The 25th Birthday Weekend

So Ron and I have just returned from a "Trip to Fuji." Leaving the house at 5:30 p.m., we ventured the 5 hours to Tokyo, hour trying to figure out how to get out of Tokyo, and then a remaining two hours to Fuji. We arrived at 2 in the morning, slept for an hour (and by we, I mean Ron, I got to sleep for 3 hours :P) and started up the mountain at 4 in the morning. By that time the sun had just started to peak. Ron and I found a spot to start, bush whacked through some greenery and made it to the volcanic gravel towards the mountain. Now, I know that I've been out of the city to know that mountains don't come equip with an escalator, but climbing up was HARD. Every step I took would make me slide halfway down my step. It was like using the Stepmaster at the gym; climbing, climbing, climbing, but not really going anywhere. Ron and I made it half way and 3 hours into the mountain, before we saw the morning clouds starting to work it's way up to us, which meant it was time to retreat back down. The real reason could have been because I was tired and couldn't take another step up, but it's my birthday and I'm going to blame the clouds. So, by 7 in the morning we made it back down, sliding down the gravel as fast as we could in order to beat the rolling white clouds, finally making it back and taking a much needed sleep in the car.





Then we went to another place a bit more my speed, a city... Yokohama to be precise. There we went to the best birthday place for Juni ever--- The Ramen Museum, a three story building with the theme of old Japan set up with numerous ramen shops from all over Japan. Ron and I tried some Tokyo Style Ramen as well as a special Kyushu Ramen. Every bite was a bit of salty, MSG heaven. I would gladly get high blood pressure for that ramen. (knock, knock, knock)





From Yokohama, we had a great dinner with Kunino's family to celebrate her grandmother's 90th birthday.

Happy birthday obaachan~~~ Happy birthday to you~~~

On the morning of the 29th, Ron and I woke up at a rest stop 500 km from Morioka, so for the morning, we enjoyed a scenic road trip back home. After arriving, we went to our local onsen, tried the rock sauna, and got a looooooong massage. Ron and I then went to our downtown, enjoyed a romantic dinner in our car ...really, sushi in the car... and watched the new Indiana Jones movie. For trying to take the place of California, Ron did an admirable birthday job.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful emails. I am looking forward to my 25th year.

Happy birthday to me~

A Week Apart

As I have heard from many couples, therapists, and self-help books, I have understood that one secret to a happy marriage is to have separate vacations. So, I myself took a spontaneous journey to the land of Aloha, meeting up with my closest compadres from L of A. Ron also had his own bachelor vacation in Morioka. So, I would like to share the two sides of our vacations. Even if I leave Ron, our blog will always keep us together.

My Monday


Ron's Monday

My Tuesday


Ron's Tuesday

My Wednesday


Ron's Wednesday

My Thursday


Ron's Thursday

My Friday


Ron's Friday

Our Weekend

Everyone loves a Scary Movie

Before explaining the tropical, lush beauty of the land of Aloha, I would like to share a scary story that was experienced before setting foot on the Hawaiian islands.

14 hours before my boarding time, I awoke to the sounds of Tokyo traffic. Being in the home of my friend Kunino along with my friend Joy, we (Joy and I) wanted to experience Tokyo sightseeing, before I myself would be sightseeing myself off. So bright and early at the ridiculous hour of 5 in the morning, we scooted our way to Tsukiji Fish market, the prime spot to go for the early bird tourist. Unfortunately we were too late for their daily fish auction, but eventually we made it to the warehouse of fish selling. Once we entered, the stench of fish overtook any other smell that may be present. As we meandered through the narrow walkways, surrounded by a myriad of underwater animals, I started to feel like the unlikely heroine of "I know what you did last weekend in Tokyo on Elm Street." Everywhere Joy and I looked we were surrounded by cleavers as big as my head, fish swimming in their own blood, one ton tuna having their frozen parts chopped off by a fast moving saw. All around me was the carnage that is seen before the pretty pieces of undistinguished sashimi makes it on my plate. Uhh... reality check!

So after leaving the area and getting the empty fish eye image out of my head, we decided that the best way to get over these images was to in fact get sushi for breakfast... 7 am breakfast. We chose a nice spot where the menus were in English and the aptmosphere was the complete opposite of the slaughterhouse we had just experienced. Joy and I talked about what we saw, our thoughts, and how pretty the fish were that was in the tank behind the sushi bar... lively decoration for the restaurant. As I was taking a bite out of my tuna nigiri, I heard a splash!

The sushi man just took one of the beautiful fish out of the tank, held down by it's head, raised the cleaver, and ended it's life as I was chewing on my maguro. Joy and I were stunned. But after the climax of any scary story, the heroines of course asked the one question that many other movie heroines have asked... "What kind of fish was that?" After pointing at the picture of the flounder, Joy and I found ourselves ordering one piece each from the sushi bar. After all, why look at the dead creature and not try it? To our horror and surprise, we weren't given the refrigerated prepared pieces. Rather, the sushi chef sliced a filet straight from the recently deceased, added wasabi and vinegared rice and plopped it on our laquered plates. As we ate it, we felt the warmth that comes from an animal that had been living just 5 minutes earlier...It was yummy!

MUAH HAHAHAHA!!!!

Anagrams

I am now back at work after a whirlwind adventure in Hawaii with my LA sistas. I had such an incredible time and the pictures I will later post up will show just that. But before I write about our fun in the sun and the sunburns that came after, I want to share some cool anagrams that I found while looking through the internet to prepare for my class. I hope everyone enjoys...

Mother-in-law Woman Hitler
The earthquakes That queer shake
Debit card Bad credit
Slot machines Cash lost in 'em
School master The classroom
Eleven plus two Twelve plus one
Dormitory Dirty room
Punishment Nine Thumps
Desperation A rope ends it
The Morse code Here come dots
Snooze alarms Alas! No more Zs
A decimal point I'm a dot in place
Astronomer Moon starer
Fir cones Conifers
The eyes They see
Payment received Every cent paid me
Conversation Voices rant on
The public art galleries Large picture halls, I bet
Election results Lies – let's recount
Halley's Comet Shall yet come
The Hurricanes These churn air

Morioka Costume Party

There are some things that you always secretly wanted to do, but never say that you actually want to do it. Some people it's dating a person not that attractive, learning ice skating, and wanting to try whale sperm. This weekend, I can check one of the embarrassing "need-to-do" things on my list... COSPLAY. To celebrate a Japanese friend coming back to visit Morioka, we took our travelers, the lovely Joy and Kunino, and the handsome Kengo to our Costume Welcome Back party. So here are some pictures for you entertainment.
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New June Happenings

The Current Update of the Morioka life*

Juni... is planning for Hawaii. On Monday I leave Japan at night time and I get to Hawaii in the early morning on the same day. I love time differences (the way back isnt so nice). I get to meet up with my hommie girlies for LA and we can beach beach beach.

Ron... is up for a new work challenge. Now that there will be a lack of ALTs in the Morioka area, Ron and I are trying to get him plugged in as a private ALT. There are a lot of 面倒くさい　(bothersome) things that become beauracratic and stinky, but we are staying positive.

The McCormicks... are loving the 75 degree weather with the cool breeze and are savoring it before the paiful months of July and August. We are waiting patiently for our friends Kunino, Kengo, and Joy to join us this weekend for the Chagu Chagu Festival. Then we are looking forward to a jammed-packed summer filled with road trips, BBQs and the Okeyas visiting. Life is good.

The Tour of Iwate

Better than visiting yourself... even though we would rather you come. But in your California/Alabama/Manila/New York etc homes, you can enjoy the magic of Iwate. With a group of 6 people, we tried out our new car with a road trip. Here are some souvenir shots.

Ichinoseki- Geibekei Gorge. A boat trip








Kesennuma- Beach City with beautiful cliffs of magic and our campsite




Goishi Coast- Cool "M" thing in the water

pictures pending

Ofunato- Also a beach city, but we went there for the American sandwiches.Mmmm.. B.L.T with avocado ==> BLTA

Kamaishi- Beach City with a huge Goddess statue. You can climb up her arm.

Tono- Spooky old town that is said to be haunted with Kappa- tiny frog-like creatures that grabs people, drags them into their pond, and eats them through their anus... really!

Then back to Morioka to eat... Kappa Sushi. Hahaha. Who's eating who now?!

The Lesson Learned

I believe that at least once a year, there is a great challenge. If you manage to overcome this challenge, then you then become a wiser person and have the added strength to overcome the next challenges. This Driving test was my Birthday Challenge. I learned that there are 2 types of obstacles. There are those that test your knowledge and those that test your will. In my life, I've managed to master the challenges of passing a doomed school final, writing a 20 page paper over a weekend, cramming for a test less that 10 minutes away, but this may be the biggest Will Challenge that I have faced. This may not be the first Will Challenge I've ever had, but it's the first Will Challenge where I know that I have become wiser because of it.

I learned that that some things are out of my control. No matter how wrong the other party is, sometimes there's nothing to do, but take the hits. But in order to get what is really important, you take the hits, knowing that the prize is worth it. By finally acquiring that prize, I feel like a stronger person. I know that there are some obstacles where standing up for yourself is true strength, but there are some challenges where being silent and following the ridiculous buraucracy is true strength as well. I feel that, however silly a driver's license is, it's still the same great achievement as any other prize. I feel proud going into my 25th year with this new experience and I am looking forward to the next 25th Birthday Challenge.

The 24th year Challenge.

Well, everyone. I passed my driver's test....after 5 times. It has been a dreary two weeks. I had to take a total of 1 full day and 4 half days of my paid vacation to be failed four times. Apparently in Japan, for foreigners, getting your license is quite hard...not hard...frustrating. Even if you already have a license of your own, there is still a waiting period of X amount of times they want to see you drive before they pass you, regardless how well you do. Case and point, here were my mistakes:

1st time: Too fast on the big turn (about 25 km/h)= 15 mph...go slower!
2nd time: Too fast on the big turn ( I went 20km/h, he wanted 14km/h) 14km/h= 8mph ARGH!! and too shallow on my right turn.
3rd time: Too wide on my right turn......................
4th time: Before the big turn, I didn't use my foot brake THREE times (hello?! where did that come from) Pon, Pon, Poooooonnnnn

Then the 5th time, I woke up without a soul. They sucked it out. No makeup, bad hair, good appearance was not my goal. When I drove, I felt myself make a bunch of mistakes. In all my other tests I drove real well, but this one felt awful. I even stalled the car once. In the end, my examiner lectured me yet again of what my mistakes were (I didn't go into the left side of the lane after signaling to turn left before 30 meters of the turn, I merged in 20 meters.) I was waiting for my "Zan nen deshita", something I had heard 4 times already, but he turns to me and says "OK."

So finally, I have my license. Before this ordeal, I had taken my picture in a photobooth for the License Center. It was a great picture and I was happy that I was going to have a real nice picture on my license. Of course, when I passed they wanted my to take a whole nother picture, where I am minus a brush, liner, or anything that could hide the exhaustion from being in such a place. My license reminds me of what I can't control and how in those cases, perservering and trying my best is all I can really do. The satisfaction of finally getting what was so hard to get makes up for the turmoil of going through such unesassary steps. When I see the exhaustion in my face on the license, I remember the big challenge that I overcame.

My tummy hurts...

This weekend had a theme of meat. On friday, Ron and I hosted a yakiniku party at our house with some friends. Well... some is an understatement, more like 20 people. We probably had about 6kg of meat. One of the perks of hosting a Japanese party is that everyone brings stuff for the party and the hosts end up with it. So after the party, Ron and I ended up with still 1kg of meat. On Saturday, we invited our friend Tom over and had yakiniku yet again, oh not to mention having it for breakfast after the party. Then on Sunday, we decided to have a mini road trip to test out our car with a few friends and we ended up...of all places... at the Maesawa Beef and Beer Festival. Yet again, another 3kgs of meat. This was pretty yummy though, but in the end I ended up eating 20% meat, 80% grilled veggies.

Today at school, I feel BLEGH! My stomach hasn't had rich food like that in a long time. Right now it's 4:00 and I haven't had lunch yet. I can't stomach it. I think this week will be a diet of cabbage, tofu, and raw veggies.

I really want a salad.