Sunday, October 31, 2004


You'd never know it from this picture... but these boys slept through a decent portion of Bunkasai!! Sweet music is meant to put you to sleep, right? Just ask these two... Posted by Hello

Ever ready: 3rd year girls are always ready to have their picture taken... Mami (second from the left) is one of my kendo girls. :-) Posted by Hello

Reluctant ichi-nensei: It took me about 5 minutes before I could convince these three boys to have their picture taken... Ryouta on the left was particularly reluctant! Posted by Hello
Weekend Update!

Hey there! Well, this weekend has been WILD! On Saturday, I had a choral competition for school all day. It's called bunkasai which means 'culture festival' but it's really just a choral competition. What happens is, each class from each grade chooses a song to perform and then there's a year-wide song to learn. On a Saturday in October (this past one), they perform them and the judges give awards to the top three in each grade.

It was AWESOME this year. The quality of the singing was much better than in the past two years. I dragged Garret along for the second half, when the 3rd years were performing. They did SO well. One of my fave classes won... they did an amazing job. They were clearly the best out of the 3rd year students.

So that was very exciting indeed...

Then we had a bit of a Halloween party at my house last night. I discarded the Betty Rubble costume... was feeling VERY fat yesterday. So, instead I went for the costume with coverage... I was a decent Trinity likeness... just needed better glasses. Will see about the party next weekend! What will I be then? ;-)

Last night was a nice night, I got to see people I haven't seen in an age... I also had a good talk with my girls (Kirsty and Lauren) which was nice. And believe me... my last months in Japan will not go wasted... I finally got a bit of perspective to things. Which was extremely helpful. Thank you to them... I felt really great this morning when I woke up. All except for the whole... hacking up a lung business (still a touch sick).

Anyway... this is a rambling post. I'll try to do something interesting in the next few days to update you all on. Going to go to bed early to catch up on sleep right now!

NIGHT!!!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

So... today I read something on the internet and followed up on it. So, went on to find the new Eminem video 'Mosh.' Now, don't get me wrong, am not a big fan of Eminem... but I figured if he's up for a bit of political commentary, I'm open to seeing it. Check it out!

http://www.gnn.tv/videos/viewer.php?id=27&spd=hi

I don't know what the reaction across the country will be, but to be honest... this IS what freedom of speech is all about. No slander. No libel. Just facts that are presented to back up a message. It's cleverly done and more importantly, the message is important. Because at the end of the day, voting is what's important.

That's enough of me being political. I'm still waiting on my absentee ballot... I don't know if it's going to get here. Am crossing fingers and all, but not yet holding my breath. ;-)

Today was a good one. All in all... I'm wrecked so, at 10:30pm I'm going to be turning in...

Night, night.


Wednesday, October 27, 2004

The ONLY reason for pink...

The only reason I'd use pink is to get your attention... as everyone knows that I hate the colour. I have a request... now I'll precurser this with, I know not everyone reading this blog believes in God, but for all those who do...

One of my best friends got some really sad news this morning. My friend Lauren was told that her 17 year old cousin was diagnosed with cancer this morning. He's 17!! Now, I'm shocked and a bit shaken because that is SO young.... and he's the youngest person diagnosed with this type of cancer. And I don't even know him, just think of how his family must be feeling. SO... please pray... pray for my friend Lauren, her cousin, her family... it's going to be tough for them and for her... she's in Japan and doesn't have the support of her family. I'd really appreciate it... and I know she would to.

News like this makes me think about how petty life can get, but also how precious life is. Please tell the people you love that you love them and value them... and remember that small problems, no matter how big they seem, are actually small and there are more important things to be worrying about.

Thanks, I love you all!
HALLOWEEN!!!

The first Halloween party of the year is upon us... and somewhere around Monday I realized that ALL of my potential costumes were too 'adult' for a high school Halloween party (yes, that means TOO much skin!). So, I had to pull something out my ass... and here you go... I'm going as... a '50s housewife!! Now, I know it sounds silly, but I just happen to have a dress (a really nice one actually) that will easily double for housewifey-ness... AND I even have funny fake pearls and shoes and everything! Heehee... the students (Japanese high schoolers) may not 'get' it, but the other English teachers should...

Have other costume ideas up my sleeve as well, but those are for MUCH later! ;-)


Monday, October 25, 2004

When you LEAST expect it...

So, after a harder than usual week, I didn't have too many expectations going into the weekend. I'd gotten a call from Tomo during the week, saying he had the weekend off and wanted to play tour guide. I was apprehensive, but thought it would be nice to get away... so decided to go for it.

Saturday, we got up pretty early to go to Naruko Onsen (hotsprings) and Matsushima. Naruko is famous for lovely autumn foliage and Matsushima is one of the three GREAT views of Japan. And then the plan was to go for dinner and after that go where the wind blew us... or something like that.

The day was great, weather was fantastic, and fun was had by all. Garret had a good time, though climbing through the gorge at Naruko wasn't exactly his cup of tea (fear of heights!) he was a good sport about it anyway. And the leaves were really pretty. :-)

Then we headed out to Matsushima... which is absolutely gorgeous. Basically 'matsushima' means 'pine island' and what is it is a cove with lots of little rocky islands filled with pine trees. The view is absolutely gorgeous, you can climb up about the area and look down on these islands AND you can go across a nice bridge to one of the islands. Either way, it's really pretty and worth doing. Though it got a bit windy as the sun went down... it was still a really nice day.

We started our evening with a slight diversion... Tomo knows a lady who's involved with the exchange/international students at Tohoku University and she has a student from Italy staying with her. As he just came back from Italy we stopped by to drop something to this girl. Anyway... we ended up going inside and having a glass of wine. Which led to the telling of the 'pikalisha' story... and the fact that I like 'Awamori' (strong Okinawan liquor)... which then led to our hostess bringing out an array of 'awamori-ish' drinks for me to try. If I had finished all the cups in front of me I would have tripped my way to the car. As it was, I sipped and was a bit rosey on the way out...

Then it was on to gyutan! 'Gyutan' is cow tongue. Sendai is famous for it. You should have seen Garret's face when he saw there was no chicken on the menu... and it got a bit funnier when I told him that we were at a restaurant that ONLY sold gyutan. Heeheehee... I didn't really know we were going there myself until that day. But as Garret is a VERY finicky eater I kept it a bit hush hush... and he did fine. Liked almost everything... he said it tastes like chewy steak! But I don't think he'll be going for gyutan again. ;-)

That was about when the news of the Niigata earthquakes got to us. Well, the news of how serious they were. Tomo works for the weather service which also assists with disaster relief situations... and even if it's his day off he's got to report in in the event of a disaster (these earthquakes count if you've seen the pics!)... so after some Baskin Robbins... he left us.

We went with Helen (a really great girl who lives and attends the university in Sendai) and went looking for a place to drink. We ended up in the nicest cocktail bar I've ever been to. Low-lighting, jazz in the background, lovely bar staff... AND great cocktails. No menu, basically they knew it all. I had the best long island iced tea! Wow!!

We each had two amazing cocktails and some sabisu (service) items (lovely bready thing and a dessert)... about a half hour before we left, a man came into the bar. And busted out a cigar. Well, Garret is not opposed to having a cigar on occasion so this guy made him very jealous. One of the bartenders must have mentioned to him that we were from Alaska (Garret and I) because the guy passes down a cigar and says "welcome, I've been to Anchorage..." in Japanese of course. And the cigar... was... CUBAN!!!! Yup... Garret almost fell off his chair. Heehee... (and he said he can't wait to tell Norm Phillips and Bill Husby!)

So, after seeking out the tobacconist... we met up with Tomo and then headed to Bar Isn't it? A "chain" bar (there are several of these places in the bigger cities in Japan... very western in styling) for a bit of a dance. One of the guys that Lauren and I met in September also came... right when we were about to leave... but that's ok...

Helen and I tore it up on the dance floor. I haven't danced in SO long and the music was pretty good... and I had a buddy on the dance floor. It was perfect! I even got Garret out on the dance floor for almost ONE song (that's pretty good if you know him!). And then at around 2:30am, we decided to go. That was pretty late considering that I had to be up and on a bus at 7:40am... I thought I stretched it out pretty good.

Then I slept like a ROCK for a few hours, got up, showered... and made the bus!! BUT... wow... it was worth the sleep deprivation!! It was SO much fun!! :-D

I'm ordering up another good weekend like that VERY soon....

Sunday, October 24, 2004

This weekend was fantastic... but right now I'm completely wrecked! So, I'll post weekend exploits tomorrow morning. Sleep is far more important right now! Night night... ;-)

Look at the autumn leaves... there's still LOTS of green... but the leaves are definitely starting to change. Very nice, eh??  Posted by Hello

Haha!! Got Garret without him being able to look away... usually he's a butt about pics... this time, he didn't have any warning! Posted by Hello

Tomo, Garret and I at Matsushima!! Some lovely girls from Tokyo took our picture for us. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!! Posted by Hello

Friday, October 22, 2004

Heehee... I love talking to drunk people on MSN! My best friend, Ben, is online pissed as a fart... it's hilarious! It makes me feel so good... and it gives me PLENTY to laugh about! :-) Just thought I'd share... hope you're all having a good night/day. :-)

Funny Japan Stories...

So... it's been awhile since I relayed some of the ridiculousness that is my life in Japan... heeheehee...

Let's start with the startling information that one of my 15 year old boys, is indeed a girl!! Or that's what he says!! Funny thing, we're just sitting around shooting the shit, babbling in half-English, half-Japanese... and out comes "I'm girl!' From a boy called Yutaro. Now I look at him and ask "Really?" Because to be honest I thought he got all mixed up between boy and girl or something (I can't necessarily trust the level of my students' English...). But no, indeed he said that he was a girl (again) and proceeded to claim he was a "D-cup, D-cup!" Now, unlike in the US, you can touch a student without being afraid of a lawsuit. So I patted down the front of his uniform... and it seems that, despite claims, he is indeed still a boy! NUTCASE!!! Have you ever heard a 15 year old at home claim to be a girl?? Geesh!

Oh, it gets better!! Remember when the Backstreet Boys were cool... for girls!! Well, now that they have fallen out of favor (have they officially broken up?) in the States, they are finding popularity in Japan. One of my boys (also 15) LOVES the Backstreet Boys. Heehee... the one thing he won't do is dance to them... why like them if you don't want to BE them!! ;-)

Best story of the week... doesn't actually have anything to do with my students...

My brother was set to go to Sendai on Wednesday. He procrastinated (read - fell asleep) and missed the train and bus to get there. So, I got home to a note saying, "Sorry I missed your calls... (called to wake him up!) I've gotten money and I'm getting on a train and we'll see where I go! I'll be back by Friday. Talk to you soon. Garret. PS Don't forget the movies!"

I've heard from him once, and expect him back tonight with loads of adventures to share!

Anyway, there are some funny (ish) Japan stories! Enjoy!!!


Kirsty and I BEFORE putting on men (the helmet!)... yes, we have to wear those things on our head... it may look funny, but they soak up the nasty sweat! And boy, do you sweat!! Posted by Hello

Hello... this is what I look like in BOGU! It's SO much fun to wear... need a little practice getting it all on, but will be fine! Posted by Hello

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

MORNING!!

I'm hoping that the orange will wake me up. I'm really tired today... and it doesn't help that it's pea-soup outside. Blah!! If there's anything that'll kill a good mood... it's rain. And if there's anything that'll make a not great mood worse, it's rain. So... there you have it - rain, my friends, causes all ills. Of course there's the side that says we need rain for crops and stuff like that... but I still think that autumn is the WRONG time for rain.

Ok... that being said...

Last night kendo was AMAZING!! Once again I got to use my bogu (armor) and had a blast. This time I didn't get nearly so sweaty because the windows were open and there was a nice breeze. But I did get to do more practice with my "ki-ai". Hmmm... "ki-ai" is the sound that you make in kendo. It's philosophically the focusing of the spirit and helps a person to strike with strength and power, etc. But really, it sounds like you're yelling and that's about it. It's quite loud, and every person has a different approach to "ki-ai". Anyway, with kendo you're meant to yell out the part of the body that you're hitting (in practice)... so you "ki-ai" (yell), then yell the part you're going to hit "men" (head), "kote" (wrist), or "do" (chest guard). Well, I was lacking on the second bit... I was kind of going "Yaaaaa" and then "men". Or at least that's what the teacher told me. So we worked on that for a bit... and I got to hit him a bunch of times. :-)

SO, the moral of the story is... when feeling down... Hit things with bamboo swords and yell in the face or your oponent!! :-)

Monday, October 18, 2004

HELPU ME!!!! (in true Japanese style...)

So... I woke up this morning in a major funk. You know those times when you wake up and all of a sudden nostalgia, homesickness, etc... hits... (ok, so this may be a uniquely Japan-related problem... but sit and imagine being in a place where no one really understands anything about you... and then you might get where I'm coming from).

Yeah... so that was me this morning.

The day got worse before it got better... I found out, when I got to school, that one of my kids (2nd year) was hit by a car on Saturday and is in the hospital in a coma. So, please pray (if you do that) for him... it's tough on the kids. He's only 14.

Things gota bit better when we worked on a mosaic and chilled with the kids. Oh, and danced around to Bouncy Knowles.

SO... if there's anything exciting going on with ANYONE out there!! PLEASE let me know... I need news from the REAL world!! ;-)



Sunday, October 17, 2004

BORED IN SHONAI!!!

Ok... so tonight, we reached a new low. I was SO bored tonight... but in that stir crazy kind of way... SO... we went looking for some excitement. I dragged Robbie and Garret along. :-) What are friends/sisters for? Well... we lucked out, oh yes... we hit the jackpot. Erm... maybe.

We headed up to Matsuyama observatory, mainly to have a look at the view of Shonai... but then went into the observatory... we got to look through a big telescope at the stars. I didn't really understand all that we were looking at, but it was pretty cool! I don't think I've ever seen whole star systems like that before. AND (this is the really good part!) we saw a shooting star!! Is luck in the stars?? Maybe?? Let's hope... I could use a bit of luck. Just a little....

After that, we did the usual... late-night food run (was actually quite hungry) and went for a bit of purikura (short for "print club" i.e. really silly picture-booth pictures). We found the BIGGEST dive of a game center (I wanted this GREAT purple sweatshirt that said VERMONT across the front, but a cooler Japaese guy had found it first!!)... and had a bit of fun. Then... the night, alas, was over... I'm barely awake here... but I had to write this great night into the history books... OH... and my house is SO cold. Yup, the temps have definitely dipped into the too cold to sleep bit of the thermometer. :-) Winter's coming!!

Thursday, October 14, 2004

For a lack of anything better to post, I've posted two funny t-shirt pics. It's amazing what things you can find in Japan... stuff that seems to have been lost/imported from the closet of a random American... somehow ends up selling (for not shabby prices) in Japan. What a wonderful world we live in. Reuse, renew, recycle... :-D

Now, you women out there, how disturbingly funny is this shirt?? It's hard not to laugh, but what would you do if your doc wore this shirt to work... heeheehee... ;-) Posted by Hello

INSIDE ALASKAN JOKE!! Do you know where this t-shirt's from?? I'm a bazillion miles from home, but can feel at home anytime with the help of the Japanese second-hand shop. Only thing, in Japan, this shirt is worth about $30. At home, it would be 2 at Value Village... what's that about another man's trash again?? Posted by Hello

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Today was a gift...

And now I'm supposed to say something very profound... like everyday is a gift... blah blah blah. No really, today was a gift! I got out of school at NOON!! I totally forgot that's what was happening until I got to school. I even made my lunch and everything. (Didn't need to...)

So, what did I do?? Was I somehow really productive? Oh, no... not at all actually. Went and met Lauren for coffee... got Garret some shoes... and mailed my test stuff. I guess that was pretty important, but other than that the afternoon was a slackers heaven. :-) And you know what?? It felt really good.

So, no profound anything to say here... no pics even (though I could scrounge some old ones I suppose)... night! Maybe I'll have more excitement to report tomorrow... for now, I'm very content. That's worth celebrating, right? :-D

Tuesday, October 12, 2004


Here is a pic of Garret and I in front of Matsumoto-jo (castle). A nice Japanese man asked if we wanted our picture taken... what can you say to that?? SURE!!!!  Posted by Hello
Sometimes the BEST weekends are the ones that aren't planned... but that happen totally spur of the moment. Last week, somewhere around Wednesday, I thought that going away for the weekend would be nice. So, what happened?? Garret and I decided where to go (Nagano), what to see (Matsumoto-jo) and went! It was great. Japan always has a surprise up its sleeve. What are the odds that there's a special festival when you go somewhere? And what are the odds that you run into people from the same prefecture where you live??

Well, there was a SOBA festival... and we ran into people from Yamagata who were selling soba. We couldn't pass that up... so we had Yamagata soba while in Nagano-ken! We also had an amazing lunch of soba today as well. Garret likes the warm soba, and I like the cold soba (today was a really warm day!)... so we had what we liked and got on the train - stuffed - and managed to each have a bit of a nap. :-)

Hope every else had a fab weekend as well...

Sunday, October 10, 2004

MORNING!!

Well, I'm faced with a massive issue this morning... to race or not to race. I've said I would run in the annual Himawari Marathon (Sunflower Race) in my town. I am out of shape and not really wanting to, but I'm going to show up. Now the real question is: do I race? or do I just run for fun? Heehee... massive issue, eh? We'll see...

After all that, I'm heading to Matsumoto in Nagano-ken with my brother. There's a massive castle there and Garret's into castles. I'm sure there will be lots of picture taking, so I'll post those when we get back.

This week is going to be awesome... I get Monday and Tuesday off... so I have to teach 3 days! Yup. That's it... 3 days!! Yay! Sorry, it sounds like I'm very excited to NOT be teaching. Hmmmm... maybe I am just a little bit. :-)

Have a great day everybody!

Saturday, October 09, 2004

MY BOGU CAME!!!!!

The long-awaited bogu (kendo armor) has arrived! I got the call today and jumped about 5 feet in the air. HOLY COW!! I'm SO stoked. Yes, I will gradually turn into a smurf for about a month, but after that I will return to normal. :-) I can't wait!! You have NO idea how exciting this is... unless you're one of the people that I've bored to DEATH with my moaning and talking about bogu... then, I apologize profusely. :-)


Wataru! look at that thug... wearing his hat all ghetto like that... i think i helped him with the hat actually! ;-) Seems like the little boys are my favourites??? Can you blame me!? They're SO cute!! Posted by Hello

Shiryu-kun was being camera shy... he kept running away from me!! But I finally got him to stay still for this one picture... isn't he a cutie?? Posted by Hello

Thursday, October 07, 2004


And here are some of the babies!! How cute are they?? Imagine them... hugging on you, giving you high five... and just being cute in general... and you can see why my day got better!! ;-) Posted by Hello
Kindergarteners Rock My World!!

Yes, you heard me correctly... kindergarteners rock this girls' world. What can I say? I needed a bit of unconditional loving today... and I got it. That's the great thing about kids... they love you no matter what. The do!! And then, just in case you ever had a doubt you were cool or wanted... they come back for a high five and just one more hug. I needed that today...

Wanna see some of the cuties that I get to get "lovin'" from?? Will post them next! They're too sweet, I promise. :-)

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Dance Dance Revolution...

Has anyone seen the King of the Hill in Japan?? Well, Dance Dance Revolution is definitely here to stay. I'm crap at it... just need to put a bit of practice in... heehee... no, I promise... I have a life! Lauren whooped my arse at it today... but hey, she's a REAL dancer!

In other notes... I'm off to Tokyo tonight! Oh, yes... tonight... I will be dancing all day tomorrow (Sunday) in a dance competition in Tokyo... and will be back for work on Monday! NO dilly-dallying or anything, just down to Tokyo for business and that's it. Wish me luck! I will be completely wrecked on Monday, but you know... it's all about the experience, right?

Will let y'all know how it goes! :-)