IrishOboe

Here’s another post with a boring title. Work has been keeping me busy and it is more of the same. I am still enjoying it, though my first full week is proving to be exhausting. If only the work week were one day shorter, I think it would be more manageable. I guess I want something in between self employed and full time . . . (I realize self employed often takes more hours than full time, but it’s on your own terms, which I find much more bearable.) (More)

Sunday (Aug. 28^th) I decided to bike until I hit mountains no matter what it took. I went for about 45min directly West on what I would have described as gently sloping up terrain; however, on the way back I did not pedal at all and had to use my brakes frequently so I’d say it was quite an uphill trek. I was quite worn out when I reached the foothills and I was very disappointed to discover that wherever I looked the mountains were fenced off. I guess I should have found out where I was going first. So, instead of hiking a bit to a nice spot to do my quiet time I found a cemetery at the foot of a hill amidst all the groves and had my quiet time there. It was cool up there and I had a good breeze. The sky was pretty and I had a nice time. As I said, the way back was very easy . . . (More)

Friday toward the end of work I c-mailed Mark (that’s text messaging between AU customers; if US cell phones were this complicated I certainly didn’t know about it) about the Fujiyoshida Fire Festival because he said his supervisor was going to us but I didn’t know what time. He said she couldn’t go but that Megan was going but might not have room. I figured that meant I wasn’t going (I mean, who needs to drive 1 ½ hours just to see more fireworks with a huge crowd of people?), but when I came home Mark said “We leave for the station in 5min to meet Megan.” What? I needed to unpack my stuff and cool off and change and think about what I wanted for the trip. It wasn’t going to happen so I said I didn’t want to see more fireworks but Mark said it was a fire festival not a fireworks festival. That sounded much more local and interesting so I decided to go. I threw my lunch stuff in the sink and quickly got ready. If only I’d known what I was getting ready for . . . (More)

Well, I had no idea I would be so busy at school. I’m sorry I haven’t written in so long. First school kept me busy then I got stranded in Fujiyoshida last night, but first things first.

School has begun! Starting Wednesday I’ve been coming to school all day every day. Wednesday I gave my speech in Japanese to the whole school assembly in the gym. It went pretty well. I think I succeeded in pronouncing things well enough for them to understand but not well enough for them to think I speak Japanese. But I get head of myself. The day (Wed. Aug 24) started at 8:25am with a teacher meeting. I got there around 8am to make sure I’d have time to cool off from the 20min bike ride in raingear that doesn’t let you breathe. I didn’t have enough time and I was still quite sweaty for the meeting. All I had to do in that meeting was say my name and something like “I hope we work well together” and bow. I left my omiyage there, too, though it was salt water taffy and it got a little soft . . . (More)

Mark and I were dead tired when we met Niko at the library to go to the Isawa fireworks festival, but I was impressed with how well we did and how much we enjoyed it despite our state of exhaustion.  On the way to Niko’s place she stopped to by us and Lena (her daughter, though I don’t know how to spell it) bento, which is like a premade lunchbox meal.  It was actually good, and it might be a nice alternative to packing my lunch sometimes.  Of course she wouldn’t let us pay for it.  The traffic was so terrible when we arrived that Niko dropped us (Lenna, Mark and me) off and she went someplace to find a spot, but she ended up waiting somewhere because there were no places!  This festival was even more crowded than Ichikawadaimon because there was less space even though there were fewer people.  Every square inch of space anywhere was occupied.  It felt like all of Japan had come to this place, which makes me rethink just how many people there are in Japan . . .

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I get all discombobulated when I spend a night away from home, so I hope I’m starting where I left off. The Lake Motosuko region was so wonderfully beautiful and it was great to be back in nature sweating, swimming, sunning and relaxing. I miss the Maggie P.

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I guess it wasn’t a very exciting past two days, but I’m posting now because it might be another few days before I can post again.  I have a very busy weekend, but it’s filled with fun so it should be good.  Oh, but I nearly forgot!  I had my first adventure with missing a train . . .

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I have not been able to post on the blog for a while since I have had a wonderful guest at my apartment all week.  That plus the fact that I’m the source of internet for a few people and by the time they’re done I’m in bed . . .

 

This week is the SETY conference, which stands for Seminar for English Teachers in Yamanashi.  Every five years all English teachers have to attend the 10 day conference to brush up and practice their English.  The ALTs are required to join for the last four days so that the JTEs have practice with native speakers.  I have to say that the seminars have been more interesting than any official business (aka orientations) so far.   (More)

I'll let Janet fill in the details about the earthquake in Japan, but I know you are waiting to hear that she is all right. She is!

Saturday I woke to the phone at 10:30am.  It must have been a wrong number, because I got an earful of Japanese.  I managed to say (in Japanese) that I didn’t understand Japanese so the lady went on and I caught the word mother.  I tried to explain that I was living alone by saying some thing like “no, I, one, no mother.”  Whether she had a clue what I said or not I don’t know, but we ended the conversation courteously and I felt triumphant at my first phone call in Japanese.  Well anyway, I’d just gotten up after a 10 hour sleep so I suppose I would have been happy with anything.

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Today wasn’t nearly as exciting as the previous days so I had a bit of time to catch my breath.  I’m not going to bed as early as I’d hoped because I got to reading more Memoirs of a Geisha and then my evening was gone (thanks for the book, Helen Louise!).

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Before I launch into boring details, I thought I'd mention what I wonderful time I had at orientation.  To find out, skip over the days and take a look at the evenings.

I wish I could say the workshops for the local orientation were more helpful than the ones in Tokyo, but sadly, I got about three helpful bits out of workshops, and the rest of the time I entertained myself by writing down my own teaching ideas, doodling, and interpreting for the nonexistent deaf in the room.  Actually, this last exercise was quite helpful in that it showed me just how much I’d forgotten and just how much I know of ASL.  Of course, I was as discrete as I could be . . .
 

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It is nearly midnight and I should go to bed, but I must right about today now or it won’t get done before local orientation.  It’s in Kofu for three days and two nights and I probably won’t have access to the internet.

 

Having said that, today was a wonderful, exciting, beautiful, and fun day.  I feel blessed beyond what I could have ever imagined.  I’m falling in love with this place and the people.

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Time, she's still flying! I'm quite enjoying myself still and am looking forward to starting work.

Saturday I did some housework in the morning (I figured out the washing machine!) and went to the hardware/walmart-type store to buy a phone for my VoIP line. I looked all over and bought some random things, but no luck. I decided to continue down the main street (rt. 20) in hopes of seeing something that looked like a store that sold phones. Perhaps it wasn't the brightest idea, but it actually worked.
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Friday I spent the day cleaning up, doing laundry (which is very stiff now because we had no breeze), and other such things. There's something theraputic about washing dishes in your own sink and hanging clothes up to dry. My living room is now clean and comfortable with storage space to spare. My kitchen is decent, and my bedroom, well, I can shut the doors so nobody can see it . . .

I alos hung my futon out to air and so I could beat it. I'm not sure what this does, only that you're supposed to do it every week. Mark and I went off to the grocery store but it started to rain so I ran all the way back because my futon was still out! Naturally, it stopped raining, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I bought the fixings for a cucumber salad for the BBQ that night Haistu Saito was throwing for Chuck, who is finishing up his two years as a JET. The landlord had brought me many, many cucumbers, so this was a great excuse to get rid of them. I'm not sure if I've ever made a cucumber salad on my own before, but I put in some vinegar (or something that I'd hopped very much was vinegar), onions, sald and pepper and some sugar. It tasted great to me, whether that's how it's done or not, I was happy.

I picked up my bike, which now has a small seat, but I'll get used to it. It was only 3,000 yen (~$30) and I think he oiled up the gears since I had a smooth ride home. I stopped by the library to invite Niko to the BBQ. She was so touched and said how nice I was, though that was hardly anything compared to what she's done for me and Mark!

We had about 15 people show up for the BBQ and it was quite fun for a while. Then people started letting the drink get to their heads and I retreated to Chuck's apartment for some peaceful conversation. Due to my perfect timing, I went back downstairs to join people just in time for the cops to show up. They did warn us not to get invovled with the cops, and I dismissed this as an impossibility . . . Happily, Dennis (Haitsu Saito resident, been in Japan 7 years, former JET, speaks Japanese and English) talked to them and our only crime was making noise past 10pm. They turned off the music and actually did a fairly good job of keeping it down.

I managed to get everyone's stuff out of my apartment and my tables and chairs back into my apartment by 11pm. Mark graciously took in everyone who wanted to stay the night so I didn't have to deal with any drunks in my place. It had been fun having two tired, sober girls over, but this was too much for me. So, the college years surved me well (I can say that now?!) and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep even with the noise of homemade karioke and goodness knows what else. I'm begining to hope for when school starts and people don't have as much time to party. Sheesh! You can do that at home!

This morning (Saturday, 6th), I got a call from an English teacher at my school. I'm meeting her and my supervisor for dinner and a movie tonight and she asked if tomorrow I could help coach a student practicing for an English speech competition. I said I would, though I'm trying not to work on Sundays. I figured that I haven't been spending as much time in school during the week so it's the least I can do. Three hours seems like a long time, however . . . Maybe I'll pick up a good work ethic while I'm here!

Oh! I forgot to mention my first McDonald's experience Thursday. I heard great things about McDonald's here (pronounced something like Makudonarudosu), so I went with Chuck and Mark to find out. The fries were hot and the burger was fine, but the service was the key. After taking our order with a big smile and enthusiasm, we sat down and they brought the food to us. Then when we got up to leave they ran from behind the counter and took our trays to throw them away for us. Now that is totally different from the states.

Well, signing out for now. Tonight I'm going out again, but it's with my supervisor and another English teacher, so I'm hoping for some real Japanese experiences even if we are going to see War of the Worlds . . . Gotta love Japan!

Thanks for your emails and prayers. I am doing my best to respond to them. No, parties are not more important than you, but when it's at your own place it's quite rude to be antisocial. . .