Memoirs of an American in Japan

Coed Onsen camping trip and sumos

2008-06-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Yabara Camping Trip

I went camping for the first time in AGES, 2 weekends ago in Okayama which is about 3 hours south of Osaka. I went with Charrissa and Mary (new KIS teacher). We joined an organization that puts together camping trips. It was great! Lots of firsts on this trip... first camping trip in Japan, first coed onsen experience and first time I met Jacquie. (Jacquie taught at KIS the year before me, she left right before I arrived in Japan, but heard stories upon stories about her...also an aussie :)

It was just like your typical camping trip...tent, sleeping bag, gas stove and coed baths (oh wait maybe not typical). Ya, this camping trip was not exactly your typical camping trip considering you meet and 6 hours later you were nude with each other (but that Japan for ya). We meet Jacquie and her friends in Osaka and had the best Mexican food in Japan...sooooo good. Then meet Lawerence and the other camper for a 3 hour drive to Yabara in Okayama Prefecture. We arrived at the campsite around 9pm, set up camp, then went to onsen around 11.

This onsen is a traditional coed onsen were men and women, boys and girls bath together. It's a natural hotspring, right next to a river. The water directly below us and seeped into the baths that were made. You could literally sit in the bath until you got too hot, pop into the river to cool off then get back into the hot water (oh and there was a huge hotel right across the river-imagine eating breakfast and looking over and seeing a bunch of naked people-haha).

We were told peak season was over so there shouldn't be too many people there at 11pm at night. So I was thinking oh shouldn't be too bad maybe 5-10 people should be there. But, boy were we shocked when we saw the onsen was packed full of people. I definetly hesitated when I saw how packed it was.

All in all it was a great trip. It was nice to get out of Nagoya for a weekend and visit a prefecture I had never been to before. And experience my first coed onsen...my last?????

Our tents, the grass was tall=soft :)

Sumo visit to school!

Every year at KIS professional sumos visit and give us a sumo demonstration then wrestle with the kids. Its such an amazing experience, not a typical thing to happen in Japan, we have connections through parents :) It's so fun to watch the kids "push" around the sumos, they try try soo hard.

Sumo demonstration...boy, you could hear the thud :)

My boys were all bark and no bite...I love this picture :)

Gambatte Taiki!!! Go Taiki Go!

5 Year Class with the sumos!

We taught them the Macerana!

They came to our closing circle since we are oldest class in the school. They walked in and the class felt 1/2 the size. We voted as a class and decided to teach the sumos the Macerana dance and sing Skidarinky dinky dink. It was a very awesome day!!!

****Next weekend is Saori's wedding!!! I can't believe it. We will be going to Hamamastu for her wedding and stay the night. Jacquie and I will learn how to surf..hmmmm :) So expect a big post on that soon.

Weekend with the Takeyama Family and other little tidbits

2008-06-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Are you shocked??? Two postings in 2 weeks :) I have more time on my hands this year, wahoo no summer school for me, yes!

I guess I'll start off with my weekend with the Takeyama family. I had an amazing time last weekend. They picked me up at my apartment at 7pm Sat. night and I didn't get home till 5 the next night. I had Haruka in my summer school class at KIS last year (she is 4, her brother Kouhei is 3). Tomoko, Haruka's mom and I became good friends last summer. So when I told Tomoko I was coming back for 2 months she invited me to stay at their house for the weekend. It is very rare for Japanese to invited you to there home for any reason, so I felt very honored (Japanese would rather entertain in a restaurant because the houses are so small).

They picked me up at my apartment and took me back to their "mansion", mansion in Japan means luxury apartment, kinda like a penthouse in the States. It was very nice, their house even talks to you, which caught me a bit off guard the first time. For instance, when the bath is done it tells you the water is ready, then shuts it off automatically...how cool is that. Oh, right getting off track...they picked me up and when we got to their place they made Shabu Shabu, sooo oishi! Shabu shabu is a Japanese soup, you put vegetables into a boiling broth and then you have your own plate of beef and pork. You place a piece of meat in one at a time and swish it back and forth while saying shabu shabu (although they may have been pulling my leg on that one, haha).

On Sunday we went to Toyota to made some traditional Japanese paper fans and then went to the onsen (ohhh, the onsen how I have missed thee-we need them in the US, on second thought hmmm maybe not). Over all, it was a wonderful weekend, and it's amazing how big Haruka and Kouhei have grown in a year. They are just as cheeky and crazy as they were last year, but now just bigger and louder :) I feel lucky to be able to get an inside peek at how a Japanese family lives, and for the Anthropologist in me that was interesting. But it was also really fun to have a girls night and hang out with Tomoko (when the kids and her husband went to bed) drink some sake and talk about our cultures and lives.

The Takeyama family and me

So... what other news is there to tell y'all

*it's rainy season and its raining every freakin day, and I can feel the humidity starting to creep it's way in, grrr-that also means typhoon season is coming....

*We had a minor earthquake the other night around midnight, I was about to go to bed when my computer started shaking, I Aimed Char and she felt it too. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy, but I definitely did not get a good nights sleep that night expecting the real earthquake at any moment... (FYI, the BIG one is supposed to hit Nagoya at any moment-so that didn't help me fall asleep that night-it even has a name-Tokai Earthquake if your interested)

*I did another Brenda :) involving a broken glass bottle of Alfredo sauce (miraculously none ended up in my backpack) and bikes falling over left and right in front of the cheap shop...oops, I never learn

I'm back......in Japan that is!

2008-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

So here is the short version of why I'm back...I'm still in a bit of shock, I got a call on Mother's day from my old boss in Japan saying they would like me to finish up the school year with my class from last year. And because of the budget crisis (look up on cali budget crisis education) schools are not hiring at the moment-unlucky for me (lucky for me-either way you want to look at it:) So, I gave up Phantom of the Opera (sorry Beth) and packed my bags for two months in Japan. CRAZY-this would only happen to me!!
So now, I've been in Japan for 5 days and this is the first day I can sit and relax. It is sooo crazy to be back (I've been saying that all week-think char's getting annoyed) Nothing has changed!! Smells and sounds are the same, Nagakute-cho hasn't changed, and Nagoya is as big and crazy as ever.
I feel like I went on a small vacation and just returned back to work (while I was home Japan felt like a dream). It feels so natural to return to school, be with my kids and catch up with my friends at our local hangouts.
The kids are all soo big. It's amazing how much the 5 yr class has grown, I had them when they were the 2nd youngest class in the school and now they are the oldest. They are so independent now, I can actually relax during the day.
I am looking forward to a hot, sweaty summer in Japan and will be back in cali mid July. I am already planning my big trip before I leave. Not sure where to yet, but if anyone wants to come out and climb mt Fuji let me know :) and of course Kyoto will be in there somewhere.
I promise I will update this periodically, and pics will come up soon (when I take some)

*** Grams, you got your update :) (only took 8 months-oops)

Ok, I admit..I'm a slacker...

2007-09-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Yessss, yes yes, I'm back after a two month hiatus, I am finally blogging again. There is sooo much to tell that I will just stick to the important changes. I AM STILL IN JAPAN!!! I know I was supposed to leave in August, but I decided to extend my contract for another month and half until the school finds another teacher. SO, now instead of teaching 4 year olds (who are now 5) I am teaching 3 year olds (who are actually 2) and I have to change poopie diapers. They are soooo cute but sooooo little and don't speak a word of English. Here is the cutest picture of them-EVER:

The past three months have been extremely busy to the point of absolute exhaustion. School ended in July, so June was filled with writing reports, teacher-parent conferences and getting the year wrapped up. You may think then I had the summer off....but NOOOO, I'm in Japan and in Japan vacation is non-existent. The next month was focused on summer school. So I spend a week preparing for summer school, then taught 3 weeks of summer school.

Some major changes that have occurred, both Naomi and Lizzie left. Naomi is in Honduras teaching 3rd graders and Lizzie went back to London to sub. And there are 2 new male teachers, and boy (pardon the pun) have the dynamics changed-but not in a bad way.

BUT..it has not been all work, I have been able to find time to do a bit of play also. In the past 3 months I have been to Hiroshima, Kyoto (yes..again :) Tokyo, and Kamakura. Before Naomi left all the KIS teachers went up to Saori's cabin in the mountain and had a nice weekend chillin out in the mountains eating yummy food, doing some fireworks and enjoying nature.

Saori's Cabin

In July, Lizzie, Charrissa, Saori and I went down to Hiroshima. We decided to have the school try to make 1000 cranes so we can hang them up at Peace Park, and we actually... achieved it! So the 4 of us Shinked it down to Hiroshima with 2 massive bags full of paper cranes. Hiroshima was amazing.

KIS peace cranes

The history is shocking but the way they have rebuilt the city is absolutely amazing. We spent a while walking around Peace Park and then went into the Museum and spend a good 3 hours walking through reading everything. The museum was so well down. And afterwards Saori said to me "It was nice going through there with an American."

A-Bomb Dome-the the left (the atomic bomb exploded right above, the only building left standing within a few miles)

We also spent a day in Miyajima-one of the three most scenic places in Japan.

After summer school ended we had a week of vacation (our first week since Golden Week), so I decided as my last hurrah in Japan I would go on a trek across Japan solo. First headed down to Kyoto then WAY up to Tokyo since I had not been there yet. I spent three days in Kyoto and went to Himeji and Arayashima.

Himeji Castle-One of only a handful of original castles in Japan-beautiful castle, you can smell the oldness :)

Sorry, I will finish up this epic story soon (possible tomorrow...) but its midnight and I have to change diapers tomorrow sooo, I'm off to bed.

Typhoons and Earthquakes...oh my

2007-07-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am still alive. I've been given the third degree from grams and mom so here i am blogging to let everyone know I have survived the nature disasters that have hit Japan in the past week. I slept through the Earthquake (not a shocker for those who know me) and the Typhoon just missed Nagoya so we got lots of rain and wind but not the excitement I was waiting for. I promise I will blog soon about everything that has been going on. It has been quite an exciting few weeks, with sumo practices and lunches, Saori's cabin, spontaneous overnight trip across country to watch the sun rise over the clouds (did we actually see the sun-its a shocker), and Naomi leaving-the beginning of the end. But you must wait. I am absolutely exhausted and sick and want to go to bed. I am off to Hiroshima with Lizzie, Charrissa and Saori. When I get back I will do a proper update. Till then...

Where has the time gone??

2007-06-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has almost been a month since I last blogged. Spring has left and with it so has my sanity. It is now full-fledge summer and I am sweating like a pig. It is sooo hot and humid and it is only June. I am not looking forward to August. Also with this weather is rainy season and the bugs. Oh how I hate bugs, especially cockroaches and I have found 3 in my apartment in the past week-eghhhh.

Time sure flies by when your having fun. So I guess I shall start with the company trip.

Goaishio-Company Trip

The company I work for (Education Network) decided to have thier first company trip ever this spring. We all climbed into a tiny bus and drove off to the mountians in the Mie prefecture The next prefecture over-I'm in Aichi, (sort of like states) We went to this cute little town way up in the mountians and stayed in a beautiful ryokan (Japanese style hotel) that looked like a castle. Lizzie, Charrissa, Kimiko and I stayed in the Royal Suite-because we are princess :)

View from our suite-BEAUTIFUL!!!

Our dinner-sooo much food-presented Japanese style

The food was very Japanese and interesting, You will be absolutely shocked to hear what I tried. I had...ready...squid, sushi, octopus, salmon, sea urchin, fish eggs. I am very proud of myself but I can honestly say it is not something I will start eating on a regular basis. There was also all you can drink which contributed to the games were played during dinner. We were split up into four teams, each team lead by one of the foreigners. My team got 2nd place-go Snow White (in Japanese)

Eating dinner in our ryoken issued yukatas

One of the many games-coworkers trying to be monkeys

Our hotel from the ropeway

The next day we took the ropeway to the top of the mountians to see the gorgeous view. And this is what we got...

Yep thats right, it was sooo foggy and rainy couldn't see a thing. Grrrrr-spoiled again, thats twice I've been duped a beautiful view (other time was in the Swiss Alps)

All in all it was a great trip. We really got to know each other very well, maybe a bit too well-haha. All I can say is Japanese company trips are sooo funny and much different then American company trips (not that i would know-but I'm guessing).

Inuyama

Naomi and I decided to do a day trip to Inuyama a few weekends ago. It is this beautiful, traditional Japanese town with the oldest standing castle in Japan. It was veyr cute with its old Japanese style charm

Inuyama Castle-one of the best castles I have visited in Japan

Look its me!!! On the top level of Inuyama castle

Nagashima Spalands

The following day Lizzie, Charrissa, Naomi and I went to the Amusement Park in Nagashima. It is notorious for the 3rd tallest rollar coaster in the world: Steal Dragon. And the only word that comes to mind is AWESOME!!!! Such a fun, crazy, fast, high. The view was beautiful from the top, as Charrissa was freaking out next to me I was enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean on one side and Nagoya, the river and the mountians on the other-haha and all I could say to Charrissa to comfort her was "look at the pretty view"

The Steal Dragon

View of Nagashima Spaland from the Ferris Wheel

Look!!! Japan and USA flying high next to each other

P.S. All the rumors are true. I am coming home in August. Mark your calendar: August 23rd. If anyone knows any Elementary teaching jobs; keep me posted :)

P.S.S NOW I'm finally all caught up-arn't you proud

Golden Week (a month ago)

2007-05-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

End of April/beginning of May marks the one time of the year the Japanese are given more then one day off from work at a time through the whole year. While many people get off the whole week we only had monday, thursday and friday off. And you can only imagine the craziness that becomes the public transportation and touristy sites. Well since all my friends were off traveling around the world I decided to skip on down to Osaka, Kyoto and Nara for 3 days. I stayed in the same hostel I was in with Charrissa during our Osaka trip and just local trained it to Kyoto and Nara everyday.

Oh Kyoto, how I love thee-let me count thy ways. 1) absolutely beautiful, 2) very ancient amazing history, 3) many of the original architecture is still standing (Kyoto was left alone during WWII to preserve its history)..............I spent 2 days in Kyoto, one day I went to the Geisha show in Pontocho Geisha district and the next day I went to the Fushimi Inari Shrine and climbed up a hill through thousands of torii gates.

Day 1: Pontocho/Gion Districts-Geisha Performance

The Geisha were absolutely gorgeous, elegant graceful dancers that made you forget everything and feel like you were in a different world. The music was eerie and beautiful. In all the performance was an hour long but felt like it was only 10 minutes.

Infamous Gion Geisha district-Kyoto

Crazy Foreign Story Time

The more time I spend here the more time I realize how small the world really is. And that really, really hit home as I was wondering the streets of Gion. I was at a crosswalk with someone I meet at the hostel when this random girl turns around and asks me if I am from California. A bit freaked out-I said yes (seceretly wondering what on earth gave me away as a cali girl), then she asks if I am from Folsom-WHAT WHAT!!! are you serious. Well it turns out I went to school with her and her friend since elementary school. They were a year younger then me in school and I kind of recognized them after talking to them for a minute. But It was a bit weird considering the fact that I don't remember them at all and it would have been at least 7 years since I last saw them anywhere. As it turns out the girl has a strange memory and can remember faces even in foreign counties. Needless to say I walked away with a very eerie feeling.

Day 2: Fushimi Inari Shrine-Kyoto
Fushimi Inari is the major shrine in Japan dedicated to farmers and small businesses, so I automatically had a special bond with this Shrine. But it is one of the most amazing places I have been in Japan. An entire mountian side is covered in torii gates dedicated to this shrine. There is a very spiritual feeling in the as you walk up the mountian through a tunnel of orange gates. P.S. If you saw Memoirs of a Giesha you will recognize this shrine

Day 3-Nara and the big Buddha

On my last day away I decided to visit Nara. It is very famous for its giant Buddha-largest in Japan and the bowing deer. Yes, you read that right-they have deer that bow to you when you feed them. It is a very cute old historic town and I wish I had more time to spend walking around but it was off to the train back to Nagoya.

Buddha's House-Todai-Ji Temple

The great Buddha-massive thing

Another cool shrine-beautiful view of Kyoto from the balcony

The infamous bowing deer

I promise to soon blog about the company trip we had last weekend, then I will be all caught up on my blogging-YEAH!!!! only took 3 months :)

Okazaki Sakura Matsuri

2007-05-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the Okazaki Cherry Blossom Festival-only a month late :)

Eating bentos under the Sakura and waiting for the festival activities to start

Underneath the Sakura

Absolutetly beautiful walking under the sakara-words cannot explain

look down-new big blog

2007-05-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

just a heads up-not sure why there is a massive empty spot on the blog but if you go down a bit there is a new blog about what has been going on a bit (right below-breaking news in nagakute)

Update

2007-05-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few articles on the hostage situation that ended Friday night. Very sad, 2 children shoot and 2 police officers were shot. One of the police officers died at the hospital. It took place less then a mile from my apartment.

International news. A few articles from CNN if your interested:

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070518/kyodo/d8p6g4co1.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/18/japan.shooting.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Breaking News in Nagakute, Japan

2007-05-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

OK, so I was riding my bike home with Lizzie and Charrissa from work today around 6pm. And as we were riding home we could see helicopters coming from all angles towards us. We were counting at least 6 then a few minutes later there were 10. It was the strangest thing to see them coming from everywhere and they all started following each other. SInce this is not an everyday occurance in sleepy suburbia Nagakute we were trying to think of reasons why there would be sooo many helicopters circling around. We finally decided it must be some kind of training because there is no other reason for 10 helicopters to be circling in the sky (some kind of violence did not occur to us). As soon as we got home Lizzie and I went for a run in the park. We we got back I had a missed call on my phone from Charrissa (I never get calls so it must have been something big). She had recieved a message from Naomi who recieved a frantic message from Soari to NOT leave the house because there was a shooting in Nagakute. WHAT!!! Japan is the safest country in the world (I feel safe walking down the streets at midnight by myself.) And Nagakute none the less. Nagakute is the Japanese version of Folsom, a very upper middle class suburb. So I was a bit surprised . Anyways long story short a older man went a bit crazy and shot his son, daughter and a police officier and was holding his wife hostiage. I can still hear the helicopters hoovering over us a mere 7 hours later so Im not sure what is going on. Im sure i will find out more tomarrow, but with this little blog I am off to bed and im not rereading it tonight so if this doenst make much since I will fix it later.

Where do I start??

2007-05-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, yes I know I am a slacker and it has been about 2 months since I last posted a real blog about what I have been doing in Japan. Now that life has come pretty much back to normal (especially since last week was soooo insane with the hostage situation and helicopters hoovering over my apartment for 48 hours straight) I'm not exactly sure where to start but I'll highlight the biggest occasions. How about with my fam coming to visit that seems like a good place to start. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of the Family's trip to Japan-I somehow lost them all so you'll have to ask the fam if you want to see :(

THE FAM
The visit from the fam was very nice. Only thing was, it was not just the parents but the bro and sis too. Let me just say traveling with 4 other adults in a foreign country where everyone thinks they know what they are doing and do not have the patience to listen to the one person who has a inkling about what is going on can get very frustrating. But we made it through without any deaths or injuries :) With the JR Pass in hand they were off traveling the country while I was stuck working and traveled further and wider then I have in the 9 months I've here. We went to Kyoto for 2 days and saw the Imperial Palace, Nijo Palace (with the mockingbird floors-awesome), Kinkajuji Temple (Golden Palace) and Gion-the Geisha district (we saw real live geisha in Gion-ahhh). I have to say Kyoto is my new favorite place in the world (I've been back since more on that later). Kyoto is absolutely amazing, beautiful and full of history and ancient buildings.
A little historical tidbit for y'all-Kyoto is the one city that was not bombed during WWII because of the historical significance. Many of the buildings are original buildings not replicas like you will see if you go to Osaka or Nagoya.
We also stayed near Mt. Fuji and had the most amazing view of the mountain from our 10th story hotel room. We were lucky enough to have two very clear days (although on the way up we went through a massive snow storm for about 10 minutes -very strange). And it was very nice for once to hear English coming out of a TV-we had CNN. I know all you want to know about the British soldiers who were being held in Iran.
They came at the best time in Japan: Sakura or Cherry Blossom season. They were absolutely amazing and beautiful.
I was very sad to see them head back, but such is life, so with a impromptu Easter brunch I sent them off to Fujigaoka to catch the bus to the airport.

SAKURA
Sakura season is when all the cherry blossoms in Japan are in bloom. It is an absolutely amazing whimsical magical time to be in Japan. The scenery of Japan is dotted with pink wherever you go. (Once again I have lost all my pics :( The Japanese love to have picnics under the sakura trees and drink sake. They call these picnics Hanami's, and wherever you go during this time of year you will see people sitting under Sakura trees on blue tarps eating bento lunches and drinking sake.

Gamagori Shell Picking and Koto Lesson

It is very popular in Japan for people to flock to the sea during Spring to shell pick on the beach. Naomi, Lizzie, Megumi (and her 2 year old son Takato) and I were luck enough to have Saori the shell picking queen set us up on a shell picking date in Gamagori. So one Sunday morning we set out to Gamagori with our shell picking clothes on to pick us some shells on the beach (try to say that 10 times fast). It was actually quite fun. We each had a bucket and a shovel and we just found a place on the beach and dug for hours to fill our buckets.

Gamagori beach filled with shell pickers

After our exhausting day of picking shells, sorting shells and washing shells (yes, we did get to take them home to cook them-and no I didn't eat any of them:) Saori's lovely mommy had a wonderful surprise for us. She had arranged with a friend of hers to teach us how to play the Koto, a Japanese musical instrument at her lesson studio-an absolutely amazing 100 year old traditional Japanese house.

The Koto is a gorgeous instrument that is very long with 14 strings and has an amazing sound.

Me, trying to play the famous Japanese song "Sakura" on the Koto-surprisingly those 5 years of violin helped

Anyways there is a miniature update to what has been going on in Japan. I will write another massive blog about my Golden Week trip to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara another night. And I promise I won't wait so long to blog again. It is exhausting trying to put in 3 months into one blog :)

P.S. I will post some pics from a Hanami we had in Okazaki soon-thanks to Char's massive photo collection

I'MMMM BACK!!!

2007-05-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok I get it, I have been a bit lazy these past two months with updating my blog but in my defense I have had a lot going on with reports, graduation, family visit...now that all that is over (a month ago :) I am back and ready to blog. I dont know where to start. But I will tomarrow right now I am watching Iwo Jima and probably annoying the Aussies with my typing. So expect another blog soon-I promise.

Until tomarrow...(or the next day :)

P.S. Happy Mother's Day Mom and Grandma and all the moms out there

WHAT!! WHAT!!

2007-03-11T01:12:00.000-08:00

It snowed today in Nagakute, Japan. Okay, I wouldn't call it snow so much as snow flurries, but there was definitely some white flakes falling from the sky. I have waited 3 months for snow and right as it should be warming up and I should be wearing flip flop, shorts and tshirts I am stuck wearing fleeces and sweatpants-grrrr. It is so cold I can't leave my living room for fear of freezing to death. I checked the weather for Sac town, and its 80 degrees, how is that possible. Please send some warm wishes my way. I would like to start working on my tan soon.

Okay, enough report writing procrastinating, 10 down 4 to go-the home stretch.

P.S. I will post soon my adventures in Ise, including a very random St. Patty's day party, but that's for another day (after I finish these reports).

How many ways can I procrastinate...

2007-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

I'm only on here because I have a bunch of reports I am supposed to be writing and I have done everything I can to procrastinate (I am the world champ procrastinator, how I got through college (both times)
-Apartment-spotless
-Shower-done,
-Dinner-ate,
-Email-checked,
-Updated on US news-check,
-Roomie-out of town tonight,
-Blog-haven't done that in a while... so here I am.

Not too much to update on the Japan front. I haven't done anything too exciting in the past two weeks, other then recuperating from all the traveling/skiing both physically and wallet-wise and writing 14-6 page reports by next week.

These next few weeks are going to be a bit crazy. This is how my March looks:
-Write reports (remember those) by next week
-Parent conferences next week
-Preparing for the graduation play-we are doing Chicken Little-yikes
-Science Museum Field Trip with my kids to see the Dinosaur exhibit
-Emirates Airlines is coming to my school and filming my kids playing with a bunch of toys
-oh oh and...my ENTIRE (Mom, Dad, Bro and Sis) family are coming at the end of March to visit for two weeks
Just typing that makes me get dizzy.

A Little Side note on the Weather:
Living in Japan this year has me a bit worried about Global Warming. To say the least it has been a very strange 6 months weather wise (according to the locals). It has been a very warm year in both Fall and Winter-didn't snow once in Nagakute and the plum blossoms bloomed 2 weeks early this year. And now the weather has gone schizo-its beautiful weather one day, rainy the next, freezing and windy the next. One day I'm wearing flip flops and a tshirt, next day I'm in a fleece and tennis shoes. Can't the weather just make up its mind to be Spring all ready. My Spring flip flops and t-shirts are out and ready to be used.

OK-I'm done rambling and procrastinating, back to reports-its midnight and I've got a good 2 hours and another report to be written left in me-all loaded up on diet coke :)

I'll see y'all in April :)

Osaka and Kobe with Charrissa

2007-02-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I traveled with Charrissa to Osaka and Kobe. We had a three day weekend,our last for a long time so I wanted to utilize it. We decided Thursday night to head down to Osaka and Kobe. I hadn't been there yet and Charrissa was meeting a friend on Monday so we decided to be spontaneously.

I'm too tired and lazy tonight to put any real thought into this, so I am just going to put up some pics of the trip and describe each picture :)

The streets of Osaka.

If you can't read the shirt it says, "Sacramento Savings" found this beaut in the crazy streets of Osaka. I was very excited. You dont see much about Sacramento in Japan.

I thought the Statue of Liberty was in NYC-who knew it was also in Osaka. This is apparently the American Village in Osaka. I wasn't so impressed.

Really cool orange Torii Gates at a Temple in Kobe. The weird thing about this temple was that all the buildings were brand new.

China Town-Kobe; really cool little neighborhood, the story of us arriving here is a funny one-if you want to know it, email or call me but it involves; 1 mile walk in the wrong direction, a stranger hauling a cab for us and handing the cab driver 2 blue tickets=free cab ride to China Town, also very yummy, cheap food

Earthquake Memorial at the Kobe docks. Absoluetly incredible. The picture is not tilted, yes those lamps are really leaning that far over.

One funny little tidbit about Kobe: The first American Consolute in Kobe building now houses a Big and Tall clothing store, is it just me or is that a bit ironic-haha

Osaka Castle-I went sightseeing on my own on Monday and visited the castle. My first one in Japan, its a nice one. Now a museum the original castle was burned down in 1600's

Osaka Castle-amazing views of Osaka from the observatory deck.

The plum blossoms are starting to blossom. Its a bit early for them to blossom-its been a warm year

Japanese families picnicing by the plum blossoms, LOTS of photos being taken

I ended up shinking it home from Osaka all by myself. I hadn't been on teh Shinkansen so this seemed like the perfect time to try it. A three hour journey to Osaka using a local train, only took 45 minutes on the Shinkansen. Totally Awesome-I think Im in love with the Shink :)

Kyoto on the Shink-I think that is some really famous shrine

The shinkansen

Hirayu and Takayama

2007-02-08T03:33:00.000-08:00

Did it snow in Nagakute?? Oh the anticipation is killing me...the answer-NO!!! I was soo excited for snow I ran to the window as soon as I woke up and the sky was blue and the sun was shining-ugh. I was so sad, but apparently it was snowing a 20 minute subway ride away in Sakae-grrr. Oh well, I was able to spend all weekend in snow so I didn't miss out too much.

I went on a big adventure this weekend with Saori, Lizzie and Charissa. We went skiing, onsening (I dont think thats a real word:), sight seeing and saw some snow festivals. It was a very fast paced, yet relaxing (onsens) and fun. We booked a tour that included roundtrip bus ride, accommodations at a very nice ryoken (traditional Japanese hotel) with 3 meals, one day ski pass/onsen pass and free bus rides to the festivals. All this for less than $200-Saori is the queen of booking cheap tours.

It all started on Friday night at 8:04pm (we were 4 minutes late-opps) we arrived in our bus and there were only 10 of us for a whole bus-boy was this looking good already. We had a 5 hour bus ride to Hirayu which was spent mostly reading and sleeping. We arrived in Hirayu at 1am-and did we go straight to bed-oh on, Saori is a onsen fanatic and there was an onsen in our hotel so we went to the onsen at 1:30 in the morning-crazy. Hirayu and the surrounding area is famous for its onsens. There is a lot of sulfer in the onsen water so it smelt a bit like Yellowstone :) but made my skin feel very soft. This is the view I woke up to Saturday Morning.

View from my hotel room sat. morning-BEAUTIFUL!!

The Ryoken we stayed at. I miss that place already.

The ski slopes, it was a very small ski resort with only 2 ski lifts. It was very nice and this weekend I only fell about 8 times, no bruises or sore muscles-YEAH! But I did have sore toe from my boots that were too big, then too small (You win some and you lose some :)

Our 15 course dinner-soo much food. Saori ordered me a no seafood dinner and they gave me crab legs-haha each table was one persons dinner.

I was very upset and did a Brenda. On the way to the festivals on the bus I dropped my camera on the lens so these pictures of the festival are a bit fuzzy. Saori suggested I soak the camera in the onsen to make it better-haha because according to Saori the onsen can cure anything. I finally figured out if I hold the lens at a certian angle it will take clear shots. By the next day the lens just clicked right into place, and now it can finally zoom again-ugh and the camera was less then 2 months old.

Partially frozen waterfall-very pretty. Can you see the Women Ghost?? Its typically completely frozen but its been a warm winter (more on that later)

Lizzie pounding mochi-she's the one with the big malet

An igloo we drank sake in and kept warm by the fire

It snowed ONLY 18 centimeters (about a foot) according to the hotel staff over night. We woke up and were in a winter wonderland that was covered in marshmellows. Apparently this is a very bad snow year for Japan.
Walking up to see another frozen waterfall. You can see the amount of snow that fell by looking at the path.

Can you see the frozen waterfall behind me?? Gorgeous

A nice warm foot bath after our hike to the waterfall-was sooo nice and warm

Takayama
We decided to visit Takayama Sunday, cute little touristy town and hour away.

Ninja armor in a glass window on a Takayama street

I'm making rice cakes-the poor person that has to eat it :)

Hida-Kokubun-ji Temple-Takayama

Sarubobo Charm at the Temple-the Takayama mascot-you can find them everywhere! Very cute no face dolls in many different colors. So I bought two for met-they are supposed to bring you protection from bad things, a happy home/good match and, having a easy delivery on birth (that one will have to wait a while)

It's a Small World After All...

2007-02-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

One more thing for today. It is such a small World, that song is humming in my head right now. I just bumped into my new neighbor upstairs who works at another International School in Nagakute. You will not believe this: 1) she's from San Francisco (NorCal baby!!!) 2) went to UC Berkeley 3) she is 24 years old.

We lived 100 miles apart back home, and now that we live in Japan 5000 miles away from home we are neighbors. CRAZY!!!

SNOW...maybe

2007-02-01T02:08:00.000-08:00

It's supposed to snow tomarrow!!!! Keep your fingers crossed-I hope it does :) I've been waiting for 2 months for snow. Every keeps talking about snow and it hasn't been coming so hopefully this is not a false alarm :)

Another random thing, I'm watching Japanese TV and I turned the channed to a travel show about the place I went sledding with my kids last Friday-CRAZY. I was just there and now its on TV. Also, "Who wants to be a Billionaire" is on in Japan (at least thats what Im guessing its called) The lady on it is already up to 2,500,000 yen-about $25,000. The host even looks like a Japanese version of Regis Philben.

Anyways, I will write back soon about the snow (hopefully) and my adventures this weekend. Hopefully I dont come back with any broken bones.

Aussie Day/phone/Ohh the pain...what a weekend

2007-01-29T03:36:00.000-08:00

Most of you probably know that I am surrounded by Austrailans in Japan. And I am getting a quick lesson about Australia. If you did not know this (which I am guessing most of you do not), Friday January 26th was Australia Day. Aussie Day basically celebrates some guy sailing into the Sydney Harbor (the American version of the significance of that day :). Anyways, it is this HUGE celebration in Australia where they have a barbie (I am picking up the aussie lingo) at the beach and get very drunk (sounds a lot like Fourth of July :) It also just happened to be the day we celebrated Charissa's birthday at Outback Steakhouse (the best hamburger in Nagoya) with all the KIS coworkers-which always is a good time. After Outback we went to the Australian Bar in Nagoya called Red Rock, and because it was Australia Day was filled with Aussies. I felt like a major outcast :) They were playing Aussie music and movies all night.
But I have to say I have never seen a bar just completly stop everything that was going on because a song came up. It was incredible. One moment there was lots of chatting, dancing and drinking and the next moment all I could hear were a hundred voices shouting out "Waltzing Matlida" Who knew a song about a homeless man commiting suicide because he stole a sheep could be sooo popular-those crazy Aussies :)-I have to say I love that song-especially after that night. Whenever I hear "Waltzing Matilda" Japan will always pop into my head.

Aussies Singing "Waltzing Matilda"

I went downhill skiing on Sunday. The first time I have skied in 10 years, and boy am I in pain. I can't lift my arms above my shoulders, my bum is very sore, there is a nice shiny bruise on my knee and my nose hurts because I slammed my pole into it as I was falling down the mountian. But, no pain, no gain...right??

I went with my roomate Lizzie, her boyfriend and got a lift from one of Lizzie's students parents to this really nice ski resort in Gifu Prefecture called Dynaland Ski Resort about 2 hours away from Nagoya. It was the perfect ski day, and absolutely beautiful. It was snowing, the first snowfall in a month.

Dynaland at 7:30 am (meaning 5am wake up call)

The first two runs were a bit rusty-I was basically sliding down the mountian sideways, but after a couple hundred falls on my butt I was starting to get my ski legs back. It reminded me of how much i used to love downhill skiing. They are pro skiers so there was no gradual entry, I was flung full force into it from the begining. I even went down a black diamond, although about 3/4 of it was on my butt or stomach and they did it two times in the amount of time it took me to do it once. I had some great crashes that I wished I could have seen-especially down that black diamond :)

The infamous black diamond-sure it doesn't look too bad in this picture but when you are up there looking down, its not soo pretty

Dyland Ski resort-Black Diamond in background

Some of the beautiful scenery on the way home

Ok, I am off to soak my muscles in a nice Japanese bath-sure feels like the first week of rowing practice-ugh Next weekend I am going to a snow festival and ski again. So stay tuned for that report, I will get back to y'all soon :)

P.S. I finally got my cell phone-only took 6 months. If you want the number email me, I can recieve and call internationally from it.

It's Been a Long Time

2007-01-15T02:42:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Sorry it has been so long since I posted a blog but I am alive and well. I am finally getting back into the routine of things, school started last week. I haven't blogged in a while due to my laziness and the fact that I haven't done anything too interesting since I returned to Japan after Christmas.

Christmas was nice, I was as sick as a dog and spent most of the time in bed and on the couch, but it was nice to be that sick and at home in my own bed. It was really great to see my friends and family, and it was fun playing Santa and giving everyone gifts.

I honestly have not done much since I've been back. Last weekend I went karoaking with Lizzie and Naomi (Lizzie and I did an awesome rendition of Yellow Submarine), then on Sunday went to the Atsuta Shrine all by myself (I was quite proud of finding it with no help-the furthest I have traveled by myself-about 45 minutes away :) not exactly a journey but I was proud of myself).

Atsuta Shrine was fascinating. Here is a mini-lesson on Japanese shrines :) Atusta Shrine is considered one of the most important shrines in Japan. It is huge and very popular to visit by the Japanese for New Years. I went to the shrine on Jan. 14, and there was still quite a large crowd.

Going to the shrine (especially at this time of year) is surrounded by ritual. The Anthropologist in me wanted to know about everything I was seeing. I wish I had someone there to explain to me what was going on, but Yasuko my coworker was kind enough to explain to me from the pictures I took. She goes to Atsuta Shrine every year with her family on Jan. 1st.

The Torii Gate Leading to the shrine-marks entrance to any shrine

People going to the shrine to pray

The Purification fountain-People purifying their hands and mouth with water.

People tying their fortunes for the new year on trees to either keep the good fortune or forget the bad fortune

I'm not exactly sure what the significance behind this ritual is, but it was very fascinating. The men in the white robes took turns releasing a arrow towards a target, after each turn the men in the blue would fix their robes.

I promise to not wait so long to write next time :) I am hoping to go skiing very soon. Japan is known to have some of the best skiing in the world so I am very excited. I will keep you posted.

AKEMASHIE OMEDETO GOZAIMASU-Happy New Year!!!

Finished...almost

2006-12-20T03:04:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy 2 weeks but...Yeah!!! I finally finished all the reports and meetings with the parents today and boy were they fun, especially since I got sick in the middle and lost a whole night of report writing. It was like writing papers back in college and spent hours upon hours at Starbucks, except I didn't get graded:)
I am free, almost. Tomarrow is the last day I will see my kids for 2 1/2 weeks. We have our holiday concert, where each class performs 3 songs in from of the parents-then I am free. Am I sad, not really I need the break from the kiddoes and I think (I dont think, I know) they need a break from school. And on Saturday, I am off to America for 2 weeks to see all the fam and friends.

I haven't done to much lately that is noteworthy other then going to the Orchid Garden this past weekend. Christmas has definitly arrived in Nagoya, Japan. For a country who's religon is primarily Buddist and Shinto they sure do love Christmas. The xmas decorations here can go up against any big city decorations in the US. For example, Kae, Naomi and I went to the Orchid Gardens in Nagoya this past weekend because of a Christmas concert, and the decorations there were amazing:

Kae, Naomi and I in the greenhouse area

Christmas Tree with Santa and his sleigh in the middle of a giant pond

Amazing Christmas tree made out of orchids

Showcase house, beautiful

If I don't get on here before Christmas, I hope everyone has a nice day!! (If your in sac area give me a call)

Its that time of year...

2006-12-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

Report writing time, AHHHH!!! The next couple of weeks are crazy busy weeks so I might not get much blogging in. We have to write 5 page reports 3 times a year and I have 15 kids-do the math-that's a whole lotta report writing. So here I am at Starbucks (I discovered tonight I can get internet-yeah!!) at 10pm at night writing reports and drinking a Mint Mocha (I thought of my Sac town girls-all those afternoon Starbuck emergency meetings last year :)

So here is the plan until school is over for this term on the 21st:
Next week, I have to hand out all the reports to the parents for parent conferences which are also next week. We also have the rehearsal for the holiday concert at the concert hall on Wednesday-so we are busy learning the songs we are performing. The following week is Christmas parties and the Holiday Concert and on the 23rd I'm flying home. Oh man, its going to be a busy few weeks

***My roomate has gone insane, she is dancing in the living room-the walls are shaking, I think our neighbors think we had a minor earthquake. and now she is cockroaching (must be some Aussie thing). Oh, my.

It's been a busy week

2006-12-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I guess it is finally time to update this thing. I have lots of pictures to post so here is a recap of what I have done in the past week. I went to the Nagoya Port and saw a dolphin show at the Nagoya Aquarium, pretended like I was in Italy as I strolled the streets of Villaggio Italia (Little Italy), marveled at the Autumn colors at Togugawaen a Japanese Garden and looked at the Christmas lights at Nagoya Station.

Port of Nagoya Aquarium
Last Sunday I decided I was going to go visit the Nagoya Castle alone and was almost out the door when Naomi (yes, my Sado companion) IMed my and asked if I wanted to go to the Port. Well, looking outside and seeing the the rain clouds I decided it would be more fun to be with someone and inside somewhere, so we went to the Aquarium and Villaggio Italia. It brought back memories of when I obsessed with dolphins and wanted to be a dolphin trainer I took thousands of photos. Here are the pics:
The Aquarium-yep all of it

The dolphins and trainers bowed to us-no, really they did

They sure can jump

Villagio Italia
I am always up for an adventure, so when Naomi suggested going to VI I was soo there. I was expecting a Little Italy like the LI in San Francisco or NYC where there are a bunch of Italian shops and many Italian people in the area. I was quite shocked when I showed up and saw this:
Villagio Italia

This is typical Japanese style-its a actual village filled with lots of shopping and restaurants. Its the cutest thing ever. With the canals, gondolas, Italian chefs and everything. I would have more pics up but my camera is awful (hint hint for xmas present :) and night pictures do not come out well.

Tokugawaen Koen
A bunch of us from work decided to go see the Autumn colors at Togugawaen Koen Wednesday night because Thursday was a office day-NO KIDS!! I was just told we are going to see some Autumn colors, I didn't know where or how since it was at night but boy was I in for a fantastic shock. Soari drove all of us to the garden in Nagoya. Here are the amazing pictures (not from my camera-my photos didn't come out very well :)

Saori, Liz, Charissa, Me, Miho
At the gate-we were kicked out, closing time came so fast

Christmas in Japan
You would be shocked at how much the Japanese decorate for a holiday they don't celebrate. Here I am at the Nagoya train station:

Yes, I am wearing a hat-its freaking cold here

Update:
I'm coming home for Christmas!!! I'll be in the States from Dec. 23-Jan. 7. I want to see everyone. I'm bribing you-if you want your pressies you must see me :) (except fam. in Kansas, I'll send them to you-I promise :)
P.S. Gram and Gramp. thanks for the thanksgiving card, I know you will read this :)

Japanese Thanksgivings

2006-11-24T05:15:00.000-08:00

How many people can say they have had two Thanksgivings in Japan in two days?? I can :)

Thanksgiving #1

On Wednesday we had a Thanksgiving at my school. Each class prepared a dish and then the entire school ate Thanksgiving dinner together in my classroom (and it was a MESS afterwards). The three year class made fruit salad and mashed the potatoes, my class made the best pumpkin pie ever (and you can find pumpkin pie filling in Japan quite easily!), 5 year class made cornbread and the 6 year class peeled potatoes, made the chicken (yes, that is chicken-apparently in Japan you don't see turkeys running across the roads and prairies so it is quite hard to get a turkey), and stuffing. It was quite the feast!! Although I have to say it was a bit odd and absolutely adorable watching some of the kiddoes eat their Thanksgiving dinner with chopsticks:

Thanksgiving #2
The party
Well, being in Japan on Thanksgiving I decided to throw my own Thanksgiving for all my friends/co-workers, all of which have never been to a real Thanksgiving-3 Aussies and 4 Japanese (except Miho who lived in Cali for a year). Luckily, Thursday in Japan was Labor Day so we had the day off-YEAH!! (unfortunately we did not get Friday off, so we didn't get a day to recover or shop) This was quite a major partaking on my part since I have never throw a party like this before. I decided to cook chicken (read above), mash potatoes, green bean casserole (thanks mom and dad for sending the ingredients-it was a hit), and pumpkin pie. I woke up at 9:45 to start cooking, my roommate woke up around 10-saying she heard me banging around into eh kitchen by myself. Lizzie was great, she is a master chef and I probably would not have been able to pull this off without her (especially the chicken). It went very well, the food was YUMMY, and despite a minor crises with the pumpkin pie it went quite smoothly. It was declared a success by all-including those who threatened to have Pizza Hut on speed dial in case my food turned out to be a flop. I must declare it was quite fun putting this together and may put another dinner together.

The feast

The thief-Megumi's 15 month old son who keep taking all the food off my shelves-absolutely adorable

Weddings, and b-day's and ballets oh my...

2006-11-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

After last weekends travel adventures in Sado all I wanted to do this weekend was veg out and do nothing, but that plan never works out in Japan and I nearly spent perhaps 6 awake hours in my apartment this past weekend and 5 of those were spent talking to my Mom's entire fam in Portland (I hope you enjoyed your turkey grandpa:) including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (Christian thinks I am in a pan-hehe), phew. I had a wedding party, a birthday party and a ballet recital to attend all in one weekend, waoza. Once again it was one of those unforgettable weekends.

the flower shop

The Wedding
One of the Japanese teachers got married last weekend and invited all the teachers to attend a party (not the actual ceremony) at her husband's family flower shop. It was the most beautiful amazing totally Japanese party I have been too. The flower shop called Hanaichi (flowers in Aichi) is quite large and beautiful but could not hold all of their guests so they held two different parties, the first was a more formal party with family, bosses and the older guests while the second party (the one we attended) was for the younger, fresh, hip crowd :) j/k It was amazing, the flower shop was completely decked out in the most beautiful flowers you have seen.

The beautiful flower shop

Yumiko the bride was gorgeous and wore an amazing pink dress (later changed into a her bridal dress) and her husband Toyakazu is the cutest, most gentle guy.

Yumiko and Toyakazu

At Japanese weddings they typically charge you to attend, so we had to pay 5000 yen (little less then $50) when we got to the the flower shop-but dif. worth it. They had the most amazing food-pasta, seafood, chicken, salad, steak, fruit, and little finger cakes (big cake came later). There was an announcer who said everything in Japanese so I had no clue what they were saying or what was going on. There was also a singer and guitar player who sang/played music for us, they were great. She sang both English and Japanese songs. Then they brought out the wedding cake and played some flower arranging games. Once all the festivities were over the guests were allowed to disassemble the decorations and take home any flowers you wanted. It was soo fun and amazing to see 50 people take off all the flowers and make their own bouquets. Then Toyakazu's parents came out and arranged all your flowers into gorgeous bouquets.

And with that the party was over, but my night was not.

B-DAY PARTY
We returned home around 9:30 from the wedding but that was just the beginning for Lizzie and I. We meet this American couple Casey and Mandy from PA a month ago and were invited to a bday celebration for Casey's Bday. So, at 11 we were out and about again and meet up with the party and spent a lovely evening with a bunch of strangers singing karaoke. Good times!

Ballet Recital

Mirri and her Mom

Sunday Yasuko, Charissa and I were invited to watch our students Mirri (Yasuko and my student) and Anna (Charissa's student) perform in their first ballet recital ever. It was quite the ordeal, I expected a quite little recital that was 1/2 hour long-cause these are 4 and 5 year olds we were going ot watch-here let me explain. We had to take the subway into the center of Nagoya and arrived at the Aichi Arts Center this massive Auditorium. When I say massive I mean larger then the Sacramento auditorium where I have watched Broadway shows. We walked inside and there were literally 6 tiers of seats and the stage was massive. Professional Ballet companies perform at this Center. Luckily for the kids it wasn't full, but if I was a 4 year old I would have ran off stage as soon as the curtains were drawn (surprisingly no one ran off stage). As soon as we arrived the parents found us and found the best seats for us, they moved us about 3 times, each time closer to the stage and towards the middle. The parents were soo cute, they made little bags of candy for everyone they invited with Anna and Mirri's pictures on them. There was also a mini KIS (Kids International School-my school) cheering section, I was surprised to see quite a few of our students show up with their mothers to watch their classmates dance.

The performance was about 2 hours long, and was the entire academy from the beginners (Mirri and Anna) to the advanced, so we got to see the whole she-bang. Each class danced 2 times, the first part of the recital was more technical showing off what they have been learning and dancing to the piano, after intermission was the fun part-all the ballerinas wore really beautiful bright costumes and the dances were more fun and lively. Mirri and Anna were absolutely adorable, they were the youngest kids up there and Mirri the smallest. They kept watching each other to make sure they were doing the dance correctly. After the performance we went out to the lobby to say hi, they were soo cute and shy-I have never seen Mirri soooo quiet and shy before.

And with that my crazy busy weekend was over.

It's going to be a COLD winter!!!

2006-11-14T05:08:00.000-08:00

LOOK! I'm wearing socks.

So I am from Sac where snow does not exist and I wear flip flops 365 days out of the year and only wore thin ankle socks when I rowed (to keep my feet from getting athletes foot-yuck). But lately there was this cold winter snap out of nowhere and it has been FREEZING!!! I do not wear tennis shoes but its been sooo cold that I have been forced to wear them and my boss was sooo proud that I actually wore tennis shoes to school yesterday. To let you know the extent of this cold weather I am experiencing I actually went to Apita today and bought 9 pairs of socks and 2 scarfs (I don't own socks) because I am afriad of freezing to death in my apartment.

Before the sudden snap, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, I wore t-shirts, jeans and flip-flops everyday and I wanted to go on bike rides and picnics everyday in the park. All of a sudden out of nowhere the weather snapped and I am absolutely freezing-there was no gradual cooling-one day its a beautiful flip-flop wearing day, next day I'm freezing to death in my apartment wearing socks and my fleece. I'm scared of Nagoya winter, I have heard it is freezing and it snows a bit. The major difference between winter in the States and in Japan is that the buildings in Japan are not well insulated, you can stand by a window that is closed and feel the breeze through the cracks. If its 45 degrees outside then its 45 degrees inside, whereas at home you can walk inside and be warm in an instant. I will probably be sleeping with 12 blankets, 3 pairs of paints, a sweatshirt and 2 pairs of socks. I will keep you updated.

...and the journey continues in Sado

2006-11-10T03:26:00.000-08:00

So where did we leave off-ahhh yes the dancers. Once the performance was over we decided it was time to find our bus to the hostel-this was the last leg of our pilgrimage to the unknown.

Sorry, I'm off to the onsen to get a massage and soak in hot mineral water-ahhh the Japanese lifestyle is sooo good for me :)

I'm back and life is sooo good. Anyways, back to Sado:

Since we had no clue where we were going we asked info about which bus we should take to our hostel, as they started figuring out which bus we should take they started pointing to a bus leaving the parking lot. We had missed our bus because we were watching the performance and spent to much time in the gift shop, ugh. So, they called a taxi to chase down the bus for us, as we drive to chase the bus we realize we aren't going that fast maybe 40 mph; going through our minds at this point was-oh crap we are never going to catch the bus and will have to pay an arm and leg for our taxi ride. As we start to freak out the taxi stops and drops us off at a bus stopping the middle of nowhere and says "bus comes that way". Perfect we are stranded in the middle of nowhere; bright side we are on a island so we cant get to lost.

Naomi trying to hitch a ride for us

The bus finally came and we made it home, about 12 1/2 hours after we left home. What a day!!!
SATURDAY: I was FORCED out of bed at 7 in the morning apparently because they served breakfast at 7am-preposterous!!!

Today I was in charge of getting us around Sado by bus (we didn't get lost-no help to Naomi's lack of trust in me :), so Friday night I made the plan for sat. and figured out which buses to catch. We decided to go to the Gold Mine which was on the other side of the island. We we had to take 2 buses (through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world) and made it to Aiikawa. Once we got to Aiikawa we decided to walk to the Gold Mine which was about 2 miles from the bus station. This walked was absolutely amazing, we walked through some of the cutest ancient cities on the island, we had to walk up 191 stairs (we counted on the way down) and up another freakin mountain to get to the gold mine:

Part of the 191 stairs we climbed up (and down)

View from the stairs AMAZING!!!

Beautiful mountains-look at the colors

Road we walked up to get to the Sado Gold Mine

A mountain they mined through the middle-incredible

2 hours later, finally made it to the Gold Mine

The Sado Gold Mine is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!

A little back ground: was opened in 1601 and closed down in 1989. It was the longest running gold mine in history and produced 78 tons of gold and 2330 tons of silver.

The mine itself is well preserved and they have put in life-like robots that moved to demonstrate the jobs they did in the mine along with sound. It was so life-like it was a bit creepy but amazing.

Me at the entrance to the mine

Robots reenacting the celebration of
discovering a new gold and silver vine

After the tour and museum needed to refuel for the journey home with gold in our coffee-apparently its good for your circulation-have to admit it was a bit weird drinking gold :)

Courtyard at the Gold Mine. Absolutely gorgeous and very Japanese

After our gold covered coffee we started the trek home. No broken bones or bruises but maybe a few bruised egos, we wanted see a temple and tomb but were frightens away by a phantom bear-long story if you want details email me :)

Once we got back to the hostel we decided to go see a shrine since we hadn't seen one yet and then go to the onsen. The woman who runs the hostel was awesome and gave us a lift to this incredible shrine and then the onsen. The shrine was a bit run down but that only added to its beauty and mystery:

Saying goodbye to Green Village the hostel we stayed at and Sado Island-7am in the morn-
way to many early mornings

And with that we left Sado Island, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Naomi and I decided 2 more days were needed at the island but we had to get back to the kiddoes. I would absolutely love to go back one day, if only it wasn't such a pain to get to. The way home was pretty easy-we were veteran travelers by that point. The only bummer was we were stuck in the smokers car from Nagano to Nagoya and smelled like we were in a night club on the subway, other then that it was an incredible weekend that ended way to early.

P.S. I have lots to tell about this weekend, the wedding party and ballet recite but I must get to work and figure out what we are doing next week with the kids so I will leave that to another day-I'm sure this blog is long enough to satisfy you for a bit :)

The Journey to Sado Island

2006-11-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

So, Naomi and I decided we were going to go away this past weekend to Kyoto. We completely forget it was a holiday weekend and we tried to book our hostel 5 days in advance, that's a big no-no in Japan-a place like Kyoto you need to book months in advance. So we looked at a map of Japan and randomly decided to go to Sado a little island northwest of Nagoya not knowing anything about it (to figure out were Sado is, it is the tiny island off the west coast near Niigata) just that it is halfway across the country. We figured looking at the map it would probably take 5 hours to get there by train and ferry. Boy, were we wrong-this weekend we used every type of transportation there is expect plane to get to Sado including, bike, subway, train, bus, ferry, taxi, and foot. Needless to say getting there was much more difficult then we expected, and MUCH MUCH longer. Getting to Sado was an adventure in itself. But I am very proud of us, we did so well and NEVER got lost-not once. Lots of very nice people helped us along the way, it probably helped that we looked liked very confused foriengers who had no clue what we were doing.

Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start...

My alarm clock went off at 5am, yes you read that correctly 5am-and if you know me well you know that I am NOT a morning person but I made the simple sacrafice this once. We needed to be in Nagoya by 6:30 so we had to ride our bikes to Fujigaoka subway station which is about 15 minute bike ride away. From Fujigaoka we had to take the subway for 1/2 hour to the Nagoya train station. Here is Nagoya Train Station at 6:30 in the morning-it was surprising busy at 6:30 on a Saturday:

After much confusion and 2 very nice gentlemen explaining to us where to go and how to put our tickets in the machine (remember 6 in the morning and we had multiple tickets in Japanese) we were on our way. First train ride; a 3 hour ride to Nagano-I didnt see any Olympic Rings-I looked. Second train ride: 1 1/2 hours ride in a very sketchy train to Niigata. The scenery was absoluetly gorgeous-we went through valleys and mountians looking at the Autumn colors, perfect time to see the foliage.
This is outside Nagano

Once we got to Niigata, we had to figure out which bus to take. We went to the tourist info and the lady was awesome. She didn't speak much English but she wrote down for us 1:30 so we had to wait an hour for the bus to take us to the port. Everytime a bus came we would freak out and start to get up to see but the lady crossed her hands and tapped her wrist (crossing arms like a X in Japanese means no, much like when we shake our heads). She was great-we loved her and decided she adopted us :) So we had a hour to burn at the train station so we started watching all the taxis and decided which driver we would choose to take us to the port if needed-very stimulating conversation actually. Finally, our bus came right on time and we were off to the port. But once we got to the port once again our confused forienger faces came in handy and one of the employees who spoke some English came to our rescue. And we finally made it onto the ferry:

The ferry ride was a very interesting experience. We traveled 2nd class on the ferry which means we sat on carpet and didn't have a actual chair to sit on unless we went to the cafeteria. Each time you go on the carpet you had to take off your shoes, so there were piles of shoes by each section. A very cute older couple decided that we were hungrey and gave Naomi and I a orange. They were soo cute and keep saying "It's tiny"-we named it the friendship orange. And being in Japan and knowing the gift giving rules (sort of) returned the favor and gave them some of my Halloween chocolate from home. We took a nap on the carpet and spent time outside watching the birds swarm the ferry as the passangers threw food to them and enjoyed the gorgeous view:

2 1/2 hours later we made it to Sado at 4:30 in the afternoon-and had a welcome party:

We walked into the port terminal with this gorgeous music pouring out into the ferry and as we walked into the building we saw this group of traditional Sado music and dancing. It was so amazing, the dancing was so graceful and the flute, drums and singing was so peaceful and lovely. What a warm welcome to Sado...

Thats all for now, it's 1am and I have to get up for work tomarrow, I promise to continue our saga at Sado soon. There is still so much to tell including; the taxi chasing our bus, the climb up the mountian, gold mine, phantom bear, beautiful old temple, onsen and the journey home.

On a different note, I will be going to my first formal Japanese party this weekend. One of the Japanese teachers is getting married, I am soo excited and happy for Yumiko-she is such a lovely person. I will fill you in soon-i promise :)

Brief Halloween Update

2006-11-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

I'm going to bed but just a few updates:

Pumpkin Carving-I carved the pumpkin in front of the whole school. It's a giant pumpkin with some scars (we like to call it character):

Halloween: The kids were sooooo cute, we walked around the block and stopped at five stores to get candy. the kids were really great-then we bobbed for apples, played musical chairs and touched witch hair and eyeballs (spagetti and grapes). Overall a success execpt the parents, urghh they drive me crazy with thier cameras some times, but thats for another day, anywhoo here are some halloween pics for your enjoyment:

Sado stories will be up tomarrow along with pics. As for now, I'm off to bed-good night

I'll be back

2006-11-03T02:27:00.000-08:00

I can't write a lot right now. I have to got up tomarrow morning (Saterday) at 5 AM and I have peps over right now. This weekend is a holiday weekend, I get Monday off. Want to know why-because of the Autumn Equinox-how cool is that!!! I am off to Sado Island with Naomi (if you dont hear from me by Friday-she threw me over the boat) which is Northwest and its going to take us 8 hours to get there by, train, boat and bus. Should be fun, I'm off to Onsen and temples all weekend.

I have a lot to tell ya'll but you will have to wait, patiance is a virtue :) This past week has been crazy with pumpkin carving, Halloween and Open House, but I need to be social and drink my wine so you will have to wait. I know my blog is fascinating and my friends lives are bored without it (Annie and Beth:) but I promise Monday night you will have a GREAT blog.

P.S. Thanks to my bro and Kathy for the AWESOME package-my kids LOVED the dancing chicken :)

I Got My Voice Back!!! (almost)

2006-10-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Maybe Japanese medicine isn't all that bad, something worked my voice is almost back to normal. I woke up yesterday with my voice back-but very squeaky. I could only say a few words at a time, and no singing at all. This morning I woke up and my voice is back, just a little squeaky (and according to Kae-sexy:). One the teachers said I sound like a pubescent boy. I can't say anything in a high pitch and I can't sing more than 2 verse of any song but at least I can talk to my kids, although shouting is pushing it. I think by Monday I should be back to normal and shouting once again, YEA!! I'm sure Yasuko is will be very happy :)

Have a good weekend, I'm off to bed-ahh I love Saturdays

First Doctor's visit in Japan

2006-10-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't find my voice this morning. I woke up and I couldn't even make a squeak-my voice didn't get better over night, it got worse. When I arrived at school I couldn't even say good morning, so Mitani-san the school director took me to the doctor while Yasuko and I shoved the kids outside to play (poor Yasuko had to be the voice for two today).

I have heard some sketchy things about the Japanese medical system so I was a bit nervous going to see the doctor. We went to the local clinic for the ear, throat and nose doctor. This isn't your average HMO doctor's office. You walk into the waiting room and there are benches upon benches for people to sit. Luckily no one was there today and I was the next patient but Mitani-san said she usually has to wait for an hour or two to see the doctor (although that isn't so different from Kaiser). The first thing we did was take a number, then Mitani-san filled out the questionnaire for me. There were about 8 nurses standing around in pink and white uniforms, quite cute reminded my of nurses outfits from 50 years ago. When my number showed up on the screen I went into the other room. It wasn't exactly a doctors office, it was quite large and had these strange machines along one wall and tables with the doctors tools on the other side. I had no clue what was going on so I had to rely on Mitani-san to tell me what to do. I sat down in a chair and the doctor (female) poked around in my mouth for 1 minute pulled on my tongue and told me to say ahhh and ehhh. She said four words: laryngitis, vocal cords swollen. Then she sent me over to those weird machines by the wall and one of the nurses told me what to do in Japanese but I just watched her had movements and guessed what I was supposed to do. I put the tube up to my mouth and inhaled something for a good 2 minutes.

Once I finished the inhaler I got my medicine-three different pills: 1) bring down the swelling, 2) help with saliva (not sure about that one) 3) make sure the other two don't upset my stomach, hmmm.

With that my first visit to the Japanese doctors ended. I just hope my voice comes back soon, I have a feeling Yasuko's voice might be the next to go if I don't help her with all the yelling soon ;) If you were wondering the kids have been pretty good the past few days. Yasuko gave them the kids the guilty speech. You need to nice to Brenda she doesn't feel well and it worked!!

But, the best thing about this whole episode is that I got homemade lasagna from Aidan's mom today. We were talking about it with her yesterday and she brought me some today, ahhh. Made me sooooo happy. And it was YUMMY!!!!

Gamagori Festival/Onsen/Dinner w/ Saori's Parents-what a day!!!

2006-10-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure how to start this blog. There is sooo much I want to say but I don't think my written words can describe my weekend. I think the pictures will do much more justice therefore I will have LOTS of pictures-don't worry I took 205 of them. In a nutshell, on Sunday we went to this amazing festival, went to my first onsen, had dinner at Saori's parents house, played musical instruments and sang with her parents and watched the very end of the festival. This will all be explained-keep reading...

Ok, where do I start... I went to a festival in Gamagori with Saori one of the Japanese teachers, Lizzie and her friend Matthew. Gamagori is about an hour northeast of Nagakute, it is this picturesque coastal town up in the mountains of Japan. Saori picked us up in her car at 8:45 on Sunday morning (not cool-especially since Lizzie and I didn't get home from Fujigaoka where we talked about American politics with 3 other Americans till 3am-major buzz killer, yikes). The day started with a bang-right off Saori took a wrong turn on the freeway and we ended up back in Nagoya-ohh and did I mention we were going to Saori's hometown (I think she fell asleep during Lizzie's story about the size of our Chu-hi's form the night before). Anyways, we made it Gamagori an hour later after taking the scenic route and arrived just in time to watch the floats go into the water.
Saori
I need to explain the festival a little bit so you can understand the pictures. This festival was absolutely AMAZING and I wish everyone was there to witness it. We were lucky enough to talk to some locals who were apart of the festival and knew the history of the festival (with the help from Saori :) This festival has been going on for 300 years. The story behind it: the land owner had a dream one night that a road must be built between the east shrine and the west shrine so they can be connected, so the gods could meet and talk. Before the road was built the only way to get to the shrines was by water. So this is a festival celebrating the road being built between the east and west shrine. Once the gods meet they throw a big party and there is lots and lots of music, traditional dancing and celebration.

We found the perfect spot to watch the floats. There were four floats that went into the water(there were 5 total the 5th was to small to go into the water)-each float represented a specific section of Gamagori. These floats were absolutely amazing-they were enormous and covered in gold. There were children sitting inside the floats and grown men dragged the floats through the water. In the back ground you could hear the drumming and wooden flutes playing traditional music. It was very mysterious, magical, and wonderful. Once all four floats went into the water and paraded down the streets the dancing began.

This part of the festival was just as amazing, the music, costumes and traditional dances were incredible. There were many dances. They had the 7 gods of happiness (men with the large masks) the comedians (men with the large poles) and I didn't get the story behind the children dancing. During the entire festival you could hear the drums and flutes playing in the background given the entire festival this hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. It took you back in time, it was very ancient ritualistic soundtrack that filled the whole air and took over. It was very powerful. For the first time I realized I was in a very ancient land with this amazing culture and history. I felt very privileged to be apart of this festival.

ONSEN TIME!!!!
We left the festival around 2pm to go to the Gamagori Onsen. I was sooo excited to go to the onsen, my first one since I've been here. I know its a disgrace, I have been in Japan for 2 months and have not visited the hot springs. The Gamagori Onsen was incredible it is at a hotel-so it was especially nice. Going to the onsen is incredibly ritualistic. First the men and women separate to undress and wash our bodies. The Gamagori Onsen was separate sex so we did not bath with the men (which, for my first time I was very thankful :) Once your bodies are clean you go into the water and just sit there taking in all the minerals. NO SWIMMING!!! Saori was very strict about that-Lizzie asked. Gamagori onsen faced the ocean, so we were looking out onto the ocean while in the onsen. It was gorgeous!! Once you were finished soaking, you go back wash your body, face, hair, dress and then the your done. Afterwards my skin was sooo soft. Lizzie, Soari and I decided we are going to onsen once a week-there's one in Nagakute! Once dressed we met up with Matt and went down stairs and drank a complimentary soft drink. We just sat there exhausted, glowing, smelling really good and reminiscing about the festival and onsen. The day would have been more perfect if it had stopped there but it didn't.

Saori's parents invited us over for dinner. I've heard that its a priviledge to be invited over to someone's house because their houses are so small in Japan so most people would rather entertain in a restaurant. So we felt very honored and lucky to go to Saori's house. Once again dinner was absolutely amazing (I know I keep using that word, but that word describes the whole day). We arrived at her house, and it is absolutely adorable it's very homey and warm. We right off started helping Saori's mom with dinner, Lizzie cooked potatoes, I picked nuts out of salt and Matt made rice balls. Dinner was DELICIOUS. There was soo much food, we had rice balls, fried potatoes, and shabu shabu-a special stew Sumo Wrestlers eat it's basically veggies, tofu (yes, Dea I did eat tofu-aren't you proud of me :) and meat are thrown into a communal bowl in the middle of the table and is cooked right in front of you.

After dinner we all moved into the living room and talked about the day. Saori came down stairs with some festival clothes for us to try on and wooden flutes to play. It was fun to try on the clothes and try playing the flute. I couldn't get a note out of the thing but Lizzie became a pro by the end of the night. At this point Saori's father came home and we wanted to hear him play the flute. So we sat in the living room while he played the flute for a good 15 minutes. He said he just made the song up on the spot. It was absolutely surreal. I really felt like I was in another world at that moment. We then cracked open the piano and forced Lizzie to play a little for us, then the guitar came out. We sang lots and lots of songs including DoReMi, House of the Rising Sun and edelweiss (reminded me of Kansas and Grandma :) all together. It was really one of those "what a small world" moments. We are in Japan sitting in a Japanese living room with 3 Japanese, 2 Aussies and 1 American from different generations all singing the same songs. We all got a little quiet when Lizzie pointed that out. It was really an incredible experience. Saori and her parents are such gorgeous people and I will never forget them and their wonderful hospitality.

The night didn't end there. To top off this incredible day the festival was about to conclude so we rushed out the house with umbrellas and made it just in time to watch the closing ceremonies of the festival. We watched the five floats (with their rain coats on, as Saori pointed out) go home. The flutes and drums were playing as people crowded around to say goodbye till next year to the festival and floats. And just as the last float made its exit it started to pour down rain. Seeing the end of the festival was the icing on the cake-it just ended the day perfectly.

I know this is a LONG blog but Sunday was one of those surreal days that I can't believe really happened (but I do have 200 pictures to prove it did happen). It was just so perfectly planned and I was able to see some incredible cultural events, have my first onsen experience and the evening at Saori's house. Another incredible day I will never forget.

SIDE NOTES:
***I have my costume for Halloween but I'm not telling you what it is-you will have to wait for the pictures woahahaha
**I woke up this morning and my voice was gone-I'm not sure where it went but I am sitting her drinking tea (yes mom I am drinking tea) and not talking so I can hopefully find it and start yelling at my kids tomorrow :) hehe

Children-what fickle creatures they are

2006-10-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

Children are funny things. Last week they were little devils running around the class not listening and going crazy, no control what so ever and I came soooo close to walking out the door about 40 times. And I could ate about a pound of chocolate everyday when I got home from school. I blame it all on Friday the 13th!!

But this week... they have been little angels and I love them all dearly and I have literally only wanted to walk out the door once. It may help that several of the kids are sick and 2-4 have been absent each day, but I feel I have had total control over the class all week. IT'S BEEN GREAT! We'll see what next week will bring.....

HALLOWEEN UPDATE
Halloween is in 7 school days, we are trick-or-treating in Japan-who knew. One of the kids told me I should be a mouse for Halloween, I'm not sure what that means, hmmm.
I do need some ideas so if you think of any let me know. I am not going to be a blond witch, tried that one out already, check out the picture: to be added later...

Retail and other types of therapy needed

2006-10-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

Really awesome building in Sakae, a mini glass lake on top of a roof

Saturday was one of those crazy random days were you wake up and you dont expect much from that day, but it turns out to be one of those fun, unforgetable, awesome days. I woke exhausted from work, the whole week the kids had been riding my back (I'll just say, I took a 5 hour nap on a friday night-greeaaat week). I woke up Saturday morning and decided I needed some retail therapy (and so did my roomate) so we headed to Sakae the major shoppind district in Nagoya. We ended up going crazy shopping-we walked into the massive Hyakoyen (I think thats how you spell it ?? hundren yen) shop when it was still a bright sunny day and emerged from the store in the pitch black-talk about being disoriented. We spent a small fortune but it did make us feel better : )

This weekend was also the Nagoya Festival-big festival with lots going on. We didn't see a whole lot of it-but were lucky enough to catch a Paiko drumming demonstration, and it was absolutly amazing.

I'm just going to say, the night didnt end there, we met up with a group of Americans (finally around people who understand my jokes-j/k love you aussie girls:) at the Amadillo a Tex-mex bar in Japan-who knew, and ended up at a karaoke bar. I will spare you the details mom, dad and grandma and grandpa but I didnt get home till 5 am.

WHAT A DAY!!

Just for you dad, the same John Deere coffee mugs we bought you from Walmart in a random funky cool shop in Sakae :)

Hump Day

2006-10-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

OHHH, how I hate Wednesdays, especially rainy Wednesdays. And today was a rainy hump day-the worst kind of day. The kids were CRAZY all day cause they couldn't go run all thier energy off outside. Oh, and its not a real hump day (we had this arguement on the bike ride home from work) since we only have a 4 day week. Monday was a National Holiday-guess why we had the day off-National Sports Day-only in Japan do you get a day off from work for celebrating sports-reason #63 as to why I love this country!!!

THANK GOD HUMP DAY IS OVER (for this week anyway)!!!

P.S. For those of you wondering, Wednesdays are called Hump Days because the are smack dab in the middle of the week. Weekend rest has warn off by then, and you still have two more days to go before the weekend-meaning there is no reason to look forward to a Wednesday : ) therefore its the hump day (think bell curve).

Update-its a long one...

2006-10-08T02:24:00.000-07:00

I know, I am sooo bad at updating this thing, but hopefully I will make it up to you with this one-I promise it will be a big one : )
A few side notes before I update you on everything that has been going on:
*The weather has gone from blazing hot and humid-I had not touched a long sleeved shirt for five weeks, to cold and windy-all I can say is thank goodness for Fall and I'm scared what winter will bring.
*Today I went to the 100 Yen shop (think dollar shop) and found my first bag of M&M's in Japan-I have not seen M&M's in the 6 weeks I have been here-needless to say I was a bit excited and got a little carried away
*Oh, there is a Old Spaghetti Factory (just like the one in Folsom) 10 minutes away from my apartment-who would have ever thought there would be OSF in Japan-one of those little mysteries, hmmm

The past few weekends have been jam packed with lots of firsts for me-my first rave which included first time in the country and my first Japanese Karoake experience. Here are the highlights of the past few weekends...

Lake Biwa-6am At the Rave-good times
Last Saturday, I was informed the day before I was going to be going to a Brazilian rave on the shores of Lake Biwa a two hour drive from Nagoya (the largest lake in Japan, if you look at a map it is the big hole in the middle). We took a train from Nagoya station to some random little town in the middle of nowhere Japan-we arrived at 9pm...5 hours later at 2 in the morning we finally arrived at the Rave. All I can say is a lot of nothing happened between the train station and ride to Lake Biwa, but we finally arrived. By this time I was ready for bed, we had just traveled for 7 hours and it was way past my bed time. I danced for a bit but by 4 in the morning I was ready to go home. Naomi and I sat on the beach and watched the sunrise over the lake. It was absolutely GORGEOUS. The lake goes on forever, and with the lush green mountains surrounding the lake its one of those memories I will never forget. It was also one of those moments where it hit me that I really am in Japan (you would never find lush green mountains like these in Cali). We finally left Biwa Lake at 7 in the morning to head back home. The scenery on the ride back to the train station was amazing, we drove through the countryside and the lush green mountains and apparently we got lost but I was asleep during that part-we made it home at 2pm on Sunday. It was a long and random weekend that I will never forget.

Did you know Karaoke in Japanese means empty orchestra...Isn't that hauntingly beautiful---If you can name what show that is from I will send you 1000 yen note (KIS Aussie girls don't count) hehe
I went Karaoking on Friday with the foreign teachers and Kae and Japanese teacher for the first time since I have been in Japan (I know, 6 weeks in Japan without karoaking is a disgrace) and all I can say is SOOO FUN!!! Karoaking In Japan is much different that in America. The major difference is that you have your own room for just you and your friends, so the embarrassment factor that you face in a karaoke bar full of strangers is not there-you only embarrass yourself in front of your friends-something I can live with :) We got there at 11pm and left at 4 in the morning-it was THAT MUCH FUN-plus all you can drink was included : ) And yes, I can say I actually got up and sang a few songs-highlights were: It's Raining Men and Living on a Prayer-I bet you wish you were there, hehe

Today, I went to the Nagakute festival which is right in my own backyard. There is a small/medium shrine 3 blocks from my apartment and today is the anniversary of a big battle that happened there 300 years ago. I really had no expectations when I went to the festival-Saori (Japanese teacher) took Lizzie (my roommate) and I saying it was small. But to my delight it was quite fun and interesting. The festival was basically a reenactment of the battle. There were a couple hundred Japanese men who were involved in the reenactment and dressed up in the battle uniforms of that day. There were two groups and they first greeted each other, some gun shots were sounded, then both armies walked towards each other and up towards the shrine. Once the armies past we followed them up the hill climbing though forest to watch them. Both groups ran around the shrine three times-each side had a horse that was elaborately decorated and being chased. It was quite interesting. After they finished there were kids fighting each other in a traditional karate style I have never seen before. We also bumped into a couple from America whom Lizzie had met at a party a while back, so we hung out with them at the festival and ended up going to get Raman after the festival. And with that, that pretty much brings you up to date...oh yes, the kiddoes are doing great-they are still crazy but they are starting to settle in.

Not Much to Say

2006-09-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't written much lately. Not much has really been going on that has been too exciting (I know for some of you this blog is the highlight of your day, haha). All I have been doing lately is going to work singing the ABC's and Down in the Jungle 12 times a day and reciting nursery rhymes I haven't heard in 20 years (ah, the working life is grand) for 8 hours then go and hang out with my Japanese and Aussie friends/co-workers. But don't worry, I will be getting paid soon and with money comes a little fun (don't worry Mom I will be responsible : ), plus there are some fun festivals coming up in October where I get to travel to some new and exciting places so there will be stories to tell-stay tuned. For the mean time I will post a few pics to keep everyone happy : )

A big shrine in Osu Kannon-Nagoya

My classroom and kids (arn't they sweet : )

Aged People's Day

2006-09-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

A little note about Aged People's Day. Today I did not go to work because it is a National Holiday to celebrate the senior citizans (You had Labor Day and I got Aged People's Day: ). I think it is is a wonderful thing to celebrate and I think we should celebrate and respect our elders more in the U.S.

In class we held a little party for all the grandparents and it was soo nice to see the kids with their grandparents. All the parents and grandparents had cameras and camcorders in hand to cherish thier grandkids and this moment forever, and I'm a happy I and Yasuko (my co-teacher) could be the one to make it happen.

Love you Grandma and Grandpa Mueller and Sheets

A Gaijin in Japan

2006-09-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here is your first Japanese lesson (today was my first-Arigato Kae!!) Gaijin in Japanese=foreigner & Arigato=thank you.

Being a Gaijin in Japan where I am instantly recognized as a gaijin is a totally different than being a foreigner in Europe where I at least have the same skin color and facial features as Europeans. Everywhere I go I am recognized as a outsider, and its ok-most Japanese are very nice, some are not, but I'm sure you run into that everywhere you go. Many Japanese are not used to seeing gaijins everyday so they are not sure how to react-two reactions usually take place 1) they completely ignore you, 2) they stare at you and don't hide it,-- or they 3) ask you where you are from (3 is quite rare). When I tell people I am from America they usually get very excited and ask which part-when I say California they get very excited. For some odd reason the Japanese love America especially california-probably has to do with movies.

The fun thing about being a foreigner in Japan is that you can recognize foreingers (non-Asian)right away, and you can meet some very interesting people. Since it is rare to run into a foreigner two things usually happen: 1) you give them a nod and walk by or 2) if the you are more out going you walk up to the other foreigner and strike up a conversation (this is more common among the younger peps). Number 2 has happened a number of times and I have meet people from Alaska, Chicago, Portland Oregon (she went to high school in Roseville-small world), Australia (not my co-workers), Canadians... And everyone is just so happy to talk to someone you can understand and can vent your frustrations with.

***Side notes
-Grandma, I'm very excited to hear you got a computer, good luck figuring out
how to use it. And Happy Birthday on the 23rd if your not able to hear from me before then.

-Picture of my bike will be coming soon-I just need to take it : )

Seto Ceramics Festival

2006-09-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

I went to my first 'festival" on Saturday in Seto with a few of the teachers from my school. Seto is about an hour north from Nagoya and is considered countryside-but its more like a suburb. Seto is a cute little town and is famous throughout Japan for its beautiful ceramics and pottery.

This festival was not what I expected a festival would be like. There were no traditional dancing or singing performances, very few people wore the traditional yukata (summer kimono) and there was no huge parade through town carrying the religious statues-although the local boy and girl scout troops paraded through playing instruments-very cute. The festival was basically six streets filled with tent vendors selling the most gorgeous ceramic plates, bowls, tea pots, cups, figurines... you will ever see, at a very cheap price. I had a blast and ended up sweaty and sunburnt and stayed in Seto till 9pm browsing the tents, eating fried chicken and french fries/drinking, watching the fireworks and buying way to much stuff (My excuse, it's my birthday-and its not all for me-hint hint : )

And the party didn't end there... 4 hours later (after eating and drinking once again in Sakae) on the subway Lizzie (teacher from KIS and soon to be roomate) and I met a girl from Portland, Oregon who went to high school 10 miles from where I grew up-small world-Lizzie and I went got a drink with her

It was a loooong day, but it was great and a wonderful birthday that I will never forget

p.s. I will put up pictures tomarrow, my computer is being stupid and I need to get to bed, its 1 am here

The Kids and their lunches

2006-09-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

I finally had a chance to meet the little kiddos on Tuesday and all I can I say is, sooo cute. There are 13 of them and they are 3/4 years old. I have only had them for two days but you can diffenently see their little personalities shine through already. I have 10 Japanese students and 3 foreign students so basically 3 out of 13 can understand what I am saying. They all run up to me and start talking miles a minute in Japanese and I stand there with this look on my face like I want to understand you but I have no clue what your saying. It's also absolutely adorable when they speak Japanese I don't know what it is but they sound like they are speaking gibberish.

I was completely taken aback when I saw the lunches these kids bring to school. I knew before coming to Japan that their attention to detail is surpass anything in the U.S. These lunches are gourmet meals to say the least. Presentation is very important in Japan and this does not exclude 4 year old kids lunches. First of all they are packed in very cutely decorated plastic containers with separated areas for the food. They are put in miniature cupcake wrappers (not really cupcake wrappers) to make the food look good. These kids bring rice balls, sausages, fish, seafood, sliced fruit, veggies...all of which is cooked and prepared by their mothers (I work at a very posh school, most of the mom's are stay at home mothers). I have never seen anything like it, but that is coming from someone who has spent time in Title One schools (inner city) where the kids only nutritious meal is from the school.

I just remembered I read an article about this from my Anthropology of Food class in college-where the mothers in Japan try to outdo each other with the school lunches because that is thier "day job" and it is thier way of showing thier kids how much they love them. (A very water downed version of the article-I never really understood any of my college reading) I wish I could remember the name of the article, hmm.

This one is for you D (got your email :)

Time for bed, my kids are throwing me a birthday party tomarrow-must rest up for that and a big weekend, my first festival. I am very excited it's a ceramic festival, wahoo!!

A shoot out to the Japanese toilet(s)

2006-09-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

I have only been here for a week, but I have certainly seen a fair share of the Japanese toilets. The Japanese do things their way in everything they do and that certainly applies to their toilets. I decided to write this post because a friend thought it was funny that the first picture I sent her was of the toilet in my bathroom-and thinking back on it that probably was a odd first picture to send. Since being in Japan I have seen at least 10 different variations of the toilet. Back at home we have the basic 2, the regular toilet and the port-o-pottie (there are varies degrees of cleanliness but more or less they are the same) but here in Japan not only do you have the basic western toilet like you see every where in the states, you have toilets with sinks on top (my apartment-see pic) and water rushes out of the sink when you flush so you can wash your hands (don't worry the water is clean-it fills the toilet once its been flushed), holes in the ground where you have to pop-a-squat (a memory I would like to forget) and it flushes away, then you have the holes in the ground that don't flush (sort of like the western port-o-pottie), then you have the high tech ones that spray your bottom with the push of a button and can warm your tushie on those long cold winter days (I've heard are quite wonderful around December). Before coming to Japan I have never really thought much about the toilet-but only here would there be such a variety-a little old world meets high tech world.

JAPAN!!

2006-08-31T04:29:00.000-07:00

Konnichiwa,

I made it to Japan Ever since the plane landed I have been buzzing around like a bee. I started work on Monday and everyone at work is sooo nice. I get to the meet my kids on Tuesday at the welcome back party were all the teachers have to sing and do a skit for all the students and parents. I feel bad for all the parents and kids who have to listen to my singing (More on that later).

Japan is fantastic. I really do not feel like I am in a foreign country-but more like a separate part of the US considering there are Shell stations and 7/11's everywhere and a Starbuck's 2 blocks from my apartment (very excited about that). My apartment is quite nice and big in Japan standards, I have my own room and the size is 6 tatami mats (try and figure that one out : ) There are subtle differences such as the toilet sprays water from the top whenever you flush to refill the toilet and wash your hands (which I think is quite smart) and all the building signs are in Japanese. My new favorite store is Apita-it is a grocery store and a mall all rolled up in one, its quite and experience-it has everything you need (expect an adaptor,ugh) and its only 2 blocks from my apartment.

I will put up pictures (toilet) as soon as I find an adaptor for my computer, I promise.

Ohh, so tired

2006-08-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a witty long blog today ( I leave tomarrow) about all the things I am going to love about Japan i.e. wearing flip-flops everywhere..., and my fears of having to carry two 70 lb. bags around Japan, but I got home at 11pm after a fun last night in the States (thanks Kathy :), and have been packing ever since (including a 1 hour search for my camera that was aready packed, ugh). I have to wake up in 5 hours to leave for San Francisco, waozaa.

I will write again and hopefully add some pictures when I have landed safely in Japan and can find internet service.

Ciao for now,

Bren

4 days and counting

2006-08-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving in 4 days and I have only packed 1/4 of my clothes. I still need to finish packing, disconnect my cell phone, exchange $ for some Yen, buy some more t-shirts, jeans and flip flops-my teaching wardrobe (I'm 5'11, I won't be able to find any clothes in Japan, according to everyone I know). I should get on this soon possibly tomorrow-we'll see. Plus, I have to say goodbye to my sis, she is moving to the bay area tomorrow. So much to do, so little time!!

My first blog

2006-08-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

About 4 weeks ago, I signed a contract to teach preschool in Japan for a year. Thus the purpose of this blog. It sounds like a great idea in theory-so we will see how this goes. Many people have asked me to blog my adventures abroad so here I am-giving this blogging thing a shot. I hope to update my blog as much as possible with stories and pictures (just give me some time to figure this whole blogging thing out) from my adventures in the exotic land of Japan.

***Just to update everyone-I finished my teaching credential in May and during my job search came across this opportunity in Japan and within 5 days I faxed back the signed contract. And with that, my adventure begins... (in 5 days).