You can see some more by copying and pasting this link:
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057681&l=16b5e&id=13301566
I'm going to go get warm now.
-Mandy
12 years ago
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...
...And I will probably actually have one this year!! I experienced my first snowfall last Sunday night!!! It was SO beautiful. It was late at night, around 11:30, but nonetheless I ran around outside, frolicking and taking pictures. I'm sure the novelty will wear off once the *real* snow hits in a few months, but as for now, I am fascinated with snow! I'm excited for winter. :-) Here's a picture from Sunday night:
You can see some more by copying and pasting this link:
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057681&l=16b5e&id=13301566
I'm going to go get warm now.
-Mandy
You can see some more by copying and pasting this link:
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057681&l=16b5e&id=13301566
I'm going to go get warm now.
-Mandy
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Hisashiburi desuneee!
For those of you who don't speak the Nihongo, "hisashiburi desune" means "long time no see." Which is definitely the case!
My oh my it has been a long time since I wrote! This is primarily because my parents came to visit for the first two weeks of October, and I have been trying to catch up on life since then! (I'm still not quite there, haha.) My parent's trip was great; we visited lots of different places including Takayama, Kyoto, and Gokayama, and they loved Japan! I haven't had the chance to post photo albums on facebook yet, but that is on my list of (urgent) things to do, so look for the links soon.
I really can't believe it's November already, and almost halfway through the month at that! Thanksgiving is coming up, and although I will not be celebrating the holiday on the 22nd like most good Americans, I will (thankfully... no pun intended...) get to enjoy some turkey etc. at least once at some local Toyama-JETs turkey-day parties (thanks Cheryl and Sevan!). As for the actual holiday, well, I will be working on Thursday, but in Japan it is "Labour Thanksgiving Day" on Friday, and hence a three-day weekend. So, Friday and Saturday I will travel to Kyoto and Osaka with about 18 other teachers from my high school!! They are all much older than me, and most don't speak English... so basically it should be a smashing good time. I'm really looking forward to it actually; I think touring around Kyoto and Osaka with native Japanese should be really rewarding, as should our drunken dinner party on Friday night! (The teachers who don't speak English tend to open up and at least try to talk to me a little bit when they're inebrieated.)
What else is going on... The leaves are changing, which is beeeautiful. It's my first Fall! I'm loving the weather right now, although I think it will continue to cool off pretty quickly at this point, until it starts to SNOW in December (also a first for me)!! I'm excited, and also terrified, primarily because my apartment lacks central heat. In some ways, the Japanese are so stubbornly old-fashioned...
Anyway, here are some links to some Fall pictures (the first is pictures from Halloween at my deaf school, the second in fall in Kenrokuen garden and surrounding Kanazawa, and the third is fall at the Kamitaira Gasshou houses!)
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056941&l=4ead3&id=13301566
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056632&l=426e2&id=13301566
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057311&l=2f232&id=13301566
And, lastly, I'd like to share some more amaaaazing short essays written by my third-year students. For this first batch, the topic was "If you could change into any person, living or dead, for a single day, who would it be and why?" Read them all, savor them, die from laughter... ENJOY them!
"I want to change place with Sugaru that is my brother because they have a lot of talent. For example, he is very good at study and sports, and he is taller than I. So, I want to change place with my brother. If I could change place with him, I try to make a girlfriend, and I go date with her. I want to enjoy a single day with girlfriend."
(For this one, keep in mind that the student has the choice to be anyone for a single day. ANYONE.)
"I want to change places with a variety shop's assistant for a single day because I want to spend time being in many cute goods. I go to the office in the morning, then work in the shop. I answer to customer's question and keep the shop clear and so on. After the shop closed, I am willing to do some jobs and I go home late night. I really want to be tender with many cute goods."
"I want to become Thero. He is an magician and everyone knows him. He has great magic [technique (?)], and he always makes me very exciting by his magic. So I want to make someone exciting, and I want to see her surprising face."
"I want to change places with my teacher because she can see my friends of faces from best positions every day."
(One of my all-time faves):
"I want to change Ann Salivan...I want to meet Helen Keller and fight her." (!!!!!)
"If I could change place with one person for single day, I would change place with Ayumi Hamasaki. I like her very much. Her face is very beautiful and cute. What is more, she sings song very well. So if I could change her, I would go out for town and go to karaoke, or spend looking mirror all day."
"If I could change places with one person for a single day, I want to do with Napoleon. This is why, I like studying history. I want to feel the era and spend at that time. And he is big people." (Sorry kiddo, hate to break it to you, but the last thing Napoleon was is "big"...)
A short social commentary on Japanese gender roles:
"If I could change place with one person I want to change a father. Because I want to change a man. Mother is very hard. If I changed my mother, I have to cook, clean, the room and wash the dish. I can't do it. But if I changed my father I have to work only. My mother have to work and housework. I want to change a my father."
"I want to change place with Harry Potter because I want to fry by myself." (Brought to you by the letters L and R. They're really the same thing after all, aren't they?)
This one's truly amazing. She got big points for creativity, if nothing else...
"I want to become a gate in Disneyland. In the morning, I can watch countless smile and exciting people who are looking forward to entering the park. In the night, I can also watch the people who having many survenias (souvenirs?) happyliy, but also are sad to have to leave there. I want to watch many people's vivid face. In addition, to, I want to see the character such as Mickey and Minnie. So, I want to become it."
"I want to change places with Daisuke Matsuyaka, the famous baseball player. I like watching baseball, but I have never played it, and I have never visited foreign country. I have few same thing with he, for example, the age, the sex, and families we have." (Do you? Really?)
Now this one, I just flat out don't get:
"I want to change place with Sone. She is a gluttony fighter. I want to try gluttony on TV."
"I want to study harder as if Ichiro played the baseball very hard." (I just thought this one was cute!)
"I wish I change place with Naoya Murata. He very smart, tall, good at playing soccer and cool. However he is not fun. It is only him defect. However most girl love him, because he is perfect person."
"I choose my mother...By change places with her, I understand her houseworks, and want to know the importance of her, and I want to say, "Thank you for growing me everyday." (With a the right amount of water, sunlight, and fertilizer, anyone can grow the perfect Japanese child.)
"I want to be a singer. When I sing a song, my voice is very bad to listen...If I want to be a singer, please come to my concert." (Way to promote yourself, kid.)
This one's a classic:
"My dream is to be a actor, so I want to become a famous movie star. And I want to make friends who is also famous movie star and enjoy talking about some neutral topic like the weather or news."
"I'd like to change Amanda. Because she is very cute and to speak complete English. I'm not good at English so if I could change her, I would speak and speak in English. And I feel happy to solve many difficult questions. Other, she is so cute that everyone likes her and say "Amanda is cute." I want to be said "cute" too. So I'd like to Amanda for a single day." (Awww... :-) :-) :-) Also, I love that I'm a verb in the last sentence!)
"I want to become my mother. Because she is teacher. I want to make a test. It seems to be easy, but I suspect difficulty."
Some on-point political statements coming up...
"I hate American's government's for the long time because they promote War. I think that the big world war will happen 21 century. My hope is that All of the world got peace. I want to change places with American president, and told to the importance of peace. America is the most strongest country in the world. If America got peace, other countrys are may pieace to."
"I think that is American president, because he has very strong power. So if he said "we must do recycle" the people who lived in the world would do it and we could reduce garbage." (Now, if only we could get the president to say something as intelligent as "We must do recycle...")
"I want to change place with Prime Minister in Japan, because he has power which it can change of Japan. Japan has many problem today. For example, Japanese government has a lot of no useful persons for us. They are playing golf without doing others important works. And they are given much money by company to be given offer. If I change place with it, I force to stop them, and I will cut them." (Now now, violence is never the answer, angry young one.)
Lastly, a couple from different topics. The first is in response to a prompt to write a newspaper article about an automobile accident; the second a prompt to write about what the student did the previous weekend.
"A traffic accident occurred at Suehiro Street last night. It is said that two men were run over by a black car when they were crossing the street. One died soon and the other is curing in a hospital." (I can't stop thinking about a man in a full-body cast, slathered in honey and impaled with cloves, roasting in an oven!! I don't know if that's actually how you cure ham, but it sure as hell might as well be.)
And, I've saved the best for last:
"Last weekend, I was staying at home all day, because I had to study. Then, my parents had gone to spa, and my grandmother had gone shopping with her friends. That is, there were only me and Goro. Goro is my cat. I had talked to Goro about my future, world peace, love, and anymore... But he hadn't spoken. Anyway, last weekend was very lonely."
SOOOO that is my job in a nutshell, folks-- NUTS! Haha, it sure does make reading 100+ essays a week more enjoyable!
My fingers hurt. Till next time,
Mandy
My oh my it has been a long time since I wrote! This is primarily because my parents came to visit for the first two weeks of October, and I have been trying to catch up on life since then! (I'm still not quite there, haha.) My parent's trip was great; we visited lots of different places including Takayama, Kyoto, and Gokayama, and they loved Japan! I haven't had the chance to post photo albums on facebook yet, but that is on my list of (urgent) things to do, so look for the links soon.
I really can't believe it's November already, and almost halfway through the month at that! Thanksgiving is coming up, and although I will not be celebrating the holiday on the 22nd like most good Americans, I will (thankfully... no pun intended...) get to enjoy some turkey etc. at least once at some local Toyama-JETs turkey-day parties (thanks Cheryl and Sevan!). As for the actual holiday, well, I will be working on Thursday, but in Japan it is "Labour Thanksgiving Day" on Friday, and hence a three-day weekend. So, Friday and Saturday I will travel to Kyoto and Osaka with about 18 other teachers from my high school!! They are all much older than me, and most don't speak English... so basically it should be a smashing good time. I'm really looking forward to it actually; I think touring around Kyoto and Osaka with native Japanese should be really rewarding, as should our drunken dinner party on Friday night! (The teachers who don't speak English tend to open up and at least try to talk to me a little bit when they're inebrieated.)
What else is going on... The leaves are changing, which is beeeautiful. It's my first Fall! I'm loving the weather right now, although I think it will continue to cool off pretty quickly at this point, until it starts to SNOW in December (also a first for me)!! I'm excited, and also terrified, primarily because my apartment lacks central heat. In some ways, the Japanese are so stubbornly old-fashioned...
Anyway, here are some links to some Fall pictures (the first is pictures from Halloween at my deaf school, the second in fall in Kenrokuen garden and surrounding Kanazawa, and the third is fall at the Kamitaira Gasshou houses!)
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056941&l=4ead3&id=13301566
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056632&l=426e2&id=13301566
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057311&l=2f232&id=13301566
And, lastly, I'd like to share some more amaaaazing short essays written by my third-year students. For this first batch, the topic was "If you could change into any person, living or dead, for a single day, who would it be and why?" Read them all, savor them, die from laughter... ENJOY them!
"I want to change place with Sugaru that is my brother because they have a lot of talent. For example, he is very good at study and sports, and he is taller than I. So, I want to change place with my brother. If I could change place with him, I try to make a girlfriend, and I go date with her. I want to enjoy a single day with girlfriend."
(For this one, keep in mind that the student has the choice to be anyone for a single day. ANYONE.)
"I want to change places with a variety shop's assistant for a single day because I want to spend time being in many cute goods. I go to the office in the morning, then work in the shop. I answer to customer's question and keep the shop clear and so on. After the shop closed, I am willing to do some jobs and I go home late night. I really want to be tender with many cute goods."
"I want to become Thero. He is an magician and everyone knows him. He has great magic [technique (?)], and he always makes me very exciting by his magic. So I want to make someone exciting, and I want to see her surprising face."
"I want to change places with my teacher because she can see my friends of faces from best positions every day."
(One of my all-time faves):
"I want to change Ann Salivan...I want to meet Helen Keller and fight her." (!!!!!)
"If I could change place with one person for single day, I would change place with Ayumi Hamasaki. I like her very much. Her face is very beautiful and cute. What is more, she sings song very well. So if I could change her, I would go out for town and go to karaoke, or spend looking mirror all day."
"If I could change places with one person for a single day, I want to do with Napoleon. This is why, I like studying history. I want to feel the era and spend at that time. And he is big people." (Sorry kiddo, hate to break it to you, but the last thing Napoleon was is "big"...)
A short social commentary on Japanese gender roles:
"If I could change place with one person I want to change a father. Because I want to change a man. Mother is very hard. If I changed my mother, I have to cook, clean, the room and wash the dish. I can't do it. But if I changed my father I have to work only. My mother have to work and housework. I want to change a my father."
"I want to change place with Harry Potter because I want to fry by myself." (Brought to you by the letters L and R. They're really the same thing after all, aren't they?)
This one's truly amazing. She got big points for creativity, if nothing else...
"I want to become a gate in Disneyland. In the morning, I can watch countless smile and exciting people who are looking forward to entering the park. In the night, I can also watch the people who having many survenias (souvenirs?) happyliy, but also are sad to have to leave there. I want to watch many people's vivid face. In addition, to, I want to see the character such as Mickey and Minnie. So, I want to become it."
"I want to change places with Daisuke Matsuyaka, the famous baseball player. I like watching baseball, but I have never played it, and I have never visited foreign country. I have few same thing with he, for example, the age, the sex, and families we have." (Do you? Really?)
Now this one, I just flat out don't get:
"I want to change place with Sone. She is a gluttony fighter. I want to try gluttony on TV."
"I want to study harder as if Ichiro played the baseball very hard." (I just thought this one was cute!)
"I wish I change place with Naoya Murata. He very smart, tall, good at playing soccer and cool. However he is not fun. It is only him defect. However most girl love him, because he is perfect person."
"I choose my mother...By change places with her, I understand her houseworks, and want to know the importance of her, and I want to say, "Thank you for growing me everyday." (With a the right amount of water, sunlight, and fertilizer, anyone can grow the perfect Japanese child.)
"I want to be a singer. When I sing a song, my voice is very bad to listen...If I want to be a singer, please come to my concert." (Way to promote yourself, kid.)
This one's a classic:
"My dream is to be a actor, so I want to become a famous movie star. And I want to make friends who is also famous movie star and enjoy talking about some neutral topic like the weather or news."
"I'd like to change Amanda. Because she is very cute and to speak complete English. I'm not good at English so if I could change her, I would speak and speak in English. And I feel happy to solve many difficult questions. Other, she is so cute that everyone likes her and say "Amanda is cute." I want to be said "cute" too. So I'd like to Amanda for a single day." (Awww... :-) :-) :-) Also, I love that I'm a verb in the last sentence!)
"I want to become my mother. Because she is teacher. I want to make a test. It seems to be easy, but I suspect difficulty."
Some on-point political statements coming up...
"I hate American's government's for the long time because they promote War. I think that the big world war will happen 21 century. My hope is that All of the world got peace. I want to change places with American president, and told to the importance of peace. America is the most strongest country in the world. If America got peace, other countrys are may pieace to."
"I think that is American president, because he has very strong power. So if he said "we must do recycle" the people who lived in the world would do it and we could reduce garbage." (Now, if only we could get the president to say something as intelligent as "We must do recycle...")
"I want to change place with Prime Minister in Japan, because he has power which it can change of Japan. Japan has many problem today. For example, Japanese government has a lot of no useful persons for us. They are playing golf without doing others important works. And they are given much money by company to be given offer. If I change place with it, I force to stop them, and I will cut them." (Now now, violence is never the answer, angry young one.)
Lastly, a couple from different topics. The first is in response to a prompt to write a newspaper article about an automobile accident; the second a prompt to write about what the student did the previous weekend.
"A traffic accident occurred at Suehiro Street last night. It is said that two men were run over by a black car when they were crossing the street. One died soon and the other is curing in a hospital." (I can't stop thinking about a man in a full-body cast, slathered in honey and impaled with cloves, roasting in an oven!! I don't know if that's actually how you cure ham, but it sure as hell might as well be.)
And, I've saved the best for last:
"Last weekend, I was staying at home all day, because I had to study. Then, my parents had gone to spa, and my grandmother had gone shopping with her friends. That is, there were only me and Goro. Goro is my cat. I had talked to Goro about my future, world peace, love, and anymore... But he hadn't spoken. Anyway, last weekend was very lonely."
SOOOO that is my job in a nutshell, folks-- NUTS! Haha, it sure does make reading 100+ essays a week more enjoyable!
My fingers hurt. Till next time,
Mandy
Saturday, September 29, 2007
More Pictures
For those of you reading this who aren't on facebook, I posted more pics AND I figured out a way for everyone, facebookers and non-facebookers alike, to see them-- just follow this link!
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053186&l=8d790&id=13301566
The pics are from my school's festival, my apartment, and my neighborhood. Not as artistic as the last batch, but still interesting (I hope).
-Mandy
http://claremont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053186&l=8d790&id=13301566
The pics are from my school's festival, my apartment, and my neighborhood. Not as artistic as the last batch, but still interesting (I hope).
-Mandy
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Almost October?!?
I really can't believe how fast the days are going by now that school is in full swing. Almost two months have passed since I got here! Last night I had a dream that my year here was finished, and I have a funny feeling that dream is going to become a reality in no time at all. I thought that graduating from college and no longer having any homework would mean having tons of free time on my hands... SO not the case. Already I'm behind on my to-do lists! Look at this blog, for example: it's been nine days since my last post, and I even have the internet in my apartment now. I'm currently posting at school. Where does the time go?
I'll tell you where it went two weekends ago-- all over Tokyo and back again. I promised to write about my weekend adventure, so here it is: Four other ALTs and I took the night bus from Toyama city to Tokyo, leaving at 11:45pm and getting in at 5:45am. We did not get much sleep that night, needless to say. So, we checked into what turned out to be the best hostel ever, and took showers and naps before heading out for the day. (A quick note on the hostel: it had opened only a month before, so it was brand spankin new, super clean, and super cheap-- such a great deal!) After resting up for a bit, we headed out to this huge garden and Shinto Shrine area that I am embarrassed to say I never actually learned the name of. (Much of this weekend was like that-- me not knowing what was going on. I blame it on the sleep deprivation, but really it was probably just laziness on my part.) We hung around there for a bit, and I bought one of those little wooden boards you can write your wish on, and I hung it up with all the others. I liked the idea of leaving something that might still be there even when I leave Japan.
After the shrine, we headed out to Yokohama for the Great Japan Beer Festival 2007-- all you can drink (more like all you can sip, considering the size of the glasses they gave us) for a mere 4000 yen (about $40). That was a lot of fun; Yokohama is a beautiful harbor city with really beautiful night views! My favorite beer was a raspberry flavored one that, again, I don't know the name of. (I sense the overall theme of the weekend developing here.)
Then, we went back to the hostel and freshened up for a night out. We met up with one of Sarah's friends at a bar, then at 1am headed to a club in Shibuya to see a Japanese funk band play. Turns out we just missed their first set, and they didn't start their second one until 4am. Soooo, 3 hours of sleep deprivation later, the band came on, and they were AWESOME. They covered James Brown songs, and they were really good! But, alas, around 5am, I had fallen and couldn't get back up, so to speak. Sarah, Ann and I took a delirious cab ride back to the hostel, and I was asleep by 6am. Thank god.
At 1pm on Sunday, it was time to get started all over again. We were going to go see sumo, but sadly the tickets for that day were all sold out. So, we headed to a Buddhist temple (you got it- I don't know the name) for a lantern festival. Of course, considering we slept until 1:00, it was night time by the time we got there, so the timing worked out perfectly. After that it was dinner at an American-style restaurant (they had REALLY good pizza), and back to the hostel for another late night of cheap wine and "Never Have I Ever."
We checked out on Monday at 11am, and headed out again for sumo, this time armed with tickets we had purchased the previous day. We got to the venue, and it was great because the sumo wrestlers were just walking around in their robes and top knots and buying snacks at the convenience store like it was no big deal, totally normal. (Wtf??) I was about to take a picture of this strange sight when I realized my camera wouldn't turn on. I opened the battery compartment, and sure enough, in my near comatose state the night before, I had taken it out of the charger and put it down in a mystery location in the hostel, which remains undisclosed to this day. I was SO bummed, and in classic Type A style, I silently fumed over my stupidity for the remainder of the trip and much of the next day, until I was able to bike to the nearest electronics store (about 40 minutes away) to buy a new one. Anyway- back to sumo: it was the BEST part of the trip, hands down. I loved it!! The whole thing was very ceremonius-- This little man in a brightly colored robe would chant something before each match, and then the wrestlers would warm up by lifting their legs in the air and waddling around one another, much like nervous mother hens protecting their nests. Then they'd throw some salt in the ring, and BAM, have at it. Sometimes the matches would be over in a few seconds; the best ones would last half a minute or longer. I really enjoyed the whole experience. And despite what my teachers at school now believe, that I "like fat man," it really had nothing to do with their gelatinous bodies. In fact, the truth is, many of them were more muscle than fat! Well, ok... maybe half muscle, half fat. Anyway, the point is, I do NOT like fat man-- but I do LOVE sumo!
After sumo it was back to the train station to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Takaoka. Three long, exciting, *expensive* days later, I was home. My little apartment never looked so good.
Soooo that was my weekend in Tokyo! Since then I have been teaching during the week and generally trying to catch up on rest and errands on the weekends. This weekend I will be getting ready for my parents' arrival on Wednesday-- I've got groceries to buy, my apartment to clean, travel arrangements to make, etc etc. But I'm really excited for their visit!
Before I go I'd like to leave you with some excerpts from some student essays I graded this morning. Just for kicks. The topic was "What kind(s) of energy should we use from now on, and why?" Here are some of the ones I enjoyed reading the most:
"Solar energy and blow energy" -Sounds good to me.
"I think solar energy is very good. It is useful for us to use. Solar energy prevented warmming glove from wormming glove." -You tell em, kiddo.
"I think solar energy is the best. It's different from atomic energy that human being created. Its energy can get from sun and probably unlimitted. If we go on using atomic energy, the earth will collapse. It means our death. We should use "nature" resources for fear we die. We can use solar energy in place of atomic energy from now on. If you buy your house, you have seller fix the solar panel on the roof." -This kid's got green architecture down!
"What we should do at first is study for improvement. I want to protect our earth. I study hard to look for the way to use alternative energy sources. I hope our future is excellent and beautiful." -Now, if only our current president was so determined...
"I think hydroelectric power is best. Water is unlimited resource and Japanese people are familiar with water." -Good thing, otherwise this whole island thing would be a problem.
And finally, "The best energy source I think is cheap, safety, able to be used simply. because if it's safety, nobody would be killed by it, if it's cheap, it could be used everyone, if we can used it everytime, and in all over the world, we could save the poor." -In Jesus' name, Amen.
I hope you enjoyed reading these six even more than I enjoyed reading all two hundred.
Until next time,
Mandy
I'll tell you where it went two weekends ago-- all over Tokyo and back again. I promised to write about my weekend adventure, so here it is: Four other ALTs and I took the night bus from Toyama city to Tokyo, leaving at 11:45pm and getting in at 5:45am. We did not get much sleep that night, needless to say. So, we checked into what turned out to be the best hostel ever, and took showers and naps before heading out for the day. (A quick note on the hostel: it had opened only a month before, so it was brand spankin new, super clean, and super cheap-- such a great deal!) After resting up for a bit, we headed out to this huge garden and Shinto Shrine area that I am embarrassed to say I never actually learned the name of. (Much of this weekend was like that-- me not knowing what was going on. I blame it on the sleep deprivation, but really it was probably just laziness on my part.) We hung around there for a bit, and I bought one of those little wooden boards you can write your wish on, and I hung it up with all the others. I liked the idea of leaving something that might still be there even when I leave Japan.
After the shrine, we headed out to Yokohama for the Great Japan Beer Festival 2007-- all you can drink (more like all you can sip, considering the size of the glasses they gave us) for a mere 4000 yen (about $40). That was a lot of fun; Yokohama is a beautiful harbor city with really beautiful night views! My favorite beer was a raspberry flavored one that, again, I don't know the name of. (I sense the overall theme of the weekend developing here.)
Then, we went back to the hostel and freshened up for a night out. We met up with one of Sarah's friends at a bar, then at 1am headed to a club in Shibuya to see a Japanese funk band play. Turns out we just missed their first set, and they didn't start their second one until 4am. Soooo, 3 hours of sleep deprivation later, the band came on, and they were AWESOME. They covered James Brown songs, and they were really good! But, alas, around 5am, I had fallen and couldn't get back up, so to speak. Sarah, Ann and I took a delirious cab ride back to the hostel, and I was asleep by 6am. Thank god.
At 1pm on Sunday, it was time to get started all over again. We were going to go see sumo, but sadly the tickets for that day were all sold out. So, we headed to a Buddhist temple (you got it- I don't know the name) for a lantern festival. Of course, considering we slept until 1:00, it was night time by the time we got there, so the timing worked out perfectly. After that it was dinner at an American-style restaurant (they had REALLY good pizza), and back to the hostel for another late night of cheap wine and "Never Have I Ever."
We checked out on Monday at 11am, and headed out again for sumo, this time armed with tickets we had purchased the previous day. We got to the venue, and it was great because the sumo wrestlers were just walking around in their robes and top knots and buying snacks at the convenience store like it was no big deal, totally normal. (Wtf??) I was about to take a picture of this strange sight when I realized my camera wouldn't turn on. I opened the battery compartment, and sure enough, in my near comatose state the night before, I had taken it out of the charger and put it down in a mystery location in the hostel, which remains undisclosed to this day. I was SO bummed, and in classic Type A style, I silently fumed over my stupidity for the remainder of the trip and much of the next day, until I was able to bike to the nearest electronics store (about 40 minutes away) to buy a new one. Anyway- back to sumo: it was the BEST part of the trip, hands down. I loved it!! The whole thing was very ceremonius-- This little man in a brightly colored robe would chant something before each match, and then the wrestlers would warm up by lifting their legs in the air and waddling around one another, much like nervous mother hens protecting their nests. Then they'd throw some salt in the ring, and BAM, have at it. Sometimes the matches would be over in a few seconds; the best ones would last half a minute or longer. I really enjoyed the whole experience. And despite what my teachers at school now believe, that I "like fat man," it really had nothing to do with their gelatinous bodies. In fact, the truth is, many of them were more muscle than fat! Well, ok... maybe half muscle, half fat. Anyway, the point is, I do NOT like fat man-- but I do LOVE sumo!
After sumo it was back to the train station to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Takaoka. Three long, exciting, *expensive* days later, I was home. My little apartment never looked so good.
Soooo that was my weekend in Tokyo! Since then I have been teaching during the week and generally trying to catch up on rest and errands on the weekends. This weekend I will be getting ready for my parents' arrival on Wednesday-- I've got groceries to buy, my apartment to clean, travel arrangements to make, etc etc. But I'm really excited for their visit!
Before I go I'd like to leave you with some excerpts from some student essays I graded this morning. Just for kicks. The topic was "What kind(s) of energy should we use from now on, and why?" Here are some of the ones I enjoyed reading the most:
"Solar energy and blow energy" -Sounds good to me.
"I think solar energy is very good. It is useful for us to use. Solar energy prevented warmming glove from wormming glove." -You tell em, kiddo.
"I think solar energy is the best. It's different from atomic energy that human being created. Its energy can get from sun and probably unlimitted. If we go on using atomic energy, the earth will collapse. It means our death. We should use "nature" resources for fear we die. We can use solar energy in place of atomic energy from now on. If you buy your house, you have seller fix the solar panel on the roof." -This kid's got green architecture down!
"What we should do at first is study for improvement. I want to protect our earth. I study hard to look for the way to use alternative energy sources. I hope our future is excellent and beautiful." -Now, if only our current president was so determined...
"I think hydroelectric power is best. Water is unlimited resource and Japanese people are familiar with water." -Good thing, otherwise this whole island thing would be a problem.
And finally, "The best energy source I think is cheap, safety, able to be used simply. because if it's safety, nobody would be killed by it, if it's cheap, it could be used everyone, if we can used it everytime, and in all over the world, we could save the poor." -In Jesus' name, Amen.
I hope you enjoyed reading these six even more than I enjoyed reading all two hundred.
Until next time,
Mandy
Thursday, September 20, 2007
I heart Japan
I am writing my first post from my apartment!! YAYYY I finally have the internet! They sent me the modem and activated the service on Wednesday, and I set everything up all by myself and got it up and running! I'm so excited! Except now I waste a lot of time online. Haha.
This will be quick because I have to shower and iron my pants for tomorrow, but I just wanted to put this link to my first set of uploaded pictures out there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13818753@N04/. It should be accessible to anyone. I've posted my favorite pics so far; take a look and I hope you enjoy them!
Here's one of my absolute favorites, just for starters (it's from outside Kenrokuen Gardens in Kanazawa; there was a festival going on):
I'll write a long post this weekend about my AMAZING visit to Tokyo and Yokohama last weekend-- SO much fun!! Some of the pics are from that trip, so maybe some of you can get a sneak peak if you take a look now. Also, tomorrow is Takaoka Minami's School Festival, meaning no classes, and all fun and games! The kids have been preparing like crazy, decking out their classrooms, cooking food, practicing music and drama pieces, etc. It's going to be awesome! I'll be taking a ton of pictures for sure, so look for a second installation of pics on the flickr website coming soon.
Til later this weekend (another three-day weekend, yay!),
Mandy
This will be quick because I have to shower and iron my pants for tomorrow, but I just wanted to put this link to my first set of uploaded pictures out there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13818753@N04/. It should be accessible to anyone. I've posted my favorite pics so far; take a look and I hope you enjoy them!
Here's one of my absolute favorites, just for starters (it's from outside Kenrokuen Gardens in Kanazawa; there was a festival going on):
I'll write a long post this weekend about my AMAZING visit to Tokyo and Yokohama last weekend-- SO much fun!! Some of the pics are from that trip, so maybe some of you can get a sneak peak if you take a look now. Also, tomorrow is Takaoka Minami's School Festival, meaning no classes, and all fun and games! The kids have been preparing like crazy, decking out their classrooms, cooking food, practicing music and drama pieces, etc. It's going to be awesome! I'll be taking a ton of pictures for sure, so look for a second installation of pics on the flickr website coming soon.
Til later this weekend (another three-day weekend, yay!),
Mandy
Monday, September 10, 2007
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
So, cross my fingers hope to die, I THINK I am getting internet in my apartment in a week. I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying that. For those of you who don't know, the whole internet thing has been a general pain in the ass. I originally applied for it a month ago, and was told it would take a month to process my application and get an appointment to get it installed. Sure enough, I got my appointment for almost exactly a month after the original date. They were supposed to come to my apartment on September 10th. Sadly, however, the company called on September 8th, saying things to me in Japanese that I did not understand. I had my supervisor call them on the 9th, and after a long non-English conversation, she got this look of sorrow and embarrassment on her face, and said "Sorry... Sorry... there has been a problem with your application. They will not come to your apartment on Monday." It was like all my dreams had been shattered by a fast-moving truck. Well maybe not that bad, but still pretty disappointing. It turns out the store where I had applied was supposed to send photocopies of my ID documents to the phone company, but they never did, so they sent me a letter asking me to do it, but of course the letter was in Japanese and I had no idea what it said, and my supervisor failed to read it carefully enough to tell me, and yadda yadda yadda long story short is I did not get internet a month after applying, as promised. I spent the weekend intermittantly hanging out with people, which was fun, and sulking about my loss, which was not so fun. Luckily, two friends of mine gave me the English line for a different internet company, and I called them on Monday and was able to apply through them and get an activation date of September 19th, only 8 days from now! Anyway, the moral of the story for anyone who is even thinking about ever living in Japan is DO NOT APPLY FOR YAHOO-BB IN PERSON. EVER. Do it online, or apply over the phone with NTT. That's my two cents of advice, for what it's worth. It'll save you a lot of trouble.
So, now I'm at school, and I just finished up my Tuesday of my second week. Classes are going well, and I'm getting settled into a routine here. Tomorrow I go to the deaf school, to teach my two classes, each with one student only. It's much more relaxed than Takaoka Minami, and I have a lot of down time to read and use the internet. I like my two students also; I help them read and write the alphabet and simple words. Last week I made up some bingo cards and crossword puzzles to make it a little more exciting for them. I'll bring prizes for them tomorrow too; stickers and keychains from home and whatnot. Woo!
Alright some students are here in the staffroom to sell tickets for ice cream for the school festival coming up, so I guess I'd better go buy some (by which I mean I want to catch them before they leave... mmmm ice cream).
Until next time (maybe I'll have my own internet by then??),
Mandy
So, now I'm at school, and I just finished up my Tuesday of my second week. Classes are going well, and I'm getting settled into a routine here. Tomorrow I go to the deaf school, to teach my two classes, each with one student only. It's much more relaxed than Takaoka Minami, and I have a lot of down time to read and use the internet. I like my two students also; I help them read and write the alphabet and simple words. Last week I made up some bingo cards and crossword puzzles to make it a little more exciting for them. I'll bring prizes for them tomorrow too; stickers and keychains from home and whatnot. Woo!
Alright some students are here in the staffroom to sell tickets for ice cream for the school festival coming up, so I guess I'd better go buy some (by which I mean I want to catch them before they leave... mmmm ice cream).
Until next time (maybe I'll have my own internet by then??),
Mandy
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Back to school
So, it's Tuesday, and the second official day of the term. School resumed yesterday, and I was so excited that I had to write about it last night even though I couldn't post until today! So, I've copied and pasted below what I wrote at home yesterday about my first day:
I just finished my first day of school! It was fantastic. Let me give you a run down:
School officially started at 8:35am, with the Opening Ceremony in the gym. I was given very specific instructions for my role in the ceremony—i.e., Number 1: stand at gymnasium door. Number 2: Enter gymnasium. Number 3: Walk to stage… And so on. In short, I was introduced by the principal in a very proper manner to the entire school (500 students and about 40 faculty), all who remained standing for the whole ceremony in very neat rows. It was a little military-esque, to be honest. But, I guess that’s Japan for you: very proper. After I was introduced by the principal, I had to give a self-introductory speech—in Japanese! All I did was read it off of a piece of paper (my speech had been translated into Japanese by my supervisor), but still, it was a little nerve-wracking! I made it through with only a few mistakes though, at which point I was very relieved to leave the stage and go stand in line with the rest of the teachers. The ceremony concluded after a few more speeches and introductions (the new student government, for instance), and then it was off to my first class!
At 9:35, Oral Communications, a class for 40 first-years (so many students!), began. I had prepared a self-introductory lesson, complete with a Power Point slideshow, a quiz, and an activity to help the students get to know me better. I think the class went well, but it was a little hard to tell, primarily because students in Japan do NOT respond when you ask them something! I went through my whole slideshow (very slowly and clearly, of course) and then explained the first set of instructions for the quiz; “Please make pairs with the person sitting next to you.” The response from the students? Blank stares and a complete lack of movement. I had been warned of this response (or lack thereof) in all of my orientations, so I wasn’t entirely surprised. However, it did make it difficult to judge if anything I had just said had been understood! Eventually, however, with my team-teacher’s prompting, the students made pairs and began working on their quizzes. Thankfully, it seems they did indeed understand my presentation and the quiz questions, because almost everyone got every question right! After the quiz, we moved on to the next activity: Interviewing Amanda! (Pretty self-explanatory from the title, but basically students worked in pairs to come up with at least two questions in English that they would like to ask me.) Many of the questions were the same, for instance, “What is your favorite Japanese food?” (answer: sashimi). However, there were the occasional unique ones, like “What is a good place to visit in Hawaii?,” and, of course, the question I had been warned about by many an older ALT: “Do you have boyfriend?” I had thought a lot about how I would answer this question, and I was prepared with my somewhat-witty response: “I have many, many boyfriends! Hundreds of boyfriends!” This is, of course, not an entirely accurate response, and in all honesty it felt a little weird lying about such an important aspect of my life. But, I got some laughs out of it, and avoided students knowing a little too much of my personal information.
So, that was Oral Communications, section 4. I went on to teach the same class for section 1 an hour later, and I will teach it twice more by the time this week is through. Then, thankfully, we will move on to more exciting topics than my autobiography, for instance, how to converse with a doctor in English and how to invite friends to a party. (Wheeee!)
I then ate lunch, and spent the remainder of the class day grading third-year English exams and writing responses on my “Interview Amanda” worksheets. Not the most stimulating activities, but at least the time passed quickly. Then, at 3:45, I was invited to join the school’s Tea Ceremony club—this turned out to be the highlight of my day! For this club, about 10 girls and their sensei meet every Monday in the school’s tatami room (tatami being woven bamboo mats that cover the floor) and practice the ancient Japanese art of making and serving green tea. I mostly just watched at first, as girls took turns mimicking their sensei in kneeling, elaborately folding their tea cloth and using it to ceremoniously wipe the tea cups and utensils, making the tea, serving the tea, and cleaning up the tea set. I had no idea it was such a detailed, beautiful process! It truly is a very impressive act. I went along with whatever the other girls did, using a small wooden spear to eat my mochi, accepting my tea and bowing with my head to the floor, etc. Then, the sensei asked me to try making tea! I was tickled, because secretly I thought it looked like a lot of fun! She led me through the process, and I tried my best to do everything just so. I think I did pretty well for a beginner, except for the outcome of my tea—apparently too strong, and not frothy enough. Oops. I felt bad for the girl who had to drink it. The girls also seemed to enjoy watching me try my hand at their art form; they even brought out a video camera to tape it! All in all it was great fun, and a really wonderful way to spend some time with the students outside of the classroom. I will definitely be attending again in the future!
By then, it was 5:15pm, and my day was over! It went by very quickly, and I’m excited for tomorrow! In addition to my Oral Communications class, I will teach two writing classes for second-year students. And, with any luck, maybe I’ll be invited to another club meeting!
For now, it’s time for dinner and some Desperate Housewives (the third disc of season two of Sex and the City was all rented out! How disappointing.). It’ll be leftovers tonight, as I made chicken curry last night—it was the first time I cooked meat here! And it actually tasted pretty good. Go me.
Mata ne,
Mandy
Back to Tuesday: today was good too; a little more hectic because I had 4 classes instead of 2. And tomorrow is my first real day at Takaoka Deaf School! Wish me luck!
I just finished my first day of school! It was fantastic. Let me give you a run down:
School officially started at 8:35am, with the Opening Ceremony in the gym. I was given very specific instructions for my role in the ceremony—i.e., Number 1: stand at gymnasium door. Number 2: Enter gymnasium. Number 3: Walk to stage… And so on. In short, I was introduced by the principal in a very proper manner to the entire school (500 students and about 40 faculty), all who remained standing for the whole ceremony in very neat rows. It was a little military-esque, to be honest. But, I guess that’s Japan for you: very proper. After I was introduced by the principal, I had to give a self-introductory speech—in Japanese! All I did was read it off of a piece of paper (my speech had been translated into Japanese by my supervisor), but still, it was a little nerve-wracking! I made it through with only a few mistakes though, at which point I was very relieved to leave the stage and go stand in line with the rest of the teachers. The ceremony concluded after a few more speeches and introductions (the new student government, for instance), and then it was off to my first class!
At 9:35, Oral Communications, a class for 40 first-years (so many students!), began. I had prepared a self-introductory lesson, complete with a Power Point slideshow, a quiz, and an activity to help the students get to know me better. I think the class went well, but it was a little hard to tell, primarily because students in Japan do NOT respond when you ask them something! I went through my whole slideshow (very slowly and clearly, of course) and then explained the first set of instructions for the quiz; “Please make pairs with the person sitting next to you.” The response from the students? Blank stares and a complete lack of movement. I had been warned of this response (or lack thereof) in all of my orientations, so I wasn’t entirely surprised. However, it did make it difficult to judge if anything I had just said had been understood! Eventually, however, with my team-teacher’s prompting, the students made pairs and began working on their quizzes. Thankfully, it seems they did indeed understand my presentation and the quiz questions, because almost everyone got every question right! After the quiz, we moved on to the next activity: Interviewing Amanda! (Pretty self-explanatory from the title, but basically students worked in pairs to come up with at least two questions in English that they would like to ask me.) Many of the questions were the same, for instance, “What is your favorite Japanese food?” (answer: sashimi). However, there were the occasional unique ones, like “What is a good place to visit in Hawaii?,” and, of course, the question I had been warned about by many an older ALT: “Do you have boyfriend?” I had thought a lot about how I would answer this question, and I was prepared with my somewhat-witty response: “I have many, many boyfriends! Hundreds of boyfriends!” This is, of course, not an entirely accurate response, and in all honesty it felt a little weird lying about such an important aspect of my life. But, I got some laughs out of it, and avoided students knowing a little too much of my personal information.
So, that was Oral Communications, section 4. I went on to teach the same class for section 1 an hour later, and I will teach it twice more by the time this week is through. Then, thankfully, we will move on to more exciting topics than my autobiography, for instance, how to converse with a doctor in English and how to invite friends to a party. (Wheeee!)
I then ate lunch, and spent the remainder of the class day grading third-year English exams and writing responses on my “Interview Amanda” worksheets. Not the most stimulating activities, but at least the time passed quickly. Then, at 3:45, I was invited to join the school’s Tea Ceremony club—this turned out to be the highlight of my day! For this club, about 10 girls and their sensei meet every Monday in the school’s tatami room (tatami being woven bamboo mats that cover the floor) and practice the ancient Japanese art of making and serving green tea. I mostly just watched at first, as girls took turns mimicking their sensei in kneeling, elaborately folding their tea cloth and using it to ceremoniously wipe the tea cups and utensils, making the tea, serving the tea, and cleaning up the tea set. I had no idea it was such a detailed, beautiful process! It truly is a very impressive act. I went along with whatever the other girls did, using a small wooden spear to eat my mochi, accepting my tea and bowing with my head to the floor, etc. Then, the sensei asked me to try making tea! I was tickled, because secretly I thought it looked like a lot of fun! She led me through the process, and I tried my best to do everything just so. I think I did pretty well for a beginner, except for the outcome of my tea—apparently too strong, and not frothy enough. Oops. I felt bad for the girl who had to drink it. The girls also seemed to enjoy watching me try my hand at their art form; they even brought out a video camera to tape it! All in all it was great fun, and a really wonderful way to spend some time with the students outside of the classroom. I will definitely be attending again in the future!
By then, it was 5:15pm, and my day was over! It went by very quickly, and I’m excited for tomorrow! In addition to my Oral Communications class, I will teach two writing classes for second-year students. And, with any luck, maybe I’ll be invited to another club meeting!
For now, it’s time for dinner and some Desperate Housewives (the third disc of season two of Sex and the City was all rented out! How disappointing.). It’ll be leftovers tonight, as I made chicken curry last night—it was the first time I cooked meat here! And it actually tasted pretty good. Go me.
Mata ne,
Mandy
Back to Tuesday: today was good too; a little more hectic because I had 4 classes instead of 2. And tomorrow is my first real day at Takaoka Deaf School! Wish me luck!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
It's Aloha Friday, no more work til Monday...
The weeks here are flying by! I can't believe it's Friday already, and the last day of August at that! I am so so so excited to start teaching on Monday. Before classes start though, I'm going to have a give a self-introductory speech in front of the entire school at the Opening Ceremony- in Japanese. Hmmm hope I don't screw that one up.
I'm actually leaving school today two and a half hours early, to go with a Japanese teacher to her hometown 20 minutes from here for a wood-carving festival! Then, I get to have dinner with her family at her house. I'm so excited! I'm really looking forward to interacting with a family here. It's been almost a month since I've enjoyed a sit-down family meal!
This weekend is Welcome Weekend for Toyama JETs. We are going "camping" (read: we will sleep in cabins with running water, thank god) near Mt Tate. I'll probably be getting very little sleep Saturday night... but hey, who needs sleep? It's all about having fun. Speaking of sleep, however, I'm very proud of myself-- I've been going to bed at 10:30 almost every night, and getting a full 8 hours of sleep! I feel great during the day-- such a change from the chronic exhaustion of college. Gotta love not having homework.
And, last night I got to sleep for the first time on an authentic Japanese futon! My supervisor took me to the mattress store yesterday so that I could buy a futon and blankets, since it is starting to cool down here at night. (I had been sleeping on a fold-out foam mattress before that. It was perfectly comfortable, but it would not keep me warm come winter.) Also, I FINALLY got curtains for my sliding glass doors in my bedroom-- my room is so pretty now! And I actually have privacy! Hallelujah.
Ok I'm off to grade some more exams before I head out in half an hour for the wood carving festival! Woo hoo!
I'm actually leaving school today two and a half hours early, to go with a Japanese teacher to her hometown 20 minutes from here for a wood-carving festival! Then, I get to have dinner with her family at her house. I'm so excited! I'm really looking forward to interacting with a family here. It's been almost a month since I've enjoyed a sit-down family meal!
This weekend is Welcome Weekend for Toyama JETs. We are going "camping" (read: we will sleep in cabins with running water, thank god) near Mt Tate. I'll probably be getting very little sleep Saturday night... but hey, who needs sleep? It's all about having fun. Speaking of sleep, however, I'm very proud of myself-- I've been going to bed at 10:30 almost every night, and getting a full 8 hours of sleep! I feel great during the day-- such a change from the chronic exhaustion of college. Gotta love not having homework.
And, last night I got to sleep for the first time on an authentic Japanese futon! My supervisor took me to the mattress store yesterday so that I could buy a futon and blankets, since it is starting to cool down here at night. (I had been sleeping on a fold-out foam mattress before that. It was perfectly comfortable, but it would not keep me warm come winter.) Also, I FINALLY got curtains for my sliding glass doors in my bedroom-- my room is so pretty now! And I actually have privacy! Hallelujah.
Ok I'm off to grade some more exams before I head out in half an hour for the wood carving festival! Woo hoo!
Monday, August 27, 2007
It's raining, it's pouring...
I woke up last night to the sound of pouring rain, and the realization that my freshly laundered clothes which were hanging out to dry were probably pretty wet. This is the first real rain we've had here in Takaoka, and I'm atually really enjoying it. It's cool and pleasant soothing to the eyes. I do need to get a new umbrella, however. My predecessor left me his, but when I opened it up this morning, I realized it's actually the crappiest, most beat up umbrella I've ever seen. I was actually embarrassed to bring it to school. Thanks, pred.
Still no internet on the home front, but good news-- I have an appointment to get it installed on September 10th! Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm going to have use a few hours of my very precious paid leave to go home early to have it installed, but it will be oh-so-worth-it. I'll finally be able to upload my pictures, use skype, read the NY Times, and check my email at will... I will probably not get any sleep that night, haha.
Ooh here's something exciting-- I went for a bike ride yesterday afternoon to try to find the nearest post office (which I did), and then I kept biking to explore for a bit more. Turns out there's this awesome park only a few minutes away from my apartment! It's beautiful; lots of trees and grass with walking paths, a river and a couple bridges, two big play structures for little kids, flower gardens and a gardening center, and a big soccer field. I was so happy to find a nice, peaceful natural area so close to me! I will be going there a lot, I'm sure. It's really well-kept, and it seems a lot of people go there. I was there around 5:30pm, and there were little old ladies working on the flower gardens, lots of little kids running around, some teenage boys playing soccer, and a lot of people walking their dogs. Very pleasant over all.
Also, did I mention I'm less than a 10 minute bike ride from the biggest mall in the prefecture? I probably did. But I'm so thrilled about it I'm mentioning it again.
So, as you might be able to tell, I'm becoming pretty accustomed to good ol' Takaoka. There's pretty much everything I need only a short bike ride away, and I can easily take the train to other parts of the ken (prefecture) when I want to see new places. Pretty sweet deal I've got going on, actually.
Alright... I guess I should get back to work. And by work I mean I think I'll go wander aimlessly around the school and coerce the students into speaking English. (I don't really have to do much coercing; they're so cute and they love to talk!)
Until next time,
Mandy
Still no internet on the home front, but good news-- I have an appointment to get it installed on September 10th! Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm going to have use a few hours of my very precious paid leave to go home early to have it installed, but it will be oh-so-worth-it. I'll finally be able to upload my pictures, use skype, read the NY Times, and check my email at will... I will probably not get any sleep that night, haha.
Ooh here's something exciting-- I went for a bike ride yesterday afternoon to try to find the nearest post office (which I did), and then I kept biking to explore for a bit more. Turns out there's this awesome park only a few minutes away from my apartment! It's beautiful; lots of trees and grass with walking paths, a river and a couple bridges, two big play structures for little kids, flower gardens and a gardening center, and a big soccer field. I was so happy to find a nice, peaceful natural area so close to me! I will be going there a lot, I'm sure. It's really well-kept, and it seems a lot of people go there. I was there around 5:30pm, and there were little old ladies working on the flower gardens, lots of little kids running around, some teenage boys playing soccer, and a lot of people walking their dogs. Very pleasant over all.
Also, did I mention I'm less than a 10 minute bike ride from the biggest mall in the prefecture? I probably did. But I'm so thrilled about it I'm mentioning it again.
So, as you might be able to tell, I'm becoming pretty accustomed to good ol' Takaoka. There's pretty much everything I need only a short bike ride away, and I can easily take the train to other parts of the ken (prefecture) when I want to see new places. Pretty sweet deal I've got going on, actually.
Alright... I guess I should get back to work. And by work I mean I think I'll go wander aimlessly around the school and coerce the students into speaking English. (I don't really have to do much coercing; they're so cute and they love to talk!)
Until next time,
Mandy
Friday, August 24, 2007
A Quickie
This will be short and sweet, because I'm using a public computer and I have only 10 minutes left.
This week flew by! We had a bunch of orientation activities every day except Thursday, so I was kept very busy. The best day was Wednesday, when we took a bus ride to Mount Tate (called Tateyama here; "yama" means mountain), and we hiked to the top! Well, almost to the top. It was actually really bad weather, foggy and pouring rain, so we weren't allowed to go past 2,700 meters. (The summit is 3,200 or something like that.) So, we all got soaking wet, but it was great fun nonetheless! I have some cool pictures on my computer, but I won't be able to upload them until I get internet in my apartment. (Not having the net is driving me mad!)
One more great thing that happened was on Thursday night: I had just heated up some frozen fried rice and a pre-cooked fish patty for dinner, when I got a knock on the door. It was my next-door neighbors, delivering a home-cooked meal! It was SO cute of them, and the food was delicious! Two eggs, a hamburger patty, cucumbers, carrots, eggplant, and potatoes. It was the first home-cooked meal I had had since... well, since I left home! They also gave me a little mango-flavored Haagen Daaz cup of ice cream for dessert! In return, I gave them 3 hawaiian tea bags, a key chain, and two postcards, and attempted to speak with them in Japanese. It really made my night!
I'm off, but I hope to write again soon!
This week flew by! We had a bunch of orientation activities every day except Thursday, so I was kept very busy. The best day was Wednesday, when we took a bus ride to Mount Tate (called Tateyama here; "yama" means mountain), and we hiked to the top! Well, almost to the top. It was actually really bad weather, foggy and pouring rain, so we weren't allowed to go past 2,700 meters. (The summit is 3,200 or something like that.) So, we all got soaking wet, but it was great fun nonetheless! I have some cool pictures on my computer, but I won't be able to upload them until I get internet in my apartment. (Not having the net is driving me mad!)
One more great thing that happened was on Thursday night: I had just heated up some frozen fried rice and a pre-cooked fish patty for dinner, when I got a knock on the door. It was my next-door neighbors, delivering a home-cooked meal! It was SO cute of them, and the food was delicious! Two eggs, a hamburger patty, cucumbers, carrots, eggplant, and potatoes. It was the first home-cooked meal I had had since... well, since I left home! They also gave me a little mango-flavored Haagen Daaz cup of ice cream for dessert! In return, I gave them 3 hawaiian tea bags, a key chain, and two postcards, and attempted to speak with them in Japanese. It really made my night!
I'm off, but I hope to write again soon!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Oops
Ok, so apparently "One Week" is by Barenaked Ladies, not Third Eye Blind. Thanks Mitchy.
It's 8:44am on Thursday morning, and I am at school, enjoying the internet that I cannot use at home. I actually get quite a bit of work done everyday too, despite the huge amounts of time I spend perusing the world wide web. Today, I'll be organizing my photos for my self-introduction lesson, and also writing up brief explanations of Hawaii travel brochures I am going to use in a Travel Agent/Tourist role play lesson. I'm going to be the best teacher ever! Haha. (But seriously, I am.)
So I learned something FANTASTIC last night: there is an enormous, beautiful, fun-filled shopping mall only a ten minute bike ride from my apartment! It may seem shallow, but that makes me SO excited about where I live. Not necessarily for the shopping, but for the opportunity to get out of my apartment and go somewhere stimulating to people-watch and grab a quick bite. There is also a movie theatre in the mall; a bunch of us JETs watched Transformers last night! And, I bought a bike at the home store at the mall, so now I feel like I can get anywhere I need! It's AMAZING-- I hadn't ridden a bike since I was probably 10 years old, and I had forgotten how much damn fun it is! And now I don't feel so trapped; if I need conditioner, I can bike to the pharmacy and buy conditioner! If I need eggs, I can bike to the grocery store and buy eggs. You get the picture. It's glorious. And my bike is red and beautiful, with a big basket on the front and a little bell! I should think of a name for it. I welcome any suggestions.
On a less interesting front, I've been keeping myself amused in my apartment by watching episodes of Friends and Sex and the City. Friends, of course, is one of my all-time faves and an instant picker-upper, but I had never watched Sex and the City before. I rented the first disc of the first season from a dvd rental place up the street from me, and I love it! What better way to feel good about living alone in an apartment than by watching a show about 4 single women living the independent dream in Manhattan? (This may sound extrememly superficial... but I'm trying to make it in Japan here. Anything helps.)
I think some friends and I are going to sightsee a bit this weekend; either some big gorge in Kurobe (east of here), or some famous old Japanese houses called Gassho houses that are a world cultural heritage site. Either way, sounds good! I'm especially looking forward to sleeping in at least one day. (If you know me at all, you know that I love my sleep!)
Mata ne,
Mandy
It's 8:44am on Thursday morning, and I am at school, enjoying the internet that I cannot use at home. I actually get quite a bit of work done everyday too, despite the huge amounts of time I spend perusing the world wide web. Today, I'll be organizing my photos for my self-introduction lesson, and also writing up brief explanations of Hawaii travel brochures I am going to use in a Travel Agent/Tourist role play lesson. I'm going to be the best teacher ever! Haha. (But seriously, I am.)
So I learned something FANTASTIC last night: there is an enormous, beautiful, fun-filled shopping mall only a ten minute bike ride from my apartment! It may seem shallow, but that makes me SO excited about where I live. Not necessarily for the shopping, but for the opportunity to get out of my apartment and go somewhere stimulating to people-watch and grab a quick bite. There is also a movie theatre in the mall; a bunch of us JETs watched Transformers last night! And, I bought a bike at the home store at the mall, so now I feel like I can get anywhere I need! It's AMAZING-- I hadn't ridden a bike since I was probably 10 years old, and I had forgotten how much damn fun it is! And now I don't feel so trapped; if I need conditioner, I can bike to the pharmacy and buy conditioner! If I need eggs, I can bike to the grocery store and buy eggs. You get the picture. It's glorious. And my bike is red and beautiful, with a big basket on the front and a little bell! I should think of a name for it. I welcome any suggestions.
On a less interesting front, I've been keeping myself amused in my apartment by watching episodes of Friends and Sex and the City. Friends, of course, is one of my all-time faves and an instant picker-upper, but I had never watched Sex and the City before. I rented the first disc of the first season from a dvd rental place up the street from me, and I love it! What better way to feel good about living alone in an apartment than by watching a show about 4 single women living the independent dream in Manhattan? (This may sound extrememly superficial... but I'm trying to make it in Japan here. Anything helps.)
I think some friends and I are going to sightsee a bit this weekend; either some big gorge in Kurobe (east of here), or some famous old Japanese houses called Gassho houses that are a world cultural heritage site. Either way, sounds good! I'm especially looking forward to sleeping in at least one day. (If you know me at all, you know that I love my sleep!)
Mata ne,
Mandy
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
It's Been One Week (since you looked at me... Third Eye Blind anyone?)
So, I have officially been here in Toyama prefecture, Takaoka city, for one week. Boy has it been crazy! I have to admit, I haaaaated it when I first got here. After running around doing errands and meeting other coworkers, my supervisor dropped me off at my apartment around 6pm on my first day, and left me to find dinner for myself. Which, normally, would not be such a big deal, if I had not just LANDED IN JAPAN. I found a restaurant right across the street from my apartment, but needless to say I did not enjoy dinner, as I felt completely alone, and everyone kept staring at the "gaijin" (foreigner). I cried a lot that night, and most of the next day. In fact, the next day I was certain I had made a mistake, and I wanted to go home-- right that instant! I was ready to head to the travel agency and book a ticket home, but my supervisor coaxed me into talking with another ALT here whom I met at Tokyo orientation, and she managed to convince me to give it at least a few more days.
A few days later... I was back to square one! I didn't have to go to work on Saturday, so I spent most of my day trying unsuccessfully to get my apartment set up, which involved attempting to sort my trash into about 6 bazillion different categories. With no help from the badly translated English trash guide, I failed miserably, started crying, and again decided I wanted to go home. I just felt so trapped and alone! But luckily, a social event was planned for all Toyama JETs that night, so I went out, hung out with people, got a little drunk, and made it through the weekend. Since Monday, I have felt pretty good actually. I'm starting to get used to the idea of being here a whole year, I'm beginning to get a feel for my area (slowly, sloooowly-- I don't have the greatest sense of direction), and I've made quite a few friends. So, at this point, I can say "I'm going to be okay!" (Which is miraculous, considering how certain I felt about needing to leave only 4 days ago.) Of course, I know that there will be MANY more ups and downs throughout the course of this year. It's not going to be easy. But it probably can't ever get as bad as it was the first three days... And that didn't kill me, so apparently I'll make it through this year after all! (Clearly I'm experiencing an up right now.)
But seriously, Japan is really cool. At least for now, while the novelty is still fresh, haha... I live in a nice little apartment about a 7 minute bus ride from my school in one direction, and about a 5 minute ride from the train station in the other direction. It's been hot as hell here, so walking anywhere for more than a few minutes is pretty much torture. Thankfully, I think I'll be getting a bike this evening, which hopefully will make getting around a lot easier. (On a side note: my vice principal just got back from buying lunch, and he brought me a little haagen dazs ice cream cup! Seriously everyone here is so NICE!)
I don't have internet in my apartment yet, and I won't for at least a month, so in the mean time I abuse the internet here at school. This may seem an inappropriate thing to do, but right now I really don't have much else going on. This week is the Japanese holiday "Obon", a time for remembering ancestors and celebrating family, so there are actually only 2 other teachers here at work today. Thus, I think I can get away with updating my blog at the moment.
Classes start on September 3rd, which I am REALLY looking forward to. Although I am getting accustomed to my surroundings and to living on my own, I think having a routine will help immensely. That way, rather than feeling lonely when I return to my apartment at the end of the day, I can feel a sense of relief and relaxation! Also, the students I've met so far have been fantastic-- so friendly and eager to talk! I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching here. I've already planned my first 2 lessons! And also, I found out I teach once a week at Takaoka Deaf School-- What a surprise! I have no idea how I am supposed to teach if I don't know sign language, but I guess I will find out.
Lastly, before I sign off, a few oddities about Japan:
1) Not all bathroom facilities have "western" toilets-- meaning if they are non-western, you cop a squat! (My supervisor tells me it's good for the thighs.)
2) Next to all toilets, you will find a motion sensor that, when activated, turns on a rushing water sound-- to mask the sound of your business.
3) There are cicadas EVERYWHERE. And they are SO LOUD. Sometimes at night I think the smoke detector is going off, but no, it's just a cicada, right outside my door.
4) I am actually taller than some people here! Haha, maybe that's not an oddity... Just personally amusing to me.
If you are reading this and feel so inclined, shoot me an email! I'd love to hear from back home!
Until next time,
Mandy
A few days later... I was back to square one! I didn't have to go to work on Saturday, so I spent most of my day trying unsuccessfully to get my apartment set up, which involved attempting to sort my trash into about 6 bazillion different categories. With no help from the badly translated English trash guide, I failed miserably, started crying, and again decided I wanted to go home. I just felt so trapped and alone! But luckily, a social event was planned for all Toyama JETs that night, so I went out, hung out with people, got a little drunk, and made it through the weekend. Since Monday, I have felt pretty good actually. I'm starting to get used to the idea of being here a whole year, I'm beginning to get a feel for my area (slowly, sloooowly-- I don't have the greatest sense of direction), and I've made quite a few friends. So, at this point, I can say "I'm going to be okay!" (Which is miraculous, considering how certain I felt about needing to leave only 4 days ago.) Of course, I know that there will be MANY more ups and downs throughout the course of this year. It's not going to be easy. But it probably can't ever get as bad as it was the first three days... And that didn't kill me, so apparently I'll make it through this year after all! (Clearly I'm experiencing an up right now.)
But seriously, Japan is really cool. At least for now, while the novelty is still fresh, haha... I live in a nice little apartment about a 7 minute bus ride from my school in one direction, and about a 5 minute ride from the train station in the other direction. It's been hot as hell here, so walking anywhere for more than a few minutes is pretty much torture. Thankfully, I think I'll be getting a bike this evening, which hopefully will make getting around a lot easier. (On a side note: my vice principal just got back from buying lunch, and he brought me a little haagen dazs ice cream cup! Seriously everyone here is so NICE!)
I don't have internet in my apartment yet, and I won't for at least a month, so in the mean time I abuse the internet here at school. This may seem an inappropriate thing to do, but right now I really don't have much else going on. This week is the Japanese holiday "Obon", a time for remembering ancestors and celebrating family, so there are actually only 2 other teachers here at work today. Thus, I think I can get away with updating my blog at the moment.
Classes start on September 3rd, which I am REALLY looking forward to. Although I am getting accustomed to my surroundings and to living on my own, I think having a routine will help immensely. That way, rather than feeling lonely when I return to my apartment at the end of the day, I can feel a sense of relief and relaxation! Also, the students I've met so far have been fantastic-- so friendly and eager to talk! I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching here. I've already planned my first 2 lessons! And also, I found out I teach once a week at Takaoka Deaf School-- What a surprise! I have no idea how I am supposed to teach if I don't know sign language, but I guess I will find out.
Lastly, before I sign off, a few oddities about Japan:
1) Not all bathroom facilities have "western" toilets-- meaning if they are non-western, you cop a squat! (My supervisor tells me it's good for the thighs.)
2) Next to all toilets, you will find a motion sensor that, when activated, turns on a rushing water sound-- to mask the sound of your business.
3) There are cicadas EVERYWHERE. And they are SO LOUD. Sometimes at night I think the smoke detector is going off, but no, it's just a cicada, right outside my door.
4) I am actually taller than some people here! Haha, maybe that's not an oddity... Just personally amusing to me.
If you are reading this and feel so inclined, shoot me an email! I'd love to hear from back home!
Until next time,
Mandy
Monday, August 6, 2007
Everything is in Japanese
I`m using a Japanese computer, which means a lot of the text on the screen is in Japanese. I don`t really know what I`m doing, and I`m having trouble finding the apostrophe key! But, the good thing is that I`m actually in Japan! Tokyo, to be exact, at my orientation. One more full day here tomorrow, and then I head off for Toyama-ken, Takaoka city, my new home for one year!
In brief: the plane ride was great; they had video games on the tv monitor! I played a lot of tetris. Then, there were some complications upon landing. They made me repack my luggage to take to Tokyo because I could take only one bag when I thought I could bring two, and then I found out someone else had mistakenly taken my duffel bag, and I had hers! That meant I had to stay another 2 hours at the airport, trying to sort it out. It actually didn`t really get sorted out until this morning, when I laid eyes on my bag here in the hotel, to my great relief. They shipped it out to Toyama for me, so it should be waiting for me, along with my other large suitcase I shipped from the airport, on Wednesday. Needless to say, it was a very frustrating start to my time here, and I was pretty upset Sunday night. Luckily, it was really easy to find other JETs going out to dinner (there are 1,000 of us here in the hotel!), so I tagged along with them and distracted myself from my distress. Soon enough though, exhaustion set in, and I was in bed by 10:30. I slept through the night, and started up bright and early at 7am today! It`s been a long day full of meetings and lectures, and we have our formal Welcome Reception Buffet Dinner in about 20 minutes. Then, I`ll be heading out for some karaoke with my fellow Toyama JETs! I`ve never done karaoke before...
All in all, it`s been a hectic, stressful, exciting start. Just as I expected it to be!
PS: The toilets here automatically fill with water when you sit on them! It really creeps me out.
In brief: the plane ride was great; they had video games on the tv monitor! I played a lot of tetris. Then, there were some complications upon landing. They made me repack my luggage to take to Tokyo because I could take only one bag when I thought I could bring two, and then I found out someone else had mistakenly taken my duffel bag, and I had hers! That meant I had to stay another 2 hours at the airport, trying to sort it out. It actually didn`t really get sorted out until this morning, when I laid eyes on my bag here in the hotel, to my great relief. They shipped it out to Toyama for me, so it should be waiting for me, along with my other large suitcase I shipped from the airport, on Wednesday. Needless to say, it was a very frustrating start to my time here, and I was pretty upset Sunday night. Luckily, it was really easy to find other JETs going out to dinner (there are 1,000 of us here in the hotel!), so I tagged along with them and distracted myself from my distress. Soon enough though, exhaustion set in, and I was in bed by 10:30. I slept through the night, and started up bright and early at 7am today! It`s been a long day full of meetings and lectures, and we have our formal Welcome Reception Buffet Dinner in about 20 minutes. Then, I`ll be heading out for some karaoke with my fellow Toyama JETs! I`ve never done karaoke before...
All in all, it`s been a hectic, stressful, exciting start. Just as I expected it to be!
PS: The toilets here automatically fill with water when you sit on them! It really creeps me out.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
!!!!
It's 12:23 AM, the night before my parents and I leave for Honolulu, the city from which I depart on SATURDAY!! I can't believe I finished packing! Two big 50-lb suitcases, one roll-on, and one backpack. That is the least I have packed for such an important journey ever! I have to get up in four and a half hours though, so I'm keeping this short and sweet. I am SO excited and SO nervous and SO excited!! AAHHHHHHHH!!!
Maybe the next time I write, I will be in JAPAN!!! Wish me luck!
Maybe the next time I write, I will be in JAPAN!!! Wish me luck!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Some thoughts
I just wrote a personal journal entry, and I'd like to share some of it here. Just some thoughts I have about this upcoming year. It was a nice exercise in thinking clearly and concisely about what I am about to experience-- in organized, bullet format. I am forever a neat-freak.
I expect this experience to be:
-Challenging.
-Exciting.
-Stimulating.
-Exhausting, at least at first.
-Scary at times.
-Exhilarating.
-A confidence-builder.
-Worthwhile.
-Memorable.
-Fun.
-Humorous at times.
I am excited about:
-Improving my Japanese.
-Eating lots of Japanese food.
-Taking beautiful pictures.
-Exploring new places.
-Meeting my students.
-Meeting other JETs from around the world.
-Working as a teacher.
-Befriending Japanese locals.
-Living on my own.
-Getting better at cooking.
-Seeing the seasons change.
-My first snowfall.
-Becoming more independent.
-Coming home in a year and feeling like I’ve accomplished something/done something really special.
I am scared about:
-Living on my own.
-Not being able to talk to Seth and my family and friends as frequently as I’m used to.
-Being very, very cold.
-Having to kill cockroaches myself.
-Not being able to read signs when I go out.
-Not being able to understand much of what people/the radio/the TV says.
-Feeling lonely sometimes.
My goals for the year are to:
-Improve my Japanese skills, or at least to get them back to the level I had achieved 3 years ago.
-Become proficient at riding a bike.
-Become a versatile, confident cook.
-Build friendships with local Japanese as well as other JETs.
-Explore Takaoka city, the greater Toyama prefecture, and other parts of Japan.
-Study at least one Japanese art form.
-Regularly update my blog.
-Talk to Seth and my parents at least once a week. (Yay Skype!)
-Take many pictures.
-Say “yes” to as many invitations to social events as I can.
-Learn how to use public transportation.
-Stay safe by thinking ahead, being aware of my surroundings, and always being precautious.
So far, so good for the seventh goal I listed, eh?
I expect this experience to be:
-Challenging.
-Exciting.
-Stimulating.
-Exhausting, at least at first.
-Scary at times.
-Exhilarating.
-A confidence-builder.
-Worthwhile.
-Memorable.
-Fun.
-Humorous at times.
I am excited about:
-Improving my Japanese.
-Eating lots of Japanese food.
-Taking beautiful pictures.
-Exploring new places.
-Meeting my students.
-Meeting other JETs from around the world.
-Working as a teacher.
-Befriending Japanese locals.
-Living on my own.
-Getting better at cooking.
-Seeing the seasons change.
-My first snowfall.
-Becoming more independent.
-Coming home in a year and feeling like I’ve accomplished something/done something really special.
I am scared about:
-Living on my own.
-Not being able to talk to Seth and my family and friends as frequently as I’m used to.
-Being very, very cold.
-Having to kill cockroaches myself.
-Not being able to read signs when I go out.
-Not being able to understand much of what people/the radio/the TV says.
-Feeling lonely sometimes.
My goals for the year are to:
-Improve my Japanese skills, or at least to get them back to the level I had achieved 3 years ago.
-Become proficient at riding a bike.
-Become a versatile, confident cook.
-Build friendships with local Japanese as well as other JETs.
-Explore Takaoka city, the greater Toyama prefecture, and other parts of Japan.
-Study at least one Japanese art form.
-Regularly update my blog.
-Talk to Seth and my parents at least once a week. (Yay Skype!)
-Take many pictures.
-Say “yes” to as many invitations to social events as I can.
-Learn how to use public transportation.
-Stay safe by thinking ahead, being aware of my surroundings, and always being precautious.
So far, so good for the seventh goal I listed, eh?
Monday, July 23, 2007
Getting Closer
I'm a few days closer to my magic date of departure, and I've managed to cross a few items off my to-do list. I did some shopping yesterday and today and stocked up on some things that apparently are pretty hard to come by in Japan. For instance:
1) Deodorant. Apparently the lucky Japanese don't sweat much, and it's near impossible to find antiperspirants in Japan.
2) Toothpaste. Although I've heard toothpaste with fluoride has become more commonplace over the last few years, it's still hard to find, and doesn't taste very good.
3) Over-the-counter drugs. Got some Excedrin Migraine, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Echinacea, Vitamin C, and Women's One-a-Day, and Lactaid. It may seem like a lot, but I figure a year's a long time, and it's better to be prepared. I've been told the medicines in Japan are usually weaker than those here in the states, and often come in powder form that you dissolve in water. (Eww.)
Of course, I can't afford to overpack either. So it's going to be a fine balance: Black I-look-so-good-right-now stilettos, or Costco-size value pack of tampons? Both have their benefits... but it's hard to say. I'll keep you posted. (Thrilling, this process of packing, isn't it?)
I also bought a bunch of Hawaii souvenirs, as it is customary in Japan to give small tokens of appreciation to those who have helped you. I've also been told by current JET teachers that giving out little prizes is an excellent way to get otherwise uninterested students very very excited about learning English. I figure postcards, stickers, keychains, and pencils ought to do the trick. (And no, this is not bribery; merely positive reinforcement.)
Lastly, I discovered the most exciting thing the other day: FREE Hawaii travel brochures and magazines-- written in Japanese!! How perfect is that? I must have looked like a crazy person, taking dozens and dozens of pamphlets from the tourist-central rack outside the grocery store. They're really great though, they have pictures of all the different sites and activities here on the Big Island. I think it'll be a fun way for my students and colleagues to learn more about where I'm from. Of course, the best part of all is that they're freeeeee!
Alright. You're probably as tired of reading this as I am sitting here typing it, so I'll say goodnight.
Until next time,
Mandy
1) Deodorant. Apparently the lucky Japanese don't sweat much, and it's near impossible to find antiperspirants in Japan.
2) Toothpaste. Although I've heard toothpaste with fluoride has become more commonplace over the last few years, it's still hard to find, and doesn't taste very good.
3) Over-the-counter drugs. Got some Excedrin Migraine, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Echinacea, Vitamin C, and Women's One-a-Day, and Lactaid. It may seem like a lot, but I figure a year's a long time, and it's better to be prepared. I've been told the medicines in Japan are usually weaker than those here in the states, and often come in powder form that you dissolve in water. (Eww.)
Of course, I can't afford to overpack either. So it's going to be a fine balance: Black I-look-so-good-right-now stilettos, or Costco-size value pack of tampons? Both have their benefits... but it's hard to say. I'll keep you posted. (Thrilling, this process of packing, isn't it?)
I also bought a bunch of Hawaii souvenirs, as it is customary in Japan to give small tokens of appreciation to those who have helped you. I've also been told by current JET teachers that giving out little prizes is an excellent way to get otherwise uninterested students very very excited about learning English. I figure postcards, stickers, keychains, and pencils ought to do the trick. (And no, this is not bribery; merely positive reinforcement.)
Lastly, I discovered the most exciting thing the other day: FREE Hawaii travel brochures and magazines-- written in Japanese!! How perfect is that? I must have looked like a crazy person, taking dozens and dozens of pamphlets from the tourist-central rack outside the grocery store. They're really great though, they have pictures of all the different sites and activities here on the Big Island. I think it'll be a fun way for my students and colleagues to learn more about where I'm from. Of course, the best part of all is that they're freeeeee!
Alright. You're probably as tired of reading this as I am sitting here typing it, so I'll say goodnight.
Until next time,
Mandy
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Preparations, preparations...
Ok, so I’m not *actually* in Japan yet. (I will be as of August 5th.) In the meantime, however, I still have quite a bit of business/Japanese reviewing/relaxing/enjoying of food/goodbye-ing to attend to. I just spent 3 awesome weeks with Seth and his family, and I have a few more weeks at home in Hawaii with my own family before I take off. I’ll spare everyone the boring details of my massive to-do lists, which seem all too lengthy for the amount of time I have to complete them. Let’s just say that between now and August 5th, I’ll take care of business and get my butt over to Japan, at which point the real fun will begin, and I’ll do my best to keep you updated.
Once I am in Japan, I will have to set up my internet in my apartment ("apato" in Japanese), which will probably take 2-3ish weeks. I will be able to use the internet sparingly at work (Takaoka Minami High School) to check email and whatnot, but probably not much more than that. I can be reached at both of the following email addresses, although the first is preferred:
amanda.woodwell@gmail.com
ajw02003@mymail.pomona.edu (beginning August 1st)
Once I have the internet set up in my apartment, I will be relying primarily on Skype for international calling. Look me up! Full name: Amanda Woodwell. I also use AIM, screen name mandyjeanne07.
And of course, there’s always facebook.
Lastly, if anyone wants an awesome postcard from Japan, send me your address and I'll send you a little love. (You're welcome to send me some love the old-fashioned way, too-- just let me know if you feel so inclined and I'll email you my address.)
Oh, and if anybody wants to look me up on a map or Google Earth, I’m in Toyama prefecture, Takaoka city. That’s central Honshu (the main and largest island in Japan), on the Japan Sea Coast (right near where that huge earthquake happened yesterday... Cool, huh?).
That’s about it for now. I’m off to dinner (good ol’ spaghetti; got to enjoy it while it lasts).
Jaa, mata ne (Until next time),
Mandy
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