White Christmas...almost

When I first moved here, I was under the impression that snow in Kazusa is as rare as a snowball in hell. Three days before Christmas:



Christmas day was sunny and almost warm, shattering my dream of having a white Christmas in Japan. Nevertheless, I had a great time at Suzie's Christmas party - she had about 10 people over. For some reason, we were all really silly and immature - just how I like it. I learned that British people have a very strange Christmas tradition: crackers*. They are basically these little packages that pop when you open them, and they contain paper crowns, jokes, and whistles. Every whistle is a different note, which resulted in much cacophony when we tried to play "We Wish you a Merry Christmas." (Actually, it wasn't so bad; I just wanted to use the word "cacophony.") We also played "Pass the parcel" and this game that Wesley introduced involving camping and lists that I basically sucked at. Erich brought some chocolates called "Asse" which resulted in much hilarity. After eating, partying, and generally trashing Suzie's house, a small group of us went to karaoke because parties in Japan without karaoke are like peanut butter without jelly.


Our (un-white) Christmas bash!

*While I'm writing about cultural differences, Japanese people celebrate Christmas a little...differently. Apparently, they all eat fried chicken and christmas cake. It is so widespread to eat chicken for Christmas that even here, in the inaka, a few of my students were selling "christmas chicken" in front of the grocery store. How KFC managed to convince every man, woman, and child in Japan to consume fried chicken on Christmas is a mystery to me...

And now time for...Onsen Mania!
This holiday season, it is so cold that I've been going to onsens (communal hot spring baths) a lot. Fortunately for me, my area is famous for onsens, and a particularly good one can be found at Hara-jo. Hara-jo is the site where 35,000 christians were massacred, resulting in Japan's isolation from the west.

I like onsens so much that Erich gave me this keitai charm for Christmas!

What the (near) future holds -
Next Friday, Erich and I are driving down to Miyazaki to ring in the New Year with Hilda. Can't wait to see her again!

Then, Hilda and I are off to Hong Kong! I am getting excited looking at where to go in my Lonely Planet guide.

IN OTHER NEWS - Franz Ferdinand is coming to Osaka in February!!!! Suzie and I are going to try to get tickets tomorrow...it's a bit far to go, but I think it'll be so worth it.

Winter days

This weekend has been COLD. There were flurries all over the hanto, but the only place where the snow ever sticks is on Unzen:

Snow on the hanto

We went to IONA's Christmas party. It was all right:

IONA Christmas party

After tea ceremony on Saturday, the little girl who drew this and her friend were dropped off with me, and instead of going home, they came right into my house! Of course, I was fine with that but the little rugrats were INTO EVERYTHING!! Within 2 minutes, they located my stuffed bunny collection. We played bunnies for a while, then they taught me some kanji, then they spun me around in my office chair until I nearly hurled. Then they did my hair and makeup. I was ready to go out on the town after that! And (sarcasm aside), I did...

Suzie picked me up and we went to Shimabara for some birthday celebrations. It was a good night and not too overwhelming...I got to know a few people better. I must have had a good time because I only took one measly picture.

The sweetest thing ever!

This little girl who takes tea ceremony with me gave me this picture today...what a sweetie. Now I have to figure out how to say, "Thank you for the beautiful picture!"

In other news, a few hilarious things were said to me recently that I must document before I forget:
Last week during volleyball practice, Kyoto-sensei (the vice-principal) and I were stretching to warm up. He can't speak a lick of English, but he is one of the few who tries on occasion. Anyway, trying to make conversation, he said, "I am very hard" (referring to his muscles, I guess!) I tried so hard not to laugh, and just agreed and said that I was very hard, too.

Last week, one of my favorite students said, "I want to feel you with my love." It wouldn't have been so hilarious if my JTE wasn't standing there with him, helping him recite what he had obviously rehearsed with her earlier.

I realized something today.

My JTE said to me, "You are so obedient!" After being initially puzzled that she called me an adjective usually attributed to a dog, I smiled in silent agreement. Yes, I am a good little foreigner. I follow all the rules to a T. If there is a volleyball game this weekend, I show up for practice. If someone asks me to help with something, I follow through.

So why do I wish I could be flakier?

Because flaky people have all the fun. If something else better comes up, a flaky person has no problem eschewing his/her responsibilities. They can talk their way out of situations that aren't desirable. I hate these people, so why do I want to be more like them?

Because I have no time for myself anymore!

2 months ago
A lady at the yakuba asked me to join her "nighto" volleyball team. Sure! "Ok then, practice is every Saturday at 8:30pm." Well crap, there goes my Saturday nights!

Last month:
I was having a pleasant conversation at my town's culture festival with a retired English teacher. I had just witnessed a tea ceremony, and she asked me, "Do you like to learn tea ceremony?" Of course, not wanting to seem close-minded and unwilling to try new things, I said, "yes." Next thing I know, the tea ceremony lady says to me, "Ok, then please wait for me outside your house every Saturday at 1:30." *

2 weeks ago
A man was talking to me about English education. I must have been hypnotized by his excellent English, because I ended up semi-agreeing to help him this weekend. Since I never fully committed, I kind of expected it to be like in America, where someone asks you to do something for them and you agree politely, then it never actually happens. Wrong.


Lesson learned: Japanese people are treacherous. Avoid at all costs.

* My tea teacher asked me to pay her last week - is it safe to bail now that it's not free anymore? Or would that be too flaky?

Time.

Just when you think, I actually have time to sit down and write, where does it go? I actually don't have time to sit down and write right now, because Erich is patiently waiting to watch the next episode of Lost, which we have recently discovered is fantastic. So I will make this brief:

Last weekend, Suzie and I went to Fukuoka to see sumo. After shopping all day and partying until 3am, we crashed on a karaoke sofa for the night while singing ourselves to sleep with Coldplay and The Doves.

Me and sumo!

The next day, Erich and I boarded a plane for Seoul, Korea for Erich to finally get his visa. We proceeded to freeze our asses off, eat at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, get a lot of great deals, and go to the biggest indoor amusement park I've ever seen. All in about the span of 48 hours.

Seoul is so big...

Knackered

I've stolen an expression from the British and adopted it as my own - knackered knackered knackered! I love it. Anyway, after our mid-year conference this week, I am knackered. But I have some fun pictures to share:

Fruit bus stops

Along the way to Nagasaki, we took a detour through this town that has bus stops shaped like fruit. They have caused me to ponder why more objects aren't shaped like fun things, because why not? They put a smile on my face. This is why I love Japan. Only the Japanese have the ability to convert everyday objects into these fun, interesting things. Napkins that say "Lovery Strawberry." Thumbtacks shaped like sushi. Popsicles shaped like watermelon wedges. There is a happy smiling character on EVERY package of candy. I could go on and on.

So why do I feel like all of this happiness is just an illusion?

Living in Japan is a lot like putting together a puzzle, except that someone else has all the pieces. And they don't speak English.

At the post office, trying to pay for our trip to Korea (next week!):
Me (in Japanese): I'd like to do a money transfer, please.
Them: Sorry, you have to go to the bank.
Me: (puzzled, because I just did a money transfer at the post office 2 weeks ago)
Pedaling to the bank, cussing under my breath
At the bank:
Me (in Japanese): I'd like to do a money transfer, please. (showing them my cash and the account in which the money should go)
Them: Cash?
Me: (nodding)
Them: (pointing to ATM)
Me: (Walk over to ATM. Man helps me. Money comes out of my bank account, not the cash in my hand. Pissed off.)

At school:
Me: Where is the vacation request book?
Vice-principal: (scrambling, unable to find. Calls the office teacher, gets into a discussion for 10 minutes about the book, principal summoned. Book still no where to be found.)
Me: (standing there, trying to be patient)
Another 5 minutes elapse, still talking about/looking for book. Librarian summoned.
Librarian: Is this it? (holds up the book)
Me: YES! (grabbing it)

Before I came here, I worried about being uptight. But the truth is, I am laid back compared to some of the people here. Seriously, they put the ass in anal.

Nevertheless, sitting in the office every day without conversing is really taking its toll. I really want to talk to people, but when I eye someone to talk to, they always look too busy to talk to me. Plus the fact that I don't speak Japanese well is frightening to some of the teachers because they know they will inevitably have to use (cue scary music) ENGLISH!

So all of these social anxieties have been contributing to a greater fear: that they don't like me.* It culminated in a really bad day for me on Tuesday, where I was pretty much walking around in tears. Once a good cryfest is out of my system, I can move on with my life but since I didn't get a chance, it was a slow painful leak all day long.**

I prefer explosive sobs where my whole face turns into a tomato and I can eat ice cream after it's over.

This story has a point, I promise. I was riding home from a teaching demo in Kitaarima earlier, and my JTE was talking about my teaching situation, which I have wondered about since day one. During Tokyo orientation, I was told that I would be teaching at one base school (my junior high) and then occasionally going to 4 different elementary schools. Well, that didn't happen because I've been at the same junior high this whole time. So I've been mulling over in my head why they wouldn't want me there. I can see why introverts go insane.

Well, my JTE told me that my principal was really adamant about having an ALT at his school, and the elementary schools said they wanted me once a week. That wouldn't leave enough time at the junior high, so there was much bantering back and forth. The Board of Education determined that it was more important to have an ALT at the junior high, since elementary English education is optional. So in the end, I sit at the junior high, even though I could easily go to the elementary schools during exams. Stupid bureaucracy...

So here I sit at home, trying to piece together my life with these fragments of understood conversations. But isn't it supposed to be challenging?

* Boo-hoo, I know. It's a really stupid fear. But the truth is, I have lived enough years to know that people judge people before really getting to know them. And it pisses me off.
** And then the enkai. But that is another post entirely...

Finding things on the side of the road

I've been perusing a book called "Roadside Japan." It is a collection of strange things the author found while traveling off the beaten path. It hits on everything I've ever wanted to do: travel and see weird shit.

Today, we went to Unzen to see the foilage and ended up stumbling across some weird shit on our own:

Roadside Demon and more!

I want to organize a road trip throughout Kyushu, only instead of stopping at castles and tourist spots, we will find bus stops shaped like strawberries and giant rock phalluses. They are all over the place - seriously.

I have discovered that it is much easier to post pictures on Flickr than LJ, so I purchased a Flickr account. Be prepared for mass picture overload - here are a few sets:

Last weekend, Erich's company had a Halloween picnic in Omura, which is about an hour and a half away. The Nagasaki airport is also in this city.

IONA Halloween party in Omura

Last Monday, Suzie had a Halloween party at her house for her English club. Since I don't have the luxury of an English club at my school, I decided to come and be envious of her students who are actually interested in English. I brought along a pikachu costume for fun.

Suzie's Halloween party

Wednesday was the prefectural marathon for high school students. Since they literally came down our street, the school went outside to cheer them on.

Nagasaki Prefecture Marathon

We had a holiday on Thursday called Culture Day, so we decided to take a day trip to the Amakusa islands, which are a short ferry ride from Kuchinotsu. According to Lonely Planet, it is one of the least-developed areas of Japan. It is also the place where Christians went to escape persecution.

Amakusa island excursion

Weirdness

Check out my "Just Plain Wacky" gallery:

Car-less and coughing

So another Saturday has arrived, which means I am alone and carless, trying to cough the remnants of a cold out of my system. I kind of promised some people I would go to the town culture festival today, which sounds like fun if this weren't Japan. Being the only foreigner in this town, it means that I will be gawked at and put on display. I know that's what I signed up for, but it still feels like being naked in public. Some days I just don't want to do it, you know?

How I wish I was an exhibitionist who loved talking about myself...but I'm not.

Okay, time to face my fears...see you later.

*edit*
Amidst the cultural chaos, I somehow agreed to learn tea ceremony every Saturday at 1:30. How I understood that is a mystery...but how could it not be fun when the children are this adorable?


Could it be...a picture of Japanese people without the peace sign?

It's so funny...the minute I took out my camera it became like the paparazzi in there...cameras flashing everywhere. I just wish I had put on some makeup today...

Every time I get so fed-up with being here to the point that I just want to curl up in a ball and stay at home, something happens to snap me out of it.

In my least favorite san-nensei (third year) class, they had to pair up and do an activity. So my favorite student (I wrote about her a few weeks ago; she's the one with the limp) paired up with another student clear across the room. Over the course of my time here, I've noticed that the girl she paired up must have some kind of learning disability. Throughout the activity, the girl with the limp helped the other girl, even writing down the dialogue for her. In America, she would be scolded for doing the assignment for her, but in Japan, it is a necessity for the good students to help their peers.

When they performed their dialogue in front of the class, I gave her the biggest sticker I had.

Oh Happy Day!

I went for a bike ride up to Kuchinotsu, which has a lot of cute little shops and ran across this natural foods store. The place was about the size of my bedroom, so I didn't have high expectations. Well it turns out that the lady who owns it is really sweet - I was browsing ramen looking for a vegetarian version, and she was kind enough to tell me about this brand, Ohsawa, that makes meat-free products. She also gave me some free samples. It's little things like this woman's kindness that make me happy...and sesame-flavored ramen is the shiznit!

Getting my craft on

Tamago


Fish eggs...I'd rather knit'em than eat'em!

Yeah, I know it's stupid, but I can't help it...I just keep making more and more! The problem is finding a use for them. I originally intended to use them in lessons, because the kids about died when I brought in fake hamburgers, chicken, etc. So my question is, what should I do with them? Here's one idea:


Sushi!

Any ideas?

I don't think I can tolerate the food in Japan for more than one year.

Just went up to Unzen to take an onsen with Suzie and her family, and that was fabulous but the meal we got afterwards was not. I was told that my dish had no "niku" (meat). Then to clarify, I asked if there was pork, beef, or chicken. She said no, and went on to list the ingredients. Suzie thought she heard her say ham, but I shrugged it off because she said no pork. Needless to say, I was wrong. The waitress ended up bringing me something else, but it was only tolerably good.

*eats bag of potato chips*
Can I just put my stomach on "standby" for a year?

The most distressful thing about being in a foreign environment is when someone is friendly enough to strike up a conversation, and no matter how hard I try to understand, I just can't. That just happened five minutes ago.

But that's just a minor confidence blow to my otherwise great weekend: Erich's enkai, volleyball practice, Kunchi festival in Nagasaki city. We finally got to explore Nagasaki for the first time, and aside from a few missteps (there are always some when I'm involved) we had a great time.

I've been to two enkais since I've been in Japan. So far, the only good enkai I've been to was not my own. Maybe I had such a good time Friday night because Erich's company is an eikaiwa (English conversation school), or maybe it's because the focus was not on me. These people actually want to and like speaking English, and I had some of the nicest conversations with Japanese people that I've had yet. There were these two sweet ladies who just showered me with compliments, and kept ordering me more vegetarian food. Erich got an enormous bouquet of flowers from his students. Our Japanese teacher (Erich and I take Japanese classes every Tuesday night at his school) got a little tipsy and introduced us to a wonderful service: daiko. I don't know if it actually exists in America under a different name, but if not it NEEDS TO. Basically, if you get too drunk to drive home, you call this service and a person will come to drive you home in your own car. Brilliant!

Speaking of brilliant, I busted my ankle AND my knee at volleyball practice Saturday night. Yes folks, I have started playing volleyball again for the first time in 10 years. I was invited by a lady who works at my Town Hall, and even though the practices are on Saturday nights, I couldn't exactly say no. Aside from the fact that some of those women could be in the Olympics and I'm just a shadow of my former athletic self, I am actually looking forward to Saturday nights now. Hell, it's not like I actually have a social life to miss out on!


Okunchi festival in Nagasaki city

Even though we missed the main part of the festival, it was still quite a sight: colorful costumes, endless food stalls, crowds. We got to Suwa shrine just after the main festivities ended, unfortunately. But climbing up all those stairs to the shrine actually gave me a fleeting moment of clarity and peace. The twisted trees, sculpted gardens, and artificial ponds of the shrine led me to ponder the true meaning of Shintoism: is it a religion that worships nature, or the re-creation thereof? I will continue to ponder.

Then I saw God in an Indian lunch the next day. Heavenly!

While in the touristy shops of Glover Garden, I had yet another moment of inner peace which came in the form of a cruise ship docked at Nagasaki port. All I can say is this: thank God for other foreigners who make my poor Japanese skills look good. The store clerk who smiled at my use of arigato gozaimasu made my weekend.

I'm think I'm going to listen to some apocalyptic space rock now.

My ice cream is sad!

They actually put happy faces in ice cream here - unfortunately, the machine wasn't very genki that day. ;)

I promise a better post soon...feeling much like that ice cream right now in this land of endless summer. :( And I know that I need to step away from the keyboard when I start typing :( and ;) into my journal. ;)

My Students

I helped a student dispose of a roach the other day. It's funny, I would never do that at home; I always make Erich do it. But when you are a teacher, it's different. I actually care about my students and want to protect them.

I'm starting to really see who my students are. There's this one girl who had an operation recently because one of her legs is longer than the other, but you would never know. At the cookout, she was raking the leaves much harder than anyone else. She's always the first to jump up and erase the blackboard. But she does all of this with incredible modesty, like she doesn't want to be noticed. Being a person who always blended in and never stuck out, I always wanted to be noticed. I wonder if she feels the same way...I just want to tell her, I notice you!

Then there is the friendliest boy in the school. He came up to me after the first class and pointed to a lyrics sheet with "Paul McCartney" in the credits. Then he pulled out an empty bag of macaroni that he had ready for this occasion, and yelled, "See? Paul Maaaccarrronnnii!" Today, he "taught" me some Japanese after class (I pretended I didn't know what "konnichiwa" meant, haha!).

Interestingly, I haven't encountered any bad students yet. The worst ones aren't bad; they just don't study. But they are cute as all hell, so that makes it so hard to be mad. :) I love my students!

Sex Education!

Guess who got to sit in on a SEX EDUCATION class yesterday?

I had no idea what I was in for, since my JTE said "so many" students have babies these days. Well I don't know about other JETs, but I haven't seen a pregnant student yet. In fact, they barely seem to like the opposite sex. Maybe I'm just too oblivious to see students making out in dark corners. Or maybe I just want to believe that they are innocent...*cough* right...

I remember sex ed from my middle school years...the girls learn about reproduction while the boys "learn about aftershave," Erich says. The basic premise is: scare the crap out of us. Teach us about STDs, and show us the "Miracle of Life." That video still gives me nightmares and the occasional..."why the hell do I have to be a girl?" syndrome. So I expected it to be somewhat similar.

It was not.

In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The girls and the boys sat in the room together and were shown a Japanese version of "The Miracle of Life" with a happy couple about to deliver their second child. There were no screams of pain, there was no blood. They did show the delivery on screen, but it wasn't graphic. Surprisingly, the students didn't giggle or squirm at all. I didn't understand every word, but I know there was no rhetoric to scare the kids into abstinence.

Then they broke out the pregnancy suit.

If only I would have brought my camera for the hilarity that ensued. Boys were quickest to try on the suit, and most of them were so skinny it looked like it might break them in half. Utter chaos. Then they pointed to the suit, and pointed to me: "Erica-sensei!" Oh, god. I told them that I am already fat, but they still insisted. Great. I guess it can't hurt to know that I can touch my toes while pregnant.

So what is the point of this story? There isn't one, except for my final thought about Sex Education and Japanese society: Japan has a serious birth rate problem, so they want to depict childbirth in the most favorable way possible. But is teen pregnancy really on the rise here? That remains to be seen...

A plethora of pictures!

I don't really want to spend the whole night writing about this weekend, so I'm just going to lazily post pictures. Consider yourselves spared! But first, you must see Hilda's collection of toilet pictures. I just love anything toilet related, since my mind usually resides there.

This first set of pictures is from Thursday, when I went with the third-year students (san-nenseis) to cook food in Chijiwa. Except for the steaming bowl of pork they tried to feed me, it was fun!

San-nensei Girls

Friday, the lovely Katie invited us to Kunimi for a festival, but my hanabi (fireworks) pictures came out crap.

Saturday, after waking up hungover, we all took a ferry to Kumamoto to go to Mitsui Greenland, an awesome theme park.


Kancho!

Our Mistakes in Fukuoka

Fukuoka pictures

We woke up Saturday with the bitter taste of defeat, because we weren't able to book a hotel. On a whim, Erich called one of the places that rejected him the night before, and strangely enough, we got a room! So we drove our happy asses up to Isahaya to catch the next train up.

Mistake #1: NEVER park in Isahaya.

We drove around for what seemed like hours and found many nearly empty parking lots, only to realize that we weren't allowed to park there. So we ended up parking at the station instead. -¥6400.

Train tickets: -¥5000 each, roundtrip

Our hotel was easy to find, thanks to the proximity to the station. And it was only about ¥8000 a night. At this point, I only had about a man (¥10000, or $100) in my pocket. Regardless, we headed up to Canal City for our first afternoon/night on the town. First stop: Indian food. We ordered samosas, naan, and a mushroom/pea curry dish. It was TO DIE FOR!!! Then, per Erich's request, we headed up to the huge Sega video arcade.

Mistake #2: You know those token machines in America? Well, they aren't for video games here!

Stuck with a cup full of gambling tokens, we blew about ¥500 on those coin machines (you know, the ones where you try to topple an entire dish of coins with one? That's what we did. Lame.) Then, we had a Japanese teeny bopper moment: went to a sticker making booth. This particular mall had an entire plaza filled with different kinds of sticker booths. We chose the most benign one, only to discover that we SUCK AT READING INSTRUCTIONS IN JAPANESE.

Mistake #3: Don't put a doo-doo looking graphic all over the screen when you don't know where the Undo button is.

After you take the picture, you can decorate your picture with strange clipart. I basically ruined the pic, but it makes for good comedy. Too bad I don't have a scanner! Yen blown: ¥500. It wasn't all bad though: Canal City is definitely my favorite place in Fukuoka so far. And even though the stores close around 9, there are still people there. We wandered around the streets that night, greatly impressed by the quantity of people out and about. I could definitely live there.

Day 2: Headed up to Tenjin, which supposedly has good "shopping." That is debatable, since all of the "stores" carry the same basic thing: hoochie mama clothing. I was so dizzy from all of the hooch that both Erich and I had to stand in an empty stairwell and catch our breath. Yen spent: ¥0.

Wandered around, tried to find a shrine and failed. Rode subway/walked instead up to Hawks Town. Found the Gap. Found Toys R Us. Found Starbucks. I know, how American of us! Truth is, you miss these things only when you don't have them. Yen spent: at least ¥5000.

Then, we decided to freshen up and eat at the tofu restaurant mentioned in the previous post.

Mistake #4: Never trust the Rough Guide to Japan, published in January 2005.

After walking around Canal City for an hour, we decided to ask the Information desk, "Ume no hana wa doko desu ka?" (Where is the Ume no hana restaurant?) Iee. It is gone. Bummer. Instead, we went to a conveyor belt sushi place, which is something I've wanted to try since the day I stepped foot in Japan.

Mistake #5: Never go to a conveyor style sushi place with only a few customers at the counter.

Round after round, the same fish-guts-over-rice concoctions rolled by. I wanted some inari tofu, dammit! I wanted cucumber rolls! I eventually managed to order some California rolls. Erich tried natto after I repeatedly warned him not to. The picture of his face says it all! I think we rolled out of there in under ¥1000.

Money in my wallet at this point: ¥2000. We planned to go to the Voodoo Lounge, but it was far from our hotel, which meant we would have to catch a cab. So instead, we bought sake and shochu drinks and went back to the hotel. Oh, I forgot to mention that I bought a ton of Engrish stuff at the station before heading out to Canal City (see the pictures). They are probably going to be given to people, so I apologize for broadcasting them to everyone before handing them over. They are too good!

Uneventful ride back, except for one thing. You know those ticket holders I told you about?

Mistake #6: Don't leave your ticket on the train!

You need your tickets before entering and after exiting trains in Japan. We exited the train, then I realized and sprinted back onto the train. After retrieving the tickets, the train left like 5 seconds later. Whew!

Thanks for sticking with me, typing out my mistakes even tires me out!

Hey kids! It's the ice cream truck...or...something...?

Picture this: you are a child. It's late summer, and you are walking home after school. It's hot - you long for something refreshing to wash down all of your anxieties of the day. Around the corner, you spot a truck. It is playing some sort of music...could it be...

An octopus ball truck?

Yep. I heard the annoying music long before actually seeing it pull in front of my house (still kicking myself for not getting a picture). Takoyaki are fried balls of flour interspersed with pieces of octopus tentacles. On the one I tried, the suckers on the tentacles were intact, resulting in a strange texture. It's hard to imagine children enjoying this - but the pictures of the smiling children holding octopusses (or is it octopii?) on the truck suggest that takoyaki is a children's treat.

This bizarre cultural tidbit brought to you by...nothing, since I ran out of wine.

We went to Hell this weekend

Friday night, I had my neighbors Monica, Suzie, and Makii over for Mexican food. We then headed off to the karaoke place 5 minutes from my house. I jumped around that room like a crazy person - funny how karaoke erases all inhibitions (or was that the alcohol?). Check out the pictures for more stories:

Kate Bush = Strange karaoke!

Saturday night was the NOLA benefit at Shin's in Shimabara. It was really good to see the hanto people, but the crowd was so dense it was hard to talk to people. Didn't get any good pics, unfortunately.

Sunday, Erich and I drove up to Unzen on a whim. I've been wanting to do it for a while, and it was a nice day so we just went for it. The pictures pretty much tell the story: it was absolutely gorgeous. I have never been anywhere so beautiful in my entire life. If you read this, TRY TO VISIT ME SO YOU CAN SEE IT. I actually burned out the battery on my camera by the time we got to the top of Mt. Fugen, which just means that WE HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! First, we walked around Unzen, a town famous for hot springs and jigoku (steam vents, aka "hells"). In the 17th century, Christians were killed here for not renouncing their faith. We didn't go to the Unzen Spa House (yet, waiting for fall), but we did bathe our feet in the foot onsen. Then we drove on up to Mt. Fugen, took the ropeway, and saw the most amazing views of my entire life. This is the closest I've ever been to an active volcano.


Check out the most beautiful place on earth

Teaching

I am not a very confident person. That is why I've been worried about standing up in front of a classroom and attempting to teach something. Not only do I lack confidence, but I have no teaching experience whatsoever. Recipe for disaster? I think so.

Eight lessons have passed, and I feel much better now. The little cuties actually enjoy hearing about my pathetic life. Talk about a confidence booster! When I tell them my dad was born in Japan and that my sister and brothers-in-law are all lawyers, they get so excited. And my niece! They think she is so "kawaii."

This job may just change me for the better.

PS - Funny classroom tidbit...one boy had a pencil case with the word "hemp" and a pot leaf on it. I wonder if he knows what that is...

The best Engrish I've seen yet...

Last night at the home and garden store, there was this sweet middle age lady looking at plants. Upon closer inspection:



In other news, I'm at work today with a typhoon blowing outside.

Last night, I found the cutest little lizard in my apartment...the little bugger was fast, but we caught him. I love the little lizards here - last week during cleaning, some students let me hold one that they caught and it started sleeping in my hands. I think the approaching typhoon is causing the critters to come out. Looks like we're getting a big one tomorrow, so the students are not coming to school. The teachers do have to be here, but I was told I can take nenkyu (vacation day). This is a bit of a culture shock, since we didn't have to take vacation for natural phenomena in America. I've been questioned many times about Katrina by my colleagues, and whether or not it affected my home. It's hard not to get emotional about it, because a city I went to regularly as a child is destroyed. It seems like yesterday I was walking through the French Quarter, and now it's a disease-infested swamp.

And now for a lighter topic:

This weekend, aka "Around the Hanto in 24 hours"

Part I - Friday night enkai
Friday night was the school enkai at the onsen. We had a fancy dinner at the spa restaurant, which consisted of many things I could not identify, but they were nice enough to only serve me fish (I hope!). One of the teachers made an origami figure with red hair to mark my seat, which is absolutely delightful. I saved it and will take a picture soon. One interesting thing I noticed about the enkai is that although I was told many times in orientation that it is polite to fill up other's glasses, I didn't expect it to be so frequent.

Gaijin Observation #1: Drinking with coworkers in Japan will get you drunk.

I would literally take one sip from my glass before someone topped it off! It was a rather nerve-wracking experience, especially when they put me in the spotlight and asked me questions. I don't usually like being the center of attention, but will have to get used to it here. After the Q&A session with the gaijin, I headed off to the onsen with my JTE and a few other teachers.

Gaijin Observation #2: Getting naked with your coworkers is weird.

In Japan, you always go into onsens naked. For this reason, they have men's and women's baths. So after stripping down, you go to the showering area to wash yourself before entering the onsen. I followed my JTE, and reasoned that it would be a good idea to shower for about the same amount of time. So two other teachers come and go, and my JTE is still washing. About 20 minutes of showering has elapsed, and she is still not done.

Gaijin sub-observation #2: My JTE is obsessive-compulsive.

So I decide to proceed without her. Wrapping my towel around me, I entered the onsen. She calls out, "Erica-sensei - no towel!" Shit. Modesty goes out the window in Japan, but the bath sure is nice. It was so hot I could only tolerate a few minutes of it though. After we got out, they all showered again. So in the end, I did about 30 minutes of preparation for a 5 minute bath. Welcome to Japan.

Part II - "Around the hanto in 24 hours" coming soon!

I got a car!

Hallelujah!
Now I can do what what normal people do without dying of heat. I love my tiny Japanese car!


Check it out!

First Day of School

Last night we went to Suzie's for dinner...she made chili and I brought guacamole...mmmmm...Then we watched "House of Flying Daggers" with Japanese subtitles since Makii was there, and amazingly enough, it was easy to understand. I don't know where in China it takes place, but I so want to go there!

School has started - finally! We have an opening ceremony today, and then the students take tests the rest of the day. Tomorrow, they have more tests, then I do my introduction lesson. I am scared. Found out that several years ago, the school had about 600 students. That number has decreased to 200 because of the declining birth rate.

Today the students greeted me with cheers and "Good Mornings!" What a wonderful way to start the day...

Weekend Update Part Deux - Sasebo

I wasn't really planning on going anywhere this weekend, but when Suzie called and tempted me with a beach party, I had to say yes. We headed up to Isahaya Saturday by way of Maki. After Suzie got her keitai and I was green with envy, we took a train to Sasebo to meet up with Suzie's friends. We bought 3 bottles of shochu and headed up to her friend Jenny's flat, which is TINY compared to our apartments here (there are advantages to living in the inaka!). We spent the afternoon laughing at the Jehovah's witness propaganda that Jenny received and talking about scary right-wing news websites.


Jehovah's witness propaganda is funny

Later, we took a bumpy shuttle ride to Shirahama beach for the party. It was not quite what I had in mind - I expected a laid back event but it was actually quite the opposite. Within 5 minutes of our arrival, Suzie's purse went missing. We had heard that there were lots of Navy guys about and not to bring anything valuable, but it was still upsetting. We tried to have fun anyway - there were some really friendly drunk Japanese people who had the cutest puppy, and we talked to them for a while. They kept giving us food, and I'm not really sure what I ate, but just went with it anyway. I was pretty grossed out by the Navy guys grinding on skanky Japanese women...it reminded me of an MTV beach party. So Erich and I just enjoyed our time on the beach, but stayed far away from all of the action.

Later we lost Suzie, found her, she found her purse again, and Erich and I decided to leave. Jenny was really kind and let us go back to her flat, which we also shared with a Kiwi named Sena (pronounced Xena). The next morning we toured around the shopping mall with a poor hungover Suzie, and found an awesome used clothing store and a temple.

Weekend update part I - BOE BBQ

Friday night was the Board of Education barbeque.


Click here for gaijin dress up and more!

I tried some strange seafood, like scallops with all of the junk around them (which I later found out that I wasn't supposed to eat, nasty!), and fish cakes. But the most interesting thing about this party was the people. There was this guy named Gonzo who loved telling us about his rock band and kept refilling our already-full beer cups. We sang some Nirvana back and forth, and he loved it when Erich sang "Love in an Elevator." We now own a CD from Gonzo's band, which is wicked.

The children played a game that was sort of like a watermelon pinata. The men dragged Erich up there, and loved him so much that they made him try again. Then I went, but apparently they didn't like me as much because I only went once. Then, after the watermelon was busted, they asked Erich to head-butt it. He karate chopped it instead. Erich was definitely the life of the party, which is funny if you know him. He usually just sits in the corner at parties, but in Japan, they love him!

Many beers later, my supervisor's best friend plopped his 1-year-old daughter on my lap. I noticed that he was getting ripped while his wife was sweetly standing by...and their daughter was the cutest thing ever! I don't think women drink in Japan. I hope they don't think I'm a total nutcase for drinking with the men!

I'm sure much more happened, so I hope Erich elaborates on it in his journal. But I think in our many drunken conversations I may have roped myself and Erich into playing softball tonight...yikes!

Part Deux - Sasebo Excursion coming soon!

An international tidbit...

Last night at the dinner table, there were:
2 Americans
1 Canadian
1 Kiwi
1 British
1 Japanese

Anyway, I have a busy weekend planned: tonight, my supervisor invited me to a barbecue on the beach. Don't really know what to expect, except that I know there will be alcohol. It's not really an enkai, but close enough!

Tomorrow, there is a huge reggae beach party near Sasebo (about 2.5 hours away). Suzie found out about it through her British friends in the area, so we are going to get a ride up to Isahaya with Maki (her cute little Japanese friend who we ate dinner with last night). From there, we will take a bus to Sasebo. It will be tricky finding a place to crash that night; I hope we don't have to sleep on the beach. It's weird because I'm not usually the type to just go somewhere without a concrete plan, but this time I will try not to worry and just go with it. My personality will be saved from the planning police!

Will someone buy this guy a drink?

Beware the squatter!

I was really tired and run-down last night after going on a renegade restaurant investigation of my town. Couldn't figure out why, then I realized that I haven't been drinking any water! A closer self-investigation yielded a subconcious effort to avoid squat toilets.

They are everywhere public: at the beach, in restaurants, at my school. Their presence has made me weary of drinking too much, since I nearly fell over on my first attempt. I've had to wash several pairs of pants that got splashed on because I can't aim. This is the one situation in which I am glad that few people speak English so they don't understand my cussing...

I can definitely see why men have an easier time here...

Food

Sorry to constantly drivel away like this, but for once in my life, I actually have something to write about. I guess that's one of the reasons I wanted to come to Japan...

Now what was I going to say again? Oh yeah...food. My mother has been worrying about what the hell I am eating here. I'm sure my pictures of junk food and drunken nights at orientation have done nothing but add to her worries, so that is the point of this entry: I have been eating well!

You know those things we call "potstickers" in America? Well they are all over the place here, known as "gyoza." Problem is, they are always made with meat. I love them too much to let that get me down, so I decided to make my own. There are these wonderful things in stores here that are like wonton wrappers, so all you have to do is prepare the filling. Tonight, I cut up shittake mushrooms (100 yen, unbelievable!) green onions, garlic, and ginger, then added spices. It was a little tricky to close some of the wontons and some of them fell apart, but for the most part, they turned out well.


The reason I cook for myself is because eating out has been a chore. Most places around here are noodle places, and I love noodles, but I'm afraid of finding meat in my food. That being said, people do understand vegetarianism here. In fact, last week my fellow teachers asked me if I could eat noodles. I said yes, then told them about my semi-vegetarianism. They showed me how to cook somen noodles, then told me to invite Erich for lunch. We then ate noodles while talking in broken English and Japanese about the Dewey Decimal system.

Man, I am going to get fat here.

Yesterday was the most beautiful day EVER. It was less humid, sunny, and cooler with a nice breeze. So what did we do with this beautiful day? Why, go to Target of course!

Well, it's not really Target, but the Japanese equivalent is called Jusco. It had everything our little foreign selves desired, including a donut shop of all things! We stumbled out of there carrying a coffee pot (YES!), blender, and other various items. People stared at us like we were movie stars while we waited for the bus. I can't wait to get a car - it cost us $20 each to get there and back. Having a car in rural Japan pays for itself...

So today I've been tasked with writing an article about myself in Japanese for the local paper, due on Wednesday. What is a girl with very limited Japanese vocabulary to do? I am going to need a miracle to pull this off...

Nagasaki city orientation

So I just got back from the Nagasaki prefecture orientation...I wanted to stay for another day of sightseeing, but wore myself out hanging out with 21-year-olds. But by car it only takes about an hour and a half, so I figured there will be plenty of opportunities to go back.

My worries about getting there were completely voided by Monica - I am so lucky to have her as a neighbor (she's in Minamikushiyama, the next town over to the west). She was helping out with orientation, so she ended up driving Erich and I there. I love listening to her talk about the hanto in her New Zealand accent - she's truly a fascinating individual.

Besides an unfortunate incident where the elevator door tried to chew on me, the orientation itself was uneventful. I did receive "The Hanto for Dummies," which the lovely hanto JETs made for us. The first day, I had lunch with Suzie (my other neighbor to the east) and her British friends (I adore the way they say, "tomato"). Then everyone at orientation went to a local beer garden - it was a great opportunity to meet more peeps, since I sadly missed out on many of those opportunities in Tokyo because of our late flight. I ended up chatting with this guy named Mario from Greensboro. Then there is George - he also went to NCSU, but lived in Hawaii before moving to Japan. Extremely interesting dude - he is also a little older but still immature like me. :) Then we gathered a group to go to karaoke - it ended up being me, Erich, Mario, Aaron (my island-dwelling friend from the DC disaster), George, and a bunch of British people. George told me that "Creep" is a good karaoke song, so we sang it (if you can call it "singing"). The British people (sorry to lump them all together, but I can't remember all of their names) were belting out some Oasis. I made Erich sing "Eye of the Tiger." (hehe) Then we stumbled out of there like jackasses...we wandered around for about half an hour with no true goal of where we were going but we eventually found the hotel.

So the next day of orientation was torture because of the plethora of hangovers present in the audience. It ended at noon, so Erich and I did some shopping and hopped on a train and then a bus. The bus driver regarded me with confusion when I asked for a receipt...

Now we are watching "The Nutty Professor" dubbed in Japanese. I am pooped!

New Galleries!

Check out these new galleries:

Engrish sightings:


Obon fireworks festival in Kazusa:


Isahaya excursion:


There are a few stories behind the pictures in the Isahaya gallery:
We went into a combini to buy some Band-Aids for my feet, and the clerk was really nice. He gave us two free ice coffees!

Erich's funny improv Japanese:
There is a river that runs through Isahaya. A father and his two daughters were fishing. We hopped across the stepping stones, and one of the little girls proudly held up a tiny fish she caught. Erich said, "Ahh, sakana chiisai!" I have no idea if it's correct Japanese, but the little girl understood!

I am so frustrated right now...

My prefectural orientation is this coming Thursday and Friday in Nagasaki city. My supervisor arranged accommodation for me, but the paper he gave me did not indicate what nights I am staying. So while I tried to ask over the phone, he decided to come over here in person. Well it turns out that he only arranged for Thursday night, which means that I would have to make the 2.5-hour bus ride early on Thursday morning. He then told me that if I leave at 7:52 from Kazusa, I can change buses in Obama and get to Nagasaki at 9:57. Orientation is at 10:00. Do you see the problem?

I tried explaining to him over and over again that I am a scatterbrain and need more leeway in my travel schedule: Nagasaki is a big, scary city and I am unfamiliar with it; I cannot read kanji; I do not speak Japanese very well. Is there a bus that leaves earlier? He just laughed and looked confused. If it were a straight one-bus trip, I could definitely do it. But changing buses in yet another unfamiliar city? No way.

So while I was trying to explain all of this, the other 2 people in the staff room got involved. They even tried arranging to take me in their cars to Nagasaki! That's a nice offer, but all I need is an earlier bus. So finally, I just told my supervisor that I will go on Wednesday, find another hotel, and then stay in the one he arranged Thursday.

Oh, man.

PS - There is the most adorable little girl in the staff room right now. She took her little hat off and started pretending it was another person! So cute.

I just learned that North Carolina is roughly the size of Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku combined! (that's Japan's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest islands, respectively. And in case you are unaware, I am on Kyushu.) And get this: North Carolina has a population of 8.5 million. Kyushu's population is 13 million...that is a major population density difference. The crazy things I learn when preparing to teach...

Erich is here as of yesterday...

...he was supposed to be here Saturday, but couldn't get a train because of Obon (an unofficial Japanese holiday when Japanese people go back to their old homes and remember loved ones who have passed on with various ceremonies).

So I rode the bus to Isahaya yesterday to get him. It was amazingly simple, but expensive - it cost 1500 yen each way (which is about $30 round trip). Yikes. But he is here! And the best thing was seeing his reactions to everything: the hanto, the town, the language barrier. We walked around Isahaya for a few hours, which has plenty of big department stores and restaurants. The department store in Isahaya is a goldmine of Engrish activity. Just wait for the pictures! While stopping at a combini, a really nice clerk gave us free coffee. :) We then took a picture with him. Then, I successfully ordered my first vegetarian meal at a restaurant. It was only pizza, but still! Language obstacle conquered.

We rode back into Kazusa armed with a pen and paper, to look for English conversation schools in the area. We didn't manage to find any along the way, but I'm sure if he asks around, Erich will find a job.

I can't wait to get my car so we can explore the hanto. Most of the other JETs on the hanto own cars, and I can see why. There are many onsens and parks to see here, and I feel like we are trapped at home because of the oppressive heat. And we also need furniture - we don't have anything to sit on, and the futon is twin-sized. Feels like college days all over again...

Pictures of Yodahama beach party

That was a blast - hopefully there will be many more! The Japanese sunburned guy was really cracking Suzie up. I still have mosquito bites all over me - including a nasty bite on the stomach (but I'm still not sure how it bit through my shirt!).

In other news, Erich is coming to the hanto tomorrow! He called last night after I went to bed, and told me that his flight from Raleigh to New York was 2 hours late. I was too tired and pissy to process that information then, but I hope he gets here safely. It will be really nice to see a familiar face, since I am so homesick out here. I also talked to Hilda the other night, who is another JET from Raleigh. She is stationed in Miyazaki, which is not too far from here. We hung out all throughout orientation, and plan to meet up in Fukuoka in September/October. She is awesome and I can't wait to see her again!

How come...

When an adult stares, it's just creepy. But when a child stares, it's cute. I came to this realization when shopping for groceries the other day...for some reason, five-year olds think I am the most interesting thing in the world. And I love it!

Yesterday, my school had a peace ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the atomic bomb. In the morning, I helped the children clean the school. Then, I had to stand up in front of the school and introduce myself in Japanese. Then the students did a presentation with slides and stories about the war. I couldn't really understand, but got the jist of it. Afterwards, a student asked me if I liked the ceremony...how nice!

My JTE told me that in a poll done in America, 99% of high school students believe the atomic bomb was necessary to stop the war. I didn't really know what to say, so I just asked her what she thought. She did not agree. It's a really sensitive issue here, so I am just going to try not to bring it up.

Pictures!

I wish I could post these directly, but it would take too long!

Pictures of our Minneapolis fiasco

Pictures of Tokyo

Pictures of my new home

Pictures of Shimabara

Here is an excerpt from my journal, written last week:
Pics coming soon!

August 5th

Seeing a child smile in Kazusa is the most beautiful thing in the world. I think that might be the only thing that gets me through this week, until Erich gets here. The isolation from English speakers is already starting to get to me, and I've only been here a day!

First of all, I have to try to describe this place. Imagine a rural town of about 9,000 people crammed into a shoebox. The Japanese people are not mountain people, and this area is full of mountains. So they pack themselves into the only low-level land available. The results are narrow roads and people practically living on top of each other. It's kind of cool that I live on top of a restaurant, and a store is only about 10 steps away. I never could have guessed it would be like this!

The scenery here is amazing. I have never been anywhere this beautiful – lots of lush greenery, palm trees, and butterflies surrounded by the bluest water. It almost makes the hotter-than-the deepest-pits-of-hell weather worth it. Almost. (because you all know that I hate the heat! Blech!)

Now let me talk about the food. Erase everything you know about Japanese food in the United States - it just isn't the same. Imagine noodles drowned in mayonnaise with some meat on top. I would be practically starving right now if it weren't for these yummy tofu rice balls. Provided I don't stuff my gut with too much Pocky, I might actually lose some weight here!

Now when I say that there are no English speakers here, I mean it. The only "jouzu" English speakers are my supervisor, Sumimoto-san, and my JTE, Miro-sensei. But they probably only understand 30% of what I say. I have learned that if I have a question and they don't respond and take action immediately, they didn't understand. But when they do, they are so helpful. When I got here, I asked Sumimoto-san how to hook up the Internet in my apartment (my only connection to the outside world; it's kind of important). He just kind of looked at me and nodded to indicate that he understood the word "Internet." So later, I showed him my DSL modem and then pointed to my apartment wall. It's now going to be hooked up on the 16th!

On to my apartment. Mine is big by Japanese standards – 3 tatami rooms, genkan (hallway/entrance), a kitchen, and a bath. I have 2 air conditioners which operate by remote control (I would die without this, but I’m kind of afraid of my electric bill!). It's pretty old – there are stains on the walls, and the kitchen is anything but modern. The bathroom is kind of weird – there is a room for just the toilet (oteirai), a room for the tub (which is a Japanese style heated tub) and shower (I'd die without this!). The washing machine and sink are between those two "rooms." There is a drain in the middle of this area for the washer to drain into (old school!). Yesterday, my landlord came a-knocking to tell me about trash collection, all in Japanese. Now I have to decipher the sheet he gave me. Then, after looking at my massive shoe collection in surprise, he gave me a block to put my shoes on in the genkan that says, "Studying Joy." Speaking of Engrish, my supervisor's boss was wearing a shirt yesterday that said, "Dolce Margarita." Anyway, besides the obvious lack of décor, the apartment is nice. And I haven't seen a bug yet! *knocking on a big old block of wood*

So let me talk about being the only gaijin (foreigner) in town. This town has had ALTs, but there was a one-year gap between the last ALT and me. The last one they had was an Australian girl, and she was on her second year when she had to go home due to illness. So this area hasn't seen any Americans for quite a while. Yesterday, the local paper took my picture. My JTE introduced me to some children yesterday (who, quite remarkably, are out of school for the summer, but still come here to practice music) who were ecstatic that I am American. I guess I'm living the stereotypical "celebrity" JET experience. By the way, the "Can you use chopsticks?" thing is so true!

I am at my school. There are only 2 computers hooked up to the Internet here, so I am going to have my home wired on the 16th. Until then, updates will be few and far between.

Sorry I haven't had time to email everybody - it has been a busy couple of days. I didn't really elaborate on the last post much because of time, so here goes:

On Saturday night when our flight was cancelled and there was mass confusion in a group of over 100 JETs, the airline put us up in the Holiday Inn. We ended up having a blast, because there was karaoke in the hotel that night. I will post some more pictures later after I am on my own computer again. Some highlights were our rendition of "Dancing Queen" and "Baby Got Back."

So after partying until midnight, we had to be up at 4:00 to catch the shuttle. Luckily, my roomie Hilda woke me up, or I would have been screwed. Then we were on an airplane for 11 hours.

Tokyo! I am still in awe of that place. Everyone should see it at least once. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves later.

Orientation. So we walked into the middle of orientation, known as "that group whose flight was cancelled." The Keio Plaza hotel rocked. Hilda and I swam in the pool, which also had a great view of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. I can't wait to show the pictures! I didn't get much of a chance to walk around Tokyo, but walking around the Shinjuku area was probably the most fun I've ever had. Everywhere you look, there is something to see. Our last night in Tokyo, I went with a group of people to sing karaoke. We drank and sang and had a great time. Can't wait to do karaoke again!

So then I went with the Nagasaki group to our prefecture. Will post this story later, as I have already written it but it's on my computer.

Damn it! The cord to my camera has been sent to the airport along with my bag. So I stole some photos from Hilda instead!









I'll post more of Tokyo later...these were all taken at the airport!

I should be, but...

I am not in Tokyo yet! My plane out of Minneapolis was delayed until tomorrow morning, because fuel was literally dripping off the wing as we all watched it. And the scary thing is, we are taking the same plane tomorrow! Here is my depiction of what happened, enhanced with Radiohead lyrics:



But we are being put up in a swanky hotel tonight, and seeing as we all have to be up at 4:00, it is a fun party. Really, we are having fun! But I can't post pictures of the fun because the wireless in this hotel is shit.

Oh well...hopefully I'll be in Tokyo soon!

Just received the papers from my Contracting Organization in Kazusa. Here are the highlights:

Rent: ¥35,000 (about $320 a month)
Deposit: ¥105,000 (about $1000 - yikes! But this is because I have no predecessor...I guess it's better that this fall on me than on someone straight out of college)
My new address: 3382 ki, Kazusa town Minamitakaki-gun, Nagasaki, Japan
Under the "Special leave" section: Special leave shall be provided for the periods set out in the following items: (Menstrual leave) Those days when a female JET is unable to work due to severe menstrual discomfort. (LOL!)

Overall, it looks like a fair contract. I am relieved that there isn't a statement prohibiting others from cohabitating with me. I've heard some horror stories on Big Daikon about prefectures not allowing couples to live together, even if they are engaged.

I also found out that this is close to me - how cool!

Wow. I'm still processing my placement info and getting overwhelmed! Well, um, not overwhelmed by the size of my town (which is quite underwhelming at ~8000 peeps), but by the area in general.

Here's the town website. I can't read a word of it, but the splash page has some neat pics! I guess I'll have to become a beach bum and swim with the dolphins. <--that's a hilarious comment if you know me...the irony...

So the area I will be living on is known as the Shimabara Hanto peninsula. There are plenty of hot springs, a volcano (last eruption: 1991), and lots of Christian architecture. Yes, Christians settled this area long ago...Nagasaki is one of the most diverse areas of Japan. The Dutch influence is huge (which might be a factor in how I got placed here, because I mentioned in the interview that my mother is a Dutch immigrant).

*breathes* Must get back to research!

Placement!

Nagasaki-ken
Kazusa-machi

Right on the motherfuckin' ocean! I'm not sure how I feel about that yet - will post more about it after doing some research.

I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted

I am so excited! Yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from the embassy telling me that I am upgraded to JET Program participant. I am still in shock - there is so much to do before I leave July 31st.

Even though Erich was not selected, he will come with me anyway. The salary I will be making is enough to support us, but I hope that he'll find something once we're there. It also depends on where we go. Pretty much my only guesses at this point involve a blindfold and a dartboard...

Anyone need any furniture? Did I mention that I am excited? I feel like having a party.