Meg in Sasebo!

2007-08-17T09:21:00.000+09:00

Hello From Brisbane, Australia!

Have had no time really to post any big updates...and not much time now, so I will try to be brief!

Just spent over a week in Thailand, and absolutely LOVED it! It is so beautiful there, and the food is delicious!! We spent a few days in Phuket - which is more of party town. But had a fun time lounging on the beach and body surfing (the water was quite rough - I could only take it for a few minutes). Then we travelled to the Gulf and spent another few days on the island of Koh Samui. It was soooo beautiful there - crystal clear waters and our hotel was right on the beach with a swimming pool. Our bungalow was less than a 20 second walk to the beach! I also had a Thai massage on the beach for $7 for one hour! Crazy...

We spent one day in Bangkok - but were pretty tired from the travelling, so we spent most of it indoors shopping and wandering! We have one more day there, where we will go to visit the Grand Palace and such...

Currently, I am in Brisbane for Hayden's cousin's wedding (it is this afternoon). I was able to meet up with Amy at the Sydney airport for about one hour - which was great! So nice to see a familiar face! Met Hayden's parents at the airport in Brisbane, and everyone is very nice and sweet!

We are off to Surfers Paradise on Sunday - then back to Thailand! Hope all is well!

Meg

2007-08-06T09:40:00.000+09:00

And I`m Off!!!

Summer vacation is here (well in 7.5 hours…can you tell I’m excited to be leaving school?!)!!! I am pretty much packed (have a new backpack and it is stuffed to the max!), and just have a few last minute errands and tidying of my apartment to do before heading down to Omura tonight! We are spending our last night in Japan there with Lana, who is leaving around the same time as us tomorrow for Europe & back to Canada – so we will hop on the airport bus together at 6:11am tomorrow morning! I am so excited and cannot wait to go!

Everything is all set for the trip...flights booked, guesthouses/hostels reserved, and my laminated currency conversion cards are already in my wallet (yes….I am a geek). We leave for Phuket tomorrow morning, where we will be spending 3 nights and meeting up with Kelly (a fellow Ottawa JET who is returning home after her trip), then three nights on the island of Koh Samui at (what looks like) a nice resort! Then we fly up to Bangkok for one night and one day of sightseeing before catching the red eye to Sydney, Australia. I will hopefully get to see Amy at the airport for a bit, before boarding another plane for Brisbane. We have Hayden’s cousin’s wedding to go to on the 1 7th, and then are heading down to Surfer’s Paradise for a few days to take in Movie World (Warner Brothers….like Universal Studios), Sea World and Wet N’Wild Water park. Should be good times! We fly back to Thailand on the 23rd, and head straight up to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for 3 nights, and then going to Cambodia to visit Ankor Wat for 3 nights. We will spend one day in Phnom Penh and then back to Bangkok for another day of sightseeing before getting on the redeye back to Japan on September 1st! It will be very busy….but I am sooo excited to see all the sights and eat lots of food!! Cheese! Steak! Real pizza! Cheap fruit! Thai curry! I bought a new 1GB photo card too – so be prepared for 1500 pictures when I return!

So other than planning and such for my trip, this month has been fairly busy! I had my birthday…which was very nice! Got a package from home on the exact day, and went out for dinner and drinks at this great restaurant in Sasebo. My Japanese teacher also had me over for dinner with a few other JETs! Very nice!

Dinner at Nagao Sensei`s house.

Dinner at Ratous with Kara, Shawna, Cortney, Shannon, Kate, Claire, Jenny, Nicola, myself and Lana! Yummy!

The long weekend in Japan where there was a big earthquake up in Niigata and a typhoon hit the eastern side of Kyuushu….I was on the beach in Shimabara! It was a little windy and a bit of rain on the Friday night, but by Saturday, it was quite clear, and we had a party on the Saturday night, and went to a gorgeous beach on Sunday! A great way to spend the long weekend! The night included a bonfire on the beach, sing-a-longs and drinking…but we opted to drive back into the city instead of being eaten alive by mosquitoes!

I had a cultural weekend a few weeks ago where I had a taiko drumming performance on the Friday night, and a Japanese dance show on the Saturday! Taiko went fairly well – we performed with the 3 junior high school boys who practice before us on Fridays…and are absolutely amazing! We are pretty terrible in comparison, but we tried our best and had a lot of fun! It was at a summer festival near where we practice, so it was good fun to see the other performances (including some of my elementary students who have a hip hop dance group!), and eat yakisoba and drink! Plus…I got to play with this adorable random Japanese baby! Soooo cute….

Nic and I preparing for our performance!

Our one song....
And Kouji - the adorable Japanese baby whose mother let me play with...

On the Saturday, we had a dance performance outside at a mental and physical disabilities centre in Sasebo. It was a really nice event, and everyone seemed to enjoy it! We also did a few bon odori dances – which are done in a circle and are repetitive, so that people can join in – and we also did the tanko bushi! I was quite happy to finally have a dance that I already knew! And it almost felt like I was back home at the family picnic….but not at all :(

Me and the little girls who have their dance practice right before me.

We have had many farewell enkais and parties for all of the JETs who are leaving (or have left). Its been sad to say goodbye to everyone….but hopefully we can all stay in touch and someday meet again!

Last weekend there was a big festival in Nagasaki with dragon boat races (they call it something else though – can’t remember the name they use), and a huge firework show on the Sunday night. We spent the afternoon in the park, lying in the shade and taking in the sights and sounds. The firework show was probably one of the best I’ve seen! It was quite long, and included some cool fireworks, like stars, happy faces, hearts, glasses (?!) and the regular firework variety! Plus there were lasers….can’t go wrong with that!

Work wise, school ended on the 23rd, so it has been relatively quiet. We spent a few days at the Board of Education planning for a children’s camp. We planned and taught a camp for 17 third and fourth graders, using a summer theme. I think the kids had fun (it was 4 mornings) – and on the last day we did a water balloon toss game…which I believe was probably the highlight of the camp!

And last week I got my Japanese driver’s license! They asked tons of questions – as the Japanese always seem to do – including what was the name of my driving school and who was my examiner for my driving test back in Canada (?!?!). It took awhile, and some parts were pretty ridiculous (making us pay to get our picture taken, and then not using that picture and taking another one for our license!), but it is done and over with! And I can’t really complain, we Canadians have it easy in comparison to the Americans – who have to take a driving test…which I hear can take quite a few times to pass!

Anyways – other than all that – not much else is new! It is extremely muggy and hot here…so just trying to stay cool! Although I hear it is the same back home as well!

I will try and maybe post a bit when I am away on vacation to let you know how everything is going….but I can’t make any promises! Have a great August!

2007-07-05T15:15:00.001+09:00

After Golden Week…

Ok – since it took me over a month to post my Golden week stories….I will try to update on what I’ve been up to the past little while!

School is still busy with lots of classes…sometimes it means just standing in the back of the class doodling…or sometimes I get to lead the class. Either way – much less time at my desk, and much less time to write these blogs! My apologies.

I had a re-contracting conference in Kobe at the end of last month – which was a lot of fun! Hayden and myself went up by shinkansen on the Saturday to do some touring and mainly shopping before my conference started on the Monday and went until Wednesday. We went to a big outlet mall and I had my first taste of Kobe beef – it was a little fatty – but good fatty, not chewy fatty, and was quite delicious. We didn’t shell out the hundreds of dollars…so accordingly, we did not get the best cuts! But still good!

It was great to see some familiar faces at the conference that I had not seen in a while. A lot of the gang from Ottawa seem to be re-contracting, so it was nice to catch up and talk about the Sens with people who understood. The conference itself was pretty dull, but it had a few good points! Plus, going out at night was a lot of fun!

The beginning of June brought a Battle of the Bands concert in Omura, which was good fun. As well as my first Japanese dance performance! It took place at Tamaya, a large department store, which has a stage and hall area. It was from 10am until about 5pm…with non-stop dances!! Crazy! I performed in 3 dances. My first solo was called Kotobukisanba…which is a male dance. My second was Tenryuukudareba – a female dance…and finally a group dance called Shigeshabushi. I am hoping to post the videos on my Facebook…

Sasebo had a city-wide sports tournament with all the junior high schools competing in all the school sports. It was over a weekend, so we had two random days off to make up for “working” on the weekends. My only responsibilities was to wander around, watching our teams compete. I was on the main grounds, so I was able to watch some track and field, baseball, volleyball and soft tennis. It was quite hot and sunny both days…so I came back a little burnt!

My good friend Sandy had an art show in Nagasaki the same weekend. She does Shuuji – Japanese calligraphy. So I made it down to look at her work in the art gallery – very cool!

Time is quickly running out before many of my friends are returning back to their respective countries at the end of July….boooo. So we have been trying to have our “lasts” of everything before they leave and trying to spend a lot of time together. We’ve been going to our regular Sunday Indian curries and hanging out in the park (when it isn’t raining!)

One Sunday, Hayden and I drove down to Nomozaki (at the tip of Nagasaki to the south) and went to see the eel in the well. Sadly it apparently only comes out in the mornings, but they had large eels in tanks nearby to look at instead…not that they are particularly exciting or pretty to look at – but hey…a new place to check off my list.
We had a “girls weekend” a few weeks ago and went up to Hirado (island just off the coast at the north of Nagasaki) where Courtney lives. She made us an Italian feast that we ate on the beach (we were the only ones there – it was a cloudy day, plus it is not “official” swimming season). The water was great and it was a fun day out in the clouds. At night, we camped out in her place, ate some more, drank a bit, played games, talked, etc etc. Lots of fun!
Canada Day weekend was slightly depressing for me…it is my FAVOURITE day to be in Ottawa…so it was hard to be so far away! But we had a few nights out on the town in Nagasaki. I (stupidly) forgot my Canada stickers and tattoos that I brought over at home…but we made due. Definitely not the same as being on Parliament Hill and downtown!

We celebrated Shawna’s 30th birthday party in style in Omura, with lots of food and cake and fireworks! Slightly dangerous…but all good fun…until the police come…

Other than that – things have been fairly low key! Still dancing, taiko drumming (my first performance will be at a festival at the end of the month! Woo hoo!), going to Japanese class (still not studying enough) and just hanging out! What I am now looking forward to the most is my summer vacation! Flights are booked, hotels will (soon) be reserved, and we are on our way to Thailand, Australia and Cambodia!! We leave August 7th to spend just over a week in Southern Thailand on the beach, then we are flying to Brisbane to go to Hayden’s cousin’s wedding. We will be in Brisbane for a few days before going to Surfer’s Paradise for 3 days to visit some theme parks, then back to Thailand (Chiang Mai – northern Thailand) for a few days. Then we go straight to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat! In total, I will be gone for 26 days! Very excited and cannot wait for August to come!

Hope all is well!!

2007-06-11T13:22:00.000+09:00

Golden Week!

Ok – so Golden Week seems like it was ages ago – but things have been pretty busy since I’ve been back, and I haven’t had a chance to update about my vacation! But here goes…I will try to be brief and add as many pics as possible…

So, Friday night, I was off with Nicola, Jenny, Claire and Brent to Seoul, Korea! We had an evening flight from Fukuoka, which took only about one and a half hours. We took the airport bus into the city and met up with Jenny’s friend, Lyndsey, who helped guide us to our hostel. We had a slight fear that it wouldn’t be booked since the woman barely spoke any English on the phone – but thankfully there was room. It was pretty sparse, but clean, and included free internet and breakfast. Not a bad deal!

Nicola, Claire, Jenny and Brent - fresh off the plane from Fukuoka.

Saturday morning we were up and ready pretty early for our DMZ tour – we met up with the tour guide, paid up, and set off for the border between North and South Korea! Our first stop was a buffet lunch…which is always appreciated. First site was the Freedom Bridge or Majung-ri – where family members who were separated during the Korean war come to honour their family members and ancestors who remain in North Korea.

Then we drove up to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), or Joint Security Area run by the UN. We were given strict instructions not to take any pictures unless we were told it was okay, we couldn’t point in any directions (apparently the North Koreans would think we were taunting them), and had to sit through a powerpoint presentation on the history of the area and signed a waiver form. The waiver form was a bit of a shock – point number 1 basically said that they were not responsible if we died…Not exactly reassuring!

We were guided to different areas on the base, and even got to step on North Korean ground! The only place in the country where it was allowed! It was in the meeting room where discussions and negotiations between North and South Korea, along with the UN, take place. All the guards there have ball bearings in the bottom of their pants – which makes it pretty loud when they are walking around, but are there to give the impression that there are many more than just one person coming…crazy!

This is me in North Korea! woo hoo!

After our tour, of course there was a gift shop, with all the military gear & camo you could possibly need…

What I learned from that tour was that basically, Seoul lives in constant fear that they are going to be attacked by North Korea…reassuring…

After we got back into Seoul, we took a little break, and then got dressed for our evening in the nightlife district. We met up with Jenny and Lyndsey again, and went out for seafood and of course, kimchee. We were going to go out and experience the nightlife, but a few of us weren’t exactly up for a big night on the town, so we headed back to our hostel area – but Nicola and I were still up for going out for a drink – so we headed to a local bar. I think that it was my first time being in a foreign country where I had no knowledge of the language – so ordering was a little interesting! Since I’m not a beer fan, she said that they had a kiwi sho-chu – and brought out a huge jug of it for the two of us!!

We had a bit of a later start on Sunday – but checked out of the hostel and went to watch a parade that was going on for the “Hi Seoul!” Festival. There were many people dressed up in traditional Korean clothing, leaving from the palace close to our hostel and walking down towards City Hall. We watched for a bit before heading down to City Hall for the International Food Festival – which was fabulous! So many different foods and people dancing, music, etc etc…

Parade man...he was hamming it up for the cameras....
That is right - you can get your FREE HUGS at the Hi Seoul festival...

Okay - I swear this food isn't all mine....well some of it....actually most of it...hahah jk

After the food festival, we walked to the Seoul Museum of Art – where we saw a Korean movie or tv show being made…and got shooed away for trying to take a picture…oops! The museum was pretty cool and had some interesting exhibits.

Took this picture before they practically took my camera away....booooo

We also went a big palace....I have forgotten the name...but it was pretty cool!

We then went across the river to the 63 Building – which is called that because there are 63 floors…although only 60 are above ground. We sat in the coffee shop and rested our sore feet from all the walking, and I met up with Kat Adams – another Barrhaven girl who is teaching in Seoul for a year or so. Always nice to see a familiar face this side of the ocean! We went up to the top, had a drink at the bar, and got some photos of the nights in Seoul. Unreal about how big it really is – and the hundreds and hundreds of apartment complexes! Unbelievable. We then treated ourselves to a huge buffet dinner in the building…with a chocolate fountain!! You can never go wrong with a chocolate fountain…

Views from the top of the 63 Building.

Nic and Claire were leaving early the next morning, and Brent and I were staying another day and a half, and were crashing at Kat’s apartment (extremely nice of her to put us up!). Monday morning we got up and got ready for our day of shopping! We first went to the Electronics town – which is apparently the biggest in Asia! It was a little overwhelming, but I did end up finding my Nintendo DS Lite! Woo hoo! Was very excited about that! We then went to the Dongdaemon district, where they have huge department stores which are open until 5am! Crazy! Did some souvenir shopping and then went out for Korean BBQ or Galbi…it was sooo good! No one spoke a word of English – and we both clearly spoke no Korean – but thankfully one of the waiters was Chinese – so Brent was able to order for us! The meat was unbelievably yummy!

Dongdaemon shopping district and Korean BBQ!!!

Tuesday was our last day in Seoul – we parted ways with Kat (with promises of her coming to visit in Japan!) and headed downtown to meet with Jenny and Lyndsey for lunch before catching the bus to the airport. I had a bimbibap…or something like that…which was pretty decent as my last meal (although it was no chocolate fountain!). We were a little early for our flight – so we wandered the MASSIVE airport, that has tons of stores…and then ate some more…Jenny & Brent opted for one last Korean meal…while I spotted a Cold Cut Trio Subway!!! My favourite! I was in heaven...

So I realize that this blog has turned into a blog about food…ok, I will stop.
I had to work one day before there was another 4-day weekend. The day definitely seemed to go by fast, knowing that the work week was only one day long! After work, Hayden came up and we bought some snacks and such for our road trip! We packed up my Super-Off-Roader and left Thursday morning for Mt. Aso…the largest active volcano in Japan…I think (I’ll have to check my facts on that one). We wandered around and also headed up to the crater, which was pretty cool. The best part was that they had these odd little shelters, assuming that the volcano would erupt…but take my word – you would not want to be in one of these shelters if that were to happen!!

Views from the top of Mt. Aso

We were going to head into the little town near the bottom which is famous for their onsens, but being Golden Week – many of them were really busy, so we went to the Aso Hippie Festival instead to meet some friends. Ok, so it’s not called the Aso Hippie Festival – but that really is what it was. Lots of fun though – bands playing, people dancing, eating hemp scones, campfires, African drumming…and all that jazz. Had a horrendous sleep on the hard ground – but was graciously lent a tent for the evening by dear Lana.

See....I told you it was a hippie festival...

We woke up early on Friday morning – absolutely freezing! Was quite anxious to get out of there and back on the road down to Kagoshima! We hit torrential downpours along the way…which is always lovely to drive in. It stopped raining as we arrived into Kagoshima, and so we drove around the bay to go to Sakurajima – another large volcano just opposite of Kagoshima city. Went to the “lava rock” park and wandered around before it started to rain again, so we took the ferry across to Kagoshima. Once there, we realized that it was pretty late and all the hotels we found were full for the evening…so we planned to sleep in an internet café for the evening. In the meantime, we grabbed a bite for dinner and went to see Spiderman 3. Very cultural…I know. Then we headed back to our cramped quarters at the internet café…another night of terrible sleep...

Sakurajima Volcano...in the rain.

Our room for the night....comfy

Saturday morning, we drove down to Ibutski, in the rain once more, but determined to do the hot sand baths that they are famous for. There was a long wait, since they were only doing it under the shelter from the rain – but it was well worth the wait! Very relaxing – and hot! I was under the impression that they would tell us when our ten minutes was up….but they never came – so I think we were in there for 30 minutes or so! Pretty cool though! Glad I did it!

Since the weather was so yucky, we skipped going to Miyazaki (since they are famous for their beaches) and decided to spend another night in Kagoshima – and luckily this time we were able to find a hotel room! We went to a great little Vietnamese restaurant for dinner and wandered some more around the city. It really seems like a very nice place. Hopefully I will get to go back sometime before I leave!

Sunday we headed out early back towards Nagasaki – the drive went by much faster going home. We took the ferry over to Shimabara, instead of taking the highway. We stopped by there to visit the old “samurai street” where you can go look into the old houses and such. But, rainy yet again – and got drenched walking around without an umbrella.

Anyways – it was a great Golden Week…which I now realized happened over a month ago….but its better late than never, right!? Takers??

Signs that Meg is becoming more Japanese (so far…):

1) While shopping at the grocery store with Nicola, I decided that one package of cookies was better than the other because it was all “individually wrapped”

2) I have learned to carry my umbrella around with me much more than I ever would back home (but I REFUSE to use it when its sunny out! I’m not crazy yet…)

3) I have caught my self covering my mouth when about to laugh, and have waved my hand in front of my face to say no….and I bow on command….

4) Anko (sweet bean paste) has started to grow on me….

5) I fold everything…well except for my clothes...hahaha

2007-04-26T09:44:00.000+09:00

New school year, new students = more self-introductions

The new school year is well underway and classes are picking back up, after having a few weeks of nothing to do. Along with that, comes a new batch of first years – who are so tiny and cute! And also quite genki to be learning English – but that will soon change, I’m sure. I’ve had to do some more self-introductions, only for the 40th time…lots of fun. But the new teachers seem very nice so far…so things seem like they are off to a good start!

It is still the same countdown to the weekends every week though – and there have been some good weekends in the past few weeks!

I had a welcoming party with the Shimizu Junior High School teachers. Met some of the new teachers, who all seemed really nice. I was sitting beside the new English teacher (which I didn’t know at the time) and I introduced myself. She said to me “Oh Megumi? Are you Mexican?” What!? I was slightly confused…and then I found out that she was the English teacher…hmmm…curious. Haven’t had to work with her yet though! She was really nice – but maybe just a little out of it (maybe she got into the beer and sake before everyone arrived…because she was definitely into it after!)

On Easter weekend, I went for a Hanami with the Sasebo crew in Saikaibashi Park – famous for its one thousand sakura trees. We had a very relaxed time under the cherry blossoms, taking photos, chatting, some of us drinking, etc, etc.

After the hanami, I drove down to Nagasaki for a night out on the town with the regular gang. Always a very fun time. It included a crazy game of charades, and going out dancing at Dindi’s – a Russian girls snack bar. Classy, I know…but they actually play really fun music, and we kind of take over the place and make it a fun time!

Lana, Courtney, Shawna, Sandy and myself at Dindi`s

My Sunday night Easter dinner was not the usual ham, turkey, lamb, veggies, mashed potatoes, cream puffs, chocolate eggs, etc, etc….unfortunately. Wow – I am drooling right now….But it was a BBQ at a snow/wakeboarding shop in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Turned out to be fun and pretty good food….but comparing the two now…doesn’t sound as appealing… Mmmmm BBQ (Hayden, Julian, me and Lana)

The following weekend I went down to Omura on Friday night after dance class to eat a lovely meal cooked by Sandy. It was “Trini night” and she was cooking us some dhal and spicy chicken and rice….mmm! Sooo good! It was a really great girls night!

Then Saturday we all went down to Nagasaki for the organic food buffet (we really plan around our meals!) and spent the afternoon in the park in the sun. That night, it was Rock Night – where a few ALT performers, bands, etc performed at a bar called Crazy Horse. The bar was packed and it was a lot of fun! Everyone was really good – we have some pretty talented people here in Nagasaki…

Rock Night in Nagasaki (The Headliners)

Shawna and myself with a random Japanese man (or sumo wrestler?)

Sunday was our regular Indian curry lunch and spent the afternoon walking up a mountain to find a new park to hang out at. The appeal was that they had a giant slide and a zip line to play on….turns out it was not that fun. The slide was quite long – but the bottom was made out of rollers….so you slid along like a conveyer belt-type thing – but take my word for it – it does NOT feel good on the bottom. Not quite sure how the little kids were doing it! We were all in pain afterwards! Maybe it was our extra weight and speed….sad. But we still had the zip line to look forward to – which was also a disappointment, as we lost Sandy to burns on her knees and feet, and my shoes and socks went flying…but the day was saved by a giant jar of jelly beans…which we devoured.

Had another walking trip last week with Hiroda Junior High School – where we walked 5kms up a mountain, played in the park all day, then walked back. It was pretty cool once we got up – but I didn’t realize that I totally burnt my nose! So I looked like Rudolf for the next couple of days. The nice thing about these excursions though is that it is the only day that students are allowed to bring desserts or junk food. So they usually come prepared with BAGS of the stuff and share with everyone…especially the teachers. Which I gladly appreciated…

I went on the navy base again last week! This time it was for my Japanese class – who had organized to go have a meal there. We went to the buffet restaurant where it was Mongolian BBQ (I was sort of expecting some classic American food…like hamburgers, hot dogs, cheese of any kind would have been appreciated). But it was actually quite good – we all filled our bowls with different veggies and meats…before realizing how much we had…so we definitely stuffed our faces! But all worth it!

Last weekend, Hayden and Aaron were playing a more “acoustic” show at The Spot in Omura – so we went down for that on Friday night. Very entertaining and the Omura crew showed us a good time, as per usual. The night continued on at Lana’s, where drinking games and much needed sleep for me(after I lost the game) occurred.

The ladies at The Spot - Lana, Shannon, Courtney, Shawna and Sandy

Hayden and Aaron performing

Saturday was another day in the park with other JETs – where we had pizza, hamburgers(sort of), hotdogs, beer, chuhis, rugby, soccer, cricket, jump rope, Frisbee, water guns, etc etc. Lots of fun, even though the weather was very overcast. Afterwards, Leslie (another English teacher in Omura) hosted us for a BBQ – which was absolutely delicious! Her apartment was so nice and cute as well! She had squeezed 25 people inside!

We then all drove down to Nagasaki where there was a Latin Salsa Party going on. It was packed with many, many Japanese girls and a live band for a bit. Good fun, yet again!

So that has been the weekend update….in other news – My dance teachers asked if I could be in the group dance for our June show. I was totally honoured and shocked that they asked (and am slightly intimidated and worried for having to dance and coordinate with other people!)…but am also very excited! The only catch was that they are all having matching yukatas made for the dance…and it would cost me $300! Ack…but my teachers said that I would only have to pay $200 if I wanted to be in the dance – I’m not really sure if the rest if coming out of their wallets, but it was so nice of them to do that for me. They are really too good to me! I fear I am going to be a giant embarrassment though!!

AND….I just started taiko drumming lessons! My Japanese teacher was able to find me a group in Sasebo that practices twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays from 8-10pm ack!) for only $10 a month! It was my first time last night, and Hitoshi and Nicola joined me as well. They did a small performance for us, then took us into the lesson room and taught us a full song! It was soooo much fun – and I have blisters to prove it! I’m really looking forward to this – as they said it might lead to performing with them as well! Would be really cool! And they gave us our own sticks as well! Can you tell I’m excited?

My taiko wound...

On a non-Japan related item….GO SENS GO!!! I have to admit that I didn’t think I would miss hockey that much, since I was rarely able to watch it when I was in Canada, and even more rarely went to the games. But being here and only being able to see video highlights, refresh the homepage every 2 minutes to check the scores, and getting email updates – I am very envious of everyone back home! Round 2! Woo hoo!!

My next update will be about KOREA!! I am leaving on Friday for 4 nights in Seoul! I am going with Nicola, Jenny, Claire and Brent – and I am meeting up with Kat Adams – an old childhood friend and fellow Barrhavenite who is teaching English there! Should be lots of fun!

Signs that Meg is becoming more Japanese (so far…):

1) While shopping at the grocery store with Nicola, I decided that one package of cookies was better than the other because it was all “individually wrapped”

2) I have learned to carry my umbrella around with me much more than I ever would back home (but I REFUSE to use it when its sunny out! I’m not crazy yet…)

3) I have caught my self covering my mouth when about to laugh, and have waved my hand in front of my face to say no….and I bow on command….

4) Anko (sweet bean paste) has started to grow on me….

5) I fold everything…well except for my clothes...hahaha

2007-04-07T00:32:00.000+09:00

Sakura Season!!

April has already arrived, and the cherry blossoms are out all over Japan!! I’ve heard soooo much about them and seen many pictures – but have never seen them for myself! And I’m not ashamed to say that I am absolutely loving it! I will post a few pictures – but bear in mind that it is only a few of MANY I have taken…especially since I went up to Kyoto (more on that later!)

So March has been a little busy! With the graduation ceremonies, year end ceremonies, work parties, weekend parties, Spring Equinox, and a few other things thrown in! I will try and make it brief and add pictures….

Graduation for the third years was pretty long and boring – mainly because I didn’t know what anyone was saying. But it was slightly amusing to watch the whole grade stand up super fast, bow at the exact same time and quickly sit down….I got out of their rehearsals – but I’m sure it was a whole afternoon of practicing just that….crazy people. As they were leaving the school grounds, we all stood outside with these arches and waved goodbye….reminded me of the last day of school in elementary where all the teachers would line up and we would wave from the school buses…only to see them dancing and jumping for joy from the back window….I now know how they felt…hahaha jk.

The following weekend was St. Patrick’s Day – and I was heading down to Omura to a party put on by an Irishman – so I was hoping it would be an authentic, Irish good time…but alas, it was not. It was still lots of fun – in the Japanese way (meaning all you can eat and drink) – but it was no Heart and Crown.

Julian, Jenny and Nicola at The Spot in Omura.

The next day we were in recovery mode – but we managed to make it out of the house for a flavourless breakfast, and headed down to the waterfall on the warm, sunny day. Now – being the middle of March, I was still in my long sleeve shirt and had my winter coat…but a few of the other crazy JETs decided to jump into the watering hole! Now – I would be all for that – IF IT WAS JULY! I think they quickly regretted that decision once their delicate parts hit the water…but it made for some funny pictures!

Please note the caption...
Monday morning after that, I get into work, and the staff room is all a-flutter and everyone is in their track suits…turns out it was the school walking trip! I was all pumped, although I was dressed for work, I had worn my sort-of trainers coming to work (classy, I know…), so had agreed to join them…little did I know that it would be a huge 2 hour walk (2kms of it were up hill) to the Ishidake Zoo – a sad little zoo on top of the hill over looking the 99 Islands. Since the walk there and back would not be enough exercise for the students, the teachers brought giant jump ropes and they had jump rope challenges for a bit. Then we all ate our packed lunches, and wandered around the zoo for an hour and a bit, then set off for the long walk back! So that was a bit more excitement for a Monday! A few of the girls crowding around the giant turtle (which you could touch!)
This poor, poor elephant....but how adorable are these girls!?

Tuesday night I headed down to Omura again for Kai’s birthday party – it was a national holiday on Wednesday for the Spring Equinox, so we went down for a night of picnics in the park and karaoke.

Nicola and I at karaoke - after we did a fantastic rendition of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita"Very Japanese. On our national holiday – we went to the waterfall again (we didn’t make the same mistake twice and just spent the time taking in the scenery and basking in the sun!), followed by a visit to the onsen, and 100yen sushi! A very cool and relaxed Wednesday!

The following weekend, I was playing host to the gang from Omura and Nagasaki in my little city of Sasebo. The girls wanted an evening of Mexican food, margheritas, and some dancing in a navy bar. All were done – but sadly, Sasebo was a bit of a ghost town the weekend they were there. Many of the Japanese people were out with their end-of-the-year work parties, and most the ships were out….leaving us very little options.

Shawna, myself, Sandy and Lana at Tex Mex.Turned out to be an early night, but I redeemed my city the next day by taking them all to the Biopark! Everyone seemed to enjoy interacting with the capybaras, butterflies, and monkeys!

The following week was the beginning of the spring break! Not a break really, since I had to go into the Board of Education for the first part of the week, and one of my schools for the rest….but there were no classes and nothing to do! I looked very much forward to the weekend (well – I do that every week…) – where I went down to Nagasaki on Friday night for dinner with the girls and drinks in the park at night.

Nori, Lana, Shawna and Sandy at Dejima Wharf park, chilling under the cherry blossoms!

Saturday I packed my bags and took the night train up to KYOTO!! I think it is my favourite city in Japan…well that I’ve been to. So I was heading up to meet up with Lisa and Akina, who are visiting Japan for a couple of weeks to “take in the culture”. I arrived not so fresh-faced and healthy Sunday morning, but took a nice stroll along the Philosopher’s Path, taking many photos of the sakura and contemplating life (hahahaha)…then I went shopping (sounds more like me, eh?!). Met up with them at the station – it was very nice to see some familiar faces from home! We were staying at ryokan a short walk from the station, so we settled in there, had our traditional meal, went to the public bath, and got into our futons! Was pretty tired after my long day of walking around the city.

Me at the Tetsugaku no michi (Philosopher's Path)

Akina and I in the taxi.
Monday we were picked up at our ryokan by the taxi tour guide who was taking us around for the day – we visited a few “scenic spots” where many pictures of more sakura were taken. We visited a famous estate called Manshuinmonzuki – where they had nightingale floors and a pretty rock garden. And we spent a few hours at the Kyoto Handicraft Centre where Akina made a woodblock print and painted a fan…and where I did some more shopping. A walk through the bamboo forest...

We visited the "Tree God's" house - he is a man that travels all over Japan fixing sick cherry blossom trees...

We visited Manshuinmonzuki, which had a beautiful rock garden.

Akina and her woodblock print of a maiko.

Our traditional dinner at the ryokan.

Tuesday, my last day in the city, we went to Kiyomizu Temple, first thing in the morning to beat the rush. It was beautiful! Especially with all the cherry blossoms! The temple is build with only joints – no nails were used! It is apparently an applicant for the New Seven Wonders of the World…who knew? Anyways, our visit there was a little more brief than I would have liked, but we were then off to the Nishijin Textile Museum, where we saw a kimono fashion show, saw them making the obi material, saw real silk worms, and shopped some more (clearly). We only had a little time left, so we quickly went to see the sakura at the Philosopher’s Path and then parted ways at the station. All in all – a very nice visit! (I have posted a few more photos from the trip on my Facebook account – if you want the link, email me!)

Kiyomizu Temple Kimono fashion show at the Nishijin Textile Museum

Philosopher's Path again!

On Wednesday night – I drove down to Omura to join Shawna and Lana for rock climbing!! It was pretty daunting at first – there were quite a few people there just watching, and I was terrified I would only get one foot off the floor and collapse due to my poor arm strength. But once strapped in, I was ready to go! I didn’t get extremely high up the wall – but I did better than I thought I would! It was quite fun and I would definitely do it again (and for $1 for an hour, you can’t go wrong!) But its’ Friday now, and my hands and arms are still soooo sore! Sad really…

So that has been the past few weeks…on other notes:

Signs that Meg is becoming more Japanese (so far…):

1) While shopping at the grocery store with Nicola, I decided that one package of cookies was better than the other because it was all “individually wrapped”

2) I have learned to carry my umbrella around with me much more than I ever would back home (but I REFUSE to use it when its sunny out! I’m not crazy yet…)

3) I have caught my self covering my mouth when about to laugh, and have waved my hand in front of my face to say no….and I bow on command….

4) Anko (sweet bean paste) has started to grow on me….

5) More to come I’m sure….

And it’s only been 8 months….you all won’t recognize me when I get home…hahahhaa

2007-03-13T15:32:00.000+09:00

I hate to admit it, but….

Okay, so I have a confession. I went on the American Navy Base yesterday. I know, I know…I swore that this day would never come. But it was eventually inevitable….and it was fantastic. Don’t worry – I didn’t sell myself to the navy boys….but while after watching the English teacher soccer team, one of the girls has base privileges and offered to take us onto the base for a late lunch/early dinner. The words “Subway” were uttered…and I was under the spell – cold cut combo?? How could I resist!? Anyways – so we got on, had our fantastic Subway – and also went into the Exchange (which was sort of like Walmart) – also a wonderful experience. Got some Easter chocolate (intended to give out as prizes to my kids…but will more than likely probably just be eaten by me!), toothpaste, vitamins, and a magazine for only $3.50 (not the usual $12 at the Japanese bookstores!). By the time we were finished at the Exchange – the grocery store was closed…a little sad because I was looking forward to some cheese!! But, all in all – it was a great experience. Probably will never be part of my regular routine…but it is nice to dream….

So things have been pretty good lately! Last weekend was another fun weekend in Nagasaki. Had my taiko drumming workshop on Saturday afternoon – always lots of fun!!! Partying out on Saturday night and a chill afternoon in the park by Dejima Wharf….if you think you are beginning to see a pattern….then you are right!!! Went out for Nicola’s birthday last week to a great little restaurant – a new favourite place in Sasebo…not that there are very many…

Then last weekend, myself and group of people from FIS (my Japanese class) went up to Hirado for Hinamatsuri – or a doll festival. Sadly the weather was really bad, and it was raining all day, but we managed to make the most of it. We went to an outdoor leg onsen, checked out the many dolls set-up around the “downtown” area, went for a great meal, and then had a mini tea ceremony at the Hirado Historical Museum. Turned out to be a nice time…minus the rain

I was incredibly tempted to stay in bed all day Sunday (after a night out at the standing bar – not a wild night, but fun nonetheless) – but it was absolutely gorgeous and sunny out…and I couldn’t justify that. So I went out and met up with Nicola and Jenny to watch the English teacher soccer team practice. Slightly boring, I’m not going to lie – but then 3 fire trucks pulled up, and the team invited them to play a game! Very exciting for a Sunday afternoon! Some of them were pretty cute…but they don’t exactly live up to the “firefighters” back home….but like I said – exciting nonetheless!

This week is quite slow at work – graduation ceremony is taking place on Wednesday – so clearly they need all day on Tuesday to prepare and rehearse bowing…thankfully I have gotten out of going to the rehearsals…and instead occupied myself by playing wikipedia challenge with Lana, Sandy & Shawna….ahhh, it’s a rough life sometimes…

2007-03-06T14:30:00.000+09:00

A little excitement for one day...

So I came into work today and no one knew I was supposed to be here...so I was asked if I could come to a second year class in third period.

No problem...one class...I think I can handle that.

Just played some games using passive verbs - I know - contain the excitement.

But the best part of my day was when the Japanese-English teacher wrote on the board:

Are you used by a writer?
Yes, I am.
No, I amn`t.

Ahhhh....is it sad that this is now where I get my entertainment?

2007-02-28T22:37:00.000+09:00

Booooo…

So they are continually taking away the internet from me…It is now at two of my junior high school where gmail, hotmail and any other sort of mail is forbidden. I have snuck Facebook by them…but I believe it is only time until that goes too, and I am completely cut out of the outside world while stuck in a stuffy staff room all day….not looking forward to that.

Other than their increased internet security – school is pretty good. It is near the end of the school year, so teachers are either trying to cram in the last bit of the textbook and requirements into the students, and therefore don’t need me, or they have finished and are just killing time, so they want me to plan all the games and activities. Either/or is pretty fine by me.

I had my last elementary school visit last week at Takashima Elementary School (one of my two island schools). They had a little ceremony after lunch with the parents where the 6th graders pass on their brass band instruments to the grade 5’s. Very exciting. But since it is such a small school, my last period class was with the whole school – all 16 kids. Always lots of fun – especially when the parents were involved as well! After English, they played “Dodge-bee”. Since I had no idea what they were talking about when they invited me to play, I decided to watch…but turns out its dodgeball using soft Frisbees…who knew? Looked like fun – but no doubt I would have been terrible at it. I sometimes dread it when the elementary kids ask me to come out and play with them at lunch. They get so excited that they are going to have an adult on their team….and then they see me play, and realize that I’m worse than the Grade 2 girls…oops.

Went to the Nagasaki Lantern Festival again last weekend with Erin and had a great time just wandering around and taking in the festivities. It was extremely crowded with people – which can get a little frustrating. But we had all afternoon and evening to kill, so we weren’t in a rush to get anywhere fast. We saw the Dragon Dance again and some Shanghai-style dancing, ate some niku mans (meat dumplings) and steamed chocolate cake(?). Good times…

So, I’m currently sitting in the teacher’s room – where one of the first year teachers is at the sink (they have two bathroom sinks in here), gargling something extremely loudly, and spitting it out…pretty gross. Personal hygiene at the desk and in the staff room seems perfectly normal here…well at least for the men. It is a ritual that most teachers brush their teeth after lunch. Coughing up phlegm (sp?) is not uncommon. Even clipping your fingernails is not a problem. Pretty gross…but that’s just me…OH - and tonight I was at the local standing bar, having a nice drink with some friend - when a guy at the bar whips out his electric shaver and starts to "freshen up" at the bar!!!! How bizarre is that?!

Good news is that there is another Taiko workshop again this weekend! Am very much looking forward to it! There were talks of there possibly being a regular group that gets together once or twice a month – but it has been put off for another month or so – so I’m not entirely sure if that will ever happen! I will keep my fingers crossed!

2007-02-19T19:47:00.000+09:00

February, so far…

So yet again, I’ve been pretty lazy with my updates…school has not been too busy, so I don’t really have too many excuses for that. Although a few of my schools have blocked all email servers, which can make for a fairly long day if I don’t have too many classes! But I’ve been in the habit of bringing in my computer to listen to music and such. Work has been slow the past week or two, since the students have had some tests. So they review beforehand (don’t need me), have the test days, and then hand back the tests (also not needed) – so I have spent quite a few days bored at my desk with nothing to do! The school year is almost finished here – the last week of March and first week of April is their holidays before the new school year begins. It isn’t really a holiday for me, I still have to go into work, but there are no classes or anything…so I guess it gives me more time to prepare…maybe...or just sit around at the Board of Education, like I did in the summer!

Anyways – I will continue my update on the past few weeks! At the beginning of February, the Sasebo crowd (mainly Hitoshi), hosted a Cheese Night – where we had free reign of the music at a new bar in Sasebo. It was surprisingly quite a large venue, and the staff was very nice and friendly – but the “DJ” didn’t play all of our stuff, and put in his own mix. So it was a little less “Cheesy” than we wanted, but we still had a great time! Lots of dancing! And also quite a few Japanese teachers came out for the event as well, which was a nice change! It was quite a success, and we are thinking of hopefully being able to have another one sometime in the future!

It was also the Setsubun festival, which although it had been explained a bit to me in Japanese, I still do not fully comprehend what it is all about. It has something to do with the New Year and the coming of spring…at the beginning of February…who knew? Anyways – we went to a Shinto shrine with my Japanese class/group and took part in their ceremony. The people who’s year it was (its my year this year – year of the boar), were presented to the crowd (sadly, I was not invited!) and threw beans. If you catch them, it is said that you will have good luck in the upcoming year. Then they gave us all mochi, lit a huge fire pit of offerings, and we toasted them and put them in a sweet bean soup (soooo not my thing…I just ate the rice). It was pretty cool to see.

There was a workshop for new teachers in Sasebo, and a few of us ALTs were asked to make a presentation on our countries and our education systems, as well as play a few games which could come in handy for these teachers. I was a little stressed out about my presentation, especially since our supervisor had originally asked if we could do as much of it in Japanese as possible (for 10 minutes!). Thankfully he changed his mind, and everything went quite smoothly! It turned out to be quite fun, and the teachers were pretty competitive and into all of our games, which is always very rewarding!

It was my friend, Jenny’s birthday last week, so we had a mini birthday party for her. I had made her favourite food from Canada (Nanaimo bars) and Claire and Nic made a feast of other sweets and goodies. It was sort of a surprise, she heard Ben laughing when she was walking up. But it was good fun, and I had a sugar high for the rest of the night!

Last weekend I went to Omura to visit some fellow JETS for the night, then went to Nagasaki for the rest of the weekend. Had a chance to go skating – Nagasaki has a small skating rink, where you can rent skates (which were seriously from the 1960s) – but it was very nice! Definitely not the Rideau Canal – which I really was missing…although I hear it was too cold to go out skating there! It was a long weekend, so it was pretty much just lots of partying and such…you know…the usual shenanigans.

Valentine’s Day in Japan is celebrated, only quite different from ours! Of course there is the commercialism of the boxed chocolate and such – but on February 14th, only the women give chocolates and gifts to men. There are two kinds of chocolate – homei chocolate, which is the bigger boxed chocolates and other gifts that you give to your husband, boyfriend, love interest, etc. And then there is giri chocolate – which is basically “obligatory” chocolate, which you have to give to the men in your life, such as co-workers, friends, fellow students, etc. So I had just bought a few individually wrapped chocolates (giri...not homei!) for the men at my school. But come February 14th, no other teachers that I saw were taking part in this “tradition”, and it seemed pretty much ignored in the office….soooo I kept the chocolates to myself and saved them for Valentine’s Day night, when Claire and Nicola came over for a girls night with chick flicks, chocolate, junk food and wine. A very nice way to spend a Wednesday night!

This past weekend, I had my first experience with beer pong…although I had been introduced to this by many of my high school guy friends; I had never played or seen it played. Well, I can easily tell you that it is not one of my talents, but we had a pretty funny time! On Saturday, there was an ALT soccer game in Sasebo, so we went out for that (I clearly didn’t play – as soccer is also not one of my talents…), which was fun. Then Sunday we headed down to Nagasaki for the beginning of the Lantern Festival. There is quite a large population of Chinese people in Nagasaki, and the lantern festival is also a celebration of Chinese New Year. There were many people out and about, and the lights and dances were quite entertaining. It is actually going on for almost two weeks I believe. They also had a shrine type thing set up among the lantern statues which had pig heads all in it…I guess as some sort of offering. But it was also year of the boar…hmmm what do they do for year of the dog, snake, dragon, etc?! jk.

Anyways – all in all, things are pretty good! The temperatures are still really mild, last week it was 12-15 degrees in the morning on my drive into work…so no complaints here. I am definitely not missing the Canadian winters, and could definitely get used to this! A few things are planned for the upcoming months – there is a few possible weekend trips, a trip up to Kyoto to meet up with Lisa and Akina (who I used to baby-sit), and I am saving up for a trip during Golden Week in May. I have my sights set on Thailand, but with the costs and time restraints, it may be put off a bit….we shall see!

I hope all is well with everyone! Take care!

2007-02-01T09:13:00.000+09:00

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….

2007-01-29T20:28:00.000+09:00

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.

2007-01-15T17:32:00.000+09:00

Long Overdue…

I realize I have been dwindling on this whole blog thing…but I will try and be a little more consistent in the new year – one of my resolutions, as well as studying more Japanese, eating better, and going to the gym….we all know how that will turn out…But I really do have all intentions to be better!

So must has happened over the holidays! There is so much to write about and I have over 1000 pictures to sort through….don’t worry, I will try not to go into too many details!

December was a very busy month! I was preparing for a few guests and for the Christmas Family Trip! Evy was off touring around the world, and stopped in Japan for just over a week, before going to spend Christmas with her family in Paris. She was off touring the Kansai region for a few days before coming to Sasebo to spend time with me! We had a great time! Ahh it was like time had never passed – we were our dorky selves….as I’m sure you can tell by the photos. She came to school with me for a day and a half, we toured a bit around Sasebo, went to a party in Omura, and just hung out & caught up! It really was so nice to see a familiar & well-loved face! And very sad to see her go! But as it is with true friends – and as her trip proved, you may be apart for a long time, and yet when you are reunited, its as if you were never apart!

So as most of you know, for the Christmas holidays, I had the privilege of having my family come to visit and tour Japan with me! We had lots planned and were really excited! I met up with the fam in Osaka, and it was so great to see them! I cried, I’m not going to lie. Anyways, we spent the morning in Osaka, taking in Osaka-jo (castle), before heading to Mt. Koya. The train ride wasn’t too bad – but the cable car up the mountain (or more like the stairs with our huge suitcases up the stairs) was slightly more difficult (something we got very used to!!). We arrived at Muryoko-in, our lodgings in a Buddhist monastery for the night and were in awe of the surroundings. The mountain was beautiful and as we were expecting pretty modest accommodations (the description said “a down-to-earth place to stay”, which Ami interpreted as “a hole”), we were pleasantly surprised with the spacious room, a heater, kotatsu table, a huge & delicious vegetarian meal and a really cool garden. We were expected at the 6am morning ceremony, which was slightly chilly, but a really interesting experience. Afterwards, the head monk, invited us for coffee & sweets with the 2 other guests staying at the monastery, & an American man who was studying in the area. Apparently the head monk (don’t recall his name…oops) is a big fan of Hershey kisses….who knew? So after a huge breakfast, we set out to Okuno-in, a huge cemetery with thousands & thousands of tombs on a path that led to the Lantern Hall, which is apparently host to two lanterns that are believed to have been burning for over 900 years. Pretty cool! It was our first temple of many….as Ami soon found out. Temples in Japan this trip were the churches of England from our last big family trip. One after another…each with its own interesting story/history.

We left our monastery, and headed back on the cable car & train to Kyoto, our home for the next 4 days. There was so much to see – and we only brushed the surface, but it was really beautiful. Thankfully the weather was pretty mild throughout the whole trip – no snow and only one day where it rained. We spent our first full day in Kyoto walking on a suggested walking tour. We went to Ginkakuji Temple (the Silver Pavilion), the Path of Philosophy (probably not at its finest during the winter months, but was still very nice to see – and clearly still took many photos!), Nanzenji Temple, and visited the Gion district, famous for maiko sightings (geishas-in-training, if you will). We did manage to see a girl leaving a small alley all dressed up – so that was pretty lucky! Mom and I went to see a “Japanese culture” show – which had a little bit of everything – but we really just wanted to see the dancing. It had tea ceremony, ikebana, koto, and a few others – very interesting!

We had Christmas in Kyoto – Dad had brought a little tree over in his suitcase, we decorated, not over eggnog & Bing Crosby….more like chu-his and the sounds of my father and sister snoring (not their fault – caught a cold) – but we had a very merry Christmas nonetheless. We started the day by going to a big market held once a month in Kyoto, where I bought two new kimonos! Pretty excited about that! We went to Kinkakuji Temple (the Gold Pavilion), Nijo-jo and had a nice dinner. No turkey….just lots of Japanese food….the family wanted to get their fill of it while they were here!

We decided to take a day trip out to Nara on Boxing Day. But first, we made a stop to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, famous for its hundreds of red torii gates that go up a path 4km up a mountain. If you have seen “Memoirs of a Geisha” – you may know what I am talking about. I wanted to recreate the scene from the movie with Ami….but she wasn’t so keen on that. I also have quite a few videos – I may try and set up a youtube account to show you….I’ll keep you posted on that one.

After Inari, we went to Nara to see Todai-ji – one of the world’s largest wooden buildings and home of the giant Buddha statue. Nara is also famous for its hundreds and hundreds of deer that roam free throughout the city. They are considered sacred animals there and are quite friendly with the tourists…

The next day we went by shinkansen to Miyajima in Hiroshima – a beautiful island which is famous for the red torii gate in the water. It is apparently one of Japan’s top 3 most photographed/recognizable sites. It was really nice there, and we stayed in a traditional ryokan (Japanese Inn), which was very nice. AND it was my mom & dad’s 25th wedding anniversary! So extra special and a really nice place to spend it at! We wandered around the island…well mom and dad did – Ami and I sort of slept in – but we definitely saw the tourist shops! And a whole Hello Kitty store! Its sad really how a little cat has taken over my phone…and my life….I swore I wouldn’t turn to that…

Anyways – we then went to Hiroshima to take in the A-bomb memorial and museum. It was really interesting and very sad to see and hear the stories of the atomic bomb. After Hiroshima, we hopped back on the train, and went to Sasebo! As much as I never thought I would say this, I was kind of excited to be back in Sasebo and my apartment and show the family around…Who would have thought…

We took it easy over the next few days in Sasebo, as the rest of our trip was slightly “whirl-windy”. We went to the 99 Islands lookout, wandered the arcade, ate out at a few of my favourite restaurants, and chilled a lot in my tiny apartment. We watched the Red & White show on T.V. (I got a T.V.!) on New Years Eve – and I took Ami out “on the town” for the countdown…which turned out to be a really bad night in a terrible navy club….but we can laugh now. It turns out that Ami does not share my love and affection for Malibu…and the bar was so terrible that we left at 12:30 (after meeting up with people at 11:30!).

We also took a day trip to Beppu, a city on the other side of Kyushu which is famous for their hot springs. We drove down in my “super off-roader”, went to the different “hells” and went to Mt. Takasaki (or something like that!) which has a wildlife sanctuary for monkeys!! Very cute!! They were everywhere! And you could get pretty close – or I at least tried my very best to! We then tried to go visit a sand bath (you get covered in warm sand and relax), but it was closed, so we just went to the onsen. It was a really old onsen – so a little primitive, and the water was super hot. But it was a neat experience.

So after our little “rest” in Sasebo, we were packed up again for Tokyo! We took the shinkansen again – about a 8 hour ride (with two transfers). The train ride was neat because you go right by Mt. Fuji, which looked really cool in the winter with all the snow. The first few nights we were staying in Asakusa, so we went to the Sensoji Temple at night, and it was absolutely packed! Because it was just after New Years, the area was very busy with people visiting the temple – huge lines of people waiting to make an offering, and often many women decked out in kimonos for the New Year. Very pretty.

Most of Tokyo we spent wandering around the different areas of the city – such as Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Akibahara & Ginza. Lots to see – mostly huge electronic or department stores. But very cool

and bustling. We moved to a different area of town for our last two nights to stay at a hotel…live in luxury for a bit! And we spent our last day at Tokyo Disney Sea! Yes, my second time in 6 months (six months! Can’t believe I’ve already been here that long!) – but I wanted my family to go there! It was lots of fun! They have pretty good rides and shows. A nice way to end a super vacation.
On our last day we bummed around the hotel before having to pack up and go to the airport to say goodbye. It was definitely really hard, and it was now my turn to see them go. But I’m so glad that we had this vacation together – I can’t think of a better way to spend the winter vacation! Same time next year? Hawaii?? Eh? Eh??

So I know I have not put in too many details & have probably forgotten a few things – buuuuut I really can’t bore you any more! But I will be posting some photos on my Flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/megumip). Don’t worry – not all 1000 photos will be up….but many more than here. Hope all is well with everyone and that you had a lovely holiday season!

2006-12-05T18:01:00.000+09:00

A little slow on the updates…

So the past few weeks have been pretty busy! Lots to do on the weekends and evenings!

Not last weekend, but the week before last, myself and 5 other ALTs headed up to Kitakyushu for the Saturday night. Hitoshi’s friend, Tomoko and her roommate graciously put us up on their floor! We went out to dinner and then went to “latin night” at a little bar in town. They had a dance floor as well for salsa dancing – which was very entertaining! There was a group of dancers who put on a little show as well! And Nicola, Hitoshi and I received salsa lessons in Japanese….probably didn’t go off too well, but we had a good time! A lot of coronas and tequila was had that night….so Sunday was a slow morning for me….but we were headed off to Fukuoka for the sumo tournament!! Fukuoka is about an hour south west from Kitakyushu, so we drove down early in the afternoon in order to get to the tournament in time for the more skilled wrestlers. It was a really cool atmosphere to take in and surprisingly, sumo is a lot more interesting that I thought it would be! Never really watched it before, so it was really neat the rituals that go along with it. My favourite part was when these men would come out with banners/advertisements and walk around the ring! It was pretty funny! I guess that’s what they had to resort to since there was no big screen or anything! I dunno! So the yokozuno won the tournament – and apparently everyone was pissed because it was a really fast match – and some people threw their seat cushions onto the ring! Drama drama drama.

After sumo we went to grab a bite at a really small restaurant – the owner realized we were gaijin, so he took our picture and gave us all a printed wall hanging thing! Really nice! We couldn’t believe it and we felt bad for not having anything to give him!

So last Thursday was their Thanksgiving….they don’t celebrate it like North America, in fact, I don’t think they really do anything except that there is no school or work (as far as I know). Nicola and I met up with Courtney (who lives about an hour north) and we drove down to Nagasaki city for a taiko drumming workshop! A few other ALTs joined us, as well as some Japanese English students. It was at a university there and run by a woman who was from Ottawa – and Nepean nonetheless! How crazy is that! Anyways – the workshop was run by two taiko sensei’s who speak a little English – but it was amazing!!! I absolutely loved it and had a blast! There are talks of starting a group and practicing twice a month! So if that does happen (and I hope it does!!) then I will definitely take part in that!

I had to go back to work on the Friday – but left Friday night for Shimabara with Ben and Nicola. Nic and I were staying at Erin’s, so we had a quiet night in and rested for our big mountain climb! We woke up early on Saturday, and headed to Unzen to climb the active volcano – Mt. Fugen. So, yes, that is the mountain we attempted to climb before –but we didn’t know that there was a whole other 3 hour climb to the peak of the volcano! We thought previously that we had gone as far as you could! Hahhaa. Anyway – we did it right this time – and it was pretty hard at some points!! But we made it to the top and were really close to the smoking peak! Very cool!

After we made our way down, we went to an onsen to relax our muscles and wash up before our night out! We went to yakiniku for dinner (where you bbq the meat in front of you) and it was sooo good. Our waitress was really nice and helped us as much as she could – and she even gave us ice coffees as a present! Very sweet! Then we were off into the “city” (not really – very tiny) for a JET night – where they had a whole bunch of bands lined up for the evening. It was really entertaining – there was a Japanese country band and a Japanese hippie African drumming troupe ( to name a few)! A pretty good time! After that closed, we went to a R & B bar type place – where girls were putting on a singing and dancing (not so much dancing….it was sooo much worse and not PG for my blog…), so we quickly left there and went to a little hold in the wall place for the end of the night. All-in-all it was a pretty good time!

I had to leave super early in the morning on Sunday in order to go to a cultural show that was going on at the big theatre in Sasebo. My Japanese dance teachers had given me tickets, as they were all performing that day. It was really neat! Some really cool performances and very long songs – I was there for about 3 hours, and even then I think I left a little early! But it was really cool! I am looking forward to the next one!

So that has been my life for the past few weeks! My days have not been too busy – the kids have had tests and such, so I don’t have many classes. Other than that not much else is new….except that Evy is coming to visit in two weeks, and my parents in 3!! Woo hoo!!

2006-11-16T10:34:00.000+09:00

November in Nagasaki….

So it has been a little while since I wrote – no excuses really, just a little lazy with my updates. But November has been pretty good so far! The weather has been surprisingly warm – although it feels cool with the breeze off the water. But I have had to turn on my heater in the mornings when I first get out of bed…but considering its November, and most of you are probably already in your winter coats, I’m not complaining!

I’ve had a busy few weekends and my weekdays seem to be filling up with activities! Weekend before last I went up to Karatsu with Nicola to see the Kunchi festival. Every year they hold this harvest festival where they pull these huge 7 to 8 tonne floats through the streets of the city to the beat of the taiko drum and Japanese flute, while shouting “Enya” (no, not the singer….but I’ve yet to find out what it means!) It was really cool! And it was sooo hot that day as well! Nicola and I got a bit of a sunburn! In November! Shocking….

Anyways, after the festival, we drove up to Fukuoka to meet up with the gang to experience their lively nightlife….and lively it definitely was! We first went to dinner at an isakaya that was themed called The Lockup. It was like a haunted dungeon when you first walk in, then you travel downstairs where a woman in a PVC cop outfit greeted us. Since it was Ben’s birthday, he was handcuffed and we were escorted to our “cell”. Then the lights went out, loud music started playing, and people in masks would come up to the door and shake on the bars! Clearly, that was not my favourite part of the evening, and I avoided leaving the “cell” to go to the bathroom in case it happened again! But they had some themed food as well, so it was very entertaining!

Then we headed out to “Happy Cock”, a famous international bar in Fukuoka. 3000yen entry (about 30 dollars) and free drinks all night! Not a bad deal at all! It was pretty quiet at first, but it started to fill up after a while and I had my first Japanese “nightclub” experience. It’s much different than Canadian ones – guys just go there to dance! They are just off, dancing by themselves…..so entertaining! I don’t think that ever happens in Canada!

After Happy Cock, we went to Sam & Dave’s, another nightclub that stays open until 5am! It was very crowded, but still pretty fun. The nice thing about clubs here is that they have lockers! Sooo smart….bars back home should do that! Anyways – once again, it was a pretty late night, but we headed back to our hotel for a few hours of rest before checkout.

Saturday, Nicola and I left the boys and decided to find Costco and make our way home. It was nothing like my first visit – I restrained myself from excessive buying, but I got a few more essentials, so it was a successful trip! And most importantly I had Costco pizza!! Ooooh so good – pizza here is nothing like it is back home!

Monday and Tuesday was our Nagasaki Conference for all JETs in Nagasaki-ken. It was nice to finally get to see everyone and had a few useful workshops where we learned new teaching techniques and games. Monday night was clearly another night to party – we had an isakaya dinner yet again, drank a fair bit, then made our way to a bar in the area. The bar was okay – until we got invited to a party across the street. It was at a hair salon, and when we walked in, they just handed us beers! Word had spread, and soon the place was filled with JETs….most of them pretty intoxicated. Kind of a random place to have a party, but it was a fun time! Needless to say, Tuesday was not the best day for workshops all day for some people! I was doing okay though – didn’t feel the exhaustion until work on Wednesday!

Last weekend I took a weekend off from the partying! It was definitely needed! Had a shopping and get together with some of the other ALTs on Saturday and watched a movie at Nicola’s on Saturday night. Nice and relaxed! Except I caught a cold of some sort…which has not been very fun! But Sunday I had planned to go touring with my Japanese teacher…and I didn’t want to cancel on her. But it turned out to be really fun! She took me to China on the Park – an exhibition space and shop of the famous pottery made in the area. Then we drove up to Karatsu for lunch atop of Mt. Kagami. We then visited Karatsu Castle, which was pretty cool – my first experience inside a Japanese castle! Then it was off to see the Karatsu floats (which I had seen the week prior!) and Tatatori House – a huge Japanese home that is open to the public with a really pretty garden and neat detailing. I was feeling pretty miserable by the end of the day – but it was really nice to have a Japanese person show me around!

On a different note – last week I started Japanese dance lessons – or odori. My teachers are two women (a mother and a daughter) who have a studio in their home. The daughter speaks a little English, but mostly I just follow along! I am really enjoying it! They are private classes, so things are going by really fast. I’ve already learned my first dance “Yanagi no ame” (Rain of the willow) and have started my second dance “Harusame” (Spring rain) – which has proven to be really hard so far….its with a fan and I have to flip it! That’ll take some practice in the privacy of my home….

Anyways – that’s about it for now! I hope all is well with everyone! Take care!

2006-11-02T18:07:00.000+09:00

HAPPY (belated) HALLOWEEN!

Hope you all had a great Halloween and we able to celebrate it! We definitely did here in Japan…but more on that later…

Last Friday I had a welcoming party with Hiroda Junior High School. It was a nice, intimate dinner with the principle, vice principle, the English teachers and a few others. And as most enkais are, there was SO much food! First off, we started with some sashimi – one of them I really have no idea what it was (but didn’t taste bad!), and the second was blowfish!! They didn’t know what it was called in English, so one of the teachers said “Poison!”…and I kind of drew my conclusions from that! And surprisingly, it was pretty good….and I didn’t die – so that’s always a plus! Then there was some sting ray meat, lightly grilled, two whole small fishes (one cooked, one not) for myself, tempura, a full crab just placed on my plate (gonna admit – not a fan of having to break the shell and having green goop fly everywhere….) and then rice, miso soup and fruit to finish it off! I seriously can’t get over the meals here – and I thought that “North American” sizes were so much bigger! They may have big portions – but the Japanese definitely eat so much more of many little things…and yet they stay so thin!! Anyways – after the dinner, they presented me with a flower arrangement with a pumpkin in the middle! Thought that was pretty cute!

Last weekend, Erin came up from Shimabara because there was the big YOSAKOI festival, here in Sasebo. It is the biggest festival in Kyushu (or so I’ve been told) and drew tons of people down here to watch the group dances. So from what I gathered from watching all day on Saturday is that they dance from one end of the shopping arcade to the middle, where they perform a dance in the little park, then I believe they dance again in the street, before making their way to the main stage, where they are judged. They have bright, elaborate costumes and make-up, as well as these noisemakers which they always use in their dances. And quite often the movements are quite similar. I believe they have been doing this style of dancing since the 1950s…its very upbeat and energetic – they have flags waving, cheers, shouting, and lots of movement – and of course they are all completely synchronized. Some of the groups are really big too – some look like 150 people are up on stage! So the teams are dance companies, or cities, or places of work (I just found out that City Hall has a team – so I could have joined! Maybe next year!). It was just a really entertaining day! Good festival fun!

Then Saturday night, Hitoshi (a fellow Canadian JET) hosted a Halloween party in his apartment for the other teachers in the area. Some of the girls decorated his whole apartment in garbage bags and cut-outs, and we had a great time getting dressed up! Erin went as a gypsy, and I went as a flapper. Some other funny costumes were Robo-Japanese salary man, a typhoon, a Power Ranger (which are really big here – and he got the full lycra suit and mask…), roadkill, and I’m sure many others, but I just can’t remember. Anyways – it was a great time! Quite a few people squeezed into his apartment, until things got a little too loud, and the police got called! Oops….needless to say that we booked it out of there, not wanting to get him in trouble – and headed to the arcade. Kind of made a spectacle with a bunch of foreigners all drunk and dressed like idiots…but thankfully at that time of night, the streets were pretty deserted! I think the cab drivers got a kick out of it!

So Sunday morning, I’d rather not go into detail about…let’s just say I was feeling a little ill. But we had a field trip to go to with my Japanese class. So – I attempted to pull myself together and met up with the group to go to Saga for the Yabusame festival – an ancient samurai archery festival. They had rented vans, so we all squeezed into them for the journey (after some plain rice, I was thankfully feeling better). The festival was a little slow-going, but interesting! They had tons of little kids dressed up and carrying floats and such. And then the samurai’s did their archery on horseback – I don’t really understand if they had a point system, or anything like that – but it was pretty cool nonetheless! Oh - and they were going around with bamboo poles filled with sho-chu (I think its rice vodka) and who out of our whole group do they ask to have some?! Of course, me - TWICE!

The past week has been good so far! I went on Tuesday to check out an odori (Japanese dance) class. I will be starting next week – so I am very excited about that! Had a Halloween party with some elementary school kids on Halloween (the flapper costume stayed at home…hahaha), and I’ve started again at Ainoura Junior High School. Funny story yesterday though – I was in class with the 3rd year students and teacher, and we were making sentences like “_____ is something THAT you read.” Etc. etc. Well the teacher decided to make an example of “______ is something THAT you shit.” Clearly I was shocked and trying to hold in my laughter – and also terribly confused! I later clued in that she was trying to say “____ is something that you SIT.” (not that that makes any sense either….). I thought it was pretty funny – although I guess you had to be there.

Long weekend coming up tomorrow! I have Friday off! Going to the Karatsu festival and Fukuoka Friday and Saturday (if we can find a hotel!) – then Monday and Tuesday I have a conference in Nagasaki City – so it might have to be a late update again next week! I’ve posted the pics from the weekend on my flickr site as well! (not all of them though – some will be forever hidden...)

2006-10-26T17:42:00.000+09:00

Hello All!

So someone sent me this link - check it out to see what "flavour" you are...Apparently I'm milk pocky, which I've never tried. But seeming as I'm supposed to be like it, I will try it out! Let me know what you all are! Email me!

You Are Milk Pocky

Your attitude: caring and charmingSmooth and silkly... invigorating and natural.You are like comfort food for the soul.

What flavour Pocky are you?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavorpockyquizareyouquiz/

More goodtimes in Sasebo!

Well last weekend got kicked off to a good start when on my way home from work, the water hose on my “Super Off-Roader” burst! Of course it was the middle of rush hour and I was on the main road of the city – but thankfully I was able to pull over to a side street and wait for assistance. My supervisor came to help and had JAF (the Japanese version of CAA) and they towed it to the mechanic for free…and the mechanic just GAVE me another car to use while mine is in the shop! So for a few days, my “ride” was a blue Toyota Corsa and a lot newer than my little jeep!! They just finished working on it today – and get this…they came and dropped off my car at my work!!! How is that for service!! Car troubles was not as traumatic as I thought it was going to be….not that I plan on having many other problems…..

Saturday I went shopping to Justco (a huge department store with almost anything and everything you could possibly imagine!) with Jenny to do some random shopping. Found a Halloween costume for our party on Saturday – I will be sure to send some pictures…

Saturday night, Ben was the host again, as we had a little drinking get together at his house (also very convenient for me, as he lives 2 minutes away from me!). Time flew by, talked a lot, drank a bit, and next thing I knew, we were eating fries at the Japanese version of Denny’s at 5:15 in the morning. But it was all in good fun….

Needless to say that my Sunday was a bit of a waste lounging in my apartment – watching lots of Lost Season 2 (thanks Auntie!)…and attempting to plan for the big Christmas trip. So much to see and do in so little time – it’s hard to decide what is a priority or not! But I’m getting very excited! On top of the bigger sights of Kansai, we are also going to Mt. Koya to stay at a Buddhist temple with monks for one night! That should be really cool!

My weeks are getting fairly busy, with Japanese lessons (my teacher has offered for me to study at her house as well for free once a week!), and my eikaiwas (private English lessons).

But on Tuesday I had my last visit to one of my island elementary schools, Kuroshima. They let me have a Halloween party with all the students (grades 1 to 6) in the gym. They were so concerned that it would be too many kids…but the whole school is only 35 kids! I taught them about our Halloween traditions and words, and afterwards we played some games and made Halloween masks! I think they really liked it! I also had them “trick-or-treat” with me for chocolate. Very cute kids – lots of pictures (go to www.flickr.com/photos/megumip/ for some more….

Anyways – I have a big weekend coming up – Sasebo is having its annual Yosakoi Dance Festival (the biggest festival in Kyushu!) and I’m going to Yabusame, an ancient samurai archery festival! Lots of pictures to be posted!

2006-10-15T21:14:00.000+09:00

Ninja Park!

Okay, so due to Ami complaining that there were no pictures in my last entry (I couldn't choose between all of them!), I've posted a few here...but go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/megumip to check out the rest.

So this weekend was a lot of fun! Friday night I went out for dinner to celebrate Claire’s 25th Birthday. We went to a new restaurant (or at least new to me) – which was sooo good. Probably my new favourite in town – really great atmosphere and food. Minus the ume chu-hi….probably one of the most disgusting drinks I have ever sampled. After the restaurant, we headed to the Sand Bar – a seriously small “hole-in-the-wall” that has sand on the floor…very kitschy. But it was a fairly early night because we had the ninja park early Saturday morning!

We met at the bus station and headed to Saga (the next prefecture over and about an hour bus ride away). The ninja park was pretty big – but really run down. I don’t think it has changed in the last 20 years…actually I really don’t know how long it has been open for – but it could really have used some work. But it was still lots of fun! There were about 8 people working at the whole park…they had lots of things to do, such as a ninja training park, haunted ninja house (probably the scariest mannequins I have seen in my entire life…), archery, ninja star throwing, ninja maze house, and of course the ninja show! So hilarious – there were just three men in ninja costumes and make-up, cheesy dance music playing the background, them just running across the stage and going through secret escapes with the odd sword fight in between. But my favourite was when the “serious” fight took place and the lights went down and the neon lightening bolts on the ceiling lit up…good times.

A bunch of us also dressed up as maiko (geisha-trainees), princesses, and yakuza (Japanese gangsters) and had our pictures taken! Good fun! But it was soon time for us to leave and head back to Sasebo…we were all a little tired – too much fun at the ninja park!

But we went out to Starbucks for a bit, then went for Mexican for dinner, then met up with a few others and went out drinking, wandering the streets of Sasebo, hitting up a few places before splitting up from the boys and settling at the Pilipino hostess bar for some drinks and karaoke! Always a good time…and fairly embarrassing. We met up with the boys afterwards at the restaurant, and before we knew it, it was almost five in the morning! Kind of crazy considering I had all intention of going home after the ninja park at 6pm…only 11 hours off….

Needless to say I spent most of today lounging in my apartment….getting some much needed sleep before my first work day at Hiroda Junior High School tomorrow. And I’m REALLY not looking forward to doing my self-introduction another 13 or 14 times…

2006-10-10T20:01:00.000+09:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

So while all of you were stuffing your faces with turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, pumpkin pie…etc etc – I was off to Osaka for the long weekend visiting with some people from Ottawa! Although I definitely was missing and longing for the turkey coma, I had a blast! Instead of posting some pictures on here (which seems to take forever, and I have waaaay to many that I’d want to post, the link to my photos is here…http://www.flickr.com/photos/megumip/). Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to put them in order....so you can either view them backwards, or start from the last page and see them in order! Sorry....

Erin drove up to Sasebo Friday night, and we hopped on the night bus for our 10 hour bus ride up to Osaka. It was not the most comfortable night I’ve had –but the buses here are a lot more comfy than Greyhound! The seats almost recline all the way back, but there isn’t too much leg room. We kept waking up every couple of hours or so, and it seemed to take forever, but we finally made it to Osaka!

We met up with Kelly (who also had a long night trek from Yamagata) and headed to our hostel. They were kind enough to let us check in and shower before we headed out to sightsee. Our room was a six-bed dorm…but really it was like being at summer camp – with two bunk beds in the tiniest room imaginable.

We then headed out to the Umeda Sky Building, which has a rooftop garden and is something like 45 stories high. Unfortunately we could not go up because the winds were too strong that day…but we did see them setting up for the International Beer Summit (which we were planning on visiting that night). So then we went to Osaka-jo (castle) - which was my first castle to visit! It was very interesting and pretty. On the grounds, there was a guy who was doing “anime” caricatures – so we waited like 2 hours to get ours done! But it was pretty hilarious when they were done! Let me know what you think of it….

Dan met up with us at the castle and then we headed out to Amerika-muira, which was mostly just lots of shops…but we had found a pub called the Pig & Whistle – so we had fish and chips for dinner! It was like our version of Thanksgiving dinner….

We then went to the International Beer Summit! They had lots of booths with international foods and beers, as well as a stage with dance performances and demonstrations. It was a really good time and we met up with some more people from Ottawa (Melanie, Tim, Sandra and Paul). Clearly we drank a bit there…and once it was over, we then made the poor decision to go to karaoke. Well it wasn’t a poor decision – because it was the best time I have had at karaoke so far…but we definitely made fools of ourselves (for evidence of this, please look at the pictures..). I’m telling you – the all-you-can-drink thing is a blessing and curse here in Japan….

Sunday we slept in a bit (nursing our hangovers), and then set out to find a good breakfast. We found a Friendly’s, but by the time we got there, their breakfast was finished – so we went searching for a Denny’s….which we also found, but they didn’t have all day breakfasts! So sad – we were craving the greasy bacon, homefries and eggs like at Broadways. But we settled for Osaka’s famous okonomiyaki – a veggie and meat pancake type of food. Very yummy – also took many pictures there as well…

We then found a tiny temple on one of the side streets of Dotombori, where you splash water on the statues for good luck and virtue. It was said that many people from the water industry (as well as prostitutes) would frequently visit this temple. Pretty interesting…

A parade was going on down the main street – we didn’t think too much of it – but it turned out to be a pretty big thing! Not anything like any of the parades in Canada! Pretty close to the parades you see during Thanksgiving in the states though. Lots of high school marching bands, floats, cheerleaders, girl scouts, etc.

We then set out to visit the Tenno-ji park – where they had a zoo and botanical gardens. We were a little to late to visit the zoo – but took a nice walk through the gardens. It was really big and pretty. Afterwards, we walked to the Shitenno-ji temple, which is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan. The grounds were quite huge, and they had many stalls set up around the buildings selling old/vintage books, postcards and pictures, which were really interesting to look through.

Tim had told us about a tiny café in Dotombori which was owned by a Canadian – so we went back there for dinner – where we had a feast of poutine (!!!) and pizza! Sooo good. And as you can tell – our visit to Osaka was almost entirely centered on food….I think I gained 10 pounds – but we walked almost everywhere, so hopefully that helped.

We then went to the Tempozan area of Osaka where they have the “worlds largest ferris wheel” – which was clearly a lie (as Erin’s mom researched, it is most definitely the London Eye which is the biggest) – but it was pretty big nonetheless. It had a really nice view of the city at night, although my pictures didn’t turn out that great. Afterwards, there was an arcade, so we took some purikura (the little photo stands were you take the pictures and then add backgrounds, little drawings, etc to them. And I played the taiko drumming video game – lots of fun! We called it an early night, as Erin, Kelly and I were getting up early to go to Universal Studios!

On our last day in Osaka – we decided to do the “tradional” Japanese thing, and went to Universal Studios. But it actually is what most Japanese people do when visiting Osaka – they love their amusement parks!! We went on the Jurassic Park water ride, the Backdraft firefighter show, Spiderman 3D ride, saw the Shrek 4D show, and did the Back to the Future ride! Lots of fun! But we were so tired from standing in line…that we skipped out on the ET and Jaws rides, and decided to grab dinner (chicken, ribs and onion haystacks!) and head back to the city centre to get ready for the long bus ride home.

We said goodbye to Kelly, and then headed to our station to change into our sweats, grabbed a chu-hi (it would help us go to sleep!) and waited for the bus. The chu-hi definitely helped (as did our exhaustion from walking around all weekend and the gravol I took…) and I slept for most of the way home. We got back to Sasebo around 7:30, I booted it back home, showered and went straight to work! I’m doing okay now – but I have a feeling I might be falling asleep at my desk after lunch…..

Anyways – that was my Thanksgiving weekend! I hope you all had a great time and let me know how the turkey was! Talk to you soon!

2006-10-03T22:59:00.000+09:00

Weekend in Kunimi!

This weekend, Shannon came to pick me up (along with her friends Courtney and Cliff) and we drove down to visit Erin in Kunimi! It was an early start to the day – but we made it there in good time. Erin has a really nice house where she is – I’m slightly jealous in comparison to my small box that is my apartment. We went grocery shopping for the weekend and picked up Dan (also another Ottawa-jin) from the ferry port (he lives in Kumamoto across the bay from Shimabara). After lunch, we headed to Unzen – a volcano that erupted about 15 years ago. We had all intentions to climb up – we had our Nalgenes of water, a “mountain bag” with mountain snacks…but by the time we found what we assumed to be the volcano – the ladies at the information centre said we did not have enough time to climb it before dark. So we decided to take the cable car ride up, and climb back down. The view from the top was really pretty – although a little hazy. We could see the smoke coming from the next peak – so that was kind of cool for my first “volcano”. There was also a temple at the top of the peak – as there are always temples everywhere here!

The others all started the trek down (which I had to sit out for because of my last mountain trekking injury, so rode down in style in the cable car). But they almost beat me down! It only took them 10 minutes to walk down! So clearly we would have been able to climb up in less than 3 hours! I guess the ladies thought that we were really out of shape! Or they thought that we were going to do the Japanese-style of mountain climbing (which I’m assuming is climbing up, but taking many, many breaks for tea and bentos and onigiris). Although the fact that we didn’t really climb up was a little disappointing, it was really pretty and a nice experience.

We then headed down to the resort town at the bottom of Unzen, which has a whole bunch of hotels and onsens (hot springs). We first bought a boiled egg, which was boiled in the “hells” of the volcano (which apparently from my tour guide used to be the fate reserved only for Christians many years ago). They were quite yummy though. We then set out to find a nice onsen to relax in. It was my first experience at an onsen – so I was a little skeptical. It was difficult at first to get used to the nakedness and the itty-bitty towels they give you – but once you get in the water, you just melt and it is really relaxing. Our onsen had a “mermaid” theme with a large shell and pearl water fountain, as well as what we called the “engagement pool” with fresh roses sprinkled in the water. Pretty fancy! The outdoor bath was also really nice and refreshing with the cool night air and the pretty view.

After the onsen, we went the gift shop (clearly), and then headed back to Erin’s for our feast of a dinner (which we clearly deserved after all the “climbing”). We all made pasta with veggies and chicken for dinner…and lots of alcohol for dessert. We had a bottle of sangria, some Malibu, and many, many chu-his while playing “Drinking Uno” (we had to be resourceful – it was all we had!). But lots of fun!

On Sunday we slept in a bit and then made another feast for breakfast of bacon (definitely not the same as Canadian bacon!), scrambled eggs, homefries, and Swedish pancakes (there was some debate about the name, but it was basically just crepes…without eggs). Everything was really good. We packed up and began to head back to Sasebo. Shannon drove back once again, and they made a stop in Sasebo to tour the arcade (they live on an island…so Sasebo is the “big city”) and then we went for Indian food for dinner. Very yummy!

And on a side note….how hilarious and cute is Daisy in the kimono I bought her in Tokyo?!?!

2006-09-29T17:17:00.000+09:00

Good Times Last Weekend!

Last weekend was fairly eventful for me! I was kept very busy! After work on Friday, Jenny, Nicola, Claire, Ben and I drove to Nagasaki City for the night. We were staying at The Comfort Inn and had plans to go to a DJ night run by the JETs in a small bar called “Body and Soul”. It was lots of fun – mostly JETs from the Nagasaki region. I met up with Erin and we split a room together. It’s always really nice to catch up with other JETs from Ottawa and compare/relate stories and experiences! My favourite story from Erin is that one of her JTE’s (Japanese Teacher of English) has been asking her out to dinner constantly – and the place he wants to take her is a restaurant called Joyfull (basically the Japanese version of Denny’s….classy). Too funny… It was a pretty late night at the bar, but lots of fun! The chu-hi’s are growing on me (too much!) – they are like Japanese coolers… but I couldn’t tell you what kind of alcohol it is…it’s just good! Take my word for it – or better yet, come and visit me and try them! Oh – and there is no lacking of Malibu in this country either – its quite common and unbelievably cheap! As little as the Japanese can’t handle the alcohol (we lack an enzyme!) – they definitely love drinking…I almost want to say more than Canadians like beer…shocking to believe – but I think it is true!!

Anyways, Friday was a pretty late night, but check-out was at 10am – so we wolfed down our complimentary breakfast and headed out shopping! Nagasaki has a big department store called Youme Saito, where I bought a new bedspread…love it! And a big bookstore with a decent sized English section. And they also have a Gap! A nice change to the very ‘petite’ clothing here, although I think they are still slightly smaller than the Canadian/American sizes. Erin and I then trekked to the arcade near by which was quite big – lots of shops and by far the biggest 100yen store I have seen yet! Surprisingly though, I managed to spend under 10 dollars – which is clearly very shocking for me! After we could no longer stand because of the hours of shopping, it was time for the long trek home. It was nice to be back in my apartment – although it was a beautiful day in Nagasaki.

Sunday was the Shimizu Junior High School “Sports Day”. Sports Day is unlike anything we have in Canada (or at least at any of the schools that I know of). It is a huge event, where the children practice months in advance in preparation, and all the teachers, staff, school board officials, parents, grandparents, siblings, etc – all come to. They have a big opening ceremony where all the students march in and bring in the flags (Japan and school) and divide into their teams (Red, Yellow, Blue and White). From then on – it is just a full day of events where the children compete in relay races, skipping contests, weight lifting contests, etc. The boys all strip down to their shorts and perform an almost yoga/acrobatic-type demonstration where they all climb on each other and lift into different positions, and make big pyramids where they all crumble down afterwards….a little dangerous! But a teacher was telling me that they aren’t as dangerous as they used to be – they used to make bigger pyramids and such, but in recent years, the boys are “weaker” than they used to be…who knew? Then during the “half time” – each team comes out and performs a dance/cheer/acrobatic thing in pride of their team. They asked me to judge them…it was so crazy! There were about one hundred kids to each team, all dancing and cheering as loud as possible…I just kept thinking that never in my life would you ever convince a 14 year old boy to take part in that kind of thing! But the kids were so pumped to do it! It was very entertaining!

After lunch there was a teacher relay, where the teachers all run against a team of parents and students…I was unfortunately second to run…and with my dodgy knee I don’t think I really helped all that much – but at least I participated….There were a few more races and relays afterwards, but the day soon ended with a closing ceremony. It was really fun! Afterwards the teachers all headed to an onsen (I thankfully ducked out of that!) and I met up with them later for another enkai. It was okay – it was at a really pretty hotel at the top of one of the “mountains” over looking Sasebo.

And yes - those are boys in the girls uniforms....

So overall a pretty good weekend. Unfortunately the rest of my week has not been as fulfilling….but getting ready for a fun weekend in Shimabara visiting Erin!

2006-09-19T18:44:00.000+09:00

Elementary School Visit #3 - Ainoura Elementary School

So today I had my first visit to a "real" elementary school (real being that there were more than 15 students!). I had three grade 6 classes to teach - and they were wonderful! They asked lots of questions and seemed pretty enthused about the games and such. I also did my self-introduction for about the 50th time - and I think the biggest hit of every class is the picture of Daisy, and my Sens jersey! (Thanks Nevil & Auntie Naomi!). But the best part of my day was when the whole school was practicing for their Sports Day next Sunday. Now in all my years of teaching drama and dance, I have never seen such synchronization and enthusiasm from that many kids! All 400 students, from the 1st to 6th grate were perfectly in line, doing all the movements and dancesteps on time and to the beat and chanting along. It was absolutely incredible! Now Evy and I have produced our fair share of good shows with Drama & Dance in the 6 or so years in which we did it (not to toot our own horns or anything), but they were nothing in comparison to these "Sports Day" shows! I can't wait to go to my junior high schools' next Sunday! It's times like these that I wish I had a video camera or my camera recorded sound!!

On another note - last night I had my very first Japanese date! Okay - maybe not a "date" persay, but more of a "group hang". Jenny, Nicola, Claire and I met up with some j-boys they had met previously to help them practice their English. It was a lot of fun! We met at Starbucks and then made our way to an isakaya for a drink. They were really funny and kept us entertained - mainly with their interpretations of the English language...but we won't tell them that...And surprisingly, they were pretty cute as well - although one was really short and we didn't notice until he stood up...but hey, what can you expect?!

And as you can tell I've survived the typhoon - Sasebo wasn't hit that hard, but just south of us was pretty bad. I spent many hours locked up in my apartment eating far too much, watching too many episodes of "Friends" then I care to admit to, cleaned my apartment, and sadly, succumbing to my natural dorkiness and did a puzzle. Oh - and listening to the new John Mayer and Justin Timberlake cds....good times...

2006-09-18T03:32:00.000+09:00

Hello all!

So I’m quickly settling into the working life! It’s a little weird though – working a “9 to 5” job, and having all my evenings free! No restaurant jobs, NCAC to go to, or no papers or studying to do! All this free time…

But I’ve been occupying myself! I have signed up for Japanese lessons once a week – although I think I might sign up for one more…I could definitely use the practice!! I’m also looking to odori and koto lessons…hopefully becoming a little more “cultured”.

I’m currently experiencing my second typhoon – and it is supposedly a lot bigger than the last one. I’ve been cooped up in my little apartment all day – but thankfully got some much needed cleaning done and found a connection to the internet! It was raining really hard at times, and the sky turned almost a shade of green at time…which was pretty cool! But it wasn’t too bad in my area…apparently in other parts of the island there was really bad flooding and people were killed. Well maybe that was in my area, but I have no idea – I live in a little bubble in my apartment with no tv or radio that I can understand! But the long weekend wasn’t a total waste – we had a pre-typhoon party last night at another ALTs house around the corner from me, and Friday night we went bowling! My first time at 10-pin…not my best game. But we had a really fun time!

Work has been great so far! This week was really quiet as the kids have testing, so I didn’t teach at all this week. Lots of time to study Japanese and work on my English board! I’m such a geek and took a picture of it…but I was pretty proud! The teachers all seemed to like it – although I haven’t heard much response from the kids yet…so we shall see how that goes!

My favourite teaching experience so far has been visiting the elementary schools! The kids are just too cute! The past two schools I’ve been to have been on islands – so the population of the whole school was about 15 kids! Very sheltered, but they were really sweet and a lot of fun! My last visit, after lunch the kids all went into the gym and started practising on their own their brass band. They played “Sukiyaki” over and over and over…but it was really cute!

Then as I was leaving the island, about to catch the ferry, the kids all ran down to the pier and told me to watch them…and they all ran to the end of the pier and were waving and calling out my name as the boat pulled away! How sweet is that?? So nice – but I visit my first elementary school on the mainland this week, and it has 400 students…so it will probably be the exact opposite of these schools! But I’m still looking forward to it!

Exciting news is that my family has just booked their trip to Japan in December! Looking very much forward to that!

The only other news that I can think of right now is my trip last weekend to Fukuoka. Wait - let me rephrase that - my trip last weekend to the Costco in Fukuoka! Sadly, I didn't get to see anything at all there, except for the Costco - but let me tell you, it was definitely worth it!! I bought lots of food that I couldn't find here (granola bars, popcorn, MARBLE CHEESE! etc) and had their wonderfully delicious pizza. It was just like being back home! Plus they had really cheap photo printing. It was about 21 cents - but in Sasebo it seems to be around 37 cents. But it was a really good time - we had an interesting time fitting everything back into my "super off roader"...but it all worked out in the end! I'll have to go back again sometime soon so that I can actually say that I "saw" Fukuoka!

2006-09-06T19:55:00.000+09:00

HUGE update!!

Hello all...It's been a while since I've been able to connect to the internet (and I won't be getting the internet at home for another month or so...seriously driving me crazy!)...but here is a big update on the past few weeks! I just started working last week at Ainoura Juniour High School and things have been pretty good! I'm going to try and post my pictures on my msn My Space soon...I hope everyone is well! Keep the emails coming!

Last day in Nagasaki
So today we had our last morning of meetings and workshops, then we headed out to the immigration bureau to get our re-entry permits! Now I can go to Thailand! Or Korea – apparently there is a ferry that goes across the Japan Sea, and gives you an all-you-can-ride train pass throughout Korea for like $150! Good deal…

We then went to the Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park. It was a really moving and sad experience – I definitely learned a lot of information that I had no idea about before. But I really enjoyed it and wish I could have had a little more time to really read through the personal experiences and memories of the Nagasaki bombing.

But home to Sasebo…where I have two days of workshops to teach for Japanese teachers! Should be good fun – just lots of games…

My Trip to Tokyo!

Ok – so I just got back from my five-day summer vacation in Tokyo! Let’s just say there were some highs, and some lows….

I left Thursday night, right after work to take the bus to the Fukuoka airport (about 2 hours) and then took a flight from Fukuoka to Tokyo (about 1 ½ hours). Got into Tokyo pretty late – but met up with Kelly and stayed at a little business hotel near the airport. It was great being able to catch up with another Ottawan!

Friday we began our trek to Mt. Fuji…and it was quite the adventure. We met up with Kelly’s friend, Becky (who lives 15 minutes away from her) and her friend Michelle (who was visiting from the USA). We didn’t reserve any bus tickets, thinking that there would be plenty of time to get there…but we were told that all the buses were sold out! Climbing Mt. Fuji in the summer is very popular – and apparently something like 3,000 people climb each day! Which seems a little excessive – but that’s what I heard – it could most definitely be wrong! So we found an alternative route (Mt. Fuji is about 2 hours out of Tokyo by bus)….then only to find out that they added more buses! Anyways – now I’m just blabbing, but we finally got on the bus around 7:30pm. We were waiting in line and met these two men from Canada – who turned out to be from Kanata and Stittsville! They were in Japan for only 2 days for business…and decided to climb Mt. Fuji as well – I wonder if they regretted that decision…

So after a 2 hour bus ride (and talking all the way…when Kelly and I really should have been sleeping!), we finally arrived at the 5th station of Mt. Fuji. We met up with Matt (also from Ottawa and who lives nearby), bought our walking sticks, and started to head up! Little did we know what was in store for us! It started out ok – but after about the 7th station up – it got a lot harder! There were lines of people to get through some of the sections, and we were literally rock-climbing some parts (whoever said it was a “leisurely stroll” should shoot themselves!). Turns out we were going up the “intermediate” route up the mountain…oops! We were VERY tired, cold and truly thought that the climb would never end! But the amount of stars that we saw was absolutely amazing! It was so dark and we were above the clouds, so the sky was completely filled with stars! It got a little harder to breathe and catch my breath as we reached closer to the top, but thankfully I didn’t suffer from any altitude sickness. At around 4:50am, the sun started to come out – and we arrived at the summit just after the sunrise. It was really cool to see the sunrise over the clouds, but it would have been nicer if it was clear out and we could see all the way down the mountain! It was a really neat experience being 3,776 metres up, without being in an airplane!

We rested for a bit at the top, got a hot bowl of ramen, and soon decided to make our way back down the mountain…which turned out to be almost 4 hours of pure HELL! I know what you are thinking, I thought the same way too before I did it – one would assume that the trek down would be easy and carefree – but take my word for it – IT IS DEFINETLY NOT! It was a very steep sand and rock chute – which would have been fun if we brought our magic carpets….but trying to walk down that without breaking an ankle and wearing down your knees is almost impossible! Let’s just say that I was completely miserable and frustrated with Mt. Fuji – and all I wanted was a hot shower and a bed. When we finally got to the bottom – the next bus we could take back to Tokyo wasn’t for another 3 hours! We passed out at a table in the restaurant – but I was starting to feel really sick – probably a combination of physical exhaustion (I’m sure my body was in shock from all the physical activity which clearly I don’t do regularily), not drinking enough water (too heavy to carry!) and eating poorly (who knew Calorie Mate was a diet bar, and not an energy bar!?!). After finally getting to our hostel (6 ½ hours later!), we treated ourselves to an all-you-can-eat Sukiyaki restaurant!! My kind of heaven…

The next day, we went shopping in Shinjuku – then Kelly had to go back to Yamagata because she started to teach on Monday. I had an extra two days in Tokyo – so I went to the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, which is a famous Buddhist temple. There were lots of people, especially tourists – and there was a huge market in front of it, filled with shops with the usual tourist-y type gifts. Good fun. It was pretty cool though – it was my first visit to a temple in Japan…quite surprised though that it took me that long to get to one!

I then headed out to Chiba, which is about a 40-minute metro ride outside of Tokyo to stay at Maureen’s house (yet another Ottawan). She has a great apartment in the suburbs! I’m extremely jealous! Anyways, we went out for Chinese and planned the next day – we were going to Tokyo Disney Sea!!! Beyond excited! She had to work for a couple of hours in the morning, but we were soon on our way! It was only about a 20-minute train ride (she’s so lucky! But thank god I don’t live so close to it – I would totally want to go all the time!). Disney Sea was adjacent to the Disneyland – and just celebrated its 5-year anniversary, so it’s relatively new. My favourite area was “Mermaid Lagoon” – which had everything The Little Mermaid-inspired. We got to meet Ariel, Eric and the French chef! And they were all gaijins (foreigners!), and they seemed a little happy to be able to speak English to people! Our favourite ride was definitely Indiana Jones, where you were riding in a jeep and dodging creaky bridges, snakes, flying darts, and of course a giant rock rolling towards you! There was also an “Arabian Court” where everything was from Aladdin – we saw a 3-D show with the Genie….and let me tell you, it was a little weird hearing “Friend Like Me” in Japanese…not quite the same. I spent waaay too much money in the shops, but it was totally worth it – Disney Sea was absolutely amazing! If any of you ever come to Japan – I highly recommend it! Ok – so I just re-read that, and I know I’m a loser. But it was really fun…definitely better than EuroDisney.

All in all – I had a great vacation before work starts! Minus my Mt. Fuji experience – although maybe in a couple of months the memories of the pain and suffering will fade and I’ll be suggesting it to other people. Well maybe not – or possibly just suggesting it to the people I don’t like…

My First Day of Work

Sooo I’m back in Sasebo now…and at Ainoura Junior High School, where I will be for the next 3 or 4 weeks. My first day of school I had to introduce myself in front of the whole school in an assembly – and in front of television cameras…no one said I’d be filmed…nor did anyone tell me if they were actually taping me or not – so maybe I was on Japanese TV! No way for me to see – as I don’t have a tv…but look out for me on NHK! Haha just kidding – at least I hope I’m not on it!!! That would have been embarrassing, as my Japanese is beyond lagging at this point. I need LOTS of practice.

I seem to have 3 classes a day this week – so I’ve been doing my self-introduction quite a bit. I’m sure I will be sick of myself very soon….

The teachers are very nice – quite friendly, and some try and speak to me in English. The students are pretty friendly – but quite most are really shy, so they usually try and avoid talking at all costs. But walking down the hall is an experience – all the kids to is stare and talk about me – and I swear I’m not being paranoid or anything – they really are! A couple of the outgoing ones say hello and quickly laugh…it’s cute. It feels like I’m a little celebrity sometimes…woo hoo. During my introduction – I ask if anyone has any questions…and most of them are too shy to ask anything – but without a doubt – the only question someone will ask is if I have a boyfriend. Every, single time. Or they’ll ask if the teacher is my boyfriend….also good times.

My First Elementary School Visit

So yesterday was my first visit to an elementary school – and I was headed to Kuroshima Elementary – which is on an island, about an hour ferry ride away. They have split classes, because the school is so small – I had 9 kids in my grade 3-4 class, and 14 in my grade 5-6 class. The kids were very nice and friendly…not to mention absolutely adorable! They were very enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy the activities I had planned. Although I was under the impression that I had a lot of time with them, I didn’t get to do nearly as much as I had originally planned – but I suppose it’s better to be prepared! Good ol’ Brownies…

So after my 3rd and 4th grade class, I ate lunch with them in their room! They put on these white lab coat-type things, and little caps, and head downstairs to the kitchen to pick up their lunch! It was really cute! Lunch was a big bun, piece of sweet corn and tomato, and a chow mein type thing. Quite good for a school lunch! Oh – except they had milk – except the Japanese version of milk is like 3.6%....which is basically like drinking cream…which really grossed me out.

After lunch we played some dodgeball in the gym - and yes…I still suck, even when playing against little kids. Then I taught the grade 5 and 6 class – the day really seemed to fly by. I guess because I didn’t get to the school until around 11am, and had to catch the ferry by 3:30…so it was a fairly short day! But my first elementary school visit was really good – so I’m looking forward to the next one next week! A lot of prep work, but the kids are great!

The bad news of the day was that I called Yahoo BB and wanted to find out about when I would be getting the internet at home – and turns out that it’s going to be another month or so! I seriously am going to go crazy! Turns out that they sent me a form and wanted another copy of my gaijin (foreigner) card – but I didn’t know that…because I can’t read Japanese…so I had to get them to send me another form, then once I get that and send off the copy, I have to wait another 17 days, take a day off work so the service man can come – and THEN hopefully I’ll have the internet. This is crazy….

2006-08-22T01:52:00.000+09:00

Nagasaki Orientation!

Okay – so before I forget – I was able to add some pictures from the Obon festival (not all of them, it still doesn’t like me and won’t cooperate)….so look at my last entry for those! And pictures from Nagasaki will follow eventually....

So I am currently at my first "business trip", and so far, things have been pretty good! We drove down to Nagasaki City this morning (took a little less than 2 hours), and got settled for a long day of more workshops and meetings. It was pretty much a review of what our job description is and them just repeating information over and over again...hey, it at least got me out of sitting at the Board of Education in Sasebo, and it's an all expenses paid!!

After our long day in the conference, Erin, Shannon, Chris, Cliff and I ventured off to Mt. Inasa which has a gondola/cable car ride up to the top with a great observatory of all of Nagasaki. It was really nice to see it at sunset.

Then afterwards we went out for dinner, (we were too late for the all-you-can-drink/eat extravaganza), and went to the Dejima Wharf for drinks....I had a fuzzy navel - can you spot my drink on the menu?!?!

Tomorrow we have a morning of the conference left, and then we are off to get our re-entry permits...which are also exciting (means I can take a trip to Thailand soon!!). Then I hope to visit the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb museum. Then back to the lovely Sasebo for two days before I'm off to Tokyo to climb Mt. Fuji!! Very excited about that - and clearly I will have hundreds of pictures to post after that!

I know, I know...you are all wondering when I work....but not to worry! School starts on the 30th....so it'll be back to the grindstone then...unfortunately.

2006-08-18T14:57:00.001+09:00

Obon Festival!

So Tuesday night, I went to the Obon Festival here in Sasebo! It was really neat! I went with Jenny (who works with me at the Board of Education, Nicola, Claire (who both work at high schools in the area), and some guy from the navy who Claire was friends with. We didn't really know where it was happening or what was going on...but we heard lots of firecrackers and the like going off - so we followed the noise. Families were bringing their "floats" (boat like tributes to honour the dead in their families...from what I gather) to a park where they had them all lined up and made a procession in the area. Then they all seemed to light firecrackers - the Japanese are crazy about them! Some of the floats were really small that you could carry in one hand, while others were huge and on wheels! It was really neat. Some families were also all dressed up to match...good times.

After the park, we walked down to the Albuquerque Bridge (can you tell I live in a town with a navy base??!!), which was all lit up with lanterns. They were also putting lanterns into the water and they floated down the river – it was really pretty. Unfortunately I can’t really give you the low down on what the significance of everything is…maybe I’ll ask my Bachan and get back to you later. But it was really nice!

Last night I went down to the arcade to run a few errands, then met up with Kevin, Jenny and Brent to go to a going-away party for two third-year JETs at an isakaya. It was really nice! Lots of people (both Japanese and foreigners) and pretty good food. It was nice to meet some more people in the area as well. The only thing about these types of places is the seating arrangements! It’s sooo hard to get used to sitting on your knees, or attempting to get comfortable in a skirt! Thankfully everyone was really laid back, so we were all kind of lounging around…but I suppose I should get used to it sooner than later!

I have officially had my first typhoon warning! First really loud sirens went off in the middle of the night the other day – and today they said it will probably strike around 2pm on Friday. It’s not supposed to be a really bad one – but I’m a little excited! Although I suppose they can get really dangerous, apparently it’s really neat to watch! Unfortunately though, although the summer camp I teach at will most likely be cancelled, I still have to go into work at the Board and sit around all day! This also means I have to go outside and bear the storm! These are the times that I am really going to appreciate the fact that I have a car! Although I get to put my Crocs to the test…..I get lots of looks when I have them on…probably because they are bright pink….I’m such a loser!

And for some reason I can't seem to upload my pictures...it's probably my terrible connection. But I will post them soon! Take care!

2006-08-14T10:20:00.000+09:00

Sooo… Sunday I slept in a bit (well not technically – I just stayed in bed and watched Lost! Love it now!). But then Neale and I drove to Hirado – an island a little up north from us (about an hour away) to go to the beach. The drive was really pretty – everything is so green here! And we drove by many rice fields and tea farms. It’s such a mix of things as well – there are pine trees, palm trees, etc. So it’s a really neat drive. I also drove through a town that my friend Shannon from Ottawa lives in – so at least now I know where it is and that it is not very far from me. We went for lunch first for Hirado’s famous noodles, then headed to Neshiko Beach. It was really nice (see the pictures below)…although I’m a little bit of a snob – Everyone was ranting and raving about how nice it was – but I couldn’t help thinking that the beaches in Australia and Hawaii were much better! But nonetheless…it was a really nice day out. The water was nice and warm, although all the other people got stung by some sort of creature….not a jellyfish, something smaller and invisible. A little creepy. After we hung out there, I just drove home – I was a little nervous about the drive home by myself (Neale decided to stay the night and take a vacation day), but I was not sure if I would remember the way back! But it was just straight down the highway – and right to my house! Anyways – that was the rest of my weekend! Not too much else – hope all is well with everyone!

2006-08-13T09:31:00.000+09:00

Ok...so I'm in Sasebo now - and it is hot as hell! I haven't seen it go under 27 degrees the entire time I've been here - even in the middle of the night or early morning! I'm starting to sort of get used to it...although I have my moments. Thankfully my apartment has air conditioning, but it's crazy expensive to run.

Sasebo is really nice - it's placed in a valley between some big hills, and on the other side of the hills is the Japan Sea. It is also a military town - with both an American and Japanese base. So there is quite a big western influence in the downtown area (especially the Arcade - Japan's longest straight shopping plaza - 1km). We have a Starbucks! (a big plus for me). But because of the navy, foreigners often get a bad reputation because they have been known to steal bikes, purses, and other petty crimes. So that's not really cool. But if you make friends with some of the navy guys, they can escort you on base where they have a Taco Bell, Subway, and an American grocery store! I know quite a few people are aching for peanut butter...I know that I could go for some cheese if I got on base...

So my apartment is pretty small! But it's starting to feel more like home! I've finally taken some pictures of my apartment (had to make sure it was semi-clean first! hahah). So here is some pictures of my living room/kitchen. My bath/shower room is the white-ish door on the right, and the brown door leads to my entrance way and washroom.

Then there are dividers (sliding doors) that can seperate my bedroom from my living room/kitchen. Which come in quite handy when I'm trying to stay cool in my apartment! So this is the bedroom half of my apartment - and there is a doorway leading out to my balcony. I've converted my bed also into my desk...I'm using my desk chair as my fan stand. The other two pictures are the view from my balcony...

There are also quite a few nifty little gadgets in my apartment...My bath/shower room has a fan/heater, so that it becomes my dryer for all my clothes. I just have to turn it on and set the time for it to dry. I have to turn on my hot water, and I can set the temperature I want for baths and showers. And my toilet has a sink built into the top....

Everyone has been really nice and I've had lots of fun since coming here. I came into Sasebo with Kevin, who is from Ohio and he also lives in the apartment above me. We walk to work every morning - the Board of Education is located in the city hall - which is only about a 1o minute walk for us. Brent (from Australia) and James (NYC) are second-year ALTs who have been helping us out and showing us around the city. Here are some pictures I took at work the other day, and also some pictures of our view from the office.

We've been keeping really busy though - we've gone out for lots of good food, went to some of the viewing points at the top of the hills/mountains that surround the city, and went to the 99 islands at sunset, which was really beautiful (kind of like Japan's version of the 1000 islands...which was also featured in the film The Last Samurai for 10 seconds....woo hoo). I forgot my camera that day - but I am definately going to go back and take pictures, so I'll post those once I get those. Sasebo has also had a festival since I've been here - it was the Sasebo Seaside Festival. It was nice, they had bands and such playing, lots of food, and at the end of the festival on the Sunday night they had a huge fireworks display. It was really neat - they went on forever - something like 10,000 fireworks were sent off. The japanese love their fireworks....those little firecrackers and such that you only see in Canada around Canada are absolutely everywhere - which are all geared towards little kids - with Hello Kitty and such on it!

Last night we had our welcoming party for all the JETS in Sasebo and surrounding areas. We went to a tabenomihodai - which is an all you can eat and drink beer garden on the roof of one of the department stores in the arcade. It was lots of fun! It was good to meet some new people in the area. I sampled chu-hi's - which I have no idea what kind of alcohol it is, but you get to choose what flavor you want....and they are quite potent, which I unfortunately learned the hard way. After the tabenomihodai, some people went to kareoke, while I participated in the convenience store pub crawl - where everyone just walked to the stores to get alcohol and sat in the park and chatted. After that, we all made it to Ginza, one of the local clubs. It was filled with Navy guys...and it was so smokey!! Wow - I totally took advantage of the smoke-free places in Ottawa! That is definately something that I miss a lot.

Anyways, I'm off to the beach today! I'll be sure to bring my camera this time! Hope all is well with everyone!

Settling in Sasebo, Nagasaki

2006-08-07T09:39:00.000+09:00

So I'm finally here! All the preparations and packing is done (thanks for the help mom!), and the good-byes said. So above are a few pictures from the airport...Thanks Sarah! It was kind of rushed because we had to go through US customs, so as soon as we checked in, we had to go through to security - kind of a surprise for everyone! We thought we had more time to say goodbye. But maybe that was better that way...Like ripping off a bandaid....

Here is a picture of the blanket that Mom made for me! It is a quilt with pictures of family and friends, as well as pieces of my old clothes sewn together (such as my first communion dress, favourite t-shirts, etc). It's too nice to use as a blanket, so I've hung it up on my wall in my apartment.

So after the 14 hour plane ride from Detroit, we finally arrived in Tokyo, where we were greeted by many other JETs, who lead us in the direction towards luggage and the buses that would take us to our hotel, the KEIO Plaza hotel. The hotel was quite nice - very western, and full of JETs - There were hundreds and hundreds of us arriving on the same day - so the coordination of the program really amazed me - they had paths everywhere, directing us where to check in, pick up our information brochurees about orientation, etc. I shared a room with Erin, another girl from Ottawa who also is in Nagasaki - although about an hour and a half or so away from me. I hung out with a lot of the other JETs from Ottawa. We had gatherings and workshops all day - But the first night we had a Welcoming Gathering/banquet, which was nice. There was over 1,500 JETS arriving that weekend, with another wave of JETS arriving the following weekend. Quite the production! After the reception, I met up with the other people from my prefecture and we all went out for kareoke - it was all you can drink for 2 hours....Which is really a necessity if you are going to be singing in front of strangers (well practically strangers!). But it was really fun - everyone was just singing along...Don't worry - to English songs, although they have the katakana translations underneath...Which were pretty funny. (picture of Erin and Shannon below at kareoke)

Erin, Shannon and I (all Nagasaki-ites) then left to meet up with some of the gang from Ottawa, and we attempted to find a bar/club, but we mostly ended up wandering the streets and touring around. We finally found a little bar/pub where we all had a few drinks and just chatted. We were all excited to move onto our new cities, but a little sad that it was one of our last nights together. But it was kind of weird because although we knew we were in this strange, foreign land, our orientation in Tokyo really didn't feel like we were that far from home. The food was mostly western, everyone at the hotel seemed to be foreigners there for JET, and almost everyone we interacted with were English-speaking....But that was definitely was about to change! Here are some pictures of the sights of Shinjuku - the area of Tokyo where were were staying. As well, there is a picture of the hand gestures we received when we asked if we could get a table for 15...

The next day was more workshops and meetings - but in the evening we had a reception at the Canadian Embassy, which was really nice. Although they basically told us to spread the word about Canada as much as possible, just to get the Japanese people to come and visit, as well as study there. Which I suppose makes sense....Hey, we got free drinks and food out of it. jk. And then I was kind of a loser that night and just crashed! I was pretty tired and I think the jetlag finally caught up with me!

Anyways - that was my first few days in Japan....I will update about Sasebo shortly! Stay tuned for pictures of my tiny apartment!