Long time, no write

Long Time, No Write.
July 14th – September 1st

I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IN ABOUT TWO OR THREE MONTHS… for that I apologize. It’s not that there wasn’t a lot to write about, it’s more that I’ve spent the past two or so months being broke, being busy, and being boring. The three B’s of my summer.
AFTER MY SISTER LEFT JAPAN, things calmed down. I had no more trips planned and I was looking forward to the summer holiday where school would pause and I would move down to Kyoto City to take part in an expensive and intensive Japanese language course. As school slowed down, I was feeling less and less like I wanted to be a part of it. The hours seemed to be growing longer, rather like the summer days. As the heat penetrated the thin walls of my house and workplace, I was feeling the beginnings of cabin fever. By the time mid-July rolled around and it was time to move South for the Summer, I was ready

The apartment

MY SUMMER AWAY FROM INE began around July 13th. I drove down to Yagi where I left my car for multiple days (and on more than one occasion). Good ol free parking… I dragged my suitcase and coffee machine all the way to my ridiculously far away area called Takaragaike/宝ケ池 (the lake of treasures). My dorm room was small but had all the necessities; an Air Conditioner (hallelujah!), a mini-fridge, burner, desk, microwave, faux-closet, faux-bathroom, and a television. I felt at home in such a small space since I’ve been feeling for the past few months (ever since my absence of my sister and family) that my house is just too damn big for one person (and one weasel). My empty nest syndrome began to subside, although I was missing Kirby like crazy. I met my neighbour, Nina, who was very sweet and very good-looking. After many failed attempts to introduce her to Ian (for karma/booty purposes), she and I became bus-buddies and made small talk in the internet lounge while I helped her do her homework (and procrastinated my own).


THE NEXT WEEK, Leigh moved into my house. This was a great relief to the both of us as she was doing me the huge favour of watching my house and pet while I was gone. Although it may have been a relief for Leigh to have a place to put her unpacked belongings, I don’t think the distance did her any favours. In any case, she no longer lived in her house of two years, and I no longer lived in the inaka. It was a weird week for everyone.

BACK IN KYOTO FOR MY SECOND WEEK, I took Megan on board. Megan who had been my only true contact outside of the two-facedness of my year in Tango… Megan who had been my senpai, my teacher, and my friend. I’ll be honest, after three days of spending money I didn’t have, staying out late and ignoring my studies (why did I pay $800 for language class again? Certainly not to study), I was really ready for Megan to leave when the morning came. Not happy, but certainly not upset. She was ready to go home, and I was ready to get back to my temporary life.


HOWEVER, BY MY THIRD WEEK in Kyoto I was crippled with depression. Megan was gone. She wasn’t gone forever – hell she moved to Seattle, so it’s not like this is quits for us, but… she was gone. And Megan had been the best part of my past year in Japan. Without Megan I would never have found all the cool places in Kyoto, I would never have learned what “purikura” truly is, and I would never have had a warm home away from home during the long winter when I felt I had no one else in the world. For me it was impossibly hard to admit that my world was basically broken now that she was gone. After all, I still had good friends in Kyoto! Lauren, Greg and Ian weren’t going anywhere! Plus Leigh was still at my house in Ine – why was I so sad? Why was I so set on not making a single friend at my language school? Why was suddenly for the first time in 11 months feeling like I was the least extraordinary human being ever to walk the face of this fine earth? It hit me like a bus.

BY MY FOURTH WEEK IN KYOTO, I was ready to go home. Home to Ine. I wasn’t sure if I was going to feel happy back in the inaka after all the swank city living… but I also hadn’t done too much swank city living! Fortunately for my sanity, Ian hung out with me a LOT after Megan left. We did cultural activities like going to a museum, walking aimlessly, and accidentally rolling our beers into the Kamo River (well, that was mostly me). We talked a lot about non-Megan related things; Japanese, the newcomer AETs, and Ian’s girl problems. It was refreshing! It seemed like July and August were passing in a flash and I wasn’t even sure what I wanted out of JET or Japan anymore.

MY LAST WEEKEND IN KYOTO I ditched the class’ sayonara party to go up to my house for one day to help Leigh and Steve move out of it. It took a VERY long time – much longer than expected. It involved a lot of sweating, driving around, shipping boxes, and keeping Leigh and Steve hydrated and alive (I don’t think they had slept in days because they had been so busy saying goodbye to everyone they’d ever met in Tango). Despite the exhaustion, it was a really good thing to go back and hang out with the two of them one last time before they would leave Kyoto Prefecture for Kyushyu. I don’t’ think I had anticipated the emptiness I now feel without Leigh. She was a true friend, and without her my times in Tango would have been even bleaker. They dropped me off at Ayabe station and I began my intensely long and awful journey back to my too-far-away-for-no-reason apartment and then met up with Lauren and Ian for beer at the river. I was in the worst mood of my life by the time I met them – but they cheered me up with McDonald’s and booze. We then met up with my coworkers for international karaoke – not to be missed. They really like U2 in Italy.

MY VERY LAST NIGHT in Kyoto was spent in a big crowd of sweaty, distressed and camera-toting Japanese tourists. We had gathered to watch Daimonji (large, lit up kanji on the hills of Kyoto to help guid the spirits from Obon back to Heaven). It was NOT worth it, but it was nice to hang out with Ian and his two friends from home for about 15 minutes before trudging off to meet Leigh and Steve for their last supper in Kyoto.

MY FINAL TRIP BACK HOME after moving out of my dorm was uneventful. However, as soon as I glimpsed the bright blue sparkling water that outlines the coast that I live on, I felt like it was a breath of fresh air. I had really forgotten how beautiful it was where I live, and I felt relieved to be home. I was less relieved to spend the evening fixing my toilet and mopping up the floor, but there’s probably karma in there somewhere. I DID squish a lot of bugs in my Kyoto apartment.


SINCE THEN, IT’S BEEN MEETING the new JET participants. This has involved multiple trips down to Kyoto for conferences, beer gardens, and mingling. I even gave a speech about living in the countryside of Japan, which didn’t go over as poorly as I had anticipated. I kicked a chair by accident, but nobody was severely injured. It was strange and new being a “senpai”, but I was happy to feel knowledgeable for the first time since senior year of college. I’m quite burnt out from all the “newbie” activities, but it’s nice to be on the “old” side of things instead of the “new and sparkly” side. The wide-eyed JET thing got pretty old for me pretty fast, and now I can sit back and relax for the next 12 months before I leave. So, kanpai to that.

UNTIL THE START OF THE SECOND SCHOOL TERM, I was still feeling an on and off depression about losing all of my friends, forcing myself to be social with people I don’t really know, and finding time to do all the laundry I had produced after about 3 weeks of NOT doing any. Thankfully school has resumed and now I feel like I can get back to my life, as unorganized as it may be. My September goal really should be organizing my house, life, and daily habits … but probably I’ll just watch all the TV shows that are coming back on itunes. I’m an admittedly imperfect person. [TV PROMO PICS]

THERE’S MORE TO BE SAID, and there’s a lot I’ve left out… but I think that’s all you get for now.

PS – Kirby celebrated his first birthday! What would I do without him? Probably mop less…

kirby eats ice cubes.

Sub par chocolate covered bananas. Oh, and fireworks.

I drove down to Amino this afternoon to have lunch with Shinobu, a friend of Liz'. She had a 'thank you' sort of luncheon for the people who had helped out for the Halloween party a few weeks back (the one for elementary schoolers), however I was the only person of that group who was able to attend. Besides me, Liz, Leigh and Jannie came and we were joined by Shinobu, her friends (both Yuko's) and Yuko B's two young children (Chika and Ryouji, who were adorable).

The lunch spread was amazing. I think we ate for about two-three hours straight. I should also mention that Shinobu's house is gorgeous. It's a Japanese-style place, all one floor and connecting through paper walls that slide. Kotatsu tables, magnificent garden outside (filled with trees, ponds, flowers etc) and beautiful art and decorations to match. Really lovely environment!

After lunch I dropped by shimamura with Jannie so we could pick up some clothing items. I'm wearing the slipper socks I bought... they were a good purchase for SURE. My feet have been having trouble staying warm lately. These will help out a great deal.

We then met up with Marina, Amy (Marina's friend from Fukuchiyama), Bryn, Simon, Lyle and Scott and watched the fireworks at the Iwataki side of Amanohashidate. It wasn't too cold today, so the viewing was entirely pleasant! We also had sub par chocolate covered bananas, which didn't taste of chocolate or banana, in my opinion.

Now it's home to finish out the weekend with a tuna fish sandwich and a glass of milk.

I might get my car looked at tomorrow morning before school if I can manage to wake up early enough. Ha!

First Day of School

The First Day Jitters: Rachel Loses Balance, Dignity

I am having that first day of school experience that I tell myself I won't have, and ALWAYS end up having. Even as a teacher! I am doomed!

On my first day of high school I fell off the school bus! I was wearing platform shoes so I just toppled right off. And everyone was like "ARE YOU OKAAAY????" but I just got up and tried to disappear into the crowd as best I can. I told myself it was not the end of the world and I would live to see another day. Then I fell down in the hallway. And later I fell up some stairs. Apparently, my feet could not get it together that day.

I am kind of reliving that day.
In fact, I tell that story in my introductory speech, which I have written for my intro at the assembly (read: WAS FORCED TO WRITE). I made the mistake of writing it in English and in Japanese..... which I was helped with. But writing something and speaking something are different. And speaking in front of a mass of giggly teenagers who I've never met in my life is terrifying even though I am no longer a teenager. I think there is a part of us that stays a teenager forever. The part of us that dies of embarrassment when we feel like we're being judged.

Yesterday was fine. It was 9am and the students weren't even awake yet. I gave my speech, made no mistakes, and the students seemed to enjoy it and I immediately fell in love with all of them for not giggling through my speech or making me feel like more of an ass. I'm sure I was bright red after it anyway, I always blush when I have to do stuff like that.

Flashback to the first time I had to pitch a film idea in class, freshman year. I stuttered through my written proposal and people started laughing and making joke proposals about where the film could go (which I would later find hilarious as every one recommending things became my best friends not long after). The distractions of the people trying to lighten up my nerves made it worse, and I ended up turning bright red, not being able to say a word and nearly bursting into tears. Ironically it was Randall that came to my aid with constructive criticism and asked if I could show the class my storyboards (as he was the TA at the time). I couldn't get it together that day either.

Nearly four years later, I find myself standing in front of the bigger Ine junior high school class. Already the kids are giggling. It is not helping my nerves. I'm already preoccupied with the fact that I was unable to finish my lunch. Although delicious, it was seriously too much food. Curry, rice, orange pudding atop of weird seaweed (which is good but strange) which is called tokoroten (ところてん）, milk, an apple that I brought from home, and somen or そうめんサラダ, which is cucumber, carrot, noodles, egg and way too much mayonnaise. So everything was edible, and most things were quite delicious. But I really just can't eat that much for lunch!!! I never do! My big meals are breakfast and dinner. Mostly breakfast. Breakfast which I had eaten 3 or 4 hours previous, and I wasn't hungry to begin with. I couldn't finish. And in Japan, EVERYONE finishes their meal. Even these 75 pound women with the 14" waists were wolfing down their school lunch. I felt so embarrassed that I ate way more than I wanted to, and that somen might as well have been live slugs b/c I was not enjoying anything I put in my mouth. I was literally force feeding myself. It was disgusting.

Flashback to my 6th grade play when I forgot every single one of my lines and had to elbow the person next to me so they would go instead.

So after disgracing myself at lunch, not to mention feeling sick from too much mayo-noodle-salad-death™, I had to give my speech. Which brings us back to the gym full of giggling teenagers.

I messed up soooooooo maaaaany words. I kept telling myself "they're not giggling at YOU they're not even paying attention to you! They're giggling because they are 12 year old girls and that is what 12 year old girls DO" but it didn't help. Every giggle made me turn more scarlet, and every messed up word made me want to jump out a window. Finally it was over and I got down.

This is the first time I've wanted to cry since coming to Japan. But at least the speeches are over, and the next time I have to talk in front of the kids it will be in ENGLISH and I will be the one giggling at THEM!!!!! ...in a constructive and nurturing way.

I mean this day can only get worse, so maybe it will be my bad day for the week and I can look forward to fun happy things that make me not feel like a slug.

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!

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.