Morioka

Morioka! It's really a nice place. I love that I get to see mountains every time I go to work.

So, let me give an update on the basics of my life

1. School
My school is very far south. I get up before work between 5:30 and 6am, depending on how ambitious I am. I make myself some coffee with my wonderful, wonderful aero press, eat breakfast, get dressed and spend 5-10 minutes on facebook chat with my mother or sister. Really, this has become my before work routine. It's great!
I'm out the door before/around 7 and I bike to the bus center where I wait around for my 7:20 bus. I have not worked out a schedule where I arrive at the bus center only a few minutes ahead of my bus...I am always afraid I'll miss it so I'm there ten minutes early. This is fine, as it gives the locals plenty of time to stare at me.
The bus center is like a spot that time forgot. It has a small indoors area with various stalls selling i-don't-know-whats, and only old people go there. The lady that helped us during orientation told us that it was a very old-fashioned place, and I totally get that...
After a 25-30 minute bus ride, I'm at work:

My school!

In the mornings there's always a teachers meeting, which I never understand. I just sit at my desk, bow when everyone else bows, and try to use the appropriate polite language. 

My school is really great: it's more rural, so my students are more energetic and less shy (although they can be a bit shy...). I have three teachers that I can communicate with in English, and my vice principle is totally approachable (not that I ever feel the need to just walk up to him and start chatting...). I sit right across from one of my JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English), and close to another. I'm already becoming friends with the female teacher, although I'm sure our friendship won't involve long phone calls about cute boys...Oh well. 

Last week started on Tuesday, and it was just the opening ceremony and a bunch of tests for the students. I was lucky enough (sarcasm) to have the chance to give a speech to THE ENTIRE SCHOOL on that day. I only messed it up a little...

The next three days I introduced myself in English class (3 classes a day, 3 days, total of 9 classes). My introduction involved saying a few things about myself then quizzing the students to see if they understood. Of course, for the first years I used props, but the second and third years had no such help. It was fun for me because I got to experience first hand how rambunctious Japanese students are. If a student is called on and he/she does not know the answer, they turn to their classmates and ask "what do I say?" and everyone in the class will just start telling them the answer. Of course, this always happens! Students who are called on *never * know the answers, they always ask. It's a thing here.

2. Lunch

I am making this a separate category because I feel like it. This week I had lunch with the students from 3A, but Tuesday and Wednesday I made my own lunch. So, here are pics of the 'bento' I made. The high quality factor makes them look gross, so I suggest you don't click on the thumbnail. 

Check it out! The one on the left is just a chicken/egg salad sandwich, potato salad and tomatoes but the one on the right!!! It has the FIVE COLORS! My friend Kiah would be proud! Potato salad, tomatoes, rolled omelet with spinach, chicken nuggets, rice and an umeboshi. The potato salad in BOTH lunches went bad because I could not find those little ice packs you pack with your lunches, but overall I would say I ate well...
Thursday and Friday I ate with the students in class 3A. When lunch time rolled around, two boys from 3A came into the teacher's room and said, "Miss Forman. Please come with us" or some botched, adorable version of that. Needless to say both Thursday and Friday I had an energetic lunch period, where the same three boys asked me the same three questions "Do you like sports? What are your hobbies? Do you have a boyfriend?" I think those are the same three questions everyone gets, and for some reason are the only important things to know about a person.
My favorite student is from class 3A, I call him "pizza" (in my head). Whenever I see him, he always shouts "I like/love pizza!" and it's always hilarious to him. He said it about 5 times to me during lunch on Friday...Maybe one day I'll make him a pizza.

3. Apartment


It's small. Still. And messy BUT I vacuumed it today, and I'm sorting trash which I hope to throw away before my sister comes here to stay...

I live on the first floor, right there! Can you see it?

Okay...so I don't have anything exciting to say about my apartment...Sorry!

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That's it for now! I'm enjoying myself, working "hard" and dealing with stress the best way possible: eating lots and lots of chocolate. I will be in Tokyo this weekend, picking up my sister from the airport and hopefully seeing people I missed when I first arrived!

Later <3

First Post! (In Morioka...)

The first part of this post is from the night of the 28th, when we first arrived at Morioka:

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I have reached my [almost] final destination for the next two years of my life: Morioka City in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The impression that I get from Morioka is that it is similar to Tokyo, just a lot smaller. Like how Chicago and Kansas City are similar....They're in the same country. HAH!

Our hotel is attached to the train station, so I suppose this is the center of town. There is a nice shopping mall attached to the train station as well, so I have a feeling I will be coming here often (I do adore looking at Japanese fashion...).

I flew into Tokyo on the 26th and was greeted by my wonderful Waseda-era host mother. She was already at the airport saying goodbye to the host daughter that came after me, so she was kind enough to wait for me and help me with my luggage. We arrived ‘home’ a little after 4 p.m. and I took the rest of the day easy. Dinner with the host family was nice, relaxed and the elder host-brother had no idea why I was in Japan, but just accepted it as a normal thing. He was very surprised to learn I would be here for two years. I don’t think he even knew I had graduated.

The next day I went to the Imperial Palace (the ‘gardens’ that is) and walked around in the terrible heat and humidity. I forgot how hard summers in Tokyo could be...The grounds around the palace (which I didn’t actually see...the palace, that is) were very nice. The landscaping was impeccable, there were some pretty flowers and even a cute little orchard. 

Imperial Gardens and Tokyo

   

citi bank looks so nice..

After that I went to Citi Bank, which happened to be right next to the subway station entrance and exchanged my traveler’s checks. I was afraid I would not have enough money for the Shinkansen ticket, but in the end I did...now I have copious amounts of yen, and I don’t know what to do with them (spend? save? Maybe I’ll save them. Maybe...). The teller gave me a hard time because my signature was not 100% the same as the original one, so I had to write it five more times! It was crazy. At least I was in the air conditioning. 

After that I walked through the subway station (otemachi station) all the way to Tokyo JR station (it was probably a fifteen minute walk) and took the yamanote to Ueno, where I walked around for a bit then decided to go home. The combination of heat and jet-lag really got to me so I just gave up. When I arrived at my home station, I went to my favorite conbini (7-Eleven) and bought a pack of mini-onigiri, peach jelly and some milk tea (yum). It was a good lunch, and after that I was so exhausted I stayed in bed until dinner.

Overall, I had a decent day in Tokyo. Unfortunately, most of my Waseda friends were in their home towns so I was unable to see them.

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So, that's what I wrote waaaay back when. 

Since then we have had a week of orientation (learned basics about the school system, went on a walking tour of Morioka's 'downtown', applied for the Alien Registration card, opened a bank account, got a cell phone, signed up for internet and even learned how to sort my trash! Speaking of which, I missed trash day on Thursday so I have a giant bag of trash--but that is irrelevant. 

This past week was our vacation week and I've spent it learning how to, among other things, ride a bike in Japan, and how to get to the three nearest grocery stores. I suppose it is the same in America, but in Japan it is common to go to different stores for different items. One store has special sales on Wednesdays, one store has cheaper rice, and another store sells cheaper, but still good quality, produce. That's not very interesting, but it's what I've learned.

I start work on Tuesday, so if I'm not super lazy, I will post again soon about work!

Until next time!

You know what I like ;)

Back to Japan--

--not as a student, but as an assistant teacher.

I will be re-starting my blog later this summer. At the end of July, I will be going to Morioka Prefecture, one of the Northern prefectures on the main island, to be an assistant teacher of English. I know some people are saying. "Oh, the JET Program?" No, It is through my school's program called M-ALT (Morioka Assistant English Language Teacher). I am rather excited to go and, although I cannot promise anything, I will try my best to post interesting and exciting posts about life as an assistant language teacher!

mata ne~
Lydia

Golden Weekend, Day 2: Kimono Festival

So, in a room (partially) filled with Japanese women, there stands alone one foreign girl. That girl...me.

We arrived at the community center where I rent a kimono, and my host mom drops a bomb on me."Did you bring money"she asks. I give a confused'whaa...' and we move on to get the kimono and try it on.

Which brings us to the room where I am ignored for a good ten minutes before my host mom directs someone to dress me (she had been watching other people being dressed-I was forgotten in a room full of Kimono eye-candy).

I am im my kimono now, and I cant breath. Kimonos were designed to hide the figure of the girl or woman wearing one. But that does not mean they are loose (I just had a hell of a time trying to sneeze, I cant get a good lung-full of air). There are towels tied around me, elastic straps tied around that, not to mention a obi (big, decorative belt) tied around me.

I can already tell today will be a difficult day. We will be walking around, looking at kimono stuff while in kimonos while we look at other people in their kimonos (and as they look at me...). Is your mind spinning yet? Mine is, it must be from lack of oxygen...

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So, I'm back at the home-base, and my mood has considerably improved!

Sorry about the overall negative feel but it's been a trying day. People snapping photos of me, me not knowing how to go to the bathroom in a kimono...

the quote of the day:"Gaijin-san, even you look good in a kimono" (a compliment...I guess).

The photo is me with my host mom...heh.

Golden weekend, Day 1

Cell phone post, sorry if the format is weird.

I am visiting Tsunan Machi(津南町) in Niigata-prefecture (新潟県)with my host parents. We are staying in some relative's house (host-father's brother's family).

The great thing about the country side is that it's not Tokyo. There's lots of nature (I caught a frog!), it's clean, and I can see mountains, fields and rivers. I always learn to love Tokyo by leaving it, but I also start to dread going back!

We did some sightseeing (drove around the mountains, went to some gift stores).

I had sushi and lots of mountain veggies for dinner. Mmm...but kinda weird

Tomorrow we go to the kimono festival (the whole reason we came to Niigata).

Test of blogging with Japanese cell phone.

Baseball and then some...

I went to a baseball game last Sunday, with my host brother and a couple of his co-workers. Let me preface this post by saying the men and women in the Japanese police...what a bunch of crazy characters!

The game was the Tokyo Giants vs I don't know where-Dragons. We sat in...on the right side of out-field? I am obviously not that into baseball, or else I would know the correct terms, sorry!

Before I went to a Japanese baseball game, I had heard that fans were crazy, that they had songs for players, and a billion different cheers. That is half-true. The majority of the stadium was orange (the fans have a dress-code of orange shirts, orange towel), but there was only one main cheering section, which I happened to be in. Every time the Tokyo Giants were batting, we would stand, shout cheers and occasionally sing songs (Yes, the songs were different for different players). There were hired men leading the cheers (the man in the red shirt). It was all very, very professional. Also, can you see the sumo wrestler? He has a blue kimono, and an orange towel!

The first thing we did when we sat down was order...a beer. I was out after one, but my brother and his co-workers each had four. In my opinion, they were each worth almost two beer cans. I have no idea how they drank all that, because after the game we went to a bar and drank even more! I was so glad that I didn't have Monday-morning classes, or else I would have never made it!!


So, this is us! The first one is my host-brother, me and my host-brother's 'superior'. The second one is me, the superior, and the other junior worker. We are wearing matching shirts from a Japanese bar that the superior frequents. It is actually a bar for Tokyo Giant's fans. Only. He had his own corner in the bar where we had dinner, and all of his fan paraphernalia was there. He had signed bats, noise makers, shirts, booze...he was a super-fan! We also have the orange towels that you can wave around to show your support, and I have a noise-maker that I would use to accompany my cheers. Unfortunately, we lost 8-0, so I have been invited to a 'revenge' match. I really, really want to go back!!

This is us with the police mascot. See the things in my hands? That is the third pair that the man gave me! I have now the shirt, the towel, three noise makers, baseball cards and a post card. To pay him back, I will memorize as many player's names, and learn some cheers. Also, I will buy him a few beers next time around.

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That's it for now.

I am going to Niigata Prefecture this weekend for a Kimono Festival! I will post pictures as soon as I get back! :)

Spring is in the Air!!

Hey All! So I’ve been super lazy these past few weeks, and I am terribly sorry!
But the good news is I have plenty to tell you! (I will be making two or three posts over the next week, I hope. Mostly with stories of my life, and not too much interesting cultural observations...sorry!)

So, my second semester at Waseda started two weeks ago! Yay for new classes! Here’s the lineup:

-Japanese 4a
-Culture in Conflict (What is culture, what is the individual, etc.)
-Japanese Economy and Industry (Really boring, I hope it will get better)
-Cultural Interactions of Art between the East and the West (or something along those lines. Call also be called ‘Comparative Art History’. We’ve only had lectures concerning ‘auspicious motifs’ of Japanese Art, but we should be moving onto the movement of art and artistic influence along the Silk Road)

My first two weeks of school were nothing to complain about. In general my classes will be easy, but there are those pesky tests that are worth 40% of the grade (That’s right, one test worth 40%), and papers worth 30%. The grading system here is so skewed (but it got me all A’s last semester!). I was really looking forward to my Japanese Economy class, because I’ve never taken a class like that. After the first four classes, I realized why I never take that sort of class: it’s a bit boring to me. But I have to persevere, and I just hope to learn some new, interesting things about Japan. As for my Art History class…the teacher is a bit crazy. We have to get ‘participation points’ by answering random questions, and when we answer we get a slip of paper to write our name on (which is turned in for points). However, there are easily more than 50 people in the class, so it’s a bit crazy from time-to-time.

I planned my schedule so that I would have Friday's off, again! I'm super excited, and I plan on using this to go to Minakami for a long weekend! Yay!

But...I was sad that Spring Break ended, because it meant saying goodbye to complete freedom and relaxation. Now I have to go back to balancing school, homework (which I end up rarely doing), school club, friends and me time. It’s a bit hectic, but it’s life!

Spring in Japan is a magical time. It’s the time of hanami, or flower watching. The traditional thing to do during hanami (which was late May for us in Tokyo) is to go to a park, set up a picnic blanket or tarp, and watch the flowers of the sakura trees, while eating and drinking with friends. That’s right, another excuse to drink (in public, no less!).

The [aristocratic] Japanese have always had an extra special love of nature. It’s probably because they had nothing better to occupy their time with, being that they had no job other than being filthy rich (sounds good to me). Getting together to write haikus was a popular past-time, and fit into the other past-time of nature-viewing.

Without flowing wine
How to enjoy lovely
Cherry blossoms?
Anonymous [poem i found online^__^]

I got to share this love of sakura and nature with the a school circle I am not a member of called ‘niji no kai’ (Which means Rainbow club, there is no relation to GLBT rainbow) . It’s a BIG ‘international circle', meaning they have lots of exchange students and Japanese students who want to speak English. The problem with this club is that it is extremely clique-y, so I had a hard time meeting anyone. I met a few people, but those who I had known from previous meetings barely gave me the time of the day. In the end, I left early to walk around the part and people watch. There was a martial arts club doing their practice and also some kids playing soccer. Both were really fun to watch, but I only have a picture of the martial art's club.

Last weekend, I went to Waseda Donuts' (my circle! yay!) hanami. However, at this point the flowers were falling, or gone, from the tree’s so it was less about the trees and more about having fun. I brought my friend Rachel, and boy did we have fun! We played Frisbee, catch, baseball, jump rope along with sitting, chatting, eating and drinking. There were a few other circles around, the most interesting being the one closest to us. There were always two or three guys dancing to Japanese Pop music (doing similar dances to female Japanese pop stars, no less…). When they finished their dances, Rachel and I would clap, which would encourage them to dance more. However, Rachel and I got bored with them quickly, so they fizzled out soon. There was also a male glee club in the park, and they kept singing Waseda’s alma mater. It was a very relaxing atmosphere, and if I had sat still for long enough, I would have fallen asleep!

The first picture is Ryo, Takero and Rachel. When I first saw Takero, I noticed he looked a little under the weather, so I asked him what was wrong. The answer: he was drunk. Apparently, this was not his first hanami of the day (at this point in the day it was only 3!), he had started drinking around lunch time. The second picture is Rin holding the jump-rope, two little girls, me then Sacchan. The little girls wanted to play jump rope, but they had no one to play with, so their grandfather asked me to play with them, so they held the rope while I jumped. Soon enough most of Wasedo was jumping, and we all took turns holding the rope. It was super fun! haha...

When I come back to Kansas, Indiana or wherever in the US, I hope to bring this tradition of hanami with me. Sure, it's the same as a picnic...or is it? Spending time outside with friends, eating, drinking and playing...what's better than that?