Pictures!

So, here are pictures from Iga and Ise. Facebook is the easiest place to post tons of pictures, so that's where I'll do the bulk of the posting.

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028724&id=49201285&l=6bc68edc41

Quick things

While driving to class today, I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. It said " I'll keep safety in mind." I laughed so hard. While I know what they mean, all I could think of is "Well, I'll consider it, but I doubt I'll go through with it" which amuses me in that most Japanese drivers are NOT very safe.

Also, I've gotten sushi in packages here twice, and I've seen them at the store tons of times. Not ONCE do they have wasabi in the packages. Sure, maybe more people here have wasabi at home, but if they're getting it to run, would they have wasabi in their cars? WHY can't America LEAVE OUT THE DAMN WASABI??? Especially since the wasabi is MUCH more overkill at home.

So, I'm through volume 6 of Conan, on to reading the rest... being 49 more volumes that I have here... ^_^;;; Ah well. Hope everyone else is doing well, I'll post more pictures at some point ^_^

Vacation in Kobe

So, the trip mostly included trips to the bookstore. Also, a trip to the most awesome anime store ever.

Aside from that, and awesome time with Hannah, Bill, Cat and Audra, we also went to a really cool exhibit on an artist who works for Ghibli. Also got some really need Ghibli stuff at the giftshop. We took many trips around the area on the train. And we also went to Himeji castle, which was really awesome cool!

Also, hot springs in Arima!!!! MMMMM. And massages. SWEET. Onsen are totally awesome, if a bit too hot on the feet. The best part was this outside thing where you put your feet in warm water, then sat on this black slate seat that has this waterfall that pours down your back and such. Comfy! We also stuck our feet in some water with tiiiiiiny little fish who eat dead skin. It was like a billion tiny little kisses all over my feet. A buzzing that, at a certain level it TICKLED and I had to keep yanking my feet out. They kept trying to get between my toes, but OH NO, I wasn't about to let them! They were called "Dr. Fish" hehehe.

I got to travel on the trains a lot. It was very fun! And as I suspected, I'm not at all bothered by the crowds here. But, it's nice! I'm less scared to go outside. It's just DAMN COLD right now.

Perhaps pictures later of Kobe. Is kinda annoying to post pictures on this site ^_^;;;

Our Apartment

So, I thought I would attempt to get some pictures up, and why not start with our apartment!

So, here goes:

The Kitchen! Notice the snacks on top of the refrigerator ^_^

The Bathroom. Now, in Japan, the bathroom doesn't include the toilet. They separate the shower and tub from the toilet. Next is the sink in the little room outside the bath and shower.

The front door. The door on the right, that's where the toilet is ^_^

The living room. Brad playing video games at his little work station. He has the kotatsu. Next is a shot out that window, it shows the other apartments.

My area! I love my little nook for hard drives ^_^ Next picture is one of the new bookshelves we got. It's getting very full, which isn't helped by living down the street from a used bookshop...

The bedroom. The round thing on the bed is called an "Eco Poka" and you heat it up in the microwave for 6 minutes, before slipping it under the sheets. It keeps the bed warm all night! like, 12 hours later, it's still warm! It's pretty awesome. Next is a shot of the bedroom from the window. That's the closet with most of our clothes in it ^_^;;

And one last shot, out of the window of the bedroom. Laundry!

Hope you enjoy this!

INTERNETS

So, may I first say, that getting the internet is… GREAT. Imagine Scrooge McDuck, rolling around in his money pile, but substitute the money for the internet and make the rolling a metaphor. Yes, exactly like that.

Almost two months in and I think I'm getting the hang of teaching.

Funny thing, the little ones I teach Friday (but they had to stop b/c one girl is too busy) had no idea that, in America, the toilet is in the same room as the bath. While that is understandable, as many American kids have no idea that Japan separates toilet from bathtub, their reactions were hilarious. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? No way! I had no idea! WHAAAAAAT?" for like, 10 minutes afterwards. Then they gave me pictures they had drawn of me and were all "byeeee" and I nearly started crying T_T Those two were sooo good!

Oh yeah, and it's freaking cold here. Yeah, I know, it's not as cold as Wisconsin outside, but the teeny thing about houses here is that they have NO INSULATION. So, it's 29 degrees Fahrenheit outside and about that inside of the apartment. And we're cheap, so heating the place doesn't happen all that much. We eventually had to get a space heater. Mmm, nice.

The used bookstore people now know me, which is hilarious. I bout a whole bunch of Detective Conan, so they know me as the girl who bought lots of conan. I was also able to speak Japanese with them, which is nice. They now also say, instead of "irasshaimase" (a greeting that store owners/clerks say to customers) they say "heh, good morning" or "good afternoon" in that amused tone of "I see you're back again." I can also say that the Japanese games are awesome in that they have Japanese subtitles along with the talking. Great practice!

The convenience store near us have this food called "American dog." Can you guess what it is? Yup, Corn dog. But the best corn dog I've ever had. As Brad says, it has the right amount of American to dog. The breaded part is awesome, and if you put it in the toaster oven, the outside becomes slightly toasty and crunchy and delicious.

Winter Vacation

So, spent a lovely trip in Kobe with everyone. I was planning to type up a big long thing about it, but was too tired once I got back to my computer. So, I'll mostly post pictures and commentary when internet goes up (the 8th!!! SO SOON!)

Been reading, writing and playing video games, but still not enough time in the day. Ah well.

Hope everyone had a great Xmas and new years!