Spreading Nina Love All Over the World

New Blog

2009-10-17T15:22:00.002+09:00

With a new chapter of my life comes a new blog:

Nina in Okazaki

Leaving Florida

2009-09-25T22:39:00.001+09:00

I'm leaving the States on Monday. Check out my photo album again, I've added some more pics. Mostly of food ;)

CLICK HERE

Driving CM

2009-09-14T12:19:00.003+09:00

Ok, maybe I like American commercials too...but only a little ;)

My Summer...

2009-09-03T00:34:00.002+09:00

So far (<--- link!)

It's Good to be Home

2009-08-31T00:59:00.002+09:00

Some things have changed and yet some things have stayed the same.

US 19 and Interstate 275 are TOTALLY different but just as dangerous to drive on.

The radio stations play the same music they've been playing since I was in High School. What? Haven't heard something new in 8 years? It was like strolling through memory lane.

The house is different. New furniture and windows. New fixtures and upgrades...new TVs that take forever to turn on and change the channels but get HD cable so I'm not complaining.

Same old stuff on TV. Reality shows where people argue about some of the weirdest stuff. That's not normal people!!!

In some respects I feel like a Japanese exchange student walking into America for the first time. What?! People here are so much bigger and taller! I come up to everyones chest and it feels so weird and uncomfortable to be this short! Have I always been this short?!

It makes my skin crawl to even THINK about walking into a house with shoes on. And then I look over at my friend who not only has her shoes on but her feet are on the couch too! AHHHHHHHHHH

The food here is so rich and delicious! Much more delicious than I remember it (^u^)v

The rooms are so large. I could fit a whole family in my bedroom! But yet, it's still not large enough to relearn my Yosakoi dance. How did I ever manage to practice it in my tiny apartment back in Kochi?

I'm grateful to my friends for not making fun of me for this either. Wait, how do I text message someone? I just send it to their telephone number? How novel!

ATMs are open after 6pm? Well, what time do they open in the morning? They're 24 hours? How convenient!

I walked into Sam's club and just about fell over. A giant cake for $10? Where did it come from?! Who made it and were they payed well? Cuz that same cake would be well over $30 in Japan! It blows my mind.

People are so loud and in your face here. They're extra rude but super friendly. Neither of which I would find in Japan! I go into a grocery store and the woman working the register greets me with the most bored expression I have ever seen. I feel instantly bad for bothering her! But then we joke about the price of head bands and she tells me how I can get a discount if I do something or other.

In Japan, the cashier would politely smile with the warmth to melt your heart but then not stray from her set script because doing otherwise might lose her her job! Nothing but the utmost politeness and coldness.

It's good to be home and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel out of place and right where I've always been all at the same time. I'm happy to be here but I miss Japan all the same.

Can't I have both?

I heart Japanese commercials

2009-07-28T21:52:00.004+09:00

This is my current favorite commercial. It's an advert for the new Daihatsu Move Eco car.

Personally, I just love that dancing deer. BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Packing

2009-07-25T15:19:00.004+09:00

I'm packing up my life of 3 years in this place. It's a pain in the ass to say the least ;)

Monday is my last night in this apartment and I'm crossing my fingers that my car will be packed at ready to ship out to the J-families house my that evening.

Anywho, check out how my summer has been so far!

Ending

2009-07-04T12:15:00.005+09:00

I have not been looking forward to packing up and saying goodbye to everyone. In fact, I think I am more in love with Japan than I have been in a very very long time and I'm not looking forward to leaving it.

I am, however, looking forward to going home, having some REAL food and saying hello to everyone I haven't seen in 2 years. And then after 6 weeks I think I'll be ready to come back here again ;)

~~~~~~
My working visa expires on August 6th, when my contract ends. But I plan to stay in Japan until the 15th. So I need to change my Working Visa into a Visitors Visa. Easier said than done.

On Thursday, I began gathering all the paperwork together. This thoroughly stressed me out. I couldn't find any information for what I actually needed specifically. Why was this so difficult?!!?

And I thought, if only my supervisor were here! But sadly she's in the hospital. (I REALLY hope she's ok...but she's going on her second month of being out and I'm sure that can't be a good sign)

So, I'm kinda on my own...or so I thought.

The vice principal (aka Kyoto-sensei) came up to see what I was doing. I vented a little and told her I had no idea what I was doing, and her response to that was "Nina, do you want me to call the immigration bureau? We can have this all figured out, no problem. Should I call the prefectural main office? Here, let me look for the application for you in Japanese. I'll even print it out for you. Are you having any other problems? PLEASE TELL ME HOW I CAN HELP YOU!"

I almost burst into tears of joy. What a wonderful woman!

And THEN!

I need a copy of my plane ticket home to prove that I have a set date for leaving Japan but the prefectural office (who is buying the ticket for me) said I won't have it until a week before I leave...odd.

So Kyoto-sensei called them and told them I need a copy for this visa application. They told her that they would send the ticket to her by the end of the week but not to give ME the ticket until it's time for me to leave.

Kyoto-sensei tells me all this with an odd look on her face and ends by saying "why wouldn't I give you the ticket? You're not a child."

I do love her, ah!

But then that makes me wonder, why the hell wouldn't they give me the ticket? I'm sure somewhere in the past some ALT screwed things up for the rest of us but...really...I'm not a child (o.0)

~~~~

Finally, last night was the second of the many going away parties being held this month.

I usually don't have fun at parties like this and I REALLY wasn't looking forward to it. An entire party devoted to saying goodbye to me. Speeches, presents and sushi...mmm not liking it so much.

This was the party held by Odochi HS. Remember, the HS I had SUCH a hard time with in the beginning. And now, I'm really sad to be leaving. (for the most part) I won't miss sitting in the teachers room for hours at least.

Anyway, I actually had the most fun last night than I have had at ANY drinking party.

In my first year I went to these parties and hated them. Just sitting around not being able to talk to anyone. I would go to the toilet just to get away from everyone! Then in my second and third year,I just stopped going. They were way overpriced anyway :P

But, well, I guess my Japanese has improved in 3 years ;) and these parties are WAY more fun when you actually sit around and talk to people! I had such a wonderful time!!!

These people may look like stuffy old people ;) (hahahaha) but check out the teacher on the left! They sure know how to pretend to be "normal" hahahahaha!

One of my favorite JTEs of all time. *sigh* I'm really going to miss her!!!

Anyway, I got another one of these things next week and then another one the next :P weee

Ya-foo

2009-07-02T21:07:00.002+09:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. I was busy with the Largo Student Exchange and now I'm in full swing "Nina Evacuation".

And speaking of "getting the hell out of here" I've been in the process of canceling accounts and packing up. Today, I got around to calling YahooBB to cancel my service.

Customer Service Representative: Thank you for calling the YahooBB English Hotline, how can I help you?
Nina: Yes, I'd like to cancel my service by the end of this month.
CSR: Certainly, we'll send you the cancellation paperwork right away. It should be there within the week. The service is billed monthly so your internet connection will continue until the end of this month. If we do not receive the cancellation paperwork by the end of this month, we will charge you for next month.
Nina: That's fine. I should have it sent before then.
CSR: May I ask you how you are currently being billed?
Nina: Direct withdrawal from my bank account. It will be closed by the end of this month.
CSR: Is there any way for the account to remain open for the month of August?
Nina:...I'm leaving the country, so I don't think that's possible. Is there anyway for you to send me a paper bill that I can pay myself?
CSR: I'm sorry to say that's not possible. YahooBB will bill July's service in August. Go ahead and close the account. When we see that the account is no longer active, we will send a paper bill to your address in September. Is that ok?
Nina:.... (Not gonna be there but...) Sure.

YahooBB really has their thumbs up their asses. If the company had an eye, I'd spit in it. If they know NOW that I will not be able to pay via bank account, why can't they go into the computer system NOW and change the billing instead of waiting 2 months!?!?!???!?!?!

2 months seems to be a big thing with this company. Their world revolves on a 2 month system. Nothing will ever happen faster than 2 months. Good Lord how their systems would crash if someone were to go in and MANUALLY adjust something.

Disclaimer: Everyone I have ever spoken to that works for YahooBB has been nothing more than the epitome of kindness. Japan will never be beat when it comes to politeness and customer respect.

Also, I realize this isn't ACTUALLY a major issue. Sure, they'll bill me in September and I'll pay it and be fine. It's not like I'm falling off the face of the planet. If this is the worst thing I ever have to deal with in Japan (and let me assure you, things could be MUCH worse) I think I'm getting off pretty well.

At the same time, YahooBB is fucking shit...just fyi

2009-06-24T18:37:00.002+09:00

It's hot...and I've been busy...

What a Fuss!

2009-06-01T22:32:00.002+09:00

...over nothing...

RIP

Oh well. So much for my lucky money beetle (;-;)

Flies in My Eyes

2009-05-30T09:17:00.004+09:00

Since February I've been seeing this little black spot floating around my left eye. I thought it would go away but I'm sure no one is surprised to hear that it didn't.

So when I went to the doctor this last week to get new contacts, I asked her about it. She said it's nothing big but usually doesn't happen until people are in their 40's or at least 30's. *sigh* I'm falling apart!!!

So she dilated my eye and tried to stick a flashlight in there to check it out.

Now, I remember getting this done regularly back in the states. It was uncomfortable, sure, but this time around I could NOT force my eye to stay open! It's not so much that it hurt to have the light stuck in it, it's just that I had such a strong automatic reaction to close my eye that even holding it open with my fingers couldn't keep my eye wide enough to see clearly into.

So she took a picture!

She still couldn't see everything because I was scrunching my eyes so much. I think she was getting annoyed after a time. ;P

Ah well! I got a neato picture in the end!

Batocera lineolata

2009-05-29T21:49:00.002+09:00

Batocera lineolata
aka シロスジカミキリ (shirosuji kami kiri)　<-- "White muscle paper cutter" (I'm not very good at translations)

I asked my Japanese teacher and she said he was of the "Kami Kiri" family. In English this is the Longed Horn Beetle, so I wasn't too far off in my last post.

I also heard from a teacher friend of mine that in Japanese culture, gold bugs bring good luck in fortune if they're treated well.

Welp, I haven't shoo'ed this thing off yet, she seems happy enough and I could sure use the cash ;)

To tell the truth, she hasn't done any damage as far as I can tell so I think I'll let her stay for a bit longer. I was just throwing around the idea that I needed a pet hampster or something. This just goes to show the PTB really do have a sense of humer (^_-)v

And besides, I'm leaving in 2 months and if she did mess up my plants by laying eggs in their soil or something, it's not like I could take them with me anyway :P

Long Horn Beetle

2009-05-25T08:09:00.003+09:00

Still there this morning.

I THINK it's probably a long horned beetle.

And if that thing is eating away at my plant stand I'll be REALLY...meh. At least it's not my herbs :P

Friend or Foe?

2009-05-24T14:05:00.002+09:00

What is it?

Does it kill other bugs? (yeah!)

Or does it eat my plants? (boo)

If Japan=Tokyo does Tokyo=Japan?

2009-05-20T21:24:00.003+09:00

It wasn't until about half way through this video before I was able to pin point how my experiences here in Japan have been different than what I was seeing.

My first thought was children.

For years Japan has had huge issues with their baby population. No one is having any kids.

What I didn't know until recently is that Kochi is booming with children. There having a hard time finding daycares for all of them!

But when I go to big cities like Tokyo, I'm hard pressed to find children anywhere...maybe it's because I always go to touristy areas...but then again, maybe not.

Anyway, this video shows a very popular restaurant style known as "kaiten zushi" or conveyor belt sushi. Here in Kochi, you won't find any Kaiten Zushi places that aren't equipped with at least a handful of family sized booths. No matter what time of day, you'll find families with children at places like this. I guess not so much in Tokyo.

Also, I hear, and have seen first hand, how impersonal people are in Tokyo. No one will look at you straight in the eye. No one will acknowledge your presence. If you make a mistake on a super crowded train, no worries, no one was watching you anyway...or rather, they've just gotten really good at hiding that they were actually staring at you the whole time ;)

Welp, not so much in Kochi! There's no way that camera would have made it all the way around the store without someone staring right into the camera, someone commenting and pointing as it goes along, someone picking it up and then quickly putting it back or some child picking it up just to have his mother tell him to "give it back to the sushi chief" (since clearly it was a mistake to put it on a plate on the conveyor belt in the first place)

So there HA! I live in the real world Japan. Everyone else lives in a bubble in Tokyo!

No Lasting Effects

2009-05-18T08:56:00.009+09:00

Friday Night
After writing the last post I went home and cleaned the entire apartment. It seems to be a coping mechanism for me :P

Anyway, a few friends came over and we made the worst Okonomiyaki I think I've ever had. It was still delicious because Okonomiyaki is fail proof but we came really close anyway.

Overall: good party but still a crap day.

Saturday
I woke up bright and early, made my lunch and headed to school (-.-) I then traveled around the prefecture with a handful of students to watch their classmates compete with other high school students. It was surprisingly exhausting.

That afternoon, the teacher who sits next to me suggested that we go to Yamda Denki Electronics store and figure this whole internet thing out together. I am forever grateful to her for this.

We got there at 6:30pm. We did not leave until close to 9 and it was the same run around as we had on the phones on Friday. What's your phone number? What's your ID number? We can't help you.

I got really angry at one point and almost walked right out of the store. I would have too if my desk neighbor hadn't been sitting right there waiting for me to calm down and take my seat at the counter again.

It's just that the problem is only with the modem!!! I have no problem with the service!!! And if they can charge me every month they can figure out who I am lickity split!!!

At 9:30 we left and headed to an "American" style restaurant (as American as Outback Steakhouse is Australian) and I gorged myself on enough meat to make a Atkins fanatic proud.

Afterwards, I went over to Steven's place to have a pity party. He convinced me to check my apartment just one more time because there is just no way I would have ever thrown something like that little tiny piece of paper away.

Overall: REALLY crap day

Sunday
1:30 in the morning, I tore my desk apart. I found old receipts from cellphone bills, bank transfers, old envelopes that had nothing in them. I found sewing kits, glue, tape, post-its I had been searching ages for.

I did not however find very much dirt or dust. Score cleanliness bonus points for Nina.

And then I found that stupid little bit of paper. It had somehow made it's way up and under and inside my desk. Even upon moving out of the apartment I would have never thought to look there.

What a pain in the ass!!!!

And so I went to bed :P

At 10am, I called the English help line.

Operator: Good morning, how can I help you?
Nina: Yes, I'm having a problem with my modem, it has no power so I'll need a new one.
O: May I have your telephone number?
N: *sigh* Can I give you my account number instead?
O: No, I can only look for your information using your telephone number.
N: (-.-) 090-###-####
O: Hmmm we don't seem to have you on record.
N: Really? You don't say...
O: Have you changed your number recently?
N: Never.
O: Never?
N: (for the um-teenth time) NEVER
O: Ummm...uhhh...ssssss....ummm...
N: ... (-.-#)
O: OH! Can I have your account number?
N: Yes, I just happen to have it right here. It's #############
O: May I have your name? Birthday? Address?
N: blah blah
O: Alright, I have your information right here! It seems you gave me the wrong telephone number. Your number is ###-never-seen-b4
N: Fascinating... (-.-####)
O: Now, can you tell me what the problem is with your modem?
N: It has no power.
O: Ok, are you by the modem now? Can you tell me with lights are on?
N: ...there are no lights on.
O: oh...ummm...uhhh....sssss....Can you hold a moment please?
N: ...
O: Thank you for holding! We'll send you a new modem on Tuesday. Thank you very much and have a great day!

This is a classic example of how no one teaches logical problem solving in Japan. If the computer did not tell this operator what to do, she wouldn't have known. If she had gone to her supervisor for help, he/she would have had the same problem. If it's not in the manual, if no one told them before hand what to do, they just wouldn't be able to take matters into their own hands and figure it out themselves. This is the way Japan works. This is how it has always been and will always be.

I am NOT calling anyone stupid for not being able to think logically. I have some great, BRILLIANT students but if I don't tell them exactly what to do and how to do it, they would be lost. It's just how they have always been taught to be.

But I'll have my internet soon and I know how to logically problem solve, so for today I'm ok.

Week from Hell

2009-05-15T15:28:00.002+09:00

Sunday
I went bike riding with a friend and then had dinner with some new and interesting people. Not a bad day.

Monday
Good day for classes but one of the students made fun of my accent. Later that day, I emailed a guy I WAS trying to flirt with about how my student made fun of me. He then replied with a correction to my Japanese. The conversation abruptly ended...and not for any lack of effort on my part. Just fyi guys, that's a really great way NOT to be attractive.
Also, I started having a few personal issues unrelated to the above.
Overall, a bad day.

Tuesday
Decent day at work but for some reason I was exhausted by the end of it all. I went to my monthly English conversation hour at a cafe and couldn't really do much conversing because I was so tired. I then drove up to my Japanese families place and couldn't keep up with the conversations there either.
Overall, slightly bad.

Wednesday
In the morning, my Japanese mum asked me "how many sandwiches would you like for lunch". I had no idea what she was saying. Her 12yr old daughter had to translate. How sad is that?!!?
Overall, kinda crap day

Thursday
Decent day at school. One of the teachers randomly asked me to figure out how to order wallpaper from Ralph Lauren. Personally, I don't think it can be done. BUT I told him I would call the international number when I got home. I figured it would help my karma points.
However, when I got home, I found that my modem was completely powerless. Why? No one knows.
Overall...stupidly busy and irritating day

Friday
I brought the modem to work to have my supervisor call the service provider and ask them to replace it. She called and couldn't get further than "who are you?" because it seems my internet provider doesn't know me. They charge me every month. They've given me continuous service for 3 years but because I lost the account number they sent me all those 3 years ago, they don't know who I am. Can they search for my name? No. Can they search for my address? No. Can they search my bank information? No. Can they search the serial number on the modem? No. Can they do anything? No.

I spent all day calling the company, going home and searching for a 3 year old receipt only to be told at the end of the day that I should go to the bank and tell them to stop sending money to them. Then, in about two months I should expect an angry letter from my service provider demanding that I pay them. On this paper should be my account number. Once I have that, I can then call them back and get this whole thing figured out and THEN they can send me a new modem...maybe.

And they'd probably want me to pay for the 2 months I spent waiting for them to send me the angry letter...the entire time unable to use their service.

Despite the fact that I am leaving in two months, it is an entirely UNACCEPTABLY amount of time to fix something that is clearly their fault. I do not blame myself one bit for losing some small bit of paper. If they can bill me every month, they can have a record of me somewhere.

So now I'm going home and I'm going to have a small party and let's just hope that the place doesn't burn down in the process.

So far, totally shit day.

PS, while I was on hold, I looked down and noticed my favorite shoes have holes in them. It's just the icing on the cake.

PPS - still no word from "poor conversation" boy. And just FYI, there is WAY more to his story than I'll ever post here (and you'll never guess so don't try) so just keep in the back of your mind that he's more of a "bad day maker" than I'm explaining here.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I have to go to work.

Golden Week

2009-05-10T21:32:00.002+09:00

Check out the pics of my Golden Week. It was the first time I didn't go anywhere for this week of holidays. I was actually planning to do nothing but my senpai (upperclassman from high school) called me up and said he wanted to visit me in Kochi, so we had a blast checking the place out. Who knew Kochi was so awesome? Certainly not me. HAHA!!!

Crisis

2009-05-01T17:38:00.007+09:00

I'm leaving this place in 3 months. The weather is nice now so I figured it would be a good time to clean out some of my apartment. So far, I have a nice large box of books to get rid of and a pretty solid list of things to leave, sell, and pack.

After a little bit, I decided to clean out my front storage area. While moving things around, I saw a pretty big spider but thought nothing of it. Hey man, I'm outside, he's outside, we're both outside, what's the problem?

The problem is that my door was propped open because it's such a nice day today.

When I started moving things around, the pretty big spider got scared and ran into my apartment where he suddenly morphed into FUCKING GIANT SPIDER IN MY GOD DAMN APARTMENT!!!!

The crime scene...
Let's zoom in on that bad boy. He even has an evil glowing eye!!!

OH THE HORROR!!!

So I did what any other girl would do. I grabbed a plastic broom and started swatting at it.

He didn't move.

It might have been because I wasn't quite close enough to touch him...he's EFFING HUGE!!!! (need I remind you) so I was kinda too scared to get too close, even with a broom.

THEN, once I got the balls to get closer, he didn't run away. Instead, he started facing the broom like he was about to attack it!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

I backed up and looked around the hallway where I was. I found some Korean Cup Ramen that has been sitting there since I came back from Korea in October '08. I chucked one at him.

It missed and flew out the door.

I chucked the second one, screamed "kyaaaaa" and missed again.

I can only imagine what people must be thinking. A nice quiet afternoon. They look down the walkway and hear some very Japanese style screaming while cup ramens are flying out someone's doorway...I can just imagine the looks.

So I called my friend Steven (he lives 20 minutes away)

No answer.

I then called Michelle (2 hours away).

No answer.

I called Dave (Ibaraki, 2 hours plane ride away)

No answer.

I then tried Steven again when Dave called me back. He then sat on the phone with me for 20 minutes while I freaked out. Against Dave's suggestions, I pulled out the vacuum and tried to vacuum the thing up. It just ran to the ceiling and sat there.

Remember that box of books I was talking about before? Yeah, they were by the door. So I proceeded to pick them up, one at a time and chuck them at the spider.

"Date me baby one more time" (present from Christina) MISS
"Perfume" by Patrick Suskind MISS
"Yokoso" Japanese study book MISS
Fuck it, throw the broom at him!!! MISS
"The Hottest State" by Ethan Hawk HIT

The spider fell to the floor and started running away from the door and TOWARDS ME!!!

AHHHHHHHHHH

And then I lost him!

By this time, my front shoe area had quite a few books and shoes all over the place. He could be anywhere...

So I pulled out an umbrella and scrooted everything outside and closed the door. When the spider is outside, he turns back into "a pretty big spider" again so he's not so dangerous...

But then Dave (who's still on the phone) says, "Nina, how do you even know he's in that pile?"

Hmmm, good point, so I look around. Underneith my shoes in the corner I see something, AND THERE HE WAS!!!!

So whipped out a can of bug "freezer" spray. I bought it some time ago when I wanted some bug killer but didn't want chemicals in my apartment. Turns out, this stuff was pretty chemically anyway. Oh well. And then I froze the thing to death!!! MAUAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Let's zoom in on that shall we?

Gawd, just looking at it brings back horrors.

And so begins my first day of Golden Week (solid week of holidays) Let the relaxing begin (T-T)

New Link

2009-04-25T11:42:00.003+09:00

Sorry, the link to the "perm" album was a bit off. Try this one, it should work.

Other than new links, not a whole lot is new with me. To say I've been stressing about money is an understatement. It sucks being poor :P I've decided to dedicate my entire golden week (full week of holidays) to sitting at home and looking for scholarships. Will anyone give me money to go to a language school and not a university? Unlikely, but not unheard of! I have hope (TuT)

Perm

2009-04-11T22:06:00.004+09:00

My birthday present is finished! The whole thing was half the cost of what it should have been because I got a discount for the happy occasion. I only plan to do this once but it IS permanent. I expect my hair to be back to normal (albeit a bit short) around January. I'm having a blast playing with it!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHA

Check out this facebook album for the full story and more pics

Snowing PINK

2009-04-09T12:27:00.002+09:00

It's snowing pink these days since the sakura are quickly losing their petals. I wish I could take a video of just how beautiful it is here :)

Other than that, HEY! It's SPRING!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

As of two days ago, the school year has officially begun! But I won't teach any classes until next week...maybe. We'll see. I have no motivation to write lesson plans. In fact, today I went over my self introduction (that'll I'll probably be doing for the next two weeks) and it took me 10 minutes to review and tweak last years plan...and now I'm done.

Nothing much else has been happening. I'm still studying and improving my Japanese at a steady rate, my finances are somewhat in order, assuming I can keep ALL spending down to about $100 a week (that's tough people) which leaves me at home a lot cooking for myself which I don't mind. It's the dishes that I mind.

I recently found that reading books on my DS is crazy fun and I'm finding more books and comics everyday to enjoy my geeky self. I've also just started watching Dollhouse and WHOA! Joss Whedon can do no wrong!!! (Except for signing up with FOX... seriously, Joss? Seriously?!?!)

*sigh* I know there was something else I wanted to post about...and I can't remember, for the life of me, what it was! (and it's not about my bday or anything...this isn't a subtle hint, this is just me being an airhead as usual...)

Oh well. When I think about it, I'll letcha'll know.

2009-03-29T13:45:00.003+09:00

When I went to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of eating at a very Italian restaurant. It was the closest thing to real Italian I think I've ever had and I almost cried over it. This food was so beyond delicious.
The other day, I took a long lunch break and met up with Steven and his friend. After eating, we took a little stroll down the way. Steven saw a rare patch of grass and had to take advantage of it. Grass is not a common sight here in Japan, even in the countryside. Especially not such soft grass, dead as it may be...

Last night I invited a few friends over to my apartment for a Hanami party (flower viewing party) As I have mentioned before, the shrine by my house is quite beautiful this time of year. Unfortunately, we planned the party on a very cold and overcast day but I enjoyed myself immensely.

Energy Mind!

2009-03-26T14:02:00.002+09:00

This happens every year in the land of seasons. Spring is here! It's still kinda cold but the Sakura has fully bloomed! The world is waking up! Everything's bright and energetic and alive!

AND I!!!!!

am sitting at my desk :P

Anyway, as of this morning, I have pretty much decided to go to Yamasa. It's gonna be much more money than living with my friends but *sigh* quality is never cheap!

I'm gonna be eating dust for dinner every night but at least I'll be learning tons (TuT)

What else, what else...

I saw Twilight last night for the first time. I don't care what anyone else says, that movie is totally my speed. Vampires are the best (-^u^-) =*geeky giggle*

Hmmm, oh! My trip to Sendai. The day I left warm sunny Kochi a cold front swept through Japan making the entire country colder and so Sendai seemed much worse than it normally is. But lordy it SNOWED!!!!

Kochi: Cherry blossoms
Sendai: effing snow

Alright so it was just a little flurry here and there but STILL!

Basically the whole trip was full of stress. Thinking about going to the good school but not being able to afford it. Thinking of staying with my friends but being disappointed in the school and realizing that Nina and cold weather just don't mix. Having more than 5 months of cold just doesn't flow with me. I'll get so depressed I might do things I'll regret.

Yeah thanks mom and dad for moving to Florida. Now I'll never be satisfied with anywhere else!

Oh to be back in the land of 1 month winters where a light jacket and jeans will hold me over till mid February...

grrrr ENERGY!!!

I need chocolate...

A Nina by any other name...

2009-03-16T22:15:00.002+09:00

...would still be a hard core Otaku...

I'm planning a party for this weekend. If you can't figure out what we're talking about, trust me, it's really not that interesting. But I giggled to myself audibly enough to warrent a blog post about it.

Nina
heehee
I'm looking forward to geeking it out

10:11pmAnnMarie
I love DDR too. Lots and lots.

10:11pmNina
but check this
you're gonna bring guitar hero, do you need a Japanese playstation for that? Leah is gonna bring DDR, and Hank is gonna bring her Wii with DDR
this is nuts :D:D

10:12pmAnnMarie
No, it's for American.
It's a good kind of geeky nuts though.
Kinda reminds me of the old LAN parties where people would drag their hard drives, speakers, and monitors just to play DOOM together.

10:13pmNina
omg
I did that
you know how stupid it is to lug around some huge ass monitor AND a tower PC?!
ugh
I can imagine having these speeches with my children's children
when I was young, we didn't have computers in our brains
we had to carry the damn things around with us on our backs!
up hill to school! BOTH WAYS!!! And it didn't have wireless neither!
this convo is too funny not to blog about
HA!

Quality Vs Comfort ROUND 1 DING

2009-03-16T10:54:00.003+09:00

Spring is coming! I see it! I can see flowers starting to bloom. Pretty soon the Sakura flowers will be all over the place. Covering the street and my car. Hanami parties will last for weeks! And the rice fields are being flooded. Pretty sure they'll be green with shinmai (new/fresh rice)

But I can't feel it. Sure the weather is slightly warmer and the sun comes out earlier but for some reason I can't feel the energy that comes with this time of year. Usually, I begin waking up at about 6 in the morning. I feel energised and ready to work. I usually wake up and clean the house! I just go nuts. Throw out old things and scrub the bathroom floor. Reorganise the book shelves and clean out the pantry.

But this weekend? The sun came up earlier than usual and I slept in until 11am. Sleeping in for me is 8!!!

I must have accidentally dropped my energy in the subway station in Tokyo...

Other than that, since I have no classes to teach until April, I'm preparing for "Life After JET". I've been getting my tax forms together, making lists of what I should take home, sell, leave, throw away, etc. But mostly, I've been figuring out my finances to see if I can go to school and for how long!

See, I was thinking of going to Sendai to study Japanese. I have a friend up there who's family has kindly agreed to let me stay with them. However, when I went to Tokyo for the conference, I learned that the schools in Sendai were only mediocre at best. I was then given a recommendation for a different school in Aichi (nowhere near Sendai). I checked it out and it's hella better than Sendai schools!!!!

But it doesn't come with a host family who will take care of me, cook and clean, do laundry, watch movies with me, chat over dinner, talk about the weather...In fact, the Aichi school is far from that. It comes with an itty bitty apartment where I basically stand in the toilet when I chop veggies for dinner. Yeah, I've gotten used to tiny sizes since being here in Japan but this is ridiculous. The apartment costs more and food will cost more as well. I won't have to commute to school like I would in Sendai, but that's a small cost for how much extra I would spend to live on my own. (roommates are not an option for me. Thanks but no thanks)

...but it's a better school...

So which do I go for, quality or comfort?

I'm leaning towards the former....

I have a trip planned for Sendai this weekend (planned a month ago, can't get give the ticket back now..) so I'll let'cha'll know how it goes.

2009-03-13T12:25:00.001+09:00

A friend of mine found this in Nagoya station. It's advertising a diet pill...

2009-03-12T19:13:00.004+09:00

I just got back from my trip to Gunma and Tokyo yesterday. First, I visited a friend in Gunma for two days then went to a conference for returning JETs in Tokyo. The conference was all about what to do when you leave JET. Taxes, jobs, interviews and resumes. It was quite depressing. The job market is just...yeah. I'm sure you already know (TnT)

I also finally got the DVD with pictures and all from the Yosakoi Dance I did back in August.

This is a picture of a picture. It is absolutely an amazing shot and it's not on the DVD!!! They just gave me the hard copy of it to keep for myself!

Anyway, here's a link to the video

The video is highly edited and the music doesn't always match the dance which is only irritating if you know how it's supposed to look. Whatever, it's awesome anyway. I'm at the very end :)

WANT

2009-03-03T18:20:00.002+09:00

Do I go and spend $60 to see these guys?

That means I don't eat for a week!!!! (ToT)

2009-03-03T09:46:00.001+09:00

So that new bike my student gave me bit the dust the other day. The chain just popped right off. One of the links must have broken. Luckily, I wasn't late for the train :)

2009-02-27T19:41:00.003+09:00

I was lucky and the birthday surprise didn't happen till Wednesday!!!

The third teacher (I'm really bad with names) doesn't seem too pleased that his chocolate character has bunny ears. I thought it was cute (^_-)v

Today, Friday, I have off because I am required to be in school on both Saturday and Sunday for graduation ceremony. I'll be bored out of my mind except for the 2 hours that is graduation :P

It's raining outside and I've done mostly nothing all day. It's not so much boring as it is making me lethargic. I need to move around. So despite the weather, I went out for a walk. It was nice and I found a really cute shrine that had airsoft gun bbs all over the ground. Some kids must have been having a blast.

I am content (-^^-)

Sniffles

2009-02-26T11:02:00.002+09:00

It's not polite to blow your nose in public. I do it anyway. I don't care.

Right now is "hay fever" season. So most people are pretty congested. Face masks abound. Well, the woman next to me in the teachers office has been sniffling every 4 seconds. (I'm using my stop watch from the interview tests)

Would it be very rude if I handed her a tissue?

I suppose she could just retort with "Alright, Nina, who's the bigger jackass? The one who sniffles annoyingly? Or the one who times the other with a stopwatch?"

Updates through pictures

2009-02-24T18:41:00.005+09:00

Recently married father of a beautiful 7 month old son and his baby sister showing me how to brush your teeth the Japanese way.

The day before implementing my 5000yen a week budget, I went to an all you can eat Strawberry farm. I had 50 strawberries and felt kinda sick afterwards, but it was so worth it ;)

I didn't have to teach any classes on Monday but I still went to my mountain school for the soul purpose of baking cookies for the students. Wednesday is the last day of classes. This year, they'll be spending their Nina dollars on cookies and personalised CDs. I finally found something that works, and hey! the school pays for it too. Totally win/win!!

While in the kitchen, I was told that it was three teachers birthdays (there are only about 10 teachers left now so this was kind of a big deal). For the cake, the home ec. teacher made some chocolate faces of the birthday people. I was very impressed. Too bad I left before they cut the cake. I told another teacher to get pictures for me. These things really look like them!!!

Last night my Japanese teacher invited me way up into the mountain where she (and one of my students) lived. They have a large rice farm up there. But instead of spraying pesticides all over them, they use ducks to keep the bugs under control. Every winter and spring they have a big duck feast and then get new ducklings in the summer. This was my first time trying duck Shabu Shabu. Shabu shabu is basically raw meat that is swished around in a thin soup for about 3 seconds. Shabu shabu is the sound it makes while you swirl it around in the soup. It was really good!

And finally, tonight's dinner. Pasta with chicken, steamed broccoli and carrots, squash and garlic bread. How's THAT for healthy bitches!

2009-02-22T11:26:00.002+09:00

In one month I'll be going to Sendai to touch base with the host family and look at/apply to the school of my choice. Today is the last day to buy one month in advance discount tickets with the airlines here in Japan (there are only two domestic airlines fyi)

It's gonna cost be about $500 round trip (-.-;) So much for saving money.

If I didn't live on an island I dare say it would be about half as expensive! I'll be thankful to not have to deal with that once I'm gone from Kochi...problem is, after I leave, I'll probably only be traveling to and from Kochi for visits. HA

And for anyone who cares, once you get to a certain price range, all modes of transportation are about the same price. Bus, train or airlines. It doesn't matter once you break the $100-$200 bracket. Now it just is a decision of convenience...

*sigh*

2009-02-21T11:20:00.003+09:00

The interview tests have been going faster than expected. When I first started giving tests two year ago, students were taking so much time that I was having to stay after school with them to finish up. Eventually I started putting a time limit on them. 2 minutes per student. If they finish quickly, they get bonus questions for extra points. If they don't finish then that means they didn't study and I don't have to waste my time waiting for them to hmmm and ssssss about it.

This time around, the students are finishing the test in about 1 minute flat and that includes the bonus questions. I'm surprised! Maybe I made the test too easy....I really don't think so...but it is possible.

Anyway, so I gave the test to three classes yesterday. At the end of the last one, I had a whole 15 minutes left of class to just goof around with the students! So I decided to pull out this "killer wink" game I'd never played before.

Basically, everyone gets a card and stands in a circle. The person who gets a card with a K in it (one person) is now the killer. They have to make eye contact with someone in the circle and wink to kill them. The person can then sit down quietly or make a big scene of their death.

Basically, no one wants to look into anyone else's eyes otherwise they might be killed but the only way to find the killer is to look at who's blinking.

It was a fun game even though it didn't use any English. I don't care.

The problem arose when I realized that not only can most of my students not wink but at least two of the 15 students had eye twitches. So no one could really tell who was winking and who just had a nervous tick! We played the game two times. Both times the killer(both girls) couldn't wink. They could only subtly blink both eyes. I think they attempted killing 5 or 6 people before anyone noticed they were supposed to be dead. On top of that, two boys kept scrunching up their eyes nervously or just, well, twitching!

In the end, not such a good game.

Final thought, my students twitch too much. It happens far more often than I think appropriate. Someone should look into that.

2009-02-20T10:39:00.002+09:00

I have been beating my brain trying to think of more things to post about. But life right now is really boring! I don't do anything these days! I go to work then I go home to study Japanese and spend as little money as possible.

School in October is going to cost a fortune and I'd really like to not leave the experience in debt. Which means I've put myself on a 5000yen (little more than $50) a week budget. Do you know how hard that is to stick to?! I've only been doing it since Monday, I've got about 2000yen left to survive the weekend on. I might not make it...

I can't afford Mos burger either! (ToT) Mos Burger is the Japanese McDonald's. I didn't like it at first, but since I've sworn off McD's forever, I find myself more and more addicted to Mos everyday. Thing is, even though it's kinda cheap, it takes around 900yen ($8.50) to satisfy me. And that's IF I don't get myself dessert!

The winter weight is back on, btw, for anyone who cares.

Other than that, my life has been a continuous loop of school, food, study, TV, book, bed. With little to no variation. It's getting depressing actually. I think I officially hate February now. The past three years, February has taken the cake as the worst month of the 12. This years isn't nearly as bad as last years, so that's a plus. But February is the worst and I'll be happy when it's over. And for the record, I think I hate it because of the weather, not because of Vday. Who decided the day of love should be put in such a wretched month?

So, let's see if I can find anything interesting about school to talk about. As of yesterday, I just began interview tests. They will continue every day until the end of next week. If given the choice between interview tests and sitting at my desk bored out of my mind....I think I'd pick the latter. Interview tests are that bad.

200 times to say "What would you like to be in the future?" assuming, of course, that a student doesn't need me to repeat myself.

But to tell the truth, this years students have proved to be much brighter than last years.

Here are two quotes from my more advanced class. They were playing scategories (of sorts) and needed to describe the following words:

Rome - "It's a country in London"
Soap - "It's an item in the bathroom. It's a rock."

Personally, I'm proud of these kids for being able to use any of these vocabulary words! This is a very bright class. Still, they're good for a chuckle.

And that's all for the life of Nina. If I think of something more interesting to write about, I'll be sure to post asap. You may have to wait until I recover from February though.

2009-02-09T08:30:00.004+09:00

I went to a Thai party two nights ago. We were required to wear a tie in honor of the "Thai/tie" theme.

I won "worst fashion tie". Which is kinda crap cuz I was looking for something that was going to match my yellow dress that I bought in Thailand. But then Jacob (the host) put it a good way. "Nina, would you ever wear that tie out in public?" No, I guess I wouldn't. And I might just make fun of anyone who did.

My good pal Steven got the award for "most punniest tie". Needless to say, that's a tai snapper he printed out on the school printer ;)

2009-02-08T09:15:00.002+09:00

The truth is that I've been thinking about writing a blog entry since I came back from Thailand in early January. But I just can't bring myself to write about it. I just don't want to.

So I won't! Instead, I'm going to write about whatever else I feel like. Hopefully, I'll be writing more now that I've gotten that out of the way :)

(If you wanna know about the Thailand trip, learn how to be a good stalker on Facebook. This'll be good practice.)

Now, what's new? Not much. I've decided not to recontract. The paperwork was sent in Friday. Which means I'll be leaving JET in late July.

My next goal is to enroll in a language school in Sendai. I have a friend who is from there and her family has agreed to let me live with them. I plan to study for about a year and a half. By then, maybe I'll be able to get a job using my Japanese. But I'll wait to cross that bridge when I get there. Right now, I just want to study. And I don't want to teach English...

...Which I think is going to be inevitable. The English teaching business pays well enough here in Japan and since my Japanese isn't really good enough for me to get a job at a cafe or some place cool like that, I might have to get a part time job as an English tutor. *sigh* whatever pays the bills :P

That's all for now. Will write more later...maybe.

Someone's Breaking Down the Building!!!

2009-01-08T22:49:00.009+09:00

This is a blog post I've stolen from my friend Steven. I take no credit for this.

ps -I'll write about my Thailand trip later. I gotta steal some pictures from my friends :)

~~~~~~~~~~

Earthquake 3.3

So I was just sitting there scratching my ass tonight at 9:48pm when I felt a big jolt, a split second long perhaps.

"Geez someone closed their car door loud!" was my first thought. (I live above our open garage)
Then, "Could it have been an earthquake?" was my second, then I started panicking cos there could be an aftershock and I ran through my head what I should do..."run to the toilet!"

I didn't do anything and as I got back to my computer I saw that Nina, whom I had been chatting to on gmail, had written this message: "omg did you feel that?!?!?!" and then I knew, it was real!

Apparently it was an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.3. Epicenter was Kochi city, 10km deep. Kochi city on the surface felt it as a magnitude 2 earthquake. The news site shows this:

from http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/index.html?c=5

Magnitude 2 in Nankoku and Konan city.

Everything just shook for that split second. Just felt like a big truck had passed by. Nothing fell, but it got my heart racing which was AWESOME.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note that Nankoku (where they felt a magnitude 2) is only 10 minutes away from me. And Steven lives between there and Kochi city meaning he felt it a bit worse than I did.

But unlike scheve, I didn't think this was so awesome. Hurricanes, I am so ok with. Like the ones that throw themselves around and cause a lot of thunder and lighting and maybe some power outages but nothing more. Earthquakes freak me out ENTIRELY.

And now I'm going to attempt to fall asleep :P

pps - I don't use "omg" unless I am too excited/scared/in a hurry to write "oh my good golly!"

Alright, who put the bullet in the furnace?

2008-12-06T17:05:00.004+09:00

It seems I will be going to Thailand after all. The airports are open and the protesting has stopped. Overall, it seems "safe"
Today is the coldest day of the year so far. It rained two days ago making it QUITE warm then suddenly the temperature just dropped down into the negatives. No snow...yet.
On my way to the Winter Summer Festival, I spotted what looked like my bike parked at the Circle K just down the street from my apartment. I did the check I always do when passing any red bike: Is it red? Yes. Does it have the right kind of basket? Yes. Does it have my lock around the base of the seat? Yes. YES!!! It's my bike!!! I made the fastest (and safest) U turn and booked it back to the convenience store. I looked around and saw two middle school girls lounging around looking "idle". I'd blame them but I have no proof. They seemed mildly amused as I left. Either because I took the bike they planned to use or because they were surprised to see a foreigner. It could be either. Surprisingly though, I don't feel happy about this. I feel really angry. Like, really angry. To ride my bike home, I had to leave my car there. I was actually worried that those girls might key it. This is Japan!!!! *sigh* I guess there are jerks in every country :P
I've been trying to find a good recipe for "microwave cake" aka: the most dangerous cake. I've come to the conclusion that any cake in the microwave, regardless of how much sugar or baking powder it does or does not have, will always come out like crap. Cakes were never meant to be nuked.
I can tell I've been in Japan too long because every time I watch an American TV program, my first reaction to a beautiful girl is to marvel at how large her eyes are. No joke. Is it me? Or are Summer Glau's eyes REALLY big? Does she does that on purpose?! I think she does that on purpose.
I've been really getting into some American TV shows recently. I can't get enough! The Office, 30 Rock, The Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles. I love it :)
I wore a skirt on the coldest day of the year and only my hands were cold. I've really been here too long.

Generalizations

2008-11-30T22:00:00.002+09:00

Just when you think that ALL Japanese people are jerks because ONE Japanese person stole my bike (probably a Japanese person) suddenly you turn around and change your mind because ONE Japanese person did something nice. Now, you know that truly, ALL Japanese people are wonderful ;)

How's that for a generalization.

Which brings me to a list I have started compiling in my head since Sunday last week.

First, the short list. All the crap that I think makes the Japanese mean:

1. Some jerk stole my bike. Which isn't uncommon to hear of.

2. Umbrellas get stolen quite often as well.

3. Bratty students who do crap in class and get away with it.

4. Recycle-Nazis who refuse to take your trash when you make a mistake sorting it all out

5. paperwork

Now, the longer list. Things that makes the Japanese seem insanely nice:

1. School bikes, free to use for a short time

2. Company umbrellas, free to use for a short time

3. Inside slippers, placed at the door with me in mind

4. Good students who, no matter how bratty, will never talk back to me or really do anything VERY wrong (as far as I can see)

5. Customer service...

Good lord I could go on for days about how amazing customer service is here in Japan.

Let's see, let's see, here are some good examples:

Hair cut: I asked my hair dresser if I should make an appointment before coming in. She said that I could just walk in and I'd be fine. But the other day, I drove all the way there and she had just left on her break. When I told them I didn't have time to wait (I'll be attempting again...2 weeks later!) they gave me a $10 off coupon for the next time.

Convenience store: I would never THINK to get something to eat from a convenience store back in America unless it was a drink or otherwise prepackaged and even then it's a long shot. But convenience stores here in Japan are probably the cleanest places you can be. The toilets are always spotless and smelling fresh. The food for sale is fresh and always at its best. Some people been known to live on the stuff

Mistakes: Not too long ago I went shopping for some new winter clothes and I accidentally bought two red shirts when I only meant to get one. I came back the next day trying to think about how to word what I wanted to say. The woman not only remembered me, but completely understood the problem and apologized for not realizing the mistake when I was checking out the day before. When I told her it was my fault for having put them in the basket in the first place, she said " no no, it was all my fault, I should have noticed sooner!" I guess it's kind of annoying because she really wasn't at fault but it was so nice of her to treat me that way!

Bar service: I went to a Korean restaurant with some friends of mine the other day. My one friend said he only drank Guinness but I saw that it wasn't on the menu. I decided to ask the waiter anyway but just as I expected, he said there was none. (it's not a common drink in Japan anyway) So the guy took our orders without writing anything down! And about 10 minutes later he came by and said that he had managed to find 2 bottles of Guinness, just for my friend. That dude must have gone down the street and somehow tracked down a couple bottles of Guinness and no extra charge!!! And we couldn't even tip the guy for doing something like that!!! Those are the times you want to tip someone more than the actual price of the food; he went so far above and beyond what was required. It was amazing.

I'm going to really miss stuff like this!

The bike a student gave me after hearing me bitch about my stolen one. I made her chocolate pudding as a thank you gift.

He had a good reason

2008-11-19T19:40:00.003+09:00

It was two years ago to the day. When a Japanese man, let us call him Taro, made a mistake. A mistake that would cost him his life.

Taro was of average intelligence. Barely a man but still a boy in many ways, he had just entered university. His major: The Science of Concrete. He was what most women would call "cute like a retarded puppy". Though always falling short of the mark, he forever tried his best and had somehow managed to save enough money to rent an apartment and pay for classes. He worked as a bagger at the local Value Super Market.

His mistake was to fall in love with a woman. A woman!.... of ill repute.

This woman, we shall call her Reiko, was a woman of very little virtue. She was beautiful beyond limit and used her beauty for personal and immoral gain. Unfortunately, her limitless beauty lead her down roads well traveled, resulting in a massive debt to the local Yakuza. Not just any Yakuza either! Oh no. The debt was to THE Yakuza boss...and it was personal.

Reiko was frightened and drowning in a torrential sea of worry when she first met Taro. She was fruitlessly struggling to pay back her massive debt by working in various bars, when she looked across the room and saw Taro. It was truly love at first sight. Their eyes met and fireworks burst above their heads.

Despite Reiko's baggage and Taro's many short comings, from that day forth, they were inseparable.

Over the next two years, Taro and Reiko's love grew stronger and stronger every day. They moved in together and created a cramped by welcoming home. Taro quite school and began working full time to help Reiko pay off her debt. Unfortunately, Yakuza debt, like quicksand, can have you sinking to your neck before you realize that you're most likely in over your head.

Still, Taro and Reiko kept their heads high despite their debt growing steadily larger and larger. As was mentioned previously, the debt was to THE Yakuza boss. And also as previously mentioned, it was personal. THE Yakuza boss would regularly check on the couple to collect his money. After the two years, he had become more and more demanding until finally he began to make death threats.

On one particular day in early winter, let's say November 16th, 2008, THE Yakuza boss condescended a visit upon Taro and Reiko. When Taro said that he would have the money in a day or so, an excuse he always gave, THE Yakuza boss, in a fit of rage, grabbed Reiko and held a gun to her head. In very colorful Japanese, he demanded his money in 30 minutes or Reiko would be tortured and killed as per Yakuza policy.

Taro, fearing for the future of Reiko and his happiness, bolted out the door to barrow money from his parents. Unfortunately, they lived across town and Taro was too poor to own a car or bike.

In utter frustration he spotted an old red bicycle with a basket in the front and a cute little black bell on the handle bars to warn pedestrians of it's approach. He could tell the brakes were most likely shot and the light no longer worked properly. He knew it to belong to the local foreigner whom he had seen happily riding it every so often. She always seemed to have a smile whenever she sat upon this red bicycle's seat.

Hurriedly, he borrowed the bike without permission and silently vowed to bring it back to it's rightful owner. He raced to his parents house where he found two Yakuza thugs waiting for him. In an instant, he was down on the ground, bleeding to death from three shots to the chest. What Taro had never known was that THE Yakuza boss was truly infatuated with Reiko and when he no longer cared to collect any more petty money from the unfortunate Taro, he had him killed. Poor Taro, he had been played with like a toy.

And no one ever knew of the borrowed red bicycle that belonged to the happy foreign girl. It was never returned and she never saw it again...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which is how I'm sure it really happened because there is no other better excuse for some dickhead to steal my bike while it was parked safely at my own apartment.

The stolen bike
RIP

Now that I chose to stay...

2008-11-11T21:05:00.005+09:00

Holy cow Batman, KIMCHI NABE!!!! I love it (-^u^-)

I was rereading my January post about if I should stay in Japan a third year or go back home.

http://fortheloveofnina.blogspot.com/2008/01/to-third-year-or-not-third-year.html

I decided to stay (obviously) so I've decided to address all the things in my original post that were up in the air.

1. Income - I have a pretty decent income here. I don't have to pay taxes. But in my third year I was told that I would have to start paying them but rumor had it that my school would give me a raise to help me out with that. Well, they didn't give me the raise. Instead, they just took the tax and paid it themselves. I see no change in any of the money that comes to me. SCORE

2. PA - I decided that I would apply to be a prefectural advisor. I was hoping it would give me a sense of purpose for being here in Japan since all my other reasons for being here seemed worthless. Well, I didn't get it. And now that I'm not a PA I can't be more thrilled. Something changed in August when a lot of my good friends left and suddenly I want nothing to do with anyone new. The last thing on my mind is helping others...seriously ;)

3. New Friends - which brings me to my next point. I said that all my good friends left in August and that I was hoping to meet new ones when the new crew came in right after them. Well, that didn't really happen. Instead, I'm now focusing on myself. I've never been more antisocial and loving it. I have no desire to meet anyone new. I have no desire to go to any more parties. I've become the most selfish person in the world. My time is my own and spending it on meeting new people is not how I want to enjoy it.

4. Japanese Study - I am having a hard time believing it but I actually wrote in my last post that I didn't see myself going back to school to study Japanese. Well, that is completely the opposite of what I plan to do now. I am now studying Japanese with a private tutor twice a week and loving it. I have plans to apply for a Japanese school in Sendai (way up in the cold cold north) and study for at least 6 months. I hope that by focusing on Japanese and devoting 0% of my time on English teaching, I'll learn as quickly as I had originally thought I would 2 years ago!

5. Teaching life - I was wrong about working my way up in this business. No, I haven't gotten a raise and my title is still "English Speaking Monkey" but now that I know what I'm doing, now that I understand how to work with the Japanese teachers even better than I did in January, I've really improved on...well, absolutely everything! My classes are more interesting and HEY! they're even more informative! I know that with most of my classes, those students leave knowing more English than when they left! HA! What a concept! Plus, I now have three classes under my control (more or less) and one of those classes was actually designed by me! I wrote the class! I am THE TEACHER! Which is an oddity all together! Granted, it's not the best class ever, but this is my first time ever writing a full years curriculum and I'm really impressed with myself (^u^)

6. So was it the right choice? - I can not be more emphatic when I say "yes". I am so glad I chose to stay. I'm doing better than ever. Life here has hit it's peak. It doesn't get much better than this :) Ok, maybe a little better. But as for Tosayamada, this is the best it's got and I'm loving it.

7. Will you stay a 4th year? - I think I'm 95% sure I will NOT stay a 4th year. I think I accomplished everything I set out for here and much more. I'm reaching my objectives and I see the end in sight. It's time to move on to the next goal.

Fall to Winter

2008-11-09T11:35:00.005+09:00

October is over! And November is here. For Halloween I was a cute purple kitty (cuz I couldn't be bothered spending money on anything) with my friend Steven (you may remember him from my Kyushu post) as Marimokkori and my friend Hisae as...a maid with cute pink cow ears. Yeah!

Anywho, it's that time of year again. When I change all my summer clothes with winter clothes. Put the fans away and pull out the heaters. Bring out the blankets and find a place inside for the plants to go lest they freeze to death.

This is only the third time in MY LIFE that I've done this sort of thing, but it seems to come naturally ;)

Anyway, I'm writing this post to procrastinate the whole thing. I actually REALLY want to go shopping for some winter clothes but I'd be wasting tons of money by doing that before I pull out what I've already got. Lord knows I don't need any more turtle necks :P

So let's see...what can I blog about...

Well, today I was actually supposed to be dancing in the final ever Kokadai Team Yosakoi dance. Many teams will continue dancing after the big summer festival just to give other people a nice show. Plus, we all put so much work into it! It'd be a shame not to dance again and again!

Unfortunately, it's been raining the past two days plus it's the middle of November which means it's cold. So they decided to cancel the dance and now I'm at home disappointed and with the lights turned on since it's so dark outside. (TnT) Oh well, beats getting a cold from dancing in freezing rain.

SO what else is there...I'm planning a trip to Thailand for the winter vacation. All in all, I'll be gone 20 days! Woo!!! And taking malaria pills just to be on the safe side. A lot of people say I don't need them but hey, taking the pills is WAY BETTER than getting it in the end.

Other than that, I'm pretty much throwing out the idea of not being busy this month. I just have too much stuff going on to NOT do anything. I'm got a party to celebrate Obama's winning. It's depressing not to be in America right now so this is the best we can do (Americans AND everyone else cuz let's face it, the entire world is thrilled that Obama won...I think...) After that I've got a trip to Tokyo for a friends birthday and then begins the end of the year parties that EVERYONE will be having. (both schools, English conversation students, friends, and any other group I happen to belong to)

PLUS I'm saving money for Uni that I will hopefully be attending in October. *crosses fingers*

And that's all for now, tune in later for more on the life of Nina.

Thinking Backwards

2008-10-29T18:53:00.005+09:00

It took a little bit of backwards thinking to realize how ridiculous some of the things I see every day are. Things that you would just NEVER see in America but yet I see everyday here in Japan.

A student from the mountain school got in a small bit of trouble today. I wouldn't say so much "trouble" as really just getting made fun of by the teachers.

Apparently, in art class, he took a nice big chunk of molding clay and fashioned himself a penis. I don't know what he did with it in class, but it ended up on one of the teachers desks. When I asked one of them what everyone was laughing at, she couldn't actually put it into words. She told me to just go over and look for myself. I thought it was kind of funny really. And so did all the other teachers. They made jokes about how the poor art teacher must feel like he's been sexually harassed! In the end, no one saw it as more than a joke and they told him not to do it again and sent him on his way.

Then I got to thinking, what would the teachers do in America? It's hard to say. No one I knew in high school ever did anything like that, lest they be called a raging pervert who needed therapy. And in fact, I think that's what they would do! I think if an American student molded a penis out of clay like my Japanese student did, the teacher would send him straight to the counselors office!

I mean really, for a Japanese student to do something like this is not a big deal. But it's just not a part of American culture. There's probably something very wrong with you if you do something like that!

Which then got me thinking, what else is in Japanese culture that is so common but would put you right into a straight jacket back home.

Well, let's see, most of my students will doodle on their worksheets and I'd say about 65% are of anime characters, 10% are notes to their friends and the, 5% is random and the other 20% is of pooh! And not the Disney character! Think about it! That's more pooh doodles than notes to their friends!

Just search for "unchi" or rather "うんち" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

But that's not all, they have whole products devoted to pooh. Pooh hats, pooh necklaces, pooh dish bowls, pooh WHATEVER!

Next we have Marimokkori man. Marimo is a green ball of algae. Mokkori means crotch. Put those two together and you get the ever popular Marimokkori Man!!!

I don't see this behavior as being wrong. I just finally realized how DIFFERENT it is from American culture. An American doctor would have a field day with the Japanese....especially one who is a fan of Freud's work ;)

Not ME!

2008-10-21T17:04:00.002+09:00

So I finally got a recording of my dance!!!

...because I wasn't in it (ToT)

After the Yosakoi festival, the teams generally continue to dance a couple a times a year at special events. I was pretty burned out by the end of it so I didn't sign up for any of these extra dances but I'm really regretting that now!!!

Anyway, this past weekend was the Kokadai festival so got a chance to see how we actually looked from the audience point of view.

Please keep in mind that the remaining team members (less than half of the original count) only practiced once before the performance. As apposed to practicing for 2 months before the big day. Also, try to watch the main leader of the group. He's a little hard to spot at first but after they really get into the dance he's very easy to see. He's in the front row of adult dancers and he's holding lanterns, not naruko (clackers) He's very dramatic and cool looking (^^)v

To Korea! Hiroshima! THE DENTIST!!!

2008-10-17T11:56:00.007+09:00

I haven't been busy. I have been close to bored...but not quite there yet. It's exactly where I want to be!
(Happy Nina on her couch in front of the TV)

(www.cuteoverload.com)

These days I spend my weeks "teaching" and studying Japanese. I go to Japanese class twice a week and I LOVE IT! My teacher is awesome and we joke around and have a great time. The lessons are supposed to last an hour but always go over. I'm just having too much fun speaking in Japanese! Things are FINALLY clicking...and it only took....years (O.o;)

SO, other than being relaxed on my couch, this past month I have been all over the place.

FIRST, I went to Korea! I took a four day weekend, spend two of them traveling :P and spent the other two in Seoul where I ate tons of Kimchi and met some super friendly Korean men ;) It makes me bitter that Japanese men aren't as at outgoing (T.T)

NEXT, last weekend I went to Hiroshima...yet again. Hiroshima isn't exactly that close to where I am and it's not the best city in all of Japan either. But for some reason I've been there three times and two of those times were in the last 4 months :P Go figure. The reason I went to Hiroshima was for the yummy Sake Festival! They had sake from all over Japan and for $20 I bought myself a commemorative sake cup and drank to my hearts content!

I decided that before drinking though, I'd see if there wasn't a way to prevent a horrible hang over. Sake is HORRIBLE for hang overs :P

The Japanese have this little ginger drink in a tiny gold bottle that can be found at any convenience store. I was told it would help so I drank one before going into the sake pool. I didn't end up getting home until 4 in the morning! But by 8am I was awake and ready to conquer the day. Granted, I went to bed the next night around 9pm...still, I think I'll be drinking much more of that gold ginger magic in the future :D

FINALLY, today I had a holiday from work because I worked on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago. So I took this time to finally go to the dentist. I've had this problem with my teeth from brushing too much, the wrong way and with the wrong tooth brush :P I was afraid that the dentists here would pull the teeth or do something crazy! I've heard of too many horror stories about dentists both in Japan AND America!!!

So I bit the bullet and went in with my supervisor in tow. The dentist looked at my teeth and said "huh, you've been brushing the wrong way". 5 minutes into his examination of my teeth I realized that he wasn't examining them at all! He was putting some sort of SOMETHING all over them!!!

And that was it. My supervisor didn't really do much. The dentist didn't do much. My teeth feel great and I'm only 710yen the poorer...that's about $7. I lurv Japan!

In conclusion, I have heard far too many horror doctor stories to feel comfortable about going to one here in Japan. However, of all my doctor visits, which have been many, they have all been amazingly productive and pleasant. I highly recommend getting sick in Japan. They take good care of you (^^)v

Oh, and my garden has grown...

And so has that bean...

East Side Kochi Video

2008-09-11T00:06:00.001+09:00

This is what I spent a good chunk of my summer editing together. It was more work than it was worth. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

I plan to have more free time...maybe

2008-08-29T18:35:00.011+09:00

I'm sure everyone's tired about hearing how I can't do anything because I'm always so busy. Sorry I couldn't answer your email until now. Sorry I didn't answer your call. Sorry I've been busy...

Well not anymore!!! I'm staying home! Cooking, cleaning, gardening and feeling sorry for myself that all my friends have left after their second year on JET (TuT)

Well, kinda anyway.

Point 1. I have a garden now!
Check out those yummy herbs. Basil, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. "Remember meeeee to one who lives ther-rrr, she once was a true love of mine".

And for $7 from a place called "Loft" (not found in Kochi prefecture :P) I got a cute little bean plant that has the word smile on one side and a smiley face on the other! It's only about a week and a half old though and it's already starting to die. I figured that was because it was sitting inside the egg that it hatched from (seriously) so I transferred it to a pot that my predecessor (from 2 years ago) left me. She didn't necessarily leave me just a pot. There was a plant in it at one time...and it's dead carcass was still there until I moved it just about an hour ago, BUT now it's finally been put to use and I suppose I can call myself a gardener now. We'll see if these plants fare any better than my fish :'( RIP

Next, from a leaving JET *sobs* I bought a microwave/oven/toaster all in one machine. Tiny by oven standards but massive by toaster standards so I guess it evens out ;) hahaha.

But I've gone on a cooking spree! Even for things I need neither a microwave, oven OR toaster for! Like Hummus. Another leaving set *sobs more* left me his dried chick peas so the first thing I did was make myself some hummus. But I underestimated how far those chick peas would go and now I have three frozen bowls of the stuff and one in my fridge for eating.

Next I made oatmeal cookies. I don't even LIKE oatmeal cookies. And oatmeal is hard to find around here!!! But I decided I wanted to try something new because I wanted to give a gift to one of my favorite JTEs. Today was her last day at school. She's due to have a baby in a couple of months so she'll be gone for a year on maternity leave *sobs*

Do we see a theme here??!?! It's a wonder I haven't curled up in a ball under my desk.

And the last thing I made was focaccia bread. I'd have taken a picture of it but I ate it too quickly. This is all that remains.

NEXT

From the same JET who sold me his oven, I also got this super sweet big screen TV, Satellite and Satellite box. Took me a while to figure out how it works but I finally figured it out and as soon I call the company and get a contract with them, I will be the proud viewer of magical TV. Oh how I have missed you Discovery Channel (;u;)

Problem is, I have a cord that goes from the satellite to the TV. Who knew it needed to do that?! I mean, I thought it was a freakin satellite! Can't it just connect to the TV via wireless connection? Not so. Instead, ya see that pipe off to the right side of the picture? Yeah, that goes to my AC unit in the wall. I have to take the AC wall box off my wall, slide the cord through there and then out to the satellite. Either that, or my window stays open a crack for the rest of it's life letting not only the heat and cold in but the bugs as well. No thank you.

Finally, things I forgot to take pictures of:
1. I got a new camera - Canon IXY, pink
2. I installed a new faucet into my sink. The old one had a plastic bit at the end of the faucet which broke from old age, like plastic things have a tendency of doing (idiot idea!). Thus, water was squirting all over my wall, all over my clothes and needless to say, doing the dishes was EVEN MORE of a pain in the ass than it was before. But, I went over the hardware store looking for super strength glue when I found a new faucet instead. It was only $14! Here I thought I'd have to pay over $100 to install an entirely new unit. Score Nina! I went home, unscrewed the old and one screwed in the new one. Took me like 3 minutes and only because I was sure that there was something more difficult involved. I kept double checking myself. It was that easy? Yes. I'm done already? Yes. Now do the smelly dishes. OK!

3. I'm thinking of picking up Aikido. I don't really care about the fighting style but I thought it would be a good way to make some Japanese friends. Plus, it'll be good exercise :)

Other than that, I'm becoming more and more antisocial and loving it. Staying home is great!

Yosakoi Day 2 (and then some)

2008-08-25T07:34:00.008+09:00

Yosakoi was hot!!! Both literally and figuratively. It feels like a million years ago so I'm really trying hard to remember the highlights.

We took a bus from the university into the city and danced at various locations. We would usually stand around for about an hour or so waiting in line until we finally reached the beginning point of the dance. Then we'd dance down the street for about 20 minutes then run to our next location to stand in line again.

In the picture above you can see two red straps. Those are two different medals that I won on the first day and this picture was taken on the second day. Not too long later, I ended up getting my third. A few people didn't get any medals. A lot of people got one and a bunch got two. I got three. Go me!!!

(And that's not including the medal I got for the local Tosayamada Festival that we danced at the week before!)

(right to left in order of importance: Yosakoi Day 1, first dance location. Tosayamada Festival, Harimayabashi Yosakoi Day 2, Sunday Market street Yosakoi Day 1.)

The last two are the most important medals because they were really big deal locations. They were both televised! It's really too bad. I've been on TV so much. So many people took pictures right in my face making me mess up and everything! But I don't have any of those to show you guys.

We were usually late for each location to dance in (which was to be expected) and not many of my friends were able to see me! And I still haven't heard from my team about the official DVD and accompanying pictures. I'll be sure to post the video when I get it.

~~~~~~~~~~

I had plans for friends to visit the night after Yosakoi but they came in a day early. So in the middle of dancing Yosakoi, I was having friends moving into my apartment where they stayed for about a week.

We drove together to Hiroshima where we saw the amazing Miyajima Fireworks Festival. They were the most amazing fireworks I've ever seen.

After that, we came home, relaxed for a day then went back north to camp and go white water rafting!

I was in the front at first which was fine but they moved me to the back which has a lot more bounce. I almost fell out a number of times and about half way through the trip I thought I lost a tooth...

But no worries! I'm fine!

In between all of this time, I made a movie about the East Side of Kochi for all the new JETs and said goodbye to the ones who have left. I'm sad to see them go. Very sad. But I keep myself busy to keep from thinking of it. (TuT)v

I'll upload the video if I find the time...

Yosakoi Day 1

2008-08-11T07:08:00.002+09:00

I think the flower medal is the best you can get in the Kochi Yosakoi....and I got it :) My third medal in all, will tell more when I have time!!!

I love Chives

2008-08-02T10:18:00.004+09:00

So remember those little beetles that I couldn't figure out where they were coming from? I said that I kind of didn't mind them so much because they didn't bite anyway...welp, I found them!

I was searching frantically looking for something to eat for breakfast because I'm about to go and dance Yosakoi at the Tosayamada Masturi (festival) which is not the official Yosakoi Matsuri. It's just a local one, but a big deal none the less.

So I found this bottle of chives way in the back and thought, YEAH!!! I'll put chives on my mediocre tomato and cheese bagel! It'll be great. But when I pulled out the container I found ALL of my chives had been eaten by said beetles that were now lazily lounging in their own byproduct. It was hilarious. My poor chives!!!

And ironically enough, it wasn't because I had done something blatently stupid like leaving food out on the counter and the windows open. *sigh* can't win em all!

Blueberries

2008-07-23T21:27:00.002+09:00

I went blueberry picking

o(^w^)o

Dead of Summer

2008-07-18T11:29:00.003+09:00

The cicadas are finally here which marks the beginning of the dead of summer. I rather like it. At least I'm not freezing! And I'm already dreading winter (ToT) it'll be nice to cool off but I just hate winter so much!

Maybe the truth is, I just like walking around nekkid...

So today was my last day of teaching until the beginning of fall. I've been sitting at my desk for more than a week now with nothing to do. I had one class today as a final hurrah and now I get to continue sitting at my desk for another 6 weeks!

But I have boredom fighting plans. Oh yes.

As for Yosakoi, we finally finished learning the entire dance! It took us exactly 7 days. This is not an easy dance! But it's much more fun now that I'm perfecting the moves I already know and not having to learn new things on top of it. Now I have to make hair appointments and figure out how to do my makeup! Ack! I have no idea what I'm doing!!!

And I can't wait to figure it all out o(^w^)o

Strike Three

2008-07-10T21:34:00.003+09:00

Guess who's dating one of my Yosakoi instructors!!! That's right, you guessed it, the cute little girl at my mountain school!!!

Ugh

She's 17, he's 19. No, not such a big difference. But I freaked when I found out one of my high schoolers was dating a college student. And then I freaked out again because that college student was only 19. I've never felt old in my life until I heard that. I'm probably the oldest person on the team!

But still, this high school student isn't just any student. Oh no. I've watched her grow up since she was still a little 1st year. Now, 2 years later, I watched her flirt and date almost every boy in the school (there's only 25ish students now) PLUS some of the boys at my base school. And sometimes she didn't even wait to break up with the last before she started with the next.

Now slut is a strong word to use for this girl but...

This is what I get for living in inaka Kochi. Everybody knows everybody and even more know who I am just because I am the ONE of THREE gaijin women living in this area. Clearly, this instructor brought it up to my student that he saw me because I never brought it up to her that I was on the KUT team. Why would I even come up in conversation?! Did he know that I was her teacher? Or did he just bring it up as a conversation piece. "Btw, there's a gaijin girl on my team. Huh, imagine that!"

In the end, I didn't really want to know that she was dating this guy (needless to say I think he could do better...AND NOT ME if that's what you're thinking!!!) and it's kind of beyond me that not only did she tell me and show me pictures on her phone but tonight he thought it would be neat if he walked over and introduced himself again to remind me that he was dating my student.

I joined yosakoi to make friends. Not to meet my students boyfriends. It's not that I have a problem with hanging out with my students outside of school but 1. that breaks the teacher/student relationship and 2. I don't want to hang out with this student.

*sigh*

Anyway, the dance is much harder than I expected but that just makes it more enjoyable when I finally get a step that I thought I would never understand. 3 hours a day is pretty intense but it's good fun. I'm really enjoying myself!!!

Yosakoi and my poor damaged brain

2008-07-08T22:00:00.004+09:00

Forget making friends. Forget sweating to death in the hot unairconditioned gym. I can't remember one move to the next!!!

I don't know if it's because I haven't used my brain in quite some time but honest to god, I can't remember what comes next in the sequence. So if we're doing things really slowly and I can sloooowly see what's coming next, I can do it pretty well. But as soon as we get a little fast I start messing up and as soon as we get to the actual speed of the song I just stand there drooling on myself saying "daaaaaa"

Tomorrow we have a break so I'm going to use that time to just go over what comes next in the sequence! Good golly we're only a minute into the song and we're not even close to being half way yet (ToT)

BTW, here's the official video for my team from last year.

And this is the song we're using this year. If you think it's a slow song you'd be wrong.

Yosakoi Start!

2008-07-07T22:03:00.003+09:00

Today I finally started Yosakoi practice. I decided that I wanted to be more involved in my area and make more Japanese friends so I joined the Kochi University of Technology Yosakoi Team. They happen to be right down the street from me and since it's a technical college, I get the extra added bonus of the 75-80% male population. Score.

So in a nut shell, Yosakoi is a traditional dance started around 1954 where teams of no more than 150 people each will get together in the city and dance to their own variation of the Yosakoi song. I found a video of it but it doesn't do it justice. This event can be very overwhelming. In fact, my eikaiwa ladies told me that they would love to see me dance but wouldn't actually come out the event because it made their heart race too much. They'll stick with the live feed on NHK TV.

So here's the vid. I'll keep you guys posted as I progress. I will be practicing every day from now until August 12th, 6-9pm.

Nina Wants...

2008-07-07T08:21:00.003+09:00

Nina wants to start spending less time at work starting next week when classes end for the summer and she will be forced to sit at her desk all day for around 60 days.

Nina wants to clean her apartment. She wants to finally pick up the clothes off the floor, categorize them and find some place else for them to go.

Nina wants to heal from the tiny sun burn blotches she got from the beach Olympics. What's up with Japan and not being able to find waterproof sunscreen? Is it too much to ask if she wants it to smell like coconuts?

Nina wants to gain some weight healthily but can't seem to find any (real) cheese or whole wheat bread outside of the Internet. Even half wheat bread would be ok.

Nina wants Yosakoi practice to start. Some exercise would be good for her.

Nina wants to make a plan for her future but keeps procrastinating because it's easier than confronting her fears.

Nina wants to continue working with her third year students who are really showing signs of improvement. It gives her chills to see how much they've learned in such a short time.

Nina wants the heat, or at least the humidity, to die down just a little.

Nina wants to air out her apartment because it smells like fish. That's what she gets for making salmon in the summer. Unfortunately, it's too hot to open the windows for too long.

Nina wants to figure out what those tiny little beetles are doing in her apartment and how to get rid of them. They aren't attracted to light so her strategically placed fly strip doesn't work on them and they're everywhere. But the don't bite....

Nina wants to figure out how to get rid of her strategically placed fly strip. It was only 100yen ($1) and now it is stuck to her kitchen wall permanently. If the strip goes, all the stickum will stay...and then she'll have flies stuck to the wall where the strip once was! That wasn't what she was going for.

Nina wants to make plans to travel to some other Asian countries but is afraid of spending money and precious vacation days.

Nina wants to just be

Moonshine

2008-06-19T23:03:00.003+09:00

It goes to show how much I've been paying attention to the things around me recently. It gets to a point, I'm sure, that everything continues to be new or rather you continue to not understand everything around you so you just start ignoring anything you don't really NEED to know. Granted, back in the states where I have the ability to understand most everything, I still ignore most of it. It's just a normal thing I guess.

But I digress (had I even started making a point?)

I've been reading some pretty good blogs recently and one link led to another and before I knew it, I was here and I started reading about the wonderful world of Umeshu making! Umeshu is pretty much Japanese plums (apricots) that have been thrown into some liquor. Give it about 3 months to a year and you have some super sweet ume liquor!

So I decided to try some myself. (I'm feeling pretty domestic recently)

Day 1

Day 2

It doesn't look so bad! The website said after the second day it would look pretty nasty. Maybe I didn't do it right....

I saw my friends umeshu about a week ago and hers looked pretty nasty. It had probably only been sitting around for a few days too. Hmmm, I'll let you guys know how it turns out in about three months. Just remind me!

Anyway, the point I was trying to make in the beginning was that after reading that blog, I went to the grocery store only to discover the exact ingredients that were posted. I mean, down to a T. (whatever that means) And it occurred to me that there are probably some really AWESOME things in my local grocery store that I just never know anything about. I just...don't understand. *sigh* Nothing new there. But whatever, I have my umeshu and that's all that matters. If it's good enough, I'll figure out a way to ship some home. Here's to shipping Japanese moonshine home to the states!

Now I'm off to bed. It's late, hot and humid. It's the rainy season now and that means water. Everywhere. And it also means restless sticky nights and hot lethargic days. Wee!!!

Watermelon, Beans and Chicken Skin

2008-06-10T16:37:00.004+09:00

Must be some of my favorite things!

So the seasons have changed and summer is here. That means watermelon is in season! woo!!

It also means that edamame are in season as well. Edamame are those green beans that you shell and eat with beer. You can buy them frozen year round but I can only assume they're best fresh like everything else.
But today while I was perusing the fresh made food section of my local grocery store I discovered something that clearly, they made with me in mind. They must have been thinking to themselves, "my. I haven't seen Nina in here for a while. You know what she would love? Fried Chicken Skin. Now that will make her day."

And it has :)

KFC

2008-06-09T16:43:00.003+09:00

Kochi Football Club
(nothing to do with chicken)

That's right guys, I played soccer and had more fun playing than I did socializing. How backasswards is that?!

Girls team:
1 lose
1 win
2 draws

Race Horses

2008-06-01T20:03:00.002+09:00

So I was watching the third episode of Heroes and just about 4o or so minutes into the program, you hear the end of a cut off conversation. The guy says "...and he says 'holy cow, a talking dog!'"

I don't know why I never looked up that joke online until now, but it turns out, there are a number of different versions but mine seems to be the only one that is quite so long.

One (irritating) variation is:

Two race horses have just been worked out on the practice track, and are being led back into the stable.

After the stable boy leads them into their stalls, the first race horse tells the second, "Hey, did you notice something odd about that guy? I don't know, he just doesn't seem right to me".

The second race horse responds, "No, he's just like all the other stable boys, and the grooms, and the trainers, and the jockeys – just another short, smelly guy with a bad attitude, 'Push, push, push, run harder…We don't care if you break down, just move it, eat this crap, and get back to your stall".

The first race horse says, "Yeah, I know what you mean! This game is just a big rat race, and I'm really tired of it."
A stable dog has been watching the two of them talk, and he can't contain himself.

"Fellas", he says. "I don't believe this! You guys are RACEHORSES. I don't care what they say about lions, YOU GUYS are the kings of the animal world! You get the best digs, you get the best food, you get the best health care, and when you run and win, you get roses and universal adulation. Even when you lose, people still think you're great and give you sugar cubes. And if you have a great career, you get put out to stud, and have an unimaginable blast better than anything Hugh Hefner ever imagined. Even if you're not in demand as a stud, you still get put out to pasture, which is a mighty fine way to spend your life, if you ask me. I mean, you guys just don't appreciate how good you have it!"

To which, the first race horse turns to the second race horse and says, "Would you look at this! A talking dog!"

Just thought ya'll would be interested to know...for any of those who understand what I'm talking about. For those who don't, trust me, you don't want to know so just don't ask.

Eating for a Cause

2008-05-26T23:15:00.002+09:00

Parsley really is a funny plant. It was all wilted and kind of limp this afternoon from not being watered for more than three days. I drowned(ed) it right as the sun was setting and now suddenly it's alive and healthy again.

Huh...go figure.

So recently, I've been noticing that I've continued to lose weight. Others have noticed too. I'm again accused of having an eating disorder. Though no one would flat out say it to my face. Instead I catch it through hearsay and Freuden slips.

The truth is though that I haven't been eating very healthily recently. In fact, I haven't been eating much of anything. The end result is that now, I am under 100lbs. And remember those pants I was so happy I could fit into again? Well, they don't fit anymore. They're too big.

But the worst came last Wednesday what I was sitting at my desk really trying hard to work on a 500 word essay for the PA position which I am applying for. I was staring at my computer screen and just wanted to fall asleep. I could barely read what was on the screen. I couldn't think clearly. The mind felt like sludge.

And so I decided I needed some drastic changes. My life has now gone into full on eat mode. No meals will be skipped. High carbs are what's on the menu. I've started (as of Thursday) waking up early before work and riding my bike to help wake myself up enough to not feel sick when I eat breakfast. Because now I'm eating breakfast! Haven't done that since 9th grade.

On top of that, I've joined a soccer team.

What? Nina? Playing sports?

Yeah. It's true. But it's only for 3 weeks. ;)

Still, the exercise gives me an appetite like a horse and I really pack it in after a good 2 hours of sweating it out in the park.

But now, thanks to the carbs and the exercise, I suddenly had crap tons of energy! Which means that midnight rolls around and I'm still wide awake! What do I do with this time?! I blog of course :D

Let's hope that I keep this regime up. But most importantly, let's hope I get the weight up too!

Kyushu

2008-05-24T10:31:00.012+09:00

For once I have a single morning free to do as I please and you can thank your lucky stars I'm finally writing about something interesting!

Golden week - a time when there are so many national holidays all at once, the week turns into a golden vacation of one day off after another. I took 3 vacation days and took an 11 day trip! I love it (^^)v

This year I took some friends as we camped all over the beautiful island of Kyushu. We drove my tiny K-car all the way there and back and didn't kill ourselves on the way!

The navigator

The driver

The innocent bystandard

The fake hot springs in Beppu! They're naturally hot but not naturally blue. It cost $4 just to look at this place and we couldn't even go in! Granted, it probably would have naturally burned all of our skin leaving us stripped and tinted blue.

So we decided to get our money's worth in pictures.

Our second night camping! It was a beautiful place to pop tent and the weather was always on our side the entire trip! It rained for only two days both of which we had made no plans to go hiking or site seeing. The first day we stayed inside a museum all day and the second was the last day of our trip which consisted of us driving home! Score :)

Helicopter ride to see the inside of a magnificent LIVE crater in the mountains of Aso.

Said crater. We later hiked up an inactive one which was probably one of the best hikes I've ever been on. And it was amazingly beautiful. Something right out of Lord of the Rings. Pictures could never come close to describing it's beauty.

Kumamoto Castle or something such thing. I can't ever remember names :P But it was a magnificent castle anyway.

Then as we were driving through the mountains, we saw REAL volcanic activity. This was just on the side of the road! We couldn't believe our eyes. It was smoking all over and it smelled like rotten eggs. That's a sure sign that there is a hot spring near by. Directly in front of us is a tiny rest stop that had park benches to relax on (in the middle of nowhere) but it was all roped off. The entire thing was corroded and rotting. Turns out, the hot volcanic spring waters got a little out of control and bubbled over making the entire place unsafe. It was awesome!

Heat rash: 0 Nina: 1

I was driving so much and the sun was so intense at times that I started developing heat rash. I decided to break down and buy these expensive gloves that I see lot's of women wearing here in Japan. They look kinda weird, huh! But I LOVE them! I didn't really want to wear them but I wanted heat rash even less. Once I put them on, I didn't stop wearing them for the rest of the trip. They are so damn cool!!!

One of the many waterfalls on one of the many hikes we went on. Worth every moment of exhaustion :)

We later made it to the southern island of Yakushima. Not too many people make it that far. It was pretty isolated but one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The trees were lush and green.

Something straight out of a movie. Oh wait, what does this sign say? Mononoke no hime no mori? The Princess Mononoke Forest? That's right folks. I was there. And it was awesome.

We later got to soak in this $1 onsen. Natural. Unmanned. Throw your coin in a box and get naked on the beach. Bathe in all the glory of naturally heated water right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean as the sun sets to create the perfect end to the most perfect trip I've taken.

Soul Searching in Tokushima

2008-05-19T18:53:00.006+09:00

In the beginning of May I went out on a solitary journey to Tokushima. The only prefecture in Shikoku that I hadn't visited yet. (Iya doesn't count. It's a valley all on it's own)

I went with the purpose of finding myself.

Really?
Yes really.
Did I find me?

Truth be told, I don't think I was really lost in the first place. I just needed the time to get the hell outta dodge! After the Genki performance and the chaos that ensued both during and after was enough to drive me to have a psychotic episode!

The chaos is still around, btw, just in easier to manage bites and now that I've "found myself" it's all the more fun ;)

And by chaos I mean I'm busier than anything! One party after the next until it all comes crashing down in a giant explosion known as the Sayonara party! People are leaving and that means party party party party.

I just want to curl up in a ball and read book...

Anyway, I went and saw the very underwhelming Naruto Whirlpools. They were cute but let's thank my luck stars I didn't go there for the soul purpose of seeing them....pun maybe intended. You be the judge.

Basically, my greatest accomplishment for this weekend was that I did everything myself. I booked the hotel myself. I made the plans for myself and I went by myself. And I enjoyed myself. I've truly grown as a person since being here. It only took me a year and a half of living in Japan to finally be OK with doing things alone. For the first time in my life I enjoy my alone time!!!

Back with my soul intact

2008-05-15T19:33:00.004+09:00

There is sooooo very much to write about. There's no way I could even attempt to do it all here. It's just like the combined mess of the dirty dishes in my sink, the winter and summer clothes all over my floor from a poor attempt to switch over and the mess that is currently my car after having taken a 10 day camping trip with it!

I have to write about:
My trip to Tokushima
My trip to Kyushu
The new school year
Tea picking!!!

So let's start with the easiest and most recent (^^)v

TEA PICKING WITH MY STUDENTS FROM THE MOUNTAIN SCHOOL

Yup. That's right. I skipped out on a day of work and went into the mountains of Oodochi to pick some tea! It was surprisingly exhausting.

Half the English club! Let's go boys!

Pictures

2008-04-17T20:53:00.011+09:00

Strawberry picking. $12 for all you can pick and eat. No take out boxes

I was just trying to take a nap! Then Michelle comes by and steals my couch right from under me. I had to retaliate somehow!

Hanami viewing party at my place. But we were too interested in trying to start the grill than enjoy the scenery.

Later that night

International music party. I sang acapella when there were no other acts to be had. Everyone was too drunk, myself included. Which is why I was able to get up there in the first place!

Dancing at the first genki performance weekend.

Again, the first genki performance weekend. That's right. I'm in a towel on stage and then I get to kick ass to the "Wild Wild West" in that same towel. YeeHa!

Goofing around in the only 3 minutes I have to just relax during the whole play. Every other minute, I'm either on stage or waiting for my cue. I'M TIRED!!!

And I still have another weekend to go. Anyone else taking a vacation day Monday? Say "aye".

AYE!!!

How I Spend My Lunch Break

2008-04-01T22:50:00.004+09:00

It is now the end of the break between school years. AKA, one of the two times out of the year that I sit at my desk with nothing to do for more than a month at a time. It's actually a little hard to say since the days seem to drag on and have kind of molded into one another, but I'm pretty sure this has been going on for a month and a half now. A MONTH AND A HALF!!!!

At first, I was really great about keeping productive. I've actually gotten a lot done! I mean, you all know how much I don't want to be a teacher. But I actually wrote up a whole sylabus and enjoyed it just because it gave me something to do! (Also, I think it'll be a really kick ass class if I can pull it off but that's another story for another time)

But thank god that the time is coming to an end. Hopefully, classes will start just in time for my birthday. I don't know if I should take this as a bad omen or not but....eh

Anyway, one of the great things about not having classes is that I can take a long lunch break. Normally, I'm not allowed to eat off campus. I'm allowed to leave to run errands and to actually go buy my lunch but it's frowned upon if I stay out too long. I can understand this.

But over the school holidays, I can take as long as I like. I got the idea from my fellow teachers! They'd take me out to lunch and the break would last anywhere from an hour to three!

It took me a while, but this time around, I finally learned the joys of going home for lunch. Making my own (cheap) meal and playing around during the daylight hours in my own, relaxed, Flows To The Tune Of Nina, apartment.

But recently, the middle and elementary schools have caught up with the high schools and my fellow ALT friends in the area are also stuck at their desks doing nothing. Complaining that it's going on the second week in a row. Cry me a river!!!

Anyway, it just means that we can go out for lunch together! And since it's spring, we've certainly enjoyed searching around our area for beautiful Hanami viewing spots. Hanami only blooms for two weeks at best, so really, this time shouldn't be squandered behind a computer screen or a book (which I happen to be reading 5 of....out of sheer boredom!)

The two hour lunches help to break up the monotony of the day. Plus, I'm looking forward to hosting my own Hanami party. I'll be sure to post pictures!!!

Cookie Dough Party

2008-03-27T22:19:00.004+09:00

11 girls came
10 girls stayed the night
And I couldn't manage a single picture of the actual cookie dough...
It was gone too fast

But we burned off those calories the next day at the genki dance retreat
putt putt putt

Nina is...

2008-03-05T20:39:00.002+09:00

Nina is enjoying her Cesar salad with Cesar dressing, croutons, real bacon bits and delicious tomatoes.

Nina is beginning a book called the Memory Keepers Daughter. She hopes it'll be as interesting as it sounds.

Nina is eating an everything bagel with plain cream cheese now that she has finished her salad. Jealous?

Nina is surprised how long it took to clean just half of her apartment. It's too cold to clean the other half. She's decided to do it in shifts. Day one: heat the living room and kitchen and clean. Day two: heat the bedroom and bathroom and clean. Then vacuum all parts of the house in one sweep before she get's cold again.

Nina is gorging herself on beef jerky (she ate more than half a rope in one sitting...ewwww)

Nina is excited about how many books she got at the book exchange! Still, she wonders how she came back with more than she exchanged.

Nina is freaking out about her cookie dough party this weekend. She didn't think 12 of the 15 people invited would actually come! Now where is she going to put everyone when it's time to sleep? She's thinking of snuggling up with someone in her very own tiny but quite comfortable bed. Good thing it's a girls only night....or is it?

Nina is bored at work because she has no classes until early to mid April. She could be studying her lines for the genki musical but she's too busy reading all these new and interesting books.

Nina is eying that last half of the beef jerky (^_~)v

Is it spring yet?

2008-03-03T22:45:00.005+09:00

It's getting warmer!!! I can feel it :)

Whoo, well how things move on! Genki practices have started up again. This is what I've been doing every weekend for the past 3 or so weeks!

I missed saturday of this past week though because I had to attend graduation at Yamada. That's right, the Seniors are gone! For me, this only means that I have a month of sitting at my desk until school starts again in early April :P

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a choir workshop. Like I mentioned before, I want to make the most out of my third year here. It's most likely my last. The workshop was with the Kochi Brighten Mass Gospel Choir.

Now, I know what your thinking...or at least what you should be thinking...Japanese people singing Gospel? Well, they do a very good job. But like with everything that is taken from a foreign culture, they'll change it to fit their own style. So things weren't done exactly as they would have been in America. That was fine. It's what I expected.

The people were extraordinarily friendly and the atmosphere was so uplifting! I loved most every minute of it. They sang all in English but really, it was the energy of the music that moved me the most. I had a great time.

However...

This particular group of gospel singers were a bit on the crazy side. Specifically the director. It was no argument of their talent. It was just the style in which they used that talent.

The main song that we sang was "Let it be" by the Beatles. First, they had to change the song a bit to fit the gospel style. Next, to keep the choir from freaking out about the English, the teacher explained that when Elementary school kids listened to "Let it Be" and were asked what they heard, they said "Heh, leh, bah" So really, "Let it Be" was only "Heh, leh, bah" so don't worry about it. Next, she said that the "Be" in "Let it Be" was too flat and weak of a sound so she really wanted us to pronounce the "Bah" in "Heh, leh, bah" The song really wasn't English when she finished with it.

Next, she said that for "Whisper words of wisdom" she wanted us to spit out the words like they were a ball, throw the up into the air and then catch them again. So we would all puff out our cheeks and really pronounce the W in Whisper then when we'd say only wo- of words, fade out then come in again for the -ds.

WI-sper WOoo...........rdSSS ov wizdum

And that was only the chorus! During the normal versus of the song, when a soloist would sing, the choir would fill in her pauses in singing with dog barks.

I think the director was trying to get the group to say "whoosh" like air. She wanted us to puff out our cheeks like we had done with "Whisper words of wisdom". But instead of WHOoosh, it came out more like WHOooffff.

Really, you'd have to see it and hear it to understand exactly how creepy it was to watch and then sing this way. A friend who went with me agreed that it was like something you'd see in a crazy horror movie. It left us feeling quite disturbed.

I'm debating if I want to join them and practice songs like this on a regular basis...I'm thinking not. But if I can't find a better group, well, they're always better than nothing!!!

Lastly, this past Saturday, after graduation, I went to see a performance that Erinn was in. Erinn is the type of girl that no one knows because she's always practicing dance. Dance is her life. If she's not in school, she's dancing. So it was exciting to see her actually perform!

Mostly, in Kochi, she does contemporary dance. This particular performance was held in a furniture store. Only about 5o people were allowed in and they stood around while the dancers danced among them. It was a really powerful experience. I loved it!

I can't really explain the concept. Most people didn't understand it. The only thing I know for sure is that the dancers were supposed to be mannequins. The doors opened at 7:30 but the show didn't start until 8. While we were waiting around, the dancers were actually all on the floor already, sitting in various positions, and not blinking! It was very surreal. They were all truly talented.

Again, it's one of those things you have to see to really grasp. There's just no way to put it into words.

Lastly, this week I'll be hosting a cookie dough party at my apartment! My apartment is a nice size but there have been about 10 people to confirm that they'll be coming and most likely staying the night...I have no idea where I'll be putting everyone! Ack!!! But it'll sure be fun no matter what ;)

I have a cold and I feel feverish

2008-02-13T18:11:00.003+09:00

A direct quote from the interview test I will be administering next week. My students will be given a card with pictures on it that they need to remember. They have to understand the difference between "I have" and "I feel". They can't very well walk around saying "I have feverish" now can they?

Thing is though, I can't study with them this week because I have a cold and I feel feverish. Seriously.

Monday was a holiday so I woke up really early and went about 2 hours up a mountain, waited an additional 45 minutes to find parking on said mountain, waited around in the cold for another 2 hours for the show to start only to then leave as the show was just beginning because my cold was no longer bearable. It was one of the worst days ever. I had a fever of 39 Celsius. That's pretty bad.

I had a horrible headache, a worse backache, my nose was a little runny but mostly I felt like I was going to faint. When I went to the emergency room, the doctor stuck a cotton swab up my nose which hurt WAY more than I thought it should and told me that the test came back negative for the flu but that the test was only 90% accurate. So chances are good that I don't have it but right now, I feel pretty miserable.

I stayed home Tuesday and checked my temperature all day long. I was back to normal but still felt super dizzy. Today I thought it'd be alright to go into work. I checked my temperature there as well and it was fine. But I still went home. I now have a cough and a horrible runny nose! This is the worst!!!

And I just got over TWO COLDS not THREE WEEKS ago!!!! I must be allergic to Japan. Or my students have been giving me one cold after another. Or I'm not getting enough vitamins. Or it's all of the above.

I dragged myself to the grocery store to stock up which actually was a lot harder than it sounds. I bought myself lot's of veggies and juices. I'm taking the rest of the week off. I have Genki practice this weekend as well as a choir workshop that is sure to be the highlight of my life! I don't want to miss it because I was careless!!!!

Look at what I've been reduced to!!!! Water, mango juice, mikan, carrots with peanut butter and internet tv on my comfy couch with a cute pink blank that doubles as a shall and a heater with a humidifier. Man, it looks like I know what I'm doing...but it's all a lie. I didn't even remember that peanut butter could go on carrots!!! (I had to look it up on the internet. I thought I had made it up from a false memory!)

Eating food means that I don't cough or blow my nose nearly as much. And my nose could use the break!!! Sucks that I have to chew with my mouth open though....I feel like a cow. A sexy cow. With the flu.

In other news, it snowed heavily today in Yamada. Woot

The end

Test Results

2008-02-06T19:43:00.000+09:00

2 months later, I finally got my JLPT 3rd level test results in the mail today.

I passed!

Don't know how I did it to tell the truth. The score they gave me was pretty low but it says pass so I'm not going to argue ;)

To Third Year or Not To Third Year

2008-01-20T10:00:00.000+09:00

It's Sunday morning. It's drizzling outside and I'm freezing and alone in my apartment debating if I should stay in this place for a third year. It's something I've been rolling around in my head since before Christmas. It's not as easy of a decision as I think it should be so I'll explain things here and maybe it'll become more clear to me.

When I was still in college I knew that the JET contract was able to be renewed twice giving me a total of three years in Japan. It was an easy decision to make! I hadn't even left yet and I was already willing to give JET my full three years without hesitation. I was only more thrilled to find out that as of the year that I was accepted, JET changed their policy to extend up to five years. It was too good to be true!!!

Then I got here. And for anyone who actually read my essays of posts that were my first 5 or 6 months of life here in Kochi, you'll know that things didn't really work out how I had planned. Maybe that was my problem. I had too many plans and expectations. I doubt that they would have been met regardless of where I lived, but here in the countryside that extends the entire prefecture, they were even less likely to be met. Still, I had goals. There's nothing wrong with that.

Even though the contract I have runs from August to July, my decision to recontract or not has to be made in early February. Last year, I was miserable. I didn't go home for Christmas knowing that I'd intentionally miss my flight back and never return to Japan. I'd be bitter and sad that I hadn't accomplished anything but instead let the inaka (countryside) dash my hopes and leave me a broken woman.

So it was easy to decide to stay. I wasn't going to let the inaka get the better of me. And I knew that things would get better. They could only get better! And all my hopes hadn't been crushed. There were still plenty of things that I wanted to do and see and accomplish before my time was done in Japan!

And I was right. I'm worlds happier here. I enjoy my life here :) My Japanese has improved, I've made plenty of friends and I even look forward to going to work occasionally.

Ahhhh work. I never wanted to be a teacher. I still don't want to be a teacher. It's funny because most of my friends in High School aspired to be teachers and I always fought them. I hated the idea of standing up in front of bratty kids lecturing at them and wasting my time while they slept at their desks. I didn't even realize it, but it was worse than I had ever imagined even then. Ironically though, I became a full time teacher before any of them. *sigh*

But with that said, I learned that teaching is more rewarding than I had originally imagined. Everyone knows that my class is worthless. At least the way the curriculum is set up (another rant for another day) but my students get something out of my presence. I'm not completely worthless to them. Many of my students really look forward to my classes and sometimes I actually make a difference to them. I just don't know it because they don't tell me. But I think that's something that happens in all schools. Not just my little on in the inaka of Japan.

I've learned to work with my kids and my teachers. I get along with people. It took a long time to learn how to write lesson plans and entertain my students so that they'll get more out of my lesson than some day dream. I've come a good ways from where I began.

But these are skills I don't think I care to use later on in life. I don't think I'd like to be a teacher. Even now. I wasn't born to be an entertainer. That's really what the job of a teacher is. I could sit down and teach you about everything I know. I'd get a real kick out of it. But that doesn't mean that you'll understand or even care. A teacher had to take knowledge and present it in an easy to understand and interesting way. Basically, an entertainer. I just don't see that as fun.

But I digress...

So now it's that time again this year. Should I stay or should I go? Have I accomplished everything that I set out to do? Kinda. If I stay, will I be able to accomplish those things still unfinished? Probably not. If I go home will I be able to accomplish those goals still unfinished? Not really.

What wishy washy answers!!!!

If I go:
I'll go back to my parents place and live there until I can find a job that will pay the bills. Buy myself a car, find an apartment and move out. Pretty much start a new life just like I had to do here. Only it'll be easier and harder in different ways. I'll be able to speak the language and take care of myself in ways I can't do here. But the job won't be handed to me on a silver platter. The job market isn't good back home and I don't see it getting any better. My degree (Liberal Studies) doesn't help me out either. I only have skills as a retail assistant manager and teacher. And lord knows I don't want to do either of those things.

Still, I think there are a number of jobs that I could do. The only catch is that I actually have to like the people that I work with.

In all honesty, I'd love going to work everyday here. I would love working with my students and I'd enjoy lesson planning if I were actually friends with any of my coworkers. If we ever had conversation that were more than just what lessons to plan and how the weather is. Maybe in a perfect world things would be better...

So basically, there's not a lot waiting for me back home except for the beginning of another uphill battle. Both easier and harder than life here.

If I stay:
Welp, right now, I'm making a pretty good income. I can tell you this because everyone on the JET program gets paid the same amount so if I didn't tell you here, you could just go look it up. So it's not rude ;)

I get paid about $30,000 a year. Yeah I know, small beans right? Well I don't get any taxes taken out of that because I am not living in the States and I'm not a Japanese resident. A friend of mine went back home and is now getting about $40,000 a year and after taxes, he's getting the same thing I do. Only he's almost in debt since he had to buy all new furniture (I didn't) and he's had to lease a car (small cars in Japan are way cheaper and the gas is pretty much the same price these days) I know that both of these incomes aren't that great, but for someone fresh out of college, I think that's pretty good!

At the same time, after my second year, things change and I'll have to pay Japanese taxes. I've heard rumor that they give me a raise to make up for it but I can't be sure about that. Also, when I leave, I get a pension which is a nice sum of money :)

But speaking of raises, that's a downfall of the JET program. There is no future here. I can't work my way up to anything. I come and I go and that's all. All this time spent will amount to nothing in my future.

Next, I can learn Japanese here. My Japanese isn't improving nearly as much as I'd like it to. But I can guarantee that if I go back home, it won't improve at all. In fact, I'll just forget it all. Thing is, I just don't see myself going back to school for Japanese. It'd almost a lost cause.....

Next, a lot of my friends will be leaving this year. Every friend that I make here will eventually leave. Or if they stay, then I will eventually leave them. Nothing is permanent to this place. But at the same time, if I stay, the friends that leave will be replaced. Maybe I'll meet someone new and interesting. Maybe I'll like them better ;) Is it worth the gamble?

Next, if I stay, I'll be going back to the same job every day like I am now. I don't see it improving too much. Can I tolerate that a third year?

Finally, if I stay, to help give me a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment, I think I'll apply to be a Prefectural Adviser (PA). There are three PAs in Kochi and two of them will be leaving this year. They don't get paid anything extra but CLAIR will pay for them to learn how to council others on things like homesickness, culture shock and coping skills. I think as a third year, I could help other new JETs with most of the problems they'll come across by living out here in the inaka. I think I have a lot of advice to give and I think that helping out will really make my third year worthwhile.

Assuming that I stay of course...

Tasmanian Christmas

2008-01-15T16:33:00.000+09:00

Good Golly!!! It's been almost a month since I last posted!!! I had no idea... where did all the time go?

Well, I'll tell you.

About two days after my last post, I took a bus to Osaka where Nick and I caught a plane to Australia. Did anyone know that you needed a Visa to get into Australia? Yeah, neither did I. Almost didn't make it (^^;) Luckily, our plane was 4 hours late. That was an international flight too. We took JET Star which is an Australian company. It's the cheap spawn of a very wonderful company known as Qantas. Basically, JET Star is super cheap (kinda) but I think with every single one of the flights we took which totaled to about 6, they all had problems including but not limited to, late flights, missing bookings (as in we weren't given a seat on the flight because they didn't know we were coming despite our printed receipts) and extra charges for things like food, blankets and pillows.

The flights weren't all that bad though. They had larger seats than expected and the staff were very kind and patient while they sorted out everyone single one of our problems. (^u^)

And we even got to Tasmania on time!

Even though it was summer there, Christmas day weather was very similar to Florida's so it felt nice. After that it heated up and I felt right at home!

Nick's family is wonderful as well. I met all 3 million of them! Hahahaha! I don't think a day went by that I didn't meet a new person.

Since most of the time was devoted to family and friends, I really didn't mind that we didn't go to many touristy places. I enjoyed everyone's company and we never sat around doing nothing so it was fine that I didn't get to buy little trinkets that had Tasmanian Devils painted all over them.

And speaking of which, I got to see a Tasmanian Devil. They're small, kind of ugly and look nothing like the Looney Tunes Taz. I have no idea how those two are anything alike! Also, the Tazzie Devil has the worst growl I've ever heard! It is very well named for it :-/

In other animal news, I got to see lots of Australian animals! I even got to pet a kangaroo!!! That was really awesome (^u^) But Nick's camera died that day so there aren't any pictures which is really too bad (ToT)

In closing, Tasmania was gorgeous and I loved every minute of it!

~~~~~~~

Once I got back, I really did hit the ground running like I thought I would. Thank god there wasn't any jet lag!

We got back into Osaka on Sunday night and spent Monday getting back to Kochi. On Tuesday, I was right back to work. Wednesday I made a special trip to give Kae and the family the souvenirs I bought for them, then raced off to get the next thing done. Friday night was spent at an Ex JETs English conversation school. We drank lot's and had some crazy fun with her adult students!

Actually, we had dinner at an Izakaya (Japanese pub) and the ladies decided that they wanted to dress up in costumes. Since it's the new year and also the year of the rat, they decided that should be the theme. I was donned with mouse face paint and everything! It was a lot of fun.

Later in the night when I had forgotten I was actually wearing anything, I walked out of our private room (there were a lot of us) to use the toilet and another customer came walking up the stairs just then. He stopped dead in his tracks and wouldn't stop staring at me. I brushed it off and thought he was a jerk for fully gaping at me just because I am a foreigner. That is until I took a look in the mirror. I fully burst out laughing!!!

(Will post pictures when I get them from Nick)

I went from that party to having a morning party with Sara's little kids (she's the woman that runs the English conversation school). After that, I went home, and cleaned up for another party I was hosting with a couple of friends that I had missed since I wasn't here for New Years.

Now the weekend is over, and I'm back to classes. But tomorrow I'm actually skipping class to go to the Wonderful Mid Year Conference of which all JETs will attend. It's a great time of the year because it means I get to see friends that I haven't seen for months since they live so far away at the edges of the prefecture. You can guarantee that many parties will be had ;)

And so it continues.....

(I always write about how happily busy I am and how many parties I have every weekend...but still, I'm debating if I even want to recontract. It's a decision I have to make in the beginning of February. I'm actually not sure if another year will do me any good.... parties? or the real world.... not as easy a decision as you'd think)

Have I mentioned Today How Much I Love My Students?

2007-12-18T20:45:00.000+09:00

So today was spent a Yamada High. I had an extra few classes just because everyone wants to do Christmas stuff and that's always fun so I can't very well say no :)

One of the teachers asked me to teach her 2nd years. I hadn't taught those students since last year so I was pretty excited to work with them again and see how they had improved. They were equally happy to see me because it meant that they could play games and not do any book work. Fun was had by all in English! I thought that maybe I should bring some candy for the winners seeing as it's a holiday lesson and all but in then end I forgot. Really though, it didn't seem to matter much because it didn't need to motivate them. The idea that it was a free day was good enough!

And then, as I was racing out of the building on my lunch break to get some much need prep work done before I leave for Australia, a student stuck his head out the window and called me over. He actually thanked me for coming to his class. He said he had a really good time. I told him I had a really good time too.

It almost brings tears to my eyes.

What a mix of students and experiences!

This is one of the reasons why I'll probably stick around for a third year (^^)

I'd Rather Have Nothing

2007-12-17T23:16:00.000+09:00

There is a Japanese trait that I both admire and hate. It is the concept of "what I need".

I remember reading about this sort of thing in one of my language books. A Japanese person and a gaijin walk up to a vending machine. There are two bottles of coke, one normal sized and one extra large. The extra large one is exactly the same price as the normal sized one. So the gaijin (probably from America) goes for the bigger one and the Japanese guy chooses the normal sized one. The gaijin says "Why did you choose that one? You get way more with the bigger one and the price is the same! It's a great deal!" and the Japanese guy replies, "Yeah but I don't need that much coke."

The American mentality is that regardless of if we need it or not, it's a better value and that's what's important to many of us. For the Japanese, in an exaggerated case, they would almost pay more for the smaller one because really, that's all they need and "もったいない" (don't be wasteful)

At first, I thought this was great. I thought it was a good way to live. It makes you a better person for not being wasteful because lord knows I can't drink a normal amount of coke and I'd probably have bought the bigger one too!

And that's all well and good until you get a bunch of (irritating) high school seniors and you try to give them FREE stuff.

I've talked about it before. At Oodochi high school I have a special Nina Dollar reward system. If the students do something right, they get various amounts of Nina Dollars as payment. I then collect them and put them into their Nina Bank Accounts (seriously). And at the end of the term, I hold an auction where they can buy things with their Nina Dollars.

Let me remind you of the obvious: These dollars have been accumulating for months and they're completely useless outside of my classes.

duh

Today is the last day I'll see my Seniors forever. I like the third years. Just not the ones that I teach. I happen to teach the lower of the two levels (why, I'll never know) and this means that not only are they way below average but they're lazy on top of it. They have to try to get scores that low.

(Seriously guys, I'm not making this up. The school is closing because there aren't enough students to fill it. You have to be THAT SPECIAL to get in)

The last time I did an auction, I brought in some pretty junky stuff but still more than I had originally planned. I originally was just going to give them candy. But the Largo exchange group had given me all their extra gifts so I had plenty to auction off.

This time around, I had TONs of really cool things that I brought back from my August trip to the states! I had stickers and bags and candy and toys ! It was such a pain in the ass to get it here too! And it wasn't cheap either!!! And let me give you a hint, the school didn't pay for my excursion to America, they didn't pay for the stuff I'm giving away to my kids and they didn't pay the extra baggage charge when it was overweight.

and my students paid with Nina Dollars. Meaning that really, it was free for them.

Well. Do you know what their response was to me?

*unimpressed glares* ".....seriously? You want $15 Nina Dollars for that? Pshh.. I don't need it"

It wasn't even an "I don't need it, but thanks." It was just a flat out, "I don't want your junk Nina. Leave me alone, I'd like to put my head down until class is over."

At least in America the students would have grabbed for it just because it was free.

There are these bags that I'm trying to get rid of from the Largo group. They're the plastic "back packs" that have a draw string as both the opening to the bag and then they come down to make the straps for your arms. No one actually wants them regardless of if they're American, Japanese or from anywhere else, but I've seen many a time that people have grabbed for them just because they were being given away for free as a promotional item.

But still, my students turned their nose at them.

I could understand it when I did the auction the first time. I did actually have some junk. But I put a lot of effort and thought into this one.

I even gave one veeeeery special student an extra $5 just because he had $0 and I didn't want him to go empty handed. It wasn't hard to get these bucks either. They just needed to participate. And the students that fought me tooth and nail about that STILL got more than $5!!! But regardless, I'm pretty sure this kid walked away with nothing. He didn't even want the super cheap $5 candy that I had priced just for him.

*bitter rant begin*
You know, sometimes I just really hate those students for being such ungrateful brats. They have no idea that the only reason why the government pays for me to be here is to teach their sorry asses. What a waste of money. What a waste of my time.

Honestly, I applaud anyone who enjoys being a teacher and I give a standing ovation to anyone who's good at it. There are plenty of people who love teaching and are good at their job. I work with a number of them!

But I am not one of them. And I hope to all that is holy that I don't end up doing this for the rest of my life.

But hey it could be worse. I could be teaching middle school! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA...hmmmm

Freefalling from one event to the next until New Years!

2007-12-06T19:53:00.001+09:00

Thank god the JLPT is over!!! I can't promise anyone that I passed. Whenever I was practicing I always tallied the points wrong without realizing it so I was actually doing worse than I thought.

See, the test is broken into 3 parts. The first 2 I always do pretty well with but the last part, grammar and reading, I do so poorly in that it usually brings me down to just barely passing. What I didn't realize until the day of the test was that the third section is actually worth twice as much as the others. :P I think I did pretty well on those parts but we'll see when I get the results in February.

Now I'm in auto pilot as I bounce from one event to the next. This past Wednesday, without anytime to really recover from the test, I hosted an International Day at my school, 3 other ALTs from around the prefecture came over and we internationalized 20 of my students to their breaking point! Let's just say that Vegemite and PB&J are two snacks that Japanese students most certainly don't enjoy (for the most part) but the hip hop dancing was quite well received ;)

Tomorrow, I'll be off to the city to host a present exchange party for those of us who celebrate giving presents to friends around December. Saturday, I'll be volunteering at a Children's English Language Christmas Party but I'll be leaving early to go to a film festival which will be showing and judging movies that have been made by the people of the prefecture. The contest was to create a movie that represented Japan through the eyes of Kochi prefecture. Sunday will be spent making a ginger bread house with Wakako and the family and that'll then begin my next week where I'll be going through similar things all over again until I leave for Australia on the 21st.

*Whoo*

But when do I get to breathe?!?!? As soon as I get back from Australia, I'll be hitting the ground running! With the new year comes the start of the Genki Musical!!! Stay tuned for the shenanigans which are sure to ensue ;)

Bad Luck Driving

2007-11-20T22:12:00.000+09:00

Forgot about this in the last post.

So yesterday Nick, Dave and the other CIRs all over Japan went to Tokyo to have a mid-year conference. On Sunday, Nick stayed the night at my place while I was in Odochi (Japanese language makes everything complicated) and Dave picked him up on Monday morning and they were off to the airport!

Only they didn't get that far. At least not how they planned.

I must be giving off unlucky vibes or something!!!

After Dave got Nick, he was backing up his enormous and beautifully powerful machine out of the parking area of my apartment complex, when he got too close to a large ditch/sewer system and his two right side tires fell in. The ditch is about three feet wide and four feet deep. He thought for sure that entire car would fall in!

But it didn't. Instead, he told my land lady, handed her the keys and raced off to the airport to catch their flight. I got a nice call that afternoon from Nick as their were waiting for the plane. I came home and was kindly handed the keys to a very nice car that was sitting in my parking spot. The Landlady called some friends of hers and they fished it out of the ditch after the guys left.

She really is a very kind woman. I wish I could speak more Japanese to her!!! (ToT)

And really, through this whole thing, no one thought to take a picture :P

I Don't Want To Study for the JLPT Right Now

2007-11-20T19:10:00.000+09:00

So instead I'll write out a post :)

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in a Murder Mystery game with about ten other people. I was given a character profile, I dressed in costume and played the part to try and figure out who the killer was while not getting caught red handed with my own scandals. It was loads of fun!!!

I was Madam MeMe Wannabe married to the host of the evening Don Wannabe. My story was that I had been brought up in brothels only to move my way up the ranks to own my own string of them. I'm a classy businesswoman who treats her woman and clients well. The evening began with my husband and I holding a grand opening party for our new Speakeasy club (right?)

Don and I were doing the bookkeeping for "Big Jim" the head of the fo-mafia in Chicago. This everyone knew. But what was a secret was that his estate was worth about $4,000,000 until we skimmed a little bit off the top. After that, it was only worth about $40,000. But no one needed to know...until he was murdered and he left his daughter, mother and new wife the inheritance.

But I'm not gonna tell who dun it ;)

NEXT
There's an article I'd like to discuss that I'd seriously like to share with the world at large.

As of today the Japanese government has put into effect new policies for entering the country if you are not a Japanese citizen. It used to be that if you held a visa and a re-entry permit (which I do) then you could just go through customs in Japan as if you were actually Japanese. (pretty nice) Now however, they have a new system where all foreigners must be finger printed and photographed.

Ok, whatever. To me this only means that it'll take longer to go through customs. I didn't think much of it until I read this article.

Please note before you read this article, there's some information you might want to know about the NOVA group.

See, NOVA was the biggest English conversation school in Japan. It was known for being cheap on all sides. It wasn't a good school for students to go to or foreigners to work at. It was just an easy way for the Japanese to practice English and it was an easy way for foreigners to get to Japan.

Well, about a month ago NOVA finally went bankrupt. It was a bad company all around. Thousands of foreigners were without a job for a couple of days later another company snatched it up. Basically, everyone saw it coming.

NOW, you may read this article ;)

And these are my questions because I seriously think I'm missing something here:

1. Is there something that is "restrictive" about photographing and finger printing every foreigner that goes to Japan? How will this keep people from entering the country? How will this deter people from living here?

2. Does this man think that if a few foreigners leave Japan that the need to be able to speak and understand English will just magically disappear?

3. This man makes it sound like he wants to close off the borders of Japan! How does finger printing and photographing people do that?!?!??! Doesn't the US do the same thing?!!? I don't see that stopping anyone! I just see it making you late to get to your connecting flight!

4. Does this man SERIOUSLY think that foreigners had ANYTHING to do with NOVA's collapse? NOVA is known for it's by the books, telling you exactly what to say and when to say it kind of teaching program. It was fail proof. The easiest no brainer job ever. Just read from the card.

And the felling I'm left with is something I've gotten used to since coming to Japan; the sense that I'm missing something important.

Ya wanna know what I bet it is, this "high ranking official" is probably just a nobody pulling opinions out of his ass. Either that, or there's finally some hard evidence that the Japanese are as self centered, bigoted and "wanting to stay unique as only an Island Nation can provide" as the stereotype says.

PLUS!!! Rumor has it that the birth rate is soooooo bad that the Japanese government is thinking of changing some immigration laws to bring in more foreigners into the workforce! But that's another can of worms that I won't go into. Every gaijin girl has her own opinion about Japanese men. ;)

Other than that, it's gotten significantly colder here. Which makes me hungrier than ever which is so NOT cool! I don't want to gain absolutely ANY winter weight!!

News Flash: PANTS

2007-11-02T18:11:00.000+09:00

I was just going through the switch between summer and winter clothes when I came across my favorite Target pants that I stopped fitting into by October of last year thanks to the stress and over eating that was had in my early months here in Japan.

I decided to try them on just for giggles and guess what??!!??!?!

THEY TOTALLY FIT!!!

AND THEY'RE EVEN BAGGY!!!!

Just thought I'd let you in on that little update ;)

For now, it's back to studying. I have school culture days, international days, lessons, parties, and a Japanese Language Proficiency test to do before I go to Australia for Christmas! WHOO!

Three Nina Style Issues and Visitors from home

2007-10-25T20:46:00.000+09:00

And starting from the beginning:

The first weekend of October was the Muroto English camp. (See previous post #4) The day after, I found a good sized bug bite on my inner thigh. I thought nothing of it but two days later it had more than doubled in size. Not only had it starting growing however, it also started finding veins and was traveling in two strips up my thigh in the direction of a very important place to every woman.

I made an absent minded comment about this on facebook and immediately I got a reply from an old acquaintance telling me about how she once got a very nasty bug bite which started doing the same thing as mine. She had gone to the doctor only to be told that it was just an allergic reaction. 5 days later she was in the hospital having the wound drained of poison. Apparently it was a super poisonous spider that had bit her and if it had been on her foot rather than her ass they would have had to amputate it.

With that email, I was off to the doctor. He told me it was just an allergic reaction and sent me on my way with some nice super strength, could kill a horse, Japanese meds.

It's been a little over two weeks since that time and the spot has turned into a faint bruise and nothing more. Let's hope it stays that way.
(Issue #1: solved)

The day after I went to the doctor, Christina and Chrissy, my two good friends from Uni came out to visit me! We had a blast! And it was so cool to watch their eyes bug out as they tried to take in all the things that I've come to take for granted. Mountains for example ;)

The first thing we did was have a party at Nicks and then we were off to Kagawa for the weekend. We made Udon, saw some great sites and came home in time for me to go to school for a little bit and then take them site seeing some more around Kochi. Friday we were off again to Hiroshima where we visited the very intense A-Bomb Dome and Museum. After that we took the typical trip to Tokyo which no visit to Japan is complete without. I flew back into Kochi last night and they were off back to Florida this afternoon.

All in all it was a nice and somewhat relaxing vacation. The girls were not all about rushing to the next tourist site. Instead they enjoyed taking their time and if we didn't happen to get to do everything that was on our list that was ok. As long as they were enjoying themselves there was no reason to worry. :)

Unfortunately 4 days into their vacation I got into a car accident.

I was driving down a back road that I don't normally take (sounds just like Nick's story...creepy). I was turning right at a blind intersection. Instead of coming to a full and complete stop like I should have, I rolled through while looking at the two mirrors that they have placed across the intersection so that you can see oncoming traffic. Only after the accident did I come to realize that the mirror showing the right side of the street was tilted so I couldn't actually see much of anything in it.

So I looked in the mirrors and saw that there were no cars. As I pulled into the intersection I looked to my left and saw no cars. By the time I was in the middle of the intersection I looked to my right and saw that there was a car RIGHT THERE!!! So I sped up so as not to be hit by the car, I underestimated the width of the street, over shot the turn and drove up onto the curve and over a pedestrian crossing sign.

It could have been worse. I could have hit a pedestrian.

The cops came out almost immediately, everyone was very kind even the passers by who asked me if everything was alright while I waited at the scene and cried to myself.

In fact, while I was talking to the very kind police, my old host mother, Mari drove by.

Now this is not my current Japanese mum, Kae. This is the woman that I stayed with the last time I came here with the Largo crew. She is the woman who introduced me to Kae in the first place who was actually hosting a different Largo student at that time.

Mari was shocked to see me and instantly stopped her car to make sure everything was alright. Before I could blink my eyes she already had her family mechanic on the line and within an hour of the accident my car was picked up and replaced by a free rental. (oxymoron?)

The repairs are costing me about $1000 and honestly I sat and really thought about how much this car was worth to me. I realized that I had gotten a very good deal when I payed only $2000 for it in the first place and it's a good car that I have bonded with even if only over the past 5 or 6 months. Besides, I won't find a better car for less or equal that price.

I do actually have insurance and it'll pay for the pole but it won't pay for the damage to the car. If the damage were over $2000 then they would pay for it but then my rate would go up $2000 so it really doesn't matter in the end. Needless to say, I never thought I'd hit a pole. I mean honestly.

Thankfully it didn't ruin Christina or Chrissy's vacation.
(Issue #2: solved)

We were still able to drive around to the places we wanted to go but we weren't able to drive as comfortably to Hiroshima as we had planned. My car is huge when in comparison to other Kei (small style) cars in Japan. We were planning to drive it north about 5 hours to Hiroshima and Nick would drive it home. Instead, we took Nick's car which is much smaller and much more manual so it was a little bit of a pain in the ass since Nick is the only person able and authorized to drive said car. Poor Nick.

This past Sunday night we said our goodbyes to Nick and took a night bus to Tokyo where I thoughtfully left my cell phone (on the bus not the entirety of Tokyo)

I swore up and down that I left it on the bus but it took them 2 days to actually locate it (turns out they couldn't locate the bus I was on. The bus driver actually found it immediately but didn't think to contact anyone about it)

Now I'm waiting for my cellphone to be shipped back to me and then maybe I'll finally be able to get into touch with people. For example, the mechanic working on my car. He said he'd have it done by today but there's really no way for anyone to get into contact with me so...

Well, things could be worse.
(Issue #3: being solved)

And this is the story of my life.

Post and a half!!

2007-10-09T21:41:00.000+09:00

Lot's has happened in the past monthish. Mostly, all you need to know is that I've updated my gallery (link to the right) and if I get some time to put captions with the pics then you might actually understand all the things that are going on!!!

1. Kagawa and Naoshima

On one of the two three day weekends in September, Nick and I took a road trip (I drove of course) up to the very northern prefecture in Shikoku, aka Kagawa. From there we took a ferry to the beautiful island of Naoshima where we spent the day looking at various art museums. It was breathtaking and I highly recommend it. I wish I could have taken pictures of most of the things we saw but well, you know museums ;)

After going to Naoshima, we popped a tent on a beautifully deserted beach where we spent probably the worst night of my life here in Japan. The beach is meant for camping so it's not like we were trespassing or anything. But the weather forecast failed to mention typhoon style winds coming from the sea and the brochure failed to mention the wild dogs that liked to sneak up right next to your tent and then decide to get into a fight with each other. Jerks!!! I would have roasted those dogs if I weren't afraid of contracting some despicable Japanese dog disease!!!

After waking with the sun, we took down what was still standing of our tent thanks to the high winds and went off to do some sea kayaking. River kayaking is pretty relaxing. Sea kayaking combined with high winds makes for a tough trip. We rightfully thought that it would be pretty easy but well, the high waves combined with very little sleep left me feeling less than up to par by the time we were finished. With that, we decided to drive the two hours home and cut our trip short. But it was an excellent adventure and I recommend everything!!! (except the camping, a good nights sleep totally beats FREE)

2. The following week was Taikusai at Yamada high school! (sports day) Lot's of games and injuries were had!!!! Check out the pics for the highlights!

Personally, it was quite interesting at times but honestly, I don't like sports and I doubt I ever will. I didn't actually enjoy watching ALL DAY for TWO WHOLE DAYS. I would have rather studied Japanese at my desk.

3. Dodge ball!!!

Some friends decided that we all weren't quite busy enough with our normal lives so we all got together in a borrowed elementary school gym and we played a few rounds of dodge ball. It was fun and I spared myself the carnage by dubbing myself camera woman! I'm sure you'll love my excellent camera skillz ;)

4. Muroto English Camp!

Probably the best English camp yet! It was exactly what I wanted! There were actually more ALTs than campers which was awesome. And the focus was more on internationalization rather than English. We played lot's of games that all used English but were not focused on it. Lot's of leadership things. We played lot's of games that got my competitive spirit up and I loved every tiring hour of it! Plus, I got three vacation days out of it. Gawd I love playing and getting payed for it!

Check out the pics!!!

I Passed My Test!!!!!

2007-09-15T08:35:00.001+09:00

So this is how it happened. I didn't pass on Monday and so I went crying to my supervisor that I needed help. Instead of anything useful, he said "Do you're best and I'm sure you'll pass next time" All the while knowing that if I don't actually improve, I'll be taking this test up 12 or 13 times! No one is going to pass me just because I show up. They'll just feel bad failing me every time.

So I went home crying to Nick. The next day (because his Japanese is much better than mine) he called up the testing center, then called up some driving schools and finally called up a few private tutors that could help me out. After pulling a few strings he set me up with a very nice teacher for Thursday afternoon (more time off of work...bleh)

However, there was a problem that I'd been having since about my 5th time taking the test. As I kept improving, the proctors kept giving me more and more specific information for how to improve. My Japanese limits me to basic stuff so even though I was getting the gist of what they were saying, I couldn't understand the very specifics and that frustrated me even more. I told this to Nick and he decided to come all the way from Kitagawa* to translate what the tutor was saying to me while we drove around.

*Ino is where the testing center is. It's about 30 minutes west of Kochi city. I live about 40 minutes East of Kochi city and Nick lives about 2 hours East of Kochi city. Just to put things into perspective. He also had to take a little bit of time off of work as well. He gets more vacation time than I do but still.

On Thursday, I went to work until 2pm then hopped on a train to Kochi city where I met up with Nick who then drove me to the testing center.

Actually, right as Nick was leaving work early that day, he decided to take a back road home. He'd done this before, it was normal. Earlier in the week he had a close call with almost getting run over by a car. He missed it and nothing really happened. But on Thursday, as he was riding his bike home from work, he actually did get hit by a car.

It was some old woman who went through a blind turn too quickly. She hit Nick and he bounced back off the car only so that the car could keep going forward and drag him a few feet. His right foot has a pretty big scrape on it but if he hadn't been wearing sneakers, I'd say that a good chunk of it would have gone missing. Other than that, there are a few scrapes on his back and arm but nothing very serious. The bike is completely shot.

And he still made it into Kochi city in time to pick me up and take me to my tutor.

We practiced there for a few hours and that was about it. I took the test on Friday and everyone at the testing center was very proud. They were so happy to see how much I had improved. They really were all rooting for me. :)

And I honestly don't know how I can make it up to Nick. He knows it's a big deal what he did but the gratitude I feel is immeasurable.

And that's my story! I'll be driving like crazy for the next few weeks!!!!

More Driving Frustrations

2007-09-10T20:29:00.000+09:00

I still haven't passed the driving test. Today was my 6th attempt. That's 6 vacation days wasted. That's more than 36300 yen (just about $350) down the drain. That's 18 days of worrying about all of this. I'm talking lot's of dreams about driving. Lots.

And still what feels like no progress.

The test is hard and they grade me accordingly. It wasn't made to be an easy test. I've heard everyones opinion about it too. It's not fair the way they expect us to pass this test without ever taking a Japanese course in it. It's not right to have such a ridiculously difficult test. There's no way you can drive like this is real life! Why would they want you to drive that way on the course? They're just out to get your money. They're jerks. They want to break you before they'll pass you. Make sure they see you cry. Let them think they've won and you'll get your license and be done with all this bs.

This is the sort of thing that people say. And it's easy to believe it too. I've cried three times now over this test. The last one was actually in front of someone as my pride couldn't hold the tears back any more. It is true that I've spent a lot of money on this. But not as much money and time and energy if I had actually taken the course which is about 8 weeks of intense study and testing as well as around $3000. I know because a friend of mine actually had to take it. He past on the first attempt but I wouldn't expect anything less. One of his class sessions actually covered which finger he should use to turn on the blinker.

This is how asinine this test is.

But the truth is that no one's out to get me. This is just how the system works and none of my instructors are trying to break me or take my money. They don't see an single extra yen if I pass or fail.

In fact, they've actually made the test easier for foreigners. I sat in the car one attempt with a Japanese man who was also taking the test that day. I watched him drive "the same course" as I did that day. His was much more difficult. It was longer and had more hoops to jump through. He didn't pass that day. I saw him again today actually. He's on his 4th take. I don't know if he took the driving course in the first place. I also don't know if he passed. I hope he did. No one should go through this hell more than once.

But for me, it seems I've been giving more help than any other JET this year from what I've heard. One girl passed on the first try out of sheer luck. One girl took it 5 times and had to pay for two super expensive lessons where the instructor drove around with her and told her all the tricks for how to pass. One girl took it 8 times and every time no one told her what she had done wrong which is slightly unusual. Normally they'll tell you at least one thing that you did wrong. They never told her a single time for some reason. Her school ended up paying for a $300 tutor to help her out.

But as for me, I seem to be a bit different. First, I am one of the only JETs who was never accompanied to a test by anyone from school. I had to beg to get someone to take me to the paperwork day when they had to make copies of my passport and American drivers license and interview me about my driving record. After that, there has been nothing. This is highly unusual though it's definitely not required that anyone accompany me. That's certainly not in anyones job description.

Aside from that one HUGE set back (am I bitter? We'll see when this is all over) I've actually been given a lot of help outside of all that. The first take I did miserably. The second take I did only slightly better. But the amazing thing was that my proctor took me aside and brought me into the classroom where he proceeded to show me how I should be driving on the course, where I should turn on my blinkers, etc etc. After he calculated my results (failure) he actually wrote down a note to have translated so that I could understand exactly what he was saying. This is one of the most amazing things ever done in the history of the Kochi Driving Exam. Many a JET has begged their proctor to write down exactly what they did wrong only to be refused in the end. My proctor did it out of the kindness of his heart without even being asked.

The third take I left before my very kind proctor could see me cry. The fourth....is a haze. I can't actually remember anything about it except that I was sure of myself. The 5th I thought I had it down. I was sure that I passed more than ever before! And my proctor was an ass in the end and I didn't pass. He was an ass because for the first time I was treated the way that everyone else had been treated. He told me one thing that I had done wrong (I turned too slowly on the curves...which, personally I don't think is not worth a failing grade for) and when I failed he said nothing. I wasn't even sure I had failed in the first place! He just gave me back my papers and walked away. I cried that day too. Snot everywhere ;)

Today, I was sure I would pass again. I stressed so much before that coming into the test today I couldn't have even cared less. I knew the courses by heart. I knew what to do and where to do them. I had done an excellent job before and the only reason why I didn't pass was because my proctor was a jerk.

Usually I get to the test site about an hour and a half early. The trains work that way (BITTER!!!) and it gives me a chance to study in the right environment. Almost every time I've tested I see this one motorcycle instructor. She's talked to me a couple of times before and she's always really nice. We talk about things like how many times I've taken the test, where I'm from, what I'm doing here. I look forward to seeing her and she always says "do your best!" whenever she leaves. I know she's rooting for me.

And so, today when I saw her, I smiled and said this was definitely the last time I would be taking the test. It was my 6th try and I was very sure of myself. She said her usual "do your best" and that was it. Then about 10 minutes later, an elderly man came up to me and said "what course are you taking?" Just like that. In Japanese, of course, but just as matter of fact. I told him and he pulled me into the classroom and told me everything that I could ever know about the course I was testing on today. It was just as if I had paid him to teach me only it didn't cost me a cent. I know that it was the motorcycle instructor pulling a favor for me.

In the end, the man didn't tell me much of what I didn't already know. He gave me a few tips but for the most part, I had it down. He helped with my confidence boost and he helped me with little things that I might get a few points off on. Hey, in this test, every point counts!!!

When the bell rang, I got one of the nicest proctors yet. There were two times when there were problems completely outside of my control and I don't think he marked me off for them! (A man walked out onto the course and I had to stop or hit him and another time a different car on the course was in my way so I had to stop where I was as well which is, of course, a no no in real life. But then again, no one said this was reality. It's Japan) He was the first proctor to actually talk to me like a normal human being instead of god talking down to his subjects. I thought for sure he would take pity on me. But in the end, I failed just like I had before.

I cried right in front of him when he told me this. He actually stuck around too to give me more pointers.

When I got home, I went straight to school and cried for my supervisor too. I told him I didn't understand the Japanese. I didn't know what else to improve upon. I just don't know what else to do!!! I'll never pass this if I don't do something different!!!

His answer:

"hmmmm, you know, Japanese people are lucky if they pass after 6 attempts. Do your best, I'm sure you'll get it next time!"

Thanks a lot.

I'm going to see if I can bribe him to call up the testing center and figure out just why I haven't passed. Something. ANYTHING from him would help. He's supposed to be taking care of me! This is his JOB!!!!

GAH!

Driving Frustrations

2007-08-29T20:57:00.000+09:00

Today was my third go at the driving test. The result was another failure.

So I went home and cleaned my apartment. I pulled everything off of their shelves and wiped everything down. I am now in the process of recategorizing all my food and utensils and putting them away.

This test is driving me to my breaking point. What's going to happen when I have nothing more to clean?

This is absolutely insane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And if you'd like to know just why I have been so agitated, here's a copy of course A of the Ino driving test. I'm going to leave the picture large so you can read the notes that the person I got this from wrote on them. And don't take these notes lightly. If you don't do them exactly as they're written, you'll fail.

In fact, today I failed because my blinker turned off automatically in the middle of an intersection while I was turning. My problem was that I didn't turn it back on so I lost points. My proctor told me that if I had been on the real roads, a police officer could have given me a ticket for that.

Well LA TI DA!

Adventures in Driving Land

2007-08-27T15:44:00.000+09:00

I'm in the process of getting my drivers license. It's a horrible process. The rules for driving on the course are strict and people have been known to go a bit mental after taking the test more than twice. Some have been known to pass it on their first try but most take it an average of 6.

Each time is at least $40 and an entire day of vacation wasted from the few I'm given in the first place.

As of today, I have taken the test twice.

Here's an email I sent to a friend that pretty much sums things up:

Last Friday was total crap. I studied my ass off and I knew what I needed to do. I didn't even get confused on the course! But what I did do was drive like I was drunk! (compared to what they actually wanted me to do) I was all over the place in my lane because I just didn't know how to move from the right or left of each lane before turning and all that jazz. I just didn't have enough time. I should have been going about 10kmh instead of like 25.

Sunday, I went down with Stevo and he sat shotgun while I drove for an hour on the course ($60). This morning, I went into the course and I was the only one there! I got this really nice old guy.

When I was practicing with Stevo, we kept making jokes and I said "ok, yoshi, and hai" so many times that I started getting this really weird teacher/girly tone to my voice when I said anything. So on the test today, I totally kept doing the same thing! I was like "hajimemashyo" *cute smirk and a wink* and went on my way. It was almost sing song! And I think the guy really liked that. Besides that, I kept saying things as I felt like it. For example, after stopping completely, I'd say "ikimashyo" etc etc.

In the end, he called me into the classroom and used the chalk on the map to show me exactly what I had done wrong with details!!! He said that I changed lanes really well but I need to check my blind spots when taking turns and I need to change lanes at THESE SPECIFIC LOCATIONS. It was amazing (^u^)v

I still failed in the end but I'm really confident about it for this Wednesday. That man probably just saved my life!

-Nina

Florida '07 The Run Down

2007-08-19T01:46:00.001+09:00

Cherries and TV

Olives and cheese

Babies and dogs

Matsuri Fish

2007-08-01T09:03:00.001+09:00

Exactly one week ago there was a matsuri (festival) directly on the street in front of my apartment. It lasted from Tuesday to Wednesday. As with most matsuri, there were various stalls for all kinds of fried/grilled foods, ice cream, and games.

There was one game in particular that I had seen in a number of anime and I just had to try it out. It's a special fish catching game. It's so popular that at the tiny matsuri at my place, they had three different stalls for it. Pretty much, there is a long and shallow tank with millions of gold fish in it. The fish are usually all gold but some are the black variety and even fewer are white with black spots. Pretty much, you pay $3 for a little plastic wand that looks like you could blow bubbles with it. It's about 2 1/2" across. Covering the wand is a thin layer of rice paper so as soon as it hits the water it breaks apart. Which means that you have to be pretty quick about scooping up the fish with it.

But I didn't know all of this at the time. So I called up Adam who was relaxing at home and I made him come over and win me a fish. I only wanted one black one and nothing else. Keep that in mind please. I only wanted ONE BLACK FISH.

On his first try, Adam caught both a black fish and a crappy gold fish. "Huh, that was pretty easy! I'm totally going to try that again!", he says. Welp, the next time he didn't have quite as good of luck. But the woman felt bad for him/us so she scooped up three more gold fish and added them to my bag. Adam then decided to try it again with the same result. In the end, I walked home with 6 gold fish and ONE BLACK FISH.

I had about an hour before I needed to be anywhere so Adam and I then went out to the local hardware store to pick up a tank. We farted around looking at tanks and thinking seriously about how much these fish are worth in the first place. I have heard that Matsuri fish are notorious for dying quickly so I was hoping that at least 4 of the goldfish would die leaving me with only 3 fish, meaning that I wouldn't need such a big tank.

However, as with all things, I got a little distracted. Instead of leaving with a plain plastic tank, I ended up with a glass tank (size M for whatever that's worth), a filter, rocks, fish food, a Big Beautiful Black Fish and a Ping Pong Ball shaped gold fish. (o^u^o)

I couldn't resist!!! The big black fish was gorgeous! He was so beautifully dark I couldn't possibly describe him better than by stealing the name of my good friend Dave (I'm sure you all remember Dave). Dave goes by the internet alias as "Daribold Blackerton" and I thought that it fit perfectly.

Second was the ping pong ball fish. I learned through this ordeal that it's actually called a pearl fish in English and it's native to Japan (Darkibold is native to China). Pretty much, this fish looks like it swallowed a ping pong ball. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen because the whole body jiggles when it swims around. I bought the genkiest (most active) fish in the tank because he would press his face against the glass and just jiggle back and forth. I couldn't resit. His name was Mikan which is the Japanese word for a small Chinese orange.

In the picture is Mikan, Daribold and the ONE BLACK FISH I set out to get when this whole thing began.

Let's recap just a bit, shall we:

Attempt 1: $3
Attempt 2: $3
Attempt 3: $3
Tank w/ filter: $10
Darkibold: $2
Mikan: $5

9 fish and $26 later, I was quite smitten.

Since I'm leaving for America in a week I decided that I would have Nick take the fish and when I come back he would keep most of the gold fish and maybe even the ONE BLACK FISH. I hadn't decided yet.

However, not all was well in the Nina Fish Tank where Darkibold reigned supreme. By Sunday morning I noticed that my luscious beauty was looking a bit lethargic and kind of keeping to the bottom of the tank. All the other fish seemed healthy enough so I thought maybe it was just too early in the morning for poor Mr. Blackerton. That night however, I realized all was not well.

I had heard rumors that goldfish have very acidic urine and it can kill the other fish in the tank if it builds up too much. Thing is, Darkibold is in the goldfish family! Whatever, I took him out of the tank and put him in a water pitcher filled with 2 day old distilled water. I wasn't sure it would work but it was 9pm by this time and nothing was open so I couldn't very well get those little drops for fish water. I then called up everyone I knew and the only person who was available was Dave himself. "DAVE!! DAVE!! My fish is dying and I never even got to tell you my joke about him!!!!" I screamed. "Dude, Nina. I know nothing about fish. Why are you calling me?" I then watched in agony as my fish sat on the bottom of the water for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Dorkibold seemed a little better so I left him and went along with my business. Erinn came over at one point and mentioned just how cute Mikan was and I convinced her to get one as a gift for her boyfriend. You just can't look at him without smiling if not flat out giggling. I told her that of any of my fish, I was hoping that the crappy goldfish would die and certainly not any of the ones I had actually named!

Tuesday morning came and Darkibold was doing worse than ever. I then took him to the store that I had bought him at and because I wasn't really able to communicate, I just held up the pitcher and gave the woman big puppy eyes hoping she would understand.

"Yup, he's definitely not doing well, huh!" She commented.

She gave me some medicine for him, water drops and I vowed that if he didn't pull through this I would flush those gold fish if it was the last thing I ever did!!!

I went home and administered the meds.

It turned the water a dark teal and made the room smell like fish. But I had hopes that it would work. I couldn't see Mr. Blackerton through it but I had faith that he would get better.

That night, I came home to check out how things were doing and before I could even look into the murky water, I noticed that Mikan had wedged himself between the filter and the side of the tank. He was breathing but his eyes had the dead fish look to them. I went to the kitchen to get a chopstick to poke him with. I figured I would just put him into the other tank with Darkibold and maybe it wouldn't be too late for the both of them!

I hadn't turned on the light in the kitchen but the light of the moon was enough for see just to get a chopstick. When I grabbed it from the sink, I saw a small shadow move. Thinking it was nothing and probably just something I did, I moved my hand in the same way just to see if I could make the shadow again (to reassure myself that it was in fact nothing). I ended up in a 7 minute battle against the first and biggest roach I have ever seen in my apartment.

By the time I got back to Mikan, I was thoroughly pumped with adrenaline and still silently freaking out. I poked him with the chopstick to get him out of the corner of the tank and instantly he floated to the top. He was still breathing so I threw him in with Darkibold and waited.

One hour later, I looked into the tank and knew that Mikan was dead.

WHY?!?!!? God WHY?!?! I was so angry! Mikan hadn't even looked like he was getting sick! He was just less genki than when I had bought him but that just meant that he was acting like all the rest of the bastard gold fish! The crappy gold fish that gave both my favorite fish a disease in the first place! Filthy Matsuri fish!!! ARG!

I took the pitcher to the toilet and threw mikan in. I then looked through the water and saw that Darkibold was still on the bottom and not moving at all. I gave up. After all this agony and effort I went through to take care of fish that cost me more than they were worth in the end, I was ready to give up. I threw him into the toilet as well. He just swirled around with the water. I was hoping maybe he would make one last effort to survive but there was nothing. He wasn't moving voluntarily at all.

I flushed.

And at the very last second before everything went down the drain, I saw Darkibold make his best effort to come to life and swim against the current. In less than a split second I realized that I had made the worst mistake ever and I completely burst into tears. Poor Darkibold! He wasn't even DEAD!!!

AHHHHHHHHH

I finally got a hold of Nick around 11:30pm. I told him he could keep the tank and everything. For now, I'm done with the whole business. I can't handle this much stress from fish. I have enough to worry about.

This morning, I saw the ONE BLACK FISH, showing the same signs that Darkibold did on Sunday. I don't think I'm going to try and save him. It doesn't matter that I still have expensive medicine left.

(ToT)

Help! Help! I'm being opressed!

2007-07-29T09:43:00.000+09:00

The heat here is absolutely amazing. It's the most opressive thing I have ever experienced! I'm sure I wrote about this when I had first come here but I just can't get over it. I wake up around 6:30 and just going to the bathroom has me drenched in sweat. I can't keep my apartment cool either!

It's time for Nina to buy an industrial sized fan.

In other news, I'm sitting at my desk of this fine Sunday morning. 'Why' you ask? Because this weekend has been devoted to parent teacher meetings which means that all teachers must report for duty both Saturday and Sunday. For me, I had no meetings to attend but Monday and Tuesday are mandatory vacation days so I could either take off of work and have a 4 day weekend or save my free days and come into work.

Obviously, I chose the latter.

It's when a whirlwind of excitement let me tell you. I'm now half way through Harry Potter 6 (again) and I've begun studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (hence forth known as the JLTP) Level 3. I really don't think I'll pass but I'm going to try my best.

Also, in the news today, I have finally recieved my new used computer!!!

I came in the other day and practically threw a tantrum at my old machine. The teachers saw this and decided to finally help me out in this department and the Network Admin finally hooked me up. I am now running XP and I am very VERY pleased.

The only problem is that I am no longer an administrator myself (I have mommy and daddy controls) so I can no longer install software which means if I want to install:

Quicktime
Firefox
Java
MS updates
WinRar
Google Toolbar
Change the time on the clock which is annoyingly 15 minutes off
Whatever else sparks my fancy...

I have to get the network admin in here to do it for me.

Words can not describe how much of a pain in the ass that is. I think I'll learn to live without. For now, my computer no longer crashes when I close MSWord (o^u^o) I couldn't ask for more!

I'll be in the states in 8 days!!!

Say What Who?

2007-07-19T22:18:00.000+09:00

Once again I've waited too long to update my blog. So instead of going on with a long winded description of a single event, I'm going to write about a bunch (and I use the phrase loosely) of things that have happend starting from most recent to least recent and I'll put in extra details when I feel like it.

Cheers!

~~~~~~~~~~

As of this afternoon, I'll be completely done with teaching classes until September.

~~~~~~~~~~

I have this special thing with the students at Odochi where if they do something I think is special, I give them 1 or 2 Nina Dollars. They look like this:

For the most part, I don't think the students actually knew what they were for but I had in mind that I would hold an auction maybe every term (there are three total) and I would let them buy candy and maybe one really expensive but pretty cool American toy.

Well, when the Largo guys came, they left me with a bunch of really cool presents to give to people. The had so many donations for people in America (such as the devil rays, Eckerd college and Disney) that they had too much to give to people. So I got the leftovers. On top of all that really cool stuff, Adam decided that since he's leaving he needed to clean out his apartment and I got some more cool stuff!!!

So needless to say, when I held my auction yesterday, the kids got spoiled rotten.

However, the best prize out of all the prizes was an old nasty box of Jelly Belly Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. It was absolutely hilarious to see the students stick a bean in their mouth and cringe. After a while, I asked one girl if maybe it was just too sweet for her and that was why she was cringing. I thought maybe it was actually a good bean but the American flavor was just too much for her. She turned to me with the most disgusted face ever and said, "No. This is definitely NOT sweet". Hahaha, she was eating a grass flavored bean too.
HAHAHAHHAHA

~~~~~~~~~~

An earthquake hit on Monday. I didn't know about it. I didn't feel it. I've had at least 3 people email me about it. But no one seemed to notice the typhoon that directly hit my area. (Not that I expect anyone to!)

~~~~~~~~~~

Monday we had a holiday so that made it a three day weekend. I had some major plans to go camping with some friends but Saturday started out with the first typhoon of the season. It's pretty funny actually. Everyone was really sort of scared but from what I could tell, it was just a tiny thing. Nothing like what we get in Florida!

HA! I laugh in the face of a numbered typhoon. It is nothing like our hurricanes with human names!

At 9pm it was set to hit my town exactly and by 9:30 the rain stopped and suddenly....nothing. It just decided to die right then and there. And that was the end of it. Sunday was beautiful and that is the end of that disappointing story.

~~~~~~~~~~

I had originally planned to go camping with Nick and a girl named Son. She's a Korean CIR and came on JET in April. I first met her at the Sayonara Party. She was talking to a few people so I walked over to join the conversation. She was sitting down where as I was standing and she looked up with the most puppy dog eyes and fervently told me in Japanese, "I'm not Japanese. Everyone thinks I'm Japanese. I'm not. I'm Korean. I came in April," and then turned back to the other people and kept the conversation going.

Basically she could pass as being Japanese. Her Japanese is amazing. She doesn't know a lot of English but we still get along pretty well.

On Sunday the would-be-camping crew went out to Katsurahama (the beach) to see what had washed up on shore. But the conversations we were having must have looked so interesting! Nick (also a CIR) would be chatting away with Son in Japanese and I would pipe in with English and Son would understand enough to comment back in Japanese. It really is a very ethnic group! A Korean, American and Australian!

~~~~~~~~~~

This is how I've been feeling most of the time:

Completely smitten with life now that I have a car.

And btw, don't ask how that's going. On the 6th my license will expire. On the 7th, I'll be on my way home for 2 weeks. When I get back, I'll have a hellava time getting that damn Japanese license. Don't ask because I'm stressing as it is and I'll bite your head off with a whole explanation of what a bs system the Japanese have going here. And trust me, knowing the craptastic Japanese system should be on a need to know basis only and believe me when I tell you, you don't need to know!

It doesn't matter.

Whoo! I've got a car!!!!

Cars, Parties and Bottoms!

2007-07-01T11:07:00.000+09:00

This past weekend was the Sayonara Party for all the JETs that are leaving in July and August. It was on top of a hotel at a beer garden. The theme was Good vs. Evil and I have some excellent pictures that I'll post later. I went as an angel because I'm cheap and knew that I'd be staying sober. That's right folks, I bought my car from a leaving JET who was attending the party. She drove it in and I drove it out.

But before that, on my way to the actual party, dressed in said costume, about a 40 minute ride by train from home, I got a call from the Theif.

Theif: Nina, did you meet up with your supervisor?
Nina: .........no....why?
T: Because you're 20 minutes late and he was supposed to pick you up.
N:.... huh?
T: The party is tonight! You know, the drinking party that we have after doing something important. This time, it's to thank everyone for doing such a good job with the Largo Exchange. The principal really wants you to come!
N: ......
T: I guess Twitchy-sensei forgot to tell you.
N:Yeah I guess so.

I could kill. I'm talkin' first degree murder. They will see it coming and no one will be able to stop me. I even TALKED TO MY SUPERVISOR THAT SAME DAY about how I had this really cool Sayonara party to go to. Does anyone ANYONE mention a party for the Largo exchange? Not a one. Not a single fucking one. Out of 6 JTEs and a principal, vice principal, and office lady, whom I know all attended because they were all very involved, no one said a word.

whatever

Switching gears!

I got my car!!! And I'll post pictures later. For now, I'm too busy trying to figure out how to drive on the left side of the road. You'd think it would be easy enough to think left lane, left lane, left lane. But there's a whole lot more that goes into driving on the wrong side of the road. My entire car is mirrored! I tried to turn on the blinker and the windshield wipers go. I turn around to back up and I have to turn to my left, not my right. It's kind of a weird feeling to say the least. All my muscle memory is now wrong!

But I'm getting the hang of it I think.

I decided that I wanted to go and do things that I couldn't before I had a car so I took Erinn around to a few places. We went shopping at a great Jeans place, had dinner at an American style steak house called Bikuri Donkey (Surprise Donkey...as in Donkey Kong) which is only a chain in Japan but was cute anyway (^_~)v

She also had a coupon for a spa so we decided to go in and get a massage. Everything in the place was from Indonesia and they specialized in aroma therapy. I chose a scent called Power and smelled like citrus and sandalwood. Very nice. So I got the complete naked rub down which included my butt!!!! She asked if it was alright before we started but I was still surprised anyway. I walked home with sandalwood oil all over and it felt and smelled so nice (^^) I think I'll go back but...well, at $50 a pop, maybe not so often.

For now, I'll continue driving like a madwoman down the road at 30 miles an hour! (speed limit is 40 at the best of times. Whoo I'll be flyin!)

FLASH!

2007-06-27T17:35:00.000+09:00

I get my car this Friday!!! Which kind of sucks but is really awesome nonetheless. See, this Friday is the Sayonara Party for all the leaving JETs and it will be held at a beer garden which means all you can eat and drink! But for the new DD, it'll just be eating for me (^^)

~~~~~~

In other news, here's a great post I got on the local mailing list that I thought you'd all find interesting. I love this country!!!

BEGIN EMAIL:

I was teaching a lesson today to some pretty high level students...I do teach occasionally! And one of my students came out with a pearler of a sentence:

"How much underwear have you been stolen from your balcony?"

Where else but in Japan would you hear that!! But I had no idea how to explain the grammatical error.

Why do we have to say 'have had stolen'? I couldn't work out for the life of me any way of having it make sense to them.

HELP! I look forward to your explanations

Cheers!

Hisashiburi!

2007-06-25T19:08:00.000+09:00

I don't think I want to make a habit out of writing so little on this blog. Life has been both ridiculously busy and not as interesting and I think it should be to write about it.

But that's not true of course. Everything I do is interesting enough to write about!!!

So, let's see. Two weekends ago I went to Muroto where I spent Saturday snorkeling with about 20 other JETs. That evening we drove up into the mountains and had a Japanese style BBQ.

Mmmm meat.

That night, we all camped together in preprepared tents that fit about 6 people in each. It was quite cozy (^_~)v

The next morning, we woke up to some beautiful drizzly skies. But that didn't stop us from kayaking for a good hour or so! It wasn't exactly white water rafting, but we had loads of fun. With two per boat, people were all over the place! I eventually made it into the water when an ALT from another group jumped in and flipped the kayak. The water felt really warm because it was raining too, so it was all good!

That night, I was off with the Japanese fam again. And that was a great beginning for the week (^^)

Friday (3 days ago) I went out to a cafe where I saw Hercules (Dave) and the Kappa (Nick) play some tunes for about 40 or so people in candle light. Very romantic.

Saturday was the GEEK WEEKEND!!! (finally! Nick and I have only been planning it for two months!) We gathered some of the most geeky of JETs and spent an entire day and night playing video, card and mind games, watching DVDs, listening to geeky music and enjoying plenty of geeky conversation. It was jawesome!

Unfortunately, I had to duck out early on Sunday to catch the hour train home so I could be in time to meet up with the Japanese Fam. When I get my car this friday (holds breath) I don't think that will be a problem again (^u^)b

Largo

2007-06-18T22:04:00.000+09:00

I wrote this at work last week and well...maybe I'll write a little later just how busy I've been (^^)v

I suppose I should take this lull to sit down and write about the Largo exchange.

It was quite eventful! The students that came over this time were the best I could have hoped for. They had a good attitude towards everything and they really followed all the rules! I was really impressed with everything they did (^^)

The students were also joined by Deborah (history teacher) and her husband, Guy. As well as the Principal of Largo, Mr. Haynes and his wife Alice.

So we last left off when I had come back to Tosayamada with the Largo kids in tow. It was awesome seeing my students so excited and nervous to meet them all. 5 minutes after getting off the train, everyone joined their host families and they were off! And I went home to relax in my apartment for a few minutes.

After about 5, I was off again to party with the Principals host family! This would be Thursday night. Friday was the welcome party. Saturday was the Lions club welcome party. Sunday was Nina day. Monday...is hazy. Tuesday was a bunch of meetings with the high ups in Kochi prefectural board of education and that night was another small party. Wednesday we went up to the mountains and cooked the famous Katsuo Tataki (only in Kochi prefecture). We cut it out, cleaned it, grilled it, and ate! mmmm it was good. Afterwards we all got nekkid in the onsen next door. That's right, I got nekkid with 7 high school girls, Deborah and April. I love Japan (^^)

That night I went to a goodbye party with the Lions club (those people really know how to drink!) The party started at 6 and I was drunk by 7 when I left to catch the train to another party that Nick was having for his parents. I got home around 11 and was out like a light.

Thursday, the principal and wife were off to Honduras. The rest of the students had a day packed with classes. Friday were more classes and one of the Largo kids got a stomach ache! oooo gas can be a problem. Whereas Deborah and I weren't too worried, everyone at Yamada insisted we take him to the hospital. I somehow convinced them that he was probably fine and just needed to rest. Thank god for that too. Can you imagine if we had taken him to the hospital? Gotten meds for an illness he didn't really have and then getting insurance involved and all that jazz. Bleh. No thank you.

That afternoon was the goodbye party from the students and Saturday morning they were off. There was much flirting and crying. Just the way it should be :) I think in the end everyone had a great time. I'd say out of the three experiences, this one was by far the best!

For now, I'm getting back to work, getting angry at the Thief over and over and over again. Still in the process of getting a car which I should have by the end of this month (holding breath) and tonight I'm off to go hang out with friends then tomorrow I'm snorkeling and kiaking and camping in the mountains of Muroto!

Life is good even if it is the rainy season!

Kobe, hospital visits and Largo

2007-06-03T10:30:00.000+09:00

This is a very long overdue post. I have so much to say and putting it off is just making the list longer and longer!!!

Sunday I spent with Nick and Company over in Katagawa for the first ever Australian Culture Festival!!! Complete with Lamb sausages and Kangaroo Burgers. Mmmm I'm sure they were delicious but I wouldn't know because I woke up with the most horrible stomach ache of my life. I tried to down play it as much as possible but in the end I had to sit out of a good chunk of the festivities even though I was supposed to be helping run the thing! (Despite being American. It's a minor detail that I'm sure all the Japanese didn't even notice)

That night I went home assuming it was just a bout of food poisoning and it'd be gone by the time I went to sleep.

The next morning I was off to Kobe for the recontracting conference! Just FYI people, if they tell you they're going to take attendance, they're fibbing!! They only took it twice on the same day and I made a serious effort to be at almost all the meetings!!! I rushed back from the hospital thinking they were going to report me to my supervisor!!!

That's right. By the middle of Monday afternoon, I was off to the hospital. I've heard so many horror stories of Japanese doctors that I was thoroughly freaked out. But in the end it was a very good experience. I had someone from CLAIR take me and the doctor was very good. He diagnosed me with an intestinal virus and sent me on my way with some medicine that was to keep me from feeling so nauseous but he wasn't going to give me anything for vomiting or diarrhea since that's the only real way to cure it. Up to that point I had had neither but I had the symptoms that led me to believe that my body was threatening me with them.

That night was the worst of my life here in Japan. I woke up multiple times to toss my cookies and the saying goes. It was actually to doctors meds that threw me over the edge I believe. But in the morning I was feeling better and by that night I was able to go out and eat some famous Kobe beef!!! At $1 a piece that stuff was gold! Delicious and highly recommended but I'll never eat it again at that price (^^)v

NEXT

I skipped out of Kobe early so I could meet up with the Largo kids in Tokyo. They had been there since Monday morning and had been touring around having a great time from what I hear. Who couldn't? It's Tokyo!!!

I stayed one night with them in a gorgeous hostel and in the morning we were on our way to Tosayamada. Since getting back it has been one party after another. It's great to see how these things work from the other side of the cultural exchange. And I feel like a god for being able to translate. I guess I really wasn't giving myself enough credit but I've really gotten pretty decent about learning the ropes of the Japanese language! It's a total ego boost (^u^)

For now, I'm off to some more parties!!! WHOO

A Friendly Lot

2007-05-20T10:13:00.000+09:00

I have this habit of cleaning only under specific conditions. It must be a weekend and I have to start right after I get out of bed. I can usually get some pretty extensive cleaning done too which is a must since I don't clean any other time of the week!

So I was going through my routine today and finally getting the grit from between the floor boards! I went out to hang my laundry for the first time since October when I hear below me "Good morning!" I look down and there on the street are two people staring up at me. I say Hello and continue on with what I was doing. It's not abnormal for random people to just greet you in English and go on their way. It was a beautiful morning and they were probably just taking a walk.

Then they waved at me and in their hand was Largo High School's 2001 yearbook. I smiled and tried not to imagine where the hell they had gotten that book or why they even had it. I really should have put it together by now but...ok, it's about 9:30 in the morning and I'm still in my slightly revealing PJs. I didn't think I would be seeing anyone until 4 and when I say that I need to start cleaning as soon as I get out of bed, I mean before I put on normal clothes, brush my teeth, or even eat breakfast.

So yeah. I eventually got the hint that they wanted to talk so I threw on some clothes and went down stairs. It turns out that they are the couple that will be host family for the Largo Principal and his wife. They were worried about what they should be doing in preparation and they knew that I lived in the area so they stopped by. I think it was just luck that I walked out onto the balcony just then. Lord knows how long they were hanging out there!

We talked about the different foods that the principal might want to eat and how exactly he wants to take a shower. See in Japan, it's a big deal to clean yourself. You can't just lazily walk into the shower in the morning like so many Americans. Instead, you specially heat the bathtub in preparation for the evening's bath and it's more of a ritual than just something you do to make yourself clean.

They went home feeling a lot more relief after our simple conversation of
meat = good
Fermented smelly soy beans = bad

~~~~~~~~~~~

So remember that gorilla boy from way back when? Welp, I finally got my blind date with him. And it was just like every blind date known to men and women everywhere. It was awkward as hell and I'm just thankful that my friend Erinn and her boyfriend as well as another couple went with us. We had okonomiyaki which I have to admit I don't particularly like. And for the record, he doesn't look like a gorilla at all!!! But that still doesn't mean he was interesting or cute. I think we're all going to hang out some more for the new Pirates movie but after that...I don't see it going much further.

And I'm back where I started (^u^)v

Osaka and ATMs from hell

2007-05-04T21:22:00.001+09:00

I went to Osaka this past week with Aozora. Long story short, I was a little less than impressed. The city was dirty and seemed needlessly large and busy. It probably would have been better to go during any other time other than Golden Week but...eh, what can I say.

I went to Universal Studios Japan where it thankfully rained all day. See, from what I hear, Universal is usually packed on a normal day but during GW you might as well not go because the lines will be anywhere from 2 to 3 hours long. And fast passes are $30 for 4 tickets! Ooo less than $10 each, that's a steal.

But because of the rain, we only had to wait 50 minutes at max which was quite nice. Incidently, all the rides that we went on were exactly like the ones back in Florida. However, most of the rides I went on in Osaka were new where as the ones in Florida are either super old or have been taken down by now. It was like walking into the past! I went on Terminator 3D the way it was way back when! (just in Japanese) I also went on E.T. and they actually said my name at the end! Not only did the one in Florida stop saying your name about 10 years ago, but they've also taken it down if I recall correctly! Other than that, it was nothing super special.

The next best thing was Spa World. It was a public bath (separated by genders) that was like a Love Hotel (from what people tell me. I don't know, I've never been to a Love Hotel...*bitter*) I really wanted to take pictures but since it was a bath....well, you understand.

They had Greek Gods poring water into a bath on top of a fish tank. They had hot baths, cold baths, saunas, and a cafe! As in, you would walk around naked, take a stop off at the cafe, get a drink and sit down at a table while soaking your feet in the pools underneath. There were about 10 baths all together and it was the most wonderful place I've been to yet. It's almost worth going back to Osaka for!

Almost

As for ATM hell... well....

Ok so we all know that Japanese ATMs are crap. They don't open until 10am and they close around 7 if your lucky. They close early on Fridays and weekends. On holidays, they are notoriously closed. In fact, it is a super common thing to be completely stranded during GW since it's an ENTIRE WEEK HOLIDAY!!!

Why the Japanese decide to close ATMs at all is completely beyond me. Maybe it's just to make me squirm.

Whatever, I've never gone on a vacation where I ran out of money but I guess I had to choose GW to start. Thank God for Visa!

Finally, Aozora and I wanted to kill some time in Osaka since we kind of ran out of things to do (running out of money will do that. And most places, even in a big city, don't actually take credit) so we decided to pop into an overpriced theater and check out Spider Man 3.

For anyone who hasn't seen this movie, I won't give any spoilers so read on!

There were parts of this movie that I'm sorry to say I ruined for some people in the theater because I started audibly giggling but at one point, I almost fell out of my chair and had to restrain my laughter or risk getting kicked out of the theater!

The joke, for anyone who knows it, was:

"I am a wise. Old. Dog. I have watched you two grow from baby horses into adult horse. I have watched you two grow from baby race horses into adult race horses. The best of race horses. I have watched you grow from baby friends into adult friends. The best of friends. You two became like two peas in a pod, two fish in the sea. You guys were like THIS! *tear* and I know that's hard for horses. Because I am a wise. Old. Dog."

Watch the movie and laugh. If you don't get the joke, get me seriously drunk and I might, might tell you. But remember, you asked for it!

It's only 9:30!

2007-04-30T07:41:00.000+09:00

A few emails from Thursday of last week. I don't have time to write the whole thing out but I gotta post this before I go off to Osaka and forget everything!

~~~~~~~~~

To mom:

So..... This day has gotten to an interesting start and it's only 9:30.

Today, Tegan, from high school is coming to visit me. She was studying in Tokyo and wanted to see Yamada now that her classes are done. She'll be here until Sunday. My Apartment is a mess. I've gotten into the habit of saying "I don't want to do it" so I don't. It's really easy to continue to be lazy once you start. So not cool.

I got into school today late.

English club will be early today because school will end early today because the X-ray bus is coming into town.

SAY WHAT?!

Yeah, every year the teachers have to get X-rayed to see if they have TB or something. I had to do this when I was in America, remember? Welp, I'm doin it again. This is total bs. I told them I didn't want to because taking too many x-rays is bad for you. Especially if it's needless like this is! They said, well everyones doing it.... peer pressure is a way of life here.

Then...at 9:02, I was talking to the thief about today's lesson when suddenly the ground started shaking and there was this rumbling sound all around. And then it got worse and the walls started shaking and the desks were swaying!

Mom, it was a category 4 or 5 (whatever that means) and I swear I thought I was going to die. My heart totally jumped into my throat and it hasn't moved! The thief said it was really rare. Something like that hadn't happened for 6 years now. But still!!!!

Tegan's coming later this afternoon and I'm going to leave school to get her things and then return here for the club.

Thank god for that break! (when it comes) Lord knows if I'll survive this day!

-Nina

~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, I emailed my PA to see if there was any way I could get out of doing the X-ray and not piss anyone off.

Hey Nina,

This has been a topic of conversation on the PA mailing list recently, so I am actually up to speed on this one! It seems that all public employees, including JETS, must have a yearly check up to ensure you don't have TB. Why the hell they are worried about TB I have no idea, but there you have it. So in effect, the X-Ray is compulsory. The only way out of it is to write a formal letter, and have another test that involving sputum and blood testing, but this does not necessarily yield a conclusive diagnosis, so your school may not accept it and force you to have one anyway - maybe at your expense that time.

So, you could always just try and whine your way out of it, but the official line is that it is compulsory for JETs along with all other employees. Sux. Plus I agree with you. I think that the risk of TB is minuscule compared to the increased risk of cancer from radiating EVERY public employee in the country. It is completely irrational. But since when does rationality win arguments here? This is how it is done, so that is how it will continue to be done.

Sorry to be so unhelpful

-Your Friendly PA

~~~~~~~~~~

I took the x-ray and bitched the entire way through. Curse that stupid machine!!