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.