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!

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

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!

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 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

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.

!!!!

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!