I've effectively consistently filled four out of five weekdays with interesting stuff that takes me out of Hidaka. My travel expenses have doubled. I've spent at least one night a week somewhere other than my own apartment. I eat out for dinner more often than I eat at home. This is evident by the fact that I haven't made rice for two weeks. Tuesday: Japanese class, Wednesday: bar, Thursday: hanging out in Sakado, Friday: Japanese class. Monday is usually a recovery day anyway, and I think my head would explode if I went out every single night of the week. Going out means getting home at 10 at the earliest, and usually means I catch the last train which gets me home around 1. Yet, I'm still doing my job well and being on time every day. Go me!
I'm going home today. I'll be back for a week, then coming back to Japan for New Year's. I'm spending New Year's Eve in Shinjuku, then going skiing for three days in Niigata. Beach to snow in a week.
I've also purchased a trip to the US in May for my sister's graduation. By US, I mean Seattle, Portland, Chicago, NY and New Jersey. Two weeks, five cities. It'll be epic.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saitama-east
I've realized that I would both save money and generally be much happier if I lived on the other side of the prefecture. This is evident through the fact that I spent over $100 traveling to and from that area in the past two weeks. I've landed within reasonable traveling distance of three groups of friends, but not near any of them. My closest English speaking friend is 30 minutes away. Anyway, I'm not one to complain and do nothing if I can help it, so I've been bolder about traveling for over an hour on some occasions to see friends.
Meanwhile, I'm still studying for the JLPT. I know my Japanese has improved since I've really started studying, but I'm still far behind the level I need to be at to pass. I've been testing at about 50%, while I need 60% to pass (my 70% listening improves my 45% grammar and reading). Almost everyone has told me the reading part is the hardest, so I've been working on my reading speed. I wouldn't say it's going well, but hopefully I'll kick it up to about 50% to at least give myself a chance at passing.
I went up to Kiryu with Emma, Chris, and Koichi this weekend. It was fabulous. We went to a concert on Sunday, hosted by the ever-energetic Annie, then had Indian food for dinner before I passed out around 11. On Monday we hiked up this mountain (Emma insists it's only a hill). What do you think? It started raining on the way down, but an onsen (hot spring) was waiting for us at the bottom, so it wasn't so bad.
Meanwhile, I'm still studying for the JLPT. I know my Japanese has improved since I've really started studying, but I'm still far behind the level I need to be at to pass. I've been testing at about 50%, while I need 60% to pass (my 70% listening improves my 45% grammar and reading). Almost everyone has told me the reading part is the hardest, so I've been working on my reading speed. I wouldn't say it's going well, but hopefully I'll kick it up to about 50% to at least give myself a chance at passing.
I went up to Kiryu with Emma, Chris, and Koichi this weekend. It was fabulous. We went to a concert on Sunday, hosted by the ever-energetic Annie, then had Indian food for dinner before I passed out around 11. On Monday we hiked up this mountain (Emma insists it's only a hill). What do you think? It started raining on the way down, but an onsen (hot spring) was waiting for us at the bottom, so it wasn't so bad.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election 2008
History is a funny thing. People often say "history is written by the winners." I always felt the most profound part of that statement is not the realization that the successful have the ability to document their own greatness, but the implication that history continues to be written. History is written. People all over the world are talking about how today's US presidential election has changed history. I disagree. Obama said "change has come to America." I disagree. Yes, of course Obama is different from Bush. However, McCain is also different from Bush. Both campaigns pushed the image that their candidate was different. This is made clear through Obama's "change" and McCain's "maverick." The one who holds the office the president will change on January 20, 2009. This is inevitable. I hope with this straightforward change, the transferring of a position from one to another, will bring with it more change. Congratulations America, we no longer feel the need to elect a white male president. However, there is still change to come.
This past year, two strong women in the national political spotlight were criticised for being inappropriately feminine, for neglecting their families, for spending too much on their clothes. Political commentators focused on outfits, hairstyles, and even made remarks about weight, while often neglecting experience and policy. There is a fifty year gap between the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the Nineteenth Amendment (1920). Fifty years passed after African-Americans were given the right to vote before women were given the same right. Today women can run for president. This year's election proved that women are more than capable of running a tough race for the White House. However, it is by no means the same race that a white man runs. Hillary Clinton was forced to simultaneously disprove claims that a woman is too weak and too emotional to run a country while remaining a mother, a wife, and a woman. Her "strong female" approach caused some to call her unfeminine. Sarah Palin often seemed the complete opposite. She often referred to her role as a mother and her children made national headlines. Some journalists focused on her history as a beauty queen and her "hotness" while neglecting to pose serious questions of her policies and credentials. Change is happening, as it has been since the birth of America, but the nation is still by no means a perfect union.
Prior to November 4th, journalists and the country worried about the Bradley Effect. We were concerned that people would say one thing in the public polls and do another in the privacy of a voting booth. Barack Obama led in most polls leading up to election day, but polls and the actual vote are different entities. The Bradley Effect concerns me deeply. I don't understand what would motivate a person to announce a choice publicly while secretly harboring other feelings. Furthermore, polls are usually anonymous except in the fact that you're declaring your opinion to another person directly instead of to a touch screen or piece of paper. True, some worry about judgement, but really, the job of pollsters is not to judge. America was founded for freedom, not judgement. Ultimately, many breathed a sigh of relief when it was made clear that the Bradley Effect didn't alter the outcome of the presidential election. However, I'm far from convinced that this fear of judgement paired with secret bias is no longer an issue in America. One issue this year polled well for freedom and social change. Polls indicated as high as a 55% majority against discrimination. However, in reality, equality lost. This measure in California would have assured same-sex couples the right to marry. Discriminaton comes not only in the forms of racism and sexism, but also in heterosexism. The Bradley Effect is still affecting the way Americans vote and voice their opinion.
I am saddened, but not shocked, that amendments to three state constitutions legally defining marriage as between one man and one woman passed yesterday. Proponents of these amendments argued for "strong family values" and "traditional family" and accused their opponents of forcing their "homosexual agenda" while simultaneously forcing their own beliefs. Yes, the Bible says homosexual activity is a sin (Leviticus 18:22, among others). However, I challenge anyone to truly lead a Biblical life today. True, it's much easier not to covet your neighbor's slaves (male or female) and to refrain from literally throwing the first stone, but I believe many would find the other lessons of the Bible a little more difficult. Do we keep the Sabbath holy? Refrain from touching or eating the carcass of a pig (Leviticus 11: 7-8)? Yes, some people refuse to work on Sunday, and others don't eat pork or play football, but are these decisions required by law?
"Pro-family" supporters contend that one man, one woman, and children make an ideal family. Is this true? Maybe. Perhaps I would have been better off with both a mother and a father for my entire childhood. Does that mean my family is a weaker or lesser family? I believe a family is as strong as the love that encompasses and surrounds it. Furthermore, I believe if a family is made weaker by the love of another family, then there are much larger issues. Proponents of Proposition 8 in California, Amendment 2 in Florida, and Proposition 102 in Arizona claim that a vote to legalize same-sex marriage will destroy families. I fail to see how this will happen. Instead, families that are led by two women or two men instead of one of each are told that they are inferior and thus are not allowed the same rights. Separate but equal has not worked in the past. A pro-Prop 8 commercial in California claimed that churches could lose their tax exemption and children would be forced to learn about gay marriage in public schools. Since these amendments passed, hospital visitation, property inheritance, and adoption will be denied to families headed by same-sex couples. I don't understand how an amendment against gay marriage promotes families as severely as it harms them. In the past, the arguments against interracial marriage also claimed to be protecting families as they imprisoned people for loving a person with different colored skin. It wasn't until 1967 that Loving v. Virginia abolished the horrible laws restricting people to marry only those of the same race. Ninety-seven years passed after people had the right to vote regardless of race until people had the right to marry regardless of race. How long will we have to wait until people have the right to marry the person they love regardless of gender?
Change is coming, and history continues to be written. Yes, Barack Obama's ascension to the office of the President of the United States is a milestone in American history. However, we as a country cannot relax and congratulate ourselves for stepping past our history of discrimination by electing a president with a dark skin tone. Tonight Barack Obama declared "This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change." We must continue to fight against the arrogance that we confuse with pride, and the condescension that we confuse with acceptance. Yes we can change the world, but only if we continue to fight for it.
This past year, two strong women in the national political spotlight were criticised for being inappropriately feminine, for neglecting their families, for spending too much on their clothes. Political commentators focused on outfits, hairstyles, and even made remarks about weight, while often neglecting experience and policy. There is a fifty year gap between the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the Nineteenth Amendment (1920). Fifty years passed after African-Americans were given the right to vote before women were given the same right. Today women can run for president. This year's election proved that women are more than capable of running a tough race for the White House. However, it is by no means the same race that a white man runs. Hillary Clinton was forced to simultaneously disprove claims that a woman is too weak and too emotional to run a country while remaining a mother, a wife, and a woman. Her "strong female" approach caused some to call her unfeminine. Sarah Palin often seemed the complete opposite. She often referred to her role as a mother and her children made national headlines. Some journalists focused on her history as a beauty queen and her "hotness" while neglecting to pose serious questions of her policies and credentials. Change is happening, as it has been since the birth of America, but the nation is still by no means a perfect union.
Prior to November 4th, journalists and the country worried about the Bradley Effect. We were concerned that people would say one thing in the public polls and do another in the privacy of a voting booth. Barack Obama led in most polls leading up to election day, but polls and the actual vote are different entities. The Bradley Effect concerns me deeply. I don't understand what would motivate a person to announce a choice publicly while secretly harboring other feelings. Furthermore, polls are usually anonymous except in the fact that you're declaring your opinion to another person directly instead of to a touch screen or piece of paper. True, some worry about judgement, but really, the job of pollsters is not to judge. America was founded for freedom, not judgement. Ultimately, many breathed a sigh of relief when it was made clear that the Bradley Effect didn't alter the outcome of the presidential election. However, I'm far from convinced that this fear of judgement paired with secret bias is no longer an issue in America. One issue this year polled well for freedom and social change. Polls indicated as high as a 55% majority against discrimination. However, in reality, equality lost. This measure in California would have assured same-sex couples the right to marry. Discriminaton comes not only in the forms of racism and sexism, but also in heterosexism. The Bradley Effect is still affecting the way Americans vote and voice their opinion.
I am saddened, but not shocked, that amendments to three state constitutions legally defining marriage as between one man and one woman passed yesterday. Proponents of these amendments argued for "strong family values" and "traditional family" and accused their opponents of forcing their "homosexual agenda" while simultaneously forcing their own beliefs. Yes, the Bible says homosexual activity is a sin (Leviticus 18:22, among others). However, I challenge anyone to truly lead a Biblical life today. True, it's much easier not to covet your neighbor's slaves (male or female) and to refrain from literally throwing the first stone, but I believe many would find the other lessons of the Bible a little more difficult. Do we keep the Sabbath holy? Refrain from touching or eating the carcass of a pig (Leviticus 11: 7-8)? Yes, some people refuse to work on Sunday, and others don't eat pork or play football, but are these decisions required by law?
"Pro-family" supporters contend that one man, one woman, and children make an ideal family. Is this true? Maybe. Perhaps I would have been better off with both a mother and a father for my entire childhood. Does that mean my family is a weaker or lesser family? I believe a family is as strong as the love that encompasses and surrounds it. Furthermore, I believe if a family is made weaker by the love of another family, then there are much larger issues. Proponents of Proposition 8 in California, Amendment 2 in Florida, and Proposition 102 in Arizona claim that a vote to legalize same-sex marriage will destroy families. I fail to see how this will happen. Instead, families that are led by two women or two men instead of one of each are told that they are inferior and thus are not allowed the same rights. Separate but equal has not worked in the past. A pro-Prop 8 commercial in California claimed that churches could lose their tax exemption and children would be forced to learn about gay marriage in public schools. Since these amendments passed, hospital visitation, property inheritance, and adoption will be denied to families headed by same-sex couples. I don't understand how an amendment against gay marriage promotes families as severely as it harms them. In the past, the arguments against interracial marriage also claimed to be protecting families as they imprisoned people for loving a person with different colored skin. It wasn't until 1967 that Loving v. Virginia abolished the horrible laws restricting people to marry only those of the same race. Ninety-seven years passed after people had the right to vote regardless of race until people had the right to marry regardless of race. How long will we have to wait until people have the right to marry the person they love regardless of gender?
Change is coming, and history continues to be written. Yes, Barack Obama's ascension to the office of the President of the United States is a milestone in American history. However, we as a country cannot relax and congratulate ourselves for stepping past our history of discrimination by electing a president with a dark skin tone. Tonight Barack Obama declared "This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change." We must continue to fight against the arrogance that we confuse with pride, and the condescension that we confuse with acceptance. Yes we can change the world, but only if we continue to fight for it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Ok, so I haven't written a real update in quite sometime. And, to be honest, I'm not quite sure where to start. I'm currently sick, bored, and lonely at home. I don't think I really intensely missed Dan until this weekend. I'll spare you the details, but I woke up on Sunday morning and needed to go to the hospital. Since it was 4am on a Sunday, I held out for a few miserable hours and called my mom to confirm that I needed to go. On a weekday, I would have called my friend in the BOE, but she's newly married (I'll talk about that later) and it was a Sunday. The other English teachers in my city always have phone issues, so it seemed pointless to try them. Finally, I took the bus, then a taxi by myself to the hospital. Luckily, I already had registered with them (the bike accident) so I didn't have to deal with paperwork. After explaining the situation to the doctor, he nodded and asked who brought me to the hospital. "Umm... taxi" I said. He looked at me strangely and asked "where's your husband?" Naturally, since I'm living in Japan and I don't speak fluent Japanese, I'm married to a Japanese guy. Anyway, he hooked me up to my first IV ever (good thing I'm fine with needles), and I learned that the word for Nebulizer is the same in Japanese. I taxi-ed home a few hours later feeling much better. Anyway, I'm mostly fine now, and the hospital wasn't really that scary on my own, but I wish I had someone with me. I've been home for two and a half days and talking is difficult, but I miss people. Everyone lives far away, and I don't want them to travel over an hour to come here. It feels like this is the first time I'm really living alone. When I was sick last year, Dan called often and asked if I needed anything because it was easy for him to drop off a loaf of bread or a movie. Now, I have friends who would if I really needed it, but they're so far it's completely impractical. Also, I've been missing DG a lot lately, especially with the recent activity on a photo of the 2007 seniors on Bid Day. Sick in DG meant soup from Adam, curling up in the lounge, and watching Project Runway and Sex and the City for hours with my sisters. Even further back, I miss being sick at home where I would watch Sesame Street and eat rainbow Jello, charsiu, and rice. Anyway... I should be fine, hopefully going to school tomorrow.
The most ironic thing about the entire sickness adventure? I had my first Japanese health check on Friday. Mostly uneventful except for the part where I almost had an accident with a cup when the toilet paper roll fell off the holder... yeah, that would have been bad... I learned I need new glasses.
Irony runner-up is that this was a three-day weekend. Luckily, I didn't have any major plans for 2/3rds of it (the plan was mostly to get new glasses), but I spent two perfectly good holidays sick at home. I took today off too, so I disappointed a bunch of elementary school kids (I tell myself that they really enjoy my English classes).
I did have fun on Friday night/Saturday. In fact, I had such a good time that it almost makes up for the fact that I otherwise had a miserable weekend. I went on my school's staff trip to Ikaho, Gunma. Ikaho is a onsen (hot spring) tourist destination in the mountains north of Saitama. I felt like I was getting a cold, but I couldn't resist since that was likely the last chance I'd get to go on a trip with the teachers. Anyway, we had a great enkai (dinner/drinking party) and I won a Care Bear hot water bottle thing.
The interesting thing about onsen in Ikaho is that they water has iron in it. Like, it's a murky orange-brown color that smells like rust. Oh, but it felt amazing. Of course, I don't have pictures of the onsen itself (since everyone's naked), but seriously, it's amazing to sit in a pool of hot water and look over the railing to see mountains and a blue sky. One of the other teachers and I went off early in the morning to the outdoor onsen and giggled as we froze while cleaning the pool before we got in. Her English is terrible, and my Japanese was failing me, but we had a great time anyway. Then I got sick the next morning (I think the temperature changes, drinking heavily for 24 hours, and not sleeping much had something to do with it). No regrets, I'd do it again.
Here's a picture of us. I introduced her to the wonder of the self-photo. She didn't believe me when I said I could catch us and the stairs in one photo. Behold, the amazing skills I learned in college.
The most ironic thing about the entire sickness adventure? I had my first Japanese health check on Friday. Mostly uneventful except for the part where I almost had an accident with a cup when the toilet paper roll fell off the holder... yeah, that would have been bad... I learned I need new glasses.
Irony runner-up is that this was a three-day weekend. Luckily, I didn't have any major plans for 2/3rds of it (the plan was mostly to get new glasses), but I spent two perfectly good holidays sick at home. I took today off too, so I disappointed a bunch of elementary school kids (I tell myself that they really enjoy my English classes).
I did have fun on Friday night/Saturday. In fact, I had such a good time that it almost makes up for the fact that I otherwise had a miserable weekend. I went on my school's staff trip to Ikaho, Gunma. Ikaho is a onsen (hot spring) tourist destination in the mountains north of Saitama. I felt like I was getting a cold, but I couldn't resist since that was likely the last chance I'd get to go on a trip with the teachers. Anyway, we had a great enkai (dinner/drinking party) and I won a Care Bear hot water bottle thing.The interesting thing about onsen in Ikaho is that they water has iron in it. Like, it's a murky orange-brown color that smells like rust. Oh, but it felt amazing. Of course, I don't have pictures of the onsen itself (since everyone's naked), but seriously, it's amazing to sit in a pool of hot water and look over the railing to see mountains and a blue sky. One of the other teachers and I went off early in the morning to the outdoor onsen and giggled as we froze while cleaning the pool before we got in. Her English is terrible, and my Japanese was failing me, but we had a great time anyway. Then I got sick the next morning (I think the temperature changes, drinking heavily for 24 hours, and not sleeping much had something to do with it). No regrets, I'd do it again.
Here's a picture of us. I introduced her to the wonder of the self-photo. She didn't believe me when I said I could catch us and the stairs in one photo. Behold, the amazing skills I learned in college.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Alaska-NW tie, Japan falling behind
So, currently it's a tie between Alaska and the Northwest. Looks like Hawaii and Japan are losing pretty badly. I don't think I can take another year of teaching the exact same material from the exact same textbook in the exact same way. Plus it doesn't help that my closest friends are considerably further away than my friends last year.
I went to a sleepover last night. We watched Rear Window and ate yummy lasagna. We had an awesome time, but unfortunately, she lives two hours away. It made me long for the days at Willamette when almost all my friends were within walking distance.
I'm going to a Japanese style wedding tomorrow. I have a pretty dress, a shiny necklace, and shoes that hopefully won't kill me.
I went to a sleepover last night. We watched Rear Window and ate yummy lasagna. We had an awesome time, but unfortunately, she lives two hours away. It made me long for the days at Willamette when almost all my friends were within walking distance.
I'm going to a Japanese style wedding tomorrow. I have a pretty dress, a shiny necklace, and shoes that hopefully won't kill me.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Re-contracting
I received my re-contracting forms today. The deadline is not until February, but I still have to figure out what to do. To re-contract? To not? To go back to Hawaii? Stay in Japan? Go somewhere else?
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Best weekend ever!
Last weekend was awesome! Elementary school sports day, watched muppets with my friends, had a picnic in the park, saw the Lion King in Japanese, and went to Disneyland.
I've also been getting to know Dan's replacement. As in he's working at Dan's school, nothing else. In fact, I think he's completely opposite from Dan, personality wise. *shrug* we'll see...
I've also been getting to know Dan's replacement. As in he's working at Dan's school, nothing else. In fact, I think he's completely opposite from Dan, personality wise. *shrug* we'll see...
Friday, September 5, 2008
House Guests
My apartment feels empty. I think this may be the first time I've truly felt my apartment is too big since I got here.
I had someone staying in my apartment nearly every night in August. I think I scandalized my poor neighbors. Dan had to move completely out of his apartment on the 31st, but his flight home wasn't until two weeks later. As a result, I had a roommate for the first two weeks of April. Then, about halfway through the second week, I got a call from my friend Kevin... asking if he could move in with me temporarily until he got his own place. Of course I said yes. Dan and Kevin overlapped by a few days, so that was an interesting mix of sophomore year of college and my first year of JET. Both of them spent their days sitting around the apartment while I went to work, so I think/hope they got along well.
Dan left me in mid-August. It was sad. My co-workers think I'm heartbroken.
I played badminton with the center and city hall. It was fun, but my shoulder did not appreciate it. I won every game I played because I'm awesome like that.
I also taught the elemntary school teachers in my city how to teach English. By which I mean I helped them help me how to say vocabulary words.
Dylan hosted us for a vegtastic hippie dinner. I made spaghetti. I'm not sure it went well with the hummus, lentils, and other such veggie hippie dishes, but oh well. Dinner was delicious :)
Our first day of soccer practice is tomorrow. I'm really excited.
I had someone staying in my apartment nearly every night in August. I think I scandalized my poor neighbors. Dan had to move completely out of his apartment on the 31st, but his flight home wasn't until two weeks later. As a result, I had a roommate for the first two weeks of April. Then, about halfway through the second week, I got a call from my friend Kevin... asking if he could move in with me temporarily until he got his own place. Of course I said yes. Dan and Kevin overlapped by a few days, so that was an interesting mix of sophomore year of college and my first year of JET. Both of them spent their days sitting around the apartment while I went to work, so I think/hope they got along well.
Dan left me in mid-August. It was sad. My co-workers think I'm heartbroken.
I played badminton with the center and city hall. It was fun, but my shoulder did not appreciate it. I won every game I played because I'm awesome like that.
I also taught the elemntary school teachers in my city how to teach English. By which I mean I helped them help me how to say vocabulary words.
Dylan hosted us for a vegtastic hippie dinner. I made spaghetti. I'm not sure it went well with the hummus, lentils, and other such veggie hippie dishes, but oh well. Dinner was delicious :)
Our first day of soccer practice is tomorrow. I'm really excited.
Monday, August 18, 2008
July2008
The last month has been one of those times when I'm extremely busy, but it feels like nothing is really happening. I suppose this is really the best I could ask for since a good number of my friends left for their home countries.
Anyway, moving on (for now), since I last updated I did some Japanese stuff. On Saturday, July 19th, I went to a festival in Emma's city and watched people carry an umekoshi (portable shrine thing). This is different from the usual festival experience due to the fact that I was supposed to be helping to carry it. However shooting pains down my arm from holding it above my head for long periods of time (I wasn't even carrying the thing since I'm short) prevented me from actually participating.
(I'm still angry with the driver who hit me a month and a half ago. I wasn't having nearly as many shoulder issues before I fell on it after they hit me. In other bike accident related news, my office is apparently convinced that I was listening to my iPod while riding my bike to work and, due to that, I was hit by a car. Okay, ridiculous for a number of reasons. 1) They never asked me if I was listening to music. 2) The police never asked me if I was listening to music. 3) They told the other AETs in my city that I was listening to music, so it was my fault I was in an accident. 4) I wasn't listening to music. Of course, all this is topped off by the fact that the car hit me from behind so there was really nothing I could do.)
So yeah. Frustration. Anyway, after the festival, I met up with Liz and Laura in Shinjuku for some all-night dancing. It was a lot of fun, except for the part when this guy was hitting on Laura when she was making it quite clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. We took him to a gay bar in an attempt to scare him away, but it didn't work. Finally, we got angry and the nice bouncers got rid of him for us. Then we went back to the club where some random person stepped on my foot, apologized, and then started hitting on me with the line "wow, your English is really good." The night/early morning was finished off with curry and naan. Yum...
As you may or may not know, I have weird eye problems every summer. It varies in intensity and duration, but I've had issues for the past 4 summers. In the past it's lasted for a week where pain was minimal but light-sensitivity was super high. This year's annual eye weirdness happened in 18 hours, from 4pm on Sunday to about 8am on Monday. I woke up mostly refreshed after sleeping the day away (after dancing all night), with the exception of my hugely swollen right eye. It was like someone shoved a needle into my eyeball and shot it up with jello. This came with horrible pain, light sensitivity, and blinking issues (of course, my eye was no longer spherical). I ultimately decided that if the swelling didn't go down by the time I woke up the next morning, I'd go to the doctor. My reasoning was that prices are obscenely high on Sunday evening, the hospital is a $20 cab ride away, and I really wasn't in the mood to explain that I had been dancing all night in Shinjuku the night before. Luckily, with some ice and sleep, I was mostly fine when I woke up the next morning.
The following weekend was the start of the week of Last Parties. This started with fireworks in Asakusa. We got there at 1pm (fireworks started in the evening) with hopes that we would get a good seat. Umm, no. People were apparently camped out from early that morning. It also didn't help that we didn't really know where the fireworks were coming from. Ultimately it didn't matter since most of us were too drunk to care that we couldn't see the fireworks. Sunday night, Farewell Party at the George. Wednesday night, Goodbye Party at Saizeriya and Riki's. Lots of goodbyes. It sucked.
Jen and Jordon came on the 31st. Jen is my oldest friend in the sense that her father likes to tell the story of how little Jen came home after her first day of Kindergarten and said "I made a new friend! Her name is Krystle!" And Jordon is her boyfriend. We met at Shibuya at the famous Hachiko statue, had some Starbucks overlooking the huge pedestrian crossing, Jen bought a turquoise purse, and we had lunch. Then we headed out to Odaiba for a day of truly random science stuff. Jen insisted on seeing the center for development or something at Miraiken (future building). Jen put together a brain and I played teddy bear air hockey. Then we went to Pastel Town and the Toyota Showcase. Jordon liked the car part, but I liked the section with the weird chairs. We also saw Toyota's iReal and iFoot, two people movers that look like something out of a movie. Jen and I jumped at the opportunity to drive/ride the iReal, but were foiled in our attempt. The only instruction in English was "you must be able to understand Japanese in order to drive the iReal." I thought, well, ultimately, it's forward, back, left, right, pull, and push, right? I continued to read down the Japanese (which I understood, hooray me!) until I hit the part that said you must have a valid Japanese driving license. Curses! Anyway, we rode on the huge Ferris Wheel (minor consolation in my mind). then went home.
The next day was AWESOME!!! We met up in the Happiest Place in Japan: Tokyo Disneyland. Well, technically, DisneySea. Which is technically in Chiba. Anyway, it was great! I got there about 40 minutes before Jen and Jordon, so I wandered around Mediterranean Harbor and saw "Chip and Dale's Cool Service" which was basically the two chipmunks meets Stomp! plus a couple huge water cannons on a boat. I also love the "cast members" at Tokyo Disneyland. There was one guy who spent five minutes coaxing a kid to go closer to the railing so he would get sprayed with water. The kid was kinda mock protesting, but you could tell he really wanted to go. Finally with complete seriousness, the kid gave his felt Indy Jones hat to the cast member (because, no joke, "the hat didn't want to get wet"), walked up to the railing, got sprayed, and loved it. Meanwhile, the cast member took a few huge steps back (out of spray range) and grinned when the kid got soaked. It was great. Other highlights include "Raging Spirits" a really short roller coaster that has a 360degree loop, Tower of Terror (although the one in Florida is way better), and the Sinbad ride which is basically It's a Small World with way better animatronics and a different story. The Indy Jones ride was fun, but the best part may have been that one of the cast members had the same family name as me and we had a few seconds of amazing connection before the line started piling up behind us.
No trip to a Disney park is complete without a ridiculously over the top show. While I mostly enjoyed the Little Mermaid show (the entire thing was lip-synched, songs were in English, dialogue in Japanese, the puppetry was great, but it was very obvious Ariel had legs under her fin when she kicked) and the Aladdin show was silly fun, they were definitely forgotten when the huge fire dragon came out of the water in the Mediterranean Harbor. We stayed around until the last BonFIRE Dance show, which was also great. I was greatly amused to see the odori(dance) section dancing with Mickey, Minnie, white Aladdin, and Indian Jasmine. Especially because the parents all had to carry their stuff while dancing. Ultimately, I had a great time.
I slept in (finally!) the next day, and went to yet another good-bye party. We feasted on homemade curry (thanks Em!) and Sangria. Liz and I ended up spending the night (whoops) and going home the next morning. I went home, dropped off my stuff, changed clothes, then left to meet with Jen and Jordon in Harajuku. Unfortunately, the Harajuku cosplayers weren't out in full-force and the famous gate on the other side of the bridge was under construction. However, we did get crepes (Jordon had kakigori, the Japanese (and I believe, far inferior) version of Shave Ice). Then I went home and slept early. Jen and Jordon left the next day, and I saw them off at their hotel. I then went up to Borman's (first time ever) for dinner and my second to last (and perhaps hardest) goodbye party.
Thursday and Friday were our annual eigo de asobo (Let's play in English!). I enjoy teaching the elementary school kids, but it was incredibly tiring. Plus I got kicked far too many times, and some of the boys thought it would be a fun game to crawl up my skirt. I'm glad it's only (six classes) once a year.
Ultimately, what got me through was the knowledge that on Saturday I would see Wicked! I met with Katie and Chika for lunch, then we trekked out to Shinbashi for the show. It was strikingly similar to the English version (costumes, staging, choreography, set design), but the personality of the two main characters was different. I suppose character portrayal is something that will vary from performer to performer, but I feel the differences between the two Glindas I saw were very obvious. The first Glinda (touring in America, saw in Seattle), as Elphaba says in "What is this Feeling?" is "Blonde." She's ditzy, flouncy, and, of course, obsessed with what other people think of her, but she's no idiot. In the Japanese version, Elphaba describes her new roommate as "baka" (stupid). The second Glinda seems to be less scheming than the first Glinda, especially in the second act. American Glinda's betrayal of her friend reeks of malice and revenge, while in the Japanese version, the same exact act seems to be driven more by her new loyalty to the Wizard than anger towards Elphaba. I'm probably over analyzing it, but whatever. We also clapped at the end for a ridiculously long time. So long, in fact, that the cast waved "bye" as if to say "go home." Overall, the show was great. It was nice that I knew the story, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if my Japanese was better.
In other news, Kevin is living with me. More on that later.
Anyway, moving on (for now), since I last updated I did some Japanese stuff. On Saturday, July 19th, I went to a festival in Emma's city and watched people carry an umekoshi (portable shrine thing). This is different from the usual festival experience due to the fact that I was supposed to be helping to carry it. However shooting pains down my arm from holding it above my head for long periods of time (I wasn't even carrying the thing since I'm short) prevented me from actually participating.(I'm still angry with the driver who hit me a month and a half ago. I wasn't having nearly as many shoulder issues before I fell on it after they hit me. In other bike accident related news, my office is apparently convinced that I was listening to my iPod while riding my bike to work and, due to that, I was hit by a car. Okay, ridiculous for a number of reasons. 1) They never asked me if I was listening to music. 2) The police never asked me if I was listening to music. 3) They told the other AETs in my city that I was listening to music, so it was my fault I was in an accident. 4) I wasn't listening to music. Of course, all this is topped off by the fact that the car hit me from behind so there was really nothing I could do.)
So yeah. Frustration. Anyway, after the festival, I met up with Liz and Laura in Shinjuku for some all-night dancing. It was a lot of fun, except for the part when this guy was hitting on Laura when she was making it quite clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. We took him to a gay bar in an attempt to scare him away, but it didn't work. Finally, we got angry and the nice bouncers got rid of him for us. Then we went back to the club where some random person stepped on my foot, apologized, and then started hitting on me with the line "wow, your English is really good." The night/early morning was finished off with curry and naan. Yum...
As you may or may not know, I have weird eye problems every summer. It varies in intensity and duration, but I've had issues for the past 4 summers. In the past it's lasted for a week where pain was minimal but light-sensitivity was super high. This year's annual eye weirdness happened in 18 hours, from 4pm on Sunday to about 8am on Monday. I woke up mostly refreshed after sleeping the day away (after dancing all night), with the exception of my hugely swollen right eye. It was like someone shoved a needle into my eyeball and shot it up with jello. This came with horrible pain, light sensitivity, and blinking issues (of course, my eye was no longer spherical). I ultimately decided that if the swelling didn't go down by the time I woke up the next morning, I'd go to the doctor. My reasoning was that prices are obscenely high on Sunday evening, the hospital is a $20 cab ride away, and I really wasn't in the mood to explain that I had been dancing all night in Shinjuku the night before. Luckily, with some ice and sleep, I was mostly fine when I woke up the next morning.
The following weekend was the start of the week of Last Parties. This started with fireworks in Asakusa. We got there at 1pm (fireworks started in the evening) with hopes that we would get a good seat. Umm, no. People were apparently camped out from early that morning. It also didn't help that we didn't really know where the fireworks were coming from. Ultimately it didn't matter since most of us were too drunk to care that we couldn't see the fireworks. Sunday night, Farewell Party at the George. Wednesday night, Goodbye Party at Saizeriya and Riki's. Lots of goodbyes. It sucked.
Jen and Jordon came on the 31st. Jen is my oldest friend in the sense that her father likes to tell the story of how little Jen came home after her first day of Kindergarten and said "I made a new friend! Her name is Krystle!" And Jordon is her boyfriend. We met at Shibuya at the famous Hachiko statue, had some Starbucks overlooking the huge pedestrian crossing, Jen bought a turquoise purse, and we had lunch. Then we headed out to Odaiba for a day of truly random science stuff. Jen insisted on seeing the center for development or something at Miraiken (future building). Jen put together a brain and I played teddy bear air hockey. Then we went to Pastel Town and the Toyota Showcase. Jordon liked the car part, but I liked the section with the weird chairs. We also saw Toyota's iReal and iFoot, two people movers that look like something out of a movie. Jen and I jumped at the opportunity to drive/ride the iReal, but were foiled in our attempt. The only instruction in English was "you must be able to understand Japanese in order to drive the iReal." I thought, well, ultimately, it's forward, back, left, right, pull, and push, right? I continued to read down the Japanese (which I understood, hooray me!) until I hit the part that said you must have a valid Japanese driving license. Curses! Anyway, we rode on the huge Ferris Wheel (minor consolation in my mind). then went home.
The next day was AWESOME!!! We met up in the Happiest Place in Japan: Tokyo Disneyland. Well, technically, DisneySea. Which is technically in Chiba. Anyway, it was great! I got there about 40 minutes before Jen and Jordon, so I wandered around Mediterranean Harbor and saw "Chip and Dale's Cool Service" which was basically the two chipmunks meets Stomp! plus a couple huge water cannons on a boat. I also love the "cast members" at Tokyo Disneyland. There was one guy who spent five minutes coaxing a kid to go closer to the railing so he would get sprayed with water. The kid was kinda mock protesting, but you could tell he really wanted to go. Finally with complete seriousness, the kid gave his felt Indy Jones hat to the cast member (because, no joke, "the hat didn't want to get wet"), walked up to the railing, got sprayed, and loved it. Meanwhile, the cast member took a few huge steps back (out of spray range) and grinned when the kid got soaked. It was great. Other highlights include "Raging Spirits" a really short roller coaster that has a 360degree loop, Tower of Terror (although the one in Florida is way better), and the Sinbad ride which is basically It's a Small World with way better animatronics and a different story. The Indy Jones ride was fun, but the best part may have been that one of the cast members had the same family name as me and we had a few seconds of amazing connection before the line started piling up behind us.No trip to a Disney park is complete without a ridiculously over the top show. While I mostly enjoyed the Little Mermaid show (the entire thing was lip-synched, songs were in English, dialogue in Japanese, the puppetry was great, but it was very obvious Ariel had legs under her fin when she kicked) and the Aladdin show was silly fun, they were definitely forgotten when the huge fire dragon came out of the water in the Mediterranean Harbor. We stayed around until the last BonFIRE Dance show, which was also great. I was greatly amused to see the odori(dance) section dancing with Mickey, Minnie, white Aladdin, and Indian Jasmine. Especially because the parents all had to carry their stuff while dancing. Ultimately, I had a great time.
I slept in (finally!) the next day, and went to yet another good-bye party. We feasted on homemade curry (thanks Em!) and Sangria. Liz and I ended up spending the night (whoops) and going home the next morning. I went home, dropped off my stuff, changed clothes, then left to meet with Jen and Jordon in Harajuku. Unfortunately, the Harajuku cosplayers weren't out in full-force and the famous gate on the other side of the bridge was under construction. However, we did get crepes (Jordon had kakigori, the Japanese (and I believe, far inferior) version of Shave Ice). Then I went home and slept early. Jen and Jordon left the next day, and I saw them off at their hotel. I then went up to Borman's (first time ever) for dinner and my second to last (and perhaps hardest) goodbye party.
Thursday and Friday were our annual eigo de asobo (Let's play in English!). I enjoy teaching the elementary school kids, but it was incredibly tiring. Plus I got kicked far too many times, and some of the boys thought it would be a fun game to crawl up my skirt. I'm glad it's only (six classes) once a year.
Ultimately, what got me through was the knowledge that on Saturday I would see Wicked! I met with Katie and Chika for lunch, then we trekked out to Shinbashi for the show. It was strikingly similar to the English version (costumes, staging, choreography, set design), but the personality of the two main characters was different. I suppose character portrayal is something that will vary from performer to performer, but I feel the differences between the two Glindas I saw were very obvious. The first Glinda (touring in America, saw in Seattle), as Elphaba says in "What is this Feeling?" is "Blonde." She's ditzy, flouncy, and, of course, obsessed with what other people think of her, but she's no idiot. In the Japanese version, Elphaba describes her new roommate as "baka" (stupid). The second Glinda seems to be less scheming than the first Glinda, especially in the second act. American Glinda's betrayal of her friend reeks of malice and revenge, while in the Japanese version, the same exact act seems to be driven more by her new loyalty to the Wizard than anger towards Elphaba. I'm probably over analyzing it, but whatever. We also clapped at the end for a ridiculously long time. So long, in fact, that the cast waved "bye" as if to say "go home." Overall, the show was great. It was nice that I knew the story, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if my Japanese was better.
In other news, Kevin is living with me. More on that later.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Mid-summer re-cap
Okay, where to begin. I suppose chronologically has been working for me, so hopefully that will keep this post organized enough to be understood by anyone that's not me.
The weekend of June 27th, aka "the boat and the concert"
The weekend started right after work when I traveled about two hours to Shin-Kiba for an all you can eat/drink boat cruise. It was fantastic, but not quite what I expected. The boat was much smaller than I anticipated (fit about 50 people snugly), and it was designed like a traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables and tatami flooring. We ate a lot of okonomiyaki and monjya. After the cruise, I went up to Omiya and met up with Laura and Liz for a few hours of Salsa (which I can't do) before crashing in Laura's apartment. On Saturday, I went home, showered, cleaned my apartment, then went out to Kawagoe for a concert. I'll admit, I'm biased, but I prefer the opening act over the headlining group. Highlights of the night include inappropriate use of an afro wig, a song featuring a kazoo, and 4000 yen's worth of Shaka Shaka chicken. The party raged on after the concert, but I went home to sleep.
The weekend of July 4th, aka "the accident"
So, picture this: I'm riding my bicycle to school down the same route as I have everyday since September. It's a beautiful Friday morning. The sun is shining and the sky is clear in the way it gets when it rained the night before. I'm cruising down a hill when "bam!" I got hit from behind, and fell into a storm drain that was full of mud (which broke my fall). I pull myself out of the mud to see no car has stopped. My dress was dripping with muddy water, my shoes were buried in the ditch, and the back tire of my bike was visibly crooked. I walked the last five minutes to school, rinsed off (mostly), then stumbled into school about 30 minutes late. Anyway, to sum up the rest of the story, my principal insisted on calling the police and my co-workers (and the police) strongly suggested I go to the hospital. Therefore, I spent over half my day in the hospital and talking to police officers. The orthopedic doctor wasn't in on Friday, so I had to trek out to the hospital again on Saturday morning. The doctor asked me where I was hurt, ordered some x-rays, checked the x-rays, and said "Shoulder, no problem. Elbow, no problem. Foot, no problem." (For the record, I had four x-rays in a month. I hope I don't need anymore for awhile.)
After my Saturday hospital visit, I went to the other side of the city for lunch with some friends. After a surprisingly good vegan burger, I lounged next to the river while my friends swam (Mr. Lucas and Mr. Crouch really drilled the dangers of leptospirosis into my head and I had numerous open wounds). It was a gorgeous day, and I'm hoping I'll go out there more frequently this year.
The weekend of July 12th, aka "the awards."
One of the other teachers changed apartments. In an ideal world, her gas and water wouldn't be turned off between tenants, however, in Japan, she was out of luck for two days. So she stayed with me. On Friday night, I made spaghetti and we watched Flight of the Concords. On Saturday morning, I made pancakes. Then Dan and I met up with a teacher at Dan's school for eel boxes (yummy!) and paper-making.
From there, I went straight into Omiya for the Dasai Awards. Dress was black tie or soccer uniform (many people combined the two). It was a great night. Due to (at the time) unforeseeable consequences, three of us ended up staying in Laura's apartment in Omiya again. I slept in my pretty dress.
On Saturday, we ventured out early in the morning in need of greasy food. I was still in my pretty dress. Also, lately I'm kinda obsessed with "That's how you know" from Enchanted. Emma loaned me her tiara and I sang and pretended I was a princess in Omiya station. At 8 in the morning. Because I'm awesome like that.
I got home, showered, changed clothes, and went out again. I met up with Katie and Chika in Ikebukuro, we had coffee and spaghetti for lunch, then went shopping. I bought new t-shirts and a purse. We topped off the day with Milky Way parfaits. Ooh, and in other news, we bought tickets to see Wicked (well ウィケッド) in August. Yay!
And now we're all caught up. Hopefully I won't wait another three weeks to post again.
The weekend of June 27th, aka "the boat and the concert"
The weekend started right after work when I traveled about two hours to Shin-Kiba for an all you can eat/drink boat cruise. It was fantastic, but not quite what I expected. The boat was much smaller than I anticipated (fit about 50 people snugly), and it was designed like a traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables and tatami flooring. We ate a lot of okonomiyaki and monjya. After the cruise, I went up to Omiya and met up with Laura and Liz for a few hours of Salsa (which I can't do) before crashing in Laura's apartment. On Saturday, I went home, showered, cleaned my apartment, then went out to Kawagoe for a concert. I'll admit, I'm biased, but I prefer the opening act over the headlining group. Highlights of the night include inappropriate use of an afro wig, a song featuring a kazoo, and 4000 yen's worth of Shaka Shaka chicken. The party raged on after the concert, but I went home to sleep.The weekend of July 4th, aka "the accident"
So, picture this: I'm riding my bicycle to school down the same route as I have everyday since September. It's a beautiful Friday morning. The sun is shining and the sky is clear in the way it gets when it rained the night before. I'm cruising down a hill when "bam!" I got hit from behind, and fell into a storm drain that was full of mud (which broke my fall). I pull myself out of the mud to see no car has stopped. My dress was dripping with muddy water, my shoes were buried in the ditch, and the back tire of my bike was visibly crooked. I walked the last five minutes to school, rinsed off (mostly), then stumbled into school about 30 minutes late. Anyway, to sum up the rest of the story, my principal insisted on calling the police and my co-workers (and the police) strongly suggested I go to the hospital. Therefore, I spent over half my day in the hospital and talking to police officers. The orthopedic doctor wasn't in on Friday, so I had to trek out to the hospital again on Saturday morning. The doctor asked me where I was hurt, ordered some x-rays, checked the x-rays, and said "Shoulder, no problem. Elbow, no problem. Foot, no problem." (For the record, I had four x-rays in a month. I hope I don't need anymore for awhile.)
After my Saturday hospital visit, I went to the other side of the city for lunch with some friends. After a surprisingly good vegan burger, I lounged next to the river while my friends swam (Mr. Lucas and Mr. Crouch really drilled the dangers of leptospirosis into my head and I had numerous open wounds). It was a gorgeous day, and I'm hoping I'll go out there more frequently this year.
The weekend of July 12th, aka "the awards."
One of the other teachers changed apartments. In an ideal world, her gas and water wouldn't be turned off between tenants, however, in Japan, she was out of luck for two days. So she stayed with me. On Friday night, I made spaghetti and we watched Flight of the Concords. On Saturday morning, I made pancakes. Then Dan and I met up with a teacher at Dan's school for eel boxes (yummy!) and paper-making.
From there, I went straight into Omiya for the Dasai Awards. Dress was black tie or soccer uniform (many people combined the two). It was a great night. Due to (at the time) unforeseeable consequences, three of us ended up staying in Laura's apartment in Omiya again. I slept in my pretty dress.
On Saturday, we ventured out early in the morning in need of greasy food. I was still in my pretty dress. Also, lately I'm kinda obsessed with "That's how you know" from Enchanted. Emma loaned me her tiara and I sang and pretended I was a princess in Omiya station. At 8 in the morning. Because I'm awesome like that.I got home, showered, changed clothes, and went out again. I met up with Katie and Chika in Ikebukuro, we had coffee and spaghetti for lunch, then went shopping. I bought new t-shirts and a purse. We topped off the day with Milky Way parfaits. Ooh, and in other news, we bought tickets to see Wicked (well ウィケッド) in August. Yay!
And now we're all caught up. Hopefully I won't wait another three weeks to post again.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
recovery is a long process
I feel like I still haven't recovered from my trip to America three weeks ago. Of course, I had soccer the first weekend I was back in Japan. Then last weekend was filled with two birthday parties and a WU/TIUA reunion. It's now Thursday and I (thankfully) have no classes today, and all I want to do is crawl back into bed.
Last last Friday I went out to Omiya to celebrate Cristina's birthday. We all generally had a good time. Of course, there was karaoke (Emma and I were inspired to sing a Mariah Carey song about everyone leaving us. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Emma sounded a lot better than me.) We ate potluck style and a a lot of people brought noodles and salads. I suppose I'm used to the Hawaiian-style of potluck (that usually has rice, tons of meat, and several different types of macaroni and potato salad). As a result, I think this was the healthiest potluck I've ever attended.
On Saturday I met up with Katie in Ikebukuro. While we were drinking coffee, the nice lady who used to work with me ran up to say hello. It's always so shocking for me to run into people I know in Tokyo since it's such a huge city. Anyway, Katie and I had gyoza for lunch at Gyoza Stadium in Namja Town, then ice cream in Ice Cream Stadium (on a side note, I recently discovered that I may be lactose intolerant. booo). We then headed over to Shibuya to meet up with WU and TIUA people for a reunion, then up to Omiya to celebrate Shane's birthday party at the George.
Sunday was a day for sleeping early and cleaning my apartment.
Liz has been talking about the same bar for as long as I can remember. Since she's leaving so soon, I decided to go with her this past week. Apparently there's a big group of regulars who go every Wednesday. We met up with some of our friends for dinner, then hit the bar. It was a pretty eventful night, two people were leaving Japan (thus it was their last night at the bar), and it was someone else's birthday. The birthday boy turned three that day. He's an adorable little boy with poofy hair, he speaks French, Japanese, and a little English, and he probably outdanced everyone in the bar. Seriously. We sang Happy Birthday, then those that could sang Bon Anniversaire (I probably spelt that incorrectly). I met some pretty awesome people before I had to catch the last train home (because I'm hardcore like that). I finally stumbled into bed around 1:30 in the morning, which would be a problem if Thursday was a normal school day. However, it wasn't. Half the school was away for JHS sports tournaments. The only reason everyone wasn't gone is the outdoor sports games were postponed due to rain. I spent half the afternoon reading "The Giving Tree" with my kyoto-sensei. It was awesome.
Anyway, I've been fighting off a cold for a week now, and sleep is calling to me. I'll write about this weekend later.
Last last Friday I went out to Omiya to celebrate Cristina's birthday. We all generally had a good time. Of course, there was karaoke (Emma and I were inspired to sing a Mariah Carey song about everyone leaving us. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Emma sounded a lot better than me.) We ate potluck style and a a lot of people brought noodles and salads. I suppose I'm used to the Hawaiian-style of potluck (that usually has rice, tons of meat, and several different types of macaroni and potato salad). As a result, I think this was the healthiest potluck I've ever attended.
On Saturday I met up with Katie in Ikebukuro. While we were drinking coffee, the nice lady who used to work with me ran up to say hello. It's always so shocking for me to run into people I know in Tokyo since it's such a huge city. Anyway, Katie and I had gyoza for lunch at Gyoza Stadium in Namja Town, then ice cream in Ice Cream Stadium (on a side note, I recently discovered that I may be lactose intolerant. booo). We then headed over to Shibuya to meet up with WU and TIUA people for a reunion, then up to Omiya to celebrate Shane's birthday party at the George.
Sunday was a day for sleeping early and cleaning my apartment.
Liz has been talking about the same bar for as long as I can remember. Since she's leaving so soon, I decided to go with her this past week. Apparently there's a big group of regulars who go every Wednesday. We met up with some of our friends for dinner, then hit the bar. It was a pretty eventful night, two people were leaving Japan (thus it was their last night at the bar), and it was someone else's birthday. The birthday boy turned three that day. He's an adorable little boy with poofy hair, he speaks French, Japanese, and a little English, and he probably outdanced everyone in the bar. Seriously. We sang Happy Birthday, then those that could sang Bon Anniversaire (I probably spelt that incorrectly). I met some pretty awesome people before I had to catch the last train home (because I'm hardcore like that). I finally stumbled into bed around 1:30 in the morning, which would be a problem if Thursday was a normal school day. However, it wasn't. Half the school was away for JHS sports tournaments. The only reason everyone wasn't gone is the outdoor sports games were postponed due to rain. I spent half the afternoon reading "The Giving Tree" with my kyoto-sensei. It was awesome.
Anyway, I've been fighting off a cold for a week now, and sleep is calling to me. I'll write about this weekend later.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Dasai in Nagano
I'm in a lot of pain. Not as much as some of my teammates (notably poor Emma with a severely sprained (and thus colorful) ankle, but still. My right 足 (in the Japanese sense meaning foot and leg) goes from being completely fine (in my sense, meaning perpetually semi-sprained) to being so sore that it hurts to move at all. My right ring finger (the one next to the finger I broke watching basketball in high school for those of you who know) is not broken (just got it checked today). Okay, too many parentheses... moving on...
I played lots of soccer this weekend. It was awesome even though we didn't win any games. I managed to get kicked in the arm (while standing and reaching overhead for a ball. Don't ask me how it happened). I also have a new dislike for a prefecture and an overwhelming sense of dread that many of my friends are leaving. I also have an awesome "kit" with my name on it and a great new vocabulary that includes words like "kit," "pitch," and "ice lolly (lollie?)." Anyway, it was fun, now I'm sore.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Oregon and Colorado (aka crazy week of traveling)
Wow, last week was probably the most insane traveling I`ve ever experienced.
I left Japan last last Saturday afternoon. I returned yesterday night. In the span of a week I met up with over 20 people, met two previously unknown facebook friends, attended a wedding, and spent over 24 hours in the air. I`ll attempt to condense the trip into something interesting and readable, but I`m not sure how successful I`ll be.
I arrived at PDX bright and early on Saturday morning (which was a really weird feeling since I left Japan on Saturday night). After helping some Spanish-speaking visitors from Hawaii find "yoyd center," I rode the MAX to meet Jaris for lunch. We had amazing pastrami sandwiches, then he dropped me off at Liz`s apartment. Dana, Liz, Kath, and I then went shopping for a few hours. After a rather successful shopping trip, Cliff picked me up at Liz`s apartment and drove me down to Salem where I stuffed myself on bread and prime rib at Best Little Roadhouse.
stopped by and witnessed the sadness of the house formerly know as Beta before he dropped me off at Sara`s house where I felt incredibly old for knowing the occupants of the house four years ago. We celebrated Sara`s boyfriend`s birthday, with the help of some of my DG sisters, then fell asleep around 1:30am.
On Sunday, Jeff picked me up at Sara`s house and we had Mexican food for lunch. After an hour-long trip to Starbucks, he dropped me off at the UAps where Daniel let me into to Tami`s apartment. After dropping off my suitcase, the three of us met Dan at the movie theater and saw Prince Caspian (awesome movie!). After the movie, I met Jasmine at Thai Orchid, then we wandered towards campus and gossipped under the star trees. We then moved on to the Ram where we ran into Zane. After (not much) coercing, we ended up at his apartment for some dancing and MarioKart. Finally, Tami and I stumbled back upstairs and fell asleep.
Tami and Melissa woke up early the next morning, and I planned to get up at the same time (which I did, but then subsequently passed out for a two-hour nap on their couch). I finally woke up around 11:30 and left with the intent of visiting offices around WU. Unfortunately, it was lunchtime. Fortunately, Zane and Tami were also on their lunch break, so I spent a quality hour lounging by the Mill Stream. Amusingly, three DGs were also spending their lunch by the stream including my little little little (yeah, I felt old). After lunch, I visited the Admissions office and (the retiring) Nancy Norton. Meanwhile, I was trying to contact Bethany for lunch. The phone lines had issues and caused major stress. Eventually I met up with Erica and Bethany found us at Salem Center. We ate Cinnabon and decided to see the Sex and the City movie (also awesome). Finally, Erica and I headed back to her house for some cocktails and (my favorite) Ranch Doritos before falling asleep on her pull-out couch.
Tuesday morning arrived, and we met up with Jaspers and Ashley for lunch at the Cat. Erica and I then ventured over to the gelato place for dessert before parting ways at the Greyhound bus station. After a simultaneously hilarious and disturbing hour-long ride, I met Yen in Portland. We had Thai food for dinner, then saw Iron Man (yet another amazing movie. I have a thing for RDJ aka Larry Paul). We then went back to her parent`s place and came up with a new nickname for Yen.
We left Yen`s parents house bright and early on Wednesday morning and had breakfast at a cute little restaurant that had huge pancakes. We then headed into downtown Portland where we explored Powells and discovered an amazing picture book. After navigating around a parade, we made it to the airport. I flew down to Denver where I met Julie`s aunt and she drove me to the hotel where we found the bachelorette party group. After shots and dinner at Dave and Buster`s, we went to a nearby bar and I made friends with our (possibly gay) server named Rudy. We finally called Julie`s dad to pick us up, then passed out at Julie`s apartment.
Early Thursday, a small group of us left Julie`s apartment; me to meet Anna and Katie, and everyone else for a bridesmaid`s brunch. Anna, Katie, and I had breakfast, then went back to Anna`s house (I slept in the car), then back to the airport for Katie to rent a car. We said bye to Anna, then made our way back to Julie`s apartment with the help of Garmin (which attacked me when I called it a bad name). We picked up Jenny at the apartment, then went on another successful shopping trip where I dressed the tomboy-ish Jenny in a skirt. After dinner at CPK, we headed back to the apartment and watched Kamikaze Girls (it seems this trip was just full of great movies).
Friday, wedding day. I finally got a chance to sleep in. Somewhere around noon, Katie, Jenny, and I left the apartment in search of the Tattered Cover bookstore. After one failed attempt, we found it near the 16th Street Mall. I found Isaac Asimov`s Guide to Shakespeare on sale (hooray!), and we all had some amazing Chai. We then hunted down Julie`s hairdresser, picked up the bride, and dropped her off at the Chateaux. After a quick change at the apartment, we went to the ceremony where we met up with Dayl. It was simply amazing. Everyone looked beautiful, and Julie looked stunning in her dress. I flirted and danced with Julie`s cousin and a bunch of my new friends before going back to the apartment with Katie and Ali, packing, and falling asleep.
We left early the next morning, before Julie and Andrew returned from part one of their honeymoon in a nearby hotel, and made our way to the airport. Katie and I said bye and I started my long journey home. Two flights and nearly 20 hours later, I arrived at my apartment and fell asleep.
Now I`m at work typing up this summary of my crazy week before I forget it all.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Birthday recap
So... the birthday went well. I think everyone had fun and I've yet to receive a letter from my neighbor, so it was a success. We stayed up until 4ish watching Grease and talking, then stayed in pajamas for most of Saturday. Also we randomly ran into someone I used to work with. I'm still really lazy, so I'm just copy/paste-ing this from facebook:
"So, random story... while we were walking to the karaoke place from the restaurant, I heard someone calling my name. I turn around to see this woman waving at me from across the parking lot. She used to work with me at Takahagi JHS. Me, being in a celebratory mood, invited her and her husband to come along to karaoke with us. Shockingly, they said yes."
Honestly it didn't take much to convince them. It was pretty funny because her husband was really drunk and he jumped at the chance to go to karaoke, speak English, and drink more.
Otherwise, I'm just trying to figure out what my schedule is for the week I'm back in America. I'm super excited! There are a ton of people I'm trying to see, so I just hope I can fit everyone in. Also, I need to buy jeans (buying pants in Japan is depressing because sizes range from 0 to 6) and underwear (there's no Victoria's Secret in Japan and there's no point in paying $30 for shipping if I can help it). Thirdly, I promised my co-teacher I would show him an American L-size fast food soft drink. I'm writing this down in the hopes that I don't forget and if I do, I can look here and "remember."
In other travel news, I've scheduled my flight home for Christmas. The blame simultaneously lies with my mother and rising fuel costs. Anyway, I'll be in Hawaii between the 20th and 27th of December and in Hilo from the 24th to the morning of the 26th.
In other Hilo news, I've been watching random videos on youtube lately and I stumbled across nigahiga. If you know Hilo at all, you can tell these are Hilo boys really quickly. Plus, their latest video is called "Hilo Puppets." Anyway, they're really popular (like #2 most subscribed comedians as of this posting). Yay Hilo!
In other other Hawaii news, Punahou has lately been ranked #1 for high school sports by Sports Illustrated. Yay Punahou!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
better
I feel 100% better than when last I posted. I credit the weather for the turnaround. I suppose four days of rainy, cold weather in the middle of May just brought out the grumpies. Also, the weekend is definitely looking like it`ll be fun. At this point, my main worry is that my crazy neighbor might call the police. As of now, the plan is dinner at a restaurant in my city, then karaoke if we feel like it, otherwise, just going back to my apartment.
Furthermore, details are starting to fall together for my trip to Portland and Colorado in June. If you`re reading this and you want to meet up, send me an email :)
Furthermore, details are starting to fall together for my trip to Portland and Colorado in June. If you`re reading this and you want to meet up, send me an email :)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Time-out
I feel like time is on hold. You know how when you're really tired, everything that's happening just feels like it's going on around you and you're just kinda floating along? That's how I feel. Nick caught some sort of flu thing, so he's been passed out in my living room for the past four days. Meanwhile, I went to work on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday while simultaneously ducking out of social engagements (none of which I actually wanted to go to). I have soccer practice today, but the triple whammy of Nick's flu, the terrible weather, and my still not completely recovered ankle has kept me at home.
My birthday is this weekend and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I have this increasing paranoia that I'll either be stricken with the flu or I'll just be so exhausted that I won't want to do anything. Of course, chances are that Dan will be right and I'll be completely fine.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Golden Week quick re-cap
I'm exhausted and achy (metaphorically and physically). Here's a quick summary of the past week:
Nick came to visit before going to Thailand. We went to Ueno with his friend from Sapporo and some of the other JETs. Then he left and Jen A came. We went to Nikko, Kamakura, and Yokohama and they were awesome. Peter and his brother came. We went to Shinjuku in the rain, then an art museum in Ueno, then met up with Aki and Chika (PAs when I was a JSP participant at TIU) for okonomiyaki. Peter and his brother left. Jen A and I went to Harajuku on the day everyone else in Tokyo decided to go there, then de-compressed at a public bath. Then we went to Asakusa, the Imperial Palace, Ginza, Akihabara, and Shinjuku before hitting Gyukaku near TIU. Then we went to Ikebukuro, and finally Narita Airport.
All that in one week and one day. It was amazing.
As if the karma gods are punishing me for having so much fun last week, I fell down some stairs on the lonely ride home from the airport and my left ankle is now swollen. I'm going to bed, but I'll post more later.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bollywood, soccer, and マスルシェラピー
I think I hit senior slump again, because lately I've been completely unmotivated to do much of anything. I blame this on my lack of classes, which means that I have to motivate myself to get stuff done (and we know how that goes). When I feel like I'm getting things done, I'm far more productive. Otherwise, my laundry sits in the basket/on the floor for a week. Last week, pretty much every afternoon/evening after work was spent watching the Sopranos and reading Sense and Sensibility (which, btw, I finished). Then there was the weekend...
On Saturday night, my friends Emma and Chasna hosted a Bollywood-themed fundraiser at the George for their upcoming trip to India. As usual, it was a lot of fun. I wore a long magenta-ish skirt that seemed kinda Bollywood even though I bought it in Colorado. I am also officially jeans-less (I only brought two pairs with me to Japan, I ripped the zipper off one and tore a hole in the back of the other). I hate buying jeans in Japan, so I suppose it's good that it's almost skirt weather.
On Sunday, we had soccer practice. The sky was threatening to dump rain on us essentially the entire time, but luckily, it didn't rain at all. We followed up practice with Denny's (completely different from American Denny's, although it's the same company), and nomihodai karaoke. Karaoke was great not only because of the nomihodai-ness, but also the choice of songs was perhaps the most eclectic mix ever. We played "the page game," basically you randomly flip open the song book and have to sing something on that page. I sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Luckily by that point we had been there for over an hour so it didn't matter what I sounded like.
As expected, I was exhausted on Monday. Also I think soccer practice was the final straw that broke my neck (well, not really broke, just hurt). I woke up on Monday with that wonderful "it hurts to turn my head" feeling, so I decided to venture out to Kawagoe in search of a massage therapist. I've never gotten a massage in Kawagoe before, so I was kinda wary about what would happen. (For reference, my Japanese is good enough that I can understand basic everyday conversations, but my understanding drops dramatically when people use "keigo" aka insanely formal Japanese that most Japanese people my age don't understand). I arrive at the designated "beauty floor" of the department store which comes complete with massage parlor, nail salon, hair dresser, and teeth whitening clinic. I pick up one of the handy massage brochures and choose what I want (basic 30 minute "muscle therapy" which includes neck, back, shoulders, head, and legs), and approach the staff worker.
Me: Sumimasen... (Excuse me...)
Staff worker: [unintelligible Japanese]
Me: annoo... (umm...)
Staff worker: [picks up a brochure and opens it while continuing to speak in Japanese I don't understand]
Me: masuru sherapii sanjyuppun(muscle therapy, 30 minutes [accompanied by pointing motion])
Staff worker: hai, ... (yes, ... [more Japanese I don't understand])
Eventually, I managed to fill out a name card, pay for the massage, and establish that the only clothes I brought were the suit pants and sweater I was wearing. They had loaner shirts and pants, which may be the only Japanese clothes I've ever worn that were too big for me. I lay (laid?) down on the table, fully clothed, then she put a towel over me and proceeded to massage me over my clothes and the towel. Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10.
So that was last week. This weekend I... slept... watched the Sopranos... I did manage to get out for lunch on Saturday. I met up with the office ladies at my school and had spaghetti in a cute little restaurant that looked like (and probably used to be) a house. I learned all the crazy gossip regarding why certain teachers transferred schools and why certain other teachers should transfer. I finished Sense and Sensibility, so I'm now waiting for BookMooch to send me Mansfield Park (I'm in possession of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey). If you have any reading recommendations, let me know!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Roppongi and Shane's Spring Party
Last weekend, I went out to Roppongi for a birthday celebration. I'm not usually a big fan of Roppongi (full of dirty foreigners), but I had a good time. I met a bunch of people (friends of friends and such) and danced the night away.
As expected "spring break" crawled by. I met new teachers, studied kanji, and finished Emma (I've decided to go through authors, currently it's Jane Austen). Dan and I also went 花見 (cherry blossom viewing). We had dinner under the trees and watched some drunk old Japanese men enjoy the sakura.
This weekend was Shane's spring party. As usual, it was a lot of fun and I met a lot of people.
Wow, I'm so descriptive today. I blame spring break for making me so lethargic. >_<
Monday, March 31, 2008
Spring Break!
(fyi, I wrote this last Thursday and forgot to post it. I'll update with details about this weekend later)
Unluckily for me, my supervisor thinks it's a good idea for us to "work" during spring break. Usually I have no problem working during vacation time (for those of you who know what I did my last three spring breaks at Willamette, you know what I'm talking about), but I have NOTHING to do. Technically, we're supposed to be planning lessons, which is a problem if I don't even plan lessons during the school year. I could prepare a schedule for my elementary school lessons, but the last I heard from them is that they weren't even sure when I would be going to elementary school, and "they'd contact me" when they knew what was going on. Furthermore, at junior high school, my co-teachers really take the "A" part of "ALT" seriously. I don't mind because this makes my role less formal, which in turn makes it easier for me to talk with the students. True, I have more free time on my hands, but they're so new at English and the Japanese system emphasizes grammar (which I can't teach in Japanese).
Anyway, long story short, I had tons of free time during school, and now I have even more. What this means is, if I have something to write about, there will be more posts. :)
Yesterday was the last day of school. Classes actually ended on Tuesday, but learning in classes ended long before that. On Monday, my co-teacher invited me to join his classes for "TT" (team-teaching) in the gym. I changed into workout pants and went to the gym to find the students (in their matching track suits) dividing themselves up for basketball. I'm not a very good basketball player, but I figured I could probably hold my own against kids who were (mostly) smaller than me. Not that I really had a choice because they had previously assigned me to a team.
However, before we cranked out the basketball hoops, we played dodgeball to warm-up. American dodgeball, as popularized in the film starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and (my favorite) Justin Long, is very different from Japanese dodgeball. American dodgeball is played with many balls, Japanese dodgeball is played with one; American dodgeball is played in a rectangular court with a line down the middle, Japanese dodgeball is played on a rectangular court with an inner rectangle and a line down the middle; "out" players in American dodgeball sit on the side and do nothing, "out" players in Japanese dodgeball actively participate. Anyway, it took me a while to get the hang of it, but now I believe Japanese dodgeball to be far superior to American dodgeball.
Basketball was fun because I actually played pretty well. I think it's mostly because I'm used to playing with guys who are bigger/more aggressive/far superior players than me. Also, after 90% of the girls just stood there and did nothing, my co-teacher declared that a basket made by a girl would be worth 10 points.
On Wednesday, after a short, uneventful closing ceremony, I visited Dojin Gakuin, a children's home located a few minutes away from my train station. It was a lot of fun and the kids were really sweet. When we were playing, somehow the conversation shifted to zombies. By the end of the day, we were all joking with each other that we were going to eat brains. I don't think they really believed me because the director invited me to come back and play with the kids again since I live so close.
After udon and McDonalds coffee, I raced home to prepare good-bye gifts for the teachers that were changing schools. Initially, I only planned to give a present to the art teacher (who always goes out of his way to talk to me) and one of the office ladies (who is super nice and brought me an Eiffel Tower keychain from Paris). However, of course, if I give a present to two people, I have to give a present to the others. As it happened, I wasn't listening carefully enough to the principal's speech and it turns out the art teacher wasn't really leaving. Furthermore, I forgot the office lady's present in my apartment. whoops.
Anyway, dinner was at this great little French restaurant in Hanno. My vice-principal's brother-in-law owns it, so we rented out the whole restaurant, and my VP kept bragging that he helped to design the menu and chose the champagne, red, white, and "sparkling apple" wine that accompanied dinner. I usually prefer white wine to red wine, but last night's red was perhaps the most delicious wine I've ever had. One of the teachers took a sip then said she was worried that it was so easy to drink because that meant she would be getting drunker.
There was a nijikai (literally, "second party") after dinner, but I chose to pass. I was offered a ride home (which means I wouldn't have to walk back from the train station). Furthermore, they all could stumble into school at any time today, while I had to report to the BOE bright and early.
Anyway, that brings me to now. I'm writing emails, updating my blog, etc, all without the wonderful blessings of wireless internet. boooo...
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Godfather and Ally McBeal
This past week was unusually low-key. Thursday was 春分の日(Vernal Equinox Day) and a national holiday. Many Japanese people honor the day by going to temples and shrines to pray to their ancestors. I celebrated by sleeping in and watching Ally McBeal on DVD.
Saturday morning and nearly all of Sunday was spent in the same way. On Saturday afternoon, Dan, Sabrina, Tori, and I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu. One of the exhibits displayed surrealist photography, and Dan and I tried to explain "surrealism" to Tori in our limited Japanese (I think we failed).
After the museum, we headed to Ikebukuro for dinner and movies. The Godfather trilogy started at 8pm, and we left the theater at 5:45 the next morning. I fell asleep during the third one (between 2:45 and 5:30), but I've been assured that I didn't miss much.
Things are pretty relaxed this week. The one exception is Wednesday. Closing ceremony, after that some Saitama JETs and I are visiting a children's home in Hidaka, after that is the end of the school year enkai. I'm told this is the biggest drinking party of the year. Every staff member will be there, and, luckily for me, I'm getting a ride to and from the restaurant.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
卒業式
Last week Friday, I attended my first Japanese graduation. It was enormously different from every graduation ceremony I’ve ever been to. When I think of graduation, I think of general joy and excitement about what lies ahead. I think of noisemakers and general rowdiness. Last week’s ceremony contained very little of these. The staff all wore black suits (the principal wore a coat with tails), and the students wore their uniforms. The students marched in, and later up to the stage, with military-sharp turns and four count, 45 to 90 degree bows. Everyone cried. One of my co-teachers had to pause while reading the names of the students in his homeroom class to wipe his eyes. The principal, vice-principal, and representative from the BOE all had tears running down their cheeks. The previous class president, as representative of the graduating class, cried through the entirety of his speech and had to step away from the podium twice to compose himself. I had difficulty understanding the speeches, so I gave up trying to understand him through sobs and watched the students react to his words. Perhaps the image that will stay with me the longest is of the interaction between two of the “cool” graduating boys (you know the type, 15 year old boys who think they’re amazing and therefore have little need to pay attention in class except to make jokes). One of the boys sobbed into his hands, the other (sitting directly behind him) tapped him on the shoulder and offered him a pack of tissues. The boy in the front took one and offered the pack back, but the boy in the back shook his head and patted him on the shoulder, which just made the boy in the front cry harder. That’s the moment I started to cry.
The students collectively sang their class song from the chorus contest in November. They struggled through it (even though they’ve been practicing for a week), and the second the song was over, there was a collective sob from about 75% of the students as they started crying harder. It was crazy.
One of my students ran up to me after the ceremony with a letter in her hand. She gave it to me, and managed to say (in Japanese) “Thank you for taking care of me” (which is a common thing to say in this situation). She apologized for not being able to speak in English at the moment (I was impressed she could speak at all since she was crying so hard), but continued to thank me. Then I did something essentially forbidden in Japanese culture. I gave her a hug. At first she tensed up as if she was thinking “what is she doing to me?” but she quickly relaxed and started crying into my shoulder. I miss hugs.
Anyway, no event in Japan is complete without a follow-up 宴会 (enkai: dinner party). We celebrated graduation at a Japanese-style restaurant. Dinner was delicious and accompanied by large amounts of alcohol. I think the most interesting question of the night has to be “Hawaii… In Hawaii… tobacco… good taste? Good taste?” My response was, in Japanese, “I’m not really sure, but I think they taste the same, but in Hawaii many people smoke marijuana.” The look of shock on their faces was amazing. They then asked me how Hawaiian beer tastes. Anyway, I didn’t drink that much because I had to get up early the next morning.
On Saturday, I went on a trip with the office staff of my school. Actually, I think the administrators (principal, vice-principal, and head teachers) were the only men invited, but all the female staff members were invited. I believe this is because we went on a nature walk to see the flowers. It was pretty amusing because the women would fall behind (looking at flowers or stopping to sample something at a booth or buying omiyage (souvenirs)), and the men would wait and smoke until we caught up. I think this happened four or five times.
We had lunch at a really nice restaurant. I believe this lunch to be the most expensive lunch I’ve ever had, beating lunch in Ginza by quite a bit. Lunch was 8000 yen ($80.80 American based on the exchange rate at 7:15 this morning). It was delicious, but not really memorable. They did a lot of creative things with ume (pickled plum) and tofu. We had ume juice, some sort of cold tofu in bamboo, grass tempura, and the usual sashimi. Overall, I felt pleasantly full after lunch, unlike usual staff meals (like Friday night) where I feel like I ate too much. It was a good day.
Sunday was another day of soccer. The group was significantly smaller this week (I think because of St. Patrick’s Day today), but I still think we had a good time. I’m not as sore today, which I would like to attribute to being in better shape (but in reality we cut practice shorter). Oh well, I can believe what I want to believe.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Children's home, soccer practice, belly-dancing, hanami, and more quality George time
Okay, so I need to update more often. I was flipping through my photos and I realized I have not just one or two events to update you all on, but five. Bad me.
A few weeks ago (mid-February) a group of us went to a home for children who have no parents. It was a lot of fun. I wanted to steal this child, but I managed to resist. As you can tell by the other photo we tore it up (literally) and made valentine's day cards. Quite a few people, Liz included, were afflicted with "シール病気" (sticker illness).
Last weekend was Dasai soccer practice. The Saitama JETs get together ever other week (weather permitting) and play soccer in preparation for the big tournament in Nagano in June. We played for about 3 hours, and I shocked myself at how much I remembered from high school. However, I'm not quite as in shape as I was back then (the next day my JTE asked me why I was walking like an old woman).
Friday night was excellent as well. My friend Kara is an amazing belly dancer and she performed in a cozy little restaurant in Omiya. The group consisted of a bunch of people I kinda knew, but not really, so it was fun to essentially get to know other JETs that I hadn't
really talked to before. The main exception was Albert. Unfortunately, he had to leave early so we made plans to meet up the next day.
Saturday, lunch with Albert. In true Tokyo fashion, we rejected Japanese food and ate at TGIF. That reminds me, last last Friday, I went out with Liz, her friend from Australia, and a bunch of JETs. Unfortunately, I got there late so I didn't eat anything. I think that may have been a factor in our decision to eat there. We met up with his hot other half for another meal (btw, they're really cute together. Just thought I'd share). We talked about Little Mermaid on broadway and Wicked. I was a happy person. Anyway, they went back to work and Albert and I ended up wandering around Yoyogi park where we stumbled upon some cherry blossoms. We also saw some jugglers, tap dancers, and a lot of couples playing with those velcro ball things that you catch on paddles that are strapped to your hand.
After an extensive search for a tie rack in Tokyu Hands, I made my way up to Omiya for more quality time at the George. Let me back up a week. At soccer practice, I talked with Anna and her boyfriend (two more of the elusive "I know who you are, but I don't think I've ever actually talked to you" people), and as a result, she invited me to her birthday celebration the following week. Okay, back to this weekend. As it was her birthday, we all ensured there was always a drink in front of her. However, she got back at us all by guilting us into drinking to keep up. Luckily for me, everyone else went to the station at the same time. I ended up catching a taxi home from my station (instead of riding my bike) and I managed to somehow rip the zipper off my jeans (Don't ask me how. Or where the zipper is). I also had a 50 minute long phone conversation with a roomful of drunk guys who were playing poker. It was during this conversation that I learned that the recontracting conference in May has been cancelled. I'm very disappointed. :(
Which brings me to today. As my favorite Sundays usually go, I slept in (with my bottle of water close at hand), watched a bunch of TV, and cleaned. I think I really need to talk with my supervisor about the paint in my apartment, because the beige paint is chipping and somehow dripping purple down the walls of my bath room. I think that's a bad sign.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
February 2008
Forgive me, I’ve been extremely lax in updating this in the past few weeks. I would say I’ve been busy, but that’s not really the case.
My trip up to Sapporo was amazing. I’ve never seen so much snow in my life (that I was old enough to remember). We walked around Odori park and saw well over a hundred “little” snow sculptures (about 1m3) as well as about 10 really large snow displays including a slide, a snowboard/ski ramp, stages, and a promo for Prince Caspian (due out this summer). We also saw a Bailey’s ice bar, some fish frozen in ice, and a lot of really stupid foreigners. A highlight:
Two visibly intoxicated white guys with open cans of beer in their hands point at a hand-held sign advertising a strip club and say “Where? Where?” The Japanese guy holding the sign looks a little startled and replies, “Japanese only.” I don’t think that’s true, but if I were that guy, I wouldn’t want them in my club either.
We also went to the 2009 Toyota Big Air competition. It was pretty cool to see professionals doing crazy flips and turns on a snowboard, but I’ve never been colder in my life (that I was old enough to remember). Looking back on it, I’d do it again, I’d just wear a couple extra pairs of socks.
Since I’ve been back in Saitama, things have been pretty relaxing. Two weekends ago, I went out to Harajuku for a friend’s birthday party. I decided earlier that I wasn’t going to stay out all night since I was tired, so it was imperative that I catch the 11:30 train from Ikebukuro. Due to an almost comical amount of mix-ups, I arrived in Ikebukuro at 11:31. Luckily, a friend of mine who lives near Ikebukuro was still awake, and I slept on the couch in his apartment.
Yes, I said his. At school on Monday, I always talk with my co-workers about what we did the previous weekend (good English practice). I was very careful to say “their” and “they” when referring to my friend since guys and girls who sleep in the same apartment are generally considered to be dating/hooking up. However, I slipped when talking to the art teacher at my school. Of course, he caught it and started giggling (seriously). It was then I knew I was doomed. Then, he said, between giggles, “You naughty? Nasty things?” Alternately hilarious and horrifying (he is a 60 year old art teacher who likes Amy Winehouse and Fergie although he can’t understand what they’re saying). I emphasized that we were only friends and I slept on the couch, but he already made up his mind.
In other news, we have a new AET in Hidaka. He’s working at Koma since Zac left. He’s American, been studying Japanese (mostly) on his own for five years, and has a brother who married a Japanese woman and lives in Japan. It’s weird not having Zac around anymore, but I guess it’s sort of preparing me for when Dan leaves in July.
Speaking of the summer, I’m officially staying for another year. I even have the official papers (in Japanese and English). It’s nice knowing that I have another year to improve my Japanese and get another year of classroom experience under my belt. The girls are all staying and the boys are all leaving. Jenny and I both are requesting to stay at our respective schools, but Kristine wants to switch. I really hope I get along well with the new AETs. Jenny and Kristine are great, but we don’t hang out much.
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