Tria no Tabi

Tales of a Gaijin

2010-07-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

So, it seems like most of my experiences in Japan can be best explained in comics. So, aside from long vacation breakdowns, most of my living here will be posted at this link:

http://triaelf9.deviantart.com/gallery/#Tales-of-a-Gaijin

Please go there and enjoy!

Golden week!

2010-05-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Giant post ahead...

Friday we headed to Kobe.

Saturday, we got on the super hakuto and headed out to Tottori. Pretty scenery, lots of tunnels and ear popping >_<

After dropping off our stuff at the nice little hotel we were going to stay at, we headed out to catch the bus. 40 minutes later, we got to the bottom of the mountain and started climbing. This wasn't just a hike. This was a CLIMB. Like, half the time we were horizontal, clinging for dear life to branches and roots and rocks. It was mostly pretty fun in the beginning and the end, but about halfway through, I got stuck on the middle of a smooth rock face and panicked. Like, total panic attack. I started hyperventilating, my throat closed, I was crying and I totally froze up. Luckily Hannah and Bill were near me and they got me breathing again. When we got up to the first lookout post, I couldn't stand on it b/c my inner ear was all AHHHHHH and the panic was still there.

I did better at the second post, and fine at the bell. We got to the top, saw the temple build into the rocks, then climbed back down. All the downhill jumping and landing hard busted up my knees, so I had a hard time going down things for the next few days.

At the bottom we got omiyage (souvenirs) and DANGO!!!! Delicious dango. I frikken love dango. MMMMM.

While waiting for the bust to come, we saw these kids who had spoken to us while we were climbing (they tried to use English on us ^_^ ) On the way out they were all "Bye! Goodbye! Bye!!" like 60 times. It was really cute.

We got back to the hotel and there were really nice rooms waiting for us. (amazing heated toilet seats! I MUST get myself one when I get back to the states). After a giant debate, we ended up going to yakininku and it was DELISH. After that, we went to BOWLING! There was this really funny moment when the screen on the floor in our area showing the scores went nuts and wigged out. It was all wigging, and zig-zaggy, when this alley worker came up, smacked it, and walked off. And it worked. It was the first time seeing the smacking of electronics actually WORK. It was pretty hilarious. The scoring seemed to be set on Elementary school scoring, or something, since the ball would totally miss and it would be all, still, "HOORAAAY! YOU KNOCKED DOWN THE MIDDLE PIN! THAT YOU CAN'T SEE FROM HERE! WAY TO GO!" and we were all "…but I gutter-balled that"

Next morning (Sunday) we got a tasty buffet breakfast and hopped back on the train. Took the train to Tsuwano. Got off, dropped bags off at our ryokan and headed out again. Grabbed lunch, then climbed a path with 1,000 torii gates on it. Saw the shrine at the top, bought more things, then went to go see the castle ruins. We took a chair lift up (and when I say chair, I mean, a single chair for each of us). Hiked some more, got to the top, looked around, it was nice. On the way down Brad realized that he'd left our bag of snacks at the top. Oooooh boy ^_^;;; No time to go back up and get it.

We then headed to the section of town with the Koi fish in the gutters. Apparently, back in olden times, the townspeople kept the fish there in case of siege. Then, they could lock down the city and live off these fish. I could see them doing that, as these fish were GIANT, like, the size of a small child. They were SO overfed. Usually, koi fish will eat and eat and eat, even if they aren't hungry. THESE fish, were SO past not hungry, that they were ignoring the food. It was really surprising. I'd never seen koi fish NOT want food.

We went back to our ryokan and met the lady responsible for us. She asked us to teach her English, as EVERYONE does in Japan, and then asked us all our ages. The funniest was when Brad said he was 27, and she was all "EHHHHHH??? MITANAI YO!!" ( Whaaaaaat? You don't look it!)

Went to the onsen, and all the old ladies stared, smile and gestured at us, as usual. Nice onsen, overlooking everything.

At dinner, we had a bunch of ladies serving us, as though they all wanted a chance to talk to us, like we were an attraction ^_^ Being a foreigner in Japan is a lot like being a celebrity. If you want to know what it's like to be stared at all the time and admired all the time, and talked to (or shied away from) Japan is the place to try it out. Speaking of which, during dinner, we had this little boy and girl peeping over at us from the next section, and every time we looked, they hid. So cute ^_^

Dinner was like, a billion courses long. Started at 7pm and didn't finish until 8:45. I ate about half of what I got… perhaps a little more. It wasn't so much that it was weird traditional food, it was that I was SO FULL after eating SO SLOWLY that it was nearly impossible to finish everything. The servers spent the whole night trying to get us to teach them the names of things in English. And each lady that came through said "Nihongo, jouzu desu ne!" (you're so good at Japanese, huh!), which I denied vehemently each time b/c my spoken Japanese SUUUCKS.

After diner, there was MOCHI POUNDING! YUUUUUM! Delicious green mochi! They wanted all of us to pound, which was really cute. The counting guy wanted Hannah to pound a little more, so he kept counting "three. Three. Three" to her, and on the third "three" she realized what he was up to and started laughing. When we all got our mochi, all the guests wanted to know if it was tasty! (as though we'd never eaten it before) and we were all "of course it's tasty!" Got back to our rooms, and our futons were put out and made up for us! So awesome ^_^

Monday morning, we woke up, had a Japanese style breakfast (fishies for breakfast! Great miso tho) but I didn't eat much b/c I wasn't that hungry (too early). We got on the train that took us to the Shinkansen station. When we got on the shink, we weren't sure we were on the right one, but every time I tried to check on my phone, we hit a tunnel. And there were lots of tunnels. So tons of ear popping >_<>

We got to the hostel, dropped our bags off. Grabbed lunch, then went to the Genbaku dome (A-bomb dome) which is the only building they left from the bombing. We saw the hypocenter, where the bomb went off, and then headed over to the museum where were were inundated with SAD T_T I never thought I'd ever see this stuff in person, so it was very shocking and moving. I think I was the most moved when I realized I was actually there.

We got home and discovered a TERMITE INVASION!!! I was able to identify them, as my family had termite issues when I was young. We went out to dinner. While riding on the streetcars, a ton of kids giggled at us, were surprised when we spoke Japanese (they kept saying "sorry" for being in the way, and when we replied with "iiyo" and "daijoubu" they were all "EHHHHHHHHH???" So the spent the whole rest of the ride recalling all the English they knew and giggling wildly.

Went to dinner in the okonomiyaki town at a place that made it into "lonely planet." Hiroshimayaki is YUM YUM YUM. Too bad I couldn't eat it all. I really must learn to MAKE okonomiyaki ^_^ We found an ice cream place after that was a lot like cold stone. I had chocolate, coconut and almonds. I must try that again sometime. Rode the streetcar back, went to bed.

Tuesday, up early! Got on streetcar, took a ferry across to Miyajima. Got to the island, walked some more, took trams and gondolas to the top-ish, then hiked to the real top. Saw the fire that hasn't been put out in 1200 years (which also lit the peace park fire). Nearly died from smoke inhalation in the 15 seconds we were in there. Saw tons of little cute deer, but no monkeys. Bought things, and then hiked to the real top. Looked all around. Went back down, ate some yummy faire food (French fries and ice cone things), saw some cats. Then we hit up the floating shrine. Very cool. Bought more things (I think I spent most my money at shrines. Good thing I love Shintoism ^_^ ). I have a ton of good luck charms and such. I had to pick up a health one too ^_^;;;

Walked back, headed all the way back to the hostel, grabbed our things, headed to the train station and headed home. Then we died of tired.

And that was golden week.

On how Japanese ATMs are significantly better

2010-04-05T20:35:00.001-07:00

Man, they're awesome. No, seriously. Firstly, you can deposit COINS in them, which is awesome. Depositing money is a sinch, and it counts it all for you.

Then, there's the little book. You put it in and it prints out every transaction, so you have a record of everything in your hands. PLUS, if the page doesn't have anymore room for stuff to print, IT TURNS THE PAGE FOR YOU. DUDE, that is cool.

In other news, I'm finally picking up my Japanese studies. And by studies I mean watching anime, reading at least a chapter of manga a night, and going through all the kanji ever, writing them in a book. It takes time, but it's really fun.

Spring is here, at least today. It's sunny, warm (almost 70 degrees out, I think), I'm in a tee-shirt and the sakura trees are blooming. (makes me think of okami...). I really need to get out and take some pictures around town. Hopefully the weather will be nice this weekend and I can bike to the river and get pictures. Then maybe hit up the book off again, or something ^_^

In anime land: Natsume Yuujinchou is really, really good. Everyone should see it. Finished Toradora, Kuroshituji (meh, the manga was better), and Kobato (cute, even though the manga is totally different). My reading pace has picked up, I can now watch anime OTHER than conan while drawing (my listening is better!). I just need to get through all the anime I'm behind on before I get bored again and go on hiatus ^_^;;;

Looking forward to vacation at the end of the month! Very exciting ^_^

Hope you all are well ^_^

Kyoto Trip!

2010-03-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

FINALLY I posted all the pictures. Head over here to check them out!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Enjoy!

Darn rain! Trying to kill me again!

2010-02-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

Weather apparently hates me everywhere.

So, essentially, I have a class in Okazaki, about 15-20 minutes away. It's pouring outside and windy, so I gear myself up for a somewhat bothersome drive, but don't really think about it.

Until I try to go the speed limit and some JERK decides "Hey, we're all blind, why don't I ride the tail of the car in front of me". This car he decides to tail gate is me, of course. when I finally get him off my tail, I'm happy but I can't see very well still. This is not helped by the fact that the stretch of road that I'm on has no street lights. So, it's raining, I'm blind and the street is pitch black.

That's when I hit the puddles of doom. Seriously. Remember how Japan has stairs of death? Their puddles are also death. The roads are pretty old so they accumulate these HUGE deep puddles that go way out into the street and sometimes you have to swerve into oncoming traffic to not be drowned in them. So I hit one of THESE puddles. The car feels like I've hit something and the water gushing over the windshield makes me wonder if I've somehow managed to drive into a lake. I go WAH! then calm down, right in time...to hit ANOTHER one. I hit three on the way to juku.

The drive back was better. The rain had let up a little in spots, but the wind was having a field day. I could actually feel the car rocking when I stopped at lights and the rain was blowing sideways. At least I had no one behind me most the way home.

I fear what a typhoon is going to be like....

Ponderings

2010-02-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

So, out of all my pictures, I only have Kyoto left to post on Facebook. and hopefully, I'll get that done before my next vacation, that will probably lead to MORE pictures that I'll have no time to post ^_^;;;

I'm thinking that I'm not posting as much here as I thought because, well, things in Japan just aren't as surprising to me. Maybe I studied enough, or got acclimated to all the parts I didn't know before but... I feel pretty much at home here. Even though my spoken Japanese SUCKS PANTS, I remember enough to get around. You know, in stores and such. I can't have an in depth conversation on, well, anything, but I can get around. I'm learning numbers a lot better, for one. But, even though I still get stares when I go out and even though I look different from most everyone here, I don't feel any more out of place than when I moved away to college, or lived in Madison. So yes. Things that seem normal in my eyes may be totally fascinating for some of you people, so I shall attempt to explain a few things that feel normal and boring to me. And I'll try to write things down more often ^_^;;; ( didn't buy a notebook until after I went on trips, so I'll have to use it next time I travel.

Mostly, my weeks consist of being cold, teaching, cross stitching, reading or drawing, driving to classes and teaching some more and eating food.

I will note that the pizza here has this strange need to always have corn on it. I mean, jeez, corn is great, but it's not THAT great. Needless to say, the pizza buns (which are AWESOME) also have corn in them. The Japanese really love corn.

Also, hilarious note, I was at juku last night and some how something sounded like "tin" to them, to which someone yelled "Tintin" and I started drawing him on the board. They all DIED of laughter, it was great.

Going to a party tomorrow night, with other foreigners! It will be so exciting. New friends! ^___^

High school classes

2010-02-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

Last day of high school classes! So sad! They were, by far, the high point of my last 4 weeks. In fact, I was having so much fun, that I even forgot the homesickness that was starting to build! It really cheered me up and made life a lot more fun.

So, the class today was questions for me and a game. From both classes, I got: "What's your favorite type of man". HEHEHEH. There was one girl who wanted to ask me how many kids I planned to have, but she didn't manage to ask (it was on her paper). There was another girl who asked me what the words of Brad's proposal were. I bet they were disappointed by how un-romantic it was (Brad is very practical, thus he was very practical in asking me). I got the usual "what's your favorite food, do you like Japan or America better, where's your favorite place to travel in Japan, etc. They determined that I was a "Rekishijo" or history girl (a girl who likes history- it's a thing now in Japan). We played the game, that was fun.

Then, after pictures, at the end of the second class, the first class came in and presented me with flowers! I was so surprised! A potted plant for me to take care of, oh deeeear ^_^;;; Ma, help! But the class rep gave a speech thanking me for coming and saying that my English was very easy to learn, and if I wasn't understandable, it was ok b/c my Japanese was so good. (ha). But yes! They want me to come back again ^__^

I really think I'm in my element there. I don't know what it is, though it's probably idea of having coworkers to talk to between classes and all the students… turns out I'm more of a social butterfly than I thought. Who knew?? ^____^

Here are the pictures. I was going to post them here, but Blogger has the STUPIDEST way of handling pictures, so I said screw it and posted them on FB.

So, enjoy! Picture link here

Various other sets of pictures

2010-02-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures from around Nishio:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028992&id=49201285&l=f96332750a

Pictures from Rice pounding:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028994&id=49201285&l=40961b8118

And pictures from my Birthday!:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028996&id=49201285&l=30ff7b1cbe

Enjoy!

Winter in Kobe pictures

2010-02-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures that go with the Kobe entry. Enjoy!

Kobe Pictures

Pictures!

2010-01-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-17T23:24:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

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!

Little things

2009-12-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

Why Japan will turn me into a terrible driver:

People don't slow down at yellow lights. No, they speed up. Also, some turn signals for those going straight go red, but the people turning right get more time so they get out of the intersection. But not always. Soooooo, this leads to accidental turning on reds. Is very confusing. Thus, Japan is teaching me that Yellow means GUN IT! ^_^;;;

Also, people in Illinois and places with road tolls. Yeah, the tolls are annoying. But at least you're not in Japan. Tolls here are anywhere from 20$ to 60$. At one toll place. I'm not kidding. It's crazy. What do they DO with the money??? It doesn't need to go to roads, they're fine.

Looking forward to this weekend, I will get to see friends, see the Nishio Castle and get a tour of a tea factory! Classes are going well, so far Monday is my favorite day as I have some REALLY awesome students on that day.

I also unfortunately have another story idea, but no time to write. Darn you creative brain!

And for amusement, not related to Japan: http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2009/12/graphis-undetectable-comping.html

Quick post

2009-12-03T19:45:00.002-08:00

STILL waiting to get internet. Anytime from now to 3 weeks from now (jerks).

Anyway, thought I'd post a picture, or at least a link to one, just to give you all an idea on how things are here ^_^

http://triaelf9.deviantart.com/art/Gift-Japanese-House-145642079

Enjoy!

Saturday Nov 28th

2009-11-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

We finally went to sushi today! 105 yen sushi, whooo! Three of us ate for under 20$. There was this awesome toy machine that had little Wii toys: a mini wii, mini wiimote, mini wii games…I WANT THEM ALLLLLL.

While waiting to go into the restaurant, since it was a bit busy, we ran over to the bookstore nearby. WHERE THERE WAS A NEW YOTSUBA BOOK. I about died of happiness. I also got the new Potemayo book and finished off my collection of Chi's sweet home. Brad got Tsubasa book 28.

Went to a party at Julie's house, had lots of fun and lots of food.

Sooo, my birthday is next Wendesday, but I dunno how it's going to go. Doubt there'll be a party or anything. Ah well ^_^

That's it for now! I'll go over Ise once I get internets, so I can show PICTURES!

On Japanese food and other stuff

2009-11-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

Japanese food is very interesting. It seems to be a bit hit or miss. For example, the milk here is incredible as is most of the candy, meat and crackers. But then there are some wierd soggy crackers that worry me.

But what I really want to talk about is the salad dressing. Specifically the roasted sesame salad dressing. You know that amazing dressing that some Japanese restaurants have in the states that you wished they put MORE of on the salad and when you finished the salad you were all, damn, I finished it? That's this dressing. And like many Japanese candies, it's apparently filled with CRACK. Because seriously, I can't stop eating it. Even more than usual, I look for an excuse to eat salad. BRAD looks for any excuse to eat salad. This stuff is ADDICTING. And delicious. And AWESOME. Also, the "M&M's" here are very much like the British Smarties, only the candy on the outside is sweet. YUM!

Japanese Television is pretty interesting too. Part of me was surprised that there isn't a channel that plays anime all the time, but then I realized that we had to pay for that channel. Ah well, at least I caught Laputa on TV and Detective Conan. And Fairy Tail. And Brad saw Bleach the other day. There was this one ad though that sticks with me...

It's a Christmas ad. And there's a cat and a duck on the roof of a house. And they dance, then they slip! And fall off into the snow. And then out of the snow pops…

A cat duck. (nekoda-ku!)

Yes.

Apparently it's an aflack ad.

Ah yes, we watched the news and there was this bit where some guy was apologizing about pensions failing or something. The News reporter said: Nihon Kokuu. Now, for those of you who don't speak Japanese, Nihon is Japan and Koku is country. (not Kokuu, keep in mind). So Brad and I, hearing "Kokuu" think "The country of Japan?? The ...pensions are failing? Why us the head of a company telling us that?" Then we realized, oh KOKUU...AIRLINE company. JAL is losing pensions. Oh Japan and its similar sounding words. Like, shinju and shinjuu. One is pearl, the other is double suicide. Whoops!

But yeah. So things are going well, classes are getting better. I hope they keep going well!

Thursday 19th

2009-11-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a very nice night out with a friend of Thia's and a student. We went to a restaurant that is very new age and not tooo Japanese (a bit like brewed awakenings). We had croquettes and "pizza." Also, tasty garlic fries with KETCHUP. God, I hadn't realized how much I missed ketchup. They also had Tom and Jerry cartoons playing on a screen (the old ones). It was fun to watch them again.

Today, we went to lunch with the owner of the Okazaki juku at a place called "Louisiana Mama" which was a place with Italian food and a southern American atmosphere. Very weird combination, but GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD pizza. And they have fondue, which I MUST try next time. After, we stopped by a candy store and I tried to get candies I've never tried before, so I could try them out.

Then we got a call from City Hall.

WE HAVE OUR ALIEN REGISTRATION CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

We ran straight to Softbank to get the iPhone, but they told us they they've been out of the cheap phones for a WHILE now. (jerks for not telling us). So we went over to Docomo, as out next cheapest option is now the google phone, cheaper than the cheapest Softbank phone. They took our info and have to run it all (to make sure we're not sketchy or some crap) and then they'll call us back.

And then we got our phones. Google phones! Woo hoo!

A few things...

2009-11-16T02:26:00.000-08:00

So a few things over the last few days (aside from mostly taking Sunday off to draw and watch terrible reality shows and some anime).

At Lawrence, the tornado alarm would go off at noon every Saturday, as a test. We took to calling it "happy noon" and whenever it went off, we would all yell "happy noon!"

Japan sorta has the same thing. In Okazaki, there is a siren that goes off at 9pm for a minute or so, so I whisper to myself "happy 9pm" and Nishio has a little tune and announcement that plays at 5, which, as I've mentioned, Brad and I have yet to decode (it's very echoey), which has become "happy 5pm". Heheh.

One of the kids at Okazaki (it's the oldest class, essentially seniors in High school) is kinda…not the best behaved. But when I was telling them my favorite food was soba, he yelled out "You're not American, you should like HAMBURGERS" which explains OH so much about the stereotypes in hetalia ^_^;;;;

We recently got "4.4" milk, which I'm assuming is 4.4% milk, but I could be wrong. In any case, it is very delicious. YUM!

We went out to okonomiyaki at a local place and *DROOOOOOL* it was AMAZING. And totally awesome to watch them do it (we sat at the big main grill and all). It totally brought back memories of Ranma 1/2 and Ukyo ^_^

Today, I went to a student's house to teach, she lives a little way away, so Brad and Thia took the car (Thia went with me to check that I knew the way) and they went shopping while I was in class. Then when they came back, Brad presented me with some flowers he'd bought while he was out! How shocking! It was so surprised ^_^

I've been feeling a bit drained lately, but I suspect anemia is the culprit, so we had meat for dinner. We'll see if I can actually get out of bed tomorrow morning (unlike this morning). Hopefully, internet at some point soon. We either need alien registration cards to get it, or a phone line. We have access to a phone line, but might need to pay for it. Soooo, we'll see. When we get it, hopefully I'll be able to put pictures up for you all to see! I have some great pictures of the amazing spiders that live in Japan. They're frikkin' giant and have the weirdest shapes and the oddest colors. As long as they stay OUTSIDE, I think we'll get along just fine.

That's it for me!

A bunch of days

2009-11-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

Otherwise title as, "boy, I need internet"

Tuesday:

Well, Hiromi took us shopping in Okazaki at this HUGE mall called Aeon. No relation to the English teaching company. We got the last few things we needed, including a vacuum cleaner, and then rushed back for class at one. At 8:30 I went with Julie to Okazaki juku (cram school) for classes, which will be once a month. However, it was POURING the whole way there and back, and it was night, so I didn't really learn the way ^_^;;; Thia and I got hungry on the way back, so we stopped by Moss Burgers which, well, lets just say they love their tomato sauce. And onions. Great fries though.

In other news, there are STILL mosquitoes and they find me delicious. No seriously. We've had two in the apartment so far and I have 4 bites and Brad has…you guessed it, NONE. GRRR. Stupid bugs. I'm reacting to the bites a little worse here than at home, maybe b/c the mosquitoes are so damn HUGE here.

Despite the lack of an alien registration card, we've at least decided on what phone we're getting and what company we're going with. Each company has the exact same prices for everything, so really it's about choosing the phone we want. Docomo has the google phone, which is cool, but it's not for free. Not like the iPhone. Softbank has the iPhone and, with this new deal they have, the 8gb phone is FREE. And I don't mean, free on the spot, but you pay for it over your contract, no, totally free. Which then lead to the following statement: "well, if we want the cheapest phone, we should go with the iPhone." Which really amuses me, especially since the iPhone is so expensive at home. But here, totally cheap compared to the other phones. We're really tempted by the google phone, but it does cost money and we're pretty positive we can hack the iPhone so we can take it home and use it with AT&T.

Wednesday, we hope to get to the bank (which we can do with just a passport: hurrah!) Turns out, with the dollar being so weak, investing in Yen is the right decision now ^_^

Anyway, that's it for Tuesday!

Wednesday:

It's still raining and I'm still itchy. Japanese pens are great though! So thin and easy to read when you write with them.

It took a while to get bank stuff worked out. First we went to the Nishio Bank (nishishin) but they wouldn't give us an account until we'd lived in Japan for 6 months. Which is bullshit, of course. So we went across the street and asked to get an account at THAT bank. All they needed was proof of residence, so we went back to city hall (begged them to get us the alien registration card earlier) and got the paper. I then went to class and Brad worked out the bank stuff. We now have a bank account and Cash cards! (essentially debit cards). Two of the girls at the school have the swine flu, so they didn't come for classes which meant I had to fall back on flash cards. Then, the Okazaki juku class was a bit…rowdy. I hear Thursday's is even worse. Joy.

Thursday, is driving time. Well, that's it for now.

Thursday:

Went driving. AHHHHH. I think I'm doing ok, I'm mostly staying on the correct side of the road…I did hit a curb though T_T

We went to the book-off. Some of the Conan books are 105 yen, but the others are 250. So, I think once I get my paycheck, I'll go to the book off, grab them all for 105 yen, then go to the book store near us, who sells them for 200 yen, and get the rest. Ha HA! My clever plan. Otherwise, just classes and the last Okazaki class for today left. Things are starting to follow a pattern. Hopefully we'll get TV soon and internet (very important!).

Anyway, that's it for today, will post more later.

Monday again

2009-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Is has been a week! Wowza! here's monday's report:

Got up, hung around, read some manga. Then we went cell phone hunting with Hiromi. Annoyingly enough, (as we suspected) we will be unable to get one until we get our alien registration card. And that goes for pretty much everything else important.

Afterwards, we went to the mall and picked up some groceries. May I just state that JAPANESE MILK IS AWESOME. It's just like milk in Europe, so extra deliciously creamy! We stopped by the bookstore so I could pick up a few books that I couldn't find at the used book store. There a Japanese old lady walked up and said…something to us. Boy do old Japanese people talk funny. Didn't help that she was muttering. I suspected she was saying "is it ok, those books are in Japanese" but Brad thought she said something about it being cold out (I was wearing a t-shirt). Whatever it was, when she asked "daijoubu" (are you ok) we just answered "ee, daijoubu" (yes, we're fine) since we couldn't see anything immediately wrong with us, especially nothing she could help us with. I made a fool of myself at the bookstore, asking for some books, since I ran into the issue I always have when talking to Japanese people in Japanese: I freeze up and all my Japanese goes out one ear. I can understand them, I just can't TALK to them. Is very frustrating. I've finally gotten used to our landlord and his wife, so I'm able to remember more grammar around them and not totally freeze up. I guess I'm just so eager to NOT butcher their language that my brain starts yelling "DON'T SAY ANYTHING! IF NOTHING COMES OUT, YOU WON'T SAY ANYTHING STUPID!" But then I look like a moron, nodding away, but not saying anything. Ah well.

Class went well tonight. One of the students (a high schooler) LOVES detective conan! We chatted about it and about how they butchered it in the US. Perhaps I can work in detective conan into lessons :P For the doctor's class, they asked me to give them vocab that is good for ordering in resturants, for introducing patients to doctors in other countries and "date vocab". The last one should be fun. But any ideas? I was thinking "I'd like my meat medium well" or something, since that's not something you hear in Japanese resturants. Mostly, I need answers to common waiter questions. I'll probably come up with more when I'm more awake ^_^

Well, that's Monday, on to Tuesday with LOTS of driving.

First full weekend in Japan

2009-11-09T02:20:00.000-08:00

So, Friday was full of many things, but nothing too dramatic. We finally bought a blanket big enough for the futon (warm and TOASTY!), we bought hanten (traditional coats for inside…or outside maybe) and I picked up some Japanese Bubblicious bubble gum which tastes exactly like the ramune candy. Also, hilariously, the wrappers say "Cadbury's" on them which totally confuses me (bubblicious = American gum, Cadbury's = British chocolate). Yeah. In any case, got some time on the internet and grabbed a few shows that I missed in the states for watching later (wooo) and then went strait into classes starting at 1. BOY that was a trip. Classes from 1-2, 4:30-6:30, 7:30-9:30 (there are many classes in there, I'm just giving you the blocks of time I'm at the school). Luckily it turned out that two boys didn't have class, so we were able to run out and grab dinner (my first REAL ramen!). After dinner, we ran to the cake shop and I grabbed a slice of strawberry shortcake. Good, but not as tasty as Mitsuwa (I don't think they put kiersh in the cake. Sad times!).

Saturday we offered to help Sheon and Naomi, Thia's daughters clean out their father's house where they'll be moving in. It's VERY cluttered, but they said we're welcome to anything they can't keep and I figured, why not help out in exchange!

It was very fun work and their father was kind enough to treat us to lunch midway through. We managed to get two bookshelves and an electric bike out of it all, so all in all, a good day. There were also highly amusing moments like taking doors apart and smashing down a wall. We came back home eventually and had dinner and then watched stuff. Nice slow day compared to the weekdays ^_^

Sunday was another shopping day. We ran all over town trying to find a not OUTARIOUSLY overpriced TV. (most places had 19 inch screens for 800-900$. It was ridiculous!) We finally found one, a 22 inch for 300$, not bad! Now comes the joyous fun of trying to connect to the local television programs. Wheee.

We also went to the local used bookstore: right across the street! I must also mention that that's a DANGEROUS place for it to be with me and my book buying habit. Brad's making me wait until I get my first paycheck to buy them out. Heh, no, just kidding. But yeah, I still really want all the rest of Detective Conan. That's 44 books, or so, so about 60$ probably (the old books are only 100 yen each.) But it's better to buy them in yen instead of dollars converted to yen, so we don't lose money. Thus, the waiting (even if they have SOOO many other books that I want!).

Sunday night there was a party for us at the school. We met soooo many nice people and ate sooo much awesome food! (This one lady made the BEST chocolate cake.) Monday we plan to practice driving (EHEHEH ack) and perhaps go ask about cell phone contracts (we really need our own!) We also need a bank account. Hopefully our Landlord can help us find out what we need to do about that. Mostly, so we can pay him! Then, I teach classes by myself. I hope I do well!

Thursday Nov 5th

2009-11-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

(labeling the posts with the ACTUAL date it is here in Japan since this blog won't let me change the time to what it is here...)

This morning we wake up to a less freezing house, since we were able to get the aircon/heater to work last night. After breakfast we hung up MORE laundry (this time, no spraying problems!) Then we see that the electrical people have come and they're doing…something to the utility poles. Hanging more wires or something. But the hilarious part is, as they're doing this, the guy on the ground feeding wires to his buddy above is just standing there smoking. Something about their work, and then watching him just stand around and casually have a cigarette was just really hilarious.

We also put out the moerugomi (burnable trash) today. On the days that the moerugomi goes out, these two black cats go nosing around, pawing at the green net covering the trash. It's so cute! Next time, I'll get a picture.

Yesterday we went to City Hall to get our alien registration card. We spent a good long time deciphering the ladies (Brad did, mostly, I just stared blankly trying to remember my governmental vocab). Amusingly enough, there are more Brazilians in the area, so the pamphlets are written in Portuguese and Japanese and very rarely in English. So, we managed to get health insurance and get the process started for the cards (we have to wait until the 27th or so to get the actual card, which probably means no phones or internet until then. Boo.

In any case, classes were interesting yesterday, I got a bunch of younger kids who know a lot less English. So that was fun. The NyQuil is amazing for getting to sleep, but not so amazing for the drowsy hangover the next day.

Today we intend to do some more shopping, then classes later.

That's it for now!

-Elaine

Wednesday adventures

2009-11-03T23:44:00.000-08:00

Today we did laundry. This was hindered by the fact that the hose kept spraying everywhere when water went through it, so breakfast was punctuation by moments of *pshhhh* "Brad it's spraying again!" "I've got it, I've got it!" and the he would run off and babysit the washing machine which was dancing about on the balcony. We pulled everything out of the washer, proud of having a moderately successful laundry washing. Then Brad reaches into the bottom and pulls something out. "What's this?" he asks. I take a look at it and we both realize what it is. It's the little plastic piece that is used to connect the hose to the spigot so that the hose doesn't get loose and, you guessed it, spray everywhere. The whole time it was in the bottom of the washer. Whoops!

Monday afternoon we got the gas hooked up, after a bunch of shopping, which meant that we finally had hot water. It was a big disappointment that morning when I woke up, my lungs all bronchitis-y and all I wanted was a hot shower and all I got was coooold water. We got the hot water, and our gas stove all connected up by the nice gas man who then showed us how to run it. Brad then boiled water! He was very proud of himself. This morning (Wednesday) I made breakfast which consisted of VERY WARM THINGS since it had gotten SO COLD over the night and we wanted to warm up. Our sliding doors face the morning sun, mostly, so we opened the curtains and warmed the apartment up with the sun. Our little bay window gets afternoon sun, so it warms the place up for the night too! Very nice. So after a breakfast of scrambled eggs and tea, we set about cleaning the apartment up and getting everything situated. It's now really feeling like home!

Otherwise, work is going well, I'm really getting the hang of things and all the students are so NICE! Not to mention Thia and Hiromi are so amazingly helpful, showing us around and taking us places. Things I'm really enjoying about Japan: Kotatsu, baths and futons. The kotatsu is just as AWESOME as I suspected. Our bath is just…WOW. So relaxing. Hard to get out and go to bed afterwards, all I want to do is stay in it! And the futon we got is sooooo comfy. We're still looking for quite a few things, but we'll get everything soon. Liz will appreciate this: when we have the bedroom set up for guests, the room is essentially one GIANT bed.

The nights are very cold, especially since we didn't know that our Air conditioner also was a heater. It was at the point last night where I woke up coughing and realizing I hadn't taken my NyQuil (thank you so much, Chris, for the box of cold medication! It's come in handy) and as soon as I stuck my hand out from under the blanket I yanked it back in and thought "screw that, I'll just lie here and cough." But aside from that, things have been going quite well. No idea when we'll get internet up in our place, but, boy will I be happy when we do!

That's it for us here for now,

Elaine out!

Here, in Japan!

2009-11-03T01:49:00.001-08:00

So, despite a cold that I managed to catch right before leaving the flight was mostly uneventful. I watched a bunch of movies and didn't get anything else done ^_^;;;

We arrived and crashed. Didn't even have enough energy to get to the store and get FOOD! The next day (monday) we went shopping, big time. We got a nice futon and pad and stuff. and cooking things. Hiromi was kind enough to show us around and even take us out to lunch, even though I couldn't taste still (though I could taste the kitsune in the kitsune udon ^_^ ). Brad was nice enough to draw me a bath for when I got home from work and BOY was it amazing. Seriously, anyone having problems sleeping, just get a Japanese bath.

In any case, class time, must run! Will update later!

Leeeaving

2009-10-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

So, we leave tomorrow. I keep thinking I've forgotten to pack something! We're taking less that I took to college though, which is a good sign. My mom and I found her yen from her trip, so I have a bit of spending money. We bought gifts so we're mostly set.

That's about it, just gotta get through this day without imploding from worry about checking in tomorrow and security.

bye for now!

Before Leaving

2009-10-21T15:27:00.001-07:00

This is where I will be posting any and all updates on my travels in Japan. I might not have internet for a little while at first, but as soon as I have it, I will keep everyone updated.
Stay tuned!