| Rainy Season (梅雨) |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|10:25 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
The rainy season began today in the Kanto region of Japan.
Do you see the curb? No? That's because it's covered in 20 cm of water.
Boy, I sure do love driving a tiny compact car in a river. I love watching the engine smoke and listening to it sputter and cough.
Yep, sure do love it. |
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| Haircut (散髪) |
[May. 28th, 2009|11:38 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
Because ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fubusan asked, the haircut. Nothing drastic, just chopped off the dead ends. ;)
( Read more... ) |
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| Life |
[May. 14th, 2009|11:18 pm] |
So, I finally pack up the last of my long-sleeved shirts, after the latest bout of hot weather lasted for more than a week, and....
Cold. Cold, and looks like rain in the next couple of days.
Boo.
But-! I have internet at home at last♥
( Some miscellaneous photos I've been waiting to post. ) |
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| Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク ) |
[May. 4th, 2009|09:40 pm] |
I'm camped out in Charlotte's apartment helping her concentrate on cleaning by hogging her internet connection.
Ten days until payday. Ten interminable days until my internet is installed.
Golden Week has been mostly fun so far, with some drama to keep things, er, interesting. But the drama led to meeting a very attractive policeman, so all is not lost.
Today we had a barbecue at a co-worker's house in Isesaki City. She's living with her Brazilian boyfriend, so the guests were all speaking in a mix of Japanese-English-Portuguese-Spanish. Very, very interesting, and a very interesting mix of food as well. God, I can't eat for a week...
Two more days left. Tomorrow is fun times at Round 1. |
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| Cherry Blossom Viewing （花見） |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|04:02 pm] |
It's really spring now! Four days in a row of lovely, warm, T-shirt weather.
Let's see, my last update was.... mid-March. Well, I spent a long weekend in Kansai at the end of March. It was heavenly, though crazy-hectic. This is because I had a strict time schedule. *grins* I saw Julie and Amanda, and I saw a bunch of shows. I saw Masaki, and we had a very enlightening ten-word conversation about hay fever. The cherry blossoms were *just* starting to bloom in Osaka when I left, which bummed me out a bit, because I had been hoping to see them bloom. But the cherry front did eventually make it up here.
In fact, this week is the prime viewing time in Ota. They're everywhere, and they're gorgeous. I spent the entire weekend just lazing about and watching them. Saturday night after work the gals got together for purikura (print club photos) and poker.  We all collapsed pretty early and I was home by 2 AM. But this was mostly because we all then got up early Sunday morning for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). We caught an 11 AM train to Oizumi Town, then walked to Shironouchi Park and stayed until... 4 or 5-ish? Hanami is a big thing in Japan -- an excuse to picnic and barbecue and get really, really, REALLY drunk, if you're under 30. We started out with a small group, and blended in a bit more than usual, actually, because Oizumi has a pretty big Brazilian and Peruvian population, but as the day went on more (LAZY) people arrived and joined us. It was a lot of fun, and the park was really beautiful. It's the site of an old castle, and surrounded by a moat.
Basically it was OES staff, teachers, girlfriends, wives, and friends. A nice mix. I was still full of junk food from poker the night before, but that didn't stop me. In fact, I started feeling a bit nauseated from all the junk food and jumping around playing frisbee. Which is why I opted to go home instead of to karaoke. ...Somehow I always miss karaoke nights *sigh*. I ended up with my first sunburn of the season, though it's peeling nicely already.
Then Monday up kind of early to head in to northern Tokyo to meet Anna and Kathleen and Anna's friend Naomi to celebrate Anna's birthday. More cherry blossoms, this time next to the Arakawa River. I don't think you can ever get enough of cherry blossoms, nice weather, alcohol, and good people. <3
( Hanami )
I hope the weather holds for this weekend. I want to get out and go to Shironouchi again, or do some hiking. |
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| Almost springtime... （春が来るかな） |
[Mar. 13th, 2009|12:37 pm] |
Hello world.
Long time no post. I lost my dodgy *cough*borrowed*cough* internet a couple of weeks ago and have been spending most of my online time catching up on the news and weather reports rather than answering emails and such. Sorry!
It's snowed twice in Gunma this winter - once in February, and once in March. Neither fall lasted more than a few hours, but they still cheered me up to no end.
Other cheerful news is that the license debacle was cleared up without any sweat, blood, or tears. Although when we called they told me that I would have to take the driving test again, since my Miyagi Prefecture license expired two years before. Ugh, had NOT been looking forward to that, but when I finally buckled down and dragged myself over the man I talked to at the center just started processing my new Gunma license right away. ...I suspect it was helped by the fact that we shared the same birth date; he pulled out his own license to prove it. *grins* Old Japanese men... I love 'em ... sometimes.
Guess that's it, really. An influx of friends coming through this month and the next, from all corners of the planet, which has been really fun. :)
We have next Friday (20th) off for Spring Equinox, and so I took a couple days of my paid vacation time and I'm headed west to Osaka and Kobe next weekend. I'm really excited to get out of Kanto for a few days, just for a change of scenery. ;) Also, some Shakespeare. *grin* I'll be seeing The Two Noble Kinsmen in Takarazuka -- I'm rather interested to see how much they've adapted it.
Finished up some classes at the local NPO that we teach some classes at yesterday, and got flowers from one of my baby students. SO CUTE to get handed flowers by a two-year-old.
Spring soon, and cherry blossoms. I'm psyched! It's been a long time since I've seen the cherry trees bloom in Japan. The plum trees have been blooming for nearly a month now, and every second person I pass on the street is dying from hay fever....
Well, guess I'd better get off the office computer and go scrounge up some lunch at the cafe if they've opened. |
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| Hello, 2009 |
[Jan. 28th, 2009|12:44 pm] |
I suppose this is me finally growing up... my best friend buying a HOUSE, and me actually managing to stay away from the computer for large chunks of time. Hmm... One of us is winning the maturity contest, and alas it isn't me.
January is almost over. Another month flown by. I think part of the reason they go so fast is that my schedule at work keeps me busy, and the other is because I spend all my time counting pennies and measuring time by how long until the next paycheck. I suppose I should be a nervous mess, but things are working out. Skin o' my teeth, because I've been spending too much money on Tokyo, but working out. Mostly because of awesome friends.♥
I have a friend visiting from Australia.♥ She's only here for the week before she goes west to Kansai, but it's been really nice having someone to cook for. The next few months there are going to be a bunch of friends coming over from the US too... though most of them aren't actually staying with me because it's such a long ride in to Tokyo. It'll be busy and fun, though.
Ugh. My ten year high school reunion is this year. How did that happen? And how am I in the wrong country and not able to go? It's too bad. Maybe in another ten years....
Mike got his driver's license! Yaaaay, Mike! Congratulations.♥♥♥ I guess I can't call you my baby brother anymore....
Mmm... Guess that's all. I'm sorry I've been so bad about calling and emails. |
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| Landscapes (風景) |
[Dec. 29th, 2008|09:03 pm] |
I've been continuing my tradition of being sick on my weekends. I'd suspect I'm turning into a hypochondriac, but shouldn't I be getting sick on work days too?
More pictures, which are really ugly, but my parents said they wanted more of Ota, despite my assurances that it's just a hideous factory town.
( Read more... )
(Apologies, my web host has been going down all day because of some server trouble. So the images might not show properly for a bit.) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 6th, 2008|04:49 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | homicidal | ] |
I think the game on the computers in the office/waiting room of the Tatebayashi branch might cause me to murder the student who's been playing it for the past 30 minutes. The same puzzle, over and over and over. "Boing, boing, boing..."
Today has been a longer Saturday than usual.... My classes have been missing most of the students. Everyone is busy in December! |
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| November （11月） |
[Dec. 2nd, 2008|09:42 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  content | ] |
I've had an interesting November. I finally caught up with my paychecks, so I went clothing shopping at an outlet mall in the next prefecture and bought some sweaters and a new coat and turtlenecks and boots. And I finally got my hair, which had been running riot, re-permed and cut. (The amusing story there was that the woman who cut my hair was actually a prospective student of mine who had come to observe one of my classes. We spent about five minutes eying each other and trying to figure out why the other person looked so familiar.)
I took a Saturday off and went to Osaka two weekends ago, leaving on the Friday night bus after I go out of work and slipping back into town two hours before I had to be at work on Tuesday afternoon. It was a bit stressful, but well worth it. I got to meet up with an old friend from Arizona, Julie, who's living and working in Osaka now. Of course, as usual, I spent too much money. (Note to self: spending your entire paycheck in one week is NOT how you should be doing things.) But I got to eat okonomiyaki, so really, the entire trip was worth it. I also went to Takarazuka with Julie and Amanda and met up with some old friends from my fan club, and saw Ryuu Masaki, an actress that I've been supporting for a couple of years. I dragged Julie and Amanda and another friend, Elise, to a tea party Masaki was having, and she was so full of energy and amusing. She thanked me for making her tea party international. ;)
I had to work on the American Thanksgiving (of course!), but a bunch of us girls got together at a co-workers house for pot luck Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night. I made $20 green bean casserole. Ugh, JAPAN, why do you sell your green beans in packages of EIGHT beans? It turned out really good, though very different from the Thanksgiving we threw in Miyagi all those years ago.... Still, I ate and ate and ate, which is, I think, the whole point. Well, that and being Thankful, of course. ;) And we all cooed over the co-worker's new niece, who is only three months, and completely adorable.
It's December! How did that happen? |
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| Parking Tickets （駐車違反切符） |
[Nov. 17th, 2008|08:38 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
I had a moment of clarity yesterday, while driving the hour to the outlet mall in Sano with Char. Parking tickets.
All of Japan's problems could be solved with the liberal application of parking tickets. Also, the problem of my BLOOD PRESSURE.
Dear Insane Gunma Drivers:
THE ROAD IS NOT A PARKING LOT, KTHX. TURNING LANES ARE NOT PASSING LANES, TO BE USED TO BYPASS THE LINE OF SIX CARS PARKED AT A RED LIGHT. A RED NIGHT IS NOT A GREEN LIGHT. IT IS RED. RED MEANS STOP. S-T-O-P. トマル
OH MY GOD, GUNMA DRIVERS, YOU'LL BE THE DEATH OF ME. |
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| Medicine (くすり) |
[Nov. 7th, 2008|04:44 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drained | ] |
I started off this week with such good intentions -- It's been a gorgeous, sunny week, and I was going to get photos of the schools and post about how much I love the autumn. But of course that never happened, because happy news is never very interesting. ;)
But it HAS been a lovely week, and I've been feeling pretty happy about things. ...Except for this persistent cold, which has manifested itself in a fifth form this week, just as I thought I had finally shaken it. So I broke down and went out and bought some over-the-counter Japanese cold medicine. You know, the cheap powder one that looks like gerbil droppings?
Mm-hm.
( blahblahblah ) So I get The Patch. The Cold Patch, that is. Stick it on you and it helps with congestion and coughing.
You hear a lot about the crazy pile of meds that Japanese doctors prescribe, because medication in Japan isn't mixed and matched like it is in the US. Well, here's my haul for today, complete with illustrated guide so that I can keep track of them all. Oh, Japan.
One more day of work tomorrow, and then the weekend. I love the weekend♫ |
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| Schedule （スケジュール） |
[Oct. 17th, 2008|10:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Prince - Starfish And Coffee | ] |
Good GOD, the weeks just fly by. It's really pretty crazy. I blink and a day is done. I blink again, and a week has passed. I really think I am going to stay another year, because... by the time this one is over I have a feeling I'll still feel as if I just got here. I've been here THREE MONTHS already. That's 1/4 of a year. ... I don't remember JET going by this quickly.
So, I was dreading today, because I got five new classes, but... I love them.♥ Two are junior high classes, and I really don't have many JH classes. I'm really much more comfortable with them, probably mostly because I'm used to the ways that they act up. ;) Anyway, with these new classes my schedule is officially full, and I don't think *knock on wood* that it's going to change around much for a few months at least. (Actually, I'm on overtime now, by about 70 minutes. But I won't tell if you won't. ...I'm hoping I'll have padded my next paycheck nicely before they figure it out. *grin*)
So, since I know absolutely NO one gives a damn... ( my schedule: ) |
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| Health Sports Day (体育の日) |
[Oct. 13th, 2008|09:47 pm] |
I made an off-hand comment to a student last month about how I was in general a healthy person and rarely got sick. ...I think the past month has been divine retribution. A rather nasty allergy attack / cold hit me a few weeks ago, but luckily I had a three-day weekend to recover from that. Then last Sunday I woke up with a fever and the shakes. I was feeling better by Sunday night, and completely recovered by Monday, but then I lost my voice on Tuesday. That made for an interesting week. By Wednesday night it was simply ridiculous, so even though I felt fine I had to call in someone to cover my baby classes on Thursday morning. If I'd attempted to sing I think the two-year-olds would have been scared for life.
Anyway, feeling better after sleeping for most of this weekend (knock on wood). Still kind of congested, though, so I really hope I don't lose my voice again this week.
Today was lovely and sunny. A few of us drove to the nearby hill and wheezed up a little path to the Kanayama Castle Ruins. So I have some panoramic shots of Ota and of the surrounding Gunma Prefecture. It was a bit hazy though.
( Read more... )
It was nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, though our picnic plans were foiled by the fact that it was a holiday and all the parks were jammed full of people. ... We four work Tues-Sat, so none of us pays attention to Monday holidays and they always take us by surprise. It's funny, really. As a JET, I remember thinking how it felt like a three-day weekend nearly every weekend. Japan has a lot of public holidays on Mondays. Unfortunately, although schools and public institutions are closed, most companies aren't. OES is only closed for a few of the Monday holidays. Today was actually one of the ones they closed for, but... well.... let's just say half the staff got a three-day weekend and half didn't. Sigh. Technically we get to add these Mondays to our count of paid vacation days we can request off throughout the year, but this is Japan... No one actually asks for their vacation days. Well, I'm saving mine up!
We also went out for Indian on the way back. Mmm... Indian..... |
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| Random (ランダム) |
[Sep. 20th, 2008|09:32 am] |
Well, I keep meaning to write a proper post when I have the time. Perhaps this weekend.
As usual, nothing much exciting going on here. It's been a very good week, though, and I feel like I'm finally getting ahead of things at work instead of just keeping up. Still hanging on by the proverbial financial seat of my pants, though, because I seem incapable of not spending money, but maybe next paycheck.... *grin*
Got a wonderful llama pillow from Shannon. Does anyone know if you can wash llama fur? It's so soft and fluffy and I have a feeling it's going to get a lot of love. ;)
Got a box of miscellaneous cords and things from my mother, things I'd forgotten when I rushed over here... and things that Abby helped me to "pack" by taking out of my suitcase when I wasn't looking. Unfortunately, it looks like I can't access Skype on my *cough*borrowed*cough* internet connection. So... maybe next paycheck I'll get a real one. (Are we sensing a theme here?)
I took a few more pictures of my apartment and surroundings now that I have a proper camera. Very boring. And messy.
( Read more... )
It's a gorgeous, sunny day out, despite the fact that weather reports up until I went to sleep last night were calling for an 80-90% chance of rain all day long. The typhoon seems to have either rushed by in the night or moved around us. This is good on three fronts: 1) Everyone is in a better mood when it's sunny, 2) I don't have to make the 50 minute drive to Tatebayashi in the pouring rain, and 3) 60% of my students have Sports Festival (undokai) this weekend, which means some of my classes might be canceled. And even if they aren't canceled I'll probably only have one student in most of the classes. Which means... we can play games instead of focusing on the textbooks! :D
And starting tomorrow I have a three-day weekend! I'll celebrate by going in to Tokyo and spending everyone else's money for a change, as a whole bunch of friends are having me do some shopping for them. ... I really can't wait to see the faces of the ladies at the register.... |
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| Eagle 810 |
[Sep. 1st, 2008|05:32 pm] |
I keep hearing on Eagle 810 (the military radio station) how it's Labor Day weekend, and it keeps surprising me. It's funny to think of having a 3-day weekend for a national holiday in one country when you work in another, but I guess that's the military. It makes sense; aren't they supposed to be a mini piece of American sovereign territory? Or is that just embassies? ....Or am I thinking of something completely different?
The military radio station is a little frightening, to be honest. Half the commercials are things like: "Don't forget to go fill out the paperwork and buy your tickets when you have a transfer" and "Don't give full power of attorney to just anyone" and "Don't forget to wear sunscreen this summer and drink water on hot days". Which makes me feel like they're addressing some real idiots, but I guess a lot of folks are just out of high school and really don't have much of an idea about things like that. (But still, drink water when it's hot? Please.)
They strike an interesting balance news-wise, giving airtime to NPR programs, and also conservative talk shows like Limbaugh's. Lucky for me, Saturday morning (which is my longest drive to one of the branch schools, about 45 minutes) is "Oldies" Hour-- by which they mean 80s and 90s hits. So I just have to make sure I grab one of the cars with a working radio for Saturday, which is unfortunately harder to do than it sounds like it should be.
Anyway, it's interesting, like this slice-of-life view of Yokota Air Base. |
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| Summer Is Over (夏は終わり） |
[Aug. 25th, 2008|05:51 pm] |
In about 24 hours it went from 35 degrees every day to 22 degrees. I guess summer is over!
No real news lately, although I finally got my foreigner's card, so I could set up my bank account and get my cell phone. I'm bummed, because I couldn't get Soft Bank unless I bought the phone outright (30,000 spare yen Jen does not have), since my visa currently expires in a little less than a year. I miss Vodafone. Anyway, so I have au. The "free" phones were not cute. :/
( But, here, my apartment. (Completely trashed, because I've been running errands all weekend.) ) |
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| It was a dark and stormy night... （暗くて嵐の夜だった） |
[Aug. 16th, 2008|11:50 am] |
...and the lightening was flickering all over the sky (Gunma is rather famous for its thunderstorms) when there was a knock, knock, knock on our heroine's door. She turned on the kitchen light and peered out through the peephole, but as usual, no one had turned on the lights in the passsageway and she couldn't see much more than a short blur. In case it was a fellow foreigner, she unhooked the chain and unlocked the door....
But no-! It was a short, middle-aged Japanese woman carrying a quarter of an enormous watermelon and a small plastic bag!
I'm not quite sure which of us was more startled. She tried to push the watermelon on me, and I'm afraid I was a bit rude in my surprise, because all I managed at first was a rather stark "why?" She was already flustered, and whispering at about a mile a minute, but I think I caught something about children? Maybe that they hadn't been able to eat it all? And I think she told me to share it with my husband, which was when the light started to click on in my fuzzy brain.
I think she had been expecting Jason, the rather magnetic, outgoing, flirty guy who lived in the apartment before me. And then she couldn't exactly walk away with an armful of food when a dirty, unwashed foreign woman opened the door. The conversation was obviously turning painful, so I didn't try to explain and drag things out.
Anyway, I quickly switched tracks and thanked her profusely and politely (and honestly; I'm kind of out of money and food until Monday). And then after she had left I ate most of that huge chunk of watermelon. Ahahah. Hopefully she wasn't the type who thinks they can get rid of all the foreigners in Japan by poisoning them? ;) |
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| In Retrospect... （回想して） |
[Aug. 11th, 2008|09:35 pm] |
I've settled in to Ota now, but it's really very different from Tomiya. The more I explore Ota, the more I appreciate Tomiya.
I'm not sure how much is the change in the times (it's amazing what three years can do to an economy), but I don't think much of the difference can be blamed on it. Ota is a factory town -- one of my (Japanese) co-workers described it as being "blue-collar" and "red-neck". Sendai and Tomiya were booming, growing. Everything was shiny and new. Ota is old, and run-down. I see a lot of vacant store fronts and apartments. Of course, I didn't see much of Sendai, when I think on it. I saw the area around the station, and the main shopping boulevard. I saw the streets outside Jenny and Louise's apartments... I'm not sure how much I missed.
Gunma is different; this prefecture has the highest ratio of cars to people in Japan. There just really aren't any good rail lines or bus routes... everyone drives. Families have two or three cars. It's rather bizarre.
I saw my first "Japanese only" sign on a store today. Granted, it was a girly bar, but still... it's an odd feeling.
My co-workers are interesting too. Eikaiwa is kind of another world from being an ALT. Many of the folks have been in Japan, jumping from company to company, for years. I met someone who had been doing it for eight years the other day. It's kind of... a rootless existence. And then there are the ones who have married Japanese women and have kids here. I find that particularly frightening -- raising a family on an eikaiwa salary? Without any prospects and shifty contracts? I shouldn't judge people I hardly know, but I feel like some of the 30- and 40-somethings are younger than me, mentally.
None of which makes me unhappy with my choice, but it does make me introspective. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn about Ota, and the people I work with. I've met some very cool people, too. |
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