my feet are disgusting.

august 10th

today was a day of induction and orientation and a really stressful bus ride that i could do nothing about. of course it turned out that everything was fine. i did get on the right bus. i did not piss off my supervisor, even though i was 40 min late. she was totally cool about it. but from our discussion at dinner (murata-sensei mentioned that the principal was expecting me to teach more than monique, as she was sick and missed many days of school) that my predecessor screwed me royally. i figured that she wasn't leaving me with very high expectations to deal with at school, per her complaints about being bored, but shit. now they have high expectations just in that they want me to teach more because she was such a slacker. garg. i just don't know. this just sounds like another pile of shit. and of course i'm writing this after a very long day so it seems even shitty. gawd i'm so negative. it's just so frustrating. i think i need some stress free monk time.



post-stress free monk:
so thursday (the 10th) was not a great day by the end. i had to take a bus downtown to attend the induction ceremony for the BOE (board of education) and an orientation on teaching and some basics about getting settled in japan and policies about being a JET. the induction was about 40 min, pretty short, but me and the rest of the women were all wearing new shoes and dying in them. we had to stand and bow a lot and say 'hi' and ' arigato gozaimashita'. my first of many ceremonies. next was meeting people at the BOE, which meant walking up and down stairs and standing there, some one says something official, we bow and then walk out. its all very interesting (and painful for my angry feet). this was followed by lunch. we went to vietnamese food near by (on the sixth floor not eighth) and there was a mad dash for buffet food after more speeches and then an awkward meal with a japanese BOE member. the great thing about this was i got to talk to more of the JETs one, guy, matt from the u.k., approached me, saying he had meant to do so earlier, and we starting talking and joking around. nice guy. this was followed by the orientation which had some useful info and games for students. finally we're done and dob (one of the second years) leads us to find the post office for kate and the lawsons so matt can buy concert tickets. next we go out to new york new york--a gaijin bar--for food and drinks. as i have dinner with my supervisor i just have a beer. its so damn cool how many different types of people i'm meeting. the second year at our table was from chicago, then there was a girl from south africa and a guy from jamaica. this part of JET makes me so happy. after a discussion of goals and what do you miss (yeah i'm still do myspace surveys, just live action style) a group of us wonder to the bus stop as to get home on time. well i don't wonder, i hobble horribly down the street. i have blisters and open wounds on my feet because i was a moron and chose to beat the heat by not wearing panty-hose with my skirt. soo not worth it. now my real stress of the day is as follows, i'm the bus center, say good-bye to everyone, see my bus off in the distance at stall #11 and make a run for it. i get on and then start to think, is this really the right bus? i had to be on something something 'c'. i could have read it wrong. i decide no i'm fine and when we hit traffic start writing letters. so stuck in traffic i'm realizing i don't recognize where i am and it's 7:00 (the time dinner starts at the murata-household) and the bus isn't moving. i'm so screwed. i don't have a phone. i'm really late. and i'm on the wrong bus. shit. i decide to breath slowly and just figure i'm on the part of the bus route i don't recognize. i'll be fiiine. which is of course true. i start seeing familar things, the bus is moving, and when i do finally get off (after pushing for the wrong stop, very rude) i get to dinner and murata-sensei is smiling and happy to see me with no complaints about the time. *sigh* a pleasant dinner, where i don't eat much follows and then i'm off to bed feeling cranky with monique. each day is a new and exciting day of stress.

shock and...culture...

august 9th



i'm sitting in my temporary apartment. definitely temporary for it is far from everything that i want to be near to which makes me of course more tired and depressed. in the end it will work out but it is one more thing to worry about. the first thing i did after murata-sensei left was strip out of my suit and put on the simplest coolest clothing i could think of. i am soo hot. its just insane. i'm sweating out of every pore. monique said it was bad but optimism told me not to believe her, "i'll be fine, i can handle anything". and yes i can handle it but i was already sick of it in portland. but anyways, murata-sensei is very very nice. her english is great! she already gave me a great gift of my hanka (signature stamp). it has two kanji on it that sound out to lewis (sorta) and it means owner of fort or small castle as she chose them. very cool. kakoii! this probably cost anywhere form $50 to $100, so gaa. very very nice. she is going to take me to the supermarket by bus to help me figure out how to do that tomorrow when i have to go to the BOE (board of education) induction ceremony. i feel bad and have no idea how to say that i am interested in looking at other apartments. this one is on the second floor. there is a dining room, tatami room/bedroom and bath. it is all filthy, not realy that bas but not the way i would expect any 'new' apartment to be. i can't believe that it wasn't cleaned before i got it, but it is cheap housing. the flight over here was bumpy. i sat next to a very nice girl, rose, from the u.k. she and i talked politics and background of each-other and boys. i'll see her tomorrow at the induction ceremony. i feel like it was a completely different day, but this morning i called mom. got to catch up on where i am and what's going on. i woke up around six and packed the little i still needed to and fed the myspace addiction. breakfast i finally figured out and ate mostly honey-do and french fries. i talked to a nice kid from hawaii who's going to gunen (i think). he'd been to hiroshima many times and loved it. we traded info. i checked out with my roommate, did all that stuff then took the bus to haneta airport. murata-sensei was the only one at the airport in hiroshima, which was great, and helped with my very heavy bag. we drove by the school and then to the apartment building. being two floors below her for this first bit is great but i just can't imagine staying here, but i think that will be okay. i just need to start looking and maybe come up with some money for key money (like a deposit but soo much more). now i'm going to run upstairs and give her omiyage (gifts) and hopefully take the bus out successfully. i'm so happy to be here, but i'm starting to get really nervous about all the details.

so i'm listening to moldy peaches-lucky number nine and i'm starting to feel okay. well kinda. murata-sensei is taking me out to dinner with her family. i'm very grateful. we went to the grocery store and i had no idea what to buy. i got some expensive fruit--although the bananas were still cheapest which is annoyingly useful. being environmentally and world conscious here is going to be a lot harder than in portland. i also got yogurt, again not organic, probably lots of sugar and artificial crap. japanese snacks. bottled water. and some bread. plus band-aids at the hyaku-en shop (dollar store) for my sad blistered and cut foot. (iron and wine came on and i miss the people who i used to listen to that with). the bus ride to and from the store was challenging just because i kept zoning out. i can definitely find it again but i'll have to pay attention. i'm feeling more negative now just because i'm realizing how little japanese i know and that maybe i shoulda studied before hand. then again i'm also realizing how much my host mom held my hand and how little i really had to do on my own. also i'm not going to have internet till i move of course but even then it'll probably take a month to set up. so this blog is probably very outdated. also calling people is very hard right now because i'm near anything. a pay phone is quite a walk and i won't have a cell phone or the amazingly cheap yahoo bb (ip phone) for quite some time. mad am i negative ned right now. i guess i'm in that part of the culture shock. the down i miss home stage. silly as that is being the forth day, but it feels like i've been here for at least a week.

dinner, it was good. murata-senei's husband is also a english teacher. they make a very attractive couple and their kids are cute, a little chubby, but cute. we went to the kind of place i'm always afraid to go to, but it was good. it as a resturant chain with a photo menu. i had cold udon with shredded radish and other very japanese stuff and a side of rice with tiny raw fish. too much food, but all good. they kindly paid and then took me to a su-pa (supermarket) so i could get an alarm clock. they were impressed that i opened the back seat for the kids wih out being asked and mr. murata bought me my clock. very nice! the whole time o was feeling off because of the beer with dinner, but it was good. we also looked at air conditioners, the cheapest was $500. i really don't want to pay that, but i might have to. then the rice cookers were around $50. we'll see about all this later. grr i wish i was in my permanent place. they then took me home and now i'm here (post-shower). murata-senei oned me a fan so i'm not totally dying but its probably still around 90F. i need to crash. another big day at the induction tomorrow.

the beginning of a time without internet.

august 8th
(wrote this after i left the fabulous 5 star hotel and decided to blob obsessively).



second day of the conference i decided that was not going to waste time at the sessions that really were repeating information. looking back i'm glad i didn't go to the female JET one because that was repeat information. but the independent study of japanese one seems much more useful now. oh well i should be able to find that info again easily. but the day went as such breakfast a little later than usual, around 8:15. i spent the time before that interneting and just getting ready. the first two sessions were on teaching in a high school. apparently everyone else's was crap, but mine was really useful. great info and fun games including the creation of an entertaining story based on a picture of a hiker near bushes and an angry snake (find story below). lunch was next wear we had pasta and i talked to a nice guy from the u.k. about the basics (where are you going, why are you doing JET, ect). i then escaped to mine room put on a cooler dress and ran in to my roommate, jan. i asked if she'd go with me to a bank or the post office to exchange travelers checks. we grabbed kathleen (who is from salem, sprague high) and headed out--skipping the first session. took a while but we found a bank with a good rate and kathleen and i exchanged our checks. jan ended up going back before us so as not to be late. i realize quite quickly that these are not the kind of girls that i fit in with. too much clothing, boy and inane talk, at least from kathleen. she seems very young, although she's also twenty-two. and ironically kept going on about how she looked so old and it was emabarassing. we walked back and got a little lost, but i successfully asked for directions. i then went to the hiroshima-ken meeting and got some info about the next days travel and the following orientation in hiroshima. i planned on going out to wonder during the next session but decided to get packed and take a nap. the absolute exhaustion at this point was just amazing. my lord. so a nap was great but i had a hard time getting up and then went to the session on volunteering and making friends. some good info, but most of it was on the handout. and then there was a quikie japanese lesson. the only interesting part was trying to figure out if the session leader was flirting with me or just pity flirting. he was pretty classically handsome, but with the australian accent (?) he got a couple extra brownie points. but yeah...JET definitely feels like a dating service at certain points. this was followed by running up to get my pre-packed bag and then waiting for a half hour for the doors to open so i could actually check. having to check your only bag the night before a flight is very inconvenient. so in a little bit of desperation for human contact that i already knew (to some extent) i knocked on kate's (who's also in hiroshima-ken) and ivy's (who is just north of hiroshima) door. they were in, i waited for them to pack we checked their bags and headed out. first was a search for food, which was actually an escapade in wondering tokyo (shinjuku) and taking pictures during a sunset and finally finding a crepe shop. after our sweet tooth was satisfied we went on to find real food. of course right next to the crepes was a really cheap noodle shop but we decided to look first. we could never find that place again and kept going in circles but eventually found a 24hr restaurant and ivy and i had soba, kate had tempura udon. we then figured it would take an hour to find the hotel after all our circles but actually found it in 10 min. right across from the hotel was the tallest free view of tokyo so of course we had to go. after many crappy pictures that could not capture the amazing expanse, and an exploration of the omiyage, we sat for a bit. i deleted pics form my camera, ivy and kate people watched, then ivy and i headed back. jan was already home and ex had to some over to drop stuff off. i took a shower after he left and then interneted again, organized then went to sleep. long day, but actually got to bed pretty early and definitely feeling pretty good.

activity for mid level japanese english students:

Patrick likes to go hiking.
He's been hiking many times and has never gotten hurt.
But one day, while crossing the freeway he heard a rustling behind him in the shrubs.
"what could that be?" asked Patrick. A snake emerged and cried,
"It is I, Vern the vindictive snake!"
"What and interesting name. Why are you so vindictive?"
"In my travels as a snake I have been injured by thoughtless hikers with big feet, like you. hisss..."
"Where were you hurt dear Vern?"
"My neck hurts. hisss..."
"We should call a doctor. Do you have a cell phone?"
"No, I swallowed it. Do you?"
"Yes. I just got a new plan and I have a doctor's number programed in."
"Great! Thanks. What is your name?"
"Patrick Dempsy."
"Thanks Patrick."
The doctor arrived and healed Vern's neck.
Patrick and Vern became great friends.
THE END

i'm high on findng a community.

so...i flew in on sunday (japan time), got in at 5pm. on the flight i watched "lucky number slevin"-good with really cool editing and mise en sen but too much explanation, "friends with money"-comment on consumerism, depressing and anti-climatic, "over the hedge"-waste of time, "akeelah and the bee"-starbucks has taken the place of disney as maker of sappy ridiculous stereotype reenforcing movies, then part of the "the incredibles"-genius. getting off the plane did not feel as scary as last time i was in japan. once past customs the 'tokyo orientation assistants' guided us all to the buses. i gave up two of my bags, which will hopefully find me in hiroshima-shi, and got on a bus. i sat next to corinna, who is a nice girl going to otaru (a small seaside town in hokkaido that i've been to), she also came from portland. it took three hours to get through tokyo to our hotel (keio plaza, which if you were japanese would be very impressive). a very swanky place with i think 47 floors and two towers. the whole orientation (conference) takes place in the hotel. there are 1250 of us here or so. there was orientation 'a' just a couple days ago, so there are 2500 new JETs this year. we were guided in and given name tags, packets of info, more packets of info, room cards, then collected our bags that were under the bus and navigated our way to the correct bay of elevators. i'm on the 30th floor, room oh-six. i'm rooming with a girl who flew out from portland and is also going to hiroshima-ken. she's originally form texas though, graduated from u of o. the hotel is western style. there are two beds (a lot of the other rooms have three people in them) and a couple chairs, tv, internet (hence me posting now), a nice bathroom with the fancy japanese toilet (two bidets, one for front one for the back) and an awesome view. today (monday) has been conference all fucking day. i'm so tired. i was falling asleep in the morning opening. we had a couple sessions on teaching, some optional ones on different topics ( i went to travel, saving yen, and GLBT). the GLBT is where i felt at home. going to this session i felt soo much better about this whole situation; just seeing the people of like mind that are here. the travel one had some info, the yen one was basically useless. after this was the banquet which was horrible greasy food and no seats. we were supposed to mingle, but hell i'd been up since 5:30am because i couldn't sleep the night before so i skipped out and took a nap. in the evening (9:30pm) i was supposed to go to my prefectural gathering, i said screw that and went out with the GLBT group at 9. omg! so great. we walked over to the gay-district. first i immediately get pulled down to a table of gay men at the advocate (this is a small bar, as most are, and the tables are mostly outside). they admire my dress and ask where i'm from, how long i've been here, and what i'm doing. mind you there are all gaijin (foreigners). one guy was from florida the other from sydney. i got tips for where to go in hiroshima, made out with the guy from florida (who was a very gay bi guy) and flirted with the other men at the table. it felt like hanging out the drama boys at home (the gay boys, my uncle). then the gals in the JET group went to the quiet lesbian bar that was around the corner. really cute bartender and patron. barowin (from south africa and our guide) bought us drinks and we settled in for the next couple hours. it was great! we took a taxi back around 12:30am (only 1140 yen-$11.40) and now i'm about to shower and crash. today got soo much better. meeting the other cool girls on this trip and falling into a hag role. *sigh* i feel better.

nihon ni imasu.

in tokyo. so tired. its 4:12am, according to my computer(therefore portland time), and all i want to do is sleep. but my stomach grumbles. and i'm in tokyo. i hear my mother's voice, if i get sleep tonight i'll have a better experience the next two days. i think for once i'm going to abide by that advice without complaint. maybe i quick trip to the conbini (7/11) for some onigiri (rice ball) so i don't feel sick in the morning. and yes i am incredibly calm and completely in denial to the fact that this is not a brief vacation. its so fucking sureal. thats the first thing all the JETs say to eachother. "it just hasn't clicked". and btw (that B-T-W the way our dear lucas says it) i hate katie and elena for making me cry on the plane. whores.

yeah so i did go out momentarily last night. ivy (my new friend) and i went out to 7/ll and found onigiri and only got lost for a second. i can't believe that i'm actually in tokyo. it just seems like a mini tokyo that is really a hollywood set. maybe after i go out tonight it will click.

so...

i leave tomorrow. i'll get there the day after tomorrow (their time, soon to be my time). i'm tired and still hung over and i still have packing. i said good-bye to people today--elena, katie, lucas, anyone i ran into--but it still wasn't enough. i want another day with each of them at least. one on one time to really connect, or something. i don't know. i'm going to miss those kids soo much. after orientation today i realized that i really am going to to miss my parents, my cat, and that home as well as portland. i wish i had more time to curl up and enjoy being 22, post-college with my mom and my tigard home.

i want a bike.

people who buy convertibles live for the days when the top is down. people who buy hardtops live in fear of the day when the top should be up.