Baby's First Enkai

Head of the BOE, Yukiko, and some crazy girl

Last night was my first enkai (宴会). What is an enkai? Well, that's a very good question! Websters describes enkai as a group of Japanese people trying to get the newbies or younger staff members drunk at a party or gathering. Actually the kanji for enkai means "banquet". But there is a lot of drinking generally involved. Because the workplace in Japan is an especially stiff one, the only true way to get to know your colleagues or underlings is to drink with them. And it was indeed a new experience in getting to know my coworkers.

There is zero tolerance for driving and alcohol in Japan. If you are caught drinking and driving, they ask you to step out of the car, give you a bushido blade, and request that your sepukku be a quick one. If you are in the car with a person who has alcohol in their system and you get pulled over, its sepuuku (read: jail) for you as well, and heaps of fines.

Because of this, and because everyone drives in Ine, we hired a bus to take us to the restaurant. So five of us piled into the bus. My JTE was there too, Tsuji-sensei. I think they invited her along to help translate, but it was great having conversations in English and in Japanese. The only translations she really did were before and after the enkai.

So the party was a lot of fun! I had every kind of sushi and sashimi that I have been craving since I got to this country! And they kept force feeding me more when they found out I love sashimi! I couldn't say now... I guess I just love raw fish.

There was a lot of alcohol too. Most of the male coworkers got pretty drunk. I myself got a little tipsier than I wanted to. I had one beer but then they made me drink something that is like a Japanese zima? But it was actually like a 16 oz gin and tonic in the end... mostly gin. It was hard to focus on what was going on even more than usual. I mean, sober Japanese people are hard enough to understand. But they asked if I had a boyfriend! And I realized I was probably the only single person at that table. I guess I am on my way to being an old maid! And I'm so FINE with that.

I am still shocked at how much food a tiny Japanese person can eat. I think they have super powers. In Japanese the "betsu-bara", or second stomach, is something you have so you can squeeze in desserts after a big dinner. I like the way they think.

On the way home, we talked about music in English that the kids in school like. Apparently they really like Avril Lavigne. A LOT. It is my new goal in life to change that, and to give them some new, better music for their own benefit!

BBQ and Mukade #2 - Unrelated

BBQ#2 + Mukade #2 - Mostly Unrelated.

Ugh I found another mukade when I woke up this morning. Thankfully it was not in my bed or upstairs, it was downstairs by the shoes. Although I don't feel very happy about poisonous centipedes creeping around my shoes so much, but I'd still rather them there than in my bed. (shudder)

I sprayed it, put it under a piece of paper towel, and put a cloth towel over it. I find this is the most efficient way to kill bugs. Less mess, and less having to look at it. It reacted immediately to the pesticide, writhing and seizing. God it's really hard to do that to an insect, but you can't really release them because they just get bigger and come back into your house and eat you (that's just science). So you have to get rid of them, unfortunately. I didn't want to squish it but I think I gave it a rather agonizing last few moments (more like 35 minutes). It was still alive when I left for work, but just barely. So I swept it out the door. Blech.

I came home to grab my textbooks after a short meeting with Aimi-sensei this morning (truth be told I utilized the "meeting time" I had allotted myself to run errands because I didn't want to go back to the BOE). As I left to go back to work I noted that the mukade was gone. I wonder if a bird had picked him up or if he had crawled into the grass. Either way is pretty terrible, considering I probably poisoned the bird. Ugh. It boils down to the fact that I am a horrible person, I suppose.

Last night I went to a BBQ by the Urashima Shrine with Tsuji-sensei. Of course she had Anyway T-sensei and myself and the PE teacher (Ohada-sensei) who is about our ageish (probably 27?) walked down to the shrine with our CC Lemon (lemon soda with the vitamin C of 70 lemons per serving!) and grapes. There we met a bunch of the neighborhood ladies who are sooooo nice.

It took about 35 minutes for them to get the fire lit since they were using the most burnt looking wood I have ever seen. But they managed! The neighborhood kids all played "ketchi bo-ru" or "catch? baseball?" There was a liiiiiittle kid, about 3 or 4 years old I would guess who was the most adorable person there. She ate more food than anyone, it was incredible. Once they got the fire going, we had yakiniku (grilled beef) yakitori (grilled chicken) yaki yasai (veggies) and one of the ladies had brought home made onigiri (rice balls, soooo good). It was mouthwatering. Much beer was had as well. They have canned screwdrivers here! (for those of you who didn't go to "college", a screwdriver is orange juice and vodka). In a can!!!! Amazing! I mentioned to the women that me and the rest of the folk we call America can't sit like the Japanese do. They just sort of squat. I don't think I can even physically do that, much less hold the position for an hour. I sat American-style instead, on my butt. They were surprised that not everyone can sit that way. Well gee in other countries we have ... chairs... and toilets... and couches. I think that would do it. Anyway it was fun to hang out, but at the same time it was a bit boring for me. I mean aside from the language barrier, its not even interesting to hang out with a bunch of moms in the states if you don't know them and aren't really their age or anything. They chattered on about T-sensei being all married and stuff which was cute. And from there, I have no idea, I zoned out.

The most exciting part of the evening was the fireworks because kids in the inaka are totally allowed to play with fireworks. I think that is awesome. T-sensei made me go light some although the inner American child was screaming " NOOOO YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED! YOU'LL BURN YOUR ARMS OFF!!!!" but I didn't burn my arms off at all, and in fact I had a good time. Even the little baby was walking around with a sparkler. Sparkler is a word Japanese people can't say (in case you ever need one).

Supaaaa...supaaaka....raaa....?
sssspark-lerrr
Spaakurrruuura
NO.

and so on. My feet were destroyed by new bugs, "ka" or to us, MOSQUITOES, my arch nemesis. I have about 8 bites on my feet alone, they are murder. Because bug bites no your feet never just itch, they swell and fester and make you unhappy all night and all day. Good times!

Yasaka Party leads to Epic Hangovers

Yasaka Party Leads to Epic Hangovers, Sand in Places

This weekend I drove to a town called Yasaka to meet my friend, Leigh and to hang out at her place for the rest of the day and evening. A lot of JETs from Kyoto city were also coming up, so it was an awesome opportunity to leave Ine for a day and an even better opportunity to meet more new JETs!

Getting there was difficult. I had asked Leigh for directions, and she had given me a shortcut which would lead me to her house more quickly. However I missed the turn. As a result, I ended up taking a very long way to get there. It took about an hour and and 15 minutes which I wasn't planning on driving for. From the highways her house was completely impossible to find. I ended up on the outskirts of her small town at a mobile phone store and called her. She was like, "wait you're lost?" and as I was talking with her on the phone, I noticed a small blue car driving by. In the car was a tall, slim girl with long brown hair on her cellphone. I said "...are you in a blue car? Because I think I see you." And I followed her home from there. Leigh is really cool. She had just come home from a month in Kyoto of studying Japanese (which I am totally doing next summer). We ran out almost immediately to drive another 20 minutes to the train station to pick up the other JETs and meet up with the few who brought their cars. I was exhausted and grumpy from the heat at this point.

It's Liz! Behind her is Kuma-chan, a heavy drinker. -->

Seeing my friends perked me up a little bit and we piled into the three cars and went to the beach in Amino. The beach was perfect. The waves were well-sized, there were no sea beasties to bite our toes, and the water was the warmest it could have been without seeming too warm. We spent about three hours floating around, chatting. It was a great way to get to know the people I hadn't already met, such as the two from Hawaii (Lauren and Anthony) and the awesome British girls (Ruth and Claire) and an equally awesome New Zealand girl (Stef). The Kyoto city JETs are extremely cliquey so far. It's a shame, trying to get to know them was very difficult and not at all rewarding, but you win some you lose some I guess.

<-- [Right to Left: Jannie, Marina and some crazy girl]

After the beach we caravan'd back to Leigh's house to shower and buy beer and snacks. From there it was a regular party. The neighbors, the Yoshidas (Kumi and Masami), came by with more food than you could imagine. Lots of egg rolls, sashimi, pickled eggs, salads, and shrimp chips. It was a buffet! Also lots of veggies and fruits and lots of things to drink! I had a chance to chat with the Yoshidas and their daughter, and they were all really nice even though my Japanese was very simple. I could understand their normal Japanese accents perfectly which made me feel better about my communicative skills and worse about the crummy Ine-ben dialect (grr). Mrs. Yoshida told me that she works up in Ine at the high school, so I am sure to be seeing more of her. Plus I hear she will bake me bread!!! I am excited about that!

Aside from new JETs, old ones and meeting the neighbors there were four Japanese guys there as well along with Jun, who I had met a few weeks ago in Amanohashidate. They were all really nice and their English was practically perfect. We talked half in English half in Japanese, and it varied depending on the amount of beer we were drinking.

[Stefanie hit on Simon's little brother pretty hard core. Otsukaresama] -->

Once the party really got started, there was a lot of chatting and it somehow devolved into hula as led by Lauren, the girl from Hawaii. Which then turned into a hula lesson! It was pretty interesting. Anyway the guys were super hot for the most part. The tallest one kept pouring me beer and we kept spilling it, and blaming each other. Then he asked me if I wanted to peel the skin off his sunburn and I was like "ew no! do Japanese girls do that for you???" he said "if they like me!" and i said "well good luck with that!"

I think we ended up going to sleep around 5am and then waking up at 730am to drive home and drop people off at the train station. After coming home I slept until 6pm. I was totally exhausted. Sleeping on the floor after a long night is one thing, but sharing that floor with about 16 other people is another thing. I wanted space and air conditioning and a shower.

Introducing, Yukiko Tsuji.

Yukiko Tsuji - My ぺらぺら Hero

I JUST met my neighbor who is the English teacher from Honjo Jr. High school (the one closest to me, obviously). She speaks FLUENT English. I know people have told me this loads of times already but seeing it just ... well goodness!

I live in INE... now anywhere else in Kyoto-fu you could run into a person who speaks decent English, but in Ine there are only 2600 people to begin with and I swear to god all of them are crazy obaa-san who dash out in the road with their canes just to mess with you!

So after my way too long nap to open the door and meet Yukiko Tsuji... it was like being in some sort of weirdo dream. She said "Hi I'm your neighbor! My name is Yukiko!"

normally it's like... tons of bowing and nodding and looking awkwardly at me and then pointing to themselves and bowing more and lots of "hai hai hai" and I never remember names. She didn't bow once, she just said "Hey there's a festival going on around 7:30 if you want to go."

Hell yeah I do! I feel like I have found the key to unlocking all of Ine's crazy mysteries, like how to send mail and pay bills and properly sort the garbage. I'm so happy.

The festival was a lot of fun, too! I met some of my neighbors, some of the students I will be teaching, and saw a lot of people in yukata. I also had a delicious strawberry snow cone and watched the gas station guys sing karaoke.

Shiori, Ayumi, Saori and Tsuji-sensei

Obon in Miyazu. Limited Casualties.

Obon : The Buddhist Dio de los Muertos

Last night I went to Miyazu City to take part in the celebration for Obon. Obon is a Buddhist holiday celebrating the ancestors, and its the day of the dead. Ghosts and zombies and all that. Well, maybe not zombies.

So I went over to Jarrad's home which is among some rice fields in the city (because even decent sized cities still have weird rice fields and ditches). His home is small, but very cozy and he actually has some furniture which I find amazing. We practiced flashcards while waiting for Scott and Liz to show up from Omiya (a tiny bit west from the area). They got stuck in traffic (as did I, I spent about 80 minutes driving straight from work to Miyazu in fact!) but they eventually made it.

From Jarrad's we all walked to the big department store, Mipple. It was packed! Everyone had gathered there to watch the lanterns and boats and fireworks. We eventually found our friends in the crowd and sat down. Yumi was there with her friend Jun, who is hilarious and brought sesame balls filled with delicious things. Marina was also there (the girl from LA) as well as Bryn (a kiwi who has been in his city of Iwataki for going on 4 years now) and Jannie (an Aussie who is on her 3rd year in Kaya). The boys went off to find food in the kiosks (a lot of ice creams, sodas, crêpes, and really greasy chicken) while the ladies went to look at the bay. Amanohashidate, the bay in Miyazu, is totally gorgeous all the time. But for Obon there were tons of little floating paper lanterns with candles in the bay, to represent ancestors I guess, and a lot of strange very "oriental" looking boats floating in the bay as well. They had lanterns and fires all over, some of them were manned some not. It was a strange thing to see, and the reds and oranges were really beautiful against the dusky blue background. As the sun disappeared, we went back to our tarp to watch the fireworks.

Fireworks in Japanese is "hanabi" which means "fire flower". I think that makes a lot more sense than firework. A work of... fire? I don't pretend to understand English. I only teach it.
The fireworks were amazing. They weren't like American ones where it's about a 15-20 minute show. Instead, they had 30 second, 2 minute displays, all of them different and sponsored by different companies. After the first would end, they would play a musical interlude while the sky cleared of smoke, and then would start the next display. It was very organized, and I saw some fireworks I had never seen before. The shape of a cat face, or a flower, or a smiley face, or a heart. Things like that, it was really neat! Some of the fireworks looked bigger and more glorious than I imagined they would. I think maybe I am not used to seeing fireworks so close up, or maybe it was the reflection off the water that made it seem grander? I don't know. Anyway the displays went on for about an hour. During this time, we decided to teach Yumi some American slang/Ebonics. So if you see a tall Japanese girl saying "what up, shorty?" ... we are to blame.

Afterwards, we all gathered around a big sort of wooden stand with speakers. A lot of people at the gathering were in yukata, which is summer-time clothing. Not to be confused with kimono, which are more of a winter wear (and more formal, I think). Anyway there were people of all ages wearing them, and man did they look pretty. The little girls especially looked as pretty as could be, and the older women in their patterned yukata and sandals looked like they were in a picture book. Everyone looked like paper.

The dancing began! Elderly women in the big wooden stand began to sing traditional songs about Miyazu and Amanohashidate while men played taiko drums and some other instruments I don't know the names of. It was really spectacular! Many of the people in yukata began to dance in a circle going clockwise, and many people without yukata joined in (including quite a few from our group). The dance steps were easy, but I could tell by seeing the older women do them that they took years of practice to perfect the grace and the balance of the dance. After the first "number", they played a few more songs, but always repeating them. It went on for quite sometime! I even joined in one of the dances, the easy one, with some other JETs. This older lady in front of us in a yukata was helping us learn the steps, and I had more fun watching her than I did actually doing the dance. It was like tai chi... and very much like tai chi, my balance always ends up on the wrong foot. Always. There were a few young men in the group adding their own sort of spice to the dance, and one of them came over to Marina and said, "shall we dance!" She couldn't say no. Liz and I decided to dosie-do instead, which was fun.

Afterwards, we went for a long walk to avoid traffic (we weren't in a hurry to go home anyway). We went to find cheap vending machines and got some drinks (tea for me, and "sweet kiss" soda for the others, which is basically mountain dew). We also spotted some little frogs along the way, and some big spiders.

Then it was back home, and a very long boring drive. Driving past the sea at night scares me, I feel like I could fall off the edge of the world into outer space if I make a wrong turn. But I didn't, and I got home, and I feel asleep almost immediately.

Weekend/fun had by many

Two Cars, Nine Foreigners, One Beach

This weekend was wonderful! On Saturday I cleaned my entire house... mostly. It was about 96º outside, so I took constant tea and coffee and ice cream breaks, watched a movie in the middle of the day, and spent most of the time reconfiguring the futon business and putting away the leftover blankets in the tatami bedroom closets. So now everything that was out is put away, which is awesome.

I also sorted all my gross trash and I can't wait until Tuesday when I can put out all my old food garbage, ugh its really beginning to smell funky! Blegh.

Sunday was a more eventful day, as I had nine people come over so we could all go to my nearby beach in Honjo, aptly named Honjo Beach. I drove down to Miyazu city, which is about a 50 minute drive, and picked up three ladies at the train station (Marina, Amy and Paulette). Marina is from LA and she is a hilarious tiny tiny Ukranian girl who lives in Fukuchiyama (which is a bit of a hike by train to Miyazu). Amy deLong is from Kentucky hilarious behind her freckled, quiet exterior. And Miss Paulette, who is an awesome theatre junkie from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is very boisterous.

From the train station I drove us to Mipple, which is a big lame department store on the bay in Miyazu. There we met Jarrad, a 31-year old ex lawyer from Tacoma. He looks like he’s about 24 years old. He told us that everyone he meets thinks he is a nice Jewish boy because he has a sweet face and glasses and a beard and he's a soft spoken lawyer. There are worse things to be mistaken as, I guess!

We also met up with Yumi, my favorite Japanese person. She is a 25 year old student who lives in Miyazu and likes to tag along on JET outings. Her English is flawless and she asks great questions, such as "what is crazy sex?" Or "do you think Lucy Liu is beautiful? Japanese people don't." Her mom of all people dropped her off, which I guess isn't extremely embarrassing in Japan (nerdy things tend to not be nerdy here, I have noticed). Grown men in Hello Kitty slippers? HELL yeah.

We then went inside Mipple and grabbed some food, since everyone wanted lunch. I personally was dying to go to a restaurant, but nobody else wanted to. I guess they all have restaurants in their towns so they didn't find the idea nearly as exciting. So we bought bentos and onigiri (the rice balls of deliciousness). The coolest thing I discovered, other than the pikachu ride in the upstairs arcade, was a cooler of green tea cans. I reached in to grab a can of ice cold green tea for the hot day and then realized the can was HOT. It was a cooler of hot drinks! Technology! The rest of the JETs started touching all the cans and yelling "its hot!" I then realized we must have looked insane to everyone else in the store. Stupid gaijins.

In Mipple, we met up with the last three JETs, Desirae (Kentucky fried Sweetheart), Scott (our South African resident/former film student), and new JET from Maryland, Liz! Liz is 100% Maryland. She came in with her dark blue regatta sports t-shirt, jean shorts, flip flops and dark blue visor, complete with freckles and a runner's ponytail. She is also a huge Harry Potter fan, so the conversation flowed like buttah.

The crew drove out to Ine in two cars: my little kei-car and Scott's white plated, normal-sized car. It was a long trek, and very warm, but we finally made it to my house! Everyone oohd and aahd at the size of my "mansion" and we ate snacks and put on sun screen. Then we grabbed the beer and food and went to the beach. The beach by my house is AWESOME. The water is mostly warm (but not too warm), there are no waves, no sticky sand, and no pointy things in the water. It's the perfect relaxation beach. We grabbed some inner tubes and hung out in the ocean for hours. It was delightful. Desirae brought her snorkel mask and kept finding us starfish! A few of us got nibbled on by a curious little crab (I am convinced it was the same crab every time) and we saw quite a few fishes. It was pretty much the best day ever. After we'd had enough swimming, we plastered ourselves on the sand and drank beers and had delicious Japanese snacks, procured by Miss Paulette. Mochi-balls (sticky sweet rice) and shrimp crackers and delicious beeeeer (brought by yours truly and Amy). Then we swapped bad relationship stories (I received much sympathy for the Randall debacle, or as Yumi called it "that horrible bastard boyfriend" because she couldn't say his name.) The best was the few who were admitting to writing or receiving really bad poetry from significant others or people who had crushes on them.

After the beach we had some delicious Nyuu Yooku sutayaru cheezuke-ki (New York style cheesecake) made by Yumi. It was very delicious! People kept telling me they wanted to stay, and I honestly wanted them to stay for more time! But sadly, there were trains to catch. So we began the long trip back to Miyazu, where I dropped everyone off, and turned right around to go home. I think I spent about 4 hours in the car yesterday. Worth it.

It's amazing how many instant friends I seem to have already! I only just made good friends my last few weeks in Los Angeles, so it's incredible to have so much socializing all of a sudden. I am not complaining, mind you.

Anyway, it was a good weekend and I even got a tan (to cover my burn!)

My Neighbours Rock; My BOE is Clean

Office Employees Clean Office ; 26,000 Insects Found Dead

I met a few more neighbors and had a cleaning party with my staff at the Board of Education. It's been a crazy few days! For the cleaning party we stopped work around 2pm and went to work piling papers and cardboard boxes that could be recycled and sorting out things. In Ine, the junior high school kids do a recycling thing twice a month, and they drive around to certain areas to pick up corrugated boxes and paper and things. But, you need to put them into tidy piles and tie them with string so the kids can move them easily. I think it's a really good idea to recycle things and also to take care when doing so. Japan is really big on sorting the trash. There are a million categories ; plastic bottles, aluminum cans, glass items under a certain size, large heavy items, normal garbage, paper, and pura, which is things marked with プラon the wrapping (usually wrappers or plastic bags). Then there are things for Styrofoam as well. And no it wasn't easy figuring all this out!

So then we proceeded to sort, wrap, tie, and carry things down to the holding area. After that we swept up the masses of dead bugs and plant debris from around the windows and the floors and swept and vacuumed and mopped until we drowned in our own perspiration. Usually around 3pm it's about 96 degrees outside the humidity is just killer, so everyone was sweaty. But we got to change into less work-type clothes, so everyone was in sweats and crummy old shirts and things. I got to wear cookie-pants (stretchy pants for eating cookies) for the first time at work and a T-shirt. I have to say, that cleaning, although hot and sweaty, was a lot more fun than the usual grind. I don't think they do this every Friday, but maybe once a month? We all watched baseball and ate ice cream after it was done, and then went home. I have to say, I've never been prouder of a clean office! I guess when you do something yourself you do get that satisfaction from it. Although I still don't feel like cleaning my house.

Today I started to clean the house... just washing sheets and towels and vacuuming and scrubbing down the kitchen. It's just too hot to do everything at once. I took a break to grab sugar and milk from the store and to fill up my gas tank. The gas station owner is this really awesome nice guy, although I have a hard time understanding him. But he's very patient and kind, which is cool. On my way back from the errands, I met another neighbor, Michiko, who is the wife of my neighbor the retired English teacher (whose name, of course, I can't remember). They are super nice. Her English is really good, although she loves to say over and over "I can't speak English I can't speak English!" but with her English and my Japanese it's very easy to talk, actually. His English is better even and he's super nice as well. So they helped me figure out what days the garbage goes out and where to put things and so forth, it was very very helpful, because I really had no idea... and my garbage was starting to pile up. She also invited me in for tea, coffee, beer, or sake! She says. They are my favorite people right now, and it's awesome having two slight English speakers in close proximity. She told me that Ine only has 2'600 people living here, which doesn't shock me. But she says everyone is very nice, which I agreed with. The best was when I was asking about garbage, and she couldn't remember how to explain things so she grabbed my hand and started running towards her house with me in tow. She was ridiculously fast for a 5 foot tall 50-year old woman, I couldn't stop laughing. She then called out her husband. It's funny, cuz when married couples with children talk to each other they call each other "mother" and "father" in honorable terms. No "Oh, honey buggles?" It's "otoosan?' or "okaasan?" things like that. She told me she has a daughter my age, although I couldn't quite communicate with her on where this mystery girl was. Otherwise I would totally invite her to hang out and go to the beach and teach me how to make proper rice balls, cuz the ones I made yesterday were TERRIBLE.

It's really been fun getting to know the neighbors, and this is the first time I say that and actually mean it.

I really wish I could remember any of their names. I'm so bad at this. I only remember the names that I've heard before. Like Yumi, or Yukiko, or Tanaka. Easy ones like that.

Anyway, tomorrow I am having nine people over to go to the beach and destroy my house, but it'll be really awesome to have the company and to show them around! Plus I am looking forward to the seaside drive, it's kind of fun.

Ine Residents poke and taunt spiders

Honjo Spider Harassed by Neighbours

At work lately I have been making lesson plans for my elementary students! As such, I am in the middle of a very annoyingly long lesson for colors. I am making a color game, where kids get to wear color badges (or flashcards that name colours on string) and when I hold up a flashcard that has their colour on it, they jump in the rainbow circle! Sometimes the flashcards will have more than one colour, so more kids have to jump. Challenging for all minds. For older kids I might photocopy spare cards and have them grab the colour, and whoever has the most cards wins! For smarter kids, I could have the same only when they have a card (like, red) and I show something red, they have to call out "red!" in English, and if they forget the word or don't do it, they have to put the card back. And so forth.

Anyway I am halfway done with the game. Then my coworker came around and said he wanted to show me the classrooms in the elementary school next door. So I went with him and we looked around the adorable classrooms. The desks look like they are made for elves. So then he says "OK, I am a first grader, teach me!" Now, how the hell am I expected to teach a 50 year old man about colours when my lesson isn't done and my colour game is half done???? So I explained the game, and he didn't get it. I had to use all of my broken Japanese and demonstrate a zillion times. Then he was like "I understand" and told me my flashcards were too small for the class. I KNOW! THEY ARE FOR THE GAME THEY ARE NOT FLASH CARDS!!!!

So frustrating! Anyway.

I mentioned the bugs yesterday, including the enormous spider that was splayed across my porch! After arriving home from a long day at work, I knew it would still be there. Spiders have a tendency to hang out in their webs and eat bugs all day, from what I've read in books. So there it was, waiting for me, as I got home. Luckily a neighbor noticed me and came over. We said a quick hi and she saw me looking at the bugs. And I said "why are all the spiders at my house? There aren't anywhere else!" She laughed and got her broom. So we sort of picked the spider up and brushed him aside. Or.. her, are spiders girls or boys? They can be both right? Anyway, the spider was on the ground and stopped moving. We were oohing and aahing over its interesting yellow and white patterns. It was a really alien looking spider, after all. Finally the neighbor woman started poking it with the broom and we giggled as it ran away. It ran into the grass and had the hardest time getting into the tall blades and hiding.

Not so big now, are you spider? Can't even take a walk in the grass. Psht.

I am going to get attacked by that same spider in my sleep, just for shaming it. I can feel it.

Then I had some delicious beef (at least I think it's beef) and rice, watched all of my Harry Potter movies and fell into a deep sleep. It was glorious.

My love for flashcards outweighs my fear of the unknown.

My Love for Flashcards Outweighs My Fear of the Unknown

Things have slowed down.

I have come into a routine of waking up at 6:30, making breakfast, checking my phone email, watching a little of the children's programming on TV (the Tuesday song is the best one), and driving to work at 8:00.

If I don't have green tea in the house, I will certainly make a pit stop at the nearby grocer's vending machines for it. I am completely addicted to cold green tea. It isn't sweet like black tea usually is in the US, and it has a strange flavor! But, as soon as I have swallowed a mouthful of green tea, a new flavor overwhelms my mouth. I don't know how this magic happens, but it is the reason for my addiction. It reminds me of chocolate, although it tastes nothing like it. Maybe it satisfies the same parts of the mouth (wikipedia tells me that it does). I'm no doctor.

This morning on the road, I only had one car swerve around a corner half in my lane. I avoided him with grace. Japanese drivers are everything the stereotypes say they are- particularly in Ine. I did however, see a monkey, which made up for it. I brought my cassette adapter for my i-pod so I can listen to music in the car, which is wonderful! There is something really fantastic about driving up a Japanese mountain while blasting Diana Ross out the windows. And with every song, I have to wonder if its the first time this particular song has ever been played in the area. Its fun to make history with some seriously bad music (read: "Dr. Feelgood").

My house is a mess. I have officially strewn boxes and papers in just about every room. I need to motivate myself to actually clean them up and find places for them so I can have a spotless, meticulous Japanese abode. Of course that will require me looking through THE DESK™. Upstairs in the study there is a desk and a chair. Both of them are littered with old books and papers from the past two girls that have lived in the house. I don't want to sort through any of it, but its getting to the point where I will have to. I should just dedicate an afternoon to it.

Other than that, I wish they had a sushi place in town where I could grab some sushi. I haven't had a proper sushi lunch since leaving Los Angeles and I am missing all the delicious foods. I suppose I should just learn how to make it on my own. I am getting a little tired of noodles and rice, which is pretty much all I make at home. Although for lunch today, since I was too lazy to make my own at home, I will venture out to a nearby store in hopes of finding onigiri (rice balls wrapped in nori seaweed, really really really delicious) and maybe some candy.

I am also trying to find more ways to pass the time at work. Yesterday I think I checked my e-mail ninety times. Today, I brought my Japanese text books and flashcards and markers. If I get bored of drawing flashcards for my elementary students, I will switch to studying Japanese, and vice versa. It will hopefully keep me occupied until the end of the day.

So essentially, I have nothing new to talk about.

Still in Japan

Still in Japan : A Day at the Bridge of Heaven

I went to the beach this weekend with some JETs and some locals who speak awesome English. We went to Amanohashidate, which is this famous bay area nearby. I drove to the train station which was about 45 minutes by car along some crazy narrow roads. It was a little unnerving because drivers round those corners at a million miles per hour (rather, a million kilometers per hour) in the MIDDLE of the road. Lucky for me, my car is small so I fear them less. Though, the safety features on my car are no more fancy than those on a tuna fish sandwich.

The bay was totally awesome. Amanohashidate (天橋立) means "Bridge of the Heavens". The story says that the gods dipped a sword into the sea, from whence Japan came into creation. The land bridge that goes across a bit of water in Northern Kyoto is where the sword first touched the sea. It is also one of the top three "beauty spots" in Japan, which is conveniently close! There are two sides where you can view the land bridge, one in Iwataki and one in Miyazu. If you bend over and look through your legs at designated 'viewing spots', the land bridge is supposed to look like a dragon in the sky. Does it really? I think that's a personal decision.

We got some delicious sandwiches and ice coffee beverages and then went for a swim. I got burnt. Stupid American. I didn’t think I would need THAT much sun screen and we were only in for 40 minutes! But the parts I had put sunscreen on (such as my shoulders got MORE burnt than the rest of me. So that just goes to show, that white people always get burnt and there’s not a lot we can do about it. That is how I validate my pink skin.

Anyway I made some friends and it was all good! There is a South African guy named Scott who has also done film stuff so we chatted about that. And a girl from Los Angeles lent me a swimsuit that was soooo small (the girl is barely 5 feet tall). She is awesome. I met a New Zealand JET named Bryn who lives nearby and a girl named Desirae who lives in sin with a Canadian JET, Andy, in Mineyama. I also met two awesome Japanese girls, Yumi and Jun. They were really tall for Japanese girls, like 5 foot 8 or something! And they were hysterical. I got to practice some Japanese on them, and they got to practice English on me (by practice English, I mean they are fluent already). A fair trade. Then we went for stew and more ice coffee. Then the train ride back to Miyazu station and the long drive home. I had a splitting headache the whole time which sucked, but I don't know what it was from! Probably just the humidity. I blame everything on humidity. Later I learned that Amanohashidate is about a 30 minute drive from my house, so the 45 minute drive to Miyazu station and train ride from there actually took me backwards in distance, and in logic.
I watched quite a bit of TV this weekend... they have weird shows on Japanese TV. One show was a race to find the biggest bug-thing. I don’t know what they are called, but they’re almost a foot long and they have pincers and they are slow moving beetles or something. Anyway they are GROSS. Then they have these commercials for cell phones with Cameron Diaz everywhere and Tommy Lee Jones is in canned coffee commercials where he is working as airport security and then turns into a monster and frightens children. I think he could probably just frighten kids with his face... regardless. Isn’t he supposed to be in MENSA???? Its weird. My favorite thing this weekend by far was the Egyptian game show that had Japanese people in Egypt exploring museums and stuff for the sake of a question game show thing. It made no sense! But it was cute seeing tiny Japanese women interviewing old decrepit Egyptian women with unibrows. I was feeling strangely at home watching both of them. They also had a reenactment of something to do with Pharaohs? And in it they had Japanese men dressed up like Pharaohs and a Japanese lady who was supposed to be... Cleopatra? Everybody knows she looked like (see Elizabeth Taylor).

First Day of Work, Mukade Attacks

First Day of Work; Mukade Attacks

[Hollaaaaa~ it's my apartment complex. Mine's the 2nd on the right, and straight on until doorbell.]

I woke up at 7am with some very strange birds (or perhaps more Jurassic insects) singing to each other. I also noticed the small river in the back of my house. The peaceful sounds made it hard to get up. I didn’t bother to put away my futon. Again, I don’t know how to put it together so I figured putting it back would be even more useless (for all I know I'm sleeping on top of a comforter and underneath the mattress).

I had my Frosties breakfast in my tiny bowl and shooed away a daddy long leg that had been hanging out in my shower. I still haven't unpacked so I rooted through my things to find toothpaste and a face towel so I could get ready. I grabbed my purse and keys at the door and put on my shoes. I’m really bad at the shoe-changing thing. I keep forgetting to take my indoor sandals off on the tatami, it seems like a waste of time. But the Japanese are really quick at it so its just embarrassing for me. I went out to the front of the building to meet my boss, who works at the board of education in Ine.

While I was waiting for him, I saw Umezaki-san again and said good morning, we made small talk (or I insulted his family, I'll never know which). I went to put away my key and ended up seeing something that made me throw my purse on the ground and scream. It was an 8 inch long centipede. Not something I am accustomed to seeing... in my purse. It was kind of big too, and wiggly, which is why I screamed. I'm not scared of centipedes, per se, but I didn’t know it wanted to come with me to work. Umezaki san shouted in Japanese and DESTROYED Mr. Centipede with one quick motion of his sneaker. I felt kind of bad. But at the same time... I didn’t want to see it again. I found out its name; Mukade. ew. It means "100 legs" in Japanese.

Notably, Mukade is always said with great disgust. MUKade. and then followed with an upset face. Umezaki-san apologized and asked if I had found it upstairs or down. I said I found it in my purse! I don’t know! He looked confused and upset at the fact that their brand new foreigner had bugs. I was still confused.

Then the ride to the BOE... My boss is incomprehensible with the thickest Ine accent I’ve ever heard. I can't understand him at all. If he said something, I have to think about it to make sure my response is good. In the time I pause, he begins to explain himself further, in very quick Japanese. This confuses me further. He probably thinks I am retarded. He’s not far off.

The board of education is small and warm, but I have my own desk and computer (Windows 98, what a dream!). Nishihara-san and my boss went through my contract with me but when they got into billing and pension, I was lost. My predecessor says that life in Ine is mostly like this, but they won't generally let us make huge mistakes... I suppose its their job to figure everything out for us - such as bills and contract matters. I spent most of the day at a desk with a computer, not quite knowing what I was supposed to be doing. So, I wrote some of my own answers to an interview that the boss had shown me. His had been all in Japanese, which seemed extremely daunting, but I found Tamar’s original interview in English in a folder on the computer. I copied the questions, and translated my answers in rough Japanese. I’ll have someone look over it later. I also wrote an introduction about myself; where I’ve lived, where I studied, and how long (or short) a time I studied Japanese.

[Hey it's my car! Its name is Rouge, because that is what's painted on it.] ----->

The best part of the day, by far, was learning to drive my new car! Its no bigger than a bumper car... two doors, four wheels, and it moves if you shift your body in it. Its white with pink interior. The blinker is on the right side, which threw me off. The gear change is on the left, which was also strange. It was fun trying not to tumble into a ditch as I drove for the first time on the left side of the road. It was a bit frustrating because Nishihara-san was giving me pointers in Japanese, but of course, I didn't understand them. I think I kept stopping in the middle of the road and running stop lights on her orders. Her favourite phrases include "okay okay okay okay" and "stoppu stoppu stoppu" and the best one, "kochi kochi kochi". I have NO idea what that one means. I learned the 15 minute drive to and from my house. A lot of it is around a mountain and the roads are all very narrow, so its hard to go over 40 km ... I don’t know what that is in mph. Slow, though. It’s going to be a nightmare once it snows.

On the way back to the board of education, I noticed something in the road and slowed. It was a monkey, or saru. I yelled out, forgetting my Japanese, "sora sora sora!" which means "sky". I was abruptly corrected, and then we coo'd at the cute monkey. Awww.... kawaii saru neeeee... maaaaa. or "cute monkey!" Then there were more! 2, 4, 7, 10! Some were babies, kosaru, and one of them was riding on his mama! The others were running around and climbing trees. We rolled up the windows so they wouldn't try to climb in (aw). Then Nishihara-san told me not to look them in the eye otherwise 'PANMU!', which I assume means "WHACK" they beat you up. So don't look the saru in the eye. After work, the BOE gave me a bunch of the food that the summer camp didn't need. From that haul, I received a lot of mystery sauces and salad dressings, noodles, and vegetables! What will I do with four heads of lettuce? Lots of salad, I guess. Maybe they're trying to tell me something.

For dinner I made some noodles with dumplings and broccoli. It wasn't half bad, considering I cooked it. Then I smashed some bugs, hopped in the shower, and watched Batman Begins until I was sleepy.

My futon is too damn comfy. Its hard to wake up in the morning.

Moving to Ine-town

Moving to Ine-Town

I left Tokyo yesterday with my Kyoto prefecture group. We walked to the Shinjyuku train station where we caught the train to Tokyo station. There are a lot of Japanese people in train stations. At Tokyo Station, we bought bento lunches and couldn’t resist the delicious looking pastries sold all around the area. I got some pudding! This would not be worth mentioning, except that my little pudding was wrapped in a box with two packs of ice so it would keep, a little spoon, and then put inside a bag. It was a frivolous waste of paper, and so it could only be Japanese. From Tokyo, we hopped the shinkansen, bullet train. It was sooo comfortable! We got to eat our lunches and look out the window at the countryside and industrial areas, and we even got a pretty good view of Fuji-san (see the photo!). I unfortunately sat next to a person who wanted to chat the whole time... but dammit, I was reading the last Harry Potter book and things were getting CRAZY.

We arrived at Kyoto station. The first thing we did after departing the train was take a turn into a shopping mall. I was more and more confused as we climbed floor after floor on the escalator. On the 9th floor, we arrived at our Contracting Officers' office! We were filed into a small room filled with Japanese people in chairs. I had no idea what was going on, but I felt like we had been tricked into being sold as gaijin slaves. Finally, someone Japanese said something long and formal in Japanese and everyone stood out of their chairs and came towards us. A tiny lady in her late 40’s and a tiny man in his early 50's greeted me. Nishihara-san and Umezaki-san, respectively. Of course, I didn't know this until three hours later. The two took my bags and me to the car (Japan’s re-imagining of the station wagon). From there, we began our long drive to Ine-cho, where I will be living for the next 365 days or more.

The drive was immediately awkward. Umezaki-san and Nishihara-san speak about as much English together as I spoke Japanese two years ago (essentially none). My Japanese communication abilities are passable at best "Me are Rachel. New English to teaching, enjoyment!" However, the fact that I’ve never spoken to a Japanese person outside of a classroom paired with the backwater characteristics of the Tango Peninsula dialect [Tango-ben] made it almost completely impossible to understand what was being said. Facts were somehow exchanged, although they were almost entirely incorrect. The first; I am from Seattle. I don’t know how on earth this came across. I mentioned that I was from Los Angeles and my parents lived in Turkey. I told them I had eaten horsemeat and that I enjoyed swimming. At one point they argued about Washington DC and Washington-shyu (state). I mentioned that they were different, and that my grandparents lived in Seattle. From this, I must have somehow communicated *oh by the way i live in Seattle and am from there somehow* Though, I'm sure it's all my fault. At least I know what presents to get them from the US - Ichiro Suzuki merchandise. They asked me a million questions about him, and had I seen him. I had!

They took me to a department store (Mipple!) where I was encouraged to buy a small bowl, a pair of chopsticks (hashi) and some toilet paper (in retrospect, an excellent idea). I also made sure to buy soap and shampoo. Afterwards, they wanted me to buy breakfast. Well, I don’t know what I want for breakfast and I am too tired to translate every box of random noodles. I broke down and bought a box of frosties, because cereal is western and after that they left me alone.

Before they took me to my house, I had the amazing pleasure of going to INE KYANPU (camp). I met a bunch of kids and teachers, all of them adorable. One in particular kept running up to me and saying "Harro!" and running away. I finally cornered her with two friends and asked her name. None of them would talk. I know they understand me. So I asked in Japanese if they had forgotten. Then they ran away. I love kids. I also had some real-deal meat off the BBQ and yakisoba along with delicious tea. They gave me too much though and kept trying to give me more. I don’t think I’m actually going to be losing weight here... I’ll probably be a sumo by the end of a year. After a half hour, we said our goodbyes and left back towards Ine.

They brought me to my house. It is the most amazing house I have ever lived in. It is meticulously clean, smells amazing and everything is perfect. I have a big tub, a toilet, a living room, and kitchen with dining nook, two bedrooms and a huge study. I get to sleep on a futon, I have paper sliding doors, the neighbours are very friendly so far, and I have lots of random Japanese switches that I can’t begin to understand. It’s wonderful. It’s across from a farm, and up on a little green hill. Everything is green.

The downside to living in a muggy seaside village on a hill? Probably the amount of Jurassic-sized insects that are dying to get inside my home. I only saw a handful, namely giant ants, around the area. A big moth also landed on my window to say hi. It couldn’t get in, but anyone who knows me and moths... (THEY CAN'T SEE WHERE THEY'RE GOING AND IT'S TERRIFYING!)

I didn’t unpack or do anything when I was finally left alone. I took a bath, spread out my futon (after wondering what exactly makes a futon a "bed") and went to sleep early. The sounds were really strange; loooots of animals live out there. It made me a little nervous, but the futon was too squishy for me to keep awake worrying about it. I was asleep in no time.