Well before I even start this awesome story... If you have been reading my.... our blog (crap!) give yourself ten points. It really means a lot that you all are reading and are interested. If you have been commenting then give yourself another ten points. I love reading the comments. Oren- your comments crack me up. Charleys right, you do sound the way you write. Its like Im hearing you talk in Japan. The comments really make me feel good and give me a smile so please keep it up. I love it. So for those of you that read, here is a very entertaining story for you.
The very first day, of the very first class, of the very first lesson I presented my self introduction to the class. I had a poster full of pictures and pamphlets that really show JUNI. After the presentation I had the kids write their own self introduction. I collected them and took them back to my desk to look it over. A lot of them were really cute with some sweet comments and awesome pictures... except one. One student decided to draw a picture of Doraemon, but lets just say that Doraemon was naked and was doing something to himself that normal children characters dont do. To top the cake with a little bit of icing, he decided to show off his English skills by putting a comic bubble that said ---- me! (slight chuckle)I wanted to play dumb and just think that he didnt know what he was doing, but since this is the top academic school in Iwate, I realized that I couldnt be that naiive. So I took it to my English teacher and asked if this was appropriate and he looked really embarrassed. He apologized profusely and went to scold the student. I actually dont know what the student looks like, and Im actually really glad. I really didnt care too much about the picture, I think the kid was just trying to test how much power I had. Either way, it makes a great story to tell all of you. Ill keep you all posted about this kid. Hopefully I wont get anymore artwork from him.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Starting to set up home
Well once I put up pictures of the apartment, you will all understand that we dont live in the best of places. I hate to be such a princess, but it is definately not the cleanest and most modern. Throughout this month, Ron and I have been cleaning,cleaning, cleaning in hopes that after we have given the place a run through, it will start to feel like ours. This past Sunday was a big deal.
The bedding that we were given was fine and worked well, but I felt uncomfortable using the sheets and bedding of people who use to live there. So we found a place not too far away that sells home stuff, similar to Ikea. Ron and I bought ourselves a brand new double futon that came with pillows and a comforter. Now if I could get my body pillow shipped I will be one happy camper. So slowly, little by little, its starting to be like home. Last night we actually hosted a dinner with a couple of friends.
By the way everyone, I can now drive a manual car!!!!!
The bedding that we were given was fine and worked well, but I felt uncomfortable using the sheets and bedding of people who use to live there. So we found a place not too far away that sells home stuff, similar to Ikea. Ron and I bought ourselves a brand new double futon that came with pillows and a comforter. Now if I could get my body pillow shipped I will be one happy camper. So slowly, little by little, its starting to be like home. Last night we actually hosted a dinner with a couple of friends.
By the way everyone, I can now drive a manual car!!!!!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Summarized Sapporo
I realized that I posted our pictures,but didnt put where we were or what we were doing. Basically in its nuttiest version, this was our trip.
Day 1
Departed Iwate
Arrived in Sapporo an hour later
Took a train to the City
Got to our hotel, which is right in the middle of Downtown
Walked around
Had dinner at Ramen Yokucho, a street of ramen shops (YUM)
Walked to Susukino (the entertainment district), went to Building Norbesa and played games
Day 2
Ron got sick
Beer Museum (Ron was so sick he didnt drink any beer)... I KNOW!!
Back to the hotel, Ron went to rest, I went shopping
Back to Susikino, bowled, played darts
Day 3
Rons feeling a little better
Ate Soup Curry (YUMMY)
Went to the Red Brick Government Building and Botanic Gardens (YAWN)
Realized that the Park had a festival
Ate festival food and had beer beer beer
Went to the 500 bar where everything is 500 yen (less than 5 bucks)
Back to Susukino and played our Monopoly gambling game.. and won the progressive
Unfortunately its illegal to gamble in Japan, so if you want the money, you have to come back in a month, so we had to play it all until we lost it
Day 4
Went to the Jingo shrine in Maruyama
Went to the top of Mt. Moiwa for sight seeing, but there was dense fog so we didnt see anything
Last night at Susukino
Day 5
Left early in the morning back to Morioka
Met up with friends later and had our first group enkai (drinking party)
We got back on a friday and for the weekend we went out with friends and drove two hours to a place was Iwaizumi. There was a tourist spot called Rysendo Caves, which was a public cave that had fresh water that you can drink. You had to go inside the mountain and walk around. It was beautiful. A definate place to go when you all visit.
Ron and I both agree that we are very lucky.
Day 1
Departed Iwate
Arrived in Sapporo an hour later
Took a train to the City
Got to our hotel, which is right in the middle of Downtown
Walked around
Had dinner at Ramen Yokucho, a street of ramen shops (YUM)
Walked to Susukino (the entertainment district), went to Building Norbesa and played games
Day 2
Ron got sick
Beer Museum (Ron was so sick he didnt drink any beer)... I KNOW!!
Back to the hotel, Ron went to rest, I went shopping
Back to Susikino, bowled, played darts
Day 3
Rons feeling a little better
Ate Soup Curry (YUMMY)
Went to the Red Brick Government Building and Botanic Gardens (YAWN)
Realized that the Park had a festival
Ate festival food and had beer beer beer
Went to the 500 bar where everything is 500 yen (less than 5 bucks)
Back to Susukino and played our Monopoly gambling game.. and won the progressive
Unfortunately its illegal to gamble in Japan, so if you want the money, you have to come back in a month, so we had to play it all until we lost it
Day 4
Went to the Jingo shrine in Maruyama
Went to the top of Mt. Moiwa for sight seeing, but there was dense fog so we didnt see anything
Last night at Susukino
Day 5
Left early in the morning back to Morioka
Met up with friends later and had our first group enkai (drinking party)
We got back on a friday and for the weekend we went out with friends and drove two hours to a place was Iwaizumi. There was a tourist spot called Rysendo Caves, which was a public cave that had fresh water that you can drink. You had to go inside the mountain and walk around. It was beautiful. A definate place to go when you all visit.
Ron and I both agree that we are very lucky.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Fun in the sun at Akita
So this past weekend, our friends wanted to take us to the beach. Apparently the east beaches are just pretty rocks, but the west are really nice sunny beaches. So we drove the 3 hours to Akita prefecture which is right next door to Iwate. After getting there we just hung out at the beach. It was beautiful. It was blistering hot in the beach so we quickly cooled down in the water. For those of you who know me, I dont go in beach water. But it was so hot and it looked so beautiful that I did, and it was great. The water was warm, but had some cold patches of water that wa incredibly refreshing. We went back to our hotel and went to dinner in one of the seedy streets (so fun). Our dinner was excellent, our friend ordered all of the native goodies like raw horse, soup with mochi, snails ( i didnt eat that), and random pickled veggies. THe next day we went to a different beach and had a yakitori BBQ on the beach with beer. Best thing ever. THese beaches are so cute because they have these small stores with open windows that sell yakisoba and kakigoori (shaved ice). Yum yum yum. we ended our night with an authentic hot spring bath with stinky sulfur water. We all smelled like eggs but felt like silk. Onsen (bath) is such an experience, for those of you planning to visit us, all I can say is... get ready to get naked.
These are some pictures of us at the beach and with our new friends.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Plans for a vacation
Well, want to hear something ironic? My school computer does not allow me to get pictures from my camera unless I have a USB device, which I forgot at home. So I went to the shop and bought a USB drive, put my pictures on it and brought it to school the next day. Of course, the day I bring it in is the day that blogger decides to hide the picture button so I cant figure out how to upload my pictures. Hopefully I can find it because today, the blogger loaded in English, which is fantastic. So the pictures will be a while, but Im still here.
Today after work is the start of my (natsu yasumi) or summer vacation. After pondering and pondering, I think ROn and I are planning to go to Sapporo. Unfortunatly tickets for last minute people are quite expensive, but luckily my friend knows a travel agent that may give us last minute tickets at a not so overwhelming price. Thanks to everyone for your wedding donations, its going to be an amazing trip. Hopefully, I can get you all pictures when we get back.
Today after work is the start of my (natsu yasumi) or summer vacation. After pondering and pondering, I think ROn and I are planning to go to Sapporo. Unfortunatly tickets for last minute people are quite expensive, but luckily my friend knows a travel agent that may give us last minute tickets at a not so overwhelming price. Thanks to everyone for your wedding donations, its going to be an amazing trip. Hopefully, I can get you all pictures when we get back.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Our revised address
Apparently our address wasnt correct when we memorized it, so we had to memorize another one. So hopefully... here it is.
7-goshitsu, 2-4-12 Midorigaoka, Morioka-shi, Iwate, 020-0117
Try that out, i think that it will work.
Yesterday we tried to get a cell phone and that had to be the MOST difficult thing in the world. Not only have I never started a cell phone contract by myself, but I had to do it in Japanese. Also to make things nicer, I forgot my hanko (signature stamp) so 90 minutes of figuring out plans and prices went up in smoke because I couldnt get it processed without the hanko. Oh well I think it may have been the best because our friends were getting their deals for $90 a month, which seems a little steep, so Ive decided to wait until I go to my orientation where they will help us all out. Is a phone that necessary???
7-goshitsu, 2-4-12 Midorigaoka, Morioka-shi, Iwate, 020-0117
Try that out, i think that it will work.
Yesterday we tried to get a cell phone and that had to be the MOST difficult thing in the world. Not only have I never started a cell phone contract by myself, but I had to do it in Japanese. Also to make things nicer, I forgot my hanko (signature stamp) so 90 minutes of figuring out plans and prices went up in smoke because I couldnt get it processed without the hanko. Oh well I think it may have been the best because our friends were getting their deals for $90 a month, which seems a little steep, so Ive decided to wait until I go to my orientation where they will help us all out. Is a phone that necessary???
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Awesome story
So I forgot to tell all of you one of our first memories in Morioka. On friday, Ron and I wanted to try to drive our new car around. As we were driving out to the street my supervisor was there, so we said hi. He told us to be careful because the streets were very narrow and we werent used to driving on the other side. So we left and started driving for maybe 30 minutes and then decided to come home. As we were pulling up to the house our supervisor was there again. So Ron opened his window and yelled out to him, ``See, no accidents``. Immediately after he said it Ron drove into a gap where a grate usually lies making our car stuck in this hole. I let out a huge laugh which probably scared my supervisor because in any other situation it would have been horrible, but because Ron said that... it was priceless.
We did get the car out.
We did get the car out.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Our first weekend
Well, I was hoping that I would be able to post some pictures on the school computer, but everything is so FREAKIN hard in Japanese, so until I bring my computer to school or we get house internet, this is the game we play. But I was so excited to tell everyone of our great weekend that I just thought of writing it. THe pictures will come soon.
Saturday
I dont know who is praying for us or what positive thoughts you are sending our way, but please keep them coming. My very first day of being in Morioka I decided to hang out with the JET group at a bar despite my near death sleepyness. But lucky upon lucky, I met the second year Morioka JETs. They were more than nice and giving me great tips and advice. One of them (Ellie) invited Ron and me to a festival in Aomori called the Nebuta Festival. This one is like the third biggest festival in all Japan. There are massive amounts of people pushing these gigantic floats down the street. Each float has an intricate design of samurai and demons. THere is also a dance that they all do that we call the `hopping` dance. Literally they hop. So with watching all these great floats and eating all the festival food we can imagine, we returned home. I felt so lucky that we were able to meet up with these people who so willingly took us out. Oh by the way... I also had my first onsen (hot spring) experience. Taking a bath with a lot of old naked ladies is somewhat relaxing.
Sunday
We had nothing particular to do this day so Ron and I decided to take a sanpo (stroll). We walked an hour and a half from our house to Downtown Morioka and another two hours to walk back. We were so beat by the time we came back, but we really felt that we got a good feel of the area because of the walk. Then we invited our Supervisor to dinner where I made mabo tofu. It was so scary to give my food to a new person. Luckily he found it edible.
Just having these few days, it already seems so comfortable in Morioka. We are still trying to set up house and find all the secrets, but I think that once everyone starts visiting, we should have things under control. Happy reading.
Saturday
I dont know who is praying for us or what positive thoughts you are sending our way, but please keep them coming. My very first day of being in Morioka I decided to hang out with the JET group at a bar despite my near death sleepyness. But lucky upon lucky, I met the second year Morioka JETs. They were more than nice and giving me great tips and advice. One of them (Ellie) invited Ron and me to a festival in Aomori called the Nebuta Festival. This one is like the third biggest festival in all Japan. There are massive amounts of people pushing these gigantic floats down the street. Each float has an intricate design of samurai and demons. THere is also a dance that they all do that we call the `hopping` dance. Literally they hop. So with watching all these great floats and eating all the festival food we can imagine, we returned home. I felt so lucky that we were able to meet up with these people who so willingly took us out. Oh by the way... I also had my first onsen (hot spring) experience. Taking a bath with a lot of old naked ladies is somewhat relaxing.
Sunday
We had nothing particular to do this day so Ron and I decided to take a sanpo (stroll). We walked an hour and a half from our house to Downtown Morioka and another two hours to walk back. We were so beat by the time we came back, but we really felt that we got a good feel of the area because of the walk. Then we invited our Supervisor to dinner where I made mabo tofu. It was so scary to give my food to a new person. Luckily he found it edible.
Just having these few days, it already seems so comfortable in Morioka. We are still trying to set up house and find all the secrets, but I think that once everyone starts visiting, we should have things under control. Happy reading.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Dai-Ichi kouko de Yokoso!
Welcome to Dai Ichi high school
Well for you Nihonjins, Dai Ichi high school does mean BIG ONE. It is the most prestigious high school in my prefecture and all I can say is THANK YOU UCR TEACHER CREDENTIAL. I really think that the reason I am here has to do with the fact that I had experience.
Well, so I finally made it. Ron and I started to clean house. There were dead bugs everywhere, but luckily enough, Ron came to the apartment first, so he cleaned it all up. Its a very small place, but in Japanese standards, we are living like kings (run down kings) Ill bring some pictures up soon.
It is hot and there is no air conditioning in the school and I have to be at school without teaching for 7 hours, but this is my job and I will love it. See you all in a bit.
Well for you Nihonjins, Dai Ichi high school does mean BIG ONE. It is the most prestigious high school in my prefecture and all I can say is THANK YOU UCR TEACHER CREDENTIAL. I really think that the reason I am here has to do with the fact that I had experience.
Well, so I finally made it. Ron and I started to clean house. There were dead bugs everywhere, but luckily enough, Ron came to the apartment first, so he cleaned it all up. Its a very small place, but in Japanese standards, we are living like kings (run down kings) Ill bring some pictures up soon.
It is hot and there is no air conditioning in the school and I have to be at school without teaching for 7 hours, but this is my job and I will love it. See you all in a bit.
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