Zippys and Poker

I'm sitting at the Narita Airport meeting point, taking advantage of 500yen/day internet, and watching Muppet Treasure Island.  24 hours ago I was eating Zippys chili with my friends.

The past week was a whirlwind of friends and food.  I think I gained 5 pounds.  Trips home always seem to center around seeing people and eating as much as possible (usually at the same time).  Although it rained the entire time and I didn't set foot on a beach, I ate spinach-garlic pizza at Boston's, dimsum from Chinatown, Genki sushi, manapua, and Zippy's chili twice (and that made it feel like home).

I also beat my friends at poker.  That was a nice bonus :)

Home for Christmas

Christmas in Hawaii: trip to the Big Island, Chinese food, Christmas Eve church service, photos in front of the tree, opening presents, drama, and flying home.

We lost our dog.  Fluffy (don't laugh, I named her when I was 5 years old), our one-eyed, blind, deaf, 17 year old dog with liver problems somehow managed to get out from her little enclosure sometime in the night of the 23rd.  The next morning my mom and uncle searched for two hours around and under the house, but she was no where to be found.  I arrived on the Big Island later that day and we searched again, but we still could not find her.  It rained really hard that night and the next two nights.  We asked the neighbors, called the humane society, and searched everywhere around the house.  Nothing.

Honestly, I'm sad.  We adopted Fluffy as a distraction from a larger family issue (unknown to me and my sister at the time), and she's been a part of my life since then.  Her health has been declining for a few years, and when I left for Japan in August, I knew there was a good chance that I would never see my dog again.  While it's a relief to know that my mom won't come home from work one day to find Fluffy's lifeless body, it hurts to think that she might be cold, hungry, and lost with only the hope that someone will find her.

The image that keeps flickering on close-up on the 3-D IMAX of my mind (who gets the reference?) is of Todd sitting in our red reclining chair with Fluffy in his lap.  She loved him, and every single time he came over to my house, she would jump into his lap and stay there while he patted her head.

Anyway, I leave on Saturday to go back to Japan.  I'm now 99% sure I will be re-contracting with JET.

そんなの関係ね！

I guess I shouldn`t be surprised at where I am right now. Not the literal “at the computer in the office of my junior high school,” but in life. I`m incredibly lucky to have essentially fallen into doing things that make me happy. I fell into Willamette on a whim, and ended up being extremely happy (my friend couldn`t make her Willamette interview, so she offered her time slot to me. I went and met Teresa, who is an absolutely amazing human being, and in an hour she effectively convinced me to at least apply to Willamette. One thing led to another and months later, her words still buzzed around in my head and I accepted their offer with a “why not?” attitude). Now I find myself in Japan. While I considered applying for the program for awhile, I wasn`t fully motivated (as some of my fellow WU grads were/are) and I only started my application three days before it was due (including references and an essay).

Anyway, as Koshino Yoshio would say, “そんなの関係ね”(What does that matter?)

I don`t know. It`s the last day of school and I have nothing to do, and I just felt like writing a post that wasn`t simply a re-cap of my latest crazy weekend.

I`m going back to Hawaii tomorrow. I will be in warm, sunny weather in less than 48 hours (I`m making myself believe that it`s tomorrow morning, because technically, for me, it is). I leave Japan at 8pm on Saturday (tomorrow evening), and I arrive in Hawaii at 8am on Saturday (tomorrow morning). Ah, the joy of time zones.

I have to turn in my paperwork about whether I`m going to recontract or not. Although I`m 75% sure I`m going to stay, I decided to wait to make my final decision until after I come back from Hawaii. The combination of having a full-time job and being in Japan has really forced me to think about what I want to do for the next years of my life. Today one of my co-workers asked me when I decided I wanted to become a teacher. I responded that I still haven`t decided yet. The latest newsletter from the Programme said that procrastination is not a good reason for recontracting. I don`t think of this job as procrastination as much as I think it`s research.

Last week I called the summer school office for fun, and my friends updated me about hiring and the new computer system. The summer school office is a great temporary job. It`s fun, in a comfortable environment with people I enjoy, allows me to use Japanese, and plays to my organizational skills. I would be lying if I said I wasn`t a little jealous of the new hires. If that office was in Japan (and I was an average Japanese young single female), it would be an ideal job for me. Many of my friends who are average Japanese young single females and they are looking for essentially the same kind of work; something fun where they can use their English skills. The trick is that these women are not expected to work for longer then 10 years (if not 5). A shrinking majority of women in Japan quit work after they have children (I say shrinking because lately not many women are having children, but that`s a whole other story). If I had school-age children who would benefit from my employment, it becomes a whole other situation. However, I don`t.

What does this matter? I believe if I go back to Hawaii, I will probably end up going to UH grad school for English Literature and/or working at the summer school office. Last year, around this time, I was telling people that I would probably end up in Japan teaching English the following year. Five years ago, around this time, I was telling people that I would probably end up at a small liberal arts school, probably in Oregon. Both came true. Both worked out well. Both made me extremely happy, although they were, initially, my back-up plans.

I don`t know if anything will change if I stay in Japan another year. Yes, my Japanese will get better (I hope). Yes, I`ll make new friends and easy money and gain two years of classroom experience to put on my resume. On the other hand, I don`t want to go into travel, tourism, or international business, and Japanese ability won`t help me get a job as an English teacher (although it helps in the summer school office).

Construction and TIUA Predeparture

My Saturdays for the past three weeks have been consumed by construction and that makes me sad.

December 1st (aka my first free Saturday since October): Fire alarm man came to my apartment to install fire alarms. He then proceeded to go into a 5 minute long explanation of how to work the fire alarm in Japanese. The only thing I understood was that I should change the battery every 10 years. Eventually he noticed my blank look and asked if I understood. I shook my head no, explained my situation, and he said "pii pii pii botan poosh" which I directly translate as "beep beep beep button push." About an hour later another guy came to do something with the pipes. After about an hour of loud noise and general construction stuff, he said he would come back to finish next week (he had simply put holes in my walls and stuffed them with newspaper). Pipe man also requested that I move my cabinet, refrigerator, and cupboard out of the way and take everything out from under the sink and the bathroom.

Fastforward one week to December 8. I move everything I have been instructed to move. The info sheet said they would come between 8:30 and 4:30. I wait. I wait longer. I wait longer. Finally, 5pm rolls around and no one has shown up. Sadness. I check the sheet of paper they gave me. "17 12 16" (aka December 16). (Apparently he said "saraishu"(next next week) instead of "raishu" (next week).

Fastforward one week to December 16. My apartment is in general disarray. I wake up at exactly 8:30 to the sound of my doorbell. Pipe man hath arrived. Commence with frantic moving of furniture. My water is shut off. I have not yet showered, brushed my teeth, etc. He leaves at 4 after asking me if my children like my Christmas tree. After my answer in the negative, he asked if I would put my husband's present under the tree. At least he helped me move my furniture back.

On the bright side, construction is over. My water now tastes different and it foams with bubbles if I turn it on high power.

Meanwhile, Wayne and others from the TIUA staff came over from Oregon for the predeparture meeting from the 4th through the 8th. It was a long week of enkais and reunions and okonomiyaki.

Friday night was Bollywood night at an English Pub in Omiya. It was generally an odd night, but I got to catch up with my friends who will be off in Thailand until next year.

Last night was a huge TIUA 2006 reunion party. It was awesome.

Which brings us to now. I'm sick. I leave for Hawaii on Saturday. I have almost zero shopping done. My apartment is a mess. However, construction is over, I'll be on or near a beach in a week, and it's holiday season.

Evan and Nick

I lied. Evan had a cold and as a result I treated him to perhaps the most boring weekend in Tokyo/Kawagoe/Hidaka ever. On a positive note, my language partner seemed to enjoy meeting someone new and Evan and I ate ramen at my favorite ramen shop.

After his conference, he made his way back up to Hidaka just in time for our weekly mah jong night. I`m not sure if I`ve mentioned it before (and I`m far too lazy to check), but four of us in Hidaka have started playing mah jong every Wednesday night. By "playing" I mean stumbling through a game or two (we`re currently attempting to tackle the complexities of scoring).

Unfortunately for Evan, I had a plane to catch early on Friday morning, so I left him in my apartment (it would be cruel to make him also get up at 4). The 2-hr train ride to Haneda airport was surprisingly gorgeous (I got to see the sunrise over Tokyo). I made it through the airport with no difficulties (fyi, Skymark Airlines staff have remarkably good English skills), and promptly fell asleep for the entire duration of the flight.

Sapporo wasn`t as cold as I anticipated it to be, although I was shocked to find out it gets dark before 5 (I don`t know how people in Alaska can handle it. Yes, I`m referencing Melissa). The snow was fun and I managed to make it through the entire weekend without falling on my face (although there were a number of close calls). I met a bunch of Nick`s friends including a guy from Washington DC who I promised to take out clubbing with us in Tokyo sometime, and a Japanese guy who may be studying in Hawaii in the future.

Ironically, I didn`t do much in the way of "Sapporo stuff," but I did get to eat soup curry (basically exactly what it sounds like) and ramen with corn (apparently two of the things Hokkaido is known for). I was also introduced to Marimokkori, the mascot of Hokkaido. This little green figure represents the abundance of a certain seaweed found only in Hokkaido that is either known for making men fertile or making them larger and, as a result, has a rather prominent bulge. Marimokkori can be found in a number of different outfits and colors, but his most common incarnation is with a superhero cape.

Anyway, we wandered around Susukino (allegedly the AIDS capital of Japan). The area of the city was pretty quiet since it was early afternoon, but it was fascinating to see signs listing the names of the 20+ bars and clubs that were located in a single building that, to the unfamiliar eye, appeared to be a regular office building. We also visited Odori Park`s annual White Illumination display (basically like most Christmas lights displays except mostly white lights). At the center of the park was the German market. I found this fascinating because most of the booths were staffed by Germans. As the shopkeepers bustled about in their little lighted stalls and the Japanese shoppers peered into the stores, the market seemed almost zoo-like. Other highlights include the Sapporo Tower (which seems to be a knock-off of Tokyo Tower which is itself a knock-off of the Eiffel Tower) and a woman playing a synthesizer inside a giant bubble with giant speakers. As with any night out, we also went to an izakaya (restaurant where drinks take priority over food) and karaoke.

Nick is also getting sick. So is Dan. There is a good chance I will be getting sick this week.

I came home yesterday, had dinner with Dan, and watched the Sopranos. Today is Day 1 of final exams at my junior high school, so I have no classes. I taught for exactly 20 minutes on Thursday (and Friday was a holiday). However, my co-workers seemed to enjoy the cookies and corn-chocolate that I brought them, so the day is going well.

Hidaka city people festival and a teacher's trip to an onsen

My general habit with this blog is to post on Sundays. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted last Sunday that I neglected to update. Bad llama!

I'll start by sharing with you why I was so tired. Last weekend was the 日高市民祭り (Hidaka city people festival), and the office thought it was a good opportunity for us to teach the city about what an AET is (in JET lingo, my job is ALT - Assistant Language Teacher, in Hidaka, my job is AET - Assistant English Teacher). As a result, the six of us found ourselves spending most of the weekend at the Hidaka arena and making hand turkeys and snowflakes with children. Kaz did a lot of breakdancing, and I danced a little hula. A highlight of the weekend was dancing for the mayor who kept exclaiming "sugoi!" and insisting I teach the local hula group how to "do real hula."

*sidenote that has a related purpose*
At least four of us (maybe more, I'm not sure) take our dry cleaning to the same little shop near our apartments. She's super sweet, and recognizes all of us (not that hard, but still its nice that she asks us how teaching is going).

Anyway, she complimented Kaz's dancing by saying "黒人のおどりすごい！" which essentially translates to "the black person's dancing is awesome!" She previously said to another AET (in Japanese) that "your black friend has really good Japanese."

I also crashed my bike into a guardrail on the way to the arena. It hurt alot, and it was only a few days ago that I was able to sit on my bike with out pain. Sad, I know.

The smart thing to do after working from 8-4 when you know you have to do it all over again the next day is to go home and sleep. Dan and I went out instead. Our friend Albert hosted a party only four train stops away, so we really couldn't not go. Furthermore, he prepared Cuban food (black beans over rice), and I never had Cuban food before (it was pretty good!). To condense a long, awesome night into a short paragraph, we played a really fast game of "I never," had a mini-dance party, and took a ton of photos. One of my favorite moments of the night involved my friend Amy exclaiming "I've never felt pleasure like this before!" while I was giving her a back massage. The hilarity was further compounded when Albert, from whom Amy stole the massage by inserting herself between Albert and me, said "I want to feel pleasure too!" As expected, Dan and I (intentionally) missed the last train so the party turned into a big sleepover.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Dan and I had to go back to the festival. We left Albert's apartment at 6:30. It was painful for a number of reasons (not the least of which involved my bicycle and a guardrail).

Then I came home and slept.

You would think, since we worked the weekend, we would get Monday and Tuesday off. But no, instead we got two "substitute holidays" to be used for a day when we don't have class (in other words, the days we would be doing nothing in the 教育センター (education center). One of these days was used on Wednesday. I'm not really sure what the holiday was, but here are the facts I know: only people in Saitama get the holiday (therefore its not a national holiday), my VP told the other teachers that they had to take nenkyu (paid leave), and my co-teacher, when talking about the holiday, sang "Happy Birthday" to Saitama. Essentially, it seems as though its a birthday celebration for the prefecture, but they don't care enough to make it a real holiday.

Anyway, since we had Wednesday off, Dan, Zac, and I decided to go out and meet up with our friend Sabrina in her area of Saitama (for reference, Sabrina is the girl who missed her last train and ended up spending the night at my apartment). First stop was dinner at a restaurant that was half-restaurant, half-child's toy box, and half-greenhouse (it's like manbearpig. if you don't get the reference, don't ask). Next, we went bowling. Dan lost, and as a result, he lost a bet. In the interest of preserving your impression of my friends and I as responsible, mature people who are sane enough to work with children, I won't go into details except to say I will be surprised if we actually go through with the terms of the bet. After bowling was a bar where Zac could not keep his hands off a display of daikon (again, don't ask) and Dan and Sabrina were sure the waitstaff was laughing at them behind their backs. We missed the last train and spent the night at Sabrina's apartment.

Breakfast the next morning was at Denny's. As one of my TIUA students proudly said, "Denny's in Japan has rrrrrice!" (he was very proud of his ability to pronounce the letter"r"). We then watched Bourne Identity, and I felt sick from the shaky camera. Lunch/dinner was at an odd Chinese restaurant.

As with Sunday, after I returned home, I promptly fell asleep.

As if my life didn't sound crazy enough, the following Friday was my school's annual teacher's trip. We went to an onsen in "Tokyo" (actually far away from the city, but in the prefecture). It was absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of fun. The main downside was I was exhausted from listening to/speaking Japanese all day. The enkai (a work dinner party that is more about drinking and pouring drinks for others than the actual food) was a lot of fun and was followed by the best way I've seen to get people to sing karaoke. We played bingo (I had fun and made them call the numbers in English), and the winner was awarded a prize and forced to sing. I won a scarf and sang "Yesterday" with the art teacher who really likes English. The onsen was fun, and the water felt amazing (i think it was diverted from the nearby river). The next day we went up a mountain on a cable car and saw a temple. I'd write more about it, but that's about it.

I then hopped on a train and met my friend Evan (from Willamette). He has a conference in Tokyo this week, so he came up a couple of days early to visit. I'm not quite sure what we're going to do yet, but I'm near Tokyo, so I'm sure we'll find something interesting.

MYC and four days in Omiya

I attended Saitama prefecture's midyear conference last week Wednesday and Thursday. I will say this past week has been one of the most interesting weeks I've had since I've been here. On Tuesday I taught five classes (essentially by myself as always) at my elementary school. It was a weird day in that my emotions rollercoastered up and down all day. My vice-principal came up to me in the 2 minutes I was at the junior high school to make sure I was okay. He told me that if I wanted to go home, that would be okay. He was super sweet, and (embarrassingly) I cried. Then I had to teach three classes of 5th graders how to say "I have a pencil." I thought the day was going to be one of my hardest, but teaching really picks me up. The hardest parts of the day were the five minute breaks between classes since that's when I had my thoughts to myself. When I returned to my junior high school, my principal sat down next to me and started talking. His English is terrible, so we talked in Japanese. Long story short, he was also really supportive and told me I didn't have to go to work the next day if I didn't feel up for it.

However, the next day I had no choice but to go to the Saitama conference. The first day's speaker was interesting, but irrelevant. The second day's speaker was relevant, but boring. The highlight was the post-conference party and actually talking to the other Saitama ALTs. Again, long story short, Kristine and I had a minor disagreement that, in the end, solved an aggravating problem, Zac wandered away from the group, and everyone got home safely.

Fast forward to Friday night. I went out for the first time with a big bunch of people I didn't know that well without my security blanket of Hidaka AETS. It was awesome. Enough said.

Fast forward to Saturday night. I met up with essentially a smaller version of the same group from Friday night plus Shane and Ryohei. 8 hours of wine and 2 hours of karaoke later, and I can comfortably say I've made new friends in Saitama. There are facebook photos (and a video or two) to prove it.

It was a great weekend.

October 26th

So... a lot has happened since I last posted. Where shall I begin...

I didn't teach a single class on Thursday. I didn't set foot into a classroom the entire day. A silly person would have sat at her desk and complained about not having anything to do. I took the opportunity to reorganize the 8 or so full binders of papers left behind by my predecessors. As a result, I had a lovely 1.5 hour long conversation/English lesson with some first year students.

As I was about to leave, my co-teacher came to me and asked if i wanted to take the class by myself the next day since he would be absent. Or, if I preferred, I could supervise while they did a worksheet. Guess what I chose...

Friday, October 26th: crazy super eventful day...

I taught the class by myself. It went swimmingly. The kids were great, and we ended up playing Halloween pictionary and charades. Just imagine a 7th grade Japanese kid trying to act out "zombie" or "Frankenstein." Since it went so well, my other co-teacher asked me to do the same activity with the other classes. As a result, I taught 5 classes (one alone, four with my co-teacher).

After work, I called Jen, my friend in Hawaii. Long story short, a close friend of mine from high school passed away two weeks ago.

As class correspondent, I facebook messaged everyone in the 2003 class group. A few people wrote back with thoughts and memories of their own. I later realized I should also write something in the bulletin, so here's a preview of the '03 notes for the spring bulletin.

Classmate Todd Okubo passed away this August after a long illness. Todd is an indelible part of my Punahou experience, and I’m ashamed to say that I took it for granted that he would always be around. Todd attended UH, and a trip home always meant hanging out with him. He embodies so much of what home in Hawaii is about; laid-back, caring, and reliable. Todd had a huge appreciation for having a good time, but was never irresponsible. I remember senior year Halloween when he dressed up as a Rainbow Warrior, then got scolded for breaking the (newly enforced) dress code.

At Punahou, Todd inspired others through his role as Peer Helper. I’m sure many of you who attended camp (or worked it with him) remember his dedication to the program. He performed in the style of Riverdance at Variety Show, helped with food at Carnival, sang in choir, and danced (kinda) in Pops Assembly.

During high school, I often drove Todd around (since we both lived on the windward side). It worked out well because I had a car and Todd knew where we were going. He always had more faith in me then I did (which one time resulted in us going to Pearl Harbor instead of Aiea). Todd’s guidance showed me where to go numerous times, and now I only get lost in Aiea half the time. It’s weird knowing I’ll never again hear his voice yelling at me to turn right.

He inspired so many around him during his years at Punahou and after with his friendly smile, fun-loving attitude, and reliability. Although I will never be able to hear his voice, mess up his hair, or give him another hug, I won’t forget him and everything he taught me.

I'll probably cut it down before submission, but this is where I am now.


On Saturday, I met up with an ex and a group of our friends from TIU/TIUA. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible mood, so I ended up going home early.

This week consists of elementary school, Halloween, two days of conference, and other such things. I'll keep you posted.

Kawagoe Matsuri and Tea Ceremony

Okay, it's official. I only do stuff of interest on the weekend (not that school isn't 100% fascinating, I just don't think you want to hear about my wonderful world of TF questions and pronunciation practice).

This past weekend was the Kawagoe Matsuri, a festival involving massively huge floats and smaller carried shrine-things (I learned what they were called, but I forgot). It was essentially the same as it was two years ago, except I was the only one who knew what was going on.

If you're reading this and you were with me at the matsuri two years ago (or the night before... for reference, Eric essentially dragged me to the train station then shoved me off at my stop), you probably remember what kind of mood I was in that night. Well, I was essentially just as cranky this past Saturday (and this time no one called me trash girl).

Anyway, on a related note, I saw the Willamette/TIUA fall delegation to TIU at the matsuri. Dean Long, Chaplain Charlie, VP Gunnar, Masaki, and Wayne. You would think the odds of running into them are crazy (since there are thousands of people at this festival), but they were pretty easy to spot (blue hapicoats and the fact that a group of white people walking around Kawagoe sticks out a little). I chatted a little with Wayne about the upcoming pre-departure meeting and how a lot of the current tutors are abandoning him next year.

I ended up leaving early (meaning I went to the bookstore for an hour before going home) because I didn't feel like being smushed.

On Sunday, Zac, Dan, and I went to Hanno (the city just south of Hidaka) to meet up with
Paulina(sp?) another AET. We went to her friend's house where she took the girls (Paulina and I) upstairs to dress us in kimono for a tea ceremony demonstration. Meanwhile, the boys chatted with her husband downstairs. The kimono I wore was definitely the most practical kimono I've worn (my fourth time: one, high school Japanese extra-credit; two, JSP closing ceremony; three, Saitama JET orientation; four, this Sunday). There was only one layer under the kimono, and the obi was tied into a simple square. I'll post photos when I get them from Dan/when I figure out how to post them. We endured through far too much seiza (proper Japanese sitting), but saw some pretty ikebana(flower arrangements), paintings, lamps, and other such crafty things that Japanese housewives do when their husbands are at work and their children are at school/out of the house.

Unfortunately, I had to leave early to meet up with Kinuko for her English conversation practice. We ended up wandering around the supermarket for vocabulary practice. It benefitted both of us because she learned new words and I learned which brands are better and what no additives looks like in kanji.

Weekend in

I recently noticed that I've been posting almost exclusively about my weekend *ahem* adventures, and I'm sure you're expecting another ridiculously long post re-capping yet another crazy weekend in Tokyo.

However, this post will be different. Mainly because I've been afflicted with "かぜ" which has severely restricted my social life. It's not a big deal (it's just a cold), but in an attempt to avoid having to take sick leave (and being worried over by my co-workers when I go back to school), I've essentially remained in my apartment for the entire weekend with the exception of Friday night and a quick trip to the library and grocery store.

Okay, so maybe I did go into Tokyo on Friday night. We went into Ebisu to celebrate Dan's birthday. It turned into a big headache for him because people started cancelling (4 people in 30mins) and we had reservations at a small Lebanese restaurant. Then we showed up late because people came late. Ultimately, the food was good, the company was random, and I left early (10:30) because I could feel the cold starting to hit me and I didn't think staying out all night was the best thing for my health.

So if you know me and my trends in health, I get really cranky right before I get sick. True to past experience, I've been in a terrible mood since Tuesday. Unfortunately, Dan has felt the heat of if because I complain to him when he comes over to use my computer/internet (I believe he tunes me out which is for the best).

Speaking of Dan, apparently one of my co-workers (and possibly the education center people) thinks we're dating. Amusing, yes, but not a rumor I want spreading around. It's just annoying that a guy and a girl can't be good friends without people thinking they're dating. (Ironically this happened the last time I was in Japan too.)


Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, a guy who works at city hall in the education department texted me yesterday asking if he could stop by my apartment and drop off presents for the AETs. Let me give you some background on this guy. He's a 40 year old married guy who looks like he's in his early thirties. He swims every morning with my friend from TIU (which is why we exchanged phone numbers). His favorite singer is Wada Akiko (who is also Dan's favorite). So, he rode up to my apartment building on his motorcycle, pulled out a pile of military olive green shirts with white kanji and a white and gold star and laurel design. He said something about accidentally ordering too many, so he thought he would give them to the AETs. I asked what they said, and the only words I understood were "日本(Japan)," ”アメリカ(America)," and "戦争(war)." He accompanied his explanation with the motion of holding (but not firing) a gun. He then pulled out a photo of about 10 guys standing on a ship. He pointed out one particularly intimidating man and said that he is the leader and he loves memorabilia from the war. Next he showed me a catalog with tons of WWII replicas of uniforms, mess kits, etc. I still don't know what the shirts mean, but I've decided never to wear mine out of the house.

Contact Improvisation and Kawagoe

Last last week Thursday, I taught with Chikako, an English teacher who floats around the various Elementary schools. She invited me to join a yoga class with her. Since the class was only 100yen and I was free, I said okay.

While I don't regret saying yes, I will tell you firstly, that it was the weirdest class/workshop thing I've ever been to. We pulled out yoga mats, and individually stretched while the instructor told us to think about our five senses and about how we should experience all five senses in the class. She then asked us to go around the gym, open a window, and feel the senses. By the way, this is all in Japanese. Usually I can understand meaning and about 50% of the vocab, but she was using technical language so I only got about 25%. Luckily, there was a second grader who came with her mom, and the instructor would give out dumbed down instructions for her (and probably me). After "experiencing" the gym, we walked around in a square. It reminded me of that activity we did in Chemistry as a high schooler when everyone walked around the classroom slowly, then faster to represent the temperature rising. Next, we walked around the gym, and randomly lay down on the floor. Then stood up, and randomly lay down again in a different place.

We did two poses for a total of maybe 3 minutes.

Then came contact improvisation. The instructor explained to us that the goal of our next activity was to be in our partner's "inai" space. "Iru" is "to exist," "inai" is "to not exist." Basically, she said that we should be where our partner is not. Ultimately, we ended up doing an odd improvised dance type thing in a group of 5 people, one middle-aged house wife, the instructor's assistant, two (over 50) Japanese men who joked that they had no "inai" space, and the 22-year old who had no idea what was going on (me). Like I said, it was interesting (and no, we didn't taste anything).

I then met up with Dan for lunch where we discussed the common misconception that when two people of opposite genders hang out (especially without other people), they are dating. (In case you are curious, I'm not dating anyone.)

That night, Dan, Kaz, Zac, and I went out to Kawagoe where we met up with Pepe and Sabrina. Pepe is a guy we met last week Saturday night (see previous entry for details). He designs and makes leather accessories such as bracelets, wallets, etc. He's also a model/actor. Sabrina is a fellow JET participant in Saitama that is friends with Dan's friend from college (I'll talk more about Sabrina later).

It was a really fun night! We went to a yakiniku place for dinner, then followed it up by a visit to "Beer Saurus." We stumbled into this place, and were immediately attracted by the blue lights, large windows, and Tyrannasaurus(sp?) head. The guys at the table next to us made comments about the "gaijin" (foreigners), so Kaz went over to them and whispered to them that he understood Japanese and he would appreciate it if they stopped talking about us. They got super embarrassed and left soon thereafter. However, they came back about 10 minutes later and apologized profusely in Japanese. The guy who made the comments was extremely drunk, since he's getting married soon. A few minutes after they left the second time, we were informed by the server that they had bought us a round of Zimas as an apology. Around this time, Sabrina realized she had to leave to catch her train. I walked her to the station (since she had never been to Kawagoe before), and left when she went through the ticket gate. Unfortunately, she took the wrong train, and thus ended up spending the night in my apartment. If you've seen the photos of my place, you know its large enough where two people could each have their own room. We got along swimmingly, and I thought it was really funny since I literally met her six hours before she stayed overnight. She left early the next morning since she had plans to meet up with her boyfriend in Chiba, but after picking up some groceries, I promptly hopped back into bed and lazed around for the rest of the day.

Around 4:30, I met up with Kinuko, a housewife with two young children who studied English in London for 10 years. Her English skills are great, but she wants someone to speak to (other than her husband) to keep them strong. As a result, we met up through Kaz (she wanted a girl), and we made plans to meet every other week for about an hour and a half while her kids and husband are at golf.

So, that was 2/3rds of my weekend in a nutshell. Today is "taiiku no hi" (sports day), so its a national holiday. I'm thinking of heading into Tokyo for some shopping, but that requires changing out of pajamas.

late night/early morning in Roppongi

I went out last night to Ebisu and Roppongi. These districts are known for rich neighborhoods and clubs that cater to foreigners.

While we were waiting to meet up with Kaz, Dan and I decided to wander around Ebisu. It started to just barely drizzle, and Dan said, "it's raining." I said, "no, it's not." We then continued to have a five-minute long debate about what "rain" is. Why do I mention this? Besides the sheer absurdity of the argument, there was a woman in front of us who kept looking back and smiling in that "oh, I know what they're saying because they're speaking in English and I'm smiling because I know their argument is ridiculous."

After we met up with Kaz, we went to a Lebanese restaurant in Ebisu for dinner. It was a pretty neat little restaurant that was depressingly empty. Our server spoke perfect English, the menu was in English (with Japanese translations below) and the other customers who showed up later also spoke English. It was a weird feeling to actually be able to understand 100% of what was going on. My Japanese is definitely improving, but I'm usually only able to get the general idea of what's going on.

Shane joined the group after dinner, and we headed out to Roppongi. This is where the night gets really strange. We met two of Kaz's friends near the station then headed toward's one of their friend's apartments. As I entered the apartment, I introduced myself to the host as the token female of the group. After walking in further, I noticed someone sitting on the couch, looking very much like a beatnik hipster complete with long hair and what seemed to be a black flower pinned to her head. Introductions flew around, and I learned that "her" name is Anthony. Whoops. Ultimately, we found ourselves at the apartment with a total group of 6 gay guys, 1 straight guy, and me. Badir, our host for the evening, kept apologizing profusely that he didn't call his friend because she was interested in hanging out, and he felt that I would be more comfortable if there was another girl present. I assured him many times that it was fine, and I was sure we'd meet up with her another time (by this point we were all having a lot of fun.)

So, we get to the club, and who do we see? The girl that Badir had been talking about all night. I'll leave out the long details of dancing in the club for 5ish hours, but I'll give you some highlights:

-best pole dancers i've seen in my life (although I have to admit I haven't seen very many). They wore shiny silver underwear and white, high-heel, knee-length boots

-a guy who looked like Boy George approached me to dance and then proceeded to spin me and dip me (imagine two people being silly at a wedding). I'm pretty sure he was drunk, since he dipped me right into someone else. My head still hurts from the collision.

-dancing between two guys, one of whom I know to be gay and the other who is presumably straight while the straight guy attempts to take off the gay guy's pants and touch him inappropriately. I believe straight guy's girlfriend found the situation hilarious.

-a number of featured dancers including a few cheerleaders, a chef, and a guy who just kept pouring water over himself.

-going to the bathroom and talking with a model from Jamaica, a Greenpeace worker from Ireland, and an Italian named Francesca. Then watching a guy and girl come into the bathroom, enter a stall, and stay there for about 5 minutes. Then he left, looking much happier, while she stuck around to beautify herself in the mirror.

-there were more guys then girls in the girls bathroom the second time I went. Enough said.

As a result of my debaucherous night, I now possess aching legs from dancing for a long time, a sore neck from sleeping on the train, a cigarette burn on my arm where a dumb drunk girl ran into me, cigarette first, and a head-full of odd memories. Now, 9:45am, is bedtime.

The Internets arrived!

I finally have the internet in my apartment, and I am a happy happy panda. I posted an extensively detailed photo album on my facebook page, so if you have access to it, I strongly suggest that you check it out. If you read this and you do not have access to facebook, send me an email, and I'll send you a link.

The past two weeks or so have been fairly busy. Here's a quick recap:


On Saturday, the 22nd, my junior high school had their 体育祭(sports festival). For you Japanese scholars out there, I recently learned that the difference between 体育祭 and 運動会
is that the latter is for elementary school while the former is for everyone older than elementary school. Essentially, the students compete in relays and races by classroom against the other students in their grade. Some schools form teams that combine one class from every grade (my elementary school had three teams, since there are three classes per grade). My fellow 1styear student's teachers decided to participate in the 100m relay and coerced me to join them. After the race (we lost so the students wouldn't feel bad about themselves), my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) came up to me and said, "Wow, I was surprised! You were so fast I couldn't see you!" I responded to this by hitting him with my towel and calling him "baka!" which means idiot. He laughed and walked away, then said the exact samething to another teacher, to which she responded in the exact same way I did.

After the festival (think 7:30-4 of standing outside in the hot sun), we had an "enkai." An enkai is essentially a work party that involves speeches, food, and all you can drink beer. I thought my speech was terrible, but I was assured that I did fine. I stumbled out some phrases about how the sports day was fun and we didn't have it in America, about how much I like Japan, and how my school is the best school in Hidaka (which they loved). Conversation during the night was amusing, as most Japanese people are restricted to talking about places they've been/want to go, food/drink, and the phrase "you have boyfriend?" when they speak in English. As a result, I talked a lot about Hawaii and places in Japan I want to go/have been to, whether I like sushi, wasabi, natto, and umeboshi, and if I had a boyfriend. I was also asked numerous times, "beer OK?" and my opinion of every alcoholic beverage known to Japanese people. Although it may sound contrary to my description of the night, I had a great time.

On Sunday night, we met up with Shane and his significant other for drinks in Kawagoe. We all had a great time (again, photos are on facebook). However, it seemed to be a bittersweet night, as Shane's bf and Kaz's gf (both of whom are awesome people) returned to their respective homes far far away a few days later.

I celebrated my holiday on Monday (Autumnal Equinox Day was on Sunday, so we got a substitute holiday on Monday) by sleeping in. Can't remember what else I did.

Tuesday was my substitute holiday for working on Saturday at sports day, so I decided to wander around Kawagoe. I lost BookOff, so if you're reading this and you remember how to get there, let me know! I bought myself some fabric to decorate my bathroom (which has been described as Martha Stewart-esque and oddly prompted someone to call me "Krystle Stewart"). I also got myself an icepack (which, if you know me, is no surprise).

Wednesday was speech contest day. My students' speeches were good, but not spectacular. Overall I had a good time. It was interesting to meet the Hanno AETs and the students and teachers that my friends worked with.

Wednesday night was drama-filled. I won't go into detail, but I will say that there was a point in which I was scared for the safety of my friend and that I haven't been so thoroughly insulted in a very long time (email me if you want more details).

Also, the internets arrived on Wednesday. Woohoo!

On Thursday, I met up with Chikako, a floating JTE who rotates around the Elementary schools in Hidaka. We taught 1st graders body parts and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." The kids were super 元気 (genki, meaning lively and excited). It was a great change from the emo-ness of the junior high kids. However, I didn't properly stretch before teaching, and 18 verses of "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" later, I find myself feeling old. Luckily, I have my brand-new icepack. Chikako is super awesome, and she invited me to join a yoga class with her for a few weeks.

Speaking of new Japanese friends, next week Sunday, I'm meeting up with a lady who teaches English to kids. She's looking for native English speakers to practice with so she doesn't lose her skills. I'll keep you posted about how that goes.

Which brings us to today. I believe the plan is shopping in Omiya during the day, and hitting a huge club party tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Substitute Holiday

I`m pretty sure I didn`t write what I wanted to write for last post`s title, but I`m too lazy to figure out the Japanese to fix it right now.

Anyway, I spent last Saturday watching elementary school kids run around and dance and such. My job was to help with いろいろのこと (various things), but realistically, I did nothing except watch the competition, put a broom away, and hold some papers down so they wouldn`t blow away. As a result of this "work," I have a substitute holiday today. I chose to spend today wandering around Tokyo. Perhaps getting my hair cut. (Not sure yet).

I had dinner at La Pausa with a friend from Willamette/JSP on Sunday. ちょ懐かしい(super nostalgic)！

自校紹介

If I wrote what I think I wrote, then the title for this post is "self-introduction."

"Yes, I like Japanese food."
"I want to go to Hokkaido when I am in Japan."
"No, I do not speak Japanese with my family."
"Yes, I can use chopsticks."
"No, I don`t have a boyfriend."

Think of that except stretched out into a 50 minute lesson. Now, think of that times 8.

And so goes my first week of school.


Today I`m teaching Elementary school 3rd graders about the weather. We`ll play a game, they`ll repeat the words (but they won`t remember them tomorrow). My entire purpose is to get them excited about English.


On a completely unrelated note, this past weekend was perhaps the best weekend of my time here in Japan. Friday night, Dan, Zac, Shane, and I went out clubbing somewhere in Shinjuku (if you have access to facebook, there are photos there). After a night of general debauchery, we returned to Shane`s apartment and slept from 7am-2:30ishpm. Without incriminating myself or others, I`ll just say we had a lot of fun. I returned to my apartment and watched "Thank you for Smoking" (a great movie, btw). Sunday`s plans included returning to Wakaba Walk and Kawagoe to buy new shoes, curtains, a dishrack, and other semi-necessary stuff. I ended up spending a fair amount of money (shoes are expensive!), however, my search for new curtains continues. I hate my current curtains. The creamsicle orange with green stripes doesn`t really match anything else in my apartment, and that makes me sad.

I start teaching tomorrow. Promise to update later. Send me good luck vibes!

AET コーナー

Today I find myself sitting almost entirely alone in a staff room intended for over 30 people. My big project for the past few days at school has been to construct my AETコーナー(AET Corner), which is essentially a big bulletin board. My initial plan, however, was foiled when I learned that the board had to be educational and somehow related to my self-introduction. Essentially, now it looks like something out of a child`s picture book complete with complex English words such as “sun” and “flower.” Okay, so really it`s not that bad, but there`s a reason why I haven`t taken an art class since middle school and it shows. （on a semi-related note, I got into a long discussion with the school`s art teacher about art and, subsequently, my lack of knowledge/skill in art. Did I mention that the two people I spend the most time with were both art majors?）It`s just been frustrating because I think it looks fine as it is and two people have said to me　“お疲れ様でした” (otsukaresamadeshita: a set phrase usually reserved for the end of the day meaning something along the lines of the respected person who is tired (because they worked hard to do something)).

The school`s band is playing selections of John Williams` music. There`s nothing quite like walking down a hallway and hearing Darth Vader music played by junior high kids on the French horn.

Anyway, rather dangerously, I have figured out how to call internationally from my apartment. As a result, I may have called a number of people at a time when they were asleep (and woke up at least one person). Whoops. Nevertheless, it sucks that I don`t have my American cell phone, since I only have a few random phone numbers in my address book.

Our first payday is in less than a week and I`m really excited. No, I`m not going to a host bar to spend all my money (although some debauchery in Tokyo is planned). I`m excited about furniture shopping. My apartment is in a wonderful state of empty space (which anyone who saw my room in DG or in Hawaii can attest is something I`m not used to.) My kitchen contains a sink, stove, counterspace, refrigerator, dining table, two chairs, large cabinet, and a smaller rolling cabinet thing. My bedroom has the huge futon storage closet thing, a mirror, and large dresser thing. The living room has a tiny tv stand (complete with a number of VHSs of bad movies) and a couch that sits on the floor (in the sense that you are only about an inch or two off the ground when you sit on it. My personal favorite part of my living room is the set of two little square folding tables. One is white and the other is a sassy red (Dan picked them out). I have decided that I need a bookshelf because I am tired of storing books in the closet.

Anyway, I am glad that the weekend is coming up soon (as in 1.75 hours). This is the weekend of stuff done on the cheap since everyone is running low on funding. Last week Sunday, Zac and I went on a hike. It was crazy intense, and I felt bad because I thought I was holding him back (he`s in much better shape than I am). The mountain overlooks Hidaka city and we could see major landmarks like our respective schools, our apartment and the grocery store we all frequent. I would not be surprised if plans for this weekend include a return to the mountain.

In un-related news, my internet box thing is on it`s way from Yahoo, so hopefully I`ll be connected at home in a week or so. Hooray!

Saitama Orientation

On last week Thursday, the four new Hidaka JETs found themselves wandering across the prefecture to Saitama City. Little did they know, they were in for a long day of lectures, presentations, and panel discussions...

"`Little did they know`? I could write books on `little did they know`"

(Sorry, I couldn`t help myself)


Anyway, we left the confines of the Kyoiku sentaa(education center) and went to Saitama City for a prefectural orientation for new JETs. It was omoshirokatta(interesting). The most interesting of all was the enkai(afterparty) on Friday. First stop was Rikki`s. Rikki`s is a restaurant that is completely covered in soccer articles, photos, and memorabilia. After some dinner and drinks, consensus dictated that we head to karaoke. Ironically, the people who had been annoying all of us over the course of the past few days decided to come along. Most amusingly was one guy who veryvery blatantly tried to hit on one of my friends. I won`t go into detail, but it provided ample entertainment for the group of us.

Saturday rolled around, so I decided to ride my bicycle to school. I don`t have a keitai(cell phone) yet, so I don`t have a portable way of keeping time, but I would guess that it`s about a 30 minute bike ride. The commute is actually really nice (I`m sure I won`t be saying that when it`s raining/snowing, but I`ll get to that later). I ride past a couple stores, a rice field, and a tiny little temple (which currently has a sign on it saying something like "beware of chikan(perverts)." Also the bank is close by and the school is near a trainstation (I`m thinking of riding the train instead of biking if it snows. I think I would hurt myself severely if I tried to ride my bike in snow).

Plans for today include meeting the principal of the school where I`ll be working, meeting the mayor (and getting our photo taken for the local paper?), and lots of sitting around.

Anyway, I finally have the romanji(English letter) version of my address, so if you want it, please send me an email. I also have a phone in my apartment, so I can give that out as well.

One week later...

Last week Friday I found myself wandering over to Kasumugaseki and TIU. It wasn`t until I arrived that I realized that I probably should have brought my camera. In the words of Tami, *facepalm*. As I walked toward the main building, I passed someone who reminded me of Chiemi, one of the Peer Assistants who helped us out last time I was in Japan (but she was a senior at the time). I moved on and met up with Lorenzo and Junko at their office, and discovered that Lorenzo is not only leaving Japan, but moving to Willamette. Again, *facepalm*. Furthermore, I soon realized that the person I thought to be Chiemi actually was Chiemi. Weird... we exchanged phone numbers, and I promised to stay in touch, and they had to go and finish the work day.

I`ve now officially been in Japan for over one week. I`ve completely moved into my apartment (no more living out of suitcases and piles of clothing on the floor). It is absolutely fascinating to me that I spend my working days for nearly all of August sitting around a room with five other people who are all also totally bored out of their minds.

Furthermore, it seems as though my co-workers are much more dedicated than me to the pursuit of a superior grasp of Japanese. Jenny, Zach, and Kristine always seem to be studying kanji and Kaz started reading manga today. In contrast, Dan and I spent a nice chunk of the morning napping and shooting rubber bands at each other. I also learned a great new joke:

Q: What`s orange and sounds like a parrot?
A: A carrot.

I found it amusing, but if you are at all with my sense of humor, you`re probably not surprised.

I still have no internet access at home and no cell phone. Living without a cell phone is oddly liberating and frightening. On the way home from Kawagoe on Friday night I realized that I didn`t remember which station I live near. Luckily, the line stopped completely at the station I needed, so I didn`t have any problems. If I had a cell phone, I could have easily called/texted someone to ask, but I was forced to figure it out on my own and everything worked just fine. This seems to be the way my time here has gone so far. Cooking for myself? Throw grocery stuff together and something edible will be created. Getting to work? Just bike downhill and you`ll run into it eventually. Crazy appliances in my house that don`t behave when I push buttons that I can`t read? Well, to be honest, I`ve figured out the tv and the lights. The rice cooker only recently started cooking rice for me, and I`ve been stuck taking hot showers even though the weather here is pretty ridiculously hot. It`s also not comforting that my predecessor from over 5 years ago left me a guide book to the appliances (with drawings) and most of the information says something like, "push the green button to ____. I`m not quite sure what the other buttons do, but you probably don`t need them."

よこそう日高！

Yesterday I arrived in Hidaka city, my home for the next year. Hidaka is shockingly close to Kawagoe. Last night the 6 Hidaka ALTs went out to dinner at the Oatman Diner, an American restaurant right outside of Crea Mall. I know this doesn`t mean much to most of you reading this, but any fellow JSP alums know the restaurant. I`m really enjoying myself so far. Zach, Jenny, and I met at the Tokyo Orientation at the Keio Plaza Hotel and we all get along really well. Yesterday, in Hidaka, we met the other new ALT and the two returnees.

As much as I`m enjoying myself, it all still seems surreal. Wandering around Crea Mall yesterday was definitely a flash back two years to fall semester of my junior year. Furthermore, the fact that I have my own apartment and I`ll be cooking and cleaning up after myself completely is simultaneously liberating and intimidating (especially when I can`t read the kanji on some of the buttons in my apartment). Furthermore, while the other ALTs are all within walking distance, it feels strange not to have people just down the hall to talk to.

Unfortunately, I won`t have internet until after I get my 外人 card, so I`ll only be checking my email at work or on another ALTs computer. As always, I can be reached through email or facebook.

Keio Plaza Hotel

I'm officially in Japan! I'm staying in the Keio Plaza Hotel in the heart of Shinjuku. Orientation is today and tomorrow, and on Wednesday I head to Hidaka-shi.

I'll update more when I get a chance!

Skype!

I bought myself an awesome new toy today! It's a lovely Skype headset, and I decided to celebrate my newfound Skype-ness with re-downloading the program. (I deleted it awhile ago as I only really used it to talk to one person and since they had since moved back the the U.S., I considered it unnecessary.) My phone has now officially run out of Whenever minutes, so if you have a strong desire to hear my voice, I can be reached through Skype. My Skype name is my screenname for everything, or you can write me an email I'll send you my Skype name. :)

Waimea Bay and my last sunburn for awhile

I realize it has been over a month since my last post, and I apologize. To summarize, the past five weeks have been pretty uninteresting. I've been working at Punahou Summer School, got a sizable raise, and finally worked with children for a few days. I also led Vacation Bible School, probably for the last time, and had a visitor.

My friend from Willamette came for a week and a half. We visited a number of beaches, many of them multiple times, and hiked up to Manoa Falls (which I believe to be a far superior hike to Diamond Head, although much less iconic). Overall, I think he enjoyed himself, and I had fun hanging out with him.

Recently, I've been making preparations to go to Japan, as I leave on Saturday. I spent much of my time at the beach crossing items off my to-do list, including writing some belated thank you cards and hemming pants for my short Asian legs. Luckily today's beach trip was much less productive, except in the sense that I improved my tan. Saturday is approaching quickly, and I am really excited!

On a semi-related note, my phone will be no longer in operation as of Saturday (and as of now, I have less than 19 Whenever minutes), so if you would like to talk to me over the phone, call me before then. I will be getting a Skype headset in the near future, and I will keep you posted.

mock enkai

Dinner tonight was fabulous. I went to a restaurant called Natsunoya Tea House with the other Hawaii JETs and it was fantastic. The food was really good, the games were silly and fun, and I ended up winning the only game with a prize. :) I also made a few new friends along the way. After dinner a group of us went to a bar called, I kid you not, 8 fat fat 8. $3 IPAs, so I was a happy camper, although ultimately it didn't matter since another ALT ended up covering the round. We sang a little karaoke, ate some edamame, and all around had a good time. We made plans to go out to a place called Tiki's next weekend (one of the other JETs works there and gets 50% off). Tiki's is a restaurant in Waikiki that is decorated with tiki torches, but apparently its pretty good.

To make a long story short (and stop the rambling), I had fun tonight.

vocabulary list of doooom

After considering the benefits of teaching abroad in Japan, I realized that I'm extremely lucky to be going back to Japan. Last time, I may have squandered much of the opportunities I had to really expand my language skills. Yes, I talked to my host family in Japanese (some of the time), and I tried to talk to Japanese people (except when I was hanging out with my English speaking friends), but I didnt improve as much as I could have.

I realized I didn't really have any motivation to improve my language skills. Personal gain and pride in myself is great, but it helps to have a tangible goal. So I made a goal. I will pass the nikyu (second level) Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). At some point. As a result I've started studying with help from what I've termed the vocabulary list of doom. There are 4966 words on this list. Out of the first 178 words, I know 82. 56.395% !!! If this trend continues, I will have a pile of 2287 little flashcards. woohoo!

Kindergarten thoughts

On Thursday afternoon, I ventured across campus to Wilcox Hall, home of Punahou's Kindergarten. I have fond memories of this building and the year I spent with Mr. Yorck and Ms. Tanabe. Yesterday I walked the 10 minutes uphill simply to drop off some paperwork from the office. I dreaded this trip all morning, but was pleasantly surprised to find one of my Kindergarten teachers there. We chatted about what I was planning on doing with my life; she phrased it as "so, you're never leaving Punahou again, right?" When I told her I was leaving the country, she said that was okay, as long as I came back next summer (which I'm not). Another Kindergarten teacher overheard our conversation, and, I'm not kidding, introduced herself as "you're Krystle? Oh my goodness, its so nice to meet you! You're my angel! Like, I started hearing about you earlier this week, then more today! I promise, we were just talking about you! You can't ever leave us!"

I promise this has a point. Today, I talked with Mrs. Tyau, a middle-school supervisor at Punahou. In contrast to yesterday, we discussed the benefit of leaving Punahou. Students at Punahou are extremely privileged with high-tech electronics (they're moving toward a system in which every student over 4th grade gets a computer to borrow every year), a brand-new 65 million dollar middle school, and other such extravagant features. She said that when Punahou grads go out in the world and share the skills they learned in school it almost makes everything seem worth the huge amounts of money that is spent on a Punahou education. (Just for fun, here's a bit of trivia. Currently, a year of Kindergarten costs $15,800. When I was in Kindergarten, the cost was about $5,000. If the current price remains constant, which it won't, a child who spends 13 years at Punahou will cost $205,400.)

So, where does this leave me? I'm totally conflicted about what to do with my life. My mom recently said, "If nothing else, you'll always have a job at Punahou." This is probably true. I could probably teach at Punahou with children who were most likely born into money and will most likely succeed. Or, I could go elsewhere and work with people who are not so lucky.

In the meantime, I'll go to Japan.

Punahou Summer School

"Punahou Summer School Office, this is Krystle."

So begins day one of the monotonous phone responses. Technically I started working on Monday, but stuffing envelopes, as thrilling as it is, is hardly the repetitive action that causes joy when parents call for the billionth time with the exact same question that they would find the answer to if they simply opened their catalog or looked on the website.

Finally back in Hawaii

After two weeks of traveling, I'm finally back in Hawaii. Since I last posted, I saw two amazing musicals (more about that later), wandered around New York City on my own, traveled halfway around the world, and unpacked 5 bags that weigh an average of 50lbs. Although I will admit that "unpacking" consists of dumping the contents of these bags on to the floor of my room.

While in New York, I saw Spring Awakening and Avenue Q, two musicals that represent angst and confusion in teenagers and young adults. As expected, Avenue Q was hilarious, fun, and puppet-filled, so I had a great time. My sister and I decided to see Spring Awakening on a whim since tickets were 50% off at the TKTS booth. The show was simply amazing (see below). Its rare for my sister to enjoy things, and she liked it.

JET Placement

For those of you who are curious about where I'm being placed in Japan next year, here's the answer. Saitama-ken, Hidaka-shi. According to Lorenzo, I'm literally a bike ride away from TIU. That means I'll be able to see my TIUA friends and my WU friends who are studying abroad at TIU. hooray!

End of Vancouver trip and New York!

After an 8 hour stay at the luxurious Seattle/Tacoma airport and a 5 hour red-eye flight, I'm finally in New York. I'm probably going to be staying with my cousin, Erica, in Brooklyn (I'm not quite sure where I am in the city right now).

The last few days in Vancouver were just as amazing as the first. Thursday was mountains, Friday was ocean, and Saturday was city. On Friday a group of us decided to take the ferry to Victoria. Long story short, we were only in the actual city for about 2 hours, but the 1.5 hour ferry ride (for a total of 3 hours on the boat) was by far the highlight of the day. Again, if I ever figure out how to post photos, I will, because the view from the boat was absolutely gorgeous.

I also met a nice kid from Vancouver who was on a trip with his mother and her friends. I say kid because he's in 7th grade. I was outside enjoying the view and braving the cold by myself, and he simply approached me and started talking. We chatted about the usual; how pretty the view was, what we had done in Victoria, where we were from etc. Amusingly, he thought I was 25. When I corrected him, he stammered that "It's always hard for me to tell the age of... Hawaiian people."

That night we went out clubbing at this place called The Roxy. Our friend Jen was so popular that there were literally at least 3-4 guys checking her out/trying to dance with her at any point of the night. It was pretty ridiculous. The guys on the trip with us saved all the girls from the sketchy guys at one time or another.

After closing the place at 2am, we all went back to the hotel room for some well-deserved rest. I woke up early, as usual, so took a nap from 11:30-2ish. As a result, I missed the car that went to the Indian market, so I wandered around the shopping areas of downtown Vancouver. There were many familiar stores (AE, Gap, Body Shop, etc), but also a lot of really funky shops. Of course, it started raining just as I was starting the 10+ block walk back to the hotel. Usually, I'm not too thrilled when it rains, but for some reason, the cold rain felt really nice. I'm sure a lot of people in the area thought I was crazy since I was essentially walking around in the rain with a long sleeve shirt. I warmed up with a trip to the hot tub where I met four guys who were, ironically, from Portland. Unfortunately, they were all far more interested in the other guys than in talking with me.

After a failed trip to sing karaoke, we went to a bar in an area nearby called Yaletown. Again, Jen was hit on by a sketchy guy, and again the guys swooped in to her rescue. Highlights of the conversation include his attempt at a conversation starter: "Do you believe in reincarnation?" He also attempted to get her to recite the pledge of allegiance. My personal favorite is, "Why are you frowning? You look so much prettier when you smile" accompanied by him stroking her face.

We left early the next morning so Eric could catch his plane. The trip through customs took 1.5 hours, but Sean, Katie, Beverly, and I had some quality bonding time including a coffee accident and tales of a broken shot glass.

I then spent a lovely 8 hours in the Seattle airport in which I rode the tram thing around for a little while, then wandered around looking at artwork, and finally crashed at the gate. One red eye flight and a few subway rides later, and I'm finally somewhere that I can shower and nap.

Vancouver and Grouse Mountain

So, I'm in another country... Vancouver is absolutely gorgeous, and the weather has been spectacular.

After a long drive from Salem, Oregon to Vancouver, B.C. (I drove the entire way, btw) that took about 7 hours (plus we stopped for lunch and for gas), we decided to go out to find somewhere to eat. Since it was my birthday, I requested Asian food of some sort (typical me). We found this really cute Japanese restaurant, had some Sapporo beer and sushi, and a tasty birthday dessert of brownies and ice cream with green tea powder sprinkled on top. My friends were kind enough to treat me to dinner, and surprise me with the tasty ice cream concoction. \(^o^)/

In true first-night-in-a-new-country fashion, we decided to stay in the hotel room. Why? Lost, of course. I can't wait for next week...

Yesterday, Beverly, David, Sean, Eric, Elena, Jen, and I went up to Grouse Mountain. The boys wanted to do this insane hike (2.5 miles one way, steep incline), but we weren't too thrilled about it. Ironically, the trails up the mountain were all closed, so we walked downhill (suburban hiking) to a really cool dam, then hiked down further to a river. As David put it, the area was very A River Runs Through It. There was even a guy fly fishing. With any luck, I'll figure out how to post photos, and I'll do that when I get home.