Hellooo!
I hope everyone is well! Merry Christmas! I'm feeling fine during this festive time of year. I had a good birthday. I went to Shibuya for lunch with some friends, where I was suitably embarrassed when the restaurant not only brought cake over, but preceded that presentation by turning off all the lights in the restaurant and putting on a cheesy 80s sounding birthday track. Yeah. Then we went and did purikura then Nicky and I rode a roller coaster in the cold rain. But it was super fun, so worth it. Then I we had a team dinner for our church street teams (outreach) at the Outback Steakhouse, which was fun.
A lot of people have been asking about work. Work is fine. While I sometimes have moments of immense satisfaction while teaching, generally, I think I'm more suited for an office job. I'm happy at work and my only complaint is the hours. I generally work 1-9 pm which puts me out of work too late to hang out with any of my friends during the week. Also, I work Saturdays and have Mondays off which is also annoying. Asside from that however, work is good.
Thanks to every one who sent gifts and birthday and Christmas cards! I was so happy to receive them! Before you know it it will be 2009, how time flies, ne?
I love you all! Hope you're having a very merry Christmas, I miss you!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Random Blessings..
So some of you may recall that my not-even-day-old bicycle was stole. It was a sad affair, but I have since moved on, and my heart will soon be whole enough to commit to a new bicycle. At any rate, I was feeling pretty...unfortunate. I had also wanted this green rug from Ikea which they were supposed to restock within two weeks, back in October, and when I went back two weeks later, they had NO rugs I liked, not just ones in the wrong color...then this week I had to stay home one morning to receive some document from my cellphone company, so I couldn't go to the coffee shop to study Japanese, and then my nice fast internet got cut off (because...as it turns out I forgot to return a document to finalize my set up...but in my defense, I mailed it and they sent it BACK because my boss left one part incomplete...) I was, in short, having kind of a crappy week.
But the tide turns and the document from my cellphone company turned out to be free money. Apparently I got some rebate so they mailed me a check for 10,000 yen, which is about $100. All I had to do was take it to the post office, where they handed me cash. So, yeah, there's my bike right there, only returned in a different form..hahah. Then, I was planning to go to Ikea to get some little Christmas decorations and I checked the website to see if they had any decorations shown, they didn't, but on a whim I checked the stock of the rug I wanted, and bam! It was in stock! So today after work (I get off at 7 on Saturdays since I go in at 10am instead of 1pm) Mish (another foreign teacher) and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea and I bought my rug.
But not only did I buy a rug, I totally bought a Christmas tree. No kidding. I was kinda sad and figured I wouldn't really get to have a tree, but Ikea had tiny trees for only 2000 yen, and not only THAT, but you get a coupon, and after January 5th, you can take the tree back with the coupon and they give you 2000 yen store credit. Basically I get a free Christmas tree, that happens to be the perfect size and it's just so cute sitting in the corner next to my tv....haha...I was so happy and giddy picking it out. It was pretty funny. I also bought a Christmas tin with ginger snaps in it and it's really cute.
So, now I happily have my rug, and a tree to put my gifts from Grandma Sandy under! Yay! (Thanks Grandma!!)
Recently, I was also feeling a little crafty and made this little...banner...thing as decoration. I likes it.
In other (old) news, I have gotten involved in a church here. It's in Tokyo, full of young hip, loud rock-out Jesus worshipers. Every one is so friendly that you get sucked in so quickly. I didn't really have the chance to stay uninvolved. I was quickly recruited to the welcome team, hahahahah. This church is all about getting involved and finding a team to serve on. I'll soon be quitting the welcome team, however because I can't really be involved in that and the worship team at the same time, and I'm trying to get involved in that, since it's a bit more up my alley. I'm also on the magazine team, which I'm really excited to get involved in. It seems to be a place I can use my editing/writing knowledge to great purpose. Of course, this also means I have friends. Yes, actual friends that aren't co-workers. Awesome right. It's like I'm a real person! With a whole life!
My only complaint is that my work hours are so late, since I don't go in until 1pm, that I can never do anything after work, and I work Saturdays, while most people have that day off. It always feels like I have very very little free time. But I'll get over it.
So, aside from that I also still have a billion photos from some trips I took weeks ago. These past few weekends, I've not done much but Church. Nothing photo worthy really, but I'll update with my backlog of pictures.
So, here are phots from a day I spent with a coworker Moto, and two of his friends. We went to a garden...somewhere. I'm not sure where it is, or what it's called. Then we went to Tokyo Tower, which was fun...
The garden we went to was apparently having a Rose...festival, or exhibiton or something. It had a large old western looking house, and all these different varieties of roses. That was at the entrance, then, as you went further in, it opened up even more and you saw this.
Then, if after walking through the rose portion of the garden, there was a more traditional Japanese garden that I found very pleasant. As you can see there was a nice pond, and this was just before the leaves began to change.
After a short time at the garden, we took the train to a station near Tokyo Tower and enjoyed some coffee in a very cute cafe. It was a very nice rest after walking, and conveniently served to while away the remaining afternoon hours. We left the cafe, and headed to the tower as the light was just beginning to fade. This is my shot on the way to the tower as darkeness begins to settle. We wanted to visit at night to appreciate the astounding night view. It was a great time. This is my monkey friend we met as we left. And these are two shots I took as we left.
Sorry, I wasn't feeling particularly poetic, and so I just wrote a short description.
One night a week or two ago, the moon was so deliciously low and luminous, hovering heavily just over the horizon. She was being coy, peeking out from the thin hazy clouds, and I couldn't resist attempting to take some photos. It was incredibly difficult to do as even when I set the camera on something steady, I still managed to wiggle it just pressing the button down. Hah. But these are what I managed.
Also, I went to Akihabara, Anime and Electronics mecca, in search of a super cheap dvd player so I can read wikipedia AND watch a movie at the same time, which is currently an impossible feat. I came away defeated, however, as it turns out that electronics are cheap there, as long as you aren't looking for something imported. I need a dvd player compatible with American dvds, and that apparently is too much to ask and they were charging entirely too much money for them. Then I was seriously considering the new Ipod nanos. They're so pretty! I've been waiting for them to come out with them in colors and with larger capacities and I'm super excited about the new 16 gig nanos. Thats the size of my nano....squared! Hah. But they are also more expensive here than in the States, not by much when you factor in tax, but still. It's a little annoying. And I can't decide between the teal blue and the bright green, they're both so nice. Ha. So, after much thought, I decided to wait to buy one, since I've got bills to pay and Christmas gifts to purchase.
On that same day, I went to a store called Thank You Mart, which is only slightly entertaining in itself, but the elevator revealed an infinitely more entertainingly named establishment in the same building and I couldn't resist a picture of this either.
Alright. I'm very tired. But I love you all, and I'll be talking to you soon!
But the tide turns and the document from my cellphone company turned out to be free money. Apparently I got some rebate so they mailed me a check for 10,000 yen, which is about $100. All I had to do was take it to the post office, where they handed me cash. So, yeah, there's my bike right there, only returned in a different form..hahah. Then, I was planning to go to Ikea to get some little Christmas decorations and I checked the website to see if they had any decorations shown, they didn't, but on a whim I checked the stock of the rug I wanted, and bam! It was in stock! So today after work (I get off at 7 on Saturdays since I go in at 10am instead of 1pm) Mish (another foreign teacher) and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea and I bought my rug.
But not only did I buy a rug, I totally bought a Christmas tree. No kidding. I was kinda sad and figured I wouldn't really get to have a tree, but Ikea had tiny trees for only 2000 yen, and not only THAT, but you get a coupon, and after January 5th, you can take the tree back with the coupon and they give you 2000 yen store credit. Basically I get a free Christmas tree, that happens to be the perfect size and it's just so cute sitting in the corner next to my tv....haha...I was so happy and giddy picking it out. It was pretty funny. I also bought a Christmas tin with ginger snaps in it and it's really cute.
So, now I happily have my rug, and a tree to put my gifts from Grandma Sandy under! Yay! (Thanks Grandma!!)
Recently, I was also feeling a little crafty and made this little...banner...thing as decoration. I likes it.
In other (old) news, I have gotten involved in a church here. It's in Tokyo, full of young hip, loud rock-out Jesus worshipers. Every one is so friendly that you get sucked in so quickly. I didn't really have the chance to stay uninvolved. I was quickly recruited to the welcome team, hahahahah. This church is all about getting involved and finding a team to serve on. I'll soon be quitting the welcome team, however because I can't really be involved in that and the worship team at the same time, and I'm trying to get involved in that, since it's a bit more up my alley. I'm also on the magazine team, which I'm really excited to get involved in. It seems to be a place I can use my editing/writing knowledge to great purpose. Of course, this also means I have friends. Yes, actual friends that aren't co-workers. Awesome right. It's like I'm a real person! With a whole life!
My only complaint is that my work hours are so late, since I don't go in until 1pm, that I can never do anything after work, and I work Saturdays, while most people have that day off. It always feels like I have very very little free time. But I'll get over it.
So, aside from that I also still have a billion photos from some trips I took weeks ago. These past few weekends, I've not done much but Church. Nothing photo worthy really, but I'll update with my backlog of pictures.
So, here are phots from a day I spent with a coworker Moto, and two of his friends. We went to a garden...somewhere. I'm not sure where it is, or what it's called. Then we went to Tokyo Tower, which was fun...
The garden we went to was apparently having a Rose...festival, or exhibiton or something. It had a large old western looking house, and all these different varieties of roses. That was at the entrance, then, as you went further in, it opened up even more and you saw this.
Then, if after walking through the rose portion of the garden, there was a more traditional Japanese garden that I found very pleasant. As you can see there was a nice pond, and this was just before the leaves began to change.
After a short time at the garden, we took the train to a station near Tokyo Tower and enjoyed some coffee in a very cute cafe. It was a very nice rest after walking, and conveniently served to while away the remaining afternoon hours. We left the cafe, and headed to the tower as the light was just beginning to fade. This is my shot on the way to the tower as darkeness begins to settle. We wanted to visit at night to appreciate the astounding night view. It was a great time. This is my monkey friend we met as we left. And these are two shots I took as we left.
Sorry, I wasn't feeling particularly poetic, and so I just wrote a short description.
One night a week or two ago, the moon was so deliciously low and luminous, hovering heavily just over the horizon. She was being coy, peeking out from the thin hazy clouds, and I couldn't resist attempting to take some photos. It was incredibly difficult to do as even when I set the camera on something steady, I still managed to wiggle it just pressing the button down. Hah. But these are what I managed.
Also, I went to Akihabara, Anime and Electronics mecca, in search of a super cheap dvd player so I can read wikipedia AND watch a movie at the same time, which is currently an impossible feat. I came away defeated, however, as it turns out that electronics are cheap there, as long as you aren't looking for something imported. I need a dvd player compatible with American dvds, and that apparently is too much to ask and they were charging entirely too much money for them. Then I was seriously considering the new Ipod nanos. They're so pretty! I've been waiting for them to come out with them in colors and with larger capacities and I'm super excited about the new 16 gig nanos. Thats the size of my nano....squared! Hah. But they are also more expensive here than in the States, not by much when you factor in tax, but still. It's a little annoying. And I can't decide between the teal blue and the bright green, they're both so nice. Ha. So, after much thought, I decided to wait to buy one, since I've got bills to pay and Christmas gifts to purchase.
On that same day, I went to a store called Thank You Mart, which is only slightly entertaining in itself, but the elevator revealed an infinitely more entertainingly named establishment in the same building and I couldn't resist a picture of this either.
Alright. I'm very tired. But I love you all, and I'll be talking to you soon!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
My Neighbor..
I still haven't met my neighbor, but subtle contact has been made..
Upon returning to my apartment after this evening, I found a short hand-written note stuck in my door's mail slot...
It could either have been from my landlord, or as I more highly suspected, one of my neighbors, and I immediately began to worry that I had inadvertently done something to offend...it's easy to do when you can't read signs, and one never knows if one is breaking rules or something...
I thought maybe my music could be heard or...I don't even know....so with trepidation I got out my dictionaries and began the translation process.
After a little work I was relieved to find it to be a note of apology rather than a note of derision or chastisement.
To the best of my translation ability, the note reads as follows....
This is the person from room 308. The wind blew a cooking paper away. It was unused. If it is on your veranda, I would be happy if you'd please discard it. I am very sorry.
Sure enough, there was a stray paper towel on my balcony. I found the existence both the note and the renegade "cooking paper" quite amusing.
Here's to polite neighbors!
Upon returning to my apartment after this evening, I found a short hand-written note stuck in my door's mail slot...
It could either have been from my landlord, or as I more highly suspected, one of my neighbors, and I immediately began to worry that I had inadvertently done something to offend...it's easy to do when you can't read signs, and one never knows if one is breaking rules or something...
I thought maybe my music could be heard or...I don't even know....so with trepidation I got out my dictionaries and began the translation process.
After a little work I was relieved to find it to be a note of apology rather than a note of derision or chastisement.
To the best of my translation ability, the note reads as follows....
This is the person from room 308. The wind blew a cooking paper away. It was unused. If it is on your veranda, I would be happy if you'd please discard it. I am very sorry.
Sure enough, there was a stray paper towel on my balcony. I found the existence both the note and the renegade "cooking paper" quite amusing.
Here's to polite neighbors!
kissaten
kissaten
decorated for winter
the sun through its windows
casts snowflake shadows
about tables and chairs
while the breeze outside
tosses golden leaves about
like careless swirling flakes.
decorated for winter
the sun through its windows
casts snowflake shadows
about tables and chairs
while the breeze outside
tosses golden leaves about
like careless swirling flakes.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Ode to a Stray Cat
a patchwork cat
sits at the top of the stairs
and speaks to passersby.
i wonder what she says...
apparently
she only mews at
the gentler sex...
are you big with kittens
or the sympathy of friends?
koneko,
cold meat is your dinner tonight...
if only because
i haven't cooked it yet.
sits at the top of the stairs
and speaks to passersby.
i wonder what she says...
apparently
she only mews at
the gentler sex...
are you big with kittens
or the sympathy of friends?
koneko,
cold meat is your dinner tonight...
if only because
i haven't cooked it yet.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Alas, and Say Goodbye. A Song of Memory.
Alack, alack.
The police do not have my bicycle. It was indeed stolen. I didn't know it had a lock on it, and shame of shames, didn't lock it. In the US our bikes don't come with locks! The embarrassing part....since I didn't know it had a lock, I left it sitting, with the key still in the lock.
It has been reported stolen to the police, but I don't expect to see it ever again, my sweet sweet bike.
My coworker Maki holds out hope...her stolen bike was once returned, but I have not the smallest hope.
At any rate, sometimes I sit on my tiny balcony and listen to music...and sometimes I write..
Nothing complete usually, just thin phrases of jilted prose...
"musing,
insignificant snatches of words...
do you like them?"
but the other day I wrote something when a certain song came on...
(these are just ghosts that broke my heart before i met you...)
this is a song of memory.
i can't hear it now without remembering
hot summer nights on the porch,
or better, the roof,
and those almost cool breezes.
the late night stars,
driving past cornfields,
singing so loud the whole town could hear,
and laying under that sky
watching for falling stars.
toilsome jobs during hot hot days,
and friendships at night...
i can't hear this without
saying sorrowful goodbyes
to those short months,
those few days i'll never see again,
yet never forget.
it's a habit, now
to sit out and watch the sky.
and while the stars remain,
it's still not the same
without you.
The police do not have my bicycle. It was indeed stolen. I didn't know it had a lock on it, and shame of shames, didn't lock it. In the US our bikes don't come with locks! The embarrassing part....since I didn't know it had a lock, I left it sitting, with the key still in the lock.
It has been reported stolen to the police, but I don't expect to see it ever again, my sweet sweet bike.
My coworker Maki holds out hope...her stolen bike was once returned, but I have not the smallest hope.
At any rate, sometimes I sit on my tiny balcony and listen to music...and sometimes I write..
Nothing complete usually, just thin phrases of jilted prose...
"musing,
insignificant snatches of words...
do you like them?"
but the other day I wrote something when a certain song came on...
(these are just ghosts that broke my heart before i met you...)
this is a song of memory.
i can't hear it now without remembering
hot summer nights on the porch,
or better, the roof,
and those almost cool breezes.
the late night stars,
driving past cornfields,
singing so loud the whole town could hear,
and laying under that sky
watching for falling stars.
toilsome jobs during hot hot days,
and friendships at night...
i can't hear this without
saying sorrowful goodbyes
to those short months,
those few days i'll never see again,
yet never forget.
it's a habit, now
to sit out and watch the sky.
and while the stars remain,
it's still not the same
without you.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Mind Melting Experience
You may be expecting something big...
but really, it was a small experience....
I flipped on my tv, watched some silly game shows, then turned the channel to what I soon discovered to be a language show. They were teaching Korean, but....quite clearly...in Japanese. That was pretty melting in itself, I mean...just trying to distinguish between the Korean and the Japanese....
but then it got worse..
Then it changed to a Japanese show teaching Arabic. I swear, at first I thought they were teaching elvish. Frillz. And now my brain is so melted at trying to understand the backwards arabic loopies through a Japanese filter. Impossible! Also....mind melting.
Also...did you know know how fast camels can run!? So fast! Also, apparently they race them...but they don't ride them, they put tiny robots on them...
but really, it was a small experience....
I flipped on my tv, watched some silly game shows, then turned the channel to what I soon discovered to be a language show. They were teaching Korean, but....quite clearly...in Japanese. That was pretty melting in itself, I mean...just trying to distinguish between the Korean and the Japanese....
but then it got worse..
Then it changed to a Japanese show teaching Arabic. I swear, at first I thought they were teaching elvish. Frillz. And now my brain is so melted at trying to understand the backwards arabic loopies through a Japanese filter. Impossible! Also....mind melting.
Also...did you know know how fast camels can run!? So fast! Also, apparently they race them...but they don't ride them, they put tiny robots on them...
Friday, November 7, 2008
Le Sigh
Hey there!
Want to hear a fun story!?
I'm sure you do.....
Once upon a time....this morning...
I went with my new coworker and bought a bicycle. I know, sweet right?! It was on sale and a good price....they didn't have the color I wanted, they had sold out since I saw the bikes on sale 5 days ago...but the other color, ice blue, was nice too. It came with a headlight on it, and a basket and a bell and everything. Apparently Japanese bicycles also have locks built onto them...which I didn't know until now. It was a totally sweet ride.
I hauled it on the train, through elevators, down some escalators, until I finally arrived back at my station, where I had to hurry to work. This was all before work. So, I parked it in a bike lot that I always pass on my way to work. And happy and excited went to school. I had a pretty good day too...
Then it was time to go. I left with my coworker, excited that I'd get to ride my new bike home for the first time, jokingly adding "if it's still where I parked it." Har har har.
I'm sure some of you astute readers have noticed my subtle use of the past tense. This is not an accident, friends. No. The words of a good writer are never accidents. Some of you know where this is going.
Yes. Of course. Welcome to my life. I arrived back at the parking lot to find my bicycle missing. So..to...NOT find it seems more correct. As it turns out the bike lot is for the use of paying customers..which I would know...if I could read Japanese.
So, there you go. My brand new, 11-hour-old bicycle is already missing. It's either been impounded, or it was stolen.
Tomorrow, one of my coworkers is going to call the number on the unreadableJapanese sign and inquire about the whereabouts of my sweet ride. If they don't have it though, I'll just have to report it stolen to the police, (good thing I paid the extra 500 yen to have it registered) and resign myself to bike-less life.
Sighs.
Want to hear a fun story!?
I'm sure you do.....
Once upon a time....this morning...
I went with my new coworker and bought a bicycle. I know, sweet right?! It was on sale and a good price....they didn't have the color I wanted, they had sold out since I saw the bikes on sale 5 days ago...but the other color, ice blue, was nice too. It came with a headlight on it, and a basket and a bell and everything. Apparently Japanese bicycles also have locks built onto them...which I didn't know until now. It was a totally sweet ride.
I hauled it on the train, through elevators, down some escalators, until I finally arrived back at my station, where I had to hurry to work. This was all before work. So, I parked it in a bike lot that I always pass on my way to work. And happy and excited went to school. I had a pretty good day too...
Then it was time to go. I left with my coworker, excited that I'd get to ride my new bike home for the first time, jokingly adding "if it's still where I parked it." Har har har.
I'm sure some of you astute readers have noticed my subtle use of the past tense. This is not an accident, friends. No. The words of a good writer are never accidents. Some of you know where this is going.
Yes. Of course. Welcome to my life. I arrived back at the parking lot to find my bicycle missing. So..to...NOT find it seems more correct. As it turns out the bike lot is for the use of paying customers..which I would know...if I could read Japanese.
So, there you go. My brand new, 11-hour-old bicycle is already missing. It's either been impounded, or it was stolen.
Tomorrow, one of my coworkers is going to call the number on the unreadableJapanese sign and inquire about the whereabouts of my sweet ride. If they don't have it though, I'll just have to report it stolen to the police, (good thing I paid the extra 500 yen to have it registered) and resign myself to bike-less life.
Sighs.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Major Update Time!
Oh, hello there, you're still checking this blog? I commend you! And I thank you for your patience, and tenacity in returning here day after day, longing, burning, pining for more pictures of Japan. Yes. I know. But fret not, your wait is over. And you're in for a lot of reading and clicking, so get your snacks and beverages now, exercise your clicking finger, and settle in..
So, my backlog of pictures begins weeks ago, with photos I took on a weekend trip into Tokyo. Orchid (a friend from training) and I ventured out to Asakusa, a shiny red beacon (not to be confused with shiny red bacon) of touristy goodness. Asakusa is famous for the Senso-ji, a buddhist temple, and the area surrounding it that is swathed in souvenir shops.
We arrived in style on the Ginza subway line and followed the mob toward the temple area. We stopped into the tourist information booth and then took a couple photos while waiting to cross the street. The temple is also famous for its huge chochin hanging in the outer gate. Taking a photo here is a trial because everyone else is trying to do the same and all are vying for the best angles. One tries not to walk through the middle of other people's pictures, but it's a confounding maze, and I'm fairly sure I ruined at least 20 family photos.
After passing through the outer gate, and under the giant chochin, you are confronted with an overwhelming sea of dark heads. Here lies Nakamise-dori crowded with its shops where visitors have been shopping for centuries. Walking down the street (currently decorated in celebration of the autumn colors) you approach the main buildings.
As you walk through the entrance on the inside you see the bright red everywhere, and the temple's five story pagoda. As you can see, procuring an unadulterated photo of simply the pagoda, is impossible.
Just inside the entrance you can pay a hundred yen to get your omikuji, your fortune. Even after asking a few of my Japanese co-workers, I have still not managed to divine for how long, exactly, these fortunes apply. I received very good luck (which would be great if I believed these sorts of things), but poor Orchid, who seems to be rather superstitious, received quite bad luck. If you expand the picture as much as possible, you can read the amusing English translation. My favorite is "Stop starting a trip." Which made Orchid ponder "does that mean I should leave Japan??" But, luckily for the superstitious, should you receive a bad fortune, you can simply tie it up with the expectation that this will prevent the bad fortune from occuring.
Next, further into the temple area, the air is laden with the heavy, sweet scent of burning incense. And here you find the well-known incense cauldron. The smoke from this cauldron is reputed to be healing and you'll see devout visitors, full of hope, wafting the magical bluish smoke toward their faces, or in more desperate cases, rubbing it into whichever area of the body needs the most help. Perhaps he is hoping to cure his baldness, though I think it may be a bit too late...
Next to the cauldron is the area for cleansing oneself before entering the temple. Please be careful not to spit on your neighbor's shoe. After dripping, swishing, and drying, you can move up the stairs and into the building. You are to cast some coins (a monetary offering to pay for your wishes) into the wooden box, if there is a bell ring it, bow twice, clap twice to bring the god's attention to you while you think hard about your wish (be as specific as possible please, no need to be wishy washy), then bow once again.
You can go into the very front area of the temple, but walls of wire will keep you from wandering into the religious area where monks offer prayer amid ornate and shiny decor that monetary offerings have bought.
If you proceed out the left exit of the temple you'll find a lovely garden, which is a welcome respite from the swarming humanity of Nakamise-dori and the fervent, pushing wishers. You'll see this except, you probably won't see me in front of it.... And if you wander toward the right you'll find this stone bridge, my koi friends, and a lovely view. Also, some shrines.
After having some tasty yakisoba, Orchid and I left Asakusa and since it was early, we went to Shinjuku to take a look around. There we found the main branch of Kinokuniya, a bookstore I'm rather fond of, and some other interesting stores. We stopped into a few stores, considered going to Tokyo tower, but after finding at the shoe store that it was a bit far away, decided on Harajuku instead. Also we found these interesting shoes. I kid you not.
In Harajuku we went to Meiji-jingu, where former emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken are enshrined. The Japanese built this shrine in honor of them after their deaths (1912 & 1914 respectively) turning an iris garden they frequented into a rambling forest, garden, and shrine. This shrine was infinitely more pleasant than Asakusa. It was much quieter and the forest area surrounding the shrine is incredibly beautiful. I hope to return when the leaves are changing color, and to arrive earlier in the day, since the garden area was closed by the time we arrived.
We arrived in early afternoon and decended into the woodsy shrine area. It it's quite expansive and the gravel walkways are wide and inviting, and the wooden torii are beautiful and impressive with respect to size. On the way to the actual shrine there is a snack area and gift shop, and beyond that along the side of the path are casks of wine given as gifts from france for the dedication of the shrine. Parts of the shrine are being restored, and most of the current shrine has been rebuilt since World War II. It is wooden, and it blends well with the thriving forest that encloses it. Even though there were a good number of people around, it was still peaceful. Here, there were no omikuji to be found, but if you find that paying and praying may not be enough to bring your wishes to bear, you can purchase and sign prayers to be left at the shrine and hopefully granted by the kami (gods) enshrined there.
These prayers can be found at just about any shrine, but the Meiji shrine is popular thus the prayers were very interesting to read. They represent a world of visitors and their dearest wishes. They hang in every language, and most are simple hopes, seemingly left as a legacy rather than an actual prayer. I found "love health & baby soon" particularly endearing (I quite enjoy the ambiguity in the handwriting of "stock" which looks like 'stork', as well as "refuge" and "powerball"
These kinds of wishes are good, especially in light of Japan's great oversight. He gave coins to his friend, and he watches as his friend prances easily, spryly up the mere seven steps that mark his own barrier.
It began to grow dark under the heavy canopy of the trees, so we headed out at a leisurely pace, and found that we were leaving just as it was closing.
It was still quite light outside of the trees when we left, so we headed just down the hill and across from the train station we had arrived at and took a trip down Takeshita-dori. It was growing dark, but the hordes of teenagers were in full shopping swing. This was a really fun place to go, and we greatly enjoyed seeing all the different shops, and inhaling the sugary smell of the crepe stands wafting about on the breeze.
And finally, here are some updated pictures of my room for you. My tiny little sofa, and the cardboard table top I constructed for one of my stools from the giant box the sofa was delivered in. Also, here's the bag I bought. Hah.
Please tune in next time for Tokyo Tower, a Japanese Garden, and my trip to Nikko...
Love you!
So, my backlog of pictures begins weeks ago, with photos I took on a weekend trip into Tokyo. Orchid (a friend from training) and I ventured out to Asakusa, a shiny red beacon (not to be confused with shiny red bacon) of touristy goodness. Asakusa is famous for the Senso-ji, a buddhist temple, and the area surrounding it that is swathed in souvenir shops.
We arrived in style on the Ginza subway line and followed the mob toward the temple area. We stopped into the tourist information booth and then took a couple photos while waiting to cross the street. The temple is also famous for its huge chochin hanging in the outer gate. Taking a photo here is a trial because everyone else is trying to do the same and all are vying for the best angles. One tries not to walk through the middle of other people's pictures, but it's a confounding maze, and I'm fairly sure I ruined at least 20 family photos.
After passing through the outer gate, and under the giant chochin, you are confronted with an overwhelming sea of dark heads. Here lies Nakamise-dori crowded with its shops where visitors have been shopping for centuries. Walking down the street (currently decorated in celebration of the autumn colors) you approach the main buildings.
As you walk through the entrance on the inside you see the bright red everywhere, and the temple's five story pagoda. As you can see, procuring an unadulterated photo of simply the pagoda, is impossible.
Just inside the entrance you can pay a hundred yen to get your omikuji, your fortune. Even after asking a few of my Japanese co-workers, I have still not managed to divine for how long, exactly, these fortunes apply. I received very good luck (which would be great if I believed these sorts of things), but poor Orchid, who seems to be rather superstitious, received quite bad luck. If you expand the picture as much as possible, you can read the amusing English translation. My favorite is "Stop starting a trip." Which made Orchid ponder "does that mean I should leave Japan??" But, luckily for the superstitious, should you receive a bad fortune, you can simply tie it up with the expectation that this will prevent the bad fortune from occuring.
Next, further into the temple area, the air is laden with the heavy, sweet scent of burning incense. And here you find the well-known incense cauldron. The smoke from this cauldron is reputed to be healing and you'll see devout visitors, full of hope, wafting the magical bluish smoke toward their faces, or in more desperate cases, rubbing it into whichever area of the body needs the most help. Perhaps he is hoping to cure his baldness, though I think it may be a bit too late...
Next to the cauldron is the area for cleansing oneself before entering the temple. Please be careful not to spit on your neighbor's shoe. After dripping, swishing, and drying, you can move up the stairs and into the building. You are to cast some coins (a monetary offering to pay for your wishes) into the wooden box, if there is a bell ring it, bow twice, clap twice to bring the god's attention to you while you think hard about your wish (be as specific as possible please, no need to be wishy washy), then bow once again.
You can go into the very front area of the temple, but walls of wire will keep you from wandering into the religious area where monks offer prayer amid ornate and shiny decor that monetary offerings have bought.
If you proceed out the left exit of the temple you'll find a lovely garden, which is a welcome respite from the swarming humanity of Nakamise-dori and the fervent, pushing wishers. You'll see this except, you probably won't see me in front of it.... And if you wander toward the right you'll find this stone bridge, my koi friends, and a lovely view. Also, some shrines.
After having some tasty yakisoba, Orchid and I left Asakusa and since it was early, we went to Shinjuku to take a look around. There we found the main branch of Kinokuniya, a bookstore I'm rather fond of, and some other interesting stores. We stopped into a few stores, considered going to Tokyo tower, but after finding at the shoe store that it was a bit far away, decided on Harajuku instead. Also we found these interesting shoes. I kid you not.
In Harajuku we went to Meiji-jingu, where former emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken are enshrined. The Japanese built this shrine in honor of them after their deaths (1912 & 1914 respectively) turning an iris garden they frequented into a rambling forest, garden, and shrine. This shrine was infinitely more pleasant than Asakusa. It was much quieter and the forest area surrounding the shrine is incredibly beautiful. I hope to return when the leaves are changing color, and to arrive earlier in the day, since the garden area was closed by the time we arrived.
We arrived in early afternoon and decended into the woodsy shrine area. It it's quite expansive and the gravel walkways are wide and inviting, and the wooden torii are beautiful and impressive with respect to size. On the way to the actual shrine there is a snack area and gift shop, and beyond that along the side of the path are casks of wine given as gifts from france for the dedication of the shrine. Parts of the shrine are being restored, and most of the current shrine has been rebuilt since World War II. It is wooden, and it blends well with the thriving forest that encloses it. Even though there were a good number of people around, it was still peaceful. Here, there were no omikuji to be found, but if you find that paying and praying may not be enough to bring your wishes to bear, you can purchase and sign prayers to be left at the shrine and hopefully granted by the kami (gods) enshrined there.
These prayers can be found at just about any shrine, but the Meiji shrine is popular thus the prayers were very interesting to read. They represent a world of visitors and their dearest wishes. They hang in every language, and most are simple hopes, seemingly left as a legacy rather than an actual prayer. I found "love health & baby soon" particularly endearing (I quite enjoy the ambiguity in the handwriting of "stock" which looks like 'stork', as well as "refuge" and "powerball"
These kinds of wishes are good, especially in light of Japan's great oversight. He gave coins to his friend, and he watches as his friend prances easily, spryly up the mere seven steps that mark his own barrier.
It began to grow dark under the heavy canopy of the trees, so we headed out at a leisurely pace, and found that we were leaving just as it was closing.
It was still quite light outside of the trees when we left, so we headed just down the hill and across from the train station we had arrived at and took a trip down Takeshita-dori. It was growing dark, but the hordes of teenagers were in full shopping swing. This was a really fun place to go, and we greatly enjoyed seeing all the different shops, and inhaling the sugary smell of the crepe stands wafting about on the breeze.
And finally, here are some updated pictures of my room for you. My tiny little sofa, and the cardboard table top I constructed for one of my stools from the giant box the sofa was delivered in. Also, here's the bag I bought. Hah.
Please tune in next time for Tokyo Tower, a Japanese Garden, and my trip to Nikko...
Love you!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Gaijin Always Listen to Music
I think it used to be the joke that Gaijin (foreigners) always sleep on the train....Now, I think it's more accurate to say that they just listen to ipods. I mean.....the majority of the world population listens to their ipods on the train, so now the gaijin don't stick out so bad.
That intro leads to this random snippet from my life today...
I usually listen to my ipod on the way to work, its just a 10 minute walk or so, but that's two songs! At any rate, I usually go to the Daily Yamazaki to get some coffee or something then sit in the plaza if it's nice out and I'm early. I usually have my ipod on for that too...
But today, I didn't have it since the battery was out. So I was actually aware of the world around me. What a novel experience!
One of the other foreign teachers at my school had asked me recently if I had noticed anybody noticing me as a foreigner. I had to say no, and I attributed this to the fact that I'm a woman and much less noticeably foreign than a quite tall, blondish guy. He protested, however, that it would happen. That I'd be on the train and some 5 year old would just....gape at me, open mouthed, like I'm some kind of...golden monkey...and then after a few minutes would turn and tug on his/her parents pant leg and point at me. He did such a good impression that when it did happen last week, it was quite comical. Of course, I'd not be offended by the curiosity of a child anyhow. Rather, I think it's pretty cute. I like waving at them and hoping that they remember the smiling face of a friendly foreigner in their far distant future, when maybe prejudice could have had the upper hand. Inevitably the parents are always quite embarrassed and quash the innocent, inquiring pointer finger as quickly as possible. I have mercy on them and pretend that I didn't notice their child's 'rudeness'.
That was last week though. Today I sat on the low brick wall on the edge of the landscaping, my back to the bushes, glorying in the beauty of a perfectly sunny, early autumn morning when a small group of 3 older Japanese women approached me. One came up to me and asked in Japanese if it was "okay" and then asked if I spoke English. Funnily enough, I responded in Japanese...actually, she asked if I "Eigo....English?" I responded in the affirmative, in combination likewise "Hai....yes." Then...she smiled and said something to her friends, laughing, and off they went. Maybe they had a bet going or something. It was a little charming, I have to admit, to see oldish women acting so schoolgirlishly.
These small incidents come after a couple recent encounters with the potential unwelcoming nature of Japan. I attempted to open my bank account at Mizuho with my Japanese coworker doing the real business for me, but the bank said that foreigners have to live in Japan for a full 6 months before opening a Mizuho account now. This wasn't the case before, and the change is pretty recent, as far as I know. They said something about tax reasons, and when confronted with the fact that this seemed contrary to their previous policies, they said "the past is the past..."
I had no trouble opening my account at a neighboring bank, aside from the pretty normal frustration of dealing with a HIGHLY and senselessly bureaucratic system and mindset.
I have also recently heard that many smaller inns and hotels are not welcoming to foreigners simply because they don't know how to deal with the difference in language. Communication is pretty difficult between languages as different as Japanese and English, but I believe that these same inns and hotels usually change their minds after hosting a foreigner for the first time and finding the joy in sharing their culture with an eager learner.
Anyway. Just a small incident that I thought I might share.
Coming Soon! Lauren's trip to Asakusa, Harajuku, and the Meiji Shrine...
<3 Love!
That intro leads to this random snippet from my life today...
I usually listen to my ipod on the way to work, its just a 10 minute walk or so, but that's two songs! At any rate, I usually go to the Daily Yamazaki to get some coffee or something then sit in the plaza if it's nice out and I'm early. I usually have my ipod on for that too...
But today, I didn't have it since the battery was out. So I was actually aware of the world around me. What a novel experience!
One of the other foreign teachers at my school had asked me recently if I had noticed anybody noticing me as a foreigner. I had to say no, and I attributed this to the fact that I'm a woman and much less noticeably foreign than a quite tall, blondish guy. He protested, however, that it would happen. That I'd be on the train and some 5 year old would just....gape at me, open mouthed, like I'm some kind of...golden monkey...and then after a few minutes would turn and tug on his/her parents pant leg and point at me. He did such a good impression that when it did happen last week, it was quite comical. Of course, I'd not be offended by the curiosity of a child anyhow. Rather, I think it's pretty cute. I like waving at them and hoping that they remember the smiling face of a friendly foreigner in their far distant future, when maybe prejudice could have had the upper hand. Inevitably the parents are always quite embarrassed and quash the innocent, inquiring pointer finger as quickly as possible. I have mercy on them and pretend that I didn't notice their child's 'rudeness'.
That was last week though. Today I sat on the low brick wall on the edge of the landscaping, my back to the bushes, glorying in the beauty of a perfectly sunny, early autumn morning when a small group of 3 older Japanese women approached me. One came up to me and asked in Japanese if it was "okay" and then asked if I spoke English. Funnily enough, I responded in Japanese...actually, she asked if I "Eigo....English?" I responded in the affirmative, in combination likewise "Hai....yes." Then...she smiled and said something to her friends, laughing, and off they went. Maybe they had a bet going or something. It was a little charming, I have to admit, to see oldish women acting so schoolgirlishly.
These small incidents come after a couple recent encounters with the potential unwelcoming nature of Japan. I attempted to open my bank account at Mizuho with my Japanese coworker doing the real business for me, but the bank said that foreigners have to live in Japan for a full 6 months before opening a Mizuho account now. This wasn't the case before, and the change is pretty recent, as far as I know. They said something about tax reasons, and when confronted with the fact that this seemed contrary to their previous policies, they said "the past is the past..."
I had no trouble opening my account at a neighboring bank, aside from the pretty normal frustration of dealing with a HIGHLY and senselessly bureaucratic system and mindset.
I have also recently heard that many smaller inns and hotels are not welcoming to foreigners simply because they don't know how to deal with the difference in language. Communication is pretty difficult between languages as different as Japanese and English, but I believe that these same inns and hotels usually change their minds after hosting a foreigner for the first time and finding the joy in sharing their culture with an eager learner.
Anyway. Just a small incident that I thought I might share.
Coming Soon! Lauren's trip to Asakusa, Harajuku, and the Meiji Shrine...
<3 Love!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Weekend Jaunts
(click the links to see the pictures....and click the pictures to see them bigger!)
Last weekend I had no plans, so I set out around my neighborhood to do some exploring. I had heard from one of my students that there is a small shrine near where I live. I hoped to find that, and to explore a bit in the area behind my house, down the other side of the hill, the side I never frequent.
I had no idea where to even begin to search for the shrine. I had only heard that it was in the area, and had no idea what it might even look like. In light of my lack of direction, I decided to begin the day by walking down the other side of the hill past my house. The other side of the hill seems to be mostly residential, with just a few small shops, and was very unexciting...
On the way over, however, I reached the end of a street...I had two choices, follow a man on a bicycle who fearlessly rode his rusty vehicle up the tamped dirt and moss pathway, shrouded by trees and suspiciously alongside a building, like some private drive.....or turn right to continue on the street.
What did I do? What did I do??
After a slight moment of hesitation...and with cloudy visions of myself being accosted for trespassing wavering, ghostlike, in the back of my head, I cautiously ducked under the lowest arching branches, and made my way up the long, low stretched out earthen steps. I soon found myself on a gravel pathway of new chalky rock, to the right of which I saw this. It appeared to be a very tiny kind of shrine, and as I turned away from it I realized that the suspicious building from behind which I had just emerged was actually the very shrine I had been looking for. The shrine seems to be situated very near the top of the hill, and has two entrances, one from behind, and the main entrance. My house is just behind the shrine, a short walk of a few minutes in a straight path. As it turns out the road goes around the shrine, but many people just walk or ride their bicycles through the land of the shrine. The main building is small, and looks nice, but it was loud while I was there, though it was empty. Apparently they are constructing a new building. The construction area is directly adjacent to the main building and it really diminishes the peacefulness, and overall attractiveness of the shrine, but I suppose improvements must be made. Here is the main building and to the left you can see where I came from, there is a storage area for seasonal objects like portable shrines, and an outbuilding, which is right next to the back entrance I used.
After leaving the shrine, I headed back toward my house, but on the way was distracted by a glimpse of that grave yard I live next to. I decided on a whim to try and find my way down to it, curious at what I might find. I turned back around, back towards the shrine, but this time I made a left at the first available street. This is the view I found, and I thought it would give you an accurate example of the general look of my neighborhood. You'll notice that the houses have little to no land surrounding them, and also the laundry and bed clothes hanging on one balcony.
Just after rounding the curve to the left, I saw a smaller street on my left. I was intrigued, since it was not of the same paved asphalt as the regular road. I decided to turn there and was soon rewarded with the sight of graveyard in the near distance. I ventured further, and found more than I expected. I had expected to find an entrance to the small graveyard next to my apartment, as it turns out the graveyard is rather expansive, but due to lack of space, is divided into small sections, which seem strewn about on the left and right sides of the road, and are stratified like terrace farming due to the incline. As I approached the first section of the graveyard, I saw this fellow, he appears to be welcoming, but whether he is welcoming the living or the dead, I don't know. Underneath him, is actually a tiny building, where I think someone is employed to sell incense to those visiting loved ones, but I visited on a holiday, thus there was no one inside.
In this first section, I found a mixture of seemingly old and new stones. More accurately, I found old stones, and new.....monuments. Here in Japan, the dead receive a veritable shrine to themselves. On these shrines loved ones leave plants, talismans, offerings...in fact, this person seems to have been a fan of the Pepsi...
I was alone in wandering through the cemetery, and I was glad, as I wasn't entirely sure how welcome I was there. Though each section of the cemetery was nearly all concrete and talismans, the general area was quite pretty. The smell of incense was carried about by the breeze. It was evident that someone had recently been there to pray for their dead.
As I ventured further down the hill I saw this awaiting me on the left. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but judging by these...at another location...that they are monuments to children that have died. They are interesting, each is unique, or at least there seem to be different kinds..one is dressed as a monk...and of course they are wearing hats and bibs...even not being sure what they are to mean, they seem to be surrounded with a sense of sadness and loss. Especially these nine who are all in the same location, separate from the other children, and all wearing similar hand made looking items. It's just so terribly sad.
After spending some considerable time with the children, I moved further down the hill to find the end of the cemetery, a gravel parking lot bordered by a bamboo forest, and this ambiguous path. Of course I followed it...trying not to look too suspicious. I had no idea where I was going...if maybe I was walking the path to someone's house...or...a giant snake pit. Turned out to be more graves behind the bamboo forest.
After hitting that path, I went back up the hill to the building I passed up on the way down the hill. It was evident that the graveyard I can see from my apartment was behind this building, and it was really quite beautiful. On the same grounds, it seems, directly to the right of this (what I think is a temple?) is someone's house. I suppose that whoever manages this temple(?) also lives there...I felt strange going there, and I wasn't entirely sure I was supposed to be walking around here either, but I took my pictures quietly and left in good fashion.
But not before going around to the back and climbing this hill where I knew some small alter to be...I can see the tops of these torii from my apartment as well. They seem a bit run down, but I like them.
I left in good time while the neighbor was gardening, and under the watchful eyes of sleepy, shy cats. I headed home and took these random pictures on the way, some of some quite lovely flowers, and this one of a convenient home storage solution for those with too many cars.
It was a nice day out, and after I did some grocery shopping.
Whew! Long post! It took too long to put this together and post it, and I think it will take you too long to read it and look at all the pictures. In the future, I may divide these outings into more than one post. And in fact, I am one weekend behind, as it is now Friday, and I haven't even emptied my camera of the pictures I took from last weekend at Asakusa, and around Tokyo....[just a preview of coming attractions!] and I need to do THAT so I have space on my camera for this coming weekend.
I have plans to go see some gardens around Tokyo as well as Tokyo tower with a Japanese coworker who wants to introduce me to his friends...haha. Apparently one of his friends wants to meet a foreigner. Hahaha. Also, on Monday, one of my students invited me to join her for some Ikebana (flower arranging). I'm not sure what we'll be doing, I'm under the impression she is heavily into this...so I hope that will be fun. I'm interested in learning it!
And apparently according to some other students who frequently attend tea time to chat, I have a small face.
Which...is...apparently a good thing that they are jealous of.
And here I always thought I had a rather large face....
<3!
(wow! thank goodness for my new highspeed internet connection! the second half of this post took so much less time! i managed to set my new internets up all by myself! with directions and account info only in japanese!)
Last weekend I had no plans, so I set out around my neighborhood to do some exploring. I had heard from one of my students that there is a small shrine near where I live. I hoped to find that, and to explore a bit in the area behind my house, down the other side of the hill, the side I never frequent.
I had no idea where to even begin to search for the shrine. I had only heard that it was in the area, and had no idea what it might even look like. In light of my lack of direction, I decided to begin the day by walking down the other side of the hill past my house. The other side of the hill seems to be mostly residential, with just a few small shops, and was very unexciting...
On the way over, however, I reached the end of a street...I had two choices, follow a man on a bicycle who fearlessly rode his rusty vehicle up the tamped dirt and moss pathway, shrouded by trees and suspiciously alongside a building, like some private drive.....or turn right to continue on the street.
What did I do? What did I do??
After a slight moment of hesitation...and with cloudy visions of myself being accosted for trespassing wavering, ghostlike, in the back of my head, I cautiously ducked under the lowest arching branches, and made my way up the long, low stretched out earthen steps. I soon found myself on a gravel pathway of new chalky rock, to the right of which I saw this. It appeared to be a very tiny kind of shrine, and as I turned away from it I realized that the suspicious building from behind which I had just emerged was actually the very shrine I had been looking for. The shrine seems to be situated very near the top of the hill, and has two entrances, one from behind, and the main entrance. My house is just behind the shrine, a short walk of a few minutes in a straight path. As it turns out the road goes around the shrine, but many people just walk or ride their bicycles through the land of the shrine. The main building is small, and looks nice, but it was loud while I was there, though it was empty. Apparently they are constructing a new building. The construction area is directly adjacent to the main building and it really diminishes the peacefulness, and overall attractiveness of the shrine, but I suppose improvements must be made. Here is the main building and to the left you can see where I came from, there is a storage area for seasonal objects like portable shrines, and an outbuilding, which is right next to the back entrance I used.
After leaving the shrine, I headed back toward my house, but on the way was distracted by a glimpse of that grave yard I live next to. I decided on a whim to try and find my way down to it, curious at what I might find. I turned back around, back towards the shrine, but this time I made a left at the first available street. This is the view I found, and I thought it would give you an accurate example of the general look of my neighborhood. You'll notice that the houses have little to no land surrounding them, and also the laundry and bed clothes hanging on one balcony.
Just after rounding the curve to the left, I saw a smaller street on my left. I was intrigued, since it was not of the same paved asphalt as the regular road. I decided to turn there and was soon rewarded with the sight of graveyard in the near distance. I ventured further, and found more than I expected. I had expected to find an entrance to the small graveyard next to my apartment, as it turns out the graveyard is rather expansive, but due to lack of space, is divided into small sections, which seem strewn about on the left and right sides of the road, and are stratified like terrace farming due to the incline. As I approached the first section of the graveyard, I saw this fellow, he appears to be welcoming, but whether he is welcoming the living or the dead, I don't know. Underneath him, is actually a tiny building, where I think someone is employed to sell incense to those visiting loved ones, but I visited on a holiday, thus there was no one inside.
In this first section, I found a mixture of seemingly old and new stones. More accurately, I found old stones, and new.....monuments. Here in Japan, the dead receive a veritable shrine to themselves. On these shrines loved ones leave plants, talismans, offerings...in fact, this person seems to have been a fan of the Pepsi...
I was alone in wandering through the cemetery, and I was glad, as I wasn't entirely sure how welcome I was there. Though each section of the cemetery was nearly all concrete and talismans, the general area was quite pretty. The smell of incense was carried about by the breeze. It was evident that someone had recently been there to pray for their dead.
As I ventured further down the hill I saw this awaiting me on the left. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but judging by these...at another location...that they are monuments to children that have died. They are interesting, each is unique, or at least there seem to be different kinds..one is dressed as a monk...and of course they are wearing hats and bibs...even not being sure what they are to mean, they seem to be surrounded with a sense of sadness and loss. Especially these nine who are all in the same location, separate from the other children, and all wearing similar hand made looking items. It's just so terribly sad.
After spending some considerable time with the children, I moved further down the hill to find the end of the cemetery, a gravel parking lot bordered by a bamboo forest, and this ambiguous path. Of course I followed it...trying not to look too suspicious. I had no idea where I was going...if maybe I was walking the path to someone's house...or...a giant snake pit. Turned out to be more graves behind the bamboo forest.
After hitting that path, I went back up the hill to the building I passed up on the way down the hill. It was evident that the graveyard I can see from my apartment was behind this building, and it was really quite beautiful. On the same grounds, it seems, directly to the right of this (what I think is a temple?) is someone's house. I suppose that whoever manages this temple(?) also lives there...I felt strange going there, and I wasn't entirely sure I was supposed to be walking around here either, but I took my pictures quietly and left in good fashion.
But not before going around to the back and climbing this hill where I knew some small alter to be...I can see the tops of these torii from my apartment as well. They seem a bit run down, but I like them.
I left in good time while the neighbor was gardening, and under the watchful eyes of sleepy, shy cats. I headed home and took these random pictures on the way, some of some quite lovely flowers, and this one of a convenient home storage solution for those with too many cars.
It was a nice day out, and after I did some grocery shopping.
Whew! Long post! It took too long to put this together and post it, and I think it will take you too long to read it and look at all the pictures. In the future, I may divide these outings into more than one post. And in fact, I am one weekend behind, as it is now Friday, and I haven't even emptied my camera of the pictures I took from last weekend at Asakusa, and around Tokyo....[just a preview of coming attractions!] and I need to do THAT so I have space on my camera for this coming weekend.
I have plans to go see some gardens around Tokyo as well as Tokyo tower with a Japanese coworker who wants to introduce me to his friends...haha. Apparently one of his friends wants to meet a foreigner. Hahaha. Also, on Monday, one of my students invited me to join her for some Ikebana (flower arranging). I'm not sure what we'll be doing, I'm under the impression she is heavily into this...so I hope that will be fun. I'm interested in learning it!
And apparently according to some other students who frequently attend tea time to chat, I have a small face.
Which...is...apparently a good thing that they are jealous of.
And here I always thought I had a rather large face....
<3!
(wow! thank goodness for my new highspeed internet connection! the second half of this post took so much less time! i managed to set my new internets up all by myself! with directions and account info only in japanese!)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Interim Update
Ah, an update!
Yes yes, I'm sorry. When it comes down to it, I guess updating a blog can be a very involving thing to do. It demands sorting, editing, and uploading pictures and a devotion of time...not to mention time!
But, I must remain devoted!
As I have been recently telling some of you, after some uncomfortable feelings about living over here all alone, I'm finding myself opened to a very bright coming year. It all seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but now when I think about it, living here in Japan seems a little mundane...
Mostly, I think, because I'm not here as a tourist, but I'm living and working here so there isn't a lustre and the entertainment of a tourist. However, over the past few days, I have been coming to realize that there is the lustre, it's just spread over a years worth of appreciation and experience.
Work is coming along quite nicely. I am starting to remember my students, and have begun getting to know them as individuals and that is making the job highly enjoyable. I am also enjoying getting to know my co-workers. I hope that we will be able to really do some fun things together. I seem to be falling into the pattern at work naturally. It doesn't seem strange at all to me to be at a 'real person' job. A...career kind of job...It seems just like every job I've always done, just..at a new company. And the very fact that it doesn't seem strange, is the strange part. I always thought that having a full time career job, not being a student, or anything else, would feel strange, but alas...it is not so. And I like it.
Of course I miss being a student. The friends, the four years of experiences, going to class, reading in the campus cafe, staying up too late in the RA office, meetings, overly busy schedules, ski trips, over night paper writing, wing night....those are all things that will live forever in a thick mixture of collegiate life in my memory. I believe the crisp autumn weather will always remind me of the first weeks of the new school year, especially of those particular four that I spent in New York. I'm glad to have graduated, and moved on from school, but there is a sadness in knowing that I can't go back. That time is over now. And what a short, but lovely, time it was.
But in saying goodbye to one stage of my life, I am slowly awakening to a new stage. I have only a year to see as much as I can of Japan. Only a year of weekends and holidays. I must get myself busy!
All in all, I'm feeling pretty comfortable here. For the time being.
It has helped that I've gotten a bit more settled in to my apartment. I finally found suitable curtains and I purchased a small, inexpensive sofa from Ikea as well. It will be delivered on Sunday some time and that is going to be a major part in making my apartment more comfortable. I will have a place to sit to read, compute, watch movies rather than on my bed on the floor. In a couple more weeks, hopefully they will have restocked the rug I want, that will match my curtains quite well, and I can forsee that my apartment will look quite fantastic.
This past weekend I did a little more local exploring, but I hope you'll excuse my not talking about that, or posting those pictures tonight. It is already passed my bed time.
I am putting together an account and photo albums on Flickr so that I can link you to those photos and so you can see more pictures. Since posting photos is a hassle on blogger. That is taking some time however, so please endeavor to be patient for a few more days...
I'll be off now!
Love!
Yes yes, I'm sorry. When it comes down to it, I guess updating a blog can be a very involving thing to do. It demands sorting, editing, and uploading pictures and a devotion of time...not to mention time!
But, I must remain devoted!
As I have been recently telling some of you, after some uncomfortable feelings about living over here all alone, I'm finding myself opened to a very bright coming year. It all seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but now when I think about it, living here in Japan seems a little mundane...
Mostly, I think, because I'm not here as a tourist, but I'm living and working here so there isn't a lustre and the entertainment of a tourist. However, over the past few days, I have been coming to realize that there is the lustre, it's just spread over a years worth of appreciation and experience.
Work is coming along quite nicely. I am starting to remember my students, and have begun getting to know them as individuals and that is making the job highly enjoyable. I am also enjoying getting to know my co-workers. I hope that we will be able to really do some fun things together. I seem to be falling into the pattern at work naturally. It doesn't seem strange at all to me to be at a 'real person' job. A...career kind of job...It seems just like every job I've always done, just..at a new company. And the very fact that it doesn't seem strange, is the strange part. I always thought that having a full time career job, not being a student, or anything else, would feel strange, but alas...it is not so. And I like it.
Of course I miss being a student. The friends, the four years of experiences, going to class, reading in the campus cafe, staying up too late in the RA office, meetings, overly busy schedules, ski trips, over night paper writing, wing night....those are all things that will live forever in a thick mixture of collegiate life in my memory. I believe the crisp autumn weather will always remind me of the first weeks of the new school year, especially of those particular four that I spent in New York. I'm glad to have graduated, and moved on from school, but there is a sadness in knowing that I can't go back. That time is over now. And what a short, but lovely, time it was.
But in saying goodbye to one stage of my life, I am slowly awakening to a new stage. I have only a year to see as much as I can of Japan. Only a year of weekends and holidays. I must get myself busy!
All in all, I'm feeling pretty comfortable here. For the time being.
It has helped that I've gotten a bit more settled in to my apartment. I finally found suitable curtains and I purchased a small, inexpensive sofa from Ikea as well. It will be delivered on Sunday some time and that is going to be a major part in making my apartment more comfortable. I will have a place to sit to read, compute, watch movies rather than on my bed on the floor. In a couple more weeks, hopefully they will have restocked the rug I want, that will match my curtains quite well, and I can forsee that my apartment will look quite fantastic.
This past weekend I did a little more local exploring, but I hope you'll excuse my not talking about that, or posting those pictures tonight. It is already passed my bed time.
I am putting together an account and photo albums on Flickr so that I can link you to those photos and so you can see more pictures. Since posting photos is a hassle on blogger. That is taking some time however, so please endeavor to be patient for a few more days...
I'll be off now!
Love!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Thursday is the new Wednesday...
It's true.
Since Monday is my Sunday, my Monday is really Tuesday...
So I get to think the week is half over on Thursday....and when it's Wednesday, and it SHOULD be the middle of the week, and it feels like I just started the week....it makes me happy to think: "ahh, it's already Wednesday, but it feels like the week has just started!"
That probably doesn't make any sense.
I'll be honest with you...I just looked up the word "doesn't" on dictionary.com, because Blogger seems to think I've misspelled it, and I suddenly began to doubt whether or not I've spelled it correctly...I think Blogger is just experiencing a small glitch.
This is really a nonsense post. I'm warning you that you'll most likely get nothing at all out of reading this.
Also, I thought I'd share with Robert (because only he will find this even remotely interesting) that today was a Speech day in one of my classes...where the students prepare a very short speech on the topic given and we work on giving speeches. Clearly. That's not the story...sorry...Anyway, the topic was something shocking that happened to you. And one of the men wrote that his shocking event was when he won a PS3 in drawing. It was a good story, and at the end of the speech the audience gets to ask questions and someone asked about his other video games, and apparently he loves and owns many other systems...then I asked him what his favorite game of all time is.....
Robert...
I kid you not..
The man said...... SPACE CHANNEL 5
space.channel.5.
It made me laugh and he loved that I knew about the game, and the long and short of it is that now that entire class of 5 business men all think I'm a video game freak.
And that was the best part of my day.
Since Monday is my Sunday, my Monday is really Tuesday...
So I get to think the week is half over on Thursday....and when it's Wednesday, and it SHOULD be the middle of the week, and it feels like I just started the week....it makes me happy to think: "ahh, it's already Wednesday, but it feels like the week has just started!"
That probably doesn't make any sense.
I'll be honest with you...I just looked up the word "doesn't" on dictionary.com, because Blogger seems to think I've misspelled it, and I suddenly began to doubt whether or not I've spelled it correctly...I think Blogger is just experiencing a small glitch.
This is really a nonsense post. I'm warning you that you'll most likely get nothing at all out of reading this.
Also, I thought I'd share with Robert (because only he will find this even remotely interesting) that today was a Speech day in one of my classes...where the students prepare a very short speech on the topic given and we work on giving speeches. Clearly. That's not the story...sorry...Anyway, the topic was something shocking that happened to you. And one of the men wrote that his shocking event was when he won a PS3 in drawing. It was a good story, and at the end of the speech the audience gets to ask questions and someone asked about his other video games, and apparently he loves and owns many other systems...then I asked him what his favorite game of all time is.....
Robert...
I kid you not..
The man said...... SPACE CHANNEL 5
space.channel.5.
It made me laugh and he loved that I knew about the game, and the long and short of it is that now that entire class of 5 business men all think I'm a video game freak.
And that was the best part of my day.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Excuses Excuses, and Directions to My House
I know I told you I'd post pictures in the morning, but as it turns out, being employed takes up a lot of one's energy. I'll attempt to be more faithful about posting in the future. <3
Anyway, as you may or may not know, the first day I spent in my new apartment, was actually a national holiday and so I got to spend a bit of time wandering around the local area. I located my new personal Starbucks...
It's funny, as it turns out, no matter where I am in the world I immediately feel at home when I walk into Starbucks. Is that sad? I don't think so...It is a shining, welcoming beacon of caffeiney goodness. Plus, you don't need to know any Japanese at Starbucks..."Ice Cafe Mocha" is apparently universal..
Aside from that I just got a lay of the land, bought an alarm clock at the local Bic Camera (which, as it turns out, is not a camera shop, rather an all around electronics store), and walked around the shopping mall area above the train station. Good times!
I took some pictures on my walk for you, though I wouldn't say that they accurately portray the area I work in. I'll have to take some pictures of the general area for you...
Here is the view at the outset of my journey. The train station is down past that brown building to the left of the tall cylindrical building.
(Don't forget that you can click pictures to expand them)
Uhm....where am I?
Thank goodness, they have these little maps scattered every few blocks or so and they show a pretty wide range of the surrounding area.
Oh look! It's Charissa's new car...
All the cars here are tiny, but this little green Nissan is TINY-pocketsized-tiny, and oh so cute!
Of course, I'm partial to the green as well.
Aaahh, yes...Here's the great thing...no matter where I am in the city, if I can see the big tall cylindrical building...I'm not lost. I just walk back in that direction and I'm in the right place.
Alright, it's time to head home, so I'll make for the big round building, then through the the eateries above the subway, then up this way:
You'll follow this road up as it curves to the left, then to the right...
Along the side of the road to the left is a small random plot of some kind of vegetable...maybe lettuce..
Along the right, up ahead is some...wildish area, a buffer between this street and some apartments up the hill a little.
There seems to be a path up into the little woodsy area, possibly through to the apartments, or houses, on the other side....but it's full..I mean FULL of HUGE spiders, so I won't be venturing up in there.
There also seems to be a little....shrine or something akin set into the woods just off the road..
Behind it you can see some housing, as the woodsy area gets thinner.
Ahead, and on the left not 50 feet away, you'll find another little...shrine or whatever it may be...
If you see this you know you're on the right path...don't go left there; bear right, and keep heading up.
You'll see this, and know you're in the right place. Just keep walking.
Soon you'll have to turn right and walk over the bridge above the train tracks. The road bears left after the bridge, just keep going.
You'll pass some apartment buildings on the left and right, then on the right you'll see a row of three little shops.
Here you'll find a tiny yakitori bar (only open from 4 to 11pm), a produce booth, and another tiny eating establishment...I think.
This last shop in on the row has a tank of live eels on the corner.
Please make a right at the eels.
After you make the right, you'll see this...
There are cigarette vending machines to your left, and that red box is the post...set in behind the postbox is a little window that is open sporadically. I think they sell stamps or...some such sundries there.
After you pass the post you'll see these stairs, start on up, it's a good workout.
At the top you'll have to go left, don't worry though, you can't get lost. You have no direction to go BUT left.
As you follow the road, you'll see this, just keep hiking, and follow the road as it curves a little more left...
Next you'll see these stairs. Don't be afraid! Up you go...
As you're headed up the stairs, you'll know you're in the right place if you see this cemetary down over the railing to the left.
Keep heading up and as soon as you get to the top of the stairs...turn to your right, and there's my building....
Ahhh. Home again.
Now, wasn't that a nice walk? Do you want to see the view from up here? Ok then...
Actually, that's the view from my balcony. The first picture of the post is the view from the top of the stairs you just climbed.
The first couple days that I was here, going up and down the stairs was terrible because it was SO hot, but for the past couple days, the weather has been deliciously cool. I think maybe autumn has begun, and hopefully I can look forward to the gradual cooling and crispening of the air.
I'm hoping to make some trips to see the leaves change colors at a few gardens this fall. And I'm very much anticipating the scarvs, boots, and jackets of a chilly autumn.
It will be nice to not have to air condition as much at night...I'll just leave my sliding door open. It's safe...I'm on the second floor.
Today was the first day of my first official weekend. Last night I took the train from Shin-Yokohama to Yokohama station with some other teachers after an office party, so I learned to use the subway, and today I got on by myself and went back to Yokohama for a full day of exploring and shopping.
I really wore myself out, but tomorrow I'm headed back out to try and find towels and curtains. I'm going to try to find the shuttle to Ikea, and maybe head back to Yokohama and try to find the Loft which I'm hoping has the same curtains as the Loft that I visited when I was in Omiya.
In the coming weekends, I'm planning on heading into Tokyo to go to Shinjuku with some friends I made at training, and one of those friends is also planning a trip to see the big Buddah.
I'll keep you posted. Until then, remember that I love you.
<3!
Mata ne...
Anyway, as you may or may not know, the first day I spent in my new apartment, was actually a national holiday and so I got to spend a bit of time wandering around the local area. I located my new personal Starbucks...
It's funny, as it turns out, no matter where I am in the world I immediately feel at home when I walk into Starbucks. Is that sad? I don't think so...It is a shining, welcoming beacon of caffeiney goodness. Plus, you don't need to know any Japanese at Starbucks..."Ice Cafe Mocha" is apparently universal..
Aside from that I just got a lay of the land, bought an alarm clock at the local Bic Camera (which, as it turns out, is not a camera shop, rather an all around electronics store), and walked around the shopping mall area above the train station. Good times!
I took some pictures on my walk for you, though I wouldn't say that they accurately portray the area I work in. I'll have to take some pictures of the general area for you...
Here is the view at the outset of my journey. The train station is down past that brown building to the left of the tall cylindrical building.(Don't forget that you can click pictures to expand them)
Uhm....where am I?
Thank goodness, they have these little maps scattered every few blocks or so and they show a pretty wide range of the surrounding area.
Oh look! It's Charissa's new car...All the cars here are tiny, but this little green Nissan is TINY-pocketsized-tiny, and oh so cute!
Of course, I'm partial to the green as well.
Aaahh, yes...Here's the great thing...no matter where I am in the city, if I can see the big tall cylindrical building...I'm not lost. I just walk back in that direction and I'm in the right place.Alright, it's time to head home, so I'll make for the big round building, then through the the eateries above the subway, then up this way:
You'll follow this road up as it curves to the left, then to the right...Along the side of the road to the left is a small random plot of some kind of vegetable...maybe lettuce..
Along the right, up ahead is some...wildish area, a buffer between this street and some apartments up the hill a little.
There seems to be a path up into the little woodsy area, possibly through to the apartments, or houses, on the other side....but it's full..I mean FULL of HUGE spiders, so I won't be venturing up in there.There also seems to be a little....shrine or something akin set into the woods just off the road..
Behind it you can see some housing, as the woodsy area gets thinner.Ahead, and on the left not 50 feet away, you'll find another little...shrine or whatever it may be...
If you see this you know you're on the right path...don't go left there; bear right, and keep heading up.
You'll see this, and know you're in the right place. Just keep walking.
Soon you'll have to turn right and walk over the bridge above the train tracks. The road bears left after the bridge, just keep going.
You'll pass some apartment buildings on the left and right, then on the right you'll see a row of three little shops.
Here you'll find a tiny yakitori bar (only open from 4 to 11pm), a produce booth, and another tiny eating establishment...I think.
This last shop in on the row has a tank of live eels on the corner.
Please make a right at the eels.
After you make the right, you'll see this...
There are cigarette vending machines to your left, and that red box is the post...set in behind the postbox is a little window that is open sporadically. I think they sell stamps or...some such sundries there.
After you pass the post you'll see these stairs, start on up, it's a good workout.
At the top you'll have to go left, don't worry though, you can't get lost. You have no direction to go BUT left.
As you follow the road, you'll see this, just keep hiking, and follow the road as it curves a little more left...
Next you'll see these stairs. Don't be afraid! Up you go...
As you're headed up the stairs, you'll know you're in the right place if you see this cemetary down over the railing to the left.
Keep heading up and as soon as you get to the top of the stairs...turn to your right, and there's my building....
Ahhh. Home again.
Now, wasn't that a nice walk? Do you want to see the view from up here? Ok then...
Actually, that's the view from my balcony. The first picture of the post is the view from the top of the stairs you just climbed.The first couple days that I was here, going up and down the stairs was terrible because it was SO hot, but for the past couple days, the weather has been deliciously cool. I think maybe autumn has begun, and hopefully I can look forward to the gradual cooling and crispening of the air.
I'm hoping to make some trips to see the leaves change colors at a few gardens this fall. And I'm very much anticipating the scarvs, boots, and jackets of a chilly autumn.
It will be nice to not have to air condition as much at night...I'll just leave my sliding door open. It's safe...I'm on the second floor.
Today was the first day of my first official weekend. Last night I took the train from Shin-Yokohama to Yokohama station with some other teachers after an office party, so I learned to use the subway, and today I got on by myself and went back to Yokohama for a full day of exploring and shopping.
I really wore myself out, but tomorrow I'm headed back out to try and find towels and curtains. I'm going to try to find the shuttle to Ikea, and maybe head back to Yokohama and try to find the Loft which I'm hoping has the same curtains as the Loft that I visited when I was in Omiya.
In the coming weekends, I'm planning on heading into Tokyo to go to Shinjuku with some friends I made at training, and one of those friends is also planning a trip to see the big Buddah.
I'll keep you posted. Until then, remember that I love you.
<3!
Mata ne...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
はい！ 大丈夫！
Fret not, I'm fine! The first day of work was hectic but fine. Apparently today was very busy and chaotic compared to most days. So, if most days are more tame than today, I can definitely handle this! The out going teacher is DJ, he is an emergency teacher since the one from before had to depart early. It's a shame he has to leave...he's so pretty to look at. Sighs. Oh well.
Today was a good time. I enjoyed chatting with the students and teaching. I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching. Tomorrow, however, I'm all on my own...it's going to be quite a trial just trying to figure out what comes next, much less teaching.
After work today, though, most of us went out to a restaurant right around the corner for some traditional Japanese food and...beer.
I'm learning that beer is a HUGE thing here. Everyone drinks beer, it's pretty funny. But tonight I ate whatever they gave me....I ate fish gut kimchi, horse meat (raw), and squid soup mash just to name a few things...
I had a great time though, it made me feel good to get to hang out with my coworkers outside of work, to let our hair down and just hang out.
Good times.
At any rate, I'm tired and it's time for bed. But tomorrow is payday! I think...and I don't have to be in until 1pm. Woot!
I'll post some pictures for you tomorrow morning.
<3
Fret not, I'm fine! The first day of work was hectic but fine. Apparently today was very busy and chaotic compared to most days. So, if most days are more tame than today, I can definitely handle this! The out going teacher is DJ, he is an emergency teacher since the one from before had to depart early. It's a shame he has to leave...he's so pretty to look at. Sighs. Oh well.
Today was a good time. I enjoyed chatting with the students and teaching. I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching. Tomorrow, however, I'm all on my own...it's going to be quite a trial just trying to figure out what comes next, much less teaching.
After work today, though, most of us went out to a restaurant right around the corner for some traditional Japanese food and...beer.
I'm learning that beer is a HUGE thing here. Everyone drinks beer, it's pretty funny. But tonight I ate whatever they gave me....I ate fish gut kimchi, horse meat (raw), and squid soup mash just to name a few things...
I had a great time though, it made me feel good to get to hang out with my coworkers outside of work, to let our hair down and just hang out.
Good times.
At any rate, I'm tired and it's time for bed. But tomorrow is payday! I think...and I don't have to be in until 1pm. Woot!
I'll post some pictures for you tomorrow morning.
<3
First Day of Work....
Eep! Today is my first day of work, lets all freak out!
I'll post again tonight with some more pictures, and first-day-of-work stories.
Also, I apologize, that shrine was Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Jinja of Omiya, Saitama, Japan.
I hope I wrote that correctly. I got a pamphlet from a nice Japanese person at the shrine and it supplies the following information:
"The shrine is said to have been built more than 2,400 years ago during the reign of Emperor Kosho (5th in line). When the 45th Emperor Shomu (724-749 A.D.) decreed that there should be one "Ichi-no-Miya (shrines of the First Rank)" in each province, this shrine was designated as Ichi-no-Miya of Musashi, thus becoming the tutelary shrine for the whole province.
In 1868, the 122nd Emperor Meiji paid a visit to worship at the shrine, which has since been visited by a personal emissary of the Emperor once a year. Such shrnes known as Chokusai-no-Yashiro now number 16, scattered across the country.
On the Day of Grand Rites every year, majestic and solemn rites are held, with the Emperor's emissary dedicating an "Azuma Asobi" ancient dance performance.
The shrine has been rebuilt a number of times. The present edifice dating back to 1940 features the "Nagare Zukuri" architectural style characterized by it's curving roofs.
Currently, there are more than 290 Hakawa Jinja in Japan, which are concentrated in the prefectures of Saitama (many of the shrines in Omiya City), Tokyo and Kanagawa. The fact that the shrine is in the center of all the Hakawa Jinja which have later been erected in other places illustrates the historical importance of Omiya as the birthplace of the nation's rapid ethnological and political development."
I hope you have enjoyed your history lesson. Now, I'll go eat some breakfast of eggs. Not Pocky. Nor Tim Tam, a magical chocolate biscuit from Australia.
I'll post again tonight with some more pictures, and first-day-of-work stories.
Also, I apologize, that shrine was Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Jinja of Omiya, Saitama, Japan.
I hope I wrote that correctly. I got a pamphlet from a nice Japanese person at the shrine and it supplies the following information:
"The shrine is said to have been built more than 2,400 years ago during the reign of Emperor Kosho (5th in line). When the 45th Emperor Shomu (724-749 A.D.) decreed that there should be one "Ichi-no-Miya (shrines of the First Rank)" in each province, this shrine was designated as Ichi-no-Miya of Musashi, thus becoming the tutelary shrine for the whole province.
In 1868, the 122nd Emperor Meiji paid a visit to worship at the shrine, which has since been visited by a personal emissary of the Emperor once a year. Such shrnes known as Chokusai-no-Yashiro now number 16, scattered across the country.
On the Day of Grand Rites every year, majestic and solemn rites are held, with the Emperor's emissary dedicating an "Azuma Asobi" ancient dance performance.
The shrine has been rebuilt a number of times. The present edifice dating back to 1940 features the "Nagare Zukuri" architectural style characterized by it's curving roofs.
Currently, there are more than 290 Hakawa Jinja in Japan, which are concentrated in the prefectures of Saitama (many of the shrines in Omiya City), Tokyo and Kanagawa. The fact that the shrine is in the center of all the Hakawa Jinja which have later been erected in other places illustrates the historical importance of Omiya as the birthplace of the nation's rapid ethnological and political development."
I hope you have enjoyed your history lesson. Now, I'll go eat some breakfast of eggs. Not Pocky. Nor Tim Tam, a magical chocolate biscuit from Australia.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Weekend Off, and Journey to Yokohama
Hellooo again!
Be ready for some pictures! (if you didn't already know, you can click the pics for full size images)
For the weekend off, I mostly just hung around and went down to the station a couple times. On the way down, once, a couple of us walked through the park to see a local shrine.
To the left is the entrance to the park.
There's also a picture of me there in
the park, just for good touristy measure.
Here you wash before you enter the shrine:
These are from random pictures once you go inside:
We saw a wedding about to take place while we were there, and many people had brought their babies to be blessed.
It was a rainy day, but it was still beautiful and quite peaceful.
I wanted to take a walk into the actual park, but we still had some shopping to do, so we moved on.
Over all, even though training was long, I had a good time in Omiya. The group we had for training was great, we all got along really well and we hope to stay in touch in the future. There are a couple people particularly near my new location that it would be fun to keep hanging out with. We shall see. It would be nice to have someone to venture around Tokyo with.
I also have to check out the local 'foreign lounge' apparently you can go there and get hooked up with foreigner services like translators and Japanese lessons. The lessons I've looked into are about 100 yen a class. Heck yes! I'll be taking twice a week! Woot!
I'm also looking into finding a church to go to around here, but I've just arrived in Yokohama, and I don't really know how to use the train yet, so I think it may be a little bit before I'm venturing too far off.
On that note, Here are some pictures of my new apartment...
That is looking through the apartment from right inside the door. Immediately on the left (out of the picture) is the WC, on the left (in the picture) is the bathroom with the tub and shower, on the right there you see my toaster oven on top of my little fridge, and then past that the sink and stove, then past that the washing machine, then through the door my room.
It's really quite cozy and very new. The floors are wood and all the doors are wood, except the door to the shower. They all smell like new wood too, which is nice. Everything is quite clean. They considerately found me some gently used storage drawers and a few little stands and assorted things for storage. Over all I like my apartment very much. Now that I've unpacked, it feels like its mine. I know that I may freak out a little when I'm out walking around, not knowing where I am, or why the crap I'm in Japan, or who I'm going to talk to......hahaha.....I know that when I get home to my apartment, I'll feel better.
Here are some more detailed pictures for your enjoyment...
This panel is on the wall outside my bathroom, you can press the button and choose the temperature of your water. It talks you you too (inside and outside of the bathroom...since there's a panel inside too) but I have no idea what it says, or what it's really capable of, since I can't read the buttons.
Hahahaha.
Today, I had the day off, so I walked around town a bit. I took some pictures of my 'neighborhood' and around town a little but posting pictures on here, and getting them to align and in the right location is difficult, so I'll leave that for another post tomorrow.
Be ready for some pictures! (if you didn't already know, you can click the pics for full size images)
For the weekend off, I mostly just hung around and went down to the station a couple times. On the way down, once, a couple of us walked through the park to see a local shrine.
To the left is the entrance to the park.
There's also a picture of me there in
the park, just for good touristy measure.
Here you wash before you enter the shrine:
These are from random pictures once you go inside:
We saw a wedding about to take place while we were there, and many people had brought their babies to be blessed.
It was a rainy day, but it was still beautiful and quite peaceful.
I wanted to take a walk into the actual park, but we still had some shopping to do, so we moved on.
Over all, even though training was long, I had a good time in Omiya. The group we had for training was great, we all got along really well and we hope to stay in touch in the future. There are a couple people particularly near my new location that it would be fun to keep hanging out with. We shall see. It would be nice to have someone to venture around Tokyo with.
I also have to check out the local 'foreign lounge' apparently you can go there and get hooked up with foreigner services like translators and Japanese lessons. The lessons I've looked into are about 100 yen a class. Heck yes! I'll be taking twice a week! Woot!
I'm also looking into finding a church to go to around here, but I've just arrived in Yokohama, and I don't really know how to use the train yet, so I think it may be a little bit before I'm venturing too far off.
On that note, Here are some pictures of my new apartment...
That is looking through the apartment from right inside the door. Immediately on the left (out of the picture) is the WC, on the left (in the picture) is the bathroom with the tub and shower, on the right there you see my toaster oven on top of my little fridge, and then past that the sink and stove, then past that the washing machine, then through the door my room.
It's really quite cozy and very new. The floors are wood and all the doors are wood, except the door to the shower. They all smell like new wood too, which is nice. Everything is quite clean. They considerately found me some gently used storage drawers and a few little stands and assorted things for storage. Over all I like my apartment very much. Now that I've unpacked, it feels like its mine. I know that I may freak out a little when I'm out walking around, not knowing where I am, or why the crap I'm in Japan, or who I'm going to talk to......hahaha.....I know that when I get home to my apartment, I'll feel better.
Here are some more detailed pictures for your enjoyment...
This panel is on the wall outside my bathroom, you can press the button and choose the temperature of your water. It talks you you too (inside and outside of the bathroom...since there's a panel inside too) but I have no idea what it says, or what it's really capable of, since I can't read the buttons.
Hahahaha.Today, I had the day off, so I walked around town a bit. I took some pictures of my 'neighborhood' and around town a little but posting pictures on here, and getting them to align and in the right location is difficult, so I'll leave that for another post tomorrow.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Graduation!
Good evening!
I'm now officially Lauren-sensei. Woot! I have received my name tag and my official AEON lapel pin. Hee!
Training is officially over now (I can't believe it's been a week already!) and I've now got the weekend off for fun and enjoyment of all kinds. I'm planning on some shopping, just a little, and tonight (Friday night) all of us new teachers are headed out for some karaoke. Hahaha, I'll try to remember to take some pictures.
Life at the training house has been fun, but we'll all be happy to move on, and into our own apartments. We're tired of sharing 3 to a room, although the rooms are nice. Here's a peekypeek:
I did clear up that 6 tatami covers the area of the main living space, and that the kitchen and bath areas are in addition to that. I also learned that my apartment is a new apartment, other teachers haven't lived there before (many of the apartments they use are passed from teacher to teacher) so it will be much less 'lived in' than many of the other apartments that teachers receive. That does mean, however, that I won't be inheriting any hand me down furniture or a microwave. The apartments don't come standard with a microwave, but many teachers buy and leave them for other teachers, I won't have that luxury. I'll probably just buy one. Haha, whatevs.
I also found out that many of the new teachers were contacted by the teachers that they are replacing. I never had that luxury either. As it turns out the teacher I'm replacing actually returned home a while ago due to "family emergencies" and an emergency teacher has been working in his or her place at my school.
My school is well reputed and the location is highly strategic. My area is affluent and the restaurants and shopping are apparently quite good. The train line that I'm near is convenient and its only 10 or so minutes on the train to the main Yokohama station where there is quite a lot to do and see and from that station it's a short ride to Tokyo.
I'll be quite excited to move into my apartment and start getting settled. Work is going to be fun and I'm just....just....excited all around.
Just for kicks, here are some fun signs that I've found in the past couple days.
This one i
s the cutest "pick up your poo" sign ever:
Following that is the scariest "don't swim in this it's dangerous" sign ever. -->
And, to end this post, please find the following: a picture of one of my cue cards for one of my lessons. The card is an example of making a complaint. My lesson partner and I call this fellow the Toilet Paper Pirate.
He is complaining about the way that people hang toilet paper the wrong way. I just think he happens to look like a pirate..
...or possibly an angry frenchy.
I'm now officially Lauren-sensei. Woot! I have received my name tag and my official AEON lapel pin. Hee!
Training is officially over now (I can't believe it's been a week already!) and I've now got the weekend off for fun and enjoyment of all kinds. I'm planning on some shopping, just a little, and tonight (Friday night) all of us new teachers are headed out for some karaoke. Hahaha, I'll try to remember to take some pictures.
Life at the training house has been fun, but we'll all be happy to move on, and into our own apartments. We're tired of sharing 3 to a room, although the rooms are nice. Here's a peekypeek:
I did clear up that 6 tatami covers the area of the main living space, and that the kitchen and bath areas are in addition to that. I also learned that my apartment is a new apartment, other teachers haven't lived there before (many of the apartments they use are passed from teacher to teacher) so it will be much less 'lived in' than many of the other apartments that teachers receive. That does mean, however, that I won't be inheriting any hand me down furniture or a microwave. The apartments don't come standard with a microwave, but many teachers buy and leave them for other teachers, I won't have that luxury. I'll probably just buy one. Haha, whatevs.
I also found out that many of the new teachers were contacted by the teachers that they are replacing. I never had that luxury either. As it turns out the teacher I'm replacing actually returned home a while ago due to "family emergencies" and an emergency teacher has been working in his or her place at my school.
My school is well reputed and the location is highly strategic. My area is affluent and the restaurants and shopping are apparently quite good. The train line that I'm near is convenient and its only 10 or so minutes on the train to the main Yokohama station where there is quite a lot to do and see and from that station it's a short ride to Tokyo.
I'll be quite excited to move into my apartment and start getting settled. Work is going to be fun and I'm just....just....excited all around.
Just for kicks, here are some fun signs that I've found in the past couple days.
This one i
s the cutest "pick up your poo" sign ever:
Following that is the scariest "don't swim in this it's dangerous" sign ever. -->
And, to end this post, please find the following: a picture of one of my cue cards for one of my lessons. The card is an example of making a complaint. My lesson partner and I call this fellow the Toilet Paper Pirate.
He is complaining about the way that people hang toilet paper the wrong way. I just think he happens to look like a pirate..
...or possibly an angry frenchy.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)