Nats and Typhoons and Seoul...Oh my.

Let's say it's been a less than dull month since I last posted. Classes ended and "vacation" began. I say "vacation" because according to our contract we still had to be on campus several time during the summer to attend Open House to promote our department and program. While we did have chunks of time off, heading back to campus afterward sort of jerked you right back into teacher mode and as all teachers know it takes long enough to decompress after a semester or year without having to go back to work for 4 hours every two weeks.

During my time off I did find ways to occupy my time. I headed to Kessanuma in the Miyagi Prefecture to go help do some work in one of the more devastated areas of Tohoku region from 3/11. I have done a lot of volunteer work in my life but this was the first time I've ever worked in natural disaster area. It was a very profound experience for me.

After Kessanuma a quick trip home to Saitama and then back to north to Sendai. That was an amazing trip. I finally go to visit the city I had heard so much about when I was a teenager and going to Suttle Lake Camp. The sensei's all met up with me for dinner and then they escorted me around several of the best sight seeing areas including Matsushima. I also got to go to the new high school, which at this point isn't brand new, but it was amazing to see regardless.

I spent a couple weeks working on research and helping a couple students prepare for the TOEIC exam.

During this whole time, I have been battling plant nats. Annoying little bastards. I've been trying a number of things to get rid of them. Currently I have put them in the shower with the fan on and sprayed them all with vinegar, dish soap and water. If that doesn't work, I may have to say adios to this batch. It's so humid here, it's incredibly difficult to keep the soil dry!

I'll return to the Typhoon...

Seoul. Oh Seoul. Have you ever been somewhere and I thought "Yeah, I could have skipped that." Unfortunately that's how I feel about Seoul. While I did like the museums and sites that I took in and I really enjoyed the food I ate I had such a difficult time navigating the people) and the hostel I was staying in was awful) that I wanted to leave 3 days after I got there. I will always view my trip as a good cultural experience where I got to eat some good food, learn some new history, get an AMAZING foot massage and revealed that I do not ever want to stay in a hostel ever again. I still want to go to the southern part of the country. I've heard Busan is beautiful and that is where my friends are so I'll go there, but I doubt I'll return to Seoul...unless it's a day trip because I would like to go to Braai Republic again.

...and wrapping up the summer is typhoon Man-Yi  decided to make landfall 4 days before classes begin. I'm safe here in Saitama, nestled behind 4 other prefectures taking the brunt of the typhoon in this region of Japan. The rest of Honshu (the main island of Japan) isn't so lucky with severe flooding and evacuations.

As the summer winds down here (hopefully it's over soon) I begin to wonder if my time here will be more difficult because Autumn and Winter are my favorite seasons in Oregon. Since we are in a similar climate I have high hopes that I'll like it here just as much. Whatever it may be, I'll keep you posted!

Looking back....4 months.

Some days I feel like I'm not quite settled, but most days; my routine of school, grocery shopping, eating out and taking the train, feels very natural. I've never NOT felt like I was in exactly the right place since I first visited a year ago June.

While some things have become easier, ordering out at restaurants and fumbling through a request at the post office, others are still difficult. Having the apartment service men come to my apartment or package mix ups with delivery or missing my friends and family, for example.

During this first 4 months the only thing that has held my absolute unending attention has been my students. I figured, if I can get a handle on this, then this summer I can worry about the rest. While I don't think I can say I have a firm grip on the classroom situation (and in all honestly I probably should never have a firm grip because that would mean I've become rigid and that can't work if I want to be sure to grow and give each student what they need) I have enough of a hand hold that things improved with my own lesson plans and I did see growth in all of my students.  Some of that growth was intellectual, some growth was listening and speaking and some students had to learn the hard way that college is serious stuff and if you want to pass the class you'll have to come and put in the time and do the work.   I'm extremely excited for the fall semester and while I'll miss each and every one of my students while we are on break, and I'll miss going to the classroom everyday, it's time to switch my attention to myself.

All of that "rest" I talked about includes: learning more Japanese, figuring out how to work in a workout routine in this loathsome heat, learning to prepare more dishes sans oven, perhaps finding a gym where they will let a tattooed American swim in their pool, make new friends and reconnect with some old friends and of course travel.

After tomorrow It will be time to turn that microscope I've had trained on my students to myself and where to begin, oh where to begin....

Today it begins with a 3 mile walk and 30 squats followed by a trip into Ikebukuro to go to place called Sakura Cafe which apparently is a great place to meet fellow expats.

Wednesday it's with DisneySea! After tackling DisneyLand a month ago (see picture below) it's time to explore the "better" side, as my students insist.

Next Monday I head up to Kesennuma for 4 days, to volunteer with a group from the school to do some teaching in the elementary schools and beach clean up from the 2011 Tsunami.

Sometime in August, probably near the end I'll head back up to Sendai to see some of my old Suttle Lake teacher friends.

September I have a trip to S. Korea planned, no details yet, with some friends from school and hopefully I'll be going  back in October to see Juli.

That may seem like a lot to some of you and it might be, but I also need to fit in studying Japanese (I'm tired of not being able to read anything) and doing more research for my school mandated research project.

I'll keep you updated, I know I haven't been good about it lately, but I'll do better this summer :)

Ciao!

Gone in 60 seconds.

Amazing experience at Abby Road last night!! Pictures can say it all...

Garlic Toast to die for!! Eggplant Spaghetti and House White Wine

Baked Alaska!!! 

Gone in 60 seconds.

The highlights

Sent flowers to my mom and sister over the internet for the first time since I couldn't be with them on Mother's Day.

Crazy loud thunderstorm. Jumped about a mile, nearly had a heart attack and then was able to enjoy the absolute awesomeness of it.

Moved into my new office. Loving my own space, it's almost as big as my apartment....ok I kid, but it is bigger than my kitchen.

Put a run in my only pair of tights and now  have to rely on the sister to send me new ones because the Japanese aren't built like this German/Norwegian Anglo-Saxon.

English Plaza finally opened. Lots of space to hang out and students are beginning to make it a regular hang out spot. Go team!

Went to a baseball game at Tokyo Dome. Giants vs. Lions. Damn Giants beat us by 1 point in the bottom of the 10th!

Midterm conferences with students went well. Some of them are actually getting their buts in gear to pass their classes.

Took 172 students to Oregon for 4 days, yes 4 days, for a "study tour." Basically, it was them running around Salem with a few short hours of guided activity, meal times and then keeping all of the adults up all night acting like teenagers.  Cat herder was my title for those 5 days.

Back in Japan until Christmas. Miss my friends and family but I look forward to all my adventures between now and then!

Fresh off the boat.

Word to the wise...when you, as a 34 year old adult, begin to cry after stubbing your toe, you are tired and should go home. This is exactly what I did yesterday. Jet lag is not my friend.

The Solo Adventurer Part 1

When embarking on a solo adventure there are of course ups and downs to this type of endeavor. The ups may seem less obvious than the downs, but I would submit they definitely outweigh the downs. It's all a matter of perspective!

One of the best things about traveling alone is your timeline. You only have to follow the schedule of one person! I set out to go to Kamakura and Enoshima which are both about an hour and half from where I am in Kawagoe or an hour south of Tokyo. My goal was to leave at 9ish to arrive there by 11. I had 6 places to visit in Kamakura and then at 4 places to visit in Enoshima. I won't go into the list because, suffice it to say, only 1 thing on my entire list happened that day, BUT because I was no one elses' timeline there was no stress.

How did none of it happen you ask....well everything began all well. I took the train from Kasumigaseki to Ikebukuro (in Tokyo) and then found the train to go to Kamakura.  Well.... I got on the wrong train. It was going north instead of south and I didn't realize until I'd been on the train for an hour. Again, luckily I was by myself so the only person to be mad or irritated or laugh was me, and since I didn't care, I chuckled to myself got off at the next stop and transferred trains.

I made it to Kamakura at about 330 pm, quite a while after I wanted to be there. Since there was only one MUST SEE place I wanted to go to in Kamakura that day I headed straight for the bus stop to head up to Daibutsu or "giant Buddha". One of the largest in Japan, I originally thought one of the largest in the world...Ha!  Google "world's largest Buddhas" you'll be shocked! Anyway, this is the one thing I really wanted to see so I went to the bus stop...where I proceeded to wait for 45 minutes, all the while listening to this couple prattle on the entire time! Good thing it was just me...no one to judge me for the continuous eye rolling I was doing to the sky. The bus finally arrived and about 65 people crammed onto a bus built for 30 and then we went to stop and go for less than 2 kilometers for an hour! You might be asking why I didn't just walk, and I would have, but I didn't know where it was and my phone was dying so I wasn't able to just google map it. Again, luckily I was by myself I could just doze in and out and ignore the woman next to me who was sitting with her back to me, with her backpack on and, said back pack, practically sitting in my lap or shoving up against my left arm repeatedly.

Finally I arrive and every single moment of the trip was worth it. What a site.

After spending about 10 or 15 minutes walking around (and charging my phone for 5 minutes in the bathroom) and taking pictures I headed down the hill. Now that I knew exactly how far away it was from the station I felt perfectly comfortable walking back to the station and stopping anywhere that struck my fancy on the way. 

First stop was to get some food, I was starving, so I did the only logical thing you do in a tourist town. I bought what I saw everyone carrying around with them. A big ass rice cracker. It was 250 Yen, but well worth it. Yummy!

As I was walking down the street, peeking into various storefronts I saw a sign for a shrine. It was about 5 and everything would start shutting down around 6, but it was enough time to look around. The shrine I found was called Hasedera Temple, it was beautiful! What a find. As I was planning this trip I kept getting confused looking at the map because of all the swastikas all over the place, before I remembered that before Hitler took the symbol and nearly irreparably harmed it's meaning. The swastikas I kept seeing meant there was a Buddhist temple or shrine there! It didn't click until I was at Hasedera Temple and saw this:

After I left Hasedera all of the temples and shrines were closing. I walked into a couple of shops (again benefit of being by myself) and then found myself at the beach! I didn't realize I was that close! What a find :)

                                        

I got to stop and chat with a young couple, maybe the same age as my students. They needed someone to take a picture of them. That was probably one of the greatest highlights of the day. I miss talking to random strangers (yes I do that) and making small talk. This gave me the opportunity to actually speak with someone! 

By this time the sun was setting and I was starving and exhausted. I was going to have to forgo my trip to Enoshima and do it another day. There was a Turkish restaurant I saw when I got off the bus, so I went there. I've always wanted to try Turkish coffee and I was determined to also try lamb again, even though I've hated it every time I've eaten before. End results Lamb - 0, Turkish coffee - .5 But the owners were really nice the hummus was AMAZING and the beer was good. So with a full stomach I made the 2+ hour trek home. Mostly without incident and before midnight. 

So those positives and negatives...well as long as I'm not with someone who gets irritated about getting lost, I guess the trip would have been better with someone; however, that will not discourage me from taking another solo trip. Stay tuned for Solo Adventurer Part 2.

10 observations and life saving tips.

#1 Right, Left, Right. If you don't want to end up like an opossum, do it.

#2 The yellow line on the platform is not a suggestion. Stay behind it or you will be yelled at by invisible  
      people.

#3 Teenagers texting and walking (and biking) is not unique to the United States. The Japanese teens have    
     risen it to an art, get out of the way because they won't.

#4 Walking on the left side is a myth. You will have to dodge people no matter which side you try to stay on.

#5 You might believe there is an invasion of body snatchers here (think The Host). Girls wear the strangest
     contact lenses.

#6 Never assume that a store will take credit cards. Always check.

#7 Once you finish paying for your groceries be prepared to grab your basket and quickly move to the island
     and pack them up. The lovely cashiers will not wait for you to get out of the way before moving the next
     person along.

#8  The giggles when you speak Japanese to Japanese teenagers never goes away. No matter how many
      times you use it with them. Don't take it personally.

#9  There is a epidemic of sleepiness here. Students are either "fine" or "sleepy."

#10 If you don't like rice, fish and fruit you're screwed.