hello! i suck at updating i know, but seriously i can:t find a free minute! i:m sacraficing my udon noodles with nori to write this on my lunch break! well, where to begin? i started teaching on my own this week and it:s been wonderful. i:m actually liking teaching teenagers a lot more than i thought i would. the sweet, well behaved classes make up for the crazy ones. when they said these kids were :genki: they weren:t kidding! it:s like watching a rubber ball ping off the wall for 50 minutes and i:m standing there in the middle, half teacher, half entertainer, trying to get them to learn some vocab. ahahaha, it:s really fun though. i:m hella slow at making up my lesson plans but i:m sure i:ll be churning them out in ten minutes in no time flat. right now it takes me like an hour to get one done.
last weekend mizuko-sensei and i went out for lunch at a cute italian restaurant. note to self: you may love the taste of curry (or should i say ka- ray) but your colon begs to differ!! hahaha. there was a small park witha f ree market and a hgih school band playing beside the restaurant so we checked that out. some of the parks here are very long and skinny. in the days of old when there were castles, they would build square moats around them as a means of protection. many of these still exist but they have been filled in and are now parks. it looks kinds funny cuz you walk the length of the park and oops, where ya gonna go? turn around and trot back... then we took a drive into the mountains. my head felt like exploding, it was some serious Care Bear altitude! at the very top of this mountain was a beautiful tea room which offfered an amazing view of Iwaki. after the clouds cleared we got a good look at my new home. i learned how to read *mint tea* in katakana. i:m learning slowly but surely. actually next week i am going to get a volunteer japanese tutor. and this sunday i am meeting JOanna:s old caligraphy teacher who is going to teach me about Ja. culture, like caligrpahy, tea ceremony, etc. i cna:t watit o meet her, she sounds really neat. she:s two month pregnant `oh i must tell you, i am pregnant so my belly will be getting bigger!` hmm... thanks!
this monday Michelle, Manager, and I are going out to Manager:s friend:s sushi restaurant for lunch and then HOPEFULLY if it:s nice out - to the BEACH!"!! yaaaay!!! this upcoming monday is Respect for the Aged day which is a holiday but doens:t matter much to me cuz i have mondays off anyway. howEVA, the following Tuesday is the Autumn Equinox which i DO have off so you know what that means... WEEKEND TRIP TO TOKYO!!!
last monday CHima-sensei and i hung out together. chima is really cool, down to earth, and she:s young too- only 21. curiously enough, she lived in Winnipeg for a year (what are the odds?!) we went to her favourite noodle restaurant, the same one i went to on my first night here. then we went to the beach and i thought i had died and gone to heaven at the sight of the Pacific Ocean. i love water, esp oceans. they:re so vast and mysterious and really move me. but what do you expect, i:m a water sign! we climbed up this huge red tower near the Marine Tower and had an amazing 360 view of the ocean, iwaki, and the mountains. after spending time talking and riding the coolest longest slide i:ve ever ridden on in my life (think one minute of sliding on those rollers at the beer store)! my butt was all tingly and warm after- it was a curious feeling! then we booted over to Aquamarine Fukushima and spent the rest of the afternoon surrounded by stingrays, starfish, giant crab, walruses (walri?), giant turtles, sea otters, seals, and tropical fish of flo yellow, magenta, and turquoise. and jellyfish! i totally want a jellyfish as a pet!
oh, i figured out how to use my shower- DUH! you stand outside the bathtub and if you look up you see a high hook for teh shower head. ah, the happiness of a new discovery.
oh, last week one of my student:s parents invited Joanna and i out for dinner. this student is the most adorable thing, her name is marina and she:s 4. i have a private lesson with her. we met them at their grandparnents rest. not far from work and oh my stars, the feast that beheld! of course they had already eaten so all the plates of food they brought out were for us. ahhh, everything tastes better here! we had.. let:s see... chicken skewers, beef skewers (well, i THOT they were beef, and later discovered i had eaten pigs tongue), cheese wrapped in ham and batter, sashimi, rice balls with miso, rice balls with sesame, miso soup, chicken ligaments, octopus, tofu, tempura, umeboshi plums, and of coruse, ice cream. it was very enjoyable to spend time with a japanese family, and learn some new words. they got a kick out of the catch phrases that i have learned in japanese!
the following night it was joanna:s last night in town so we all went out for dinner at a korean grill-like restaurant. more food! there were long tables where you kneel and there:s a grill in the middle and they bring out plates of mochi, cheese stuffed green peppers, fishcakes wrapped in bacon, mushrooms, mushrooms wrapped in bacon, shrimp and octopus skewers, tomatoes, cow:s tongue, quail eggs, and onions and you grill them up yourself. it:s a really relaxing way to eat dinner.
i:m about to bike back to work. oh yea, bike! i feel SOOOo Cameron Diaz (sthg @ mary) riding a bike all over in a skirt! i have a beautiful white bike with a black basket in the front and a pedal^powered light. but before i go, a list!
Could Japan be Cuter???
^ the news talks about scientific developments, not that war/death/violence smut
^ escalators start when you step on them (to save power)
^ i have a small sink on the back of my toilet tank where i wash my hands after i go with the water that will be filtered into the bowl
^ there:s a button you can press in public bathrooms that makes a gurgling sound so you can:t hear ppl peeing and others can:t hear you (girls, how perfect is that?!)
^ you can buy ANYTHING at 7-11, and i mean anything!
^ most businesses have a blobby lil cartoon character as their mascot
OH!!! one more thing! i got my alien registration card yestyerday so i will be getting my keitai (cell phone) soon and will be emailing you picutres of my place and iwaki!!
last weekend mizuko-sensei and i went out for lunch at a cute italian restaurant. note to self: you may love the taste of curry (or should i say ka- ray) but your colon begs to differ!! hahaha. there was a small park witha f ree market and a hgih school band playing beside the restaurant so we checked that out. some of the parks here are very long and skinny. in the days of old when there were castles, they would build square moats around them as a means of protection. many of these still exist but they have been filled in and are now parks. it looks kinds funny cuz you walk the length of the park and oops, where ya gonna go? turn around and trot back... then we took a drive into the mountains. my head felt like exploding, it was some serious Care Bear altitude! at the very top of this mountain was a beautiful tea room which offfered an amazing view of Iwaki. after the clouds cleared we got a good look at my new home. i learned how to read *mint tea* in katakana. i:m learning slowly but surely. actually next week i am going to get a volunteer japanese tutor. and this sunday i am meeting JOanna:s old caligraphy teacher who is going to teach me about Ja. culture, like caligrpahy, tea ceremony, etc. i cna:t watit o meet her, she sounds really neat. she:s two month pregnant `oh i must tell you, i am pregnant so my belly will be getting bigger!` hmm... thanks!
this monday Michelle, Manager, and I are going out to Manager:s friend:s sushi restaurant for lunch and then HOPEFULLY if it:s nice out - to the BEACH!"!! yaaaay!!! this upcoming monday is Respect for the Aged day which is a holiday but doens:t matter much to me cuz i have mondays off anyway. howEVA, the following Tuesday is the Autumn Equinox which i DO have off so you know what that means... WEEKEND TRIP TO TOKYO!!!
last monday CHima-sensei and i hung out together. chima is really cool, down to earth, and she:s young too- only 21. curiously enough, she lived in Winnipeg for a year (what are the odds?!) we went to her favourite noodle restaurant, the same one i went to on my first night here. then we went to the beach and i thought i had died and gone to heaven at the sight of the Pacific Ocean. i love water, esp oceans. they:re so vast and mysterious and really move me. but what do you expect, i:m a water sign! we climbed up this huge red tower near the Marine Tower and had an amazing 360 view of the ocean, iwaki, and the mountains. after spending time talking and riding the coolest longest slide i:ve ever ridden on in my life (think one minute of sliding on those rollers at the beer store)! my butt was all tingly and warm after- it was a curious feeling! then we booted over to Aquamarine Fukushima and spent the rest of the afternoon surrounded by stingrays, starfish, giant crab, walruses (walri?), giant turtles, sea otters, seals, and tropical fish of flo yellow, magenta, and turquoise. and jellyfish! i totally want a jellyfish as a pet!
oh, i figured out how to use my shower- DUH! you stand outside the bathtub and if you look up you see a high hook for teh shower head. ah, the happiness of a new discovery.
oh, last week one of my student:s parents invited Joanna and i out for dinner. this student is the most adorable thing, her name is marina and she:s 4. i have a private lesson with her. we met them at their grandparnents rest. not far from work and oh my stars, the feast that beheld! of course they had already eaten so all the plates of food they brought out were for us. ahhh, everything tastes better here! we had.. let:s see... chicken skewers, beef skewers (well, i THOT they were beef, and later discovered i had eaten pigs tongue), cheese wrapped in ham and batter, sashimi, rice balls with miso, rice balls with sesame, miso soup, chicken ligaments, octopus, tofu, tempura, umeboshi plums, and of coruse, ice cream. it was very enjoyable to spend time with a japanese family, and learn some new words. they got a kick out of the catch phrases that i have learned in japanese!
the following night it was joanna:s last night in town so we all went out for dinner at a korean grill-like restaurant. more food! there were long tables where you kneel and there:s a grill in the middle and they bring out plates of mochi, cheese stuffed green peppers, fishcakes wrapped in bacon, mushrooms, mushrooms wrapped in bacon, shrimp and octopus skewers, tomatoes, cow:s tongue, quail eggs, and onions and you grill them up yourself. it:s a really relaxing way to eat dinner.
i:m about to bike back to work. oh yea, bike! i feel SOOOo Cameron Diaz (sthg @ mary) riding a bike all over in a skirt! i have a beautiful white bike with a black basket in the front and a pedal^powered light. but before i go, a list!
Could Japan be Cuter???
^ the news talks about scientific developments, not that war/death/violence smut
^ escalators start when you step on them (to save power)
^ i have a small sink on the back of my toilet tank where i wash my hands after i go with the water that will be filtered into the bowl
^ there:s a button you can press in public bathrooms that makes a gurgling sound so you can:t hear ppl peeing and others can:t hear you (girls, how perfect is that?!)
^ you can buy ANYTHING at 7-11, and i mean anything!
^ most businesses have a blobby lil cartoon character as their mascot
OH!!! one more thing! i got my alien registration card yestyerday so i will be getting my keitai (cell phone) soon and will be emailing you picutres of my place and iwaki!!
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