks such as "Aw, Hera, was that you?" were made (as of course we were sharing a futon at that point; isn't that cutie-cute?--but the point being, someone plausibly could have ripped one and disguised it as an earthquake). While still in a half-slumber, Hera received a phone call, and the tone of her voice freaked me out--but since some of it was in Korean, I didn't have a solid grip on what was being said, though I did know enough Korean to understand she was saying, "Mom!" in a bit of an anxious tone. My thoughts immediately went to the power plant situation, and my heart started racing as I wondered what it could be. She paused and turned to me and said, "My mom bought me a ticket to Korea." Recap: apparently Hera's mom had truly taken it to heart when she said she'd go if her mom bought the ticket; telling her, "Okay, I bought you the ticket; you're leaving this afternoon." I began to panic as I realized I would be alone.

While she began packing, I skyped my mom. Her radiation indifferent demeanor had fa

ded; when I told her Hera was leaving for Korea, she in turn told me she thought I needed to leave Tokyo. I told her I would look into places to go, after I got back to my own apartment. I decided it would be better to leave sooner rather than later; Hera told me she would come back when the situation blew over, whenever that would be. So as I left her place, I wondered when the next time I would see her would be. That was probably one of the scariest moments of the time; realizing that the situation was serious enough that people I knew where leaving.

Had it been any other spring day, the beautiful sunshine would have felt like a wonderful reprieve from the previous cold days of winter; but with the situation at hand, it just felt threatening. There was also an intensely forceful gust that would have been a threat to the Santa Ana winds; I struggled with keeping my rolling suitcase straight on the ground. The wind itself seemed terrifying; I wondered if it was carrying with it radioactive particles. When I got to my transfer station, I discovered that my next train line was shut down, so again I trudged towards my place with my suitcase in tow. On the way, I got a text from Beth, a friend who had been in training with Hera--she told me they were planning to leave Tokyo, and that I join them.

At my apartment, I decided to call my mom as soon as possible just to get an idea of where she recommended we go. However, her advice was limited--she told me that my uncle, who has had experience with nuclear weapons in the army, had strongly recommended that I leave the area. She reiterated the idea that the Japanese government might not be revealing everything about the situation; she told me that I had to leave, and that I had to leave soon. She added that I should take my computer and passport with me. After that, I packed in a heightened state of fear--I threw some stuff in my backpack, and tore up my apartment in an attempt to find my passport. After a mini breakdown, I finally found it, and I took off.

This time, as I hurried down the street, there was a greater urgency in my pace. The train itself was going about 1/3 the speed of normal--what should have been a 20 minute train ride took at least twice the time, which might have irritated me in normal conditions, but now sent m

y mind in an anxious flurry, as I literally felt as if I was racing against time to get out of town. I remember looking around my fellow train companions, wondering who was in the same state as me behind the stoic faces.

I finally arrived at Jamie's house to discover that Russell hadn't arrived yet, and so we waited to hear about his ETA with current train situation. Jamie apparently thought it would be a good idea to take the biggest suitcase on earth on our little evac-getaway, and he labored over whether to bring bathing suits and cans of tuna. He decided on both, and I told him I might have to borrow a shirt, as I realized I had only packed one pair of pants and some pajamas. That's when I discovered that the majority of his clothing happens to be plaid. Finally, after a tortuous waiting period, we decided that it would just be better to meet Russell at Tokyo station, and then all hop on a Shinkansen together to wherever seemed to be the cheapest and most affordable.

After arriving at the station and meeting with Russell, we decided that location would

be Kyoto. Mainly, this was due to the fact that not all of us had been there, and I knew a family friend lived nearby who might be willing to let us stay (though after a few very confusing phone calls to the woman, I realized I might have made a poor decision). Nevertheless, on the train ride there, Jamie found us a hotel room for the night for a reasonable price next to the station, and I felt a bit of tension slip away--really, just being on the train itself made me breathe easier, and I began to look forward to visiting the ancient city.

When we arrived in Kyoto, it almost felt like arriving in a foreign country. The city was much colder than Tokyo; in fact, as we began our walk to the hotel, it began to snow. It was a peaceful envelopment; and while I still felt uncertain of our current situation, it felt good to be away from the drama and on (quite literally) sturdy ground. The evening felt relaxing and almost carefree; considering none of us knew when we would return to our places or work.

That night, as we all settled in our hotel room, we began talking to family. That evening, we each contacted families in four different countries, and we all got the same reply--get out of Japan. I had been one of the last to talk to my family members, and therefore I didn't speak with my mom until just after 1, right before I was about to fall asleep. While I tried to reassure that I was entirely removed from the situation at the power plants, her information from my uncle was chilling: "They (the US army) think this is bigger than Japan. They think it's going to take 100 years to clean up. You really need to leave the country." The rest of the details of the conversation are a bit foggy to me. I remember hanging up the phone, then starting to shake. Beth asked what my mom had said; I kept trying to say something, but the words wouldn't really come out right. I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in anxiety, uncertain about what I should do, and where I would be tomorrow.

P.S. This is not the end of the saga, as I had originally predicted. Good grief, I will be writing about this forever.

3.5

2011-06-09T00:01:00.000+09:00

(Sub-Title: Worst Day of Work Ever)

The atmosphere in the school felt heavy and uncertain. The topic of the radiation came up, and when I reiterated what I had read in the news, Yoda said, "Naw, we are going to die a slow and painful death." Though Yoda is known for having a flair for the pessimistic dramatic, I head Mimi echo from next to him, "Slow and painful death." Not as reassuring. Gaijin Guy had come in, but had left to stockpile supplies, and I began to wonder if I should have done the same instead of traipsing around Tokyo having photo picnics. Soon, it was announced that lessons would be cancelled for the rest of the week, so we spent the first part of the morning calling students to cancel class. The rest of the time was spent on the internet tracking the power plant situation. Things like, "There's been another explosion at the plant" and "Radiation levels in Saitama are 40 times the normal amount" were tossed around every few minutes (though I would often reply, "40 times compared to what?" All the scientific jargon just seemed like arbitrary measurements).

By lunch time, I felt anxious and jittery; I had looked up foods high in iodide to counteract the abnormal doses of radiation and went on a shopping spree (or as much of one as I could when faced with increasing emptying shelves)(and in case you are wondering, here are some examples of what I bought: seaweed, wakame, cheesecake, and cheese--definitely not bananas). The longer I stayed there reading the news and talking to my coworkers, the more anxious I felt. We received word from Head Office that foreign teachers didn't have to come in for the rest of the week, but Japanese staff would have to work until Thursday. I remember seeing Mimi's face at the announcement; she looked so anxious that she would have to stick around in a radiation laden environment. Finally, we gathered around for the last time of the day, and our manager told us to try and stay indoors as much as possible, and if we left the city, to let her know first. With that, I threw on my rain jacket, mask, and gloves to keep out as much radiation as possible. As soon as I got home, I took a quick shower, because I heard removing radiation from your skin is as simple as washing with water and soap.

However, Hera called and invited me over, so I packed up and headed over. As soon as I reached her place, I could regain a lot of my composure and laugh about the day with her. Being in an environment that feeds fear really does have a strong impact on your thought process; how you take in the current situation and make decisions. I once again went to sleep rocked by aftershocks, with the knowledge that the power plant was still far away.

三番　Sanban

2011-05-31T23:05:00.008+09:00

Well, I guess it's time to tell the next part of the story.

The night of the earthquake, the ground was in constant motion, but I somehow managed to sleep quite thoroughly (perhaps the knowledge that friends and colleagues were stuck at offices and schools around Tokyo helped me to be appreciative of my own futon). I chatted online with Hera(one of the many stuck at work) and made plans to meet in the morning if/when the trains started running. We decided it was better not to be alone; because although the earthquake had been a bit scary, we were still kind of excited to have a Saturday off.

The trains started up, slowly and uncertainly; riding the train the next morning was a little spooky. Japanese trains are normally pretty quiet, but the air was clearly different now. Therewas a moment when a man's bag dropped from his lap, and all eyes sharply turned at the sudden movement. We hadn't even realized we were all on edge. I got to Hera's, where it was promptly decided that we would actually spend the night at Jamie's.

Once everyone was together, however, the mood was light, and we actually began to have a pretty good time drinking wine and eating take out from Pizza Hut. Jamie invited his Belgium friend over, and we stayed up until the wee hours drinking wine and watching L'Auberge Espagnole.

The next day was actually wonderful weather; only a few weeks earlier it had been snowing, but it had begun to look like spring. That being the case, we decided to make our way over to Yoyogi Park; taking the scenic route by walking from Shinjuku to Harajuku. Surprisingly (or maybe not? I'm not really sure what usually happens in these kinds of situations), the park was full of peopl

e in high spirits. So we joined them; climbing trees, hula-hooping, and the like.

Our merry-making prompted other foreigners to head our way, one woman bringing a batch of hula-hoops along with sexy instructions on how to use them (and she was very willing to give Jamie some helpful hints). We started a chat with some other people who wandered over. Two gaijin told us that they were planning on leaving Japan that week. They told us that they didn't believe the Japanese were being completely forthright in the situation at the power plant. That was the first moment that I felt the uncomfortable feeling of fear dropping in my stomach. Of course I had heard some information about what was happening at the power plant; but honestly, it hadn't seemed like that big of a deal. Still, I brushed it off and decided to have a fun day. That night, Hera came over, because I told her that I had cleaned my apartment after the earthquake in the possibility that my coworkers had to spend the night. She said that sight of my clean apartment was an occasion to come over, but when she got there, her reply was, "You were going to let your coworkers stay here like this??"

The next morning, I began looking at more information, but by all logical accounts, the situation was far removed from me. I remember thinking how far Fukushima seemed at 250 kilometers; one of my friends from training worked there, and he had only come down to Tokyo once since going up there. When I talked with my mom that morning, the power plant situation came up; however, even though I began with the reassurances of distance, she didn't seem to be worried. That in turn made me feel relieved as well, and I even felt a little proud of my mom--Hera's mom was beyond worried and had asked Hera to come home--to which Hera replied, "Sure, if you want to buy the ticket."

After that, Hera and I decided to get try and get kaitensushi that afternoon (try being the key word, as so many places were still closed).Because of the unreliability of the trains, we decided to walk to a nearby train station instead of transferring trains. But when we got there, the other line was closed off completely--I didn't even know they could close up the station in the way they did.

So we decided to try walking to the sushi place--though I should mention that we were dressed

a little fancy due to my desire to have a bit of a photo safari to add excitement to the day. We definitely got a few stares; one very, very old truck driver saw us me lift the hem of my dress to take pictures, and motioned his encouragement for me to go farther with my lifting. Finally, we made it to our destination--and it was open!! The lights were half off, and the sushi selection was limited, but everything we wanted was available, so we clapped our hands in glee and ate!

After our meal, we took the bus back to Shiki. On the bus, I got a call from manager asking, "Can you come into work tomorrow?" I assured her I would be there; Hera had likewise received a call from her manager; however, her manager had informed her that wh

ile we had to come in, lessons were cancelled for the day.

We had been trying to decide where we would spend the afternoon when we arrived back in Shiki, knowing that where ever we ended up would be where we spent the night. With the possibility of a group larger than 3 people, we decided the best place would be to go back to Jamie's, so we headed to Akabane.

We met our friend Beth at the station, and we headed to Seiyu

(Japan's Wal-Mart) for supplies. However, the sight of the store was fairly shocking--while it was crowded with people, it definitely was not crowded with food. Empty shelves wrapped around the store, barren except for a strange green tea. After we left the store, I had some bad luck--my camera fell out of my backpack, and my lens broke. I felt like a gloomy mood had begun to settle.

The next day, I left Jamie's early to ensure that if train schedules were wonky, I could still make it in time. I didn't need to worry, though--even though the platform across from me had a line way beyond the staircase leading up to it (for those going in the direction of Tokyo), mine was clear and a train came fast. I had just enough time to change into some clothes and head in, barely having time to read the news that radiation had made its way to Tokyo and Saitama, though at levels that were said not to be harmful to humans.

二番 Niban

2011-03-30T22:22:00.006+09:00

Fictional Names of real people:

Mimi: Head Teacher

Yoda: Kids' Head Teacher

Gaijin Guy: Other foreign teacher (and that makes me Gaijin Girl, technically)

Meowmy: Assistant Manager (this comes from an inside joke about a completely different person with the same name)

Lady Student: Self-Explanatory

Mainly, these names are similar to the originals because I'm crap at keeping things straight.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I wasn't entirely enthused about the week of work ahead of me--after arriving at 5 a.m. in Tokyo, I would start work at 12--followed by a 6 day work week (as I was scheduled for Sunday Open; every so often, one teacher will have extra classes on a Sunday). Still, I felt like I had planned well--I slept fairly well on the plane, then went home for a brief nap, and I was pretty successful. I actually managed to have an international plane excursion without getting jet-lagged.

Still, I was relieved when Friday rolled around with a light load. I usually have 7 classes on Thursday, followed by an easy Friday, though lately I've had classes piling on. I was originally supposed to have 6 classes, but my private lesson at 2 cancelled, which meant that I had an office hour followed by a lunch hour. As it turned out, all of us teachers had a prep class that hour, and we only had one student doing a brief counseling with our assistant manager.

I was alone in the office when I felt the shaking, though it wasn't major at first. I even stepped into the counter area of our lobby (or rather, the door frame of it--I know my earthquake safety tips) and asked, "Is this an earthquake?" Gaijin Guy semi-shouted, "Yes, it is!" at which point the shaking seemed to amplify, and my impression was that it was as if someone had actually turned up the volume dial--and suddenly, Yoda took off outside; immediately, Gaijin Guy vaults over the counter (which is at least 4 1/2 feet tall), and the rest of us followed down the 3 flights of stairs. Outside, many more people were poring onto the street, and we moved further down near a parking lot. I looked up and realized some kind of water tower next to an apartment was gushing water. The ground was still shaking, and I remember thinking, "What is this?" Actually, with my paranoid mind, I began to sensationalize that this had to be more than an earthquake, and I was certain there was going to be some kind of alien attack or something (I have a very active imagination! It can be a good thing sometimes!).

Finally, the ground seemed to hold still, and we meandered around for a few minutes before heading back inside. Only a few minutes later, however, the ground began heaving about again, and we once more resumed the flight down the stairs. We did this up-and-down the stairs dance a few times before we finally realized that the ground was probably going to have the wiggles for awhile, and we decided to just ride it out by staying put in the school. Mimi read a news bulletin about a tsunami warning, and I started to freak out--the way she phrased it made it sound like it could hit us, and there was nothing we could do about it. Once she clarified about the location, I calmed down a bit.

About 15 minutes or so after the earthquake, Yoda and Gaijin Guy (GG from this point out; not to be confused with Gossip Girl) went out to lunch, and I decided to try and get a spare key made during my lunch break.

As I walked outside, I began to realize some of the more unpredictable effects of the earthquake. For example, the Pachinko parlour near the station had emptied out, and the pavilion outside was crowded with people who looked like they don't usually come out in the light of day (for those of you who don't know: Pachinko is this weird gambling type game that is insanely popular with the gambling addicted of people in Japan). Besides that crowd, there was actually a large amount of people milling around the station in general, and I realized that the trains had stopped running; as the ground was still shaking every so often, I decided to skip the key making and just panic-bought candy instead. This was a good call, because candy is always a good call.

Back at the office, I relayed the news of the stopped trains, and on the inside, I was gleefully realizing that classes would probably be cancelled for the day, since students wouldn't be able to get there. Not long after this thought, we got the official call that classes were cancelled--though that didn't stop a lot of students from trying. The mother of my student from my next class of the day rushed in to apologize for her daughter's absence, as she was stuck at her school--an interesting gesture that struck me as completely Japanese. We waited around for a few hours before I got restless and said I was going home. I let my coworkers know they were welcome to come to my place if the trains weren't running; my main reason for leaving before everyone else was that I wanted to clean my apartment, because I thought that having guests would be a real possibility. However, after a little debate between Mimi and Yoda (of which I was updated on via Facebook), they decided to walk home--a journey that took Mimi at least 3 hours. After I began hearing others' experiences, I realized that this was quite a common thread--I had one student in her 70s who walked 15 km home after the earthquake. Another common situation was sleeping at the office--the majority of my salarymen students did this, as well as Hera and her coworkers.

That night, a friend convinced me to go buy supplies, and as I walked around my city, I couldn't help but look at the people around me and think, "We all have this in common. We all have the same thing on our minds right now." It was a strange experience; the last time I remembered feeling that way was on September 11th--you think, "Things are different now," but you can't really predict how.

But I did predict that I would have the day off on Saturday, and I figured that meant one thing: sleepover!

2011-03-30T22:22:00.001+09:00

Well, oy.

2011-03-29T23:38:00.005+09:00

I guess it's been a bit two months now since I updated. Mainly it was because I was lazy, and things were crazy busy. But then things actually just went crazy. So if this is to be done, it should be done in parts.

1. Ichiban 一番

On March 3rd, I was finishing my day with a student, and I asked him what he was doing after class. He said he would just go home, and I told him I was going to America. He wasn't high level enough to get it right away, but he wasn't low-level enough to miss it completely, which made for an excellent double take. So after his lesson, I hopped in my hot pants and jumped on the monorail with Hera to Haneda Airport.

Honestly, it didn't quite feel like reality; I had a hard time getting it into my head that we were actually going to America, even though

the week leading up to it was the most excited I had felt since...some time past. And the plane ride itself was amazing--anyone who has ever been on a plane with me knows that I will scare the crap out of not just myself, but a

nyone within earshot of my terrified gasps--because I had not one but SEvEN seats to myself. That's right; I had two aisles to my lonesome.

When we got to the Americas, Hera and I jumped in the airport bus and basically started giggling--yes, like usual, we were in a vehicle full of Asians, but this time we were in

our territory, and we could act anyway we wanted. On the bus, I even asked Hera, "Do you think we are the only white people on the bus?" Hera looked at me and said, "Well, you might

be."

In many ways, it felt like I hadn't really left, until obvious things peeked in: the complete reconstruction of the shop

s by my house, the reconstruction in my own house, not having my room anymore, KNOW life goes on no matter what, but somehow you think you know (or at least expect) how things will play out--and even though I knew about these things, it's still a strange sensation.

The wedding itself was a completely lovely occasion, and I'm so so glad I had the opportunity to see Kelsey and Andy together in person. I know they'll probably already have a baby or a dog or at least ridiculous pet names for each other when I get back, so at least I could see them when it was just them starting off.

There really is so much I could say about that weekend. And yet I can't, so you'll have to settle for that. So with much ado,

we returned to Japan.

At 6 or so in the morning, Hera and I got back on the monorail. It was a really lovely morning in Tokyo, but I wasn't completely thrilled about the prospects of returning to work in 6 hours. I mentioned to Hera about how my coworker was always saying things like, "Oh, there's going to by a typhoon, and it will flood the trains and they'll have to cancel school" or "It's supposed to snow, and since they don't really know how to deal with snow in Tokyo, it will stop the trains and they'll have to cancel school." So I remarked to Hera that he was making all these false-promises, and I was still waiting for something to happen that would stop the trains and cancel school.

Then came Friday.

I'm sorry I can't afford a Ferrari

2011-01-15T23:57:00.008+09:00

But that don't mean that I can't get you there (heheheh...Glee. And/or Cee-Lo).

Today I decided I would either update my blog or clean my disgustingly messy apartment, and if you are reading this now, you clearly know the choice I made--so for the two of you who read my blog and made my Facebook wall look like this----->

---this one's for you.

Today is (I actually typed "was" to begin with, and that left me feeling quite philosophical for a moment) Saturday, the end of the week, which usually brings some interesting occurrence. One such event occurred in my second class, which is an upper-intermediate class with only one middle-aged gentleman. The last portion of class consists of a "freer" conversation period, where the students practice using the structure in a natural (?) style conversation. Today, we were using present perfect to describe a problem that lead to another problem. Since we are supposed to be having a natural sounding conversation, I find that it's better to ease into the structure without just straight out saying it, so I demonstrated by going, "Oh no!" so that he could follow with "What's the matter?" Then, when it was his turn, he began with, "G0dd@mmit!" I have to admit, that was a first in my classroom.

Gosh...I don't really know why I went with the post idea. I have nothing to say, really. Ummm...I had a Pepsi Strong Shot yesterday. There's even a warning on the label, probably saying not to drink it or something. The Japanese part that I can read says that it has MEGA CAFFEINE. However, I don't really feel the effects of caffeine, so warning ignored. It didn't taste as delicious as normal Pepsi...or even PepsiNex. Here's a picture. Also, after being unlazy and actually reading the can, I see now that it reads Cola x Caffeine. Also, what happened to "I before E except after C and in cases of 'eigh' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh'"? So from now on, I will now be pronouncing it "caff-ay-n." No joke, sometimes English a really obnoxious little pissant, isn't it? Sometimes I want to knock it around a little and teach it a lesson. Instead, I knock it around a little when I teach it in lessons.

Oy...

2010-12-07T23:56:00.004+09:00

I realized that the majority of the pictures I post on here are of me holding up food to my mouth. But I find this strangely accurate of my character. So here's a few more for fun.

Santa Cookie from Mem!

My fave KitKat--Lemon flavored! Wish it

didn't come with blagh cola flavor.

There's no place like Japan for the LOLidays.

2010-12-02T00:04:00.004+09:00

Memily made me Christmas cookies, then mailed them to Japan!! I was soooer excited when I discovered them. I've eaten about 3 so far, and each one has been utterly fantastic. I don't think I realized it before, but one of my favorite foods is apparently Christmas cookies. Actually, anything Christmas or Birthday flavored is my favorite--fudge, stuffing, Princess Cake, cookie dough, etc. Which makes it clear why "Chubs McGee" has been a nickname that has followed me around like I follow around the ever-changing KitKat collection, or Mew, or Tegan & Sara.

But hennyways, this post was originally supposed to be about how mature and suave I have become since coming to Japan, something which was proven quite thoroughly this week by my ability to keep my shiz together under tremendous pressure (and by tremendous pressure, I mean holding in the desire to spout out, "That's what she said!"--but we'll get there. That's what she said).

The first incident occurred last night in one of my highest level classes. We were discussing the differences between humans and robots (yeah...it's too much work to explain), and I asked what the core differences are. My one student said that humans [edit: again, a very crucial mistake; this should read robot, NOT humans] don't have hearts; and since they lack the ability to have feelings, she said, "They can't make love." Usually I correct such mistakes by explaining the differences in what they have said and what they are trying to say, but I didn't really feel like explaining to a 30-something woman about this particular idiom. Also, I couldn't talk anyways--had to let someone else run with the topic as I tried to keep from laughing.

The second incident occurred this morning with a college student in our second most advanced class. She has a book of self-study that includes many different phrases that are useful in daily lives; I approached as she read it and laughed. When I asked to see what amused her, she showed me the phrase, "I've been waiting for a raise." Considering how nuts she was going over the brief sentence, I actually thought that she was pulling the same meaning from it as I was--but no, it turns out that she was just imagining someone waiting around to get a pay raise, which is apparently very funny in Japan.

The last incident (and yes, I am specifically using the word "incident" because it reminds me of LOST) did not come from student interaction, but instead was brought on by a listening activity in a class. Two of the characters in this textbook are visiting Vietnam, and I learned something from their trip: the Vietnamese currency is the dong. Yup. But even better than that, the female character tells her male coworker that she forgot to exchange currency, and asked him if he had enough dong for the night. He replied

that he had more than enough for the whole trip. Of course, everyone should know why this made me LOL--yup; because it reminded me of Long Duck Dong, everyone's favorite Chinaman from Sixteen Candles.

Mind and Body at odds

2010-12-01T01:09:00.004+09:00

So, right now my mind and my body are hating each other a bit, because my mind is like, "You need to go to sleep before 2 a.m.! You need to wake up before 10 and go to the gym and be healthy!" And my body's all like, "Yo, nah, whatevs, I'm not gonna shut down for another 3 hours or so, so I might as well drink this cheese (nope, nope, supposed to be eat but too lazy to delete) and eat this acerole drink (and yeah, that was on purpose actually, because i can't really say i'm going to drink this cheese AND this drink; i at least need to be consistent in mixing up verbs) and check out Tegan and Sara interviews." The last part is actually more of my brain being like, "Well, if you're gonna stay awake, then food has to stop, but T&S can continue." It's a compromise. Also, I recently discovered that to be like t&s stylistically, all I have to do with wear red vans and a striped black&white shirt. So someone get on that for combo christmas/birthday gift.

That's all. I guess I'm back at the stage where all I do is talk about t&s.

I'm piteously slow at updating; of this I am aware.

2010-11-24T23:21:00.004+09:00

During a leisurely stroll through my neighborhood tonight, I found not one, but two condom vending machines (though this was not the strangest vending machine I discovered on my walk--that prize goes to the battery vending machine). People kept telling me when I first moved here that the city was really safe, but that's not exactly what I had imagined. I'm not entirely surprised; on my walk, I basically passed one vending machine per minute; I'm actually surprised I didn't pass more unusual ones. I do have to admit that many of the drink dispensers have some fascinating choices--hot red bean soup and coffee jelly drinks being some examples. And while I haven't tried either of those things, I admit I am very pleased to have the option of having them.

Corn Choco!

2010-11-13T20:50:00.005+09:00

More dericious than it sounds.

So I have to post this little anecdote because it is redonkulous. Yesterday, biking on my way to the gym, I saw one of the humongi crows of Japan poking around someone's garbage net (as it was burnable garbage--i.e. food waste--day). Last year, one of the Nav staff told me the story of crows scattering her garbage, and how the garbage knocked on her door and gave her a scolding because of it. I decided to save someone the trouble, so I scared the crow off by riding close to it, but not before it took off with what looked like a large meatball. I turned the corner and had gone about 2 meters when I saw something drop from the sky before smacking me in the knee. I could tell from the weight and the leftover bits on my leg that it was a large pit of some kind of fruit. While riding, I looked over my shoulder to see the crow staring at me, and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with the bird. I nodded to him as if to say, "Touche."

[Edit: Hera informed me of my mistake by saying, "Did you mean to say that the garbage knocked on her door?" And as wonderfully magical as that sounds, no; I didn't. Twas in fact the garbage man (which, if you think about it, really just sounds like pile of garbage that has taken the form of man and become animated. Like Frosty the Snowman...Maybe...Dusty the Garbageman.]

I had a philly steak yesterday. It was dericious.

2010-11-01T23:08:00.001+09:00

Also, I was going to write a blog entry, but now I think I will ride my bike to the 100 yen Lawson and buy some juice and breakfast for tomorrow. Sorry for the tease!

Things that happened that were minutely funny

2010-10-19T23:25:00.003+09:00

At dinner with my coworkers, talking about our coworker to be:

Me: He might be one of those guys who goes to Akihabara (the place where nerds go--known also as Electric Town); I don't know.

Shota: Ok. I will take him fishing. And hunting.

Mika: In Akihabara?

Also, earlier in the evening--while anxiously awaiting pizza curry buffet-- I had taken off my new shoes in the teacher's room, and I was wondering if they would smell funny because they are those plasticky type shoes, so I held them up and smelled them. My other foreign coworker was in the room too, so I was struck with an idea, that went something like this:

Me: Wow! My shoes smell like pizza.

Him: What? Really?

Me: Yeah, check it out!

And though I've heard of this joke probably a million times, I've never had anyone fall for it (and I won't count the time Rory told me to 'go see how cute Tuna is sleeping in the bathtub!'), so I was pretty pleased with myself. Yes, yes; I'm 12.

Ok, that's all!

Beautiful beautiful chill!

2010-10-16T00:36:00.005+09:00

Finally finally finally, my memories of hot hot summer are fading like a bad tan (poor simile, because as we all know, there's no such thing as a bad tan! Unless it comes with skin cancer...).

Now, to add to the magical Kit Kat kreations, I will present Hera's find: the milk tea Kit Kat! I had one tonight while, coincidentally, drinking milk tea. It was not the overwhelming combination that you might expect; it was really a pleasant mixture of liquid and candy. Also, you might notice that I am holding a kit kat while wearing a kimono. Also, you might have observed (if you have seen any pics of me in my apartment or have talked to me via skype) that I wear this kimono quite often. That's mainly because I just leave it on the chair as a covering (because I inherited the chair from the previous teacher, and who knows whose hiney it's touched), and it inevitably ends up on my shoulders.

Since I've been sick this week, I have picked up some new Japanese words from my clever children--actually, the words they used are combinations of words I knew, so I am translating them from previous knowledge. The first, and more pleasant one, is 'hanamizu'--which I have translated to mean 'nose water' (or, depending on your inflection, 'flower water')--and you have to admit, that sounds almost pleasant compared with the English "snot". The second, and 'how-say' (as one of my high-level Chinese students says) less...refined version is 'hanakuso'--which, from my understanding, is translated as basically 'nose shit'. Think about that next time you reach for a tissue.

Okay, I need sleep, because I am sickly and weak and I have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow (8:45 a.m.).

Re: Disappointment

2010-10-05T22:48:00.006+09:00

"your blog disappoints me.
this is either because you are too busy doing important shtuff or you are lame like me and do nothing all the time
i miss you, gillnels!"

-Es Dolce

It's only been a week since my last update, but apparently that just isn't enough for some people, AKA

<---This one.

The problem is, I can never think about anything exciting when I'm on the computer. Usually I just think something like, "Mmm, this sashimi is delicious, but it is filling." I also think about how I should get off the computer and clean my apartment, but we all have our pipe dreams. Which reminds me of another dream I have, one of the few things I desperately desire here (I know, the heat passes and I am already on to the next thing that I need so very much); a desire which partially came to fruition this weekend (or as I like to say after a couple rounds of sushi, 'fruitation').

This dream is so much simpler than my last wish, but unlike my other dream (the end of heat, which I knew would eventually come), this one shows no promise of coming true. You see, in Japan, they have lots of adorable little shoes, and often on sale for cheap (you should see some of the affordable, stylish boots they have! Just adorable!)--however, because my feet are apparently humongous at a size 25.5 (or, okay; 26 cm), I can't find anything that even pretends to fit my feet--and I can't even glance at the shoes without my feet cramping. And so I search shoe store after shoe store hoping to find some miraculous pair that will ensconce my weary feet; and low and behold, this weekend I kind of had that happen! I found a pair of rainboots (sure, not my ideal footwear) for 1300 yen (about $13.30 or so for you 'mericans), and I snatched those puppies up so fast that you couldn't even sneeze out a 'kutsu' before I bought them (kutsu=shoes). Actually, that's a lie; I had the shoe lady show me 3 different sizes before I settled on a pair--but that's only because one of the pairs was put in the wrong size box.

Anyways, I'm started to bore myself with this post, so here's one more post of La Dolce Orso for the road from that time we went to the gay bar in Denmark (which, by the way, I'm still bitter about, Erin. Because you know that it is my dream to find a Danish man to marry and have blue eyed, brown haired children with, and you insisted on going to the one place in CPH that my dream was guaranteed not to happen in)(but you know I still less than 3 you --I put it that way because actually doing the symbol is not possible, as the blog recognizes it as a broken html code).

To add to the list of things I didn't expect to do, then did...

2010-09-23T23:15:00.002+09:00

...biking in a thunderstorm. In a dress. For the sake of going shopping.

Actually, the shopping part I can kind of imagine, as well as the dress. It's the bike part that threw me for a loop. Something else that threw me off: the sheer magnitude of the mall I went to; a shopping behemoth of such power that it requires it's own train station. Clearly, it was worth having to ring out my dress and pedal home with my hood covering my eyes at random moments.

Damn it. Damnation. Damnable. Damned.

2010-09-21T23:28:00.003+09:00

I had to explain the definition of those words to a student in class today. Thanks, textbook, for including "darn" in your extra info section. Unfortunately, my student wasn't settling for it just being "a bad word." She wanted context, darn it. She got more context than she bargained for, I imagine. Also confusion.

Oy.

2010-09-20T20:47:00.004+09:00

This week has been massively long; it's been tiring and hazy but went better than expected, given the circumstances.

Last weekend was pretty fun, and a little bit too non-stop. I basically ran away from work as soon as the day was technically over at 7:00 (okay, I waited until 7:05; that's the earliest I've ever left), and I headed over to Tachikawa for to meet Hera and her co-workers/students at a jazz club. Even leaving as early as possible, I knew I would be a little late. Thus when Hera sent me directions to the club along with the message that it would be awkward if she left in the middle, I began to worry about the size of the club, and how much of an entrance my late arrival would make (I mean, let's be fair--I'm already stared at all the time in normal situations). But before anyone noticed my arrival, someone noticed my exit--from the train platform, anyways. As I was hurrying to find the right street, a man approached me and tapped me on the shoulder (I was wearing massive headphones, so it could have been possible he tried to get my attention otherwise first). After asking me if I spoke English or Japanese, he expressed his interest in me by saying, "I have interest in you." He asked me if I had time to talk, and I said only if he walked.

Usually, I am much harsher to the random men who hit on me, but that's only because of the ridiculous pick-up lines I usually get (examples: Do you live in a castle?-->this wasn't even followed up by anything clever; but it's not nearly as bad as "Oh, I thought you were a cougar for a second, but you're actually young"); so perhaps it was his straightforwardness, or maybe it was my urgency to find the club and get away, but I gave him my e-mail address before taking off (and as many of you know, I don't give out my phone number to strangers after certain extremely obnoxious incidences of phone stalking--I'll only give it out if I can tell they are the type who will immediately call to verify the number, like cougar hunter from above). Also--and this may make me a terrible person--but I thought it would be amusing to see what he would write, and he delivered. See below. (P.S. I'm not such a bad person! As I walked away, I actually considered the option for a few minutes. And I really do appreciate his go-get-em manner).

By the time I made it to the jazz club, my fears were confirmed as I opened the door--the small and tightly packed room would be given a nice eyeful when I tried to squeeze my way through. But anyways, I had made it, and the music was fantastic, but not what I had expected for jazz...the singer was Hera's coworker, and we tried to speculate if the 7-stringed guitarist was her younger lover. Near the end of the night, I even convinced Hera to dance a bit with me (and the other rumba dancers shaking their business), and by dancing I clearly mean standing up and shaking a film canister filled with beads. The music was Portuguese (which apparently I can no longer recognize, despite having spent 3 weeks in Lisboa), and reminded me of the movie The Man Without a Past , though it really didn't sound much like the soundtrack. It was more of the feeling than tones or lyrics.

After the dance party ended, Hera and I headed for McDonald's (because though the 600 yen pizza bread was delicious, it wasn't very filling), where we waited for her friend from training to arrive with some of her Japanese student-men. We headed for an izakaya, where we stayed just long enough to miss the last train, which would just be our way of insuring that the next stop would be an all-night karaoke plan. And let me say this: all-night karaoke session = always a GREAT IDEA (especially with a lil nomihorai thrown in)...and in case you didn't know, I do a very good impression of Lady Gaga, as well as Brandon Flowers. And do not get in the way of Hera singing Kanye.

We stumbled out with raspy voices and high pitched giggles around 5, though poor Hera would have to return to that same area in just 7 short hours for work on Sunday open. Despite train service now running once more in my direction, I opted for the two stops away layover at Hera's--I also figured Hera could use me as an extra alarm clock in the morning. Little did I know that I would have an extra alarm of my own in the form of the first of the texts I would receive from my new Japanese admirer. And let me say this: in America, is was so easy to tell what message I was receiving from my phone: Feel it in My Bones was a phone call, Call it Off was my text, Funny Little Frog was my Facebook alert, and Wake Up was my Blackberry messenger alert, and Past in Present was my e-mail (it also alerted everyone around me to my obsession with Tegan & Sara). Simple, right? But I have no idea which alert is which on my Japanese phone, so when I open my phone, I don't know if I'm getting a text, a phone call, or if my alarm is going off.

So the next time my phone went off, I was sure it was my alarm, and was very confused to see it was my phone ringing (and because I'm just confused in general in the morning). It turned out to be one of my training mates, who (probably because he is British) always sounds angry; even though I thought he was just calling me up to insult me a little (Him: "Were you still sleeping?" Me: "Well, yeah..." Him: "Lazy."), it was actually to invite me along with another trainee mate to a sumo match. And here's my problem in the morning: you can basically convince me to do anything, which left me an hour and a half to get out of Tokyo to Saitama, and back to a different side of Tokyo. Anyways, let's just say I was successful, because this post is way too long to go into anything else. Though I do know someone whose weekend was much more eventful than mine *cough* KELSEY RAMOS FUTURE MRS. CONROY *cough*.

As promised:

First:

hi jillnels (that's my e-mail, and apparently what my name is to him)

i am ------

i talked to you at tachikawa station

i am grad if i met you

once more

thank you

subject: fine day

hi, gillnels (oh, how sweet; he's made a nickname from my fake name)

thanks for your mail

ok, i introduce you my

profile

age: 34 (yowza! If I had considered him before, this eliminated him)

adress:-------

job:system engineer

my holiday : saturday, sunday and national public holiday

i like cat, i often go fitness club and swimming

i have interest in english and have more interest in you

and what is your job ,

and when is your holiday

Third:

Subject: Autumn

Hi Jillnels!

Its Autumn! (Must be his English name...)

sky is high (orly?), wind is cool, and air is transparent.

do you like this season?and can I invite you a date?

if you are ok, tell me your schedule that you could meet with me

Odd Flavored Things and Breakthrough!

2010-08-30T21:54:00.003+09:00

The post title actually has something to do with the post! Imagine that! First things first: food (like I ever put food second, come on!). One thing about Japan is that while foreign foods do sometimes crop up in the supermarkets, there does seem to be an overwhelming desire for KitKats here--they seem to pop up everywhere. And there apparently exists a huge market for a wild variety of flavors. Last year I had an amazing Ramune flavored one during the excruciating Mt Fuji hike (ramune apparently comes from lemonade, but I wouldn't describe it as such; I don't really know what kind of flavor it is), and Hera swears by green tea flavored ones. A few weeks ago we sampled a combo pack of cola and lemon flavored KKs. The general consensus (i.e. my opinion) was that cola was meh, but lemon ROCKED. I have since been on the kick for different Kats. The latest I have found is Mixed Juice flavored (ミックスジュ-ス）, which is an interesting choice from the makers of KK. Observations: not bad, not my favorite; tastes more like candy bananas than mixed juice. I'm holding out for lemon flavored.

Next: Breakthrough! While I do teach a class by this name, this is not what I refer to. What I refer to is a certain child I teach who presents somewhat of a problem for me during class at times (ex. mooning), and overall doesn't listen to me at all. However, I had a make-up class with him on our Sunday Open (that is, my last in a six day week); since he was the only student, we basically played whatever game he wanted to do, and wonder of wonders, he listened to me--and he actually repeated what I said in English! And not only that, but he remembered after class! See, the absolute worst part of my job is the 5 minutes after a kids lesson where we teachers have to prove to the mothers that their children are learning--and if the child screws around in class, it becomes apparent after class (and as you can imagine, insanely embarrassing for me). So this Sunday was the first time he could actually repeat what we did in class, and quite well to boot. The fact that he got so much encouragement clearly pleased him; he turned bright red and kept squirming around on his mom's lap, trying to hide his smile. It was really satisfying to see that happen, and even though I know this will never happen again unless I have another private lesson with him, it's still the small victories that count.

A moment of...

2010-08-19T23:28:00.003+09:00

There is one thing I wish for every day. It's the same thing day after day, basically since I've arrived. If I had this one thing, I feel like everything would be right in the world. All I want...is for it to be less bloody hot. All I want is to arrive at work not dripping sweat; or at least not have to base my wardrobe on what polyester styles best hide it.

Also, my apartment is about the same size as a cardboard box, and yet I always seem to misplace my AC remote. I can tell you where at least 4 tubes of mascara are, but when it comes to the only necessity in my apartment, I misplace it at least twice a day (once before I leave for work; the second before I go to bed--and a few times in between for good measure).

However, one thing I must say is wonderful is the soundtrack for (500) Days of Summer. Thanks to Hera for getting me that (that is, for uploading it to her own computer, and then allowing me to sneak it off while she was in the shower)--also, thanks for the movie itself; I watched it last week when I was, to put it kindly and culturally; feeling like merde. I should say the Japanese equivalent--kuso--but it doesn't have that certain elegance of the French variety.

Anyways, please ruminate this when you miss me:

"It's so damn hot! Milk was a bad choice."

Kids.

2010-08-16T00:53:00.004+09:00

Tomohito (TH) has 3 phrases in frequent rotation: "Kids.", "Oh rearry?", and "Dammit!" So in his honor, I named this babeh-sized post after him.

Basically, after I caught the last train home, I had my music on shuffle as I readied myself to get on my bike to go home. One of the first songs to come on was "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, and in my cynical-about-love-state, I went "Pffffft," in response. Only I did it really, really loudly. I then decided the best way to get on my bike was to bunny hop over the seat and then kick off the brake (of course, I was wearing a dress). Needless to say, I have not mastered the art of Japanese elegance and grace yet.

Well, that's about all. Sorry if I got your hopes up for more. It's late at night and I am very sweaty. Which I just realized was due to my AC being set at 28 degrees.

Also, both times I came home today, I entered my house with a shout (which is just great; as I'm sure I already terrify the neighbors with my large gaijiness--as well as my midnight singing in the shower). The first was due to a lizard dropping from my ceiling into my room; the second was because a very large and loud cicada followed me down my outside hallway. Lovely.

Origami Wallpaper Fail

2010-08-13T19:21:00.007+09:00

Random bits and pieces first:

I really like singing, but I get really flustered singing in front of people for fear of messing up (not a karaoke story, btw). But then, I was watching some Tegan & Sara videos (one of my hobbies) on u2b (youtube for you n00bs) and half of their live performances are titled "Tegan & Sara mess up (song)", which makes me feel much better about myself, because T&S are two of mah faves, and if they can mess up and still be awesome, then well--that's something, I guess.

Live Action Japanese Living Information Update!

Anyways, my apartment is really boring aesthetically, so I had this idea that I would try

to wallpaper my walls with origami. This is as far as I got. It looks like I put a quilt on the wall, basically. Not that quilts are bad or anything; but I feel like every attempt I make at trying to decorates ends with my room looking a little more child-like. I saw the apartment of one of the guys that I trained with, and his was all sophisticated and stylish, and it made me really jealous because I want to be cool, dangit! But instead I have clear dressers that you can see my underwear through, and a penguin bank (the guy I replaced passed that on to me, and I would get rid of it, but if you read my last post about trash separation in Japan [which no one did], you would understand how that is nearly impossible).

Also, one of my blankets is really just a big towel. But apparently those are big in Japan (big as in popular, not big as in towels in general--those are actually not very big normally).

"What you don't surrender, the world strips away." --Tegan tattoo (and Bruce Springsteen lyrics, apparently)

Flying jerky patterns like snowflakes in the air

2010-08-13T01:46:00.002+09:00

I have become the serial killer of the fruit fly world.

I never wanted this to happen. But they just keep coming back; multiplying every few minutes or so. I don't how it’s possible; when I took a shower this evening, I killed about 7—when I came back to get ready for bed, there were about 10 more new ones. They tend to congregate in my bathroom; why, I don’t know—there are no open containers; there is nothing but make-up soaked Q-tips in the trash can. I don’t even feel safe buying fruit anymore—I started drinking juice drinks instead of buying anything that grows from the ground—I mean, I’ve already been reduced to a diet of carbs (mainly noodles and white bread, with the occasion bits of rice when I get sushi). But then…oh, dear—the bananas were on sale for 99 yen—99 yen!—I was having guests spend then night, and fruit is just so expensive that I couldn’t possibly pass it up.

And now I am paying the price. This morning, I was twice awoken by the sound of

buzzing near my ear—I am unfortunately so light a sleeper that fruit fly buzzing wakes me up—but considering the infestation that is going on right now, it’s a miracle I could sleep at all.

It’s not helped by the fact that Japan runs its citizens through a labyrinth of details when it comes to trash collection. I have included a sample collection schedule to give you an idea of what I have to do—but let me say that I would much prefer this simple, complimentary English schedule to my (more brightly colored, as well as more elaborate) schedule. It also doesn’t help that I rarely no what idea day it is if it’s not Friday (the night I have to go to bed early because Saturday is early up day), Saturday (day before weekend!), Sunday (weekend start ☺!), or Monday (weekend end ☹ ). The problem is that this slightly shifted schedule has not been something I have easily become accustomed to, and so my trash collection grows, and my 9x12 feet apartment suffers.

On the plus side, I have seen some of the other very intense bug life that exists in Japan—and considering the number of stag (or other) beetles, spiders, and moths of all sorts I encounter on my way home, I should be grateful that my nemesis (nemesises?) are no larger than 2 mm.

"I recall you said you missed me.

2010-08-09T14:03:00.001+09:00

...then again, it doesn't matter."--Shout Out Louds

From July 5th

I feel like the luckiest girl ever!

But let me explain.

On Monday morning, I met my manager, K, at the station (I was the only one who got picked up at the same station we left from). K (who is pretty much the cutest thing ever) took me first to the school, which was definitely much smaller than I imagined (but I have my own classroom!--and I don't even care if it's smaller than my closet at home), but I think that makes it feel a little less intimidating. We then took a taxi to my new (very own!) apartment, which is full of charm (if not much else)--and even if it's the smallest thing ever, I still adore it. K got me curtains with the school's budget, and apologized profusely for not being cute, for being cheap, that I could buy new ones as soon as possible, etc.--I've heard of this modesty happening with Japanese gift giving, but I never had experienced it before. I assured her that they were lovely and would definitely keep them.

Later in the day, K came back to take me shopping (technically it's my off day), and we stopped by the Daiso first to pick up some basic kitchen necessities. From there, we went to the department store next door, where I got to pick out a brand new bicycle! It's awesome; it looks a bit like a beach cruiser and has 3 speeds and a basket. We then went to the grocery store in the store's basement, and I got some food to survive on for a few days (or in my case, a few hours--jk, but only kind of). We also picked up a pan and a tea kettle. And did I mention that these were all gifts from my company?

I was going to ride my new bike home, but it was raining so hard that I decided I would have to pick up the bike another day. Despite the raging thunderstorm, I was able to find my way home by foot. But somehow, despite having an umbrella, I arrived completely soaked.

Later in the night, I got a knock on my door, and it was the delivery man dropping off my futon, which K informed me would be happening. I didn't realize it was actually a set, however, which including a down comforter, pillow, and sheet. I feel so well taken care of!

Now that I've experienced all these little perks, I'm excited to see the actual aspects of my job in person. This next week, I will be mostly only observing lessons; right now I'm only scheduled to teach one lesson--the last one on Saturday evening. However, my head teacher told me that that could change if it turns out that one of the other classes only has a few students sometime in the week. I really hope I do well; I want my students as well as myself to eagerly await each lesson.

Herro Young Rovers

2010-08-06T11:36:00.000+09:00

Part 3

Another character that blossomed into full crazy by the last day of Training was T; an odd fellow with Native American heritage and a Japanese fiancee. T didn't seem very odd at first, but I began to catch on to his strangeness when he started asking such questions as "Have you ever tried fancy cat food?".

On Friday, he seemed to be at peak form. One of the trainers went over the some last aspects of the company, and it came up that another trainer was a poster boy for the company. T asked suddenly if we would be made aware of our image being used for advertising, and if we could opt out if we wanted. The trainer said of course, and that they wouldn't do anything without our permission. T continued on that his image had been misappropriated during a teaching stint in another foreign country, where he had come across a cardboard cutout of himself. He began ranting that he didn't want to be exploited again, and the trainer assured him multiple times it wouldn't; T then demanded that he should be paid if they did. We had a break shortly after, and T continued to rant about his photo exploitation. I asked if he had at least taken a picture next to his cut-out, which he didn't find as amusing as I did.

The next trainer to come in was the previously mentioned poster boy, who was set to talk for about 15 minutes about another subject--what that subject was, I'm not sure, because about two minutes in, T ripped a fart during the talk. The trainer went on for a few more words, then looked at T and said, "Was that you?" I unfortunately looked at T then, who's face was still as stone as he said, "It just slipped out"--I started shaking from trying to hold back the laughter. When the trainer went on, I nearly lost it--he said, "Geez, man; at least say 'Excuse me'. This has got to be a first." Then he looked around and said, "You guys can laugh; I can see you're trying to hold back." Another explosion slipped out at this point, but fortunately it was from the other end as we let go of the suppressed giggles. I, unfortunately, have the maturity of a 13-year-old boy, and continued to hold back giggles as my face turned red and tears pooled in my eyes for the rest of the talk. At one point the trainer looked at me and said, "Jillian's having a hard time," which nearly set me off again--I couldn't look at him the rest of the night. We had another break, and I was able to pull it together a little better, though the next trainer to come in did ask if I was okay.

You would think this would be the end, considering it was the last day of training--but no; the insanity continued. After a weekend of fun and frolic, we gathered once more- and for the last time- at the seminar house, awaiting our 5-minute morning meeting before setting off for our schools. The trainers came in and prepped us, and asked a few of us to serve as representatives for our rooms as they were checked. As those who volunteered to go got up to follow the trainers, T once more let 'er rip--and this was a much more powerful one than the previous business. I was glad I was up and moving, because it better disguised my laughter, but as I came to the door, the trainer turned around and told T that he had better refrain from doing that at the staff meetings at the school. As we walked up the stairs, he said, "What the hell is wrong with that guy? He's so rude." I muttered "Too much to count", but it definitely got a little lost through the laughter.

And lastly, after the house was all squared away and we were waiting outside, T let one more loose (if only for the sheer purpose of reminiscing). And thus ended our time at the Omiya house.

BABY GOT INTAWEBS!

2010-08-06T10:23:00.003+09:00

So now that I am finally hooked up to the nets, I can present you with wonderful wonderful bits of life from the last month or so of my time in Japan. I'll be doing a chronological reverse, so you get the earliest first. Read it in order, peeps!

Training Blog

On Friday, we finally wrapped up nearly two weeks of training, and the night ended with a bang (this is very funny, but you won't realize why until later in the story).

I'll admit that many people in the house were getting a bit restless with living with 7 other people (originally 9 total) for so many days straight; it was clear the proximity was starting to weigh on everyone's minds. The first to go was a teacher, D, who had actually worked with the company before, and actually had been a trainer 3 years ago before moving back to Canada. However, he came back with his Japanese wife for another go at teaching--and while it was clear that he had a lot of patience, all of us had been surprised to find out about his former position with the company, since he didn't seem to have a strong command of what was going on. Earlier this week, he was working with another trainee on a lesson plan they had to present the next day, when he began acting funny. We have to use drill cards with phrases on them in the lesson, and one of the ones he had was "skip lunch"--so when his partner was practicing with the cards, apparently D became confused and began asking whether they really had to skip lunch that day. His partner said he then began to act really odd--for example, he asked him why he had left Japan, and D's reply was something like, "I have to protect her; I have to protect her. But Canada has many good qualities. We have a really good relationship with Russia." When they went to the supermarket to get lunch, his partner mentioned getting sushi, and D then asked if they were allowed to get it. After they bought it, he told his partner he was allergic to it (I don't think this is true though...I think it just came out). Finally, back at the training house, he ate one piece of sushi and decided to go lie down (but only after asking his partner for permission first). After that, we found out he wasn't feeling well, and was taken to a hospital. Apparently, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, so they sent him home to his wife and told us he wouldn't be coming back to training, but that at least he was feeling better.

Part 2
If anyone has ever seen Superbad, let me preface by saying two of the boys on the trip experienced a true bromance very similar to the main characters of the movie when they met at training. B & U were rarely seen separated in the house, and could often be found mouthing jokes or throwing gestures at each other's direction if they were paired with other people during training. B was cute, though a bit dorky looking, but definitely tried to over compensate with his trendy apparel; U made dumb jokes but was generally a pretty nice guy. It often seemed that U was really nice to me, and B gave off the impression that he wasn't very happy about it, especially when I began to tease them about their bromosexuality. I clearly exaggerated it so that they would know I was joking--U did and would laugh, but B was a very grumpy guy and didn't take it well (and actually has the face of a grumpy old man).

On the last night of training, U decided to show of his reversible belt to B; unbuckling it and showing the versatility of it all while B admired it in wonder. I stared at them with a pretend look of disgust, and as they sat down, B looked at U (who was distracted by something else), then looked at me, and quickly looked away as he flipped me off. I nearly died laughing at his attempt at retaliation. But the real death by laughter was yet to come...

Boobs
(the first of the promised topics)

P.S. It didn't end all badly with B. We had a bonding moment in the train station at departure on Monday when we were approached by a short, stooped old man in a suit with slicked back hair that was white at the rots and black and the tips. The man kept pointing at us in our business suits, then giving us an "OK" sign. Then he started miming female curves before pointing at me and giving me the OK sign. We both were choking back laughter, and I told him in Japanese that I already had a boyfriend (I figured that if my lie would get him to stop the gestures, then it was worth it). He then pointed at both of us and gave the OK sign. Next, he pulled out some snacks, which we both rejected; but after his insistence, we each took one. He kept trying to give us more, but when we refused, he stuck the entire bag in B's bag. After that he said good-bye and we waved him off.

Oh baby, baby, it`s a wild world

2010-07-28T22:08:00.002+09:00

You know that feeling when your feet are in intense pain, you`re incredibly tired, and you think that your bike has been towed and you have to walk home, but then you realize after a few minutes that you just parked in a different aisle? I hope you never have to experience any part of it.

P.S.! OMG! There is another girl in the internet cafe!
Also, above the internet cafe, there is a Cat Cafe. Ponder that.

A quickie postie!

2010-07-16T21:31:00.003+09:00

Hmm...Maybe that blog title is not the best...well, anyways; onward ho!

I know that I`ve left my faithful friend readers hanging, but that`s because I no longer have that wonderfully reliable and convenient internet connection on the roof that I used to (to think I would long for the days of stealing WiFi from the rooftops of Japan!). Instead, I have to come to a seedy Manga Cafe where everyone is playing RPG games (and not just manly things like WoW; there are tons of boys here who are playing games that look so adorable as to be aimed at preschoolers) or looking at porn (really! right there in the open, when we are back to back with at least 6 people). And I only get 30 minutes at a time, because 30 minutes is 100 yen, and every extra 15 is another 100. But I get free coke with a swish of melon soda,　so I survive. But it`s usually not enough time to write a post.

But for those who want job updates: the last two weeks, I`ve gone through swings where I love my job and I hate my job. Right now, I`m okay; but who knows about tomorrow? Actually, since it`s weekend, I`ll probably love it again. But I just realized my time is almost up, so I must say adieu (I will love it for sure when I have internet at home).

P.S. I have a stored lot of blog posts for when I do get internet, and here`s a sneak preview:

Bull riding
Babykins
Bikes!
Boobs (no, seriously；this will be covered)

Later gater!

Up on the rooooof....

2010-06-26T08:06:00.003+09:00

Still on the roof. If you're wondering whether I look horrendous in the picture, let me just clarify--you're correct. It's morning, I'm tired, in my pajamas, with unbrushed hair, on a roof (but at least wearing slippers! It's a requirement at the training house). Actually, being on the roof isn't as bad as I make it seem with my incessant whining; I just like to see how many blog titles I can come up with that involve the word.

So, yesterday was my first day giving an entire presentation of a lesson--targeted at 4-5 year olds, no less. I think it went pretty well, as I am known for being EXTREMELY GENKI! in Japan (usually the translation goes along the lines of 'healthy', but it's not uncommon for a Japanese person to translate it 'high tension', and now I know why). But still, it was a bit exhausting--lots of singing and dancing. I'm starting to view the adult lessons as a break. And speaking of breaks, tomorrow is our first day off! And I'm going to dinner with HERAgami!! I don't know about her, but I'm peeing my pants in excitement.

Ok, I need to go prep for the day (it's my turn with cleaning duties today, and the president is coming, so I need to DO MY BEST!). Hopefully I'll be able to put up some much cooler pics soon.

<.3

I'm on a roof, mudda-effa

2010-06-24T08:44:00.003+09:00

Hey kiddadles! Here I am in Japan. In Saitama. On a roof. It's the only place for miles around with internet. Well, unlocked internet, that is. Yesterday, we visited this fancy internet cafe (technically a manga cafe) that had private cubicles and an all-you-can-drink vending machine, but the price for 2 hours was a little misleading (over-charged for being a gaijin? Probably not, but I can't read tricky signs in kanji, so I will blame it on that).

Ok, I promise to write entries that are longer than this in the future, but I'm pretty hungry right now and would like to go eat my cream cheese flavored yogurt, so I will have to catch you all up later.

Blog title throw out to Laurel, who told me I was on a boat. I had to correct her.

My Groodness!

2010-06-22T03:34:00.004+09:00

Groodness Me! I'm in Canada, eh? Some Canadian girls in LA were uber-excited because one of them ran into the girl who plays Mercedes from Glee in the terminal. I'm glad foreigners can come to Southern California and see movie stars all over, since that's how life is like there.

It's just a short countdown now 'til actual arrival, and I'm starting to get a little nervous! I really hope this is a good year, and that I'm a good teacher...I feel like I have to start looking at this business in pieces instead of as a whole, because that starts to make me feel in over my head. But I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone over in Japan; I'm so happy to be nearby so many people. I'm going to get going now, but hopefully the next post you see will be detailing my successful entrance into Japan (...if it's not; well...that's not good. So fingers crossed). Okay bye!

P.S. Edit--While at the airport, I started to feel a little sentimental (seriously though, I think I may be one of the most sentimental people in the world) and started to read the cards/notebook musings people had written to me (my mom asked everyone at the good-bye party to write me a note in a notebook she had bought me, and Suzy relayed the message to bring pictures from the past--some of which are a real treat, I'll tell you). Anyways, I got to Kelsey's (the first one) and started crying, so I had to put off reading the rest since I am in an airport surrounded by Nihonjin who will surely judge me because, as Bridget Jones's mother says, the Japanese are a "cruel race" (jk; almost every Japanese person I've met has been the bee's knees, though I'm not quite sure what that means. But really, they're great). So now I'm reading Secrets of the Model Dorm because I'm a baby who needs light-hearted amusement.

Boy Howdy!

2010-06-16T15:46:00.002+09:00

It's almost D-day! On M-day. I'm sad right now, but I'll probably be happy once I'm there. I guess that's all for now.

G'Bye, Polly Pie; we will miss you.

2010-06-09T14:59:00.004+09:00

My visa is entirely the cutest thing ever. Besides my standard passport photo's transformation into a nice black and white vignette portrait, it is also decorated with light pink cherry blossoms and Mt. Fuji, as well as a watermark in the shape of a fan with the letters 'V-I-S-A' across it. Truly adorable.

In honor of LoKate's blog post dedicated to her sister's food, I have to say that I made a dish taught to me by the one and only LKS; the Spanish Tortilla. It was quite delicious, especially for being gluten free (terrible, terrible, terrible diet--I truly think the doctor that I visited is straight up bananas if he thinks this business will continue past the two week mark). It's been so long since I've had a proper dessert (not since Saturday at least)--I'm starting to hallucinate (and by hallucinate I of course mean that I am very, very grumpy. I'm also displeased with everything. Except my very cute visa [But I do hate new Google--where is the Image option???]. I have also become forgetful. See P.S.).

P.S. Suzy informed me that I missed the Glee season finale tonight, which is completely ridiculous of me. Thank goodness for DVR!

Lobstervations.

2010-06-03T03:16:00.003+09:00

LoKate left that word in her comment on my last entry, and after I read it, I just sat giggling to myself for awhile while I repeated it.

I always know that it's the start of a good week when I come home and am greeted by a brand new dog. For some reason, these dogs are usually black (at least 4), and they usually are brought home by my siblings (Roar-dawg being the biggest repeat offender here). The latest, however, was brought home by my sister to dogwatch for her co-worker. This fine, noble creature goes by the name of Polly, and can launch herself sideways off of couches. Isn't she wonderful?? Taco went nuts at first, but now he more or less tolerates her. When we play with the tug-o-war chew toy, Taco will chase after it, and Polly will chase after Taco. Goldie has no idea what is going on ever.

Also, I have bought my plane ticket and submitted my Visa application. I'm going to Japan for realsies now. The last things to do are pack and g00d-bye party!!

One last lobstervation (even though the rest of the blog was actually more statements than lobstervations): when looking up "Why" with Google, the top suggestion is "Why can't I own a Canadian". Fortunately, I found out the reason for this in Yahoo! Answers: the Teen edition.

Shout Out Loud!

2010-05-27T07:53:00.004+09:00

I bought my plane ticket today! Isn't that funky fresh? It was bloody expensive, but money is replaceable, isn't it? Unlike people. Speaking of...Emily Winter comes home this week! And Laurel leaves Monday. Holy Smokes! Like the Smoke Monster. Which was one of those questions on LOST that did get answered, even if a long time ago. Speaking of, I loved the LOST finale. I cried for about 15 minutes after it ended, but only in private. In fact, I can't think of Juliet and Sawyer without bursting into tears. Oh dear...

But anyways, a lot of people complained that LOST didn't answer questions, but so far, all I've seen people do is complain about these ambiguous questions without actually saying what any of their questions were that didn't get answered--

(P.S. EDIT: there are some spoilers here--somehow this become a LOST rant). The only thing I've seen so far with actual questions (some of which did actually get answered--someone wasn't paying attention) (P.P.S. How crazy was it when we first saw the Smoke Monster? And we were like 'What IS that thing???' Though it was answered awhile ago, I still feel like it was a good twist).

was this-->http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291 --and I'm betting people will be borrowing from this to form their complaints. But here's the deal--many of the questions that people want to know the answer to are either a) unimportant, b) ideas purposefully left open-ended, or c) stuff that can't be answered because the question arose during a time when the writers didn't really have a solid grasp on what they were doing, and so discrepancies came about (example: the smoke monster, revealed to be the Man in Black whose purpose was to get rid of Jacob/Jacob's candidates so that he could get off the island, killed a bit haphazardly when it first came about probably because they didn't really hadn't decided what they would do with the character--also, a similar question also arises when Jack sees his dead dad off-island--when Jack sees his D.D. on-island, it's the Man in Black; but for the story to be accurate, Jack has to be hallucinating when he sees him off-island, because the MiB can't get off the island--I don't think that connection was made until later by the writers).

But anyways, the point isn't to get all the answers, because that's not realistic, and it's not very enjoyable. The creators' desire was to create an intelligent show that didn't necessarily cater to the lowest common denominator, which requires that viewers may sometimes need to think for themselves, and come up with their own theories. In my opinion, this makes the show much more enjoyable, because we form a connection to the characters (especially those who have watched it for many years), and if we are told exactly what happens to them and what their situation is, it is easy to become frustrated if the outcome is not what we hoped for. I think the ending was a perfect way to close because it made a full circle--it focused on these flawed people and the redemption they found.

Ok, I'm done riding this train for now. So recap: ticketed, hello, good-bye, LOST.

And now a little extra random bonus:

Song of the Day: Shout Out Louds, "Impossible" (Alternative: "A Hard Rain in Tokyo", SOL) --Such a good band live!

Push it...push it real good.

2010-05-25T07:02:00.006+09:00

Hi Kids!

Today I received a very nice lovely delicacy in the mail today. I knew right away from the envelope and the style of writing that it had come from Japan; I just didn't know where in Japan it had journeyed from. When I opened it, I was greeted with this lovely surprise:

My sad and pathetic computer skills present you with a wrongly directed, poor quality version of this wondrous little letter that came from my future co-workers. I was wondering if some such letter might be headed my way, since Hera had shown me a similar written welcome from her future/now current workmates. Getting the letter helped cheer me up from the frustrating run-around I've been getting from the online airfare booking agencies (those foo's think they can offer me bait and switch for a $800 flight originally promised at $577? No sirree. Momma don't raise no foo').

Anyways, everyone remember that my g'by' party is on June 19th, and LoKate's Surprise goodbye party is this Saturday (details to follow any questions asked).

Quotes of the day:

Carrie: I sat by the weirdest couple on the plane today. One of them looked just like Abraham Lincoln.

Jillian: I hope it was the man.

I'm making Mac 'n' Cheese Tomorrow! Mm Mm Mm!

2010-05-07T15:44:00.005+09:00

Today, after she convinced Katrina to reschedule the picnic because she was unavailable, Laurel dragged me to Border's on the premise that I could read comics and keep her company while she worked (ok, more like I wanted to get ice cream and photos from Costco and then go read comics, and she needed to work, so I tricked her into getting into my car--but at least this time I didn't force her to listen to Tegan and Sara on repeat), but the silly bookstore was out of THE ONLY COMIC I WANTED (the same one the library was out of!), and so I had to read travel books about Japan (also, I bet the majority of the 3 people who read this forgot what the sentence was about after the first pair of parentheses, so recap: sneak attack, ice cream, T&S, comics, no comics, tour book).

Anyways, after looking at every travel guide covering Japan, I realized that the prefecture I am going to is insanely unpopular. Comparison: if we compare prefectures to SoCal counties, Saitama is Imperial County. To which all of you will reply, "Not a real place." But apparently, it is! I was originally going to say San Bernardino County because as we all know, that place is gHeTtO, but I looked at a map outlining counties just for fun and saw that Imperial is not just a highway that will take you from LAX to Anaheim Hills (and that nice international market with all the lovely desserts!), but the name of a living, breathing county (well...maybe. But I am fairly certain that, similar to the above paragraph, 1 of the 2 determined readers that has continued this far will not remember what this section is supposed to be about). But despite not having any info on my soon to be residence (not that it matters; I've been to Saitama), one of the books did have a good deal of very entertaining material.

One of these topics mentioned a particular area of Tokyo that will be rather close to me, so I felt it was appropriate to read into. The specific topic of the section concerned Otaku; the nerdy Japanese population that is overly into comics and video games and maid cafes. The usual culprit is a Japanese male with worn out, bland clothes and an awkward shyness that is more off-putting than endearing, especially when they cling to their anime character body pillows. However!, this article mentioned that while men are the usual characters indulging themselves as Otaku, there is a small portion of the population that is female, and are usually seen frequenting Ikebukuro (the place in Tokyo that will be by me)--and this portion of Otaku ladies are usually interested in what they call "boys' love", which is apparently very attractive boys who are in love with each other. There are even cafes that feature women who dress up as they very attractive men for the women visitors (so follow: girls who like pretty boys visit places where pretty girls dress as pretty boys to draw them in). I find this very hilarious, but I tend to think it is probably one of those small facets of of Japan that foreigners find and blow out of proportion as a way to describe what Japan is like.

Did someone step on a cat??

2010-04-26T17:30:00.003+09:00

So. Right now my room smells like flowers. Fresh flowers. Which is really freaking me out, because I definitely don't have any flowers that I can see, so who knows what that smell really is.

Something I'm really excited about is my awesome awesome awesome MP3 speaker/radio/candy factory apparatus that I got for my birthday and only today figured out how to set the alarm. It was amazing, I was pleasantly stirred awake by the lovely flow of the Gonzalez piano cover of Feist's "One Evening", which is a much more soothing way to wake up then my phone's current blasting of the first notes of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire (while you would think the name would imply an awesome idea for an alarm, it is actually extremely terrifying to suddenly be jolted out of the sleeping world by it).

I recently finished the book "90-Day Geisha", a memoir of one girl's time spent in Tokyo as a hostess. It's the second autobio I've read recently of whities going to Japan (the other being "Wrong About Japan"), and I find it incredibly fascinating that people feel such a need to try and explain Japanese from a foreign perspective, because I feel like it often comes out slightly correct, but very biased. I thought this book was pretty interesting, but the lead character kind of struck me as a brat--she liked to make it very clear that she was way above the bizarre world and was really only participating as an observer with the sheer motivation of writing a book. Also, she liked to point out how much of a model she was, but when I saw the pictures of her, I couldn't help but think, "Really?" Not because she wasn't pretty, but just because she was so average looking (but like...average pretty). Is everyone a model these days? Kind of like how everyone's a photographer? Yeah, well, whatever; the book was still interesting and got me pumped for Japan.

I'd love to continue to ramble on in an incoherent fashion, but it is bum-thirty in the morning and I should be sleeping for some reason because that is a practical thing to do at this time of night. So goodnighty nights.

Hello Young Lovers

2010-04-13T01:32:00.011+09:00

I'm getting so excited to go to Japan because I got to talk to Hera Yoon this morning, and in her honor, I will post a bunch of pictures of her on the post today. Hera left for Tachikawa in February with the same company I am joining, so she is acting as the test sample for me.

But let me tell you, right now I am not very happy. This is very specifically due to my having swimmer's ear, which doesn't make sense because I haven't gone swimming since the fall. In high school, I used to get swimmer's ear all the time (mainly in swimming [some people read just that part and say 'Obviously you would get

swimmer's ear from swimming; what else would you get it from, running?', so to continue-->]; for some reason I hardly ever got it from water polo [smart asses]); the pain would sometimes cause me to miss school, and when I came back, I would have to use the kickboard all of practice (for some people this probably seems jolly and good fun, but I was a sprinter--and my main source of power came from my arms. My legs were like useless pieces of flotsam behind me). Anyways, that long story is mainly just a lead-up to say that my earache basically feels like someone is stabbing me in my ear while also causing my jaw to ache in a numb sort of way. And that makes me grumpy :( It was also embarrassing because the height of the pain came during a jaunt to Wal-Mart; the pain was so sudden and intense that I would grasp at my ear in a jerk-reaction while cowering ever so slightly--it probably looked to observers like I was getting some sort of secret haywire transmission in my ear, or like I was trying to block the voices in my head.

But the point is, I went to Wal-Mart to get boxes so that I can start moving out of my room, since I don't plan on living with my parents when I come home. And what I've come to learn is that I have a lot of crap--a ridiculous amount of useless crap, piles and piles of clothing that I'm fairly certain I don't go through regularly. And yet, as I try to organize everything and try to figure out what I can get rid of, I think to myself, "No, I need this--this is vital. This is very important and I'm sure that I will definitely want to keep it forever." I imagine this is going to be problematic if I want to continue down the path of effectiveness. Does anyone feel like cleaning for me? I can't pay you, but I will make you a 2 months supply of baked goods. Types of baked goods I will make you for cleaning my room:

-Shortbread

-Choco-chip cookies

-Marzipan (the candy, not fondant, but I can cover it in chocolate)

-Pound cake

-Sugar cookies with homemade frosting

-Pudding/pudding pies

-Mudpie

-Monkey bread

-Cinnamon rolls

-Cake cookies (they are pretty awesome)

-Brownies: plain, peanut butter, or marshmallow flavored

-Or any other type that you prefer, just let me know

All this can be yours! Now that I have sufficiently gone down multiple different paths in this post so as to make the original point unidentifiable, I will say Sayonara.

Song of the day: Know Better Learn Faster --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjqSxrsL5M

This site is Bananas!

2010-04-06T03:22:00.005+09:00

Jen V's friend recently introduced me to Smart.fm, which is pretty much the coolest educational site ever (...but then, I'm not really big on frequenting educational sites). Anyways, the site helps you learn languages for free! For realsies! So now I am brushing up on my Japanese by taking "Japanese Core 2000", which introduces you to 2000 words--and while I already know many Japanese words, I don't know the kanji for a lot of them, so it is really very helpful. But everyone should look into it, even people not going to a foreign country--there are still way cool things you can check out there. There's even one program that teaches British English for Americans! Isn't that fabulous?

Here's a picture of some Japanese cake, because I am hungry.

Okay, that's all for now!

Get out of here already!

So, I have decided...

2010-03-23T07:25:00.003+09:00

To avoid posting late at night after drinking too much caffeine. It just leads to Xanga-ish ranting.

I'm starting to get a little annoyed that I can't purchase my plane ticket until after I get my certificate of eligibility (company policy). Because apparently, I won't be getting my COE until 2-4 weeks before departing. 2-4 weeks! I will only have 2-4 weeks to get a plane ticket to Japan in the summer! I'm a little anxious that 1. there may not be flights left that meet the instructions that I have to follow (timewise, that is) and 2. that the remaining seats (if available) will be a ridiculous amount of money. What could have cost around $400 is looking to be closer to around $1,000 at this point (and mind you, this is one way).

I'm also starting to get concerned about other logistical stuff like selling my car, or deciding what kind of deodorant I should get a year's supply of (I mean, should I just stick to one variety of the same brand, or should I have a smorgasbord of scents and strengths that I can mix and match to match my mood? Decisions!). I'm starting to feel really grown-up lately as well, because the only time I think about clothes shopping is when I'm imagining buying a new suit. And I'm starting to feel more acutely what it means to be gone for a year, and what that means in terms of whether I'll come back or not. Being grown-up is a funny thing to decide upon.

でも。。。これはわたしのたんじょうび。。。マシー。。。

2010-03-21T16:13:00.004+09:00

Blogger is hella confusing (there--there, are you happy NorCal-ers? Can I be tight in your eyes now?). While trying to befriend my friends, I think somehow I ended up following myself (which is pretty impressive when you think of the implications).

My hair smells like campfire smoke. Nothing to do with anything, but it's past midnight and in the past couple of hours I've had a diet Coke and a Monster. Jenni guilted me out of going on a walk so late at night, mumbling something about murderers and and knives and badgers (she was watching '48 Hours', so I can't blame her, really--and it is her dog I walk with, after all).

What does this have to do with Japan? Absolutely nothing. And it won't. Come on, man! Not everything on here has to do with Japan. Also, not everything on here has to do with something.

What I really want to mention is how awesome playlists are; they really are iTunes gift to the world. Never has making a mixtape been so easy. Right now, I have this playlist entitled "Hot Sexy Mix", which features the following songs (if anyone would like me to make them a copy):

1. Feel it in My Bones (Tiesto ft. Tegan and Sara)

2. Flashing Lights (Kanye West)

3. SexyBack (J.T. and Timbaland)

4. Right as Rain (Adele)

5. Womanize (B. Spears)

6. Poker Face (HRH Gaga)

7. Fair Game (The Like)

8. Fireworks (Nicholas Hooper)

9. Dream On (Robyn)

10. Comfortably Numb (Scissors Sisters)

11. I don't feel like Dancing (SciSisters)

12. Kiss You Off (SciSis)

13. For Our Elegant Caste (Of Montreal)

14. Not Fair (Lily Allen)

15. Great DJ (The Ting-Tings)

Basically, I wanted to put #1 on a CD, and I needed some other songs that I didn't yet have on CD to go with it, but they needed to be fairly fast paced to keep the atmosphere.

Oh, I just felt the energy drink crash. I'm ending this now before it gets absurd. -er.

Packing Lists

2010-03-09T05:45:00.003+09:00

One of my favorite things to do is make packing lists. It's a ridiculous obsession, but I really enjoy imagining the things that I will have in a foreign country (or state, or even city, it really doesn't matter the distance). I especially like to draw little outfits next to the clothing category. I tend to make the lists insanely far in advance (we are talking years here sometimes--but usually just months). But the lists tend to be really ridiculous, because I'll have all these coordinated outfits and little notes like:

Bring a ziplock bag of baking soda

Check Ross for the soft, fatty headphones

Scavenge house for 3m Hooks, because someone has to have bought them already

...but I'll forget to add everyday important things toothpaste and deodorant (but don't worry! I usually get them...eventually). But the super, absolute most ridiculous part of it is that I very rarely actually use these lists--I usually have to pull an all-nighter the day before the big trip when all plans for organization get shot to hell, and I'm usually found crying in frustration around 3 in the morning because I can't find my debit card and none of my jeans are dry since I forgot to wash them until that moment.

Anyways, the point is that I can't do that this time, since I won't be coming back for awhile. Year-while.

Embarassing revelation

2010-03-05T16:29:00.004+09:00

I've been trying to get back into the swing of Japanese, which isn't really very easy (compounded by such a break since studying it). Even two months spent in Japan didn't get me back to the point where I stopped; the biggest help in my progress so far has been tutoring; relearning the technical elements. And while that's all well and good, I still need to understand it more conversationally--especially since my informal understandings of speech are weak. So my truly mortifying confession is...I've been watching anime lately to try and get used to the flow of the language. And yes...I enjoy it (oh dear). The reason I'm so embarrassed is that there is usually a stereotype of Americans who watch anime, and yes; I am superficial enough not to want to be associated with it. And I'm sure you know what I'm talking about--the skinny, nervous looking white boys who desperately seek after an adorable little Asian girlfriend; the girl who likes to wear cat ear hats (always some sort of animal ears! Keep those fursonas hidden away!) and rainbow knee socks because she thinks that's what they dress like in Harajuku (...it isn't. See earlier post on Harajuku). Really, I can't judge, since I've come along way in the evolution of my personal style (since I used to live in bright spandex and cat t-shirts in the 5th grade)--but mainly I would also not like to be lumped into that category, thank you (heh heh...cat-egory...)--mainly because I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone with my fun-sized pets and unicorn poster collection.

So, my series of choice is "Ouran High School Host Club", a comedy based off the growing trend in male host clubs with the twist of the club being an actual high school club at an elite private school. I was interested in this show after watching "The Great

Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief", which is an amazing and heart-breaking documentary of a Japanese host club. The anime and documentary really have very little in common, besides the fact that the hosts take on an appealing identity to charm women into parting with their money. Slight background for those of you who don't know what a male host club is: super-styled young guys (my stepbrother would probably describe them as dandies) entice women into their restaurant/bar/club where they laden them with compliments and affection, effectively getting the women to fall in love with them, becoming their ideal boyfriend whom they only see at night (much like a vampire, in a way). Comedic anime is fun because it takes these elements of real life and exaggerate it with such a swagger that it's easy to get dragged into it's humongous-eyed glow and pastel dreaminess. Real-life hosting is a fascinating phenomenon, but reflects the idea that if loneliness is a sickness, then treating it by getting in a relationship with a host is the equivalent of taking a cough drop to cure cancer.

But boy, does that have absolutely nothing to do with what I originally was going to go on about in this post! What I meant to say was: Hey, I'm trying to freshen up my Japanese and am doing so by watching anime because it's difficult to pause and rewind conversations with actual Japanese people, and even though it's a little embarrassing, I actually like it a little bit.

Who am I kidding? I dressed as Sailor Moon for Halloween one year. Whatever, I don't need to impress you.

Holy Smokles!

2010-02-23T06:31:00.003+09:00

Last week, I had to send in my diploma + tons of signed papers + 5 passport photos to my new company so that I can get pre-Visa approval. They sent me a reply 2 days later (2 days! So quick!), returning my diploma along with a Japanese culture guide + English magazine about Japan. It was a heartwarming little bundle; little things like this make me feel more secure about my decision. Some days I tend to get really excited; others I have to gather my nerves and convince myself that this is what I want to do. And then I remember it's just a year, for crying out loud; it's a drop in the pond.

Fings!..and the events following.

2010-02-19T16:41:00.003+09:00

Oh my goodness. I sent in the materials today to acquire my visa. I am going back to Japan for realsies now.

As of June 21st, I will be headed to Shiki, Saitama to work for a year in an English conversation school. This idea has been with me for the last few years, and it's exciting and frightening and incredible to finally see it come to fruition.

It also came at a time when I had just gotten to the point of unemployment exhaustion; I had fallen into the mentality that not only were there no jobs available; but that even if there were, I wouldn't be smart enough/skillful enough/all-around competent enough to be up for the task. It was a strange mindset that I had been trapped in for a few months, but as I left the interview for this position, I felt like I had suddenly taken a breath of fresh air. I know that so much of my uncertainty and fear came from the idea that identity is found in what we do and who we are with, and if we are unemployed and lonely, our identity is a hollow shell. Even then I knew that this self-conception was not bound in reality, but what we know and how we feel are often two very different things. With that comes the tangle of expectations; expectations has come to be synonymous with 'unrealistic' and 'eventual disappointment' in my mind, but perhaps that's not a bad thing.

I want to go into this willing to be open to whatever possibilities are presented to me. I know that sometimes I am so tempted to force things to happen a certain way because I think that is how things should be; how I think I want them to be. How things turn out to be should not be based on how I will them to occur based on some preconceived notion of rightness, but how I encounter new opportunities in grateful willingness.

So with that, I will be going to Japan.

For Erin

2009-08-01T20:39:00.004+09:00

Erin said that I am the worst blog rider ever, so to prove her wrong, here is a nice blog about food dedicated to her:

Have you ever had an experience where you think, "Man, this is so wonderful--this is probably the best thing in the world"? I have had this experience, and they call it Sushiro-- the greatest kaitensushi in the world.*

Now friends, you are probably thinking, "Kaitensushi? I don't speak Japanese!" But don't be alarmed; it only means revolving sushi. Revolving sushi? You may say, "No, no--this sounds to magnificent to be real. There must be some kind of catch." But no! There is

no catch! For 105 yen a plate (the current exchange rate--where the yen is beating up the dollar--makes this about $1.10 a plate), you get two pieces of delicious, amazing sushi, delivered straight from the conveyor belt next to the table. But what if your favorite sushi has not revolved in awhile? No problem! A little intercom connected to the table connects you with the sushi chefs, who will prepare a fresh set just for you! And since this is Japan, there is no tax or tip to dampen your check! Of the multiple times I have been to Sushiro, I have always walked away with a full stomach of delicious sushi--and have never paid over 1000 yen (around $11).

Now the real beauty of Sushiro's kaitensushi comes in the variety. Of course, they have the old favorites like salmon and tuna, but they also get a little creative with their options, offering choices such as seafood salad, corn, and my personal favorite, meatball. And when you are finished with dinner, grab a dessert from the revolving pathway, such as panna cotta or tiramisu (complete with cornflakes). Truly, Sushiro is God's gift to the stomach.

*Author's own opinion

Also available at www.choysters.com

Don't do that!

2009-07-20T01:03:00.002+09:00

Short post today. No pictures. すみません.

Yesterday we went to a はなび Festival, and of course I will go into more detail later, but while there, some of the boys thought it would liven the show up to add their own, new slang, like Daniel's idea to yell, "Jack!" and Jack to yell, "Spencer!" But the best came when a huge explosion went off and Jack yelled, "Don't do that!" Not sure why it was so funny, but I'm still laughing 24+ hours later.

Word Guide:

すみません: sumimasen; Excuse me.

はなび : Fireworks (Fireworks Festival)

Countdown til Fuji-san: 2 days

2009-07-09T12:00:00.003+09:00

“You are a fool to never climb Fuji- san, and a bigger fool to climb more than once.”--Japanese Proverb

We live in an area called Hodokubo, a nice residential area that rests on a hill--the downside (or shall I say upside?) is that the most direct route to our apartment from the station is a severe climb that has us tired and sweating by the time we reach our place. But our inspiration is drawn from the refrain, "Fuji Practice!" But now that refrain will soon take on reality, and I must say, fear is beginning to grip my heart. I have heard more than one person remark on the difficulty of the climb, with one even going so far as to say, "Never again!" But I feel like fear should never be a reason to keep me from doing something--if I had let fear control me, I wouldn't be in Japan in the first place, let alone all the other places that I have gone(as anyone who has flown with me in an airplane can attest to). So I have bought my Japanese power bars and vitamin drink pouch (I am quite interested to find out what it holds inside/tastes like) so that my physical energy can hopefully hold out--so now I only have to focus on my mental willpower.

"I lift my eyes up to the mountain(s), where does my help come from?"

I can hear the belling

2009-07-07T15:32:00.004+09:00

Some quick insights:

Weather is super unpredictable; wash your clothes and hang them out to dry when you can.

Karaoke is fun, but it's even MORE fun when the English is slightly off. Ex.: "I can hear the belling" (bell ring) from "Mamma Mia"; "Every moment, red letter" (gets better) from "A whole new world".

It may look cloudy and rainy, but it's probably still hot.

If you haven't had the drink before, it's very hard to predict what it will taste like, even if you think it looks like water.

If you have a favorite food, you can probably find it in chip form!!

BTW, we (and by we, I mean I am while also forcing Sarah Joy to) are listening to Abba on repeat. But only the song "Mamma Mia!", as inspired by karaoke.

**Correction! Scott A. of Portland cookery fame has informed me that the true lyrics to the song "A Whole New World", are in fact, "Every moment red-letter", which apparently means excitement (kind of like it's exciting in the Bible when Jesus talks, so his words are red-letters).

Gaijin

2009-07-01T20:01:00.000+09:00

Sarah Joy brought home Nanako after a shopping exploration, and one of the topics of conversations that came up is about natto, the beloved Japanese fermented soybeans. I think a favorite activity for Japanese citizens is to introduce to snack to American gaijin to see their reactions. If I was to try to explain how natto tastes using a keyboard, this is probably what it would look like:

BLAGHADRHGDFKGLSDFGADGR

>:(========)

GLGdfgadadgjauiaeDFGSADRGdjsfgadjkgfhuahuaehulVASDJASEFGJAERadgasd

FLEHBLAGHBLAGHBLAGHGRAAAAWWAAABLARFBLARF.

Which brings me to the topic of gaijin. Gaijin, as I previously mentioned, are foreigners in Japan. They can be whities, blackies, Chinesies, whatever; if they weren't made in Japan, they are gaijin. Coming to Japan is much different from going to Europe, were passing for a native only requires wearing inconspicuous clothing and not hauling around a camera that you whip out for pictures every 5 minutes. In Japan, blending in is not possible when your skin is tinted pink and you stand 6 inches taller than the average woman (and let's not even get into facial differences). Let's not forget that Japanese style is insanely cute and composed even in 100% humidity; so while Japanese college students look like they just stepped out from some uber chic indie zine, I tend to arrive on the scene red-faced and pouring sweat with my baggy clothes sticking to my damp skin. Real life might not seem so bad, but it's highly amusing to look back at pictures of myself with the students, where they are cool and classy while my appearance is more comparable to a fat man who has just gotten off a treadmill set to "mountain sprints".

But more importantly, there are cultural differences; general practices of courtesy that are ingrained into Japanese life. Many of them aren't very difficult to remember, like pointing to your nose when referring to yourself; however, I had to constantly remind myself not to point at people with one finger--and I have found it nearly impossible to always avoid eating and drinking while walking--I've definitely begun to notice how often I do certain things after I find out I'm not supposed to do them.

Constantly standing out can be kind of weird; when we walk on trains, people always look at us (but try quickly to hide it), and we occasionally hear people utter the word "gaijin" to each other when we go by--but when you can't help it, you have to just go with it. So technically, if we make faux pas every once in awhile, it's okay, because hey--we're gaijin. If the humidity is pressing down on us on our walk to school, then I'll play the gaijin card and sneak a drink of Aquarius--the important thing is knowing the when going against the rules is seen as impolite, and when it is seen as adorably American (okay, I'm not sure anyone ever thinks that, but I have my hopes).

Harajuku is for Lovers

2009-06-30T08:08:00.001+09:00

Lies! Lies! Unless your lover is the spirit of shopping, then yes, actually, Harajuku is for lovers. Three of the students took S.J. and I to the land of Love, Angel, Music, and Baby to see the scene and hopefully catch some of the wild otaku* cosplay kids. And what we found was discounts galore! Well, sort of galore. More like discounts here and there. But some of the shops were so cool/crazy! They had the most intense decorations, my favorite being the Alice in Wonderland theme, that featured a rabbit hole style entrance decorated with flowers and ivy, with the mannequins out front having bunny heads. I must say, after the actual White Rabbit, these were some of the most stylin' bunnies I have seen.

After we had been there for 45 minutes or so, the famous Japanese rain showers began, and while I hoped the downpour would discourage the faint-hearted and clear the area a little, it actually seemed that the streets began to get even more crowded then they previously had been. We headed to an intersecting street that had so many people that it seemed to be a line on our path to Forever 21. After we rounded a corner, though, I saw that we were actually in the line for the store--it was such an intense line that it required ropes and multiple security guards. Getting inside allowed relief from the rain, but casual browsing apparently was a thing of the past--rivers of people determined the flow of shopping; for FOUR FLOORS we moved as a human wall. Despite getting any shopping done there, I was impressed with the very cool decorations of the store--plus, the view was pretty spectacular.

The shopping ambush of Forever 21 and the continuing

rain seemed to drown us of our energy, so we stopped at a nearby Italian restaurant to regain our strength. We tried hitting up a few more shops after that, but we decided to call it quits before even making it to the other side of Harajuku. Still, it was a wild ride--and I'm excited to go back!

The Lingo-Dingo:

Otaku = Can be translated as "fan" or, more commonly to non-otaku Japanese, geeks/nerds.

Cosplay = Costume play

Sexy...Shabe!

2009-06-29T09:17:00.000+09:00

Every Friday we have Shabe* Night, a time to get together, eat, hear a talk about a theme, read some Bible, and then discuss the theme. This past Friday night we had SeXy ShAbE, where we split up the guys and girls to :gasp: talk about gender-segregated things. For the ladies, we put on a tea party, which consisted of us all making delicious little foods that would look especially cute with tea, which we drank while wearing fancy clothes. The men, of course, went the masculine route of eating man-meat (with cheese).

We played a game where the girls had a list of quotes which were either lyrics from

a song or a Bible passage (specifically the Songs of Solomon). I got them all right

(もちろん), but the winning student was Yumi, who got 9 out of 11 right (some girls weren't able to get more than a couple accurate). Some of them were kind of tricky, because it some lyrics had similar words to Bible passages (The kisses of your lips are sweeter than honey, my love-->Your kisses are sweeter than honey {but guess what? so is my money}), but it

was funny how surprised the girls were with some of the answers.

The most interesting part of the evening was the discussion; it was great not to get the expected answers to the common questions that usually go with the subject (especially in a Christian setting). I'm really glad I was able to hear what these girls think, and I look forward to getting to hear their opinions on more things in the future.

*The Lings:

Shabe: Short for shaberu or shaberimasu (if you are super formal, like me). This means "chat", a more colloquial term than "hanashimasu": to talk.

Sexy (thesaurus): toothsome, provocative, tantalizing, foxy

Songs of Solomon: the sexy book in the Bible

もちろん: Mochiron; of course.

DAIbutsu!

2009-06-27T10:56:00.000+09:00

Last weekend, the gang (i.e. BEST setters* and Japanese students) headed for Kamakura for a beach trip--or what we thought was to be a beach trip. The details of the trip weren't translated entirely, so what we were told was that we would be having a beach day and then we would stay the night in Kamakura, with a trip to the onsen thrown in somewhere. The Japanese students decided that instead of paying for a hotel, we would just go to an all-night hang out place, with the options being an internet bar, restaurant, or karaoke (can you guess which one I would choose)? Staying up all night singing is pretty much what I do most of the time anyways,

so it sounded good to me.

When we got to Kamakura, we were told we would go to a shrine first, which was located a little up in a hill. We had to walk through a small tunnel before getting to the place; it turned out it was a temple where you washed your money to give it a lucky cleansing. It was so humid out that I wish I could have had a little lucky cleansing--what's nice is that from the pictures, you can definitely play "Spot the Gaijin", because you have all the Japanese students looking fresh and trendy, and then I am the sweaty, red-faced whitey with the awkwardly large back

pack that knocks people over in the train station. Aside from red and whitey-ness, the money laundering (teehee) was in this serene little cave, the inside of which was decorated with collections of 1,000 paper cranes--each batch supposedly granting a wish to the person who patiently completed the origami task (my question is--what did they wish for? My guess is more origami paper for more wishes!).

After leaving the temple, we proceeded uphill for a "little hike"--a nice excursion, but many of the girls were not prepared--some were wearing skirts, and more than one wore strappy sandals with heels. We were told the end of the path would lead to the Daibutsu end--"

Dai" meaning big, "butsu" meaning buddha--something I didn't think much about at the time. However, when we finally ended up at the destination, I saw that the name was no exaggeration--at 43 feet tall, this buddha was humongous (note the pic from last time, yes?).

After visiting the Daibutsu, we walked around the area for a little while before heading to the onsen. When we arrived, Mark, our leader, told us that we were going to do our first pair talk while in the onsen. "Pair Talk" is where we partner with a Japanese student to talk more deeply one on one, so that we can just be really honest with each other to help strengthen our friendship--so of course, my reaction is, "Oh great--the first time we get to talk deeply with another student we'll be completely naked." Talk about being open. However, it actually went well--I think had I not been paired off and instead went with the larger group, I would have felt much more intimidated by the...casual atmosphere. Instead, my partner showed me the ropes, and I felt much more comfortable then I would have if I had just tried to jump in on my own (sorry, no pictures of the onsen).

After the onsen, we waited around a little while til we could head off to our designated all night destinations--I was more than excited to try Japanese karaoke again, and I had a feeling there would be some feisty singers in the group (1-2-3-4...jk). At the place, I realized karaoke places are magic! because they provide FREE ice cream and drinks with your session! That's when you know things are going to be good (because believe me, I took advantage of the free helpings). My pair talk partner had also decided to do karaoke; I was definitely impressed by the number of English songs she did (on the list of our duets were: Womanizer, Take Me Out, and Girl Put Your Record On--which she knew the lyrics to better then I did). However, we weren't able to make it the whole night, which was why we rented two rooms--we split up to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Even with two rooms, though, there we still a little bit short on space--some kids ended up sleeping on tables, one boy slept sitting up against the wall, and I used spread out footrests--my fitful sleep was a result of a fear that I would slip through the gaps in my makeshift bed and fall on the ground.

When we woke up in the morning, we went outside only to discover that it was pouring rain. After a deliberation at McDonalds (where I had a Bacon and Potato Pie--similar to the apple ones in America), it was decided that we would head to a sports gym to play volleyball and basketball. I was fine with playing sports, but I couldn't figure out why it was so expensive (they told us it would be around $17). When we got to the Sport-cho, I realized that "gym" was definitely the wrong word to describe this place--it was like a mini, indoor fun park that looked like a Chuck E. Cheese's for adults (and for kids, I guess), only without the pizza. The inside included: a mechanical bull (and yes, I rode it--4 times), an arcade area, a mini putting zone, pool tables, a skating rink, a shooting range, a reading room with massage chairs and a manga library, and more fun things that I am forgetting.

On the train ride back, I realized that while our weekend was jam packed with activities, our beach trip ended without us ever stepping foot on the beach. Still, everything we did was very Japanese and unrepeatable as well as incredibly fun--and I definitely slept well that night.

*The Lingo

BEST club= Bible English Sports and Travel Club at Chuo University

SETters= Student English Teachers

Gaijin= Literally "Foreign Person", any non-Japanese person

Onsen= Bath houses

Hajimemashita! はじめしまして!

2009-06-25T00:37:00.000+09:00

Konban wa! Or shall I say, "Ohaiyougozaimasu!" as it is actually 1 in the Ante Meridiem here in Tokyo. Today I have reached the end of my first week in my second trip to Japan. However, due to the incredibly busy schedule that we keep, it feels more like the first month--using the train systems has become old hat and we have picked out some of our favorite restaurants and stores (yes, we have eaten at the same place more than once already, and it has been equally delicious both times).

Now you may ask, "Jill, why are you in Japan?", to which I will probably reply, "OHOHOHO!" And then when I stop laughing, I will say, "To meet Japanese students and eat all the sushi in Japan!" And then I will follow it with, "OHOHOHO!" And so far, I think I am succeeding in both.

My friends, this post is just a taste of things to come; like a sushi sampler, if you will. Since it is quite late and I have bedtimes to get acquainted with, I will leave you with a few key words to tempt your palate and add Japanese culture to your vernacular:

Daibustu

Onsen

Hamburger Sushi

Harajuku

Gaijin

Atsui

Coolish

Chuo University

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the following words over the course of the next month and a half by returning to my blog everyday. I probably will not update everyday, but I expect dedication from you regardless. Until then...Jaa mata/じゃあまた!

Gaijin!

Gee gee gee gee

Earthquake Break

四番 Yonban

3.5

三番 Sanban

二番 Niban

Well, oy.

I'm sorry I can't afford a Ferrari

Oy...

There's no place like Japan for the LOLidays.

Mind and Body at odds

I'm piteously slow at updating; of this I am aware.

Corn Choco!

I had a philly steak yesterday. It was dericious.

Things that happened that were minutely funny

Beautiful beautiful chill!

Re: Disappointment

To add to the list of things I didn't expect to do, then did...

Damn it. Damnation. Damnable. Damned.

Oy.

Odd Flavored Things and Breakthrough!

A moment of...

Kids.

Origami Wallpaper Fail

Flying jerky patterns like snowflakes in the air

"I recall you said you missed me.

Herro Young Rovers

BABY GOT INTAWEBS!

Oh baby, baby, it`s a wild world

A quickie postie!

Up on the rooooof....

I'm on a roof, mudda-effa

My Groodness!

Boy Howdy!

G'Bye, Polly Pie; we will miss you.

Lobstervations.

Shout Out Loud!

Push it...push it real good.

I'm making Mac 'n' Cheese Tomorrow! Mm Mm Mm!

Did someone step on a cat??

Hello Young Lovers

This site is Bananas!

So, I have decided...

でも。。。これはわたしのたんじょうび。。。マシー。。。

Packing Lists

Embarassing revelation

Holy Smokles!

Fings!..and the events following.

For Erin

Don't do that!

Countdown til Fuji-san: 2 days

I can hear the belling

Gaijin

Harajuku is for Lovers

Sexy...Shabe!

DAIbutsu!

Hajimemashita! はじめしまして!

三番　Sanban