My First Haircut (in Japan)

As many of you know, one of my biggest fears about moving to Japan, as shallow as it is – was getting my hair cut!! I cherish Josiah at York St. Spa too much! My fear of getting the Japanese schoolgirl (and schoolboy) mullet almost had me waiting until my return home to go under the scissors…

After seeing a few friends get their hair cut & surviving…I (and my dying hair) decided to give it a shot. So I headed to “Shampoo Boy”…and sought out the first hairdresser available. I was first ushered to the washing station. First I was offered a blanket for my lap while leaning back in the chair and had the longest shampoo & condition ever….as well as a relaxing massage! Although I think the girl I had was new…from what I hear from Kate the “shampoo boy” was very good.

My hairdresser, Masami Mizoguchi, started to work and surprisingly was very similar in style to back home – I was just dreading him to whip out the thinners...but I was not disappointed in the least! After he cut, he started to blow-dry….and then the shampoo boy came and started to blow-dry as well! Two men playing with my hair….it was like a dream come true…hahaha.

Anyways….so he finished cutting and styling and I was on my way. The cut was actually cheaper than back home and so far it is pretty good (we shall see after I wash and dry it myself though…). The shampoo boy helped me with my coat and they both walked me out the door and down the stairs, where they waved me off down the street! How hilarious….oh this country….how I love it….

January in Japan…

Can’t believe that February is right around the corner! Time is flying by – and I know I keep saying that, but it really is! And the weather has been nothing like Ottawa! I don't think it has yet to go below zero....sorry to rub it in!

With February, comes the time to sign the re-contracting papers. As most of you will know, I have decided to stay another year here in Japan in Sasebo with the JET Programme. Having too much fun and doing too much to come home just yet – even though I still miss everyone! Not in any rush just yet to go back to school and join the “real world”. There are still many “boxes to check” on my list of things to do while in Japan. Hopefully I will be able to do that in the next year and a half!

I have settled back into the routine of school and extracurricular activities. Work is very good – the kids are pretty good and the elementary school kids are adorable as usual. I was asked last week at one of my elementary schools by a 3rd grader, “If you were a baby, what would you rather be: a boy or a girl?” Definitely have never been asked that before – usually its just the regular questions like “Do you like Japanese food?”, “what colour do you like?”, “Are you married?”.

I had an enkai last weekend at Torikin – a restaurant famous for their chicken. You may have heard that there was recently a bird flu outbreak in Miyazaki – just on the other side of Kyushu. Slightly worrying, but to my shock (and horror!) at the work party, they put a plate of raw chicken sashimi in front of me! Chicken breast, heart, liver, you name, it was there – raw. So gross! One would think and hope they would be a little bit on the wary side! But apparently not! Oh - and one of the P.E. teachers who I had never really talked to before started up a little conversation. The weather in Canada came up - as weather always does in small talk, regardless of the language - and I was telling him about the -25 C weather. His only question was, "Does your pee freeze when it comes out?". ?!??!?!?!???!?!?!!

Japanese dance is going really well – my teachers are really very sweet and always seem to have a new sweet or food for me to try before or after my class. I sometimes feel like it’s a game – “what will the gaijin eat?”. But its usually delicious, so I am very appreciative! I have learned my first “samurai” dance – which I really liked. I don’t have to fake my way through trying to be graceful and delicate…which, clearly I am not. They have asked me to be in their show in June – which is very nice of them! We shall see – have much practicing to do before then!

This past weekend was quite fun! We had a block event planned to go to the Nagasaki Biopark. Most zoos and parks here are apparently quite sad and not well-kept, but the Biopark is an exception. Well it still qualifies as a zoo, but in comparison, it was really nice! A bunch of us went down for the afternoon to take in all the wild animals, like giraffes, rhinos, hippos, penguins, beavers, raccoons, porcupines, and skunks! Yes – the majestic Canadian Beaver is a part of the Biopark. They don’t have any raccoons, porcs or skunks here – so they are apparently “wild and foreign”….seems so funny as they are our roadkill… At one part of the park, you walk through a dark tunnel, and enter a spider monkey sanctuary. There were tons of monkeys and they were ravenous! Cheeky little buggers! But it was very cool to have a monkey on my shoulder and eating out of our hands, grabbing into purses, clinging to limbs, etc.

After the Biopark, the girls and I headed up to Fukuoka for a night of partying! We stayed at my first capsule hotel! It was pretty cool! It had an onsen/sauna in it as well – which came in very handy at 6:30 in the morning after a night of drinking in a smoky bar! We checked into our “capsule” (which thankfully wasn’t as claustrophobic as I was worried about), went to grab a bite to eat, and then went out on the town! We met up with a few other JETs from Omura & Nagasaki, and went to a few different bars. Fukuoka is very well known for its nightlife and all-you-can-drink bars that are open until 7am! Can sometimes be a little messy – but Saturday night was very fun and chill. Saw another JET at the bar from Ottawa who came over at the same time as me – so that was very random, but good to check in with my fellow Ottawans.

But now it’s the work week once again…we have a Sas Vegas Cheese Night planned for this Friday….and by Cheese – we mean cheesy music. A bunch of us are putting together some mix CDs of the cheesiest music we have (clearly, as you know, I have plenty…) and having a fun night at a new, local jazz club. I was given a DJ name as well…but seem to forget it – I’ll keep you posted.