Hello all,
How have you been?
Jonathan and I are half-way through summer, and we are trying to get the things done we wanted to get done before it is too late. Jonathan wants to visit every beach from Takahama town to Obama city (there are 19). I think he is halfway done, but jellyfish season is coming up fast and he still has quite a bit of beaches to hit. Luckily, he has found some swimming/snorkeling buddies named Melissa and Dylan who live in Wakasa town. Hopefully they can spend a few good days at the beaches before they close in September.
I have been going in to work Monday through Friday 8:30-4:15, but I have taken a few vacation days. We took a 5 day weekend from Thursday to Monday this past week, and enjoyed lazing about at home and going to a few fireworks festivals with our friends and the new ALTs. We like the newbies a lot, and I think we will all fit in together quite well once everyone has settled in to our schedules.
I don't know if I had mentioned it yet or not, but Jonathan has a new job offer with an engineering company in Obama. It will just be a few more hours a week, but if he takes this job he will be working every evening Monday-Friday, so hopefully everything works out and he can start work in September.
I can't think of any other news, so take care of yourselves and send us an email or give us a call at our new US phone number (domestic phone charges will apply). The phone number is in my previous post.
I will hopefully post again soon!
Love,
Laura (and Jonathan)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Summer in Oi Town Means...
Festivals!
August in Japan means festivals, festivals, festivals! Hanabi (fireworks), lantern festivals, taiko (Japanese drums), odori (traditional dance), yukata (summer kimonos), and festival food! Last week, Jonathan and I bought cotton candy, shaved ice, corn on the cob, and small pancake balls that are very popular here at festivals. The word for festival in Japanese is matsuri, and we have been to many matsuri, and more to come!
Our local festival, Super Ogase, was this past Friday and Saturday. Friday night featured festival food, traditional dances, and a raffle! Saturday was the main event with taiko drums, the lighting on fire and spinning of a 20 meter (about 60 feet) tall leaf-shaped structure constructed of bamboo and possibly rice stalks (think bundles of hay), and finally an amazing fireworks show! We brought new ALTs out to view this amazing spectacle, and they were thoroughly wow-ed. I enjoyed it just as much this year as I did last year, which goes to show how impressive the festival actually is. Jonathan and I have been to a few festivals in our time here in Japan, but the Oi town organizers rightfully put the "Super" in Super Ogase.
This week is Obon, a kind of religious holiday in Japan revolving around family, food, and remembering of ancestors. It is similar to the Day of the Dead in Latin American culture, but obviously with many aspects unique to Japan. Hopefully we will be able to make a few more trips to the beach over the next few days to soak up the beautiful summer weather we are having. I have avoided severe sunburns and I will continue to take extreme precautions so that I am able to enjoy my summer as much as Jonathan is enjoying it. We bought him a swim suit and snorkeling gear, so he is having a grand time in the water.
We miss you and love you!
Laura (and Jonathan)
p.s. We purchased a Greenwood phone number from skype, so if you call 1 (317) 884 8459, you can call our computer from your American cell phone or land line! Exciting! If the computer is off or we are not home, we have voicemail, so just leave us a message and we will call you back. :)
August in Japan means festivals, festivals, festivals! Hanabi (fireworks), lantern festivals, taiko (Japanese drums), odori (traditional dance), yukata (summer kimonos), and festival food! Last week, Jonathan and I bought cotton candy, shaved ice, corn on the cob, and small pancake balls that are very popular here at festivals. The word for festival in Japanese is matsuri, and we have been to many matsuri, and more to come!
Our local festival, Super Ogase, was this past Friday and Saturday. Friday night featured festival food, traditional dances, and a raffle! Saturday was the main event with taiko drums, the lighting on fire and spinning of a 20 meter (about 60 feet) tall leaf-shaped structure constructed of bamboo and possibly rice stalks (think bundles of hay), and finally an amazing fireworks show! We brought new ALTs out to view this amazing spectacle, and they were thoroughly wow-ed. I enjoyed it just as much this year as I did last year, which goes to show how impressive the festival actually is. Jonathan and I have been to a few festivals in our time here in Japan, but the Oi town organizers rightfully put the "Super" in Super Ogase.
This week is Obon, a kind of religious holiday in Japan revolving around family, food, and remembering of ancestors. It is similar to the Day of the Dead in Latin American culture, but obviously with many aspects unique to Japan. Hopefully we will be able to make a few more trips to the beach over the next few days to soak up the beautiful summer weather we are having. I have avoided severe sunburns and I will continue to take extreme precautions so that I am able to enjoy my summer as much as Jonathan is enjoying it. We bought him a swim suit and snorkeling gear, so he is having a grand time in the water.
We miss you and love you!
Laura (and Jonathan)
p.s. We purchased a Greenwood phone number from skype, so if you call 1 (317) 884 8459, you can call our computer from your American cell phone or land line! Exciting! If the computer is off or we are not home, we have voicemail, so just leave us a message and we will call you back. :)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hello All!
I am back again for a quick post!
We really enjoyed our trip to Echizen Town last week for the Woodblock Printing workshop. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. We worked from 9-12 every morning and 1-5 every afternoon. It was about 6-7 hours of carving and printing each day, but time does fly when you are having fun!
Last day of the workshop
We printed quite a few things and got the opportunity to try a marbling paper workshop!
Mr. Fukuda's marbling paper
We had no internet for 5 days, but we were having so much fun that it did not matter. All of the workshop attendees were amazing and the organizers were fantastic. Ever time I made a mistake, Ms. Yoshihiko would tell me "No, it's no problem. It is like a special effect. It gives the print a handmade quality!" She was very encouraging and I could not have asked for a better teacher.
Well that is all for now. We are happy, healthy and enjoying life right now. I am a bit tan (shock!) from our frequent trips to the beach, and we are sleeping better on our new bed (new to us, lol).
I will try to post again soon!
Laura (and Jonathan)
I am back again for a quick post!
We really enjoyed our trip to Echizen Town last week for the Woodblock Printing workshop. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. We worked from 9-12 every morning and 1-5 every afternoon. It was about 6-7 hours of carving and printing each day, but time does fly when you are having fun!
Last day of the workshop
We printed quite a few things and got the opportunity to try a marbling paper workshop!
Mr. Fukuda's marbling paper
We had no internet for 5 days, but we were having so much fun that it did not matter. All of the workshop attendees were amazing and the organizers were fantastic. Ever time I made a mistake, Ms. Yoshihiko would tell me "No, it's no problem. It is like a special effect. It gives the print a handmade quality!" She was very encouraging and I could not have asked for a better teacher.
Well that is all for now. We are happy, healthy and enjoying life right now. I am a bit tan (shock!) from our frequent trips to the beach, and we are sleeping better on our new bed (new to us, lol).
I will try to post again soon!
Laura (and Jonathan)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
お久しぶりです！It has been a long time!
Hello! You may have been wondering if we were ever going to post on this blog again, and I am here to tell you, "Yes! We will!"
It is July 23rd and we have been up to quite a lot these past 7 months. We are coming up on the 1 year mark this Sunday and it has been quite a year indeed. Where do I begin...
In the late winter, Jonathan and I began taking Japanese lessons every Thursday evening at the volunteer center in Obama town. Jonathan and I love our teachers, and our Japanese is improving quite a bit. We became fast friends with some of the foreigners living in Obama: Asa, Christine, and Felipe. They left this week and we are very sad to see them go. But Felipe lives in Toronto which is not so far away, and Asa and Christine live in one of those other northern flyover states (Wisconsin), so we will be seeing them again soon. They gave/ sold us a bunch of their stuff before they left, so we are surrounded by reminders of the many happy memories we made together.
On the bright side, we still have Melissa and Grainne living nearby! Grainne and I are the new FJET Southern Representatives in charge of all things fun in the Reinan Block (the southwestern section of Fukui Prefecture). Melissa and are are the Reinan Block Leaders, and we are in charge of taking care of the newbies flying in next week and the week after. We will do troubleshooting, soothing, counseling, and hand-holding until the fresh faces get adjusted to life in Japan (hahaha that never happens). As you can see, in my usual fashion I have taken on not one but two leadership positions. :)
We have also made friends with many Japanese people, mostly teachers. It is fun to befriend people who have little to no experience with English, and we can teach each other our native tongues.
Jonathan is loving his job, and so am I. We are getting some fresh talent in Oi town, two new ALTs who will visit our middle schools once a week or so. One from Takahama town to the south and one from Kaminaka town to the north. We are all still waiting to see how this will work out.
Next week, Jonathan and I are doing a week-long workshop on how to make woodblock prints in Echizen Town. The workshop will be a lot of fun and hard work, but we have been itching to do something artsy. Also, we get to keep the tools after the class so if we enjoyed it we can do it at home! Yay! I have posted a link below explaining the workshop. It is even in English! You are welcome!
http://www.echizenwashi.jp/english/workshop_article.php?eid=00001&cmsdsessionid=21677a4cf16e41c279a36684274f3319
Last but not least, I am thinking of making a career change. I love teaching, and I have definitely enjoyed my time here in Japan, but I am thinking of Med School when I get back to the States. I will have to do some post-bacc science classes, and I will probably do those at IUPUI in order to keep tuition costs down. For this reason, we are probably going to be returning to the US either next year or in 2012. We originally wanted to stay for at least 3 years in Japan, and we love our town, but I want to get cracking on those science classes if I want to finish med school before I am 40, lol.
Well that is all for now. I will try to post some pictures soon, but Jonathan has a lot of our Japan pictures posted on his facebook, so if you can access facebook please check them out.
Love,
Laura (and Jonathan)
I had made a small mistake when typing my address last year, so here is the correct one. I had spelled the name of my apartment building incorrectly, but it never caused any problems. I am posting the correct address below. Enjoy!
Laura Allen and Jonathan McKenzie
Kyoshokuinjutaku 201
46-21-1 Okata Oi Town,
Fukui Prefecture 919-2116
Japan
or in Japanese:
９１９－２１１６
福井県大飯郡
おおい町岡田４６－２１－１
教職委員住宅 ２０１
アレン ローラ様, マッケンジー ジョナサン様
JAPAN
It is July 23rd and we have been up to quite a lot these past 7 months. We are coming up on the 1 year mark this Sunday and it has been quite a year indeed. Where do I begin...
In the late winter, Jonathan and I began taking Japanese lessons every Thursday evening at the volunteer center in Obama town. Jonathan and I love our teachers, and our Japanese is improving quite a bit. We became fast friends with some of the foreigners living in Obama: Asa, Christine, and Felipe. They left this week and we are very sad to see them go. But Felipe lives in Toronto which is not so far away, and Asa and Christine live in one of those other northern flyover states (Wisconsin), so we will be seeing them again soon. They gave/ sold us a bunch of their stuff before they left, so we are surrounded by reminders of the many happy memories we made together.
On the bright side, we still have Melissa and Grainne living nearby! Grainne and I are the new FJET Southern Representatives in charge of all things fun in the Reinan Block (the southwestern section of Fukui Prefecture). Melissa and are are the Reinan Block Leaders, and we are in charge of taking care of the newbies flying in next week and the week after. We will do troubleshooting, soothing, counseling, and hand-holding until the fresh faces get adjusted to life in Japan (hahaha that never happens). As you can see, in my usual fashion I have taken on not one but two leadership positions. :)
We have also made friends with many Japanese people, mostly teachers. It is fun to befriend people who have little to no experience with English, and we can teach each other our native tongues.
Jonathan is loving his job, and so am I. We are getting some fresh talent in Oi town, two new ALTs who will visit our middle schools once a week or so. One from Takahama town to the south and one from Kaminaka town to the north. We are all still waiting to see how this will work out.
Next week, Jonathan and I are doing a week-long workshop on how to make woodblock prints in Echizen Town. The workshop will be a lot of fun and hard work, but we have been itching to do something artsy. Also, we get to keep the tools after the class so if we enjoyed it we can do it at home! Yay! I have posted a link below explaining the workshop. It is even in English! You are welcome!
http://www.echizenwashi.jp/english/workshop_article.php?eid=00001&cmsdsessionid=21677a4cf16e41c279a36684274f3319
Last but not least, I am thinking of making a career change. I love teaching, and I have definitely enjoyed my time here in Japan, but I am thinking of Med School when I get back to the States. I will have to do some post-bacc science classes, and I will probably do those at IUPUI in order to keep tuition costs down. For this reason, we are probably going to be returning to the US either next year or in 2012. We originally wanted to stay for at least 3 years in Japan, and we love our town, but I want to get cracking on those science classes if I want to finish med school before I am 40, lol.
Well that is all for now. I will try to post some pictures soon, but Jonathan has a lot of our Japan pictures posted on his facebook, so if you can access facebook please check them out.
Love,
Laura (and Jonathan)
I had made a small mistake when typing my address last year, so here is the correct one. I had spelled the name of my apartment building incorrectly, but it never caused any problems. I am posting the correct address below. Enjoy!
Laura Allen and Jonathan McKenzie
Kyoshokuinjutaku 201
46-21-1 Okata Oi Town,
Fukui Prefecture 919-2116
Japan
or in Japanese:
９１９－２１１６
福井県大飯郡
おおい町岡田４６－２１－１
教職委員住宅 ２０１
アレン ローラ様, マッケンジー ジョナサン様
JAPAN
Thursday, January 28, 2010
January in Fukui - Boring reflections on life
Hey folks, how's it going?
In regards to the last post, Jonathan's lost bag was delivered to our house only 2 days after he arrived. Everything was safely inside. Thank you, Japanese customer service!
Jonathan and I are doing alright here. Nothing interesting going on so far this month. Last Friday, we went out to dinner with Asa and Grainne. We went to one of those conveyor belt sushi places in Obama, and it was a lot of fun. I hung out with Asa for a bit before dinner, then after we ate we walked to the grocery to buy ice cream (in January, I know), then we poceeded to eat it outside! We are truly the best and the brightest that the foreign world has to offer to Japan. After making quite a scene standing/sitting outside of the grocery talking and laughing loudly in English and rudely informal Japanese, we then went to sit in my car and continue shouting and laughing for another half and hour or so. Asa and I uncovered a plot by Grainne where Grainne aspired to keep her friends from meeting with each other, thereby keeping us dependent on her for social interaction. The tricksy Irish lass kept the minorities (Asa and Felioe) together, and then me, Jonathan, and Melissa together so that we wouldn't discover the pleasure of one another's company which would then lessen her value as a friend. But when confronted, Gra vehemently denied any and all schemes to keep us apart, which in turn increased our suspicion. If I can get ahold of some sort of mind-reading device or possibly secret journals or letters to a confidant, we can crack this whole scheme wide open. Tune in next week for more details on this sordid conspiracy.
In other news,we went to Kyoto last weekend and saw a few temples, including 鈴虫寺 (suzumushi dera) which is a temple famous for its crickets that chirp year-round. The guy (I think he was a monk or an apprentice monk who looked to be in his 20s or early 30s) who gave us the talk was really funny, but he spoke pretty fast so I don't know exactly what he was saying. I caught a lot of his jokes about how you can buy and charm and pray for something to make you happy, and he prays for a cute girlfriend. Another joke was about how since they have over 5,000 crickets, some of them are boud to die, and when they do the monks grind them up and use them as ingredients in the little sweets we were eating at the time. It was pretty funny since there were little black flecks in the candy, that you might mistake as bits of cricket. I find that I also laugh at Japanese comedians or funny commercials a lot more than my foreign friends do, and I can explain why certain things are funny to them.
I realized yesterday that most of my friends, even the ones who are married to Japanese people do not speak as much Japanese as I do. I mean I am sure there are plenty of vocab words or grammar points that my friends know that I don't, but my listening is pretty high in comparison. It is kind of shocking to realize that out of the 100 JETs in Fukui, there are probably only a handful who speak Japanese as well as or better than I do. After being at the low end of my 4th year Japanese class as far as ability goes, it is weird to suddenly be at the top. And when I met up with my former classmates in December, my speaking had actually gotten significantly better. The 4th year class only had 6-8 people in it, and when 4 of us got together I went from being at the bottom of the class to being at least equal to them (only as far as speaking is concerned - they are way better at reading and writing I bet) after only 3 months. I guess I am really lucky that I work at elementary schools and my supervisor does not speak English, because if I was in an environment where there was always someone to translate for me or casually converse with me in English I would not have improved at all. Don't get me wrong, I do actively seek out friends and acquaintances who speak English, but the fact is I am forced to speak and listen to Japanese 7-8 hours a day Monday thru Friday. And then on the weekends I use tons of Japanese when we go out to eat, run errands, pay utility bills, go sightseeing etc.
Well, that's all for now. Take care and watch out for the Irish. They're tricksy!
Laura (and Jonathan!)
p.s. I'm just kidding about the whole 'Irish are tricksy' thing. You should really watch out for the Chinese (like Asa), since in matters related to vengance and pranks, they are stealthy, swift, and sure.
In regards to the last post, Jonathan's lost bag was delivered to our house only 2 days after he arrived. Everything was safely inside. Thank you, Japanese customer service!
Jonathan and I are doing alright here. Nothing interesting going on so far this month. Last Friday, we went out to dinner with Asa and Grainne. We went to one of those conveyor belt sushi places in Obama, and it was a lot of fun. I hung out with Asa for a bit before dinner, then after we ate we walked to the grocery to buy ice cream (in January, I know), then we poceeded to eat it outside! We are truly the best and the brightest that the foreign world has to offer to Japan. After making quite a scene standing/sitting outside of the grocery talking and laughing loudly in English and rudely informal Japanese, we then went to sit in my car and continue shouting and laughing for another half and hour or so. Asa and I uncovered a plot by Grainne where Grainne aspired to keep her friends from meeting with each other, thereby keeping us dependent on her for social interaction. The tricksy Irish lass kept the minorities (Asa and Felioe) together, and then me, Jonathan, and Melissa together so that we wouldn't discover the pleasure of one another's company which would then lessen her value as a friend. But when confronted, Gra vehemently denied any and all schemes to keep us apart, which in turn increased our suspicion. If I can get ahold of some sort of mind-reading device or possibly secret journals or letters to a confidant, we can crack this whole scheme wide open. Tune in next week for more details on this sordid conspiracy.
In other news,we went to Kyoto last weekend and saw a few temples, including 鈴虫寺 (suzumushi dera) which is a temple famous for its crickets that chirp year-round. The guy (I think he was a monk or an apprentice monk who looked to be in his 20s or early 30s) who gave us the talk was really funny, but he spoke pretty fast so I don't know exactly what he was saying. I caught a lot of his jokes about how you can buy and charm and pray for something to make you happy, and he prays for a cute girlfriend. Another joke was about how since they have over 5,000 crickets, some of them are boud to die, and when they do the monks grind them up and use them as ingredients in the little sweets we were eating at the time. It was pretty funny since there were little black flecks in the candy, that you might mistake as bits of cricket. I find that I also laugh at Japanese comedians or funny commercials a lot more than my foreign friends do, and I can explain why certain things are funny to them.
I realized yesterday that most of my friends, even the ones who are married to Japanese people do not speak as much Japanese as I do. I mean I am sure there are plenty of vocab words or grammar points that my friends know that I don't, but my listening is pretty high in comparison. It is kind of shocking to realize that out of the 100 JETs in Fukui, there are probably only a handful who speak Japanese as well as or better than I do. After being at the low end of my 4th year Japanese class as far as ability goes, it is weird to suddenly be at the top. And when I met up with my former classmates in December, my speaking had actually gotten significantly better. The 4th year class only had 6-8 people in it, and when 4 of us got together I went from being at the bottom of the class to being at least equal to them (only as far as speaking is concerned - they are way better at reading and writing I bet) after only 3 months. I guess I am really lucky that I work at elementary schools and my supervisor does not speak English, because if I was in an environment where there was always someone to translate for me or casually converse with me in English I would not have improved at all. Don't get me wrong, I do actively seek out friends and acquaintances who speak English, but the fact is I am forced to speak and listen to Japanese 7-8 hours a day Monday thru Friday. And then on the weekends I use tons of Japanese when we go out to eat, run errands, pay utility bills, go sightseeing etc.
Well, that's all for now. Take care and watch out for the Irish. They're tricksy!
Laura (and Jonathan!)
p.s. I'm just kidding about the whole 'Irish are tricksy' thing. You should really watch out for the Chinese (like Asa), since in matters related to vengance and pranks, they are stealthy, swift, and sure.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Happy New Year! 明けまして おめでとう ございます！
Happy New Year one and all!
Laura and I are both safely back in Japan now after a whirlwind winter holiday season. We're so glad we got to be with our families for the holidays and catch up with some of you. The weather here is 37.4 degrees F with light rain. The weather in this region of Japan is really interesting. When I flew in to Nagoya, it was cool and raining. At my transfer in Maibara, it was snowing heavily. When I arrived in Tsuruga it was really really snowing. We're talking clumps of snowflakes the size of cotton balls. As you may have heard from Laura, Japan doesn't know how to treat winter weather. Every six inches along the road there is a sprinkler that gushes water onto the roadway. Now, not only are there 13 inches of snow, there are 6 inches of water through which to navigate. However, only 40 minutes south, there was no snow and only a moderate drizzle.
However, this crazy weather was a happy ending to Laura's and my travel experiences. Backtracking...many hours which cannot be enumerated, my flight to Detroit was delayed because of "hydraulic problems." Hmm, what on the plane does not use hydraulics? What on the plane uses hydraulics and its failure causes a fiery fireball of fire upon landing? (Answers at the end of this post!)
After waiting in line for a couple hours, it was finally my turn for rebooking. Luckily, the plane is ready for boarding at this time, and no, I didn't need to be rebooked. The woman made this assessment was very lucky in her judgment; my flight arrived in Detroit at 3:15, and my flight to Japan was scheduled for departure at 3:25. Luckily for me, the gates were directly opposite each other on the concourse.
Thirteen hours, 4 depressing/cheesy movies, 2 awful curries (btw do NOT go with the Vegetarian/Asian/Spicy option,) 1 arthritic Filipino woman, and zero restroom visits later, I was in Nagoya Airport.
Jisaboke means "jet-lag," but it literally translates to "time difference stupidity." This is accurate. It was several minutes after a woman told me that all the bags had come up before I started to comprehend the situation. They had lost one of my bags. I wandered about stupidly before a woman helped me fill out the appropriate forms. Here was my first taste of that Japanese politeness that I was missing in America. She asked me what was in my lost bag, and I was able to remember I had "clothes, cereal, and toiletries," but it wasn't until five hours later that I remembered "computer." I'm a little unnerved that my brain put Lucky Charms before my $500 laptop and very expensive accessory. The train rides were easy, and each stop brought me closer to Oi. At the time, I felt nothing except an ache to see Laura, but in retrospect, I'm really glad they lost one of my bags because then I didn't have to lug two heavy suitcases up and down the stairs of various train stations.
Well, despite lost bags, days, time, and minds Laura and I are home now. Laura has started her new schedule, but the kids don't come back until Friday, when they have their opening ceremony. I don't work until Tuesday, which gives me a lot of time to catch up on laundry and finish unpacking.
Love,
Laura and Jonathan
(Answers: 1)Everything 2)Landing gear. Improperly stowed carry on baggage, as well as seat backs and tray tables not returned to their full and upright positions are not acceptable answers, but will count for half credit.)
Laura and I are both safely back in Japan now after a whirlwind winter holiday season. We're so glad we got to be with our families for the holidays and catch up with some of you. The weather here is 37.4 degrees F with light rain. The weather in this region of Japan is really interesting. When I flew in to Nagoya, it was cool and raining. At my transfer in Maibara, it was snowing heavily. When I arrived in Tsuruga it was really really snowing. We're talking clumps of snowflakes the size of cotton balls. As you may have heard from Laura, Japan doesn't know how to treat winter weather. Every six inches along the road there is a sprinkler that gushes water onto the roadway. Now, not only are there 13 inches of snow, there are 6 inches of water through which to navigate. However, only 40 minutes south, there was no snow and only a moderate drizzle.
However, this crazy weather was a happy ending to Laura's and my travel experiences. Backtracking...many hours which cannot be enumerated, my flight to Detroit was delayed because of "hydraulic problems." Hmm, what on the plane does not use hydraulics? What on the plane uses hydraulics and its failure causes a fiery fireball of fire upon landing? (Answers at the end of this post!)
After waiting in line for a couple hours, it was finally my turn for rebooking. Luckily, the plane is ready for boarding at this time, and no, I didn't need to be rebooked. The woman made this assessment was very lucky in her judgment; my flight arrived in Detroit at 3:15, and my flight to Japan was scheduled for departure at 3:25. Luckily for me, the gates were directly opposite each other on the concourse.
Thirteen hours, 4 depressing/cheesy movies, 2 awful curries (btw do NOT go with the Vegetarian/Asian/Spicy option,) 1 arthritic Filipino woman, and zero restroom visits later, I was in Nagoya Airport.
Jisaboke means "jet-lag," but it literally translates to "time difference stupidity." This is accurate. It was several minutes after a woman told me that all the bags had come up before I started to comprehend the situation. They had lost one of my bags. I wandered about stupidly before a woman helped me fill out the appropriate forms. Here was my first taste of that Japanese politeness that I was missing in America. She asked me what was in my lost bag, and I was able to remember I had "clothes, cereal, and toiletries," but it wasn't until five hours later that I remembered "computer." I'm a little unnerved that my brain put Lucky Charms before my $500 laptop and very expensive accessory. The train rides were easy, and each stop brought me closer to Oi. At the time, I felt nothing except an ache to see Laura, but in retrospect, I'm really glad they lost one of my bags because then I didn't have to lug two heavy suitcases up and down the stairs of various train stations.
Well, despite lost bags, days, time, and minds Laura and I are home now. Laura has started her new schedule, but the kids don't come back until Friday, when they have their opening ceremony. I don't work until Tuesday, which gives me a lot of time to catch up on laundry and finish unpacking.
Love,
Laura and Jonathan
(Answers: 1)Everything 2)Landing gear. Improperly stowed carry on baggage, as well as seat backs and tray tables not returned to their full and upright positions are not acceptable answers, but will count for half credit.)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Super long pre-flight post
I sent out an email to some Brebeuf peeps today, so I'm just taking an excerpt from it to post here. Enjoy! Oh, and I apologize in advance for not updating for a while and having to dump everything into one post.
I have never been good about writing blog posts or sending out email updates. Since I'm not teaching any classes today, I guess I should send out a reply! I warn you it will be long so you may want to break up reading it over a few days or weeks. lol. I'm getting ready to go back to the States tomorrow! I'm taking a couple of trains tonight to stay with a friend, (Jen) and my flight leaves tomorrow (Wednesday December 23rd) at 12:55 PM Japan time. After we all do the time warp on the plane, I'll be landing in Detroit at 10:45AM on Wednesday December 23rd. I'll tell you it feels great to get those two hours back! Jonathan and I will be in town until January 2nd, so let me know if y'all in the Indianapolis area want to hang. I need to practice my conversational English like nobody's business.
So over the course of the past month, I feel like I have done a whole lot of nothing, but I guess I was actually having a prettty good time. Jonathan and I went to Nagoya to visit friends the first two weekends in December, and we did all night karaoke both weekends. After the first bout of all night karaoke, Jonathan and I wandered around trying to find a love hotel that would rent by the hour, but we were so exhausted that we had the brilliant idea of sleeping in one of the manga cafes. They have these buildings that are filled with little cubicles where you can read manga (they offer an extensive manga library), watch anime or read manga on the computer, or do other activities like sleep. The one we stayed in was 1300 yen (about 13-15 dollars) per person for 5 hours. They gave us a room for two with a padded foam floor and bean bag chairs (used as pillows). These places have a free all-you-can-drink drink bar (non alcohol), free blankets, free slippers, and shower facilities (about 2-3 dollars for 30 minutes with complimentary toiletries and stuff like hair dryers and shit). I thought that it was friggin awesome, but Jonathan was grumpy probably because he wanted to sleep in longer but we had to meet some friends for dinner. Both weekends we sang, I had drinks, and we ate food and looked at other foreigners. It is nice to go to a big city like Nagoya after living out in isolated Oi town for so long. But, big cities are expensive so that stinks.
I was a bit lonely this past week since Jonathan went back to 'Merka (abreviation of America) early, but luckily I have some great friends, good books, and cool students and coworkers. I went out for dinner and drinks on Friday night with some of the Obama crowd (Grainne, Felipe, and Jay). We ate okonomiyaki which is like amped up omelets that you get to make yoself. The table is a grill top like you would see at a Japanese steak house or something but noone comes to make food for you so you need to make your own onion volcano and throw fish tails into your own hat if you want that kind of entertainment. I think we would actually get kicked out of the restaurant if we tried it, but maybe not since they seem to like us ok. We go to this restaurant all the time so I don't even have to tell them to leave the fish and meat and fish flakes out of my food anymore. It is pretty awesome. After dinner we went to the bar downstairs from the restaurant and had some drinks. Felipe lives way across town so he couldn't walk back home so he stayed over with me and Grainne. As we were walking home, it started to really snow, big fluffy snowflakes, and it was really beautiful. When Grainne got us home she immediately opened a big bottle of sake and practically forced us to drink the whole thing. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with other foreigners that I actually really like a lot. We all come from very different backgrounds but we mesh really well and hanging out is always fun. After the sake Grainne tried to give us more beer, but we both had places to go the next morning so we called it a night there. Felipe had his bonenkai which is an end of the year party where the teachers take a bus to another town and drink themselves into blackouts, starting at like 8AM. I had a kindergarten recital to go to, and my god it was adorable. I taught the kids two English songs so they sang those, but they also played instruments, sung Japanese songs, had a fashion show, did a hula hoop routine, did a jump rope routine, and ended with a famous dance that like every kind in Japan has to learn for every school event called soran bushi. Youtube it, it's funny.
*** The following paragraph may contain information about people living in Fukui Prefecture that is offensive or blatently incorrect. Read at your own risk!! Also, feel free to correct my information via text, phone call, or email at your earliest convenience. Maybe I am overreacting and assuming people get upset when you don't have their nationality or family situation straight, but I can't be sure so better safe than sorry!***
So I guess I want to tell you about my new friends now! Grainne is from Ireland, so obviously she was trying to get us drunk the whole night (jk (actually not jk she really was)). She is pretty much awesome and I love her to pieces. You can't drink and drive in Japan at all like not even a sip so I stayed over at her apartment in Obama Friday night. Jay is from Boston, and he brought his wife who is Japanese. They are pretty great and real sweet, and Jay is like one of the block leaders for our section of the prefecture (Reinan Block). Felipe is Canadian but originally from Latin America. I want to say he was born in Colombia but I could be wrong. Nope, I think I'm right because I remember him making a cocaine joke Friday night. Fukui prefecture seems to be filled with Canadians who were born in some other country. Like Galina, Iker, and Felipe. Maybe that is not technically 'filled,' but I only know one Canadian who was born and raised in Canada. I don't get out much so there you go. Also I'm 60% sure my friend Lucia's family immigrated to New York before she joined the JET Program. All their English is like perfect, so it is cool to have some internationalization that doesn't consist entirely of a whole bunch of white americans and australians flooding Japan. Some other friends who live in Obama are Asa, who is a foul-mouthed adorable chinese american chick that cracks me the heck up, and Edwin who is pretty awesome! He will be here for the maximum 5 years and he is engaged (now married) to a cute Japanese woman, Mayumi. Melissa lives about 40 minutes away, and she is pretty cool, a native Texan who did peace corps in the Ecuadorian mountains and on the Galapagos recently before coming to Japan, she always has great ideas about where to go and what to do and I think she is really easy to be around. Lucia lives about 50 minutes away and as I mentioned she is maybe originally from the Dominican Republic? I forget. She's a true New Yorker, and she is pretty effing amazing too. Soooo, this is getting long, eh?
I'll finish with my story of what happened to me at work yesterday. I only had one class in the morning, so after lunch I was sitting at my desk reading a book online (it's been a slow week), when Hotta sensei asked me if I wanted to help clean the lights. I was like wtf you talkin' 'bout? It turns out from 1:30-4:30 was designated clean the school time, so we all got up and started cleaning the staff room wiping everything down, washing the windows Mr. Miyagi style (wax on, wax off), and then proceeding to clean the rest of the school too! The students clean the school every day for 30 minutes after lunch, which is very common throughout Japan (maybe mandatory). So we cleaned the things the students don't usually get to like the nurse's room, the windows in the hallway, cleaning out the store room in the music room, shoveling snow off the sidewalks. In Japan they do not hire janitors, so the students and teachers do all of the cleaning, including scrubbing the toliets and taking out the trash. When I forget how different America and Japan are, all I have to do is go to the elementary school and watch little 2nd graders scrub the toilets during cleaning time.
Sorry this was excessively long, and possibly wildly inappropriate. In my defense I think I cleaned out all of the curse words.
I hope you all are taking good care of yourselves!
Love and kisses,
Laura
I have never been good about writing blog posts or sending out email updates. Since I'm not teaching any classes today, I guess I should send out a reply! I warn you it will be long so you may want to break up reading it over a few days or weeks. lol. I'm getting ready to go back to the States tomorrow! I'm taking a couple of trains tonight to stay with a friend, (Jen) and my flight leaves tomorrow (Wednesday December 23rd) at 12:55 PM Japan time. After we all do the time warp on the plane, I'll be landing in Detroit at 10:45AM on Wednesday December 23rd. I'll tell you it feels great to get those two hours back! Jonathan and I will be in town until January 2nd, so let me know if y'all in the Indianapolis area want to hang. I need to practice my conversational English like nobody's business.
So over the course of the past month, I feel like I have done a whole lot of nothing, but I guess I was actually having a prettty good time. Jonathan and I went to Nagoya to visit friends the first two weekends in December, and we did all night karaoke both weekends. After the first bout of all night karaoke, Jonathan and I wandered around trying to find a love hotel that would rent by the hour, but we were so exhausted that we had the brilliant idea of sleeping in one of the manga cafes. They have these buildings that are filled with little cubicles where you can read manga (they offer an extensive manga library), watch anime or read manga on the computer, or do other activities like sleep. The one we stayed in was 1300 yen (about 13-15 dollars) per person for 5 hours. They gave us a room for two with a padded foam floor and bean bag chairs (used as pillows). These places have a free all-you-can-drink drink bar (non alcohol), free blankets, free slippers, and shower facilities (about 2-3 dollars for 30 minutes with complimentary toiletries and stuff like hair dryers and shit). I thought that it was friggin awesome, but Jonathan was grumpy probably because he wanted to sleep in longer but we had to meet some friends for dinner. Both weekends we sang, I had drinks, and we ate food and looked at other foreigners. It is nice to go to a big city like Nagoya after living out in isolated Oi town for so long. But, big cities are expensive so that stinks.
I was a bit lonely this past week since Jonathan went back to 'Merka (abreviation of America) early, but luckily I have some great friends, good books, and cool students and coworkers. I went out for dinner and drinks on Friday night with some of the Obama crowd (Grainne, Felipe, and Jay). We ate okonomiyaki which is like amped up omelets that you get to make yoself. The table is a grill top like you would see at a Japanese steak house or something but noone comes to make food for you so you need to make your own onion volcano and throw fish tails into your own hat if you want that kind of entertainment. I think we would actually get kicked out of the restaurant if we tried it, but maybe not since they seem to like us ok. We go to this restaurant all the time so I don't even have to tell them to leave the fish and meat and fish flakes out of my food anymore. It is pretty awesome. After dinner we went to the bar downstairs from the restaurant and had some drinks. Felipe lives way across town so he couldn't walk back home so he stayed over with me and Grainne. As we were walking home, it started to really snow, big fluffy snowflakes, and it was really beautiful. When Grainne got us home she immediately opened a big bottle of sake and practically forced us to drink the whole thing. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with other foreigners that I actually really like a lot. We all come from very different backgrounds but we mesh really well and hanging out is always fun. After the sake Grainne tried to give us more beer, but we both had places to go the next morning so we called it a night there. Felipe had his bonenkai which is an end of the year party where the teachers take a bus to another town and drink themselves into blackouts, starting at like 8AM. I had a kindergarten recital to go to, and my god it was adorable. I taught the kids two English songs so they sang those, but they also played instruments, sung Japanese songs, had a fashion show, did a hula hoop routine, did a jump rope routine, and ended with a famous dance that like every kind in Japan has to learn for every school event called soran bushi. Youtube it, it's funny.
*** The following paragraph may contain information about people living in Fukui Prefecture that is offensive or blatently incorrect. Read at your own risk!! Also, feel free to correct my information via text, phone call, or email at your earliest convenience. Maybe I am overreacting and assuming people get upset when you don't have their nationality or family situation straight, but I can't be sure so better safe than sorry!***
So I guess I want to tell you about my new friends now! Grainne is from Ireland, so obviously she was trying to get us drunk the whole night (jk (actually not jk she really was)). She is pretty much awesome and I love her to pieces. You can't drink and drive in Japan at all like not even a sip so I stayed over at her apartment in Obama Friday night. Jay is from Boston, and he brought his wife who is Japanese. They are pretty great and real sweet, and Jay is like one of the block leaders for our section of the prefecture (Reinan Block). Felipe is Canadian but originally from Latin America. I want to say he was born in Colombia but I could be wrong. Nope, I think I'm right because I remember him making a cocaine joke Friday night. Fukui prefecture seems to be filled with Canadians who were born in some other country. Like Galina, Iker, and Felipe. Maybe that is not technically 'filled,' but I only know one Canadian who was born and raised in Canada. I don't get out much so there you go. Also I'm 60% sure my friend Lucia's family immigrated to New York before she joined the JET Program. All their English is like perfect, so it is cool to have some internationalization that doesn't consist entirely of a whole bunch of white americans and australians flooding Japan. Some other friends who live in Obama are Asa, who is a foul-mouthed adorable chinese american chick that cracks me the heck up, and Edwin who is pretty awesome! He will be here for the maximum 5 years and he is engaged (now married) to a cute Japanese woman, Mayumi. Melissa lives about 40 minutes away, and she is pretty cool, a native Texan who did peace corps in the Ecuadorian mountains and on the Galapagos recently before coming to Japan, she always has great ideas about where to go and what to do and I think she is really easy to be around. Lucia lives about 50 minutes away and as I mentioned she is maybe originally from the Dominican Republic? I forget. She's a true New Yorker, and she is pretty effing amazing too. Soooo, this is getting long, eh?
I'll finish with my story of what happened to me at work yesterday. I only had one class in the morning, so after lunch I was sitting at my desk reading a book online (it's been a slow week), when Hotta sensei asked me if I wanted to help clean the lights. I was like wtf you talkin' 'bout? It turns out from 1:30-4:30 was designated clean the school time, so we all got up and started cleaning the staff room wiping everything down, washing the windows Mr. Miyagi style (wax on, wax off), and then proceeding to clean the rest of the school too! The students clean the school every day for 30 minutes after lunch, which is very common throughout Japan (maybe mandatory). So we cleaned the things the students don't usually get to like the nurse's room, the windows in the hallway, cleaning out the store room in the music room, shoveling snow off the sidewalks. In Japan they do not hire janitors, so the students and teachers do all of the cleaning, including scrubbing the toliets and taking out the trash. When I forget how different America and Japan are, all I have to do is go to the elementary school and watch little 2nd graders scrub the toilets during cleaning time.
Sorry this was excessively long, and possibly wildly inappropriate. In my defense I think I cleaned out all of the curse words.
I hope you all are taking good care of yourselves!
Love and kisses,
Laura
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