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...

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

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.

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.

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 is 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.

A Cool Morning Jaunt

It's cool this morning before the sun begins its climb and starts the daily bake. I've decided to take advantage of the weather and take a walk to the convenience store in hopes that I might find some cold medicine.

At 7:00 am the day is beginning for most of the city's residents. Bicycles clatter and whir beneath business men and high school students who've balanced their tennis bags or musical instruments precariously in the tiny bicycle basket.

Lively children in colorful matching summer hats file up the streets to their schools, carrying book bags and lunch sacks.

The youngsters flit and chitter like little birds without a care in the world. One suited father chases down his son who has forgotten his bag.

Outside the local kindergarten, a worker tends the school's tiny garden, weeding and coddling the fresh seedlings that have barely begun to peek out of the dark damp soil.



Hydrangeas, vines, and branches of indistinct, unripe fruit hang heavily over walls surrounding quiet houses. Cicadas have just begun their song which proceeds from deep within the mass of flora.

On the road next to the river workmen have been working for hours cutting down the overgrown weeds that tangle around signs posts and light poles. The air smells sweet, of cut grasses and wild onions, and remnants of leaves and grassy husks blow away on a light breeze. The small river is dangerous and dirty, but the sound of water running is pleasant and adds to the sensory symphony that surrounds my walk.

On the way back from the store, houses are quieter now that the people have left for work. A dog sleeps tethered to its small house and a pair of minuscule butterflies tumbles through the air towards a tree bearing pink flowers.

I'm loathe to end my morning walk so soon, but the sun is quickly heating the air and driving away the last of the early morning dew.