Time Traveler Trailer

I can't wait to see this!

(anyone else catch the Marshall Field's bag in the beginning?  Big time Minnesota love!)

The Packing Commences...

I realized today that my replacement will be here and I will no longer be a “resident” in Japan (officially changing to tourist status!) in less than a month. Wow. It’s still a little surreal to me that I’m leaving Japan because life is so comfortable here, but at the same time, I definitely think I am in a good place and am ready to go. I got an email from a good girlfriend that left Japan last year, asking how it was going with all the last minute trips, planning and lists. Honestly, this sort of just made me think, “Lists? What lists? Should I be making lists? I actually don’t think I need lists.” And I don’t. I know it’s weird that with a month left I’m not freaking out and trying to do as much as possible, but I am actually pretty satisfied and content with my experience in Japan. I feel like this last year has given me the closure I need. I might be back one day, yes (and by that, I mean to live for another stint; visiting is a given), but for now, I’m ready for the next adventure.

Luckily for me, I’ve had my brother, a friend from college and now a friend from high school all visit this month. They’ve all been amazing with their willingness to lug my belongings across oceans in my name... and I think I’m actually going to make it home without having to ship anything! I went into a little packing phase last night and also started to put away pictures and things, thinking I’d get a head start… but my apartment feels so different without everything up now. Should have stopped at the “Vinternatt I Rondane” print. Think I’ll wait a little while before I do too much more. I’m not gone yet!

So other than the rainy season (and humidity!!) hitting full force, things are going alright :) Yesterday was one of my last days of actual classes at the visit school. My coworker is gone for the week, so I was alone with the English club after school and had some fun setting them all up on Facebook (bad influence? Or good English communication resource?) and teaching them to chat with each other in English a bit. I was going to go shopping with Deyi after school, but had to run home to meet a plumber after my friend Caoimhe's ceiling (which happens to be under my kitchen) started flooding... again. About 2 months ago, there was water dripping down and the wood was really warped. It was worse this time, but the biggest concern (other than that we're both moving next month and don't want to get slammed with the bills for the damage) is that the leak is right next to the circuit breaker. A little worrisome, ne?! The guy checked all my pipes, toilet, shower... and found nothing. The leaking also happened while I was gone, so not sure if it's coming from my apartment and is just internal or what, but hopefully they figure it out.


Had a really lovely evening with the unexpected free time last night catching up on some reading a nice long bath. It's going to be funny going back to a culture that doesn't appreciate the ofuro (bath) as much as they do here... but gonna try to get as many evenings like that in as I can while I'm here :)

Last Listening Test & Amusing Distractions

I gave my last listening test to the International Studies students today. I was here working on it pretty late on Friday and have gotta say I’m proud of how that sucker turned out, especially all the matching and pictures I added. I’ll still have at least one more class with these students (who I see the most) after exams and before I leave, so I’m not devastated about this “last” quite yet, but it is a little weird. Come a long way, learned so much about teaching in these last few years. Amazing it’s going to be over-over so soon!

So now that the test is over, I have a bit of grading to do, but I’ve been really distracted all afternoon. I found out who is going to be replacing me when I leave! I probably shouldn’t put all of her information up here but I’m pretty psyched. It’s an American girl who seems fun, really interested in culture and Japan, a little experienced (some life experience out of college). 

I have a gut feeling she’ll be great… and I’ve only just sent her a welcome letter :-p

Random note – it was announced today that the annual school trip to Australia will be cancelled this year due to Swine Flu. Still? Silly.

I Know All Too Well...

Maybe my search parameters are slightly different, but Wikipedia sessions definitely tend to last longer than the 5 minutes you plan for them...

www.xkcd.com/214

From Beks & Chris ---> Sayonara Beer Garden

Monday AM. I’m at the visit school today, but my coworker is gone, so it’s really quiet. Kind of strange not to have to compete with him to use the computer, actually.

Had another excellent week and weekend (visit from friends and one of the first big going-away parties), but I couldn’t sleep well last night and am definitely feeling rather zombie-ish today. I tried to sleep without the air-conditioning on last night. Didn’t work so well – it’s just getting too humid. I think finally succumbed to hitting the on switch and taking a sleeping pill just after 3am. Forgot how groggy the pills can make you. Good for jetlag, but think I’ll stick to the lesser of the two evils (air con) to help me sleep from here on out.

Alrighty, it’s been about a week so let’s just start where I left off.

June 14-20
Two weeks ago was the week of culture… or cultural festivals, I should say! 

Monday was a normal day at the visit school, except for going to Takanan afterwards to work on ESS stuff. Tuesday was our big prep day at Takasago Minami High School (no classes in the afternoon) and Wednesday was the big day. Went really well, and all of our cookbooks were gone by the end of the afternoon! Thursday was back to normal classes and Friday was the cultural festival at my other/visit high school. The festival at my second school is two-days long (vs just one at my regular school), so I missed all the dancing and performances the first day, but the food and concerts were still awesome. One of my ESS girls even rocked out on her guitar in the school courtyard -- and it was a really good concert.  The visit school actually reminds me more of an American school in some ways. I think the variance in the general school culture is due to the fact that the rules are less strict and the kids can therefore be less formal in their everyday interactions in a way. I definitely have closer relationships with the students at Takanan (esp those in the International Studies course) because I see them far more often, but I also feel like I can be a bit more laid back with the kids at my visit school (off the bat.. and there’s an awesome group of 3rd year students in English club), so it was nice to be able to hang out with them a bit outside of class. Culture Festivals are fun so I was glad I got to go to both, but it was also a really valuable experience just for the fact that I could definitely compare the two.

After the cultural festival on Friday, I headed straight to Kobe, where I met my friend from college, Bekah, and her boyfriend Chris at the airport bus-stop. They’d been traveling around China for a few weeks so they were tired (and had some big bags with them!), but we decided to hit up an izakaya (Japanese pub) before heading home. Great night, great guests. I was laughing so hard at dinner that the tears were coming down and Beks and Chris were open to trying anything and everything on the menu.

June 21-22 (or some weekend in June…)
Despite the fact that these two have been ON.THE.GO. – all over China and Hong Kong – for the last few weeks we kept things in regular fashion and started the first full day of the visit to Japan with… what else?... a trip to Kyoto. We had some bad luck with things being closed, closing early (& closing early as we arrived…grr), but the highlights were definitely going to Kiyomizudera (14 times at the temple now…I think I need help!) and catching a glimpse of a few real geisha in Ponto-cho.

Chris is really into plants and bonsai, so we also had this amazing little experience where we were wandering around these charming, empty back streets in Kyoto and stopped to admire a Japanese garden and the bonsai on the side. We’re peeking through an open-door when the woman who owned the house spotted us and let us come inside to look around and admire her plants more closely! I did a LOT of translating last weekend, but the woman had some great stories and such a beautiful garden. It’s personal touches on an experience that really make it.

After Kyoto, we hit up a BBQ in Amagasaki for a bit before taking last train back to my house.

The next morning, we were up somewhat early again, and this time started the day with a bike ride to Hamanomiya, a town about 3 train stops down from where I live. In addition to plants, Chris is also really into Frisbee golf.  We were looking at the international FG websites, only to discover one of about 20 courses in the country (and one of the biggest) was only about a 20 minute bike ride from my house.  Go figure.

We arrived at the park, strewn with beautiful trees, and started to look for maps or find the beginning of the course.  We spotted a few older men playing, so I stopped to ask one for help and this guy asked us if we wanted to play with him.  Neither Bekah or I are really into the sport (although I was fascinated by it... first time!) so Chris ending up playing a half-course with the guy and made a good buddy in him by the time we left.  It was really cute.  They were both pretty good and kept saying things to each other in their respective languages, nodding and agreeing even though they didn't know what each other said, while Beks and I tailed behind them, chatting (and me doing the occasional translation for Chris).  Big points for internationalization.

After the game, Chris, Bek and I raced back to my apartment to change and make a picnic lunch for the Hanshin Tiger's baseball game.  The game had sold out a few weeks in advance, so I wasn't able to get tickets beforehand, but we decided to go anyways to see if we could scalp tickets or still get in somehow.

Unfortunately, the game that day was a popular one and the stadium was packed.  We hit up the ticket office (no luck) and walked around basically the whole thing before realizing we weren't going to get in.  I stopped a few groups and families that were leaving early (for who knows what reason) to ask if they would sell or give us their ticket stubs, but nobody was willing (probably because they were nervous about illegal scalping), so we finally gave up and decided to head to Osaka to catch the rest of the game at a sport's bar over a beer.

When we got to Osaka, we decided to ditch the plan, however, and headed first to dinner (okonomiyaki in Umeda) and then Spa World for some re-lax-in.  SOOOO nice.  The co-ed area on the roof was under construction, so we never got to all soak together in the outside, roof-top baths, but the women had the Asian floor this month and Beks and I got a chance to catch-up and chat for a while in the traditional outdoor onsen.  One of them had this large mesh bag with a mud-like substance inside that some old ladies (who were really taken with us... kinda funny when you're naked and all strangers) told us was medicine and that we should hold to our stomachs in the water.  Not sure what that was all about, but totally, totally relaxing, soothing evening.

So much more...

Exploring with frisbee

We hit up Namba to see the lights (and famous GLICO Running Man) sign before heading home

Frisbee date but not the next day -- Himeji and Yukata Matsuri, izakaya, yankiis galore and cop brigades at the festival

School with Beks and Chris (think some of my kids are in LURV with beks), buying ninja shoes

Could write another 10 posts about the visit, but overall, amazing weekend. So much fun! Can't wait to see those guys at home.

After the visit, more fun including....

Dinner at buffet with neighbors & cool waitress (might hang out with us next week...haha), no spring rolls (WORLD BUFFET will never be the same), funny posing for pictures and freezing in place in the restaurant (Tu's plan... hilarious reactions from small children).  Then even more neighborly delights with cheap sushi so next night, stopped at second hand store and biked around with Deyi and Tu (random adventures).  On the weekend, visited Emi at the original Gankozushi then Kobe with Deyi, Beer garden at SOGO for a huge farewell, Karaoke in Kobe, then after-Karaoke Karaoke with Kate, Tu & Miwa in Futami.  ITO all day Sunday with ice cream, a bike ride, hanging out in the area and just taking it easy.  

My life is ridiculous.  I should not be allowed to have this much fun, but am happy that I do.  Anyways, that's a condensed, quick rundown, but again... pics on Facebook.  Off to class!

From KIX to Kobe... with the bags in tow!

I've typed up these directions for a few people now, so I thought I would put it out here in case anyone ever needs them.  

If you're flying into Osaka's Airport (Kansai Intl) and need to get to Kobe, here's some helpful hints on how to get the bus.  If you're going straight to Osaka, the directions are the same, only look for the bus to Osaka (or "Umeda"):

You will arrive in the Arrivals area of the airport (obviously). Once you are in the main airport, go straight and outside. There will be buses lining up. You need to take the bus to SANNOMIYA, and I believe they call the bus an airport limousine, but just make sure you are on a bus going to this location. If you are looking at the street (with the building behind you), the bus you need will be toward the left and center. There should be a sign (maybe electronic), but just ask for Kobe “Saw-no-mee-yah” if you don’t see it. 

To buy your ticket (BEFORE getting on the bus), use the ticket machines on the outside wall, near where the bus to Sannomiya is. There should be someone around to help you buy a ticket, but there should also be an English button on the machines. You are going to Kobe, so it MIGHT say this, but - again - SANNOMIYA is the name of the area/stop. The ticket will cost 1,900 yen (about $19). Just put 2,000 into the machine and they will give you a coin back for change.

When you get in line, the bus guy will take your bags and give you a ticket for them. They will actually check this ticket when you claim your bags, too, so make sure you hang on to it. The bus will drop you off in central Kobe, across from the JR train station.  The bus ride is 65 minutes long, but the final stop (or only – might be two depending on the bus you get) is yours, so it’s ok to sleep or read. You can’t miss it.

Also of potential interest -- how to get your bags when you get off the plane in Osaka (this one has come up, too):
As for the lugguage check...When you get off the plane, at KIX, you will walk down a big glass building and might have to take a little shuttle train to the lugguage area, but everyone will be going to the same place and the signs will be in English. You'll pass immigration first (Japanese people get to go to the many desks on the right when you get there - foreign passport holders will be on the left... you'll see it right away). Make sure you fill out the customs forms they give you on the plane before you get in line and just FYI that they will probably electronically fingerprint you and take your pic.

Once you leave customs, you go downstairs and look for the lugguage carousel. Your flight # should be listed and there are free lugguage carts to the far right of this room. Grab your bag(s) and head toward the doors. There will be stations for the customs agents to check your stuff. Sometimes they waive you through and sometimes they quickly peek in your bags. They should speak English and don't worry if it seems like you are getting checked more - I once got questioned about drugs for 30 minutes (was coming from Cambodia & Laos and looked pretty rugged)... it's all random but you shouldn't need to check anything. 

Oh, and don't feel the need to buy tax free or anything if you're coming from the states. Alcohol and everything else is pretty cheap here :)

More Bunkasai Prep = Cookbook

So I swung past Takanan (my base school) - and by "swung by" I mean biked 45 minutes - to check up on the English Club and help out with our School Culture Festival prep. I was gone on Friday and with only three days left, I knew we'd have a lot of work to do.

When I got to school around 5:30pm, however, I was totally blown-away by everything the girls had accomplished in my absence. The seniors have done an amazing job with taking a leadership position and everyone is working together so well. I know I had a lot of fun with prom and the Native American exhibit the last two years, but considering the amount of actual language practice and how hard everyone is working right now... I honestly think this might be the best Culture Festival activity yet.

I will have pics of the final results of our project in a few days (after tomorrow, actually), but here are some sneak peaks at how things are going...

Here are the girls going over the photocopies for the cookbook. They updated and formatted the English versions of the recipes in the last few weeks (changing ingredients where we thought they needed to change) and THEN also translated it all into Japanese and added pictures.

Here are two of the 2nd years working on one of the posters - a world map explaining what countries and areas of the world the food we made comes from:
Working on large posters that show our recipes, pictures and ESS members' comments about the process and end-result of our cooking:
Cookbook waiting to be assembled...We took "purikura" (photo stickers) that week for the book and some ESS badges we'll wear at Bunkasai tomorrow. The girls blew up a few of them and printed them off.... check it out. Also not sure I should be teaching them so much keitai (cell phone and chat) slang vs. sticking to the basics of English. .. ha, gotta say I love the alphabet magnet creativity either way ;-)
Not from school... but thought I would include this one because it's kind of cute.  Lucky for me, my friend Ann was hosting taco night at her place (literally down the STREET from my school), so all I had to do was walk 10 minutes to veg out a bit, eat din and hang out with friends after ESS :) Great food and company!

FSOT, OKINAWA & the spiral of life

I am at my visit school today and have to go to my base school afterwards for - what else - ESS. Actually really excited about Bunkasai on Wednesday (and how much hard work all the English Club kids have put into our project), but we're down to the last hours of prep now and it's definitely "girigiri" as we say in Japanese :-P Luckily for me, a friend that lives down the block from school is hosting a dinner party at her place tonight so all I have to do is scoot over there for dinner and some unwinding with friends. TACOs ala Emi (one of my favorite cooks...and foods...cheeeya!).

I was just outside and feel the need to remark that it seems like this weekend was also the official time for the-planting-of-the-rice. All the rice fields are proudly displaying fresh little rows of green sprouts that weren't there last week. It's rather beautiful. I've taken the rice season for granted for a while, but I love the cycle and am happy to see it one more time. I guess my neighbor Miwa even paid $30 to watch people plant rice at a famous temple in Osaka this weekend... so I'm not the only one :-p

SO, the weekend. Wow, where do I start? I took vacation time on Friday morning and headed into Osaka around 6am for ... surprise... the US Foreign Service Test! Most people don't pass it their first time, and I don't know if I will (some of the questions in the JOB KNOWLEDGE section - about stuff like Jazz?! - were tough), but I'm really glad I sat it and found the whole experience kind of fun and exciting. I could definitely see myself in the foreign service, which is funny because it feels like a bit of a step back from where I've been going (back to old thoughts)... but we'll see. Definitely excited about doing more policy and education stuff, though. But yeah, that's another topic. One to save for later :-p

The Foreign Service Exam & Science Museum in Osaka

Overall, Friday was definitely a long day. My test was actually scheduled for 12, but there was a mistake in the scheduling process (that apparently happened to a few people) where the organizer forgot to change the drop-down box telling the examinee (me) what time to arrive. Because of this, I got to the consulate at 8am (my report time) - in time for the 12 PM appointment - not knowing I didn't need ot be there until about 4 hours later. It was OK in the end because I taking the test early in the morning (with about 3 other people) probably helped for focus, but it would have been nice to get up at 10am on a day off... instead of 5am :-p

After the test, I realized I was basically on the man-made island near Umeda, so I decided to walk down the street to finally check out the Osaka Science Museum. LOVED it! One of the guides spoke excellent English and walked around the space and physics floor with me, explaining the exhibits and even doing some of the experiments with me. We talked a bit about the solar eclipse happening next month (July 22nd) and he showed me some pictures that he'd recently taken of Saturn from the Himeji-area. We're apparently in a position so that you can't see the rings right now - something that happens every 15 years.

Nerdy, but I got a huge kick out of the museum and had a really relaxing afternoon walking around in the sun and also seeing a show at the Science Museum's IMAX theater.

OoOoOoOoOOOOOO- kiiiiiii- nawa Ahoy!

In the evening, I headed out to the airport to meet David for our flight to OKINAWA, one of the tropical islands of Japan (the southernmost island in Okinawa Prefecture is actually only 100km from Taipei... pretty far from the mainland!).

In one word, I would have to say the trip to Okinawa was EXCELLENT. Japan can kill any budget and many travelers are afraid to come here because of it, but if you know what you're doing (or can read Japanese and book tours online), it's amazing what travel deals you can find. Everyone is getting their economic stimulus checks now, for example, so there are some wicked Shinkansen - bullet train - deals (4 legs in Western Japan for $120 - unbelievably cheap) to try to get people to spend it on travel. The tour package we got came via a recommended Japanese travel agent. Three days, two nights with hotel and car rental for about $350. Dave was joking about how you usually take the pictures of the hotel from the internet and cut your expectations in half to get a realistic idea of what the place will be like, but the reality of this package was extroidinary. Beautiful, luxury hotels, nice car, tropical beaches. Extroidinary. Also, the islands are pretty cheap (at least compared to the mainland), so you don't spend much on food. You can try the local specialities as part of the huge breakfast/brunch buffets if you want, too. Ok, I am going to stop going on about how happy I was with this tour, but I have to mention that we flew down on JAL and back on ANA (nice airlines) and that this trip was seriously cheaper than going to Tokyo... and did I mention it's tropical?!

On the whole, I found Okinawa itself to be rather interesting. People say it's really different from the rest of Japan, and it's true. Even without seeing or experiencing much of the massive US military bases I know are there (beyond military goods for sale and American products being available all over the place), Naha island did feel like another country... but then - at the same time - there are so many familiarities from "my Japan" that it still felt comfortable.

The road signs were the thing that struck me first. Naha isn't a huge city, but it reminded me a lot of Kobe, some of the street scenes (at least from a car) could even be confused for Kobe streets. We tried to see as much as we could while we were there, but also did a pretty good job of not pushing it too much and enjoying the time. The first night was basically just getting settled in, the second day was visiting Kokusai (International) Street in downtown Naha, seeing the famous Shuri Castle, experiencing Okinawan dance and trying Okinawan soba noodles (which were more like ramen than soba...), driving along the coast in the pouring rain!, stopping at the amazing Aquarium to see the exhibits about architecture, a fun dolphin show 

and the aquarium itself (which houses the world's largest tank and has 3 whale sharks), and a stop at an old fashioned A&W drive-in. The next day, we also visited the site of the last big 

battle in Okinawa, which is now a war memorial, Okinawa world (with an amazing, giant cave) and cultural explanations from the region, and at the Himeyuri museum, detailing the story of the students of a female girl's school near Naha who's students were forced to become heavily involved in the war during WWII. 

This last experience was more rushed than I would have hoped it would be and was very sombering. If you don't know, Okinawa was very heavily bombed during WWII; many of it's inhabitants still have bitter resentment for the fact that they took the brunt of the brut force used again Japan in the war, yet do not receive equal treatment as Japanese citizens or recognition for this.  I could write a whole post about that issue, but this is long, so I'll leave you to Wikipedia to explore that subject more.  Of additional historical significance, the islands were also the base for Commedor Perry when he "negotiated" with Japan to open it's borders.  It's also one of the biggest breeding grounds for humpback whale migration (high season is in February) and, in addition to the Japanese influence abound, you will also find almost more Chinese influence so it's definitely a visual treat (a lot of bright, strong colors).

Luckily the biggest hitch in the whole trip was honestly just when my Ofoto account (the one with all the pictures on the side of this page... and pics from Norway, China, Minnesota, Japan...) was going to expire (with little warning) unless I bought x dollars worth of goods and I couldn't get to the internet to order prints. Or I found internet, but it took an HOUR (and about $7 in internet fees) to order the 15 prints that would save my thousands of photographic memories. Anyways, looks like I'll be continuing to upload to Facebook albums and not so much here from now on... and glad there was a beautiful distraction out the door to take my mind off of Ofoto :-p

I should get back to real life (whatever that means) -- have to get some stuff done before I head out -- but, in short, definitely check out Okinawa if you have the chance. Great time. Great place.

Palin vs. Letterman

So David Letterman apparently made a few jokes about Palin on last night's late show.  I just saw clips, but this is the statement Palin released:

"Concerning Letterman's comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he'd ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter): Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands – that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others."

Longest sentence ever!

Ok, I can understand the invasion of privacy issue with children and completely agree that it's invasive.  I also think the joke was inappropriate.  But at the same time, this woman is a public figure (by her own doing) and she has more than put her family on the front line.  

Anyways, random but does make you think... curious if Letterman will apologize or how this one will pan out.

Tu's Birthday Party - Surprises all around...

Last night was definitely the night of surprises! My neighbor, Tu, had a birthday this past weekend. Since most of us weren't able to celebrate with him, a few of our friends planned to surprise him with a gift. I bought chocolates separately, but then we decided to actually lure Tu to Deyi's place and throw a mini-surprise party... so I decided to make a choco-banana cake to boot.

Here's the cake I made...

(it's double-layer and turned out well - thanks to the Joy of Cooking website - but the frosting picture of Tu-chan sort of looked more like Skeletor by the time I finished. At least the flowers around the sides were edable!! Got them in the fruits section.)

In the end, Tu was really tired when he got home and decided to skip Deyi's... SO, the four girls I was with and myself decided to surprise Tu at his place. I'd say it went pretty well.

The group - our little community :) Deyi made a FABULOUS little book for Tu (far left) in addition to the cake. He is such a good friend and always has the most amazing birthday cards and presents for others... was really happy someone finally did it for Tu :)
Ok, so finally... the other big SURPRISE of the night...

As you know, I am moving back to the States at the end of the summer. I'm actually not alone in this (quite a few people in our area are leaving), which makes it kind of weird for people that are gearing up to say goodbye to a huge chunk of their circle of friends/support network/everyday routine and lifestyle in Japan.  

Unless you're here for the long-run, 2-3 years is sort of the average cycle for expats so this is common.  I went through a big transition when a lot of the people I came with or had gotten close to took off last summer & fall, so I can understand why Deyi, our friend (in the plaid, above), was a little sad and worried about so many of her friends departing soon.

Well, the funny part is that out of everyone - especially her good friends - that she thought was moving... not all of them were. Tu has been playing a prank for MONTHS, telling everyone BUT Deyi that he's staying for a 3rd year here, while Deyi (also Tu's coworker) has been really sad about him leaving.

Tu was in a good mood (and there was cake... haha) and a lot of us where together, so he decided to reveal the secret.  HILARIOUS.  Deyi was pretty shocked, and her reaction was priceless.  The best part was also when she found out that pretty much all her friends (even the Japanese girls that live far away) have known about it and we've all been keeping up the charade since January.  Excellent punk.  Fun evening.  

Let's just hope Deyi doesn't try to get us back ;-)

Visual Stimulation, Japan

As I am preparing to leave this life in Japan next month, I have realized I'm starting to wear more nastalgic-lensed glasses when walking around than I may in everyday life. Having the Americans stay with me this weekend was also a big eye-opener to just how different life at home can be.

I had my camera with me while I was running an errand for work today so thought I would share some of those moments, observations, and beloved (or strange/funny) occurances that I now consider normal - and was able to capture.

Enjoy:

Supermarket. There is more tea than any other drink in the cold bev.

(including pop juice, etc) section of the grocery store.

The price of fruit. $7.80 for a small bunch of grapes.

$3 for an apple... but they come wrapped and were grown this way


Many products are the same... but different.

(wish I had found the babyfood a few weeks ago!)

Presents and free gifts. For buying things like beer.

Unique and funky clothing is cheap. Basics are not.

Safety and trust. This alcohol vender left a full truck just sitting
outside for at least 20 minutes. He was nowhere around.

Internationalization. Not quite there, but they try.

"German" Barber Shop in Takasago.

Art appreciation.

I mean, calligraphy is a REQUIRED SUBJECT in public schools.

You are not a hippy just because your main

mode of transportation has 2 wheels.

America could stand to walk/bike more.

People cleaning up the neighborhood... just because.

Japanese malls / Shopping arcades.

Powerlines

Sometimes all the housewives seems like 1950s culture.

But the moms do seem to spend a lot of time with their kids.

No dryers (even during winter) and keeping your

washing machine outside. I thought this was really

weird when I moved here.

Then I realized it's a new/different "normal".

At home, I think graveyards are creepy. Here I think they are kind of beautiful.

Local temples and shrines. I guess it's like a neighborhood church,

but it has more character to me.

OBACHAN WAS HERE.


There she is! Old ladies gardening & taking care of

plants wherever there is space...

...even if it's not theirs.


Barbed wire. In really random places.

I will never not hang my onions again and think it's awesome that

everyone does it. They last for so, so much longer.

Tanuki: part raccoon, part dog.

Life Update - Bunkasai, Tokyo (long post)

Alright, finally a free period at school so gonna try to catch up here a little more. You might have noticed, but I’m trying to get back into writing and keeping updates of what’s going on in Japan... it’s just hard when you’ve got too much going on to write.

The last few weeks have turned out to be pretty busy. There have been lags of time, yes, but most of them when I’m not at home to just veg out :-p I’ve been averaging 3 hours of English Club (ie – after school time in addition to my regular work hours) everyday lately as we prepare for the school cultural festival, too, which had probably had an effect on this time strain.

BUNKASAI
As you probably know, the school culture festival (“Bunkasai” in Japanese) is a day where each class/homeroom performs or makes a display. Sort of like a Japanese pepfest and one of the biggest events of the year. Seriously... one of the seniors that had a solo in it last year got a perm so he looked good for the day (can say a few things about that, but moving on...).

In addition to all the classes, clubs and teams can also present stuff. Two years ago, the English Club held a prom with a full-size Prom King and Queen (cutout faces) for prom pictures (posted on the web) and a DJ booth. Then last year, we made a full-size totem pole (with each kids’ animal on it and an eagle at the top), full-size teepee and a sky-colored backdrop with posters about Native North Americans. I was sort of stuck on what I wanted to do this year, but then someone told me about their school doing an international food poster and the lightbulb went on: *COOKBOOK*!

We decided (or I decided, tried to sell my "vision" and the girls - luckily - liked the idea) to do an international cookbook, featuring foods from 5 different parts of the world. I found recipes - mostly on the internet – of culinary treats I was aware of and have enjoyed and then transcribed the recipes into easier English for the kids. The senior girls translated all of the info into Japanese while I was in Tokyo last week (wow! so impressed!) and we’ve been spending almost everyday after school cooking our butts off so we can try all the recipes. I even came back to Takanan after a full day at my other school so we could work on it.

The five dishes we decided to make are from: 1) ITALY (homemade pasta sauce & bruschetta), 2) UK, AUSTRALIA & NZ (fish’n chips), 3) the MIDDLE EAST (homemade pita bread, 2 kinds of hummus & baba gannouj), 4) USA (christmas cookies – no xmas cake here, baby!), and 5) MEXICO (homemade flour tortillas, tacos & two kinds of giant nacho dishes).

We can’t actually serve the food AT the festival (too many hoops to jump through – including fronting money for all the materials and sending in stool samples to the Board of Education to prove we’re healthy to handle food), but we decided to make everything we’re recommending so we know if the recipes are any good and so that we can include pictures and offer comments/opinions about the cooking process. Had some longer days at school, but it's going REALLY well! We have so much food, it's been pretty much enough for dinner every night, too!

Anyways, now that we’re done cooking, we’re choosing what pictures (from the over 600 I’ve taken) we want to use and starting on the posters. We get a whole classroom in the middle of school for the exhibition part of the project (big world map with coordinating strings going to each food poster & poster boards). We’re also thinking about setting up a fake table with pictures of the foods we made. And the kicker is sort of the goal of the whole thing... our little “omiyage” cookbooks that everyone can take home (basically a present for visiting our display).

Bunkasai is next Wednesday (and again on Friday, at my other school), and we have a lot of work to do before we're ready to present, but everyone is really into it and working hard so I’ve been really inspired and motivated to keep going. Even if it means being at work until 7:30! We’ve also attracted a few more ESS members through the process (food always works wonders for these things...), so I’m excited because the person who replaces me next month will come into a pretty good-sized club, with members from all three grades.

SLEEP, TOKYO & the big fat run-around
Sleep. Yeah, I need some. Things have been so amazing, fun, crazy and adventurous lately (literally flying by the seat of my pants), but yeah, also busy... even for me.

So about 2 weeks ago, I did a one-day roadtrip to the Iseshima, home of Japan’s most sacred shrine, Isejinju . I've really wanted to see this shrine and the roadtrip portion of it was really great (wish I had done more of them while I've been here in Japan), but it was also sort of too long of a drive for a daytrip and I didn’t get home until 2am. Don't get my wrong. I'm glad I went. I'm glad I saw the shrine.  But man... long day :-P  Got home from the road and needed to finish a PPT for work the next day (since the copy I made earlier on my Mac wouldn’t open on a PC) so I probably got to bed after 3, getting less than 4 hours of sleep. Ouch. Had a full day the next day and was up late again packing for Tokyo, cleaning the apartment for my brother and his friends (who would stay there while I was in Tokyo) and finishing up another PPT for our presentation at the Opinion Exchange, so things kept going on par course. Friday was full of classes and I snuck out of work early to get to the airport for my flight to Tokyo. Waiting on the roof of Kobe Airport was relaxing (truly a treat – they have some beautiful gardens and views up there if you ever find yourself there) and I had a fun, lowkey night going to Tokyo Tower and hanging out with my brother and friends. Just a lot of late nights. That was last week. And then it got crazier.

Over the weekend, I had national committee changeover meetings on Saturday and Sunday with ENKAIs (dinner ceremonies) for new and old council members both nights and some extra karaoke madness in Shibuya on Saturday night. I'll skip the nijikai details, but ALMOST missed last train out of Shibuya because we were having an ice fight with some new Japanese friends and I pulled my leg muscle doing 3 cartwheels through the Shibuya intersection. Wise, I know :-p

The outgoing council had some later meetings on Sunday, so I did get a chance to sneak out alone on Sunday morning and finally check out the “cozplay” (costume play, where a following of younger Japanese people dress up like baby dolls and stuff) near Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. I’ve tried to see the groups of people dressed up on Sundays a few times and was really excited that it finally worked out. I asked to take a picture with one of the gothic-themed cozplay guys and was surprised to find that he was really friendly and nice -- even gave me a souvenir keychain that matched his goth outfit! I also quickly ran through an exhibit on royal ornaments (mostly hair ornaments form the Mieji and Edo periods) at the Meiji Shrine complex, but it was all meetings and prep for Monday and Tuesday from there on out.

Monday and Tuesday were our Opinion Exchanges with CLAIR (the Council for Local Authorities and International Relations) and the three other government ministries responsible for education in Japan. This was my third Opinion Exchange and I think it went pretty well. I remember being pretty nervous at them in the past, especially the first one ("oh my gosh... what if I forget the keigo Japanese in my self introduction in front of all these people" type of silliness). But now -- no problem at all. We presented 5 reports, with my team focusing on the new effect of the new curriculum for 5th and 6th graders rolling out nationwide as mandatory curriculum. We did a survey based on teh reactions of foreigners working at the 614 pilot schools to the program, wrote up the results and the reported on our findings via powerpoint at the meeting. I basically just helped make the survey, edit drafts of the report and made the English Powerpoint (with we translated into Japanese), but my role at the actual exchange was posing our follow-up questions to MEXT. I had a translator, but I was shocked to discover that I actually knew one of the MEXT representatives from a non-related event and thought the whole thing was pretty straight-forward. The banquet that night was nice, I finally got to talk to some of the government guys I've been so intrigued by all year (especially the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs diplomat with 3 different kids from 3 different wives in 3 different countries - charming fellow, but crazy dayo). A lot of people from the government offices came out for the nijikai (after party) - defiitely more than were invovled in our Opinion Exchange event - which also made for an interesting night, but I thought it was the perfect end to the experience.

After the meetings on Tuesday, we had the traditional post-meeting pizza party at the CLAIR office (Dominos eggplant and Ceaser Salad pizzas are my favorites -- going to miss 'em!) and then headed off for some quick galavanting/shopping/people watching in Harajuku before people had to trickle off to catch trains, planes and automobiles taking them back to all corners of Japan. 

I spent the evening meeting up with an old friend from Chiba Prefecture, Shinya. I've been to Shinya's house before and he and my friend Jessica stayed with me for a few days when I FIRST moved to Japan (literally my first or second week - I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't given me a tour of the grocery store and told me tips about Japanese food), but it was still a little sad or funny to chill with him and not have Jess there. We went to an area in Tokyo called Tsukishima, which is famous for monjyayaki, sort of a half-cooked version of the Kansai or Hiroshima Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake??). I was a little scared when I first saw it, not liking the raw look of the stuff, but it turned out to be really delcicous. We even ordered seconds!

NIKKO AND GHIBLI
On Wednesday morning, we said our goodbyes and otsukaresamdeshita's to new and old council members and I headed out for my hotel in Shinjuku. My boss was really awesome about missing an extra day of work to do some final sightseeing in Tokyo and then my friend Emi helped me find some really good deals to make it happen financially. I've always really wanted to see Nikko, a temple complex about 2.5 hours north of Tokyo (by train) because so many people say it's one of their favorite places in Japan. I only planned one day for the trip, but gotta say... I was not disappointed.

Nikko is actually on the edge of a national park and the area around it is so beautiful. Mountains, sleepy town, not too busy. I took a very early train, so I slept most of the way there in the morning, but the scenery on the way - mostly rural - was also very picturesque.

I arrived at Nikko early in the morning, followed a huge group of Japanese people onto the wrong bus (next to my bus... almost went hiking with them!!) and after some more walking (and some laughs when I figured out what happened), I made it to the temple complex. I bought the multiple entry pass, thinking (because I'm so accustomed to spread out Kyoto) that I'd try to hit as many places as I could, but acepting that I couldn't... and headed out for the first temple on the pass, Rinno-ji Temple.  It was pretty much empty and resembled the scene you'll find in Nara, but I was so blown away by this area.  I actually made it to see everything, even spending extra time to admire details (and make my way through the swarms of Japanese school children once the field trip groups arrived a bit later) and was so stunned.  Completely charming, relaxing. Stunning.  There was definitely more color and detail (especially on the ceilings) to what I am accustomed to seeing in other temples.  It was like Kyoto set in an 8-block radius, set in a huge forest.  

After exploring Nikko, I caught a train back to Shinjuku and spent some time at the Ghibli Museum.  Ghibli is like the Disney of Japan.  The place was not exactly Disney World, but it's actually more of what I was looking for.  The magic in the detail with displays showing Miyazaki's workshop and a really cute small feature film about a girl going hiking for the day.

Definitely a satisfying trip and splendid goodbye to beautiful Tokyo.  I have a feeling it'll be a long time before I'll be back, but I felt content with my goodbyes to that lovely metropolis.

CELL PHONE
On a random note, also some drama at work last Friday. My cell phone got stolen (I think...)!! At school!

 I never would have believed it, but it was basically in my purse when I went to class (and my coworker saw me put it there), but missing when I got back. I was trying to call my brother right before class and planned to try again when I got back, so I was certain of where I put it. I sit next to the staff room door and my purse is usually open under my desk, by the door. The phone was sitting in the middle of the bag and would be easy to grab, but since most of my coworkers just leave their phones on their desk anyways and I trust people at school, I would never think twice about locking stuff away. 

Anyways, I realized it was missing and immediately thought, “oh crap. Ok, where did I put it now?” Searched my purse. Searched my desk. Searched under the desk (on hands and feet). Called it about 4 times. Nothing. Then I started to get nervous, so I asked 2 other teachers to help me. I literally checked every bathroom to make sure it wasn’t there, checked my classroom (all the desks, etc), dumped out the garbage in both my classroom and the other one, and crawled around on the staff room floor looking for it a bit more before I started to believe maybe someone DID take it from my purse. The teachers that were in the staff room at the time said no strangers had been in the room. So great, a student?!  We called a few more times and then decided it was time to tell the Vice Principal.

Well, I think a lot of students saw me walking around with the usual chipper expression (or "genki" hello to match it) and thought something was up.  When my ESS girls came to meet a bit later, I told them I couldn't meet with them until I figured out what happened, so they decided to help me look, too... and then... we found it!

The phone was on the floor, one row over.  OK, I know I could have missed it, but it was literally right next to the desk of one of the coworkers that was helping me look for it (and also called the phone a few times).  I hate to think a student would have taken it, freaked out when we realized it was missing so fast, and then dropped it.  But that is what probably happened.  

Still trust my school and am really, really relieved to have the phone back (phone plans are expensive here... it would have been a nightmare to lose all my info and try to find something to use for the last month and a half here).  But I am also closing up my bag from now on and making sure it's out of the way.  Yikes.

GOOD NEWS and CHANGES
This post is getting long so I'll cut, but a few other random tidbits.  Recently won a National Service Award (2nd year in a row). I thought it was just for volunteering this year and that everyone on the AJET National Council (the non-profit I’ve been working with) was going to get one, so I was sort of goofing around when I went up to accept the certificate and only later realized only a few of us were nominated for it. Oops. Have no idea who nominated me, but I guess thank you if you are reading this! I was also chosen as a Hyogo Prefecture Goodwill Ambassador. I think this basically means I’ll represent the best interests of the prefecture when talking about Japan (post-Japan) and that the prefectural government can contact me if they need to enlist someone abroad to help them out. I plan to be involved with the Japanese community in some way when I move back to the states in the fall, anyways, so I suppose having a connection to my temporary home here is an even better reason to do it.  And I get a cute little lapel pin to wear ;)

Wow, yeah. So much to tell. I'm going to Okinawa and also have another friend (Bekah Kiecker and her boyfriend Chris) coming next week so I'll try to keep it shorter, but keep this updated.  Until then, good vibes from Japan :)

Kyoto with Sven

After a few more hiccups in meeting up and getting around, had a great weekend with the bro.  We ended up staying in a capsule hotel in Shinsaibashi on Saturday night (with a few little adventures, including getting drinks taken away for not having IDs... and then getting carded at the convenience store... in Japan?!) and checked out out Kyoto in the morning.  My bro headed off pretty early for a temple stay on Koyasan, the holy Buddhist mountain in Wakayama Prefecture and part of the Kii Mt. range pilgrimage.  Pretty proud of him - love the spirit! I had a really peaceful afternoon and evening, though, just doing stuff in Kyoto I have never "had time" for.  Visiting museums and the craft center... no temples ;)

Today was a little full on.  First 5 periods (first years with a rather serious PPT about Cambodia, second year Story contest, third year Philippines discussion with the student teachers surveying, second years again for a different PPT and then Cambodia again; discussion session during lunch and yet another super English Club session - over 3 hours!).  I didn't get home until 8:30 tonight.  Exhausted, but went for a run, discovered an AMAZING and huge Japanese garden along the route that I never knew was here (seriously blown away) and ready for bed.

Will have to write more later because I'm going to crash, but it's a good kind of tired. Gotta catch up on some ZZZs.  Until next time, goodnight :)

Kyoto eki

I'm in Kyoto at the moment, waiting for my bro to arrive from Nara. I think I mentioned there were some glitches in the the travels plans for him and his friends before, but this seems to be a trend that's continued - unfortunately. Long story, but the kids ended up only being at school on hour on Thursday and then didn't get home until really late so karaoke was cancelled.  They went to an onsen and get a chance to see the Osaka and Kobe lights from Rokko, though, so I suppose any adventure is good.  And especially if they discovered it on their own.

Late night last night biking around with the bro but today I had to jaunt to Kyoto to meet him.  Beautiful city and amazing new station, but after the last few hours I know it way better than I thought I would.  

Alright, exciting Osaka and hopefully a geisha spotting tonight (fingers crossed).  More soon.

Internationalization

I find it funny how some foreigners straight up expect other countries to conform to their home-culture's standards, and then get frustrated, upset, disappointed and sometimes even angry when it doesn't happen. Especially Americans. You would think international travel would help provide exposure and help alleviate this problem. *sigh*

Whether the current approach is working or not, I have to give Japan props for at least trying to educate and/or internationalize (and at a grass-roots level) to help avoid such misinterpretations.

Tokyo and Life Abound

Wow, alright, so much to tell.  I met my bro and his friends in Tokyo last Friday, spent the weekend at Changeover meetings and ENKAIs for the new National Council for my non-profit (time flies!) and our Opinion Exchange with the government on Monday & Tues went super well.  Could have done more to write the thing, but did the PPT and presented the English.  Really easy, which is funny considering I remember being so nervous at the first OE last spring.

Took vacation time on Wednesday (yesterday) and checked out Nikko. AMAZING! SOOTHING. RELAXING. Imagine Kyoto jammed into an 8-block radius, set in a luscious forest.  Wow.  Somehow also got in the Harajuku cozplay crew on Sunday (4th time's the charm), monjyayaki (think less-cooked, Edo period-style okonomiyaki that's a Tokyo specialty) with a friend from Chiba and the lovely Ghibli Museum (cat bus is no longer freaky - believe I have come full circle). Whirlwind tour, but happy and content until the next time I visit Tokyo... even though I know it will be much later than sooner.

Even though I got back late last night (to an almost mask-free Kobe), it's almost 8 pm and I haven't been home long from work today (over 12 hour day).  Full morning of classes, then some planning, hosted the bro and his friends for a few classes and then a super-cooking-English-club-Bunkasai-planning extravaganza.  But things are good.

In the last few weeks things have been kinda intense, but my body is finally starting to have mercy and I've loved some of the small adventures (Japan wishlist... check!) at Spa World (AWESOME loc - can't wait to see the Asian floor if it's as good as the Europe floor & they even had "Dr. Fish"!!), exploring Osaka's Orange Street with a Japanese girlfriend and Ben on two occasions, BBQ and a whirlwind roadtrip to Ise Shrine and the Mie Prefecture coast for a day last week (thanks midterms <3).

Now I'm waiting for the kids to get back from their Rokko exploration to do some karaoke.  It's a bit later than expected (pretty much on par with the rest of their trip) and the apartment is PACKED... BUT, still nice to have them here.

Also came to some conclusions  - and surprising, life-changing, and inspiring ones - about my next steps recently, too.  Headed to grad school in the fall, most likely Boston bound.  That's way more info than I've been willing to share recently, but it's amazing how you never expect when and where some big leads and lessons will come from.  Tokyo was great for this.  Some of the schools I've been in dialogue with have been even better.  I can't wait until I can share more ;)

I'm going to head to the electronics store so I don't have to shower in the dark anymore (silly weird-sized lightbulbs that you can't buy anywhere... argh), but hopefully more details coming soon and lots of love.  'til then...

Target Boutique

Not a bad list and interesting timing... was just talking about an idea the other day: http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/dealspotter/2009/06/02/hey-target-could-you-do-these-10-things-for-us/?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUsX