Big City Livin'

How to begin? I had the most amazing weekend! I guess I will start from Friday...

 

Met up with K to go for a nice long run (by long I of course mean a little over half an hour but it was a vast improvement from only the week before) ending at around 4K. After running I picked up B from the train station and we all got pretty`d up to go out in Beppu where there was a meet and greet hosted by AJET at the Beppu tower. Everyone got a free drink to loosen up and although the party started out pretty slow things began to pick up later in the evening. I didn`t really notice though because even without alcohol all I wanted to do was dance and even though most of the time it was only with one or two other people it was still a nice way to let loose a little. The DJ I had met a few days ealier in Beppu with B at a starbucks so we chatted with him for a while and got him on the dance floor off and on as well. One guy was particularly interested in American dancing (bootie dancing) so me and some of the other girls taught him a few things ;-).

 

Went back to Kitsuki that night with K and B stayed at my place. I honestly just passed out because I was so tired and I think she followed me shortly thereafter. Saturday morning we work up to a cool breeze and nice weather around 7AM and lazed around for a few hours watching Hercules. I made omlettes as has become tradition for Saturday morning fare and around 11 we joined K and her friend at the onsen for a bath. They were upgrading my internet when we got home so as soon as they finished we bought a map and some sandwiches and were off to the beach. Knowing only which city the beach is in, we started off down the freeway at a whooping 50Km/H (like 35... it`s the speed on pretty much any road here) and made decent time since traffic was moving at twice that speed. It wasn`t until we passed Oita that we ran into any trouble (B is a great navigator!) and even then it was pleasant trouble. We decided to take the more scenic, albeit longer, route up a mountain instead of hopping on the highway. It turned out it was about an hour out of the way but it was the most beautiful and challenging route we could have taken. I was literally crazy taxi-ing up and down a damn mountain trying to keep my speed below 60Km/h while narrowly avoiding peril down the side of the altogether too close-by cliffs. It was pretty epic and we caught most of the bottom half on video which will be uploaded as soon as we install amazing background music.

 

Once with finished our amazing journey down the mountain we found the beach with minor error and enjoyed a beautiful day for about an hour before the rain found us. I swam with about 4 other people down to these WWII remnants mooring stones out about 2Km from shore and hung out there just staring out into the surrounding smaller islands awe. It was once of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and perhaps the most beautiful I have seen in person. What I wouldn`t have given for a waterproof camera. The sea was altogether too rough to chance brining my nice camera out there and considering how much water I got in my eyes I would say it was a stroke of luck I wasn`t wearing any jelwery or anything because I would have likely lost that as well. I honestly can`t even begin to describe the beauty I wistnessed out there but I can cap it off by saying if you are ever invited to a small beach in rural Japan - go! Me and B pencil dove off the concrete mounds and made our swim back to shore all the while watching the 5 others behind us to make sure they made it back safe. I even swam back in when one was taking too long to check and make sure she was OK (both out of concern for her and because the water felt amazing and I wanted nothing more than to swim again), I even got back in about 20 mins later to race someone because it was just that nice - plus I wasn't feeling tired! 

We left the beach around 5 when the rain stopped and drove back to Usuki where we went straight to the festival site at the famous stone Buddha shrine. There were lots of tourists there and even some other foreigners who weren't with our rather large group. It is really incredibly beautiful there too (I sound like a damn parrot when I keep repeating this but I don't feel like I can say enough just how breathtaking it is out here, come visit me and I will prove it)! I took a ton of pictures, even when it continued to rain on both me and the camera while watching a Taiko dance with some Noh mixed in. The dancers were really into it and they even jumped out into the crowd. I probably would have continued enjoying it if the film crew hadn't shown up half-way through the show and plopped down right in front me (c'est la vie). I recorded a lot of it and will try to add it to this entry despite how long it is already going to be :-X. There was also another bon dance here which I jumped right into with another JET or two and we danced despite the rain for a while until stomaches got the better of us and we were forced to quit on account of hunger. Found food, enjoyed the company of others then started the drive back to Oita. 

Despite having a long day at the beach, an even longer day at the festival and a longer still drive in the dark, pouring rain back to Oita, we still managed to have the energy to grab a taxi into town to go to the bar. After B buys me a drink (I was a little cranky from the drive and I think she didn't want me hanging on her all night) I begin to feel better so I start to talk to the people around me. Considering how tightly the bar is packed in this wasn't exactly difficult and so of course I find a cute boy and we start talking and it turns into 5 guys or so buying me drinks which is of course always nice. :-P. It is all fun and games until two of them pulled me aside and were like "seriously, which one of us do you like better?" Luckily I was saved from answering by B who showed up shortly thereafter asking if I was ready to go. Thank goodness!

Sunday I woke up to the amazing smell of pancakes and the pitter-patter of tiny feet. We stayed at another JETs place where she lives with her husband and toddler. I still can't believe they made pancakes - even without syrup (it's stupid expensive here) they tasted almost as amazing as they smelled. Even with a killer hangover it was awesome! 

Drove home uneventfully after that except for a short detour to McDonalds (which didn't hardly get touched because of our hangovers) and slept for most of the day and night. Did manage to get a load of laundry done, although it got rained on so has been drying now for two days. Still wet. :-(. 

Work was also uneventful today but luckily I am still running on high from the weekend. I am even still messaging one of the boys off and on - maybe I will get a date? Hope so! Went running this evening but I might have pulled a muscle in my leg so it didn't go so well but I look forward to a nice slow jog on Wednesday after a few days of rest. I also found out I can make free calls to the US using google! I called my Grandma and Great Grandma both of whom flipped out! 

Well, I should be off to sleep, tomorrow there is an enkai for me and S and so we will be out very late with our co-workers, all of whom will be making drunken fools of themselves. Love!!

Drive it Home

Welcome back! Sorry it has been longer than I anticipated for a blog update! Regardless, the last couple of days have been hectic - to say the least. I am not complaining though; I have been loving absolutely every minute of it. So on to updates...

Monday was orientation in Oita city. Being in the actual big city was a little overwhelming after all, more so even than when I went to Beppu only two days earlier. All the new ALTs and some of the repeats were there and after a long day of lectures we went up to a beer garden on the rooftop of a nearby department store and relaxed for the evening. Of course all you can eat and all you can drink helped lighten the mood and everyone seemed to get along swimmingly (at least as far as I can remember :-P). I stumbled home around 9:30 after a confused taxi driver finally figured out what I was trying to say and I woke up the next morning hangover free (thank goodness!).

Tuesday was super busy though and when the hangover finally hit me around 2 in afternoon, I had already been to one school where I spent the morning watching the children practice for an upcoming competition. This was a special practice though because the students are preparing for culture day where they will sing, play traditional instruments and dance for the community. See the video above ^_^. At the second school (both of these are elementary), I spent the rest of the day chatting with the three teachers who came to school that day and hanging out. They gave me some vegetables they grow on campus: a gyoza and two pumpkins. Hopefully I can figure out how to cook them before they go bad :-X

K invited me to her house for dinner and running as well which was very fun. We watched Chicago and chatted about Florida and just cultural differences between Japan and America. This marathon thing is so far so good :-)

Wednesday I went to Middle school and did track and field with the kids. This brings my total of club days up to four! Hopefully next week I can do baseball! I ran a ton with those kids and they didn't look tired. It is kind of ridiculous how fit and strong these kids are - I certainly don't remember being able to do a 20 minute run then 4 sets of 200m sprints! Honestly I didn't even make it to the last sprint but my times weren't too terrible for someone who has never sprinted before (36, 42, 45 seconds). I was last, by far, every time. :-D

I got to use a starting block too which is another first for me and the coach said he was legitimately impressed. Granted I have to take everything the Japanese say in regards to compliments with a grain of salt because often you can't tell if it's a legit compliment or if they are mentioning it because it is noticeable in a negative way. Regardless, I am taking it like a compliment and when he sounded the gun to start I tried hurdling myself off the block like I used to do when I was swimming. It was exhilarating!

Got to go home early yesterday to begin driving practice but there was a bit of a complication - I forgot the car keys. Oops. Still got to go home early which was good because to be frank I was exhausted. Had a bit of an antisocial day too since, although S invited me to dinner because his friend is in town, I just didn't feel like doing anything. I made myself dinner (with plenty of leftovers for lunch the rest of the week), did some grocery shopping and relaxed at home. It was probably better in the long run since I woke up this morning hurting everywhere from those damn sprints yesterday! Lol.

Today I was at elementary school again and it was a lot of fun since the students were there. They were turning in their summer homework and doing some in class time before they went swimming around 11. I did the class stuff with them and since school hasn't officially started I didn't do any English lessons. Instead I was learning kanji (the Chinese characters adopted to represent Japanese spoken language) and Japanese right there beside the students. This is my smallest school (only 13 kids!) so after an hour I had gone through all the English they knew and they had discovered pretty much every kanji I had learned and were subsequently testing me. Quite the role reversal but very fun! When they went into the pool despite how much I longed to join them, since I didn't have a swimsuit with me (who'd have thought!) I had to retire to the teacher's room.

The teachers are all very nice but I can see now why people refer to this job sometimes as a stage monkey. Everything I did was "Oh, you're so great at X" and "Wow, I didn't know they could do that in America." I can tell this is going to get old fast but luckily after about an hour of doting someone said "Oh, we are kind of watching her eat and it's embarrassing" so then everyone turned their attention away from me. :-)

There was one instance though I think is worth mentioning. One of the teachers made a point of saying how she had heard S was really, really goods at Japanese (which is very true) and how since the new ALTs are good at Japanese it is easier for the teachers but worse for the kids. Another teacher asked he to elaborate and she said something along the lines of "well, when I was a student since the ALTs didn't speak any Japanese I tried as hard as I could to use English so they would understand me. But, if the ALTs now speak Japanese perhaps the children will be less inclined to speak in English around them." I honestly didn't know how to retort since it had been the other teachers at this school who had told the students I was capable of speaking Japanese and through no fault of my own but it really got me thinking. I had planned to only use English in the classroom as it is but perhaps now that they are aware that I can understand them they will be less inclined to find other means of communicating when they can't get their point across in English. This will be an interesting point on which to measure my effectiveness as a teacher I suppose.



Regardless, now that I have a car I am off to the furniture store to try and find something a little more comfortable than this chair to sit on and perhaps a table on which to eat :-).



Love!

Life in the 'city'

What have I done since the last post? So Friday I went to school like normal and didn't do any sports because we had meetings all day. I did manage to take some pictures! They'll be posted throughout the entry. Uh, yeah... In the afternoon Ms. T took me to her Uncle's car depot so I could look at some used cars. They were all pretty ugly and out of my price range (not to mention I know nothing about cars so his talk about each car being a steal was lost on me) so I doubt I will be buying one from him. Kind of a bummer though because I know how much Ms. T wants to help out. That evening I went running with K. I only made it like 1.7 miles which for being both sore and pretty out of shape isn't... that... bad. Hopefully I can improve with practice. Looking to run tonight even although it is getting kind of late.

Went out to dinner with K and S for the regional welcome party. No one else could come so we are going reschedule it. I think there are actually only two or three other people in the region though so hopefully it will be easy to organize. The bar was the same S typically frequents and we actually ran into one of my co-workers from the BOE who bought us all a round on his way to the next stop on his nomihoudai - all you can drink party. It was a lot of fun except for when those two went at each other's throats. Guess they don't really get along. Well, I can't do much about that so hopefully they will both hang out with me?

Woke up with a bit of a hangover on Saturday morning and was subsequently kidnapped by Mr. O's parents. they swung by about 10 mins after calling me and picked me and S up to give us a car tour of the town. Showed their favorite restaurants, hair salons and stores. They also bought me copies of the pictures they had taken earlier in the week of the bon dancing festival. It was a pleasant trip and shortly after I returned home and caught up with a few friends on Skype I was off to Beppu with B.

Being in the city was a nice change but it made me realize that after only 3 weeks I feel almost at home in my tiny little town. Sure sometimes I long for a bigger grocery store  - but what more could I ask for when I have cheap fish and organic veggies available 10-10 everyday? :-)

Me and B walked around a lot, I got to shop a little at Uniqlo.  We got paid on Friday (first paycheck!) so I am feeling a little more comfortable. Well quite a bit more comfortable. I think I got paid more than I have ever received in a month! Four of these paychecks is going to top the highest amount of money I have ever made in a year in my life (a whooping $10,000). Too bad rent and bills come out this week! lol.

Also got the chance to meet some of the students at the international university in Beppu. I guess I really have  grown up because the thought of attending parties with these people almost makes me queasy. The girl instantly got defensive when me and B walked up - B said she probably felt threatened by us. Honestly I was only interesting in the guy chatting on his phone the whole time but he only had eyes for B! :-) Turns out he is the DJ though at a local hot spot (Beppu tower to be precise) and he personally added us on facebook to the group? B says this is half-way to free drinks and I hope she's right! Guess since I was dating a guy most of college I didn't exactly perfect the 'make the boys buy drinks' technique ;-P. Time for me to learn!

The temple at my elementary school

We got back early to her city and went out to a bar. Well - the bar was closed! What a terrible marketing technique being closed on a Saturday! So on our way back some older men stopped us and wanted to chat? they invited us to a bar and we went. Honestly Japanese men are the least intimidating men alive I think and they ended up taking us to this hole in the wall where I spent most of the evening chatting with the older female owner and translating for B. The drinks were strong but good and the guys ended up chatting mostly between themselves and we left around 10 after politely refusing more drinks and when we tried to pay the owner shrugged it off saying the guys would cover us. Early but... interesting... night! Went home and watched a movie and passed out!

Given the opportunity to sleep in we actually managed to not get up until 9. Maybe the jetlag is finally gone! Grabbed a local sightseeing bus to visit some shrines that B had arranged for us to take. It was fun and a few of her colleagues from work - along with their children - joined us. I spent most of the time talking with the kids. Guess I like them I after all! Lol :-D. It was a great opportunity to practice Japanese and an even better one to help work on the best technique for overcoming their shyness - a trait which seems to hold the entire population in it's grip. It seemed to be successful because by the end of the trip the most shy of the four was  touching my arm and comparing the color of my skin with hers? It was pretty damn funny being told I am pale by a small adorable Japanese girl :-).

The teacher's room - busy busy!

After some video games and movies I finally managed to get this entry done and hopefully will have more to update later this week. Tomorrow is the prefectural orientation and I will finally get to meet all the new JETs (and some old ones) in the prefecture. It will be a busy but hopefully fun day and soon enough school will be starting. Back to my movies - LOVE!

Volleyball anyone?

Work has been interesting this week. Tuesday I ended up not being able to join judo because I didn't have any gi - judo clothes, and it turns out you can't play without it so I ended up just watching. It was a lot of fun to watch and I got to meet Tree village (I can't abbreviate him K since I already have one so Tree village it is!) sensei who works at one of S's junior high schools and teaches Japanese. He was really nice and chatted with me while we watched judo together. I couldn't believe it when he actually told me my Japanese pronunciation was really very good. Coming from a Japanese teacher this is a huge compliment and while most Japanese people freak as soon as they hear konnichiwa come out of my mouth it is not typical for someone to immediately comment on something as specific as pronunciation. This is my way of assuring myself it was a legitimate compliment :-X. No crushing my dreams! Lol. 

Turns out Tree village sensei is a 42 year old Buddhist priest with 2 children and he actually does kendo as a hobby but was selected to be a judo coach. Oh Japan. Not to mention he looks like he could pass for 26. I wish I had Asian genes!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent as it so often is for me here - reading. I am really catching up on my books which is kind of nice because I didn't get to read much at all the last year of college so there is plenty to catch up on. Was offered a ride home by Ms. T (my supervisor at the middle school and also one of the English teachers) who decided to take me and another teacher out to dinner at the Italian restaurant I had frequented over the weekend with B. It was a lot of fun and I was so happy they were willing to include me! Then I met with K because she wanted to use my computer since hers crashed (SUCKS!) Quiet night at home playing video games :-)

Wednesday I joined the volleyball club. They basically kicked my ass and I wound up bruised and broken all over while they left me suffering today with sore muscles on pretty much every part of my body. Is it sad I can't wait to go back? But because of the soreness and probably pity, K offered to take me to the hot spring with her here in town. It was surprising relaxing sitting with 25 local townswomen naked in a scorching hot pool. I felt better - at least until this morning. So after sports I hung out around the office until normal time (cleaning up pictures on my computer mostly) and went home with Mr. M who does judo with K (this abbreviation thing is started to get annoying - any suggestions?). 

Today I was so happy to have a slow and pretty much half day considering I had trouble simply walking. I went to my first elementary school which sports a whooping 22 students and did my first actual teacher activity - a mock lesson in front of the staff. The teacher I worked with (Mr. Y) actually lived in Zimbabwe for a few years teaching music so his English was not bad in the least. He's also a great and energetic teacher which I imagine is very important for elementary students. The school is very old and in the middle of rice fields in the most boonie area I have been to yet, by the way. they even have their own shrine right outside! Got to go home around 1:30 and just hung out most of the afternoon until 6:45ish when I met K for my first eikaiwa - English conversation class. It was a lot of fun and all older people (the oldest of whom is in his 70s!!) who wanted to just practice English once a week. They invited me back so maybe I will go next week? We'll see what K says since it's her thing and I don't want to intrude. 

So yeah, good week so far! Tomorrow is our regional welcome party and I also beginning training for a marathon. A marathon you say?! Yes, some of you - most of you - probably don't know that doing a marathon has been on my bucket list for years and when K asked me I jumped at the opportunity (most likely surprising her since I don't think she expected me to say yes). So training begins tomorrow (healed muscles or no) and hopefully since I have so damn much free time and someone to train with it will actually happen this time. Wish me luck? I'll need all the help I can get! Hopefully I won't die doing this 4K tomorrow but we shall see. 

Love and good night everyone! Oh, random sunset outside my apartment - you know I love sunsets :-)

PS - Who could resist the GATOR COLORS!!

True Blood and Booze

So this last week has been... a roller coaster. I got so sad Friday. It could have been a combination of many things but regardless of the cause I was lonely and depressed and just one of those days. I had some very emo feelings and have just been kind of swinging in and out of it all week. I keep getting mixed signals from my loved ones too which hasn't really helped. I keep trying to pull it together and today was awesome! But there are certainly some days when I just want to sit around and cry. This is the adjusting period. I know I can do it, but it just takes a little time. Don't mind my emo posts for a while until then I hope - of course there will really always be positive ones like tonight. Of course, you don't always have to read them if they get too emo :-P

So yeah, this weekend. Besides yesterday the weekend has been pretty nice. I'll go into Friday some other time but Saturday I spent in the company of B. We went for a nice long walk and took some great pictures and pretty walked around the entirety of Kitsuki. We also ate Italian food!!! I had pizza with salami and olives and onions and it was amazing (probably mostly because it was the first real American food I had eaten in a while). B also helped me finish building a cabinet set that I purchased online to hold my microwave oven since I have absolutely NO cabinet space. I actually couldn't use it properly until Saturday so yay! We drank a lot, relaxed a lot, giggled a lot and I got to just let loose with someone else's shoulder to cry on which was.. therapeutic to say the least. Hearing my Mom talk about Grandma's surgery going well and then knowing my Dad was going to come home soon was also a plus. Hopefully my bad karma is negated. :-)

Sunday hung out a little more with B until she left around 11 and then I spent most of the afternoon a little hungover until around 6 when I met up with Mr. O and his family. Sunday my town celebrated Bon odori - a dance to honor the memory of deceased loved ones and the time when their spirits can return to their homes. Mr. O's mother dressed me up in a yukata - summer kimono and we went out to celebrate and dance for a few hours. Before we left, however, we ate. I don't even know how I can describe the contradiction inherent in Japanese culture when it comes to food. Everyone is so small and petite but they eat SO MUCH! I just don't get it and people keep asking me if I am dieting since I never finish my food and I'm like 'hells no I just don't have room for twins in my belly!' (I only say this in my head). The dancing was a lot of fun and so many people took my picture I felt like a movie star. Good and bad news I suppose because I probably looked a dumb fool trying to do this strange mix of Hawaiian and step in a circle of people.

Today turned out pretty good too. I finally got to go to my junior high school (Yamagachugakkou) where I met the two English teachers, the art teacher, one of the gym teachers, the tea lady, the office helper, the vice principal and the principle. All the other teachers were on vacation so hopefully later this week they will trickle in and I will get to meet them. So to alleviate the boredom of sitting on my butt behind a desk with no internet I spent the better half of the day playing table tennis with a few of the students during their club practice time. This was no easy feat in a suit and I ended up sweating through my clothing quite thoroughly. Turns out there is a shower and Ms. T (the English teacher who also does the table tennis club) loaned me some shower stuff and a spare polo to wear. The rest of the day I spent reading and catching up on email. Speaking of which, if you want to write me a nice long email (or a short one) then send it to me and I will download it on outlook whenever I have internet and I can write back to it during the day.

Shortly after I went home for the day I got a call that R was in town and I decided to meet up with her, S and K (the fifth year ALT here in Kitsuki who works for the High school) to do a meet and greet and to just chat about this and that. Found out there's an onsen (hot spring) here so woot to that! Around 7:30 I met with Ms. T to go and watch the fireworks show which was quite amazing. I would say it rivaled Disney's! There were a good 20,000 people there and they played Japanese pop artist renditions of some of my favorite Disney songs which made me so happy. Overall, great week so far and tomorrow I get to try Judo!

Love!

Typhoon!

So I wrote this awesome and long blog entry last night and before it got the chance to save, firefox froze so I am going to rewrite it today at work and hopefully I won’t miss anything ><. Sometimes I swear despite how amazing and fast my computer is I think it hates me a little bit. Sigh.

I have been in Kitsuki over a week now and life is starting to drag on a little. I find I have so much time - more than I ever had in all my years in America. The worst part of it though, is that I don’t have many friends or hobbies to do in my free time. I want nothing more than to swim or walk around the town but because of the rain and poor weather I find myself frequently trapped inside watching movies and contemplating my life. It’s also very dark here - especially after the sun sets. There are no streetlights and since it has been so cloudy lately, there are very few outside sources of luminescence. I can feel myself sliding in and out of sadness. My computer even gets boring after an hour or so and there’s only so many movies I can watch. S went out drinking last night and invited me, I probably should have gone but, I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like going. I ate a whole roll of oreos before I knew it and even though I knew I should go outside and exercise - IT WAS RAINING!

They spoke in orientation about the stages of culture shock and mentioned is moves like a parabola. We start out on a high (the honeymoon phase they call it) and we are excited about everything and enjoy the differences in the cultures. Then we begin to descend into a downward spiral on our way to the lowest point in the culture shock spectrum - sadness and anger. There is irritation at the small cultural ‘flaws’ and character of the people and sadness at the homesickness and loneliness. I find myself moving in and out of these two phases almost fluidly; instead of beginning in stage one and falling into stage two. Maybe I can find a pool or an indoor gym that I can get to without a car so I can take out some of this pent up energy. Sigh.

So to update on the past couple of days.

Monday - Went to work like normal at the BOE (or as normal as sitting bored at a desk can be) and had a meeting about my role as an ALT and the significance of such a role in the community. Basically, don’t date your students, or other teachers, and dress and act appropriately to your station even when off duty; pretty rudimentary and understandable stuff. When the meeting finished it was almost lunch time and shortly thereafter we were sent home for lack of better means to waste our time. Caught the bus around 1:45 (it’s either catch it then or wait for the next one at 4:55) and got home shortly after 2:30. Short day! S and I decided to go for a walk down to the other supermarket that night and since it is a few miles away it took us almost an hour to get down there. We did karaoke and then found, to our surprise, the drug store we had walked down there with the purpose of visiting, was closed for remodeling. Just my luck. Walked home and watched more movies. I feel like this is becoming a habit.

Tuesday - Much more entertaining day! Met my supervisor around 7:45 and we went up to the top of a big mountain to go to Yokotakejizen park where we met with a big group of sixth grade students who were camping there for the weekend. The community hosts a meet and greet between all the sixth grade students in the area who will be moving up to junior high school in the following term. We first began the morning with a scavenger hunt and I went with another female teacher along the track to view the scenery. It was so beautiful. I didn’t have a camera with me but I took a few cell phone pictures of the view from the top of the mountain. I’ll post them on the bottom with a few other pictures I have of my town at sunset and some rice fields.

After the scavenger hunt I made lunch with the kids. Long bamboo slides were installed ending in a drain on top of which a hose was placed and the water turned on. The water was made to run along the length of the slide the children gathered around it on all sides with their bowls full of soy sauce and green onions. Noodles were placed on the slide and left to flow with the water into waiting student’s chopsticks. I got the hang of it after losing a few choice noodles and found it to be quite entertaining! After lunch we played a watermelon game reminiscent of piñata and I was made to represent the teacher’s team. They spun me in a circle blindfolded then unleashed me to the mercy of my peers who, in a mix of broken English and Japanese, tried their damnedest to direct me in the direction of the watermelon a good hundred yards in from of me. I eventually found it, gave it a good whack with the bamboo stick I was equipped with and eventually found I had received fourth place out of six for my timing. I felt somewhat bad having beaten two groups of children but secretly rejoiced at not having been last. :-P.

It didn’t end there though. One of my colleagues, a Mr. O, invited me and S to dinner at his house that evening. They made curry which was delicious but perhaps the biggest surprise was when we passed by his house and continued on to the house of his parents. The whole family had come out meet us and have dinner - O’s wife, two of their three children, his brother and his brother’s wife and their two children and his parents. I felt somewhat bad imposing on their family like that but they insisted on the company. S brought his guitar and wit so spent most of the evening telling jokes and entertaining the family while I sat quietly in the back like a doll waiting for my chance to speak. It is strange for me to not be the most outgoing person in the group and having S around is a little draining since I feel like I can’t get in a word one way of the other. Hard to believe, considering how long winded this blog entry is, that I find myself unable to carry on prolonged conversation with people because S has the tendency to get antsy if left to his own thoughts for too long. Hopefully I will meet some people separate of him soon though so that I can feel a little more like myself and less like the polite and appropriate woman I feel myself drawn into. Don’t take this as anything against S - it’s just his personality and to be honest it’s refreshing in the right context. I just feel overwhelmed sometimes and have to adjust to this new style of life.

Wednesday - Work was boring again and left to my own devices on a computer with no Internet I spent a majority of the morning making a photo book, which I ordered online later that night to be printed and sent to me here. My supervisor sent us home early again because of the typhoon. Some typhoon though - everyone was flipping out about this big category four typhoon and there was just a bunch of wind and rain. Nothing scary in the least! I feel like I got jipped on this one. Here I was expected a hurricane-like storm and all I got a was a strong rainstorm. There wasn’t even thunder!

Didn’t do anything in the evening except eat my oreos and watch Zoolander and stalk the Internet waiting for people to sign online. Went for a run when it stopped raining but felt a little uncomfortable because people kept staring at me. Sigh. S stopped by on his way home from the bar, drunk, and wanted to hang out. It was already 11 so I was getting ready for bed but I let him in anyway. He was soooo drunk it was entertaining until he mentioned he was drunk enough that I was starting to look cute. I kicked him, hard, and he laughed. Sigh. I guess this will be my life. I know he meant no harm but it just really made me miss my friends back home. You guys are amazing and I appreciate you more and more each day.

Today I am currently wasting away at a desk and have been typing this missive for the past hour. I forgot my book so I will have to find something else entertaining to do on my disconnected laptop that doesn’t involve the Internet or any sort of game. Miss you all, love.

Sunday

So I have been in Japan for almost a week and in my city for a whole 4 days now. I am beginning to really like it here. I haven't quite adjusted to the stares of people as I walk down the street or the random commercials on TV but I think I am feeling more comfortable. My Japanese is finally getting used which feels very good, and while I sit in my apartment with all the doors and windows open to let in the summer breeze and wait on my new microwave/toaster oven it is starting to feel like a home.

I took a trip to Bungo Takada yesterday to visit my friend B another new ALT who flew out with us from Miami. S went with me and we had quite the adventure on the buses and trains trying to find our way to her small town. It is actually relatively close by and didn't take us much more than an hour to get to. Her town is based around a small two block area based on 1950's style Japan. We met her neighbor, a third year ALT P who is from Singapore. She was really nice and even gave me a DVD player she had won at a raffle since she didn't need it. It works out because my PS3 is not working with the TV and until I save up the money for another TV I would have been unable to watch any of my movies except on my computer. Yay! Turns out it is even region free!!! What are the odds?!

So after hanging out in Bungo Takada for the day we (including B) made our way back to Kitsuki. We took the wrong train though because as it turns out there is more than one level of express and the one we took flew right through Kitsuki station and took us all the way to Beppu. It worked out though because now not only do we know how to get to Beppu and how long it takes but we also got to go on a bit of an adventure. B stayed the night with me and we bought some booze and got a little drunk on my floor while painting our nails, watching A Knight's Tale and mooning over Heath Ledger (sp?).

Had a great time and a great night and after waking up around 7 this morning (maybe we are all still a little jetlagged?) we made omlettes and watched Memoirs of a Geisha together while I continued to try and pick up the apartment. Moving is really very messy! I did make curry last night though and it was just amazing. Something about the chicken here is just unbelievable. Everything tastes so fresh! It's like having an organic supermarket all the time! Oita prefecture is actually famous for their fried chicken dishes so I assume chicken must be very popular here. It is certainly cheap and tastes so amazing! This will make cooking very easy!

I am trying out lots of Japanese seasonings and vegetables and am trying to make it a goal to try something new every time I go to the store. Maybe I will learn to cook after all!

Next weekend is a summer festival in my town and although I don't know much about it yet, B is going to come back and go to it with me since S will not be here (he's going to Osaka for the weekend) and she won't have anyone to hang out with in her town. Hopefully soon I will meet some Japanese people though so that I can work on my language skills. :-)

This week I will be spending everyday at the BOE's office trying not to die of boredom and hopefully studying Japanese and beginning to work on lesson plans. They left a huge pile of books on my desk about the English program they use here and copies of the textbooks the students use. Seems like I will hopefully be able to keep myself occupied for 8 hours each day. Well, my damn oven still isn't here yet but I don't have much else to say. Time to make lunch!

Love!

And so it begins

...life in Japan. It is kind of crazy actually. I went walking home from the grocery store about 20 minutes ago and it is pitch black, no streetlights, stars everywhere - and no people out. This will be my life I guess. Let me update you on what has happened the last couple of days. So I left Tokyo in a rush and got picked up at the airport by my supervisor, two colleagues and R (the JET finished her 5th years and is leaving - reluctantly). They took me and S out to lunch and then in a flurry of activity we were rushed off to meet the superintendent (head of the board of education), the mayor and do an interview for the TV and newspaper. I actually have a copy of the news article! It had a picture and everything and considering I have never been in a newspaper before it was kind of exciting. Especially since I was quoted in a very long paragraph about my first impression of the city and the sights whereas S (who actually spent a majority of the time speaking) was left with a mere sentence introduction. I felt kind of bad and he keeps making jokes about it so I hope it isn't bothering him ><.

Watching Japanese TV right now which is a whole culture in and of itself. A little more about my life here I guess. I got a bank account opened, a cell phone and registered for my alien residence card. As soon as I get this card (hopefully next week) I can get car insurance and then I can start driving the car.

It is gorgeous here. I am surrounded by huge hills covered in trees and my apartment is nice. It is ridiculously hot though and I am afraid to use the AC because of what I have been told about the bill being crazy expensive. I have spent so much money getting set up because there was only a fridge, toilet, washing machine, TV, mirror and a few shelves and a shower here when I moved in. I had to buy a stove-top, toaster oven, fan (most necessary in fact), bed, hangers, stuff for hanging clothes outside, utensils, cooking stuff (pans and spoons and stuff), towels, toiletries... ugh the list goes on. Total being around $1,500 so far. Guess JET knows what they are doing when they say to bring a bunch of money to get set up with. I even bought a router so I can get wireless in the apartment. I actually had internet as soon as I arrived because my landlord (who might actually be a part of the Japanese mafia) has connections everywhere and got it set up for me.

My supervisor is quite nice. The first night he took me and S and R out to dinner with another colleague and we all got quite drunk and just had a jolly merry time. He wouldn't let us split the bill which was rather depressing but it was quite fun nonetheless. I guess only in Japan can, on your first day of work, you go out drinking and subsequently get drunk with your new supervisor.

Here's some pictures of my view, both from my apartment and from work. There is also a picture of the Kitsuki castle which I went to see today along with Samurai town which are the main attractions of our city. Next update I will add more about it since I am quite tired. Good night and love!

BOE Office - 

 

My apartment backyard -

 

 The Kitsuki Castle -